Reading Week 15

1) There wasn't anything surprising in the article
2) There wasn't anything confusing about the reading
3) Has there been any situation where updating the technology was not the smart thing to do? What in your entrepreneurial experience made you realize how important customer loyalty was?
4) I don't disagree with anything

Final Reflection

1)
2) I think my most formative experience would have to be the free money assignment. Just the whole idea of giving money away just cause, was a weird concept and it was even weirder in action. I'm probably most proud of the venture concept because I didn't really believe in my business, but putting it all together made it more than I expected.
3) I have definitely moved closer to the entrepreneurial mindset.
4) I would tell future students of this class to make sure they time manage this class, or it will get overwhelming. They definitely should make this fun, it's not a super serous course, they should feel free to make it their own.

Elevator Pitch 3

Venture Concept 2

My business venture is at its core a company that works with colleges and the restaurants on their campus to develop an app to provide pre-ordering services to customers.

Opportunity: Currently on UF’s campus there are over a dozen different type of restaurants available for students during the day, and some over-night. The restaurants are popular chains that become very bus y during the day when college life is at its busiest. The restaurants however, do not have a way for students to pre-order the food/coffee they want and pick up when it’s ready. This leaves college students whose schedules are jammed packed during the day without an opportunity to get the food that they want. This decreases the amount of business the restaurant could possibly have, and taking away a future customer because of it.

·         The forces in the environment that are creating this opportunity are the school class periods, and the growing need for college students to be involved in multiple programs in order to give them the edge that they need to get a good job the competitive job market. This leaves them with little time, but doesn’t take away the desire to order food from Chik-fil-a, or coffee from Starbucks.

·         Geographically the market is defined on campus, demographically the market is colleges without to-go app abilities within their campus.

·         Currently students who don’t have time are not buying on –campus. Some customers might be ordering things off-campus from different locations. Since there is no other use because there is no other application like this on campus, the potential customers aren’t loyal to anyone else.

·         This has a large potential to increase customer reach.

·         I think the “window of opportunity” will be open until someone else comes in and does it. With people relying more and more on technology every year it is inevitable for this to be the next step.

Innovation: The To-Go app is an innovated version of the traditional walk in to-goes. Currently if someone wants to order something from the restaurants on campus they have to go in wait in line, wait for their food. It doesn’t sound too complicated, but with the app it saves people n a hurry time, and it opens up the opportunity to get food for the people who don’t have the time to waste. It allows for someone to have their food ready to go and paid for by the time they reach the restaurant. It cuts out the time consumption from waiting. With real time notifications, you can order something and know exactly when you need to be there to get in and get out quickly with your order. The business itself, or the profit portion, is a service provided to the campus to buy, similar to paying for construction. We research for efficiency, build it, and maintenance it based on customer feedback. From there it’s the universities, but if something goes wrong, we’re the ones who come in and fix it.

Venture Concept: The business innovation will address the opportunity by solving the problem of not having enough time. The whole innovation is based off the ability to reduce the amount of time, for the customer, during the process of ordering, buying, and receiving food/coffee. I believe that customer will want this because it is an opportunity for the restaurants on campus to make more money. Since the business is aimed towards colleges themselves, I think that with student interest the college itself will become interested.

·         I think customers will use this because it fits in the picture of college lifestyle along with a step into a more efficient future. Since the college is switching to anything, but rather adopting something new I don’t think it will be very hard to convince them.

·         My competitors are similar apps outside campus’ that might want to extend inside. I think their vulnerabilities are their focus. I don’t think they’re focused on this market.

·         Customer support, I believe, will be the biggest aspect of producing and maintaining this app. It is the biggest seller because it takes away the responsibility from the university, and customer support for apps similar to this is the backbone to any app.

·         The business would involve multiple programmers, and researchers that would develop and design the app in order to best fit the customer. Then would be the face of the company, or the person/people who would sell the idea to colleges and advertise it to others. Then the person in charge who made sure everything was running smoothly.

Minor Elements:

1.      My most important resource would be the fact that so far no one else has tried to get in on this possible opportunity. Basically being at the head of the race.

2.      After developing the app, I would hope to be part of the beginning processes of restaurants coming to campuses. This way we could organize the store itself to optimize the flow of traffic to accommodate both app orders and in-store orders.

I've changed my customers to include my potential customers, and have just kind of went over everything to make sure it flowed.

Week 14 Reading

1. There were no surprises.
2. There wasn't anything confusing
3. Do you think ethical values can hinder a businesses success? Do you think this is the mindset of some entrepreneurs?
4. There wasn't anything I disagreed about.

Google Gold

1. I did not do anything to pursue SEO.
2. Since I didn't pursue SEO I didn't choose particular key words.
3. I didn't really use social media to promote my blog. I used youtube to upload videos, but other than that I didn't have any outlets.
4. Venture Concept 1 was my most viral post, I can't be for sure why because I didn't make that post any more special than my others. I'm guessing it's probably just coincidence.
5. Since I didn't have keywords that would ave gotten me first page. It would take hours to find my blog because of how many results there were, so I'm going to estimate that I'm past page 100.

VERY Short Interview

I think that the initial interview was a really good look at an overview of what it's like being an entrepreneur. It didn't get too deep, but it didn't leave me guessing what I was going to learn in this class.

Do you have an exit strategy for your business? I want to sell the bar, but in this economy it's a lot harder than just having a desire to sell. A lot of it is about the timing, and it's just not the right time.

Would you ever try to own your own business after you're done with the one you have right now? Maybe. Owning your own business can be a struggle, but there are perks. I think if I found the right business idea in the right place that I would definitely give it a second thought.

What made you start the business in the first place? The idea of being my own boss was somewhat exciting, and I had a friend who help convince me that this would be an adventure.

I feel like my questions now were more of what I thought was interesting about what he had to say versus last time where I asked questions that I thought were the "right" questions. The entrepreneur said that they felt like I had a better concept of everything that goes on in a business than before, so I guess you can say they thought I progressed.

Week 13 Reading

1. How much goes into selling a company.
2. Nothing was confusing
3. Should a business get outside help to value their company? Does valuing your company necessarily guarantee that much money when you sell?
4. There wasn't anything I disagreed with.

Celebrating Failure

1. Over this past semester I've failed at waking up on time for my 830 class multiple times.
2. I learned that missing a math class does not help you learn math, and that I need to figure out a way to go to sleep sooner.
3. I think failure can be scary, but I also think that failure is needed for success. Without failure you never grow as a person because you never challenge yourself to persevere. I've always held this idea that failing isn't a bad thing even before this class (had to write an essay on it once), so this class has only really reinforced an idea that I believed in.

 

Exit Strategy

1. My exit strategy would be to sell the business in a few years after its foundation was strong enough to support future endeavors.
2. I would sell because owning my own business isn't what I want to spend my life doing. I have other ambitions, other plans for my future.
3. My exit strategy has definitely put my focus on doing just the basics. Not extending too far, or putting in effort that would take too much time. My exit strategy makes sure that whoever has the business next has room to explore and innovate the basic concept.

Week 12 Reading

1. That entrepreneurs don't do strategic planning when they're creating a business.
2. There wasn't anything confusing
3. Has any of your opinions changed since writing this chapter? Do entrepreneurs have to be managerial?
4. There isn't anything that I disagree with.

What's Next?

1. I think the next step for the app is to improve the functions of the app itself to make it easier for people to use, but until I create the app and beta test it I won't know what those improvements are.

2.

3. What makes most sense is to grow my business past the campus boundaries. I have to expand to restaurants who are little known or who would improve by going on a To-Go type app. I think that as the app grows it's obvious that I'll need to improve the flow of the app itself to make it more user friendly.

1. My radically different group are people not on campus, or over the age of 25.

2. I think my app could expand geographically to other restaurants outside of a campus.

3.

.

4. I learned that this new market could be possible, and I could reach out to other schools and even businesses. What surprised me was that it could be a legitimate market because I never considered how people during their work would need something fast to eat because of how little time they get for lunch every day. My assumption about different school levels being interested in an app like this.This is an attractive venture for the app.

Venture Concept 1

My business venture is at its core a company that works with colleges and the restaurants on their campus to develop an app to provide pre-ordering services to customers.

Opportunity: Currently on UF’s campus there are over a dozen different type of restaurants available for students during the day, and some over-night. The restaurants are popular chains that become very bus y during the day when college life is at its busiest. The restaurants however, do not have a way for students to pre-order the food/coffee they want and pick up when it’s ready. This leaves college students whose schedules are jammed packed during the day without an opportunity to get the food that they want. This decreases the amount of business the restaurant could possibly have, and taking away a future customer because of it.

·         The forces in the environment that are creating this opportunity are the school class periods, and the growing need for college students to be involved in multiple programs in order to give them the edge that they need to get a good job the competitive job market. This leaves them with little time, but doesn’t take away the desire to order food from Chik-fil-a, or coffee from Starbucks.

·         Geographically the market is defined on campus, demographically the market is colleges without to-go app abilities within their campus.

·         Currently students who don’t have time are not buying on –campus. Some customers might be ordering things off-campus from different locations. Since there is no other use because there is no other application like this on campus, the potential customers aren’t loyal to anyone else.

·         This has a large potential to increase customer reach.

·         I think the “window of opportunity” will be open until someone else comes in and does it. With people relying more and more on technology every year it is inevitable for this to be the next step.

Innovation: The To-Go app is an innovated version of the traditional walk in to-goes. Currently if someone wants to order something from the restaurants on campus they have to go in wait in line, wait for their food. It doesn’t sound too complicated, but with the app it saves people n a hurry time, and it opens up the opportunity to get food for the people who don’t have the time to waste. It allows for someone to have their food ready to go and paid for by the time they reach the restaurant. It cuts out the time consumption from waiting. With real time notifications, you can order something and know exactly when you need to be there to get in and get out quickly with your order. The business itself, or the profit portion, is a service provided to the campus to buy, similar to paying for construction. We research for efficiency, build it, and maintenance it based on customer feedback. From there it’s the universities, but if something goes wrong, we’re the ones who come in and fix it.

Venture Concept: The business innovation will address the opportunity by solving the problem of not having enough time. The whole innovation is based off the ability to reduce the amount of time, for the customer, during the process of ordering, buying, and receiving food/coffee. I believe that customer will want this because it is an opportunity for the restaurants on campus to make more money. Since the business is aimed towards colleges themselves, I think that with student interest the college itself will become interested.

·         I think customers will use this because it fits in the picture of college lifestyle along with a step into a more efficient future. Since the college is switching to anything, but rather adopting something new I don’t think it will be very hard to convince them.

·         My competitors are similar apps outside campus’ that might want to extend inside. I think their vulnerabilities are their focus. I don’t think they’re focused on this market.

·         Customer support, I believe, will be the biggest aspect of producing and maintaining this app. It is the biggest seller because it takes away the responsibility from the university, and customer support for apps similar to this is the backbone to any app.

·         The business would involve multiple programmers, and researchers that would develop and design the app in order to best fit the customer. Then would be the face of the company, or the person/people who would sell the idea to colleges and advertise it to others. Then the person in charge who made sure everything was running smoothly.

Minor Elements:

1.      My most important resource would be the fact that so far no one else has tried to get in on this possible opportunity. Basically being at the head of the race.

2.      After developing the app, I would hope to be part of the beginning processes of restaurants coming to campuses. This way we could organize the store itself to optimize the flow of traffic to accommodate both app orders and in-store orders.

3.      In the next five years I plan on being in a developing country helping bring/ teach sustainable practices and needed resources. As for this business in the next five years, I hope the college realizes this opportunity and takes advantage of it. 

Reading Week 11

1.The biggest surprise was how diverse an innovation strategy can be for companies.
2. There wasn't anything particularly confusing in the article.
3. If Corning tried to get into business with something other than glass, like service based business, would it have been so successful? Would Corning have stretched itself too thin?
4. There wasn't anything I disagreed with the author about.

The Amazon Whisperer

1. My business is a company that works with campus restaurants to create a to-go app. The revenue comes from the service itself.
2. Since my business is creating the app for different restaurants, my next step to expand the business would be reach out to other universities. I'm not sure how I would expand the app itself.
3. The next thing expands my customer reach. It opens up my service to more places, therefore bringing the product to more people.
4.
5.
6. I'm not sure what design/usability changes I'd make to the app, only because I haven't created it in the first place. I don't know what it would need, what bugs it would have, what would make it more user friendly.
7. Other than expanding the reach of the service I don't have any other additions, and the expansion would be beneficial just for the fact that it's expanding the company.

My Venture's Unfair Advantage

My 10 unfair advantages are as follows:
1. I've made an unoriginal idea original for at least UF. I didn't invent anything, I didn't even create the concept, but it appears I'm the only one that saw the need to bring already developed technology and ideas to UF.
2. I not only saw the idea, but currently I'm doing assignments to improve the idea, so that one day it can be possible.
3. I've not only seen the idea, am doing assignments on the idea, but on top of that if you're reading this I'm currently marketing the idea. (please see previous posts for said idea)
4. I'm a college student, therefore I know I should wait in line for things I want, but life is stressful enough with exams, term papers, and unnecessary homework so I see the need to have at least one tiny victory of quick to-go Starbucks.
5. With the desire to have those minuscule victories, I'm more motivated to hope that this will one day take form into something legitimate.
6. I'm so broke that people will take pity on me and give me money. (I'm not naive I'm a dreamer).
7. I have friends.
8. I do not fear failure I embrace it, and move on cause lets be honest I don't really plan on doing this.
9. I have great endurance (except for running, dear God I hate running). I can endure through anything life throws at me. I mean eventually whatever obstacle comes will pass, and if it doesn't pass I'll just move around it because I don't actually have time to wait I'm an adult now, time is a figment of my imagination.
10. I have a sense of humor that allows me to make it through the lists of things I am forced to do. It doesn't mean I don't take things seriously, I'm just not going to lose my chance at living happily in the moment while I'm busy trying to make a future.

I think number one is my most valuable only because no one else, as far as I know, has approached this idea for college campus'. Therefore it leaves an untapped market.

Reading 10

1. I found the break-even analysis very interesting in this chapter.
2. There wasn't anything I found confusing
3. I would ask him what decision making tool is best for a service app? And, how would you budget a nonprofit?
4. There wasn't anything I disagreed about with the author

Elevator Pitch 3

This time I made sure to do the pitch standing. I tried to add everything I needed, but honestly after the like hundredth time I filmed it I was kind of just tired. I thought all the feedback from my previous pitch was helpful and I tried to be mindful of it when I was doing this one.

Week 9 reading

1. The thing that stood out the most was how much power the consumer has in today's market.
2. The only confusing part was how entrepreneurs have different philosophies. I would think each one of the three types would be important to every entrepreneur.
3. Is it possible to stumble upon a market without realizing it? How often do markets change, like an item that was once so useful become obsolete for that market?
4. There wasn't anything I thought the author was wrong about.

Secret Sauce

1. I think my five things that make me different are my ability to understand both sides of a situation while remaining unbiased, my extreme competitive nature, my innate desire to help out and make a difference, my sense of humor, and my determination.

I think that some of my friends had similar answers to me. Some of the things they said were very true, but I didn't think to put them in my top five. I think the differences were because I was trying to overthink it, while they just kind of said whatever came to mind.

Idea napkin 2

1. I don't expect this business idea to go past this class, if I was being absolutely honest.
2. The product is an app that works with college campus restaurants to mobilize their business allowing customers to order their product online and pick it up. The concept is seen in many businesses, but hasn't really hit the potential on campus.
3. I'm offering it to college students.
4. College students are constantly in a hurry, this would allow them to get that quick cup of coffee that they normally wouldn't because the lines are always too long.
5. What sets this app apart is the fact that it hasn't been done yet. An unmet market.

I believe these points definitely cover the basics of my app, but the points are like the basics compared to what a business plan would include. The only thing that I can think of that clashes is the ability to create this app in the first place. To be honest, the restaurants work with the college and the college has access to everything it needs to make this happen. I 'm not sure why it hasn't happened yet, nut I'm pretty sure a petition or simply bringing it to the college's attention would probably set the ball rolling.

Half-way reflection

1. I have used my determination and perseverance to keep up with the requirements of this course.
2. I felt like giving up a few times. Particularly when this class seemed like an excessive amount of work, and I didn't have the time to do some assignments. I do think I've become more tenacious especially when assignments became overwhelming
3. My three tips are !) know what you're getting into before you get into it 2) something is better than nothing 3)Godspeed

Free Money

For the free money project I decided to stay in my apartment and walk up to people in the hallways or knock on there door and hand them the dollar. I didn't really want a long conversation, I wanted to make it quick so as to leave them in shock. I think that most people will take the money because why not?

I wasn't surprised at the shock of most of them, although the second video kind of freaked me out. I found out that they heard me knock on someone else's door and decided to act crazy if I knocked on their door. Giving away the dollar was harder because I don't always carry cash on me so when I do it feels good, and now I don't have anymore cash.All of the people took the money though with some hesitation.

Week 7 reading reflection

1.What stood out most was how products have changed from things that solve unmet needs, to variations in already existing products.
2. I was confused at how you would apply segmentation in certain circumstances.
3. Are there any scenarios in which segmentation is unnecessary? What do you think advertising is going to become in twenty years?
4. There wasn't anything I disagreed with.

Elevator Pitch 2

For my pitch what stood out as the most important aspects were adding the payment portion of the app, which was what people commented about on my previous pitch. Other than that I didn't change much, except for the beginning hook. 

Round 3 Interviews

1. I plan on asking them about their on campus restaurant experiences.

The interviews are just reaffirming the need for a better ordering system for on-campus restaurants.

Idea napkin #1

1. My aspirations for this business is for it to evolve into something more concrete before the class is over. I see this business probably ending by the time this class ends, though.
2. My product is an app that connects with on-campus restaurants allowing the users to order and then pick up the food/coffee to-go. This will allow students who are in a hurry to get their orders quicker.
3. My customer's are college students. More specifically college students who usually don't have enough time to grab coffee or food.
4. People will use my product because of how convenient it is.
5. The product hasn't been developed enough to truly know what sets it apart, other than the fact that it hasn't been done yet.

I think the weaker aspects of my product are the financial portions of the app. I feel that financials are always hard to work out.

Round 2 of interviews. *ding ding ding

1.Since my first interviews I've found that people actually think my idea is viable.
2. I think my interviews last time were good. This time though I liked that two o mine were group interviews because I think they reacted well together. It was also more comfortable to answer in a group.
3. I didn't change my questions much, but this time I reacted to their answers to get them to expand on them.

I think now my idea would bring more customers to on campus restaurants. My tips or interviewing would be to ask if they're in a hurry first and foremost. Another tip would be to vary how many people you ask at a time because it brings in new dynamics. My last tip would be to just go for it.

Elevator Pitch

My app , To-Go, will offer students on a college campus the chance to order their Starbucks coffee, or Chik-Fil-A french fries on an app, and then pick the food/beverage at the restaurant right away.

Customer Interview

After interviewing five people, and four of the five liking the idea of ordering food and coffee on an app and picking it up, I think that it's a viable idea. Truthfully it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. People were fine with doing a short thirty second interview, and some of them were even flattered.

Week 4 Reading

Questions
1&2-I didn't have anything surprising or confusing this week because I've been to seminars on corporate entrepreneurial innovation. A lot of the things the author talks about are what they covered in the lectures, so nothing really shocked me because I had heard it all before. Same goes for confusing, because I had heard it before nothing caught me off guard.

3. What is the best reward for corporate entrepreneuring? What case studies supported yur claim about the need for innovation in corporations?

4. There isn't anything I disagree with.

The 5 Tops

Top five world problems:

1. Sanitary water
2. World hunger
3. Lack of education
4. Arms race
5. Gender equality

Solutions to above world problems in order of practicability:

1. Building and maintaining wells
2. Providing funds to build schools and train educators
3. Teaching locals ways to grow crops
4. Implementing laws that protect women from discrimination (developing countries), and updating current laws that call for gender equality to better facilitate fair treatment.
5. I don't have a solution for arms race because I don't think there's a technical way to solve a country from dangerously advancing weaponry.

I chose sanitary water as the top world problem because water is the basis for human life. If someone doesn't have access to it then every other problem soon becomes obsolete. If a child gets education, health care, equality, or freedom what does it matter if he/she is going to die of dehydration or diseases related to unclean water. I think sometimes water is overlooked as important which is funny because if you look at every major city or any ancient villages they all have one thing in common, they're near a body of water. I also believe that solving the water crisis is the easiest to implement because of the relatively low costs of building and maintaining a well. "The Thirst Project", a nonprofit organization, builds wells in Swaziland and has tied the access to clean water to decrease in mortality, an increase in community health, and an increase in child education (those who previously had to spend all day gathering water instead of going to the local school). The children who spent eight hours a day collecting unsanitary water were mostly girls, which means they now have a chance to get an education increasing the likelihood of a more gender equal outlook in developing countries.Though some of these countries have finite underground water resources, as technology develops so does the access to more water. For example, there is now a water bottle that captures humidity and liquefies it. Soon technology could find a way to make finite sources of water more sustainable.

Entrepreneurship book reflection

Identifying Local Problems

Taxpayers out $1.9 million to exit parking garage deal

Recently the city of Gainesville has paid out a local business owner for the South West Downtown parking garage. The payout will be 1.9 billion taxpayers dollars. The garage will then be used by an eight story hotel that is to be built on a parcel of land adjacent to the parking garage.The problem lies with whether or not the payout will be a waste of taxpayer dollars. Taxpayers are unsure whether or not this deal will be beneficial in the end.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160121/ARTICLES/160129902/1003/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

Women cops hope to arrest sexist behavior in GPD

Women in the GPD have taken actions to report and expose the sexism inside the department. They've reported people like Capt. Brian Helmerson who has retired rather than facing termination. It  appears that the women have been going through harassment for years, but pushed it aside as insignificant. Until the women compared stories did they realize that it wasn't a small matter and tha something had to be done. The department is instituting sexual harassment seminars, and promoting more awareness into the matter in the department.

  http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160123/ARTICLES/160129860/1002/news01?p=1&tc=pg

Rally to Protect Paynes Prairie

Supporters of Payne's Prairie have gathered together to protest Governor Rick Scott, who has, over the years, reduced State Park funds causing the parks to cut back on maintenance. They believe that when the parks reach critical states that he will then "rescue" them by leasing the lands to timber companies, and cattle ranchers and hunters. This will make him seem like a hero for parks, and slowly privatize public lands. The parks will soon become the victim of under funding, but eventually of pure profit.

http://fieldguide.blogs.gainesville.com/755/rally-to-protect-paynes-prairie/

Blaze destroys Monteocha family's home

The Gainey family lost there home to a fire. The cause is undetermined at this point, but the fire department believes it was unintentional. The Gainey family inherited the trailer from their grandfather, who recently passed away. 

 http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160122/ARTICLES/160129872/1002/news01?p=1&tc=pg

Woman bites off fingers of 89-year-old man

A woman assaulted a man at their group home. During trhis assault the woman bit off two of his fingers at the knuckles. he only statement she had was to confirm that she had bitten off his fingers. The man is at the hospital, and police reported that he sustained bruises and major blood loss.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160123/ARTICLES/160129852/1002/news01?Title=Woman-bites-off-fingers-of-89-year-old-man

Very Short Interview No. 1

I interviewed my roommates father who has owned a bar in Costa Rico for the past 15 years.

What makes you an entrepreneur?
I guess you can say I am a risk taker.  Opening a business in a third world country learning the culture the language and the politics of the country at the same time.  The key to being an entrepreneur is being flexible and dedicated to your business. Looking for a need and a solution or product that stands out from the rest.  As an entrepreneur you need to know every aspect of your business.

What was the worst experience you had as being an entrepreneur?
Dealing with corrupt government officials and inspectors looking for bribes.

What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur?
 I think a little more marketing might have helped.

Mr. De Vries has shown that some entrepreneurial adventures take a lot longer to pan out, and to see how it will turn out. He obviously got into a situation that had more surprises than ever expected, which is understandable since he's working in a foreign country. I thought it was cool though that with his outreach he learned a different language and fully immersed himself in a different culture to do what he wanted. I learned that if I ever try to do business in a foreign country that I should do research into their laws and regulations.