Assignment- 4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief

Assignment- 4A- Forming an Opportunity Belief:

My Belief: I feel there may be an opportunity to reverse the sizes of the refrigerator and freezer. Instead of the freezer being the small compartment on the top, or small side, it is the refrigerator that is placed there.  I am always complaining that I have no room in my freezer when I return home with more groceries.  It seems like everything I buy needs to be put in the freezer over the refrigerator. There are many different groups of consumers who would want, or benefit from this.  Young single people, those who prepare a large amount of foods in advance, parents who buy a lot of frozen goods for snacks, meals, etc., people who buy in bulk and need it to keep for a longer period of time.  I believe this need surfaced when cooking from scratch faded away, and so many are dependent on already prepared food that is purchased frozen.  For those unable to find this large freezer with a small refrigerator, they are forced to use up space in a different area of the house and purchase a stand alone freezer, which will have a higher impact on their electric bill.  I am 60% sure that if offered and properly marketed this opportunity exists.

#1: Single woman age 68, on a very strict budget, who does not cook for herself much:
     Do you buy more frozen goods or refrigerator goods?
         I buy in bulk and split it between the freezer and refrigerator.  I have to do this to make sure nothing goes to waste because it is just me eating the food.  
     Do you find that you never have enough room in the freezer for all the food you want to store in there?
          Yes, I severely limit myself because I simply cannot eat everything fast enough and there is not enough room in the freezer.
      Do  you experience this problem frequently or just when you add new food? 
          I am on a strict budget and can only buy food at certain times of the month.  Obviously I have the problem when I am unloading my groceries and am in the process of separating things between the fridge and freezer. Decisions have to be made because of lack of room.  But I also experience the frustration when something i could not eat fast enough spoils inside the fridge,  and I am out that meal. 
     Have you ever considered getting another stand alone freezer to give you more time for the food to keep?
         I live in a town home, another freezer is not an option for me, I do not have the space for anything extra.
     Would you consider having a refrigerator with the sizes of the compartments reversed from the norm?
             Cost would be an issue for me, but I would definitely look into it.  
Reflection: I never thought about the elderly who are on a fixed income and have to ration out their food supplies.  I also did not consider those who live in places that do not allow for an additional freezer.  I just added a couple of new groups who may need this more.  (I found this person while I was interviewing a young single person and she volunteered to be interviewed too)

#2: Indian Immigrant who lives with her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two very young grandchildren.  She cooks twice a day, every single day of the week:
     Do you buy a lot of frozen goods?
        I buy only fresh vegetables.  I buy them daily.  I stop by the market every day after work.  
     Do you use your freezer more, or your refrigerator?
        I rarely use my freezer.  Mostly just for ice cream treats, which is a rarity around our house, and for ice.  I have a bigger need for my refrigerator.  
     You do not freeze any of the cooking that you do, even for big family events where you cook in advance?
        I do not.  When you freeze things they do not taste the same to me.  Only fresh.  I do make things in advance, but we store them in the refrigerator only.
Reflection:  I thought for sure as much as she cooked she would use her freezer to keep it.  I admit I was stunned that she barely had anything in her freezer.  I truly thought that someone who cooked this much would surely be a great prototypical customer

#3: 27 year old single male with a college degree, living alone in an apartment who "Cannot cook to save my life":
     You tell me you cannot cook, describe a typical trip to the grocery store for you?
        I walk into the store and head directly to the frozen food section.  I buy a frozen box of waffles, a box of Jimmy dean breakfast biscuits.  I buy 5-7 frozen dinners of various types for dinner.  I grab a couple cans of frozen orange juice to go with alcoholic beverages. A box of Klondike bars and a pint of ice cream.  My grandmother taught me that I can freeze bread, so I buy extra bread to put a couple loafs in the freezer to take it through the week for sandwiches for lunch.  I then go buy lunch meat, cheese, milk--only a half gallon because I cannot drink the milk fast enough by myself.  I get chips and other snack goods too.  
     With all these freezer items, do you find yourself playing tetris to get it all in there?
        Absolutely I do.  Some weeks I eat out a lot and forget I still the previous week's allotment of frozen goods still in the freezer. I have to make a note to myself before I go to work to make sure to look inside the freezer so when I stop by the store on my way home, I don't make this mistake again---but I still forget.
      What do you do to make room for frozen only items in the limited space when you have too much?
         I whip out the orange juice and ice cream, if there is any and whip up something to drink and indulge in the dessert.  If those are not in there, I have to cram, remove packaging, or just let something go to waste.  It sucks, but it is the only options I have.
     Would you be interested in a bigger freezer compartment and a smaller refrigerator compartment?
        Absolutely.  My only issue is that I rent an apartment where the fridge is standard.  I would have to maybe talk to the office to see what could be done to accommodate the "Freezerator" idea.
Reflection:  This person is exactly the kind of person who needs this very idea.  The only down fall might be the apartment that comes with a refrigerator.  

Summary:  If it had not been for the bug list I would never have thought I was not the only one who would complain about lack of freezer space.  I actually have an extra freezer but hate that it is in the garage.  I found that the more people I asked (I asked casually, not in interview format, about 6 additional people) the more were up for a bigger freezer compartment.  I believe there is still a market for this idea.  I believe that, because of a person listening in to an interview and giving me excellent thoughts, my idea is bigger than I thought it was.  I do think though, in order for the idea to get off the ground I would need a major brand name to step up and work with me to get this properly advertised to the right people.  I also worry about the apartment issues and how to market it to them to maybe give their tenants the option of which kind of refrigerator they would want in their apartment. I also interviewed my son, who lives at home with me, he was able to tell me why the fridge was bigger than the freezer, and it had nothing to do with it just being that way someone in the old days designed the fridge because we did not have a lot of frozen goods back then.  Apparently it is because there is a balance of the amount of money it costs to keep the fridge side cold from the freezer's output--or something like that.  There might need to be a study done to figure all this out.
I work in retail, so I know that customers must be heard and listened too.  If you just go out and do your own thing and not listen to what it is they want, you risk not getting a single sale.  I think entrepreneurs have to have a balance between listening to what customers want and don't want.  Since they are not really going for the whole world to sale to, I think they can take a little bit away from what the customer wants and put more of what the entrepreneur wants in.  I think that the entrepreneur should listen carefully for key issues they may not have thought about--like me with my son informing me how the refrigerator works.