Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

While doing the assignment that dealt with VRIN, I felt it was a bit tedious but it really made me think about how I would stand out from my competitors.While doing the Amazon Whisper assignment, I had to actually sit down and research what IU am trying to sell. It made me research what I am offering and what is on the market currently. I really enjoyed learning about social capital.I became aware of the networks I have and how centralized and centralized effects networks. This was the material I found most appealing to myself. I felt reassured when people I interviewed for the My Secret Sauce assignment backed up what I thought made me unique. The elevator pitches were somewhat embarrassing as I though I could improve my speech and communication skills. The Tweaking Innovation assignment was what i call the venture's blueprints. It outline exactly what i plan on offering and in the manner I envisioned it done. Lastly, the Bug's List assignment made me feel embarrassed and dumb because I misinterpreted the direction given to me. I ended up writing 5,000 words! But now I makes me laugh every time I see it.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

I think that the most formative and long lasting experiences I had was when learning about the social capital section. While watching Dr. Pryor's video lectures I became really intrigued with the section that dealt with social capital. I like the idea that this is something so unique it would be highly improbable to impossible fro two or more people to have the same network. I think my most joyous and proud moment was my final Venture Concept. After reading the comments of my previous venture concept, I really became proud that someone in my TA group thought my idea was good. He expressed how he was excited to tell his father about my idea and how it would be applicable to his situation and many others in the area. That gave me a sense of accomplishing something. I got one person to believe in my vision. If I get one, surely I would be able to get more.

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

As of this moment I do say I am becoming an entrepreneur in training. I have really become aware of the mindset that entrepreneurs need. Being able to think into the future is important to have also. This I learned through the exit strategy assignment. Now I believe that it is all about applying some of the materials I learned in this class to real life. This is the true way to learn from outside experience. It would be my experiment and I will see if my hypothesis/ venture was a success or failed.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

What I would recommend people who will be taking this class in the future would be to really enjoy and learn from the different type of learning this class offers. It puts an emphasis on the material and applying the material in real life, rather than emphasis on grades. Being able to self grader also gives a person a sense of authority and righteousness as people have to evaluate if their blogs meet the requirements of the assignment. Other than that, please start early! Especially for weeks that involve interviews! Also, do not compare your material with others. Dr. Pryor answers a question dealing with this topic in his FAQ. He explains that this course is really one of self independence. The blog you right and the manner you do it cannot be graded on a generic scale. The blog will take the personality of the writer. So if your material is longer than others. don't stress it. To really excel in this class all you need is time, dedication and positive attitude. This class is truly different from others and for the right reasons.

Venture Concept No. 2

1)

Opportunity:

While talking with others and through my own personal experience, I noticed that not too many people are ideally happy where they are living here in Gainesville. Gainesville, like many college towns, experiences a wave of new inhabitants when people decide to go to school in either University of Florida or Santa Fe college. I saw an opportunity when realizing that there may be a high number of people who feel uncomfortable where they are living. I wanted to create a type of service that would help people who are feeling uncomfortable where they are living. Although, there will always be people who fell uncomfortable where they live, trying to create a service to minimize that group of people is the opportunity I saw. Ideally, this service will be intended mainly for the college goers, but residents of Gainesville may also express similar feelings. The main reason why is issue exists is due to the influx of many people from other parts of the world. Different cultures or lifestyles will cause problems between some people. This service would be a local service for people living in Gainesville. People of all ages, genders, races, and religions will be able to use this service. Poor management from apartment complexes causes them to fail to accommodate residential issues. This and other causes make their residents will little to hope because of their contracts with the complex. People are forced to either fight the issue or ignore it. Since my intended way of providing this service will be through mobile application, I believe that the best possible way for my business venture to get momentum will be through applications stores. Not to mention that no application now would offer all the services my intended application would have. This will cause people to be hopeful and try my application as an alternative to waiting or fighting the issue. Will all things up and running, my application will cause user satisfaction as many of their problems could be solved or at least dealt with more serious. This is a big opportunity because being able to create an application of its kind will attract a lot of promise in people with these unmet needs. All it takes is one person to start of a domino effect with any application. By this I mean the increase of exposure my application gets, the more people are willing to download and try the application. And if my application is able to help at least one person I know it could help many others. As for how long this opportunity is viable, I would say at least until someone  has intended to solve the issue of people feeling uncomfortable where they are living.

Innovation:

The best way that I saw that would solve this unmeet need was with the use of a mobile application with services. The app will be called Grator Comfort. This application is based on having multiple service options to help people who live in discomfort. So now let me talk about how I plan to solve the issue of student feeling uncomfortable in their living conditions with this app. So I will focus on The Collier Company as I know they are a real estate agency here in Gainesville that owns many apartment complexes. I will pitch my idea with them and hopefully get them to partner with me on this app. The app and I will act as the middleman/messenger from the student to the Collier Company and their respective apartment complex based on where the student is living. Anytime a resident feels there is something making them uncomfortable with their living conditions and hasn’t been solved, they will access the application and describe the issue. The user will have to create an account that includes their name, where they are living, and other relevant information that will better assist solving the problem. Once the problem is documented, I would advise the complex personally and insist that the resident is very uncomfortable where they are living. That is one aspect of the application. Another aspect would be a matchmaking quiz to allow prospective residents to ensure they get roomed/paired with a person with similar interests, cleanliness, sleep schedule, etc. A third aspect would be a subleasing service. If student would wish to move out of their apartment but are limited to lengthy contracts, this sublease service will allow those who wish to move out to advertise their apartment to be subleased. Also biweekly notifications will be sent out to student will an account to the app, to see if everything is fine with their living conditions and if any new problems have risen. Basically this app serves as a backup to student who feel that their problems have not been solved by prior contact with their apartment complexes.

I would say that the revenue drivers for my business concept are advertisements, user subscriptions, and endorsements. Revenue is generated from advertisements through the use of people using my app. When most people launch applications they use advertisements on their apps to generate revenue from companies. Anytime people access they app they will likely see the advertisements. This brings me into my next revenue generator which is user subscriptions. If users don’t want to see ads on their experience using the app and or want to have better and more service options, then they would be inclined to subscribe with a monthly fee. This fee will serve as a revenue driver. The last revenue driver would be endorsements. For my application I decided to start with a target company of using Collier Company apartments for my app. Having an endorsement from the Collier Company will also server as a revenue driver since the application would at first exclusively for them.   

Venture:

My mobile application, Grator Comfort, will make people’s living conditions better. The way it will accomplish this is by accommodating to customer needs. My app is initially free to download. That us a valuable trait to have as the consumer is not forced to buy anything without a demo. The free application will be limited in usage, as this will influence consumers to buy the paid subscription for all services. Little to no investment is needed on my solution. Also it is very feasible as many people have smart phones. I do not think that making the switch to this solution because it is fairly simple and low risk not to do. Few risk, high benefits could influence people to also try the application. From looking at the applications in the Apple store, no application would be able to compete with my app. The reason why is due to the fact that from my own research, I did not find an app with the services I am offering all encompassed in a single application. So for now there would be no competition other than those who imitate my product. These apps would be rip offs of my application. The only way I see a serious competitor would be an app that can offer my services to a wide range of people and land. For starting purposes my application only accommodates people form Gainesville. With wider are and people, the same individual service offer would not compare with smaller audience, thus that could be a possible weakness of competitors. When launching this app initially I would be the sole employee for the business. As I expose my venture and get an endorsement with Collier Companies, then I will be able to advertise my app to residents. Once the service becomes more popular and requires more effort, I will consider outside help.

Minor Elements:

First, I believe that my social network is my best resource. The reason why I say this is because it is the most personal thing that no person can imitate. The connections I make and the people I meet is unique to me and no one else. My network consists of very valuable people that would help expand my venture. Being able to offer the best application experience will be my thoughts before launching. I want to make sure my service is flawless and produce positive feedback that will captivate my customers. I want them to develop a loyalty to the services I offer through subscriptions and more services. This is make it harder for competitors to copy my success. Many time and some money is essential to invest in app building and marketing.

Second, my next thing will enhance my service by allowing people who are not part of Collier Company’s and opportunities to use my services. I see how this can be seen as a betray to the Collier companies since they app/service was exclusively for them at first. To compensate, I will have a team of people exclusively for their needs/wants. This will ensure customer loyalty as Collier Company endorsement the app and server as the first investors in my company. If other apartment or house companies that have multiple chains of apartment/house complexes, them endorsement/ investing would give them the same care that Collier Company is having. A team would be assembled to meet their exclusive needs. Another service for anyone using the app would be the opportunity for user to mingle with each other on their experiences with their living conditions. This would create a sense of community and maybe give some hope to those feeling uncomfortable when learning that others struggle with their same or similar conditions

Third, after the five years of launching my application I would see myself in an office with employees working for my business. It might be a small business but it generates revenue enough to invest in expansion of services or other investments in the company. Ten years from now I do see myself invested in a couple of small businesses. I like the idea of being my own boss. Maybe in the 10 years I received work experience from working with successful large companies. With the success of my first business I would invest in another small business to expand services I could offer others. My venture gives me the experience of having my own business an seeing how to manage it. It allows myself to be my own boss and sole provider.

2) As for the feedback that I got, one comment noted the similarities in

venture concepts between mine and her idea. I thought is was pretty ironic too as I remember during the course of this class I noted the same thing when reading her idea. Another comment noted that he really liked my idea and that he cam relate to it because one he is moving to a new apartment and another is because he worked with the Collier Company as well. It’s nice that someone really liked my idea as I can see other sharing similar feelings. From the comments that I received, I take it that people really liked my idea the way it is and I do not see reason to change anything about it.

3) I did not change anything form my original venture concept because I felt that it was not necessary to change. People seemed to like my idea and sounded excited about a potential application like the one I am offering, especially around this time of year when people are moving into their new apartments.

My Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

For my exit strategy, I would most likely stay with the business until I run into the point where the business loses its innovation and or is taking too much of my focus off other things. When this happens I would opt to sell the business most likely within five years hopefully with a large return. Unless I am able to expand my services to outside Gainesville or even Florida, I would sell the business within 5 years

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

 I have selected this because I do not wish to be limited to only one venture. This first business would serve as experience for future businesses. I want to see what other innovation I could develop. A big return would also make my business successful and served as more of a benefit rather than cost.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

Life is always changing as the days pass. This same logic can be applied to business as well. Every day is a new day. With this said, I believe that since I'm opting to sell my business within 5 years, I would be influenced by other decisions. For example, the main fallout of my concept is the idea that it is a local Gainesville startup with the intention of having a limited scope of Gainesville. Being able to expand my services throughout Florida or even the nation will be very difficult. I then would sell. From this experience I become more aware for the need to have a business that would be able to expand in scope. Also I will have to be able to add to my existing application to grow and prosper.

Making It Real

This is the link to my resume.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4lgCpAu8kKzUHJWcEgxMWVzQUU

Celebrating Failure

1) The main area I have failed to do in this class were the assignment that dealt with interviews form people. This was due to the fact that I was taking another class that requires at least 20 + hours of dedication a week. This class was regarded as my hardest class of my major and it did a number on me. Also I tend to procrastinate to an extent. I also took advantage of the one-day extension on assignments as it gave me more time to complete them well. I have missed many of these assignments due to lack of time. On any other assignment I have felt that I wrote well written and relevant content. I take many of these exercise serious and but the maximum work for each assignment. I need better time management skills to help me with the assignment that require interviews.

2) I have learned that I need to manage the limited time I have better. I also need to be prepared. Being able to look sat the assignments ahead of time will notify me if I need more time to dedicate for assignment that’s require interviews. It is important to have foresight in anything.

I have learned to dedicate more time to my assignments with time to spare.

3) I think failure is the inability to complete something even with all the resources available and ready. This implies that even with everything to be able to succeed, something cause failure. The way I handle failure is strange. At first I really get emotional and let my mind go wild. I regret and reflect on the things that caused my downfall. After that I realize the mistake and try to navigate my life in a way to solve or overcome failure. This class has given me a lot of useful ideas and concepts on becoming and being an entrepreneur. This class has show me that through failure there is success. Being risky and investing in an idea could lead to success or failure. Having the courage and will to invest is also itself an experience. Like Wayne Gretzky put it “ You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”