20 - Social Capital

Domain Expert: Josh
1. Josh is a sales rep at KIWI, a shoe care brand that makes cleaning products.
2. He sells this brand to local shoe stores and retail chains. He knew a great deal about the shoe care market.
3. Found through calling SC Johnson, the brands holding company, sales line.
4. I explained to him my theoretical product idea and asked if he had heard of something like it before. He said KIWI actually sells a whitening product, a product that works on leather, canvas, and vinyl shoes. He also explained that this product was not a cleaner, that you must clean the shoes first then apply the re-whitening polish.
5. Having the knowledge that there is a well established competitor out there is priceless to a business. Knowing how their product functions and how much it is sold for ($5.50 retail) was vital information.

Market Expert: Ryan Greene
1. Ryan Greene is my friend from my hometown who is a manager at a PacSun there. PacSun is a shoes and clothing store that my target segment shops at frequently.
2. Ryan has worked at PacSun for years and has worked his way up all the way to managing a store. He sees what is most popular and interacts with the segment I am targeting.
3. He is an old friend who was a few grades ahead of me in high school. I still had his number saved in my phone and gave him a call.
4. I told him all about my product and asked how well he thought it would do in the store. He said that they currently did not sell anything like my product in the store and that some people could really use it. Also, he said some of the most popular shoes in the store are any of the white Vans, mainly because they are so cheap and easily replaced.
5. Having an insider who knows what sells and doesn't sell to my target market is a great thing to have. Also, there is potential that as a manger he could have some say in what products could be sold there.

Industry Supplier: Katherine
1. Katherine is a sales rep at a manufacturing company named Ball. Ball manufactures aerosol cans for companies such as Dove and Axe.
2. Katherine was very knowledgeable about the products Ball manufactured and their uses.
3. I was put through to her after making a general inquiry on Ball's website.
4. My inquiry explained my product and if it could be used in an aerosol can. I got a response back saying that most cleaning products, even foaming ones, could be placed in their aerosol cans. She also explained that they do not directly do sales with shoe cleaning companies, but does see why they could not.
5. Having contact with someone like Katherine is crucial to getting your product into the market. My product has to be placed into something, like aerosol cans, and having this contact is a great start to getting my product into the market.


Finding these contacts was more difficult than I thought it would be. Especially now with most people not working, I was surprised I got in touch with anyone. It was also hard to think of who i should contact as experts in this field. I still believe though, that I found great people who knew a lot about what they were doing and were willing to give me the information I wanted. This assignment showed me the benefits of having connections to people as a way to further your opportunity.