Week 15 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me was that customer loyalty is one of the best ways for growth. I guess I had somewhat understood this but reading about it surprised me. My dad always told me it is so much more beneficial to simply keep one customer rather than gain multiple more. The section on the control factor confused me as to how such a small difference in percentage could cause such a difference. I didn't disagree with anything, so two questions of mine would be: how would you increase the microfinance industry? What statistics are there to show that woman are more likely to invest in the household?

Final Reflection

I can honestly say that coming into this class, I was so unsure as to how to approach it. I saw the first couple of interactive assignments and I was almost scared off. However, the assignments that stand out to me the most as to when I grew are the customer interviews. These sparked my confidence which remained the most important factor for me completing this class successfully. Without these, I would not have gained the experience of just going out and talking to people which has proved vital. The most fun exercise for me was the Free Money. I really enjoyed trying to get students to take my money, and my friends who filmed me and watched found it entertaining as well. I also liked the Secret Sauce assignment. When I asked my friends and family what really made me tick and what made me different, (yes it was flattery) but it was also very eye-opening for me. I got to see what my friends noticed about me, most of which I had thought was frequently overlooked.
I can easily say that I have developed the basics of the entrepreneurial mindset. By no means am I as knowledgeable or experienced as I could be, but this class has definitely given me the opportunity to understand what this entails and how to approach it.
My biggest suggestion would be to actually DO the assignments (especially the first ones) rather than completing them. Instead of just going through the motions, putting effort into the assignments allows the most growth through them and therefore, you get the most out of them. Especially the first few assignments, this is where confidence is built. Confidence has remained the most important aspect for me in completing assignments, and this began in the initial assignments. I would not have succeeded in this class if I did not take it seriously and did not make the effort to grow throughout the year.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

The feedback from my last pitch was to include the fees that I would charge so I tried to include information about prices and times of deliveries.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity: The opportunity for my venture idea arose from students on the UF campus. My market is primarily students who cannot find the time or means of transportation to get to the grocery store and who want to avoid the unhealthy options of delivery. All customers are on or around the UF campus. The market consists of students who cannot go to the grocery store due to time constrains or transportation issues. Currently, customers are forced to find a way to get to the grocery store as well as the time to do so. I commonly came across students who had trouble getting to the store for one or both of these reasons. My venture is a way for students to not only get to the store, but also embrace the healthier options that the grocery store provides rather than delivery. I hope and think that this opportunity will be available for a long period of time as students will always have this problem with the limited parking on campus and the schedules that we manage.

Innovation: My venture is that of a grocery delivery truck. I would launch an app that would also allow students to place orders through it. To ensure that it is only University of Florida students, they will have to sign in with their GatorLink in order to place the order. Customers would call the partner grocery store (Publix) or open the free app and place their order at least 24 hours in advance and if they want fresh goods such as meat and fruit, they will need to place the order 48 hours in advance and these orders will be delivered first thing in the morning. Once this order is placed, the groceries are bagged and the next day, the truck has a designated route that essentially delivers these orders to the customers. The prices would be competitive to that in the grocery stores. There would be a $2 charge when placing the order to ensure groceries are picked up as well as cover the cost of the truck. The student would pay when the order is placed, and goods can be returned on site. If this business is popular, the prices would be able to remain low and manageable. Customers would pay when picking up their orders at the truck with cash or card and show proper student ID at the truck.

Venture Concept: I believe that my venture will eliminate the stress, chaos, and time management struggles that students are consistently faced with while also allowing them to be healthier if they wish as they can avoid the limitations of delivery. Students would easily switch to this product if prices were kept low enough and if the order fee did not increase. They would accept the small fee and have their groceries brought to their doorstep essentially, helping them to avoid the time of transportation and the opportunity cost of this trip. Competitors would be the grocery stores nearby that students can also access easily. For students that can find the transportation, they might want to stay with their familiar methods and avoid the small fee. My pricing is vital to my venture’s success. If this causes prices to spike too high, students (who are very fiscally cautious) would not be willing to pay extra. They would resort to finding rides to the store rather than paying extra. 

I believe my most important resource is my competitive drive and my ability to adapt. I may have many other things or instead, nothing at all, but my competitive drive will continue to push me and motivate me to make my business as successful as possible while my ability to adapt will help me to accept assistance from others to grow my business into the most successful venture it can be.

Next, I hope to expand to organic and non-GMO foods. With growing health concerns, this will allow my business to expand to those with these concerns in mind. I try to live a very healthy lifestyle, however it is hard to maintain this when transportation to the store (especially as an on campus student) is very difficult and time consuming.

Some of the feedback I received was mentioning which store I hope to partner with, figuring out a way to deliver fresh produce and goods, and a payment method that allows the customer to pay before hand. All of these I incorporated into my new concept. These are some of the ways I changed my concept as well. 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me was the section about ethics and morals. I think there's a grey area in the business environment surrounding these subjects and therefore, there is an overlap. This was also the most confusing for me because of this grey area that is so complicated for entrepreneurs and businessmen and women to understand. My two questions would be: how do entrepreneurs adapt with failure and grief in a different way from the social support system? What are some ethical grey areas you came across and how did you approach these? I did not disagree with anything in the text.

Google Gold

1). I tried to make my blog posts interesting and easy to read. I also tried to make them personal; the more connected the posts are the more intriguing they are to read.

2). In each post, I included the words groceries, students, University of Florida, convenience, delivery, organic, and healthy.

3). No social media was used.

4). My most viewed post was Celebrating Failure. This post was personal, reflective, and well organized.

5). I did not make it on to the first page; most of these hits were those of either delivery services or organic grocery stores.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

In my first interview, I think I did a fairly good job of asking him questions about his business, however, I may have taken these to my customers and caused these questions to be partially bias. Overall, I think I got very good information from this entrepreneur.

I interviewed a business owner in my hometown when I was home, and therefore, I called him to speak to him but was unable to record the interview. However, I asked him the following questions and his responses are as follows.

1. What's the best part about your endeavors and business?
         I think the best part is definitely the people. Because its a family business, our customers are our priority and we get to know them on a personal basis. I can get all the money and success in the world, but the people is what really makes it worth it.
2. Do you have any regrets about the way you handled something or a decision you made in your business?
       I think the only regret I have would be expanding like I did. We expanded to four other locations which gave us great returns, however, it didn't feel like it should. It was a small family business and sometimes I wish I had kept it that way, you know? It's kind of like when a mom-and-pop business or restaurant adds locations... it doesn't feel like it should. But I guess it is what it is so I think I'm supposed to say no regrets.
3. What does the future of your business look like?
        Well I ultimately hope to keep it in the family. My great grandfather began the business years ago, passed it to my grandfather who passed it to my father, and well... you get the idea. I hope one of my 3 sons or my daughter feels the passion I do about the business and yearns to keep it. However, that is not my decision to make for them, so if they do decide not to I will eventually sell it if absolutely no one in the family wants to take over.

I think my comfort level has tremendously increased. I was very surprised by how easy this was for me. In the past, this sort of thing kind of intimidated me. I dreaded the assignments like this however, this time, it seemed simpler and I think this comes purely from experience and the act of "doing" rather than "watching" or "listening."

Week 13 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me was the emotional bias section. This was also the most confusing to me just because of the emotional aspect of it which is very hard for me to grasp. My two questions would include: why is the time to buy a business given as 3 months? Is buying a business or selling one more difficult? I did not disagree with anything in the text.

Celebrating Failure

Earlier this semester, I had a Marketing exam that I did not do as well as I had hoped on. I studied endlessly, read the textbook inside and out, watched every lecture and took every note. However, for some reason I was unable to put this knowledge towards the exam. I was so disappointed. I think that if I had slacked in studying, I would not have been so disappointed because I then I would know what I could improve upon. However, I studied as much as I could in the time allowed so I was unsure how to continue, especially in something I enjoy and that which is my major. Therefore, for this past exam, I watched every lecture twice, read the chapters twice, and started studying even earlier in advance, and I did MUCH better on this exam!
        I realized that there are some things that just happen. You can never be 100% prepared for something. You can prepare yourself 100% to the best of your abilities, but that doesn't mean you will be 100% prepared for the endeavor. I also realized that as much as you think you are at your peak, you can always push yourself a little bit further and do even better than you thought you could.
        Failure is essential to success. I think that in order to succeed, you have to fall forward. You can only move forward so much before you need to grow and expand your thinking and abilities. Failure opens your mind up to something you never consider and allows you to grow, learn, and put this newfound knowledge towards yourself and your endeavors. In order to gain success, we must fall down a few times (like the puppy in this picture) to get to where we want to be (also like the puppy in this picture going to the bottom of the stairs). Failure keeps us humble; I believe humility is a strong factor to success. Failure is an opportunity that arises that we never knew we had.

My Exit Strategy

I think I would eventually sell this business. I would not want to keep it in my family because I'm not sure I would want to stay in the Gainesville area. I would hope to sell this business to someone outside of my family and immediate connections for a large return, and therefore, leave the Gainesville area.

I think that this will give me the most return and will allow the business to continue to grow, thrive, and expand elsewhere if circumstance allows.

I think this exit strategy influences how my resources are acquired and used. Furthermore, I believe that this also influences what I believe comes next for my business. My hopes of expanding to non-GMO and organic products and then expanding to a larger target market (outside of just students) would be all the more possible after the business is sold.

What's Next

Existing Market: 
Currently, my business is only directed at students at UF and only offers what a partner grocery store offers. However, I hope to expand to include organic and non-GMO options that can be incorporated from other stores rather than just one.

Interviews: 

I interviewed 3 students. They said that they liked my idea of expanding into organic/non-GMO options. They also recommended I expand my target market beyond students and have same day delivery.
With this feedback, I hope to expand early in my business to organic/non-GMO options. I hope to make connections with other professionals and possibly partner with different stores. I also hope to be able to offer this business to first disabled residents in the area, and then to everyone if all is successful. I also would like to move into same-day delivery. Therefore, I would have multiple trucks going around campus and the surrounding area. You could place your order by calling or on the app and select the option for same-day or next-day delivery. I would also like to offer a time selection at one point, so customers can select a window of time that they would like it to be delivered.

New Market: 
My new market includes the disabled and year-round residents of Gainesville along with students. I spoke to a few residents but none were comfortable with a recording of them. Therefore, I got their feedback and they said that they would most definitely use this service on busy days or when they need a large quantity of grocery (one gave me the example of a birthday party; she was having a party for her son and she said she knew exactly what she would need to buy, and therefore, it would be so much easier if this service was available). One man recommended same-day delivery as a student did as well. Therefore, I think this improvement is very important. I think this would allow for families to alleviate the stress of getting everyone together to go to the store (especially young families) and disabled individuals could feel much more independent.

I think that this market was fairly predictable. I did not expect to get quite the reaction I did. I expected a simple "good idea," however, I got really helpful feedback and they all praised the idea, saying that it would help even more people than what I expect, which was very exciting. This market seems even more appealing than I thought. I will need to start with students to get my business going, however, I think I would move to this target market fairly quickly.