Final Reflection

1.     I remember when spring semester first started this year. I was already looking forward to it weeks in advance because Fall semester had to be cut short due to personal reasons. I was so excited and once it was already here, it felt so grand and exciting. I was looking forward to starting my classes and meeting new people as well as making new friends. I wouldn’t say there was an ounce of an dread in me towards thie semester

2.     But then….we got hit with an unexpected pandemic and everything took a turn for the worst. Campuses and towns closed down and UF urged everyone to go back home and be with their families in a time of crisis. This is undoubtedly an experience that will be remembered forever. Our kids will learn about this pandemic in history books. This put a severe damper on all the spring semester had in store for all of us. It was quite disappointing might I say. There was so much perspective in my eyes for career events, clubs and gatherings, fitness events and so on. But again it all to be cut short, and who even knows when things are going to get better.

3.     Yes, I definitely feel like I have more of an entrepreneurial mindset. Although I would say coming into this class I already somewhat had one because of my prior entrepreneurial experience, this class definitely  enhanced and solidified that mindset even more than it was before.

4.     Watch the lectures because not only are they informative and relatable, but they are interesting and will really help you focus on getting that entrepreneurial mindset. Sitting down at libwest and watching lectures/taking notes was a highlight of my short spring semester experience this year. And the obvious, just make sure to stay on top of assignments to not fall behind.

29 Venture Concept NO.2

Opportunity:

-       Who has the need: students over the age of 18, people within the 18-40 age range, people who enjoy going out and overall nightlife.

-       Potential customers: people who like going to clubs and concerts, club owners, managers of venues, party and event planners

-       Nature of the need: to avoid losing essential items, getting items stolen, not enjoying time out because of extra baggage and constantly having to hold something or look over it.

What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?

-       People are constantly either losing their phones or keys or even worse getting things like a wallet stolen. These circumstances are never fun and are prone to causing a lot of stress for consumers as well as setting a bad reputation for the place in question.

How is the market defined geographically and demographically?

-       Ideally, a lot of places to where my product would fit involves clubs and venues that host events or concerts. These can be found from anywhere to big, urban cities to small college towns like Gainesville for example.

How are the customers currently satisfying this need?

-       They are either taking everything with them and shoving things in their pockets or holding in hand. Or they may not take anything with them at all; which looks good on the surface but during a night out can be a real inconvenience when trying to call or buy something and you just happen to not have your wallet with you.

How Big is this opportunity ?

-       Pretty big

How long will the window of opportunity be open?

-       Until something innovative combines a cellphone, keys, and wallet all in one.

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?

So they do not risk losing something of value or necessity. For example losing a phone or getting a wallet stolen will come out much more expenisve than just paying the small price to use my product.

28- Exit strategy

1.     For my exit strategy, if all goes well I do intend to sell my business for a large share. With this money I will save and invest into properties in several locations around the world. With the money I hopefully get from selling my business, I will once again invest it properly so that I know I have steady income coming in every month, as well as save some of that money to ensure I can sustain myself and retire at ease.

2.     I have selected this particular strategy because I do not want to be tied to one thing in one place for the rest of my life. With what I get from the share, this will allow me to explore places I have always wanted to see, invest in real estate and other businesses that might serve me well in the long-run as well.

3.     It has influenced me in terms of finding the right investors and partners that I know will help grow my business and help it accumulate more value over time. If you have the right business model and plan, along with the right team, then things should go relatively smooth for the most part, and the results in the long-run should be positive as well.

27- Reading Reflection No.3

1.     What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is selling less of more.

The general theme/argument of this book is essentially how “tomorrow’s” markets belong to those who can truly take advantage of them and all their needs and sectors. More so, this book is about the economics of abundance of a new and improved business model that is starting to sprout as new information about consumers wants and needs are prevailed.

2.     How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT3003?

This book connected with what was taught in this course because it shows how powerful the concept of “less is more” truly is. It also emphasizes what were to happen if everything in this consumer-driven world were to essentially become “available” and what would be the outcome of such a phenomenon. Although personally, I pretty much do think a lot of what consumers want and need is already available. But this book delves into how simple and practical innovations can be perceived differently by consumers as opposed to things being made through large corporations.

3.     If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

For starters, I would have each student pick out one very complex product or idea. Then I would have students get into groups and decide on one idea or product that they have each chosen. Next, I would ask for them to pick apart the idea/product and just pick it apart as much as they can so they have different parts to go off of. I would finally ask them to generate a product/idea off of what they have picked apart from that existing product or idea and try to make something simple off of just that one aspect they chose.

4.     What was your biggest surprise or ‘aha’ moment when reading the book? In other words what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

Something that surprised me was how consumers will pay more attentions to something small and simple when it was made by someone who are “small and simple.” Consumers are starting to drift away from the belief that everything made by large corporations is the best that their money can buy.

26- celebrating failure

 1.     Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed—whether in this class, or outside of class.

This semester sure had its ups as well as quite a few downs. Unfortunately with this unexpected pandemic that loomed over us this semester, a lot of things at least for me fell into question. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with how I am ending the semester in almost all of my classes. There is although on exception. Going into 2020 and picking out my schedule, I was excited about my courses and new professors, but there was one class I  was extremely nervous about and I had my doubts about how well I was going to do. Long story short I have been struggling with this class since the beginning of the semester, and the COVID-19 shift made things even worse. Studying at home is not nearly as productive or efficient as it is back on campus, not to mention it feels impossible to study when my mom is yelling at me every five seconds. It sucks to honestly say that I have to drop this class at the end of the semester because I do not want it affecting my GPA and having it tank.  It is also disappointing because I truly feel like I did the best that I could to try and pass this class. Maybe it was my mistake to take 18 credits in one semester.

2.     I learned that I should try and maybe work on bettering my time management skills when it comes to studying as well as not rushing to register to many classes all at once. It is not really a good feeling when you have to drop a class after going through all that work.

3.     I think that in order to succeed, individuals must go through failure. I just think it is a crucial part of the process. We all obviously handle failure differently, and sometimes it may take more time to cope with that failure than one might think. Some people realized they failed and try to move on as quickly as possible. While others may tend to dwell more and reflect on that failure. Personally for me, it honestly just depends on the situation and the depth of the failure. If it is something like failing a class, I fee, there really is no need to sit and dwell, but rather acknowledge why I failed and what I need to do in order to makeup for it and overcome. I think this class does a good job at teaching us that taking risks is necessary. The bigger the risk, the higher the value or the outcome.

25A whats Next?

Existing Market:

Step 1: Ideally, the next step for my venture concept is to expand into real establishments and get this thing running. I would most definitely be interested in finalizing everything with my contacts up in Toronto and get this show on the road. We already have the units built and designed and ready to be placed in clubs, venues and establishments.

Step 2: I think the main thing my customers want is having an opportunity to go out and have fun without losing and getting anything stolen. They want to have a safe place for their items and as far as I see it, they want nothing more than for us to start launching and placing these units into establishments.

Step 3: What makes most sense is seeing how this works in the first 5 locations and determining whether it makes sense to pursue into bigger or smaller locations. Customer satisfaction and safety is the number one concern and we want to see if these things are going to be followed correctly. Not to mention, based on feedback from a wide scope, this seems like a product that people will pay to use and it should take off well and smoothly.

New Market:

Step 1: This I believe would only work in cities where the population is pretty dense. It could work in small towns where bars and club are located, but I believe because there is less people in small towns as opposed to big cities, people will be rather skeptical.

Step 2: I truly have no clue how this alternative market would work because it is pretty specific. It would have to take a great deal of persuading people as to why it is better for them not to get their stuff lost or stolen, even if they do live in a smaller city or town

Step 3: I cannot really predict what they would say because most of the feedback I have gone through are from customers who are in my specific market sector.

Step 4: Because I cannot reach out to customers at this particular moment, I did some googling and looked at some places in smaller towns here in the U.S. and Canada and found that my product would fit well into the establishment itself because  a lot of these places are even more spacious than the ones in big cities. But it all depends on how secure people feel about it and their trust towards my product and if they see the practicality about it.

24A Venture concept No. 1

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