You’ve probably begun to notice, but an overarching theme in entrepreneurship is customer development, more specifically what we’ve dubbed GOOBing or Getting Out of the Building. The purpose being to listen to what people have to say about their problems and how they currently go about solving them. The best way to do this: face-to-face interviews.

After we identified our two target customer segments of beginning gardeners and experienced gardeners, we decided it was time to get GOOBin’. We set out to venture to places where we would find a mix of both starting- out gardeners and the more experienced. Over the course of a few weeks the team got out to multiple Farmer’s Markets in and around SLO, various nurseries and DIY stores (i.e. Miner’s Ace), and reached out to gardeners of SLO’s very own community gardens. We made connections with many active gardeners in our community including a network of Master Gardeners with whom we were able to talk with on multiple occasions. 

Besides identifying our hypothesized customer segments, the interview process also involves identifying their frequented gardening related tasks, and what their pains and prospective gains are in completing those tasks. The ultimate goal being how we can create the most value for them by helping them solve their problems in the best way possible. It is only then, when our users perceive that value that we can begin to examine possible revenue streams.

Next Up: The Revenue Model