Hi guys, I'm hoping that a few of you have a few minutes to help me out. I'm starting a new business called waitertouch.com and one of my potential investors wants me to do some more market research. I looked into hiring a market research firm and was quoted astronomical prices for focus groups and/or phone surveys. So instead, I've put together a quick survey and have been asking people to fill it out so I can determine whether or not my idea has a big enough market to move forward or not. I've attached the link where you can find the survey. If you feel like helping me out, please go to it. It'll take no more than 2 minutes. Thanks. http://www.zapsurvey.com/Survey.aspx?id=df0560a5-8d86-40b9-a7c4-c50c4bb64b00
I just looked at the account outline and free accounts only allow for 15 responses so I just paid for a subscription. It should now be reopened. Thanks again.
Done. If going out to a restaurant I want a certain "experience" for my money, and it doesn't include electronics. I want fine wine, service, ambiance, etc. For Chinese food, fast food, coffee, pizza, etc....then the cell phone idea text messaging is brilliant and I would use it all the time.
A couple of nice ideas. I filled out your survey. 1st idea would be even better if one could go to any website on the loaner device (for instance, ferrarichat, while waiting). 2nd one is like Fandango for restaurants. Especially the pre-pay idea. Lots of places allow orders to be faxed in ahead of time. But for some reason, this doesn't seem as appealing as doing it on a website. It would also be great if food customizations could be ordered (e.g., swapping one side dish for another). One of the issues for the business plan is how to handle "prior invention" claims. Because it is a fairly common sense idea, it is likely others have tried to get their similar business plans funded in years past or maybe even tried it in some areas of the country. So, you'll just need a plan of action if such claims come up or not. Unfortunately, there isn't a 100% sure way to protect yourself from these types of claims since it is not the first to file a patent that gets protection but rather the first to think it up and document it informally that gets the IP ownership of an idea. Such a claim happended to eBay once it became highly successful and I understand they had to settle with the guy making the claim in order to stay in business. You might also want to survey restaurant owners to see if they would process orders this new way. And if they see an upside for them in faster table turn-around, for example. Good luck.
Thanks. I've also been concerned about the 'prior invention' claims. I have informally recorded the idea nad the date by sending it to myslef back when I first had the idea last year. And in fact apple computer just filed a patent on a very similar idea, so we'll see if they get it. The VC firm that I'm trying to work with wants me to apply for a patent and maybe my idea will have unique features that others have not yet had. I intentionally kept the unique, interesting features out of the survey so be sure that your ideas to make it better will definately be a part of the service.
