First off, I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and the challenges that it has made me complete, even if some of them put me out of my comfort zone. Some behaviors that i have used to keep up with the requirements of this course are optimism, because talking with strangers can be very intimidating so I tried to make the best out of it by going into each assignment with positivity. I also tried to always have an open mind with each assignment, and I would try to put myself in the position of the customers I was talking to. After doing so, I realized it wasn't that odd to randomly approach someone because I wouldn't mind if someone came up to me and asked me to help them with something. Also, I developed better time management skills during this course because a lot of the assignments require time and effort that cannot be completed at the last minute.
A moment when I felt like giving up was when we were assigned the Free Money assignment. This exercise especially brought me out of my comfort zone and I almost didn't complete it because I felt so weird about doing it. However, I decided that it really wasn't' that bad and I should just go for it and do it, and what do you know, it was not as bad as I though it was going to be. It was still very awkward, but I got it done and was very proud of myself for doing so. I think I have somewhat developed a tenacious attitude just based on how often I was put out of my comfort zone during the first half of this course. The customer interviews definitely contributed to developing this attitude.
Three tips I would offer to next semester's students would be:
1. Just go for it. If you feel odd or weird about doing one of the assignments, try to overcome it; you will be happy and feel accomplished once you complete the tougher assignments.
2. Don't procrastinate. Allow a lot of time to complete these assignments because they require a lot of effort on your AND other people (interviewees) part.
3. Take it seriously. It will only benefit you in the end, especially if you are going to be an entrepreneur someday.
1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?
I didn't know that there were so many ways to finance a business with the help of loans from banks and other investments. It shows how difficult it is to start up a venture especially when you have limited funding and don't even know if your business will be as profitable as you think it will be.
2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
One part that was confusing to me was the part about private placements. I don't really understand how an entrepreneur would use this method.
3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
Is there any way to back out of equity financing once you start? If I were to share 20% of my company and then all of a sudden my business booms and I'm making a lot of money, would I still give them 20% no matter what? It doesn't seem fair after a certain amount of time.
How would one become a "sophisticated" investor? I'm sure it takes not only a lot of research but also a lot of time and experience.
4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
While talking about all of the myths, I thought that venture capitalists were quick to invest in businesses that think will be very successful, but one of them says that they aren't quick to invest. I think that some might be quicker than others when choosing investment strategies.
I decided to interview the owner of One Love Cafe for this assignment, because I felt the feedback I received from customers could help with the business.
2.) Talk to 3 Customers.
After listening to who Juli thought her target market was, I went out and found customers in that demographic. She pointed out a couple of regular customers who would be perfect for interviewing since they are in the twenty percent.
3.) Reflect.
Yes, the entrepreneur does understand her customers' demographics and their needs, and she is constantly going around to customers during business hours to ask them how everything is and if there is anything she can do to make them happier while at her business. She is definitely right about who her twenty percent is and is constantly seeking feedback about things that she can do to make her customers' time at her restaurant more enjoyable.
I will go somewhere where it will be easy to give someone a dollar and I will have something to say after I give them the dollar! It ended up being First Magnitude Brewery.
What kind of people will you approach?
I will approach people who look like they are in a conversation and look inviting.
What will you say to get the conversation started?
I think I will just walk up to someone and say "Everyone deserves to be rewarded every once in a while, so here's a dollar to make your day!" And hope that they accept it.
What is your plan for the conversation?
Hopefully, they will ask me why I wanted to give them a dollar. My plan is to tell them that I just wanted to see what someone would do if I give them a dollar.
Out of five attempts, how many dollar bills do you think you will be able to give away.
Hopefully I will be able to give all of them all away.
What are your reflections on this exercise? Was giving away a dollar easier or harder than you imagined?
It was a lot harder than I imagined, even though I was very hesitant going into it. It was awkward but everyone in the end was happy to receive a dollar, especially at a brewery where they could use the dollar as a tip for their next beer!
Were your predictions correct or incorrect? If they were incorrect, why?
My predictions were correct, everyone accepted my dollars!
What assumptions did you make about the people you planned to talk to, whiich were wrong?
I assumed that everyone I talked to would feel awkward when I approached them but in reality, they were more than willing to talk to me, just questioned why I was giving them a dollar.
1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?
The biggest surprise for me in the reading, or at least one of them, was when the author talked about how cake mixes use to use powdered egg but then transitioned to using a mix which an egg needed to be added because the extra step "allowed the preparer to feel she was fulfilling a wife's traditional domestic role." This was very interesting yet very relatable for me.
2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I was a little confused about the different segmentations for different purposes section. I felt that the chart they used was a little unclear.
3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
How involved are social scientists in the production of advertising and marketing today? Because it is interesting to think that we could be being brainwashed into buying products just based on segmentation.
Why is there one way to segment to develop advertising and one way to segment to develop new products? Wouldn't they go hand-in-hand? I was a little confused by this part.
4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I think the author made some very interesting points and gave a lot of insight into market segmentation in the article. It is amazing to see how much work goes into figuring out how to advertise to consumers; there are so many different techniques and strategies to use to get a consumer to be interested in and buy a product!
1) The pitch. Same as last time, 1-minute long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link.
2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly.
I got some really great feedback from my first elevator pitch! From the comments, it seemed that everyone thought my idea was really cool and they loved how it is calling attention to UF's goal towards sustainability. I think it is really important to focus my product around the goal of being more sustainable on the UF campus, and even campuses worldwide.
3) What did you change, based on the feedback?
Based on the feedback, I changed my elevator pitch so that it was more focused on sustainability and the way that it can benefit UF's Office of Sustainability. I changed it so that my pitch starts out talking about sustainability and its importance rather than mentioning it towards the end, because it is what my whole concept is all about and I felt it needed to be mentioned right away. Now I am calling out my true customers who have strong values and opinions about being sustainable.
1) Describe your interviewing strategy. What questions do you intend on asking? Who are you going to ask? And so on.
I asked questions centered around sustainability because I feel that this product is geared towards people who have concerns about the environment and making the world a better place. I asked students who attend UF because they would be using the product.
2) Conduct the interviews. As always, 5 interviews, video recorded.
3) Reflect on what you learned. What did you learn from the interviews? What surprised you the most? What do you expect to change as an outcome of these interviews?
I learned that mostly everyone that I interviewed values sustainability and would use my product if it was available to them.
1) Fine tune your opportunity. You began with an idea of what an opportunity might be. After your first round of interviews, what do you think, now?
After my first round of interviews, I think I have a great idea that could be easily implemented into UF's campus, and hopefully other university campuses world-wide. Start-up costs may initially be high, but after, there are no additional costs once the charging stations are purchased and placed throughout campus. Renewable energy for the win!
2) Fine tune the "who." Did you talk to the right customers last time? What did you do differently this time? How did you adjust your conceptualization of who your customers are?
Yes I talked to the right customers. Each of them were students who value sustainability and also enjoy studying outside. This time I just reached out to more students so I could verify that my idea would work and benefit students on campus.
3) Tweaking your interview questions. You might need to ask different kinds of questions to get at a fuller, richer idea of what your opportunity is. What kind of changes did you make? 1. How important is sustainability to you? Since my idea is based around sustainable practices, I feel that this question is extremely important when finding out my consumer base. 2. Are there things you do or take part in around campus to be sustainable, such as recycling or using the revolving doors at the library? Any other things?
This is also important to see how likely students would be to use the charging stations.
3. How would you feel about there being solar-powered charging stations around campus that would not only use renewable energy, but also would provide you with places to charge your cell phone or laptop on the go?
Same question but I feel it is important to ask because it is the main idea of the opportunity.
4. If this system were in place, how often do you think you would use it?
4) Go talk to customers! This is the same deal as last time: 5 people, you can't know them, you must video record them.
5) Tell us what you learned about the opportunity. You now have 10 interviews under your belt. What do you think about your opportunity now that's different from where you started?
I realized just how many people value sustainable energy and how, according to my interviews, it must mean that most students on campus value sustainability. If we could start implementing solar energy into our lives in small ways such as using battery charging stations, then maybe this will start a trend and more ways to use this type of energy will become more universal.
6) Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers. You're practically an expert on interviewing customers. Please write three tips that you'd like to offer students in this class next semester about interviewing customers.
1. Be confident in your questions.
2. Be personable; ask them what their name is and make them feel comfortable before starting to ask questions.
3. Don't be afraid to have fun with it and laugh a little! It takes the pressure off of you and you may get some better, more honest answers.
1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?
I'm Jennie Carmody and I'm a girl who is passionate about sustainability and helping people. I aspire to make positive changes in people's lives by showing them the value of preserving the environment and being sustainable. My talents include baking gourmet desserts, playing basketball, and excelling at my job. I would say I have good people skills because I am personable and aim to make people feel comfortable. I have experience in the hospitality industry, being a front of house manager and also assistant events coordinator for a restaurant here in Gainesville. I also have experience in sustainable practices as I learned about sustainability while studying abroad in Australia for one month. The experience I had there really pushed me to live a more sustainable life and to encourage others to lead sustainable lives. I aspire to be an event planner who uses sustainable practices in business. I see this business concept expanding into other opportunities to use solar energy in people's everyday lives, and hopefully it will encourage students to find ways to be more sustainable.
2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).
I am offering a way for students to be sustainable by using renewable energy (solar power). This will be free to all students who wish to use it, but there will be start-up costs that I will need to look into. This is a business not for profit, but for the greater good of society and the planet, which will hopefully lead to other Eco-friendly projects that could potentially bring in some cash!
3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?
I am offering my product to students and people who visit the UF campus. Particularly, I am aiming to satisfy customers who value sustainability and try to be environmentally friendly while also raising awareness of how important it is to be sustainable.
4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.
My product is unique in that it is free to customers, but the value that it will bring to the Uf campus will outweigh the costs of starting it. By implementing this product, UF will have another way for students to be sustainable on campus and show how easy it is to implement solar energy into products that can be used in everyday life. People who value the earth and believe that climate change is a big issue will care about this product and want to use it.
5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?
I have experience living and learning about sustainable energy sources. While I studied abroad in Australia, I stayed in various places that were completely solar powered or used renewable energy, and it showed me just how capable everyone and every country on the planet is of using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. I think that what sets me apart is my passion for the environment and spreading my knowledge to other people who might not know about ways to use solar energy that could replace gasoline and oil.
1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?
Reading about the important pitfalls that are commonly encountered in the process of selecting a new venture were very surprising to me because I had not thought about all of those things before. All of the things they talk about are important to research and have knowledge about before starting a new business.
2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The part that talked about the growth of sales was a little confusing to me because it talked about different types of ventures and how the profits will be different.
3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
Why wouldn't every entrepreneur want to be in a high growth venture? Because I'm curious as to why some would want to have slow growth.
Do most entrepreneurs face all of these problems or do a lot prepare beforehand? Because there seem to be a lot of ways for entrepreneurs to fail.
4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I didn't find anything that I disagreed with in the reading.
1)Find an opportunity.Students at the University of Florida are on campus for multiple hours every day of the week. Many of them bring their laptops and cell phones to campus to use for school work and communication, and having them turned on for multiple hours requires battery power. I think it would be useful to place solar-powered charging stations around campus, because not only does this use sustainable renewable energy, but also provides students with more places to charge their electronics.
2) Figure out who might have the unmet need.Students who bring their electronics to campus to use for doing school work are the main people who this could potentially benefit.
3) Come up with a list of questions.
When you go to campus, do you always have either your cell
phone or laptop?
Do you often run out of battery or need somewhere to charge either device?
How much do you enjoy studying or being outside when the weather is nice?
Is sustainability important to you?
How would you feel about there being solar-powered charging
stations throughout campus, which would not only use renewable energy, but also
provide you with a place to charge your phone or laptop on-the-go?
4) Go talk to customers!
Interview #1
Interview #2
Interview #3
Interview #4
Interview #5
5) Tell us what you learned about the opportunity. I learned that sustainability is important to a lot of students, and that they love the idea of using solar power for battery charging stations. All of my interviewees thought that putting these on campus would be a good idea.
6) Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers. I learned that at first it is intimidating, but after the first one I wasn't as nervous and the interviews became easier. People were very happy to help me with my assignment by allowing me to interview them.
Opportunity: There is a limited number of outlets and places to charge computers or phones on the UF campus, and no where outdoors for students to do so. Solution: Because there is a limited amount of places for students to charge electronics and UF tries to be sustainable whenever possible, solar-powered battery charging stations should be placed around campus for students to use whenever they need. Business Name: SolarChargeIt
