"The Twenty Percent"

For the 80/20 assignment, I decided to interview Alejandro Ortega, the owner of J&A Mart Plaza which is located in Lake Worth, Florida. J&A Mart Plaza consists of a gas station, and the two locations adjacent to it that are rented out to other entrepreneurs. This is a small business I that I had worked for over two years, so I already knew who the target customers were and what were their unmet need, so I was intrigued to interview Mr. Ortega since he has left someone in charge of the business in order to venture into other industries.

            During the two years working for Mr. Ortega, I became acquainted with the target market and the demographics of the customers. The costumer demographics are Hispanic and Haitian American that live within a 5-mile radius of the gas station. These are consumers who are attracted to the affordable gas prices that are the cheapest in a 10-mile radius, and also the authentic food that is being sold in the gas station.

On February 26, 2016 I gave a call to Mr. Ortega to ask for an interview, but he had a family emergency and he was unable to give me a face to face interview, but he was able to answer the questions via text messages.

The questions and answers for Mr. Ortega are below:

1.     Who do you think your target customers are?

a.     The target consumers are minorities, most specifically the Hispanic and Haitian community.

2.     What are the customer’s unmet needs?

a.     The unmet need is affordable gas and authentic Hispanic food that that is provided in my gas stations around the city.

3.     Where do they find their customers?

a.     We find the consumers without location, which is a mean street heading to the high way.

4.     What are the customer’s demographics?

a.     Hispanic Population

For the customers, I took a different stand. Since the customers were minorities, and some had difficulties with their accent when speaking English, I decided to ask the following questions. The questions were very straight forward, but it confirmed the demographics and the unmet needs that Mr. Ortega spoke on.

1.     Please tell me your age, and background

2.     How often do you go to J&A Mart Plaza?

3.     How did you become acquainted with J&A?

4.     How long have you been coming to this gas station?

5.     What is your unmet need?

Reflection: The owner understood the unmet need or the problem his target costumer has. For example, many gas stations are owned by corporations, but this one is owned by a Hispanic family that caters to minorities. Many of the target customer enjoys having Cuban coffee, and Mexican food as well as Cuban sandwiches, and other gas stations does not offer these food options, but J&A Mart Plaza does offer the food choices that caters to minorities, and the owner is very aware of this, and he has a variety of food option throughout the day. Also, one of the biggest problem that customer have is finding affordable gas, with a place to get food at the same time. 
Since the customers were uncomfortable in front of the cameras, I was able to speak to them on a more personal level, and they explained in detail that their biggest problem is finding a location where they can purchase food that resembles their own in a quick manner, and they enjoy atmosphere that is provided at the gas station for the same reasons. They can fill up gas, and purchase a tamale, or a cuban sandwich, and this is why this business has been successful against all odds. 
These same reason is why the owner keeps providing these food choices that he knows if he stops, his business will fail after 15 years.