Assignment 20A: Growing Your Social Capital

PART 1 Domain Expert:

1. Klaus, working at a bike repair station since 20 years. I bought my bike there 1 year ago. The shop is not only a repair station. It’s also a second hand shop for bikes.
2. He fills the spot, because he is working in a repair station since 20 years where he treats the customer issues and helps to fix their bikes. 
3. Klaus already helped me as well fixing my bike. It is quite old so I already experienced several issues for example a broken light, or a ripped wheel, as well as a broken seat. I called the repair shop and introduced him my idea and asked him for his opinion.
4. Klaus and I had a really nice conversation but also quite quick because it is expensive to call a German number. I introduced him my idea of the heated bicycle seat cover and he really liked this idea. I also asked him about the implementation and he said it would be quite easy to construct the heatable seat. He suggests to connect the seat with the pedals for example through a wire to produce energy to be able to heat the seat. But he also likes the idea of the heatable pillow included in the cover because it might be even easier to implement.
5. Klaus could give me useful information concerning the implementation and might help me with the construction. If I would have any questions concerning the construction I can always ask him.

PART 2 Market Expert:

1. Johanna is employed at her father’s bike shop that offers numerous accessories to people riding the bike. They offer bike seat covers in different patterns and colors, bells for the bike or decoration for the hand grips as well as baskets for the bike, helmets or rain capes. She is working there officially since 3 years but actually she spent a lot time of her childhood in this shop and knows a lot about the customer needs.
2. She fills the spot because she exactly knows the customer needs and how to serve them to satisfy this need.
3. I know Johanna because I grew up with her and bought my normal bike seat cover and some other accessories there. 
4. Johanna and I talked about the customer need of heatable bike seat covers and additional to that heated hand grips. She really liked the idea because a lot of people are complaining about the cold seat in winter and cold hands because the gloves they wear are often not enough to keep the hands warm. 
5. She is going to ask her customers about the idea and will keep me updated about their opinion.

PART 3 Important Supplier:

1. Tessa, self-employed, is designing pencil cases, grain pillows, normal pillows and other objects. She is very familiar with sewing and knows a lot about textiles. Her study major was about textile management and fashion design.
2. She fills the spot, because she has already a lot of experiences with designing things, knows a lot about textiles and knows what kind of pattern people prefer. She also knows how to sew, for example a grain pillow.
3. I have already bought a several things from her and I am fascinated by the design and the quality. 
4. Tessa and I were talking about the implementation of heated bike seat covers that contain a grain pillow. We were talking about how to sew them and what patterns should be used for the covers. We were also talking about the patterns which are probably liked the most by the customers. She really likes my idea because she is also riding the bike daily and is annoyed by the cold seat in winter. She would be very happy about a solution for this issue.
5. Tessa can help me with the implementation. She is able to give me useful advice concerning the textiles and the sewing. She could also give me important information about the places where to buy the textiles for example.

REFLECTION:

This exercise thought me that it can be really helpful to ask people for their opinion. And I don’t mean study friends, I mean people working in a specific business or people who are self-employed. They often have a useful advice and important suggestions. Often they are also more critical than normal friends. This can help to build up a profitable business network. In the past I was focused on building up a personal network that had nothing to do with a business context. A business network can be helpful for starting an own business.