Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You: Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? 
 Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I'm Jamie Garcia. My skills are my level of organization, attention to detail and level of perfectionism. I adapt to change quickly and I can learn new things quickly. My aspiration would be to eventually be a purchasing manager for a major fashion retailer such as Gucci, Louis, etc. 

My business concept would help improve people's overall quality of life and improve their overall financial picture, which I believe would give me a certain level of fulfillment. 

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

My service would consist of educating people of all ages on the importance of financial organization and understanding. I would also provide financial services such as teaching to correctly balance a check book, calculate cash flow for the month and provide solutions on debt consolidation. There are so many more aspects, but these are just a few idea. 
Most people have no idea how much interest they pay on purchases or where their credit score is. What happens to your assets and finances when you die? What are the easiest and most efficient ways to pay off debt? Should you have your spouse as a co-owner on all your finances?

I would solve this by providing a professional financial education and organization service. I can teach the basics of managing your deposit accounts or I can advise you on debt consolidation. Do you need help protecting assets? My services would range from entry level needs to more complex needs. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psycho-graphic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

My demographic would include everyone. That's one of the great things about this service. Any and everyone needs to know how to improve their financial picture but so many people do not know what their options are. I can help a husband and wife or a freshman in college. Did you just have a grandchild you want to save for? I can help everyone. Are you thinking of opening a new business and don't know where to start? 
Every person should be well versed in the financial world so they know how to help themselves. 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

If you ask any person, I'm sure one of their TOP concerns is money and the management of their finances. That could be their finances now or in the future. It's our motivator and driver for most of what we do. Everyone needs money. I'm sure there is not one person who would not be interested in finding out how to keep more of the money they earn. 

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

I have almost 10 years of banking experience. I've been a teller, a supervisor, and now a personal banker. I've worked with business bankers, business owners, mortgage officers and everything in between. If I don't have the solution, I know how to get you one. I'm one of the best in my company and I'm always looking to grow and learn more not only within my position but my industry. 

 
I believe I have a great business opportunity. The problem is, we do not spend enough time educating people on just how critical it is to understand your finances. I meet people every single day who think they're being paid 1.00% on a savings account only to truly be paid 0.01% on a savings account. If the fed announces they've raised the rate 0.25, how does that affect you? Do you have someone, professionally to call and ask how that affects you? There are so many questions pertaining to finances that people have no idea how to answer. I would say about 80-90% of my clients have absolutely no idea what their financial picture looks like and how to improve it. 

Feedback Memo: I received a lot of positive responses on my original napkin idea. I think a lot of people agreed that it would be really helpful to have someone or a professional service to provide clarification. guidance, resources to obtaining financial understanding. Some of the tips I received was to be sure I was clear and concise as people are extremely protective and lack trust when discussing finances. This is completely true and I see it every day. I think trust comes in time and I can always gauge whether my client is understanding my suggestions. If I feel they may be misconstruing my  feedback, I try to approach differently to get my reasoning across. I've had conversations where the feedback clients give do not match with what I've discussed and that's an indicator that something was not understood the way I meant it to be. I will not move forward with products or service until I am sure my clients understand what we're doing.