30A – Final Reflection

Final Reflection

1. Reflecting on this past semester in ENT3003, I can definitely see how much I have learned and grown as a student. Coming into this class, I was nervous about the workload and all the different assignments we had to do. Now, I am so happy to have done every assignment and gotten through it all. I would say the most formative experience was the elevator pitches. When I first saw that that was an assignment, I dreaded doing it. I have always been horrible at elevator pitches and hated filming myself. However, I saw the improvement after doing it three times and practicing often. I would now say I am comfortable doing an elevator pitch and am very thankful for all the practice this class gave me.

2. I definitely think I have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Coming into this class, I did not know much of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Now, I feel like I have a much better understanding of the many things to consider and the planning it takes to start a business. Although I am sure I have much more to learn, I definitely think I am closer to thinking like an entrepreneur.

3. One recommendation I have for future students is to plan ahead, and to invest in every assignment, Every assignment, lecture, book you have to read is practical to life whether or not you want to be an entrepreneur. Therefore, I would recommend to future students to take the time to truly invest in every assignment rather than rushing through the work.

4. 

29A – Venture Concept No. 2: Gatorganize

Venture Concept No. 1: Gatorganize

 

Opportunity:

As college students, we balance a rigorous course load, involvement, and employment along with our own personal activities (working out, studying, hobbies, etc.). Often times, the amount of work that needs to be done in a day can be daunting; if you are not organized you can miss an assignment that affects your grade tremendously. I think we have all been there before, where if we were just a little bit more organized we wouldn't have missed a deadline that hurt our grade. College students without a organizational platform that works for them have my need. This need is created by the lack of organizational platforms that combine all types of involvement into one platform, and the unreliability of Canvas in posting accurate deadlines. My market is specific to the University of Florida, and can apply to students in any stage of their education (undergraduate, graduate, etc.). My customers are currently satisfying this need with Canvas, a planner, an app on their phones, etc. They may be loyal to their platforms, but I believe when they see how cohesive and all-inclusive my platform is they will be convinced to switch how they stay organized. This opportunity is large, and will remain open for a long time as this opportunity has been an issue for students for years. I would like to extend my opportunity to middle and high schools in Alachua County as well, who have a large need for help staying organized as they grow independent.

 

Innovation: 

My innovation is an online platform that organizes student assignments, deadlines, and events into one cohesive site. The platform will be both online and a phone application. The class assignments, exam dates, etc. will be provided by each professor individually and updated by them as well to ensure they are absolutely accurate. Additionally, student organizations will be given the opportunity to add their own date events to the platform.  My customers will simply have to log into my platform and subscribe to the classes and student organizations they are a part of; these dates will automatically auto-populate both a calendar and to-do list. The dates will be presented in two separate formats to accommodate to the different ways students may prefer to view their schedule. On top of all this, students will also have the ability to add in their own personal events so they can individualize the platform to include their work schedule/hobbies. I will sell my platform for a yearly subscription price of $10, a more affordable alternative to a planner. This will be made available to not only college students, but also to middle and high schools in Alachua County to help their students transition to a digital platform for independent organization.

 

Venture Concept: 

My innovation will solve the opportunity I have identified because it organizes all aspects of a student's schedule into one platform. No longer will students have to cross check their Canvas calendar to their individual class announcements, to Facebook pages for involvement, to work schedules, etc. Everything will be synced onto one platform with dates added in by the people assigning them to you. Students will want to buy my innovation because it is guaranteed be accurate, as your dates are given by the university/student organization. Additionally, it is very affordable and flexible in its display and accessibility. My competitors are Canvas, physical planners, and online agendas such as Google Calendar. Their weakness lies in that users have to manually add in their deadlines and/or not all deadlines display or are accurate (Canvas). Since my product is digital, no physical characteristics will affect the success of my product besides app design.

 

Feedback:

I did not receive much feed back on my lasts Venture Concept. Everything was positive, and the most feedback I did great was to definitely market to students in high school and middle schools. Additionally, I did get feedback telling me to charge for a subscription service rather than an app on the App Store to get more profit.

Changes:

I changed my Venture Concept to be reflective of the change to provide my service for middle and high schools, and also made sure to include a subscription price in my Venture Concept.

Picture:

 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

Your Exit Strategy

1. I do not plan on actually pursuing this opportunity.

2. Although it would be great to start a business, in this time in my life I do not think it is a practical venture for me to pursue as I am still a full-time student with many time obligations. Additionally, this is not the career path I am preparing myself for. In the future I would absolutely consider starting a business, but right now I will not be pursuing this opportunity.

3. I knew as soon as I picked this opportunity that I was not actually going to pursue this venture; this was always going to be my exit strategy. However, I do believe I made all my decisions based on if I was actually going to pursue this opportunity. I wanted to see if this opportunity was actually viable, and I wanted the experience of figuring out the details of starting a business. I do not think it has influenced my decisions in past assignments. If I had the time and this was my passion, I think I would have pursed this venture; however, as of now this will just remain an idea.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

Reading Reflection No. 3

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

I chose to read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki. In this book, Kawasaki focused on how to use social media effectively to target your audience and engage with them successfully. Thousands of people use social media, but do not use it effectively; this book delves into practical practices that can help you improve our social media presence.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

One theme the book emphasized often is to treat social media like a business. Kawasaki explained you need to be competitive, take risks, and invest time into your social media to be successful in engaging with your market. Just like a business, you need to be creative and take risks to try and take your social media to the next level. i think this connects well with ENT 3003, as we have learned the entrepreneurs need to be able to take risks and be creative in their businesses just like Kawasaki says you need to have successful social media platforms.

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

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would have the class analyze their social media presence and see if it lines up with what Kawasaki recommends. For example, I would have them count how many platforms they are registered for and see if they are having an equally strong presence on each platform. Kawasaki recommends a maximum of 3 platforms rather than the 10 we often sign up for but only engage with once a year. I would then have the class choose three platforms and see how much stronger of a social media presence they can have with less platforms but more targeted content.

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?

My biggest surprise when reading this book was when Kawasaki said to give fans the content they want to see, not just what you want to create. I think this was a very interesting point, because I think often times we want to post what we like but that may not be what our audience wants to see. I never thought about this before, but it is very true. In the end, we are working to please a consumer, and that should be the primary focus when deciding what to post.

26A – Celebrating Failure

Celebrating Failure

1. One time this past semester where I failed is in trying to get an internship at the Career Showcase. I knew I needed a summer internship but I was not proactive in preparing for the Career Showcase. In fact, I forgot it was even happening until my friend in the business school reminded me the day of. I ended up printing out my resume and rushing to the career fair and networking with dozens of employees. I thought I did a great job, but when I got home and emailed the recruiters I met I got zero emails back. Even with repeated communication I had 0 luck. Ultimately, I failed at finding a summer internship from the career fair, but was able to motivate myself to find a different internship from a different information session.

2. I learned from this experience that if you truly want something, you need to work hard for it. Even if I tried my best and did not get an internship, I would have been much happier with myself if I gave my absolute best. I also learned not to let failure define me; if I let all those denials define me, I would have never pushed to find the great internship I have now.

3. Failure is without a doubt hard. I think a lot of us have the mentality that failure is embarrassing and we need to avoid it at all costs. However, I think that failure is only negative if you do not learn from it. When you learn from a failure, it ultimately becomes a success because you have learned and grown from it. I used to handle failure poorly, but after being in college for a few years and making a lot of mistakes, I have learned to use failure to grow and not get caught up in the disappointment, but rather turn it into a positive. I think I am more likely to take a risk now rather than before this class. I see now how vital it is to be willing to take risks in order to create something successful, and therefore believe that I would be more willing to take a risk now after everything I have learned in ENT3003.

25A – What’s Next?

What's Next?

Existing Market

Step 1: In terms of next steps, I think my next step would be to garner support and awareness of my product on campus. Additionally, I would work with student organizations to get every student organization at UF subscribed to my service.

Step 2: Interviews cancelled.

Step 3: Over the next few months, I would first start by meeting with a software developer and creating my product. I would be sure to include all the services I have described in my last post to ensure that my product is unique among competition. Additionally, we would have to work out the many expected bugs that will come with building the app and website. 

I will also work to meet with the university to gain the support of all professors in using my platform. Their compliance is vital, so offering a partnership and convincing of them my opportunity and how it will help their students succeed will be my priority. I also will work to meet with as many student organizations as possible and work closely with the Student Activities and Involvement office to get them subscribed to my platform.

New Market

Step 1: A radically different platform for me would be a platform for organization for middle schoolers, rather than college students.

Step 2: My venture concept could potentially create value for middle schoolers as they are starting to  become independent and are learning how to be organized. An all-inclusive platform of their school work along with any extra-curricular activities may be beneficial to many of them.

Step 3: Interviews cancelled.

Step 4: After contemplating this opportunity, I am actually very interested in pursuing it. Middle schoolers are in need of organization more than college students, as they are just learning how to stay organized. Additionally, to my understanding very few middle schools utilize platforms such as Canvas, so my product would be extremely unique for them.

This opportunity almost seems more attractive then my existing venture, as college students have a much greater amount of options to choose from for organization. There is much more competition in my existing market than my new market. Additionally, I would be working more so with parents wanting success for their children with higher budgets rather than college students on budgets, so I may be able to make more profit in my new market. I do believe my current venue is feasible, but I am very surprised after exploring this market how feasible it could be to pursue this opportunity.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1: Gatorganize

Venture Concept No. 1: Gatorganize

Opportunity:

As college students, we balance a rigorous course load, involvement, and employment along with our own personal activities (working out, studying, hobbies, etc.). Often times, the amount of work that needs to be done in a day can be daunting; if you are not organized you can miss an assignment that affects your grade tremendously. I think we have all been there before, where if we were just a little bit more organized we wouldn't have missed a deadline that hurt our grade. College students without a organizational platform that works for them have my need. This need is created by the lack of organizational platforms that combine all types of involvement into one platform, and the unreliability of Canvas in posting accurate deadlines. My market is specific to the University of Florida, and can apply to students in any stage of their education (undergraduate, graduate, etc.). My customers are currently satisfying this need with Canvas, a planner, an app on their phones, etc. They may be loyal to their platforms, but I believe when they see how cohesive and all-inclusive my platform is they will be convinced to switch how they stay organized. This opportunity is large, and will remain open for a long time as this opportunity has been an issue for students for years.

Innovation: 

My innovation is an online platform that organizes student assignments, deadlines, and events into one cohesive site. The platform will be both online and a phone application. The class assignments, exam dates, etc. will be provided by each professor individually and updated by them as well to ensure they are absolutely accurate. Additionally, student organizations will be given the opportunity to add their own date events to the platform.  My customers will simply have to log into my platform and subscribe to the classes and student organizations they are a part of; these dates will automatically auto-populate both a calendar and to-do list. The dates will be presented in two separate formats to accommodate to the different ways students may prefer to view their schedule. On top of all this, students will also have the ability to add in their own personal events so they can individualize the platform to include their work schedule/hobbies. I will sell my platform for a yearly subscription price of $10, a more affordable alternative to a planner.

Venture Concept: 

My innovation will solve the opportunity I have identified because it organizes all aspects of a student's schedule into one platform. No longer will students have to cross check their Canvas calendar to their individual class announcements, to Facebook pages for involvement, to work schedules, etc. Everything will be synced onto one platform with dates added in by the people assigning them to you. Students will want to buy my innovation because it is guaranteed be accurate, as your dates are given by the university/student organization. Additionally, it is very affordable and flexible in its display and accessibility. My competitors are Canvas, physical planners, and online agendas such as Google Calendar. Their weakness lies in that users have to manually add in their deadlines and/or not all deadlines display or are accurate (Canvas). Since my product is digital, no physical characteristics will affect the success of my product besides app design.

My most important resource: My team of college students working to make this product a success.

What’s next for the venture: Having full involvement of all student organizations registered for my service.

What’s next for me: I will not be pursing this venture, but if I did I hope it would open doors to more opportunities in this industry and serving students academically.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

My resources:

1. Technological assistance
a. Valuable: very valuable in creating the application
b. Rare: not rare, but good to have for my company
c. Imitable: technology is pretty universal, so any company can use this technology
d. Non-substitutable: technology is absolutely necessary for my product

2. A team of passionate college students

a. Valuable: very valuable to garner attention for my resource

b. Rare: it is not often a company is run by college students, so this is rare

c. Imitable: this is not easy to imitate and be successful

d. Non-substitutable: since my product is made solely for college students, it is vital to be managed by people who understand the issue personally to create the best product

3. Funding

a. Valuable: this is very valuable to start and sustain a company

b. Rare: not really, all companies have to be funded

c. Imitable: funding is not something that can be copied

d. Non-substitutable: this is absolutely necessary to create and sustain a company

4. Market research

a. Valuable: this is very valuable in knowing if an opportunity is viable and worth pursuing

b. Rare: yes, not all start-ups conduct research before starting their company

c. Imitable: this can only be imitated by companies in my same market

d. Non-substitutable: no, this research can not be substituted as it is unique to my market

5. Strong company culture

a. Valuable: yes, this is valuable to keeping my company running

b. Rare: yes, not all companies have a strong company cultured geared towards their customers

c. Imitable: this is unique to my company and therefore cannot be imitated

d. Non-substitutable: no, this cannot be replaced with something similar

6. Unique product with little competition

a. Valuable: yes, it is very valuable to have a product with little competition

b. Rare: yes, it is rare to have a product that is unique in its market

c. Imitable: it would be fairly easy for another organizational platform to mimic the services I offer to my customers

d. Non-substitutable: no, this is necessary to succeed

7. University support

a. Valuable: yes, it is valuable to have support from professors as I will need their cooperation to make my product effective

b. Rare: no, I think most professors would be willing to support a service that helps their students succeed

c. Imitable: other companies could also garner university support but it would be hard to attain

d. Non-substitutable: this is absolutely necessary for my service to succeed

8. Flexibility for users

a. Valuable: yes, this makes my product useful to different customer segments

b. Rare: somewhat, most products have some flexibility in user capabilities but not all do

c. Imitable: yes, other products can copy my features and make their products flexible as well

d. Non-substitutable: I could make my product less flexible but this would make my product less attractive in the marketplace

9. Passion as an organization to help our customers

a. Valuable: yes, this is very valuable in making sure my company continues even through obstacles

b. Rare: yes, i think it is fairly rare for a company to be extremely passionate about its customers rather than making a profit

c. Imitable: no, it is difficult/nearly impossible to imitate passion

d. Non-substitutable: no, passion can not be substituted

10. Customer loyalty

a. Valuable: yes, having a loyal customer base is very helpful

b. Rare: yes, it is fairly rare to have customers that are loyal to your product over other competitors

c. Imitable: no, as customers can only be loyal to one product in a market

d. Non-substitutable: no, there is no substitute for customer loyalty

Top resource: I believe my top resource is the uniqueness of my product. My product differs from every other product in my market and therefore has no similar competition. This is very important to the success of my venture as it sets my product apart and offers a service customers cannot have elsewhere.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

Pitching Practice Makes "Perfect"

1) The pitch:

2) Reflection on feedback:

On my last elevator pitch, I received no criticism. A majority of my comments said my audience had  a better understanding of my idea now that I had practiced the elevator pitch a few times, and my pitch was more clear and concise. Therefore, I aimed this time to be even more clear with my pitch and to try to complete it with less mistakes as last time. Additionally, I tried to be a bit more organized and move from my hook to my explanation more seamlessly.

3)What I changed:

I definitely found myself to be much more comfortable in front of the camera. With my first pitch, it took numerous tries and I found myself getting frustrated not remembering what to say next. Now, I have my pitch pretty much memorized and found it a lot easier to say with less tries. I still had some difficulties, but I know with more practice it will get even easier to say my pitch without mistakes. I can definitely see the improvement from my first pitch, bot in presentation and in how easy it is to complete now.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

Bringing In A Second Opinion

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

I chose to read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. In this book, Adams focused on how he pushed through many failures to eventually succeed. He failed in multiple jobs, attempted start-ups, etc. before he was eventually able to succeed in the cartoon industry. He discussed these failures, and how he was able to learn from his mistakes and take care of himself in order to push himself towards success.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

In ENT3003, we spent a good amount of time discussing how tenacity is a shared strength of entrepreneurs. I think this book connects and reinforces that idea. Adams really had to be tenacious in his career, and find a way to push back his numerous failures. Just like many other entrepreneurs, he had to learn form his mistakes and not let that deter him from trying to succeed, and his tenacious attitude allowed him to eventually succeed.

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

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would have my students analyze three goals they have set for themselves. Then, I would have them adjust the goals to the system approach Adam discusses in his book. I would then have them compare the two and see how the systems approach is either more beneficial or not for their personality.

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?

My biggest surprise when reading this book was when Adams explained to have systems, not goals. I found that intriguing, as my entire life I have been taught to set goals and work towards them daily. Instead, systems are more flexible and have less pressure on the time aspect. I struggle the most in making goals that are too difficult to attain in a certain amount of time, so thinking about goals as a system rather than a specific task to achieve is really interesting and something I think I will apply to my life now.