We Gopher You

When I think back to my very first "business idea" I am reminded of a group project in 10th grade. My teacher was Mr. Vashaw and it was an Advertising class. We had to come up with a new business plan and idea. I remember feeling fully engaged in the project and I think it was then, that I new Marketing was my gig!

I graduated in 1991, so the year would have been 1989 which would put me at 16 years of age. It's funny because I think the idea that we (because there is no I in team) came up with then might still be relevant and viable today. The name of our business was "We Gopher You". It was a service business where we would basically run your errands for you. You guessed it, our company logo was built around a character drawing of a gopher. I can still picture the rendering, an animated gopher whose legs were moving so fast you could only see a blurry whirlwind where his legs should be...kind of like the Road Runner or While E. Coyote during one of their notorious games of cat and mouse.

So here we are in 2009 and I wonder how many people out there would pay a little extra to have their dry cleaning picked up and dropped off or their dinner delivered from their favorite carry out place or perhaps have someone stop by with a replenishment of eggs, butter and milk. Sure its cheaper to run your own errands but who in this microwave society has time to do that?

Since 1989 thanks to the Internet things have went the way of "instant delivery". We have Netflix, Itunes, snapfish and FreshDirect but until someone can pick up my pet from the groomer, take my holiday packages to UPS or grab me a six pack of beer then I think there might be a niche market waiting to be tapped.

I do have to admit, it may be a shrinking market but because it stands out in my memory as my first idea I thought I would be re missed to not acknowledge it. Who knows, maybe you'll "gopher it" maybe you won't.

Until my next idea,

Matthew

“Today convenience is the success factor of just about every type of product and service that is showing steady growth.” - Charles G. Mortimer

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