11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

Isaiah Miller

UFID: 80191457

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

6/11/2020

I am a problem solver that likes to help and serve people, especially those in hard and stressful situations.  My primary talents are verbal communication, showing interest in others, problem solving, and delivering results under pressure.  I have skills in marketing and sales, including linguistics and phraseology, imagery, and identifying and employing effective sales methods.  I have experience leading virtual and in-person teams, and have sold millions of dollars of assets through digital marketplaces.  I see this business playing a meaningful role in my life, as I can work on a business that directly serves those facing challenging situations.  It is easy to see the direct impact this business would have on families, whereas other businesses I operate are pretty faceless. 

We are offering a vertically integrated service to families going through major life transitions, namely probate, divorce, foreclosure, and elder transitions.  The demographic ranges greatly, but the major SOI that referrals will come from include probate, estate and elder law, divorce, and bankruptcy attorneys, accountants, financial services professionals, elder-care facility operators, and social workers.  The demographics of our clients will range from families of those impacted, those struggling financially, and elder folks preparing for death or assisted-living.  The psychographics profile includes those of the parties above, and are highly dependent on the specific transition.  The primary commonality is the actual situation they are in. 

The families that we help care because they are facing a huge task list full of things that are brand new to them.  They essentially have a new job they have no training for, and their future bears on them making the right decisions, in the right order, at the right time.  One needs a shepherd for situations like these, and our team of experts can fill this role and act as an educator, guide, connector, and service provider to them.  We are the hub of the wheel of all of the information and services that they will need.  The best news is that the families we help don't pay us a dime out of their pocket.  We are compensated by monetizing the spokes, through real estate commissions, investment income from real and valuable personal property we acquire from them, and referral commissions when ethical.  This income is a direct result of the value we provide to the family. 

Our core competencies are problem solving, empathy, communication, and strategic planning.  What sets us apart from anybody else in the marketplace is our full-stack approach to these transitions, that provides value to the families and the other professionals involved, like attorneys, accountants, and more.  These other service providers can build trust and credibility with their clients by referring them to us when they see fit.  We have relationships with the best service-providers (some in-house, and some external) for every situation the families we help could be facing, and have done the interviewing for them so they don't have to.  We can guide them to the solutions that would best fit them, their personality, desired outcomes, and provide different options based on unique factors so that they can choose how they'd like to proceed.  

I believe that all of these elements fit together, and will offer a holistic, vertical solution to families facing uncharted waters.  Our communication skills allow us to build a network of the best referrers, service-providers, and also to effectively connect with the families in need.  We use our empathetic communication to show the families that we are truly here to guide them, and lead with value during the first contact.  Our strategic planning enables us to take the inputs we gather from the families' unique situations, and output a comprehensive, logical plan for the families to move forward.  Problem solving allows us to solve the families' needs in the ways they choose, and go with the flow as obstacles surface.  The one weakness I identified was blending empathy with logic and efficiency.  Sometimes it can be difficult to present efficient solutions without chapping somebody's ass, especially in emotional situations.  It is important to constantly recognize the fragility of the matter, and continually hand-hold and overly communicate.   Overall, most things fit together which is why this business is one of the most exciting for me to date.