4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

I have thinking about this need for quite some time now and this is a great opportunity to get some other opinions and thoughts on it.  This is an item that every single person on the planet should put inside each and every bathroom they have.  Think of a garbage disposal, but connected to your toilet.  You can throw anything you want into the toilet and when you flush, it will grind it up just like a garbage disposal in your sink, and flush it to your septic tank or to the sewer system.  There will never be another clog in your toilet ever again.  I see the demand for this product to be sky high as it will be the latest, and greatest, household item to hit the market since its sister item, the regular garbage disposal, was introduced.
I took the time to speak to three potential customers on the idea and here is what they had to say:
Customer #1 a restaurant owner:  I spoke with Mike about the idea, and he had nothing but good things to say about it.  He says it is almost a daily occurrence where people flush feminine products or paper towels down the toilets and clog them, sending in an employee or sometimes a plumber to clean up and solve the issue is not only time consuming but expensive and can give his restaurant a bad rap with “dirty bathrooms”.  He said the idea is innovative and with proper testing he would be extremely interested as it is a cheaper and more effective solution to his problem.

Customer #2 a local friend who has a septic tank:  I have known Hank since I was born, a local family friend in his mid-60’s with a lot of life behind him.  He was ecstatic with the idea as septic tanks are extremely finicky solution to sewage.  When there is no city sewer system, the people are basically left on their own to deal with sewage issues.  He told me that he constantly has issues with guest coming over and flushing too many times or too much toilet paper which backs up the septic tank and sometimes can even come back up through the shower drain, especially after plunging.  He said if this item were on the shelf and did not cost an arm and a leg, he would buy it immediately.

Customer #3 my father:  My dad loves the idea and is concerned with how much money it will take to jumpstart it, get funding, build a prototype and then go out and sell the brand new product to a world who has never seen it before.  He says that it is one thing to improve an existing product but a totally different challenge to create an entirely new product.
Reflection:
After all of the words spoken to with the three interviewees, I have learned that the product has potential and certainly fills a void in the industry.  It will safe time, money and a reputation or two along the way.