20A- Growing Your Social Capital

20A- Growing Your Social Capital 

Daniel Shannigan- owner of Impulse Nutrition, opened up the juice bar in Gainesville because it has been something he always found interesting and wanted to make a reality.

            Mr. Shannigan is filling the role as Domain Expert. He was the man who gave me the idea for my product. In his store he puts plastic coverings over his drinks for the purpose of easy travel usage and that gave me the idea of no spillage.

            I had been given his number when I purchased a juice bar tab for a sorority through my fraternity and I called him up and chatted with him about the project.

            He actually gave me the number to his supplier so that I could call him and pitch the idea to him, and he did this out of the kindness of his heart.

            He was very willing and wants me to keep him informed on my progress.

Mark DeTuchio- owner of clubs in the downtown Gainesville area and works with suppliers to those clubs from all over.

            Mr. DeTuchio is filling the spot of Market Expert. He knows what these club and bar owners are looking for and has good insight on how the whole process works.

            I had to do some digging but I was able to contact him after I was given his information at a club, he wasn’t very responsive at first but he warmed up by the end. He is just a busy man.

            He gave me some advice on what I could do to market it better as well as took me through the whole process of how the supply chain to the customers/managers goes.

            He was not as willing to help out as much as I would have hoped but he has a lot to do so I understand that.

Kurt Toriono- supply chain manager for the company that supplies Impulse Nutrition with their lids for their products.

            Mr. Toriono will be filliing the role of Supplier. He supplies Mr. Shannigan with his products.

            Mr. Shannigan gave me his number and I talked with him and he was a very personable man, which he later told me is why his business is so successful.

            He said that he would listen to my elevator pitch for the product and give me some feedback. He was very helpful and gave me some good ideas for ways I can change how I word things and such. He did this all because he had never thought of this concept before.

            He said that he also wanted to be kept up to date on what my findings were and let him know if this project gets anywhere because he would be happy to help.

This experience gave me the opportunity to talk to real businessmen and individuals who work in this field all the time. It was a lot more relaxed than I thought it was going to be but I think that is also because the people were in sales. But I enjoyed the experience so much.