Forming an Opportunity Belief

Beginning point: I believe that an opportunity exists in the expansion of cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating chemical derived from cannabis, medical treatments currently used on humans to animals.

Describing the belief: The unmet need of this opportunity is for veterinary medication that is organic, all-natural, and does not have the negative side-effects traditionally associated with painkillers and other pharmaceuticals. This need is found primarily in those who have pets, specifically those with animals that are either old, ill, or genetically prone to debilitating illnesses. This need has always existed, there have always been medical issues associated with pets, especially those that are old. Currently, this need is being met with traditional pharmaceuticals, both those aimed at animals as well as those aimed at humans which are prescribed to animals in reduced doses. At this point I am about 80% sure that this opportunity exists. If it does not it is not because there is no need but because that need has already been met in this way.

Prototypical customer #1: This customer, my mom, is a pet-owner first and foremost. She also has multiple animals that are getting into old age and beginning to experience side-effects relating to that such as seizures and joint pain. One of her animals, a doberman, is genetically predisposed towards hip and joint problems due to its large size.

Iteration #1:
Q: Why might you have a use for an all-natural, CBD-based treatment for your animals?
A: "I've done a little bit of research on CBD and animals, and have found that it can be particularly useful in cases associated with aging. We have older animals in our household and I think the first consideration would be the method of delivery, if it were easy to mix into food and promote better health for them all around, I would much prefer that to having to force pills or skin treatments on them."
Q: Under what circumstances are you made aware of the potential of this treatment, how often?
A: "I've experienced a need for this at an increasing rate as my animals have gotten older, but would also consider it for younger animals experiencing similar problems. My inclination is to say that I would use it regularly and I find myself more and more interested based on the needs of our animals."
Q: How long have you thought about the use of CBD treatments?
A: "I would say it's been a month or two since the need has expressed itself, but it's only been a week or so since I was exposed to the idea of CBD treatments for humans after going to a pharmacy that sells non-traditional treatments for humans."
Q: How long ago did you first consider the use of CBD treatments for your pets, why?
A: "It crossed my mind while searching for some treatments for some of my husbands ailments recently, and after learning it could be helpful for him it was easy to extrapolate that it might be useful for my animals as well."
Q: How are you currently addressing the treatment of your pets' medical issues, are you satisfied with your current options?
A: "I'm currently addressing the medical needs of my animals through the use of traditional medicines. We use sedatives in a pill form for one dog that is experiencing seizures, and a gel-based medicine for another animal that is experiencing thyroid problems. I am satisfied with these treatments because they work and alleviate pain and negative symptoms from the animals, but the manner of use and side-effects do not satisfy me. It is often difficult to administer pills to the dogs, and the pills often change their behavior for the worse, making them sluggish. The gels also are often toxic if accidentally ingested, making it necessary to closely watch them during treatment."

Prototypical customer #2: This customer, my girlfriend, runs a non-profit which seeks to neuter feral cats, treat sick ferals, and find people to adopt those ferals that are able to be socialized with humans. She is also a pet-owner herself, and one of her animals, a dog, is quite old, with lasting injuries from being hit by a car as a puppy. She is also very interested in all-natural medicines for her animals.

Iteration #2:
Q: Why might you have a use for an all-natural, CBD-based treatment for your animals?
A: "My organization treats cats with suffering from numerous different ailments, from small things such as cuts from fighting to the accumulated wear of old age and living as a feral outdoors. CBD treatments would see a lot of use in our organization: not only could we use it to treat animals recovering from neutering and other potentially painful surgeries, but we could also use it in treating cats that are older and may not adjust well to the side-effects of traditional medications in their old age."
Q: Under what circumstances are you made aware of the potential of this treatment, how often?
A: The frequency of which I am made aware of the potential of CBD treatment is not very often, but when I am the possibilities of this treatment are obvious. Most often this comes when we are treating an animal that requires expensive medications. Although we work with local vets and get discounts on commonly used medications, CBD treatments would be more efficient and cost-effective given their wide applicability."
Q: How long have you thought about the use of CBD treatments?
A: "I have been thinking about the use of CBD treatments for some time, especially as their availability for humans as increased in the past few months here in Florida."
Q: How long ago did you first consider the use of CBD treatments for your pets, why?
A: "I first considered CBD treatment for my own animals, as well as the charges of my organization, after another woman involved in our rescue group mentioned her exploration of the topic. She is also curious about all-natural treatments, and has helped to incorporate such treatments for things like fleas and mites into the organization."
Q: How are you currently addressing the treatment of your pets' medical issues, are you satisfied with your current options?
A: "The day-to-day needs of the organization's cats are handled through certain all-natural remedies that help with flea removal, but outside of those we have to rely on traditional medications such as ear and eye drops, which can be difficult to administer to feral cats. I also have a dog that suffers from diabetes and behavioral issues due to being hit by a car as a puppy, and I treat the diabetes with injected insulin just like a person would. I am satisfied with these because the current treatments do help, but they are just so hard to administer, especially on a large scale. It's taxing."

Prototypical customer #3: This customer, my aunt, is also a pet-owner, and also has experience with older animals and the medical issues they can experience. Although her older cat passed away some time ago, she has younger ones that could potentially benefit from treatments as well.

Iteration #3:
Q: Why might you have a use for an all-natural, CBD-based treatment for your animals?
A: "Although all of my animals that I currently have are young and healthy, I had a cat before them that lived to be roughly twenty years old, and as he got older and older the health issues I had to deal with, and the medicines prescribed for those issues, became a lot to deal with considering his age. I have also heard that CBD can be used to treat more everyday ailments, so it could be useful before my current pets reach old age."
Q: Under what circumstances are you made aware of the potential of this treatment, how often?
A: I have mostly been made aware of the potential of CBD treatments from the human side of things. As cannabis has been legalized in my state for medical purposes, there has been more and more news coverage and publicity regarding the medical benefits of cannabis, as well as its derivatives like CBD. Lately this publicity has reached me pretty often, especially since I frequently travel out of the state for work."
Q: How long have you thought about the use of CBD treatments?
A: "I have thought about the use of CBD treatments quite a bit recently. I think I certainly would have considered their use when Louie was still alive, but that was a few years ago, and the use of CBD to treat illness in people has only really reached my area in the past year or so."
Q: How long ago did you first consider the use of CBD treatments for your pets, why?
A: "I only considered the use of CBD for my pets fairly recently when one of them seemed to be having some leg pains after spending some time outdoors. The pains ended up passing without issue but CBD as an option has stuck with me."
Q: How are you currently addressing the treatment of your pets' medical issues, are you satisfied with your current options?
A: "Currently I have a wonderful vet who I go to for my cats' healthcare needs. Thankfully none of them have experienced anything too serious, and when something has come up the vet has generally prescribed traditional medicines that have worked out well. I am definitely satisfied with these options so far, but it is nice to know that there are options out there that may be better for my cats' quality of life once they grow a bit older."

Reflection: I learned a lot of useful information from these interviews, some of which was very surprising. Probably the most significant thing to come out of the three iterations was that they really illustrated just how widely applicable CBD treatments are for anybody, but especially animals. This was not surprising to me, but the confirmation helped in further forming my opportunity belief. What was surprising to me was how widely circulated information about CBD has become. Although I picked people to interview who I knew were fairly knowledgeable about animal healthcare, typically out of necessity, I was not expecting all three people to have such extensive knowledge on the topic. It does make sense, however, given how quickly CBD treatment is growing as a medical field for humans. Another thing that stuck out to me as significant, and surprising, is how dissatisfied many people are with traditional medicines for their animals. Pets are like family members to practically everybody who owns one, and it seems that like with people, pet-owners are willing to explore any option, even ones that are relatively new, in the hopes of making their animals' lives better.

Summary: After conducting my interviews, I think it is safe to say that not only is the majority of my opportunity belief still there, but it's even stronger than when I started. These interviews confirmed to me that this is something people want and need for their pets, especially as traditional medicines become even more expensive. The only way in which these interviews might have changed my opportunity belief negatively at all is that, just based on the sheer amount of interest from the interviewees and their knowledge of these treatments, I would be surprised if there weren't already products in this field of medicine aimed at pets. I do believe, though, that the interviews have made my opportunity belief more accurate. A large part of this newfound accuracy comes from the knowledge I learned in my interviews, mostly the parts regarding what CBD treatments can be used for. I knew they had applications as painkillers and sedatives from research I'd done regarding CBD treatment of people, but I had no idea that the treatment was so widely applicable. Based on this whole experience, I think there is a happy medium to be found regarding how much opportunity beliefs should change based on the input of consumers. Changing too much to fit the consumers could easily backfire, especially if it turns out that the changes the focus group wants are not ones that are popular on a larger scale. However, not changing at all can be dangerous. Changes might not be necessary, but if they are necessary then it is certainly important to at least consider those changes.