Assignment #29 Venture Concept Number 2

1. Opportunity

The opportunity that I would like to pursue is college students who lose their keys while going out to bars and drinking. The overall “who” in this opportunity is college students, but this can be broken down even further to college students who drink, and even further to college students who drink excessively in crowded places. This has become an opportunity in the last few years because drinking is becoming more normalized and even encouraged. College movies that show students getting wasted at parties and going out to bars leaves the impression that that is what you should do in college. I defined this opportunity to college towns and the students that attend these colleges because that is where you see the most excessive drinking because there are usually bars that sell cheap alcohol to get drunk fast off of. I did not define it by legal drinking age because it is getting easier and easier to get a fake ID. Therefore, it is not only those of legal drinking age that go out to bars and drink excessively.

The reason this opportunity exists is because when college students drink excessively in crowded places, they are less control of their body and end up bumping up against a lot of people. During that time, it is very easy for a key to fall out of a pocket or purse and fall on the ground, never to be found. Those students that repeatedly have this problem currently do one of two things. Option one is try to stash the key in their shoe or another area they think will keep the key secured, or leave the key outside of their home in a secret place. Both options do not guarantee you will have your key at the end of the night and my product does. I found through my research that students are open to trying something new to keep their key on their body. It is typically the last thing they want to worry about while out drinking. From market research I believe that about half of the college students on one campus would buy this product. For the University of Florida’s campus alone this is roughly 20,000 students. The problem is that each student will most likely buy the product only once unless they lose it(while they aren’t out drinking). I think this window will remain open as long as the college party experience stays relevant, and I don’t she that changing any time soon.

Innovation

The product I will be creating will be called the Gotcha. Customers will have an option to pick from a bracelet, anklet, or clip that they will attach their key to and wear with their outfit when they go out to party. The Gotcha will 99% effective at preventing you from losing your keys.  The bracelet and anklet will come in many sizes so that customers can buy one that fits them perfectly. The clip will be offered in two sizes: small at 1 inch in length and a large at 2 inches in length. All of the products will be fastened with a specially designed latch that double locks to ensure that it will not come undone unless done on purpose. You will need to hold the latch down and twist it at the same time for it to come undone. The design of the products will be simple and stylish so that customers will want to add it to their outfit. By having it as a fashion piece we are able to come out with a first edition and add new designs as we go. This may encourage students who have already boughten one to buy another because they like the new design. We will sell the product for $15. At this price students will buy the bracelet because it is cheaper than the alternative of losing your key. These costs are buying multiple Ubers to go back to the bars and search for the key or having to call a locksmith to let you into your home. At the launch of the product we expect to have low sales but are predicting that once the brand awareness increases around campus will  have about half of the students on a college campus to purchase the item. I am expecting it to take about 6-12 months of ramp up time before we will be able to reach that 50% of students mark. Once we reach this mark at the University of Florida we would sell roughly 25,000 units. At $15 a piece we are looking at a revenue of $375,000. Each year 13,000 students are admitted, so that is an additional 7,500 units to be sold every year and this is not including the additional units we would sell to preexisting customers. I expect to have new designs every 4 months. With that being said I am expecting loyal customers to purchase at least two product during a single year. From the market research I have conducted I am expecting that the clip will be our best seller.

Venture Concept

The Gotcha products will solve the opportunity of students losing their keys by keeping the key attached to their body. By doing this this don’t need to worry about the key falling out of their pocket or purse or someone finding their hiding spot and getting into their home. Customers will buy this product because in the long run it saves them a lot of money and aggravation. I also believe that with enough influencers the Gotcha could become a trend on college campuses. I will get students to switch to this product through the influencers and explaining all the benefits that come along with owning a Gotcha. I think the hardest part about getting customers to switch will be finding the right influencers and who impacts the most people. Currently there is no direct competitor that sells a similar product, but companies that sell devices to hide your key in is my closest competitor. Their biggest weakness is that these devices can be well known and easy to detect as key compartments making it easy for someone to notice it and take the key out.

In defining my business concept, the price and distribution will be the most important. I have set the price at $15 because I believe that students are willing to spend at least that much on a normal accessory. I will distribute the products in two ways: first through local stores around the college and second through an online website. The packaging will be simple and list the benefits of the product and be very aesthetically pleasing. The customer support will be very limited until we are able to get our sales up. I do not foresee a lot of customers needing customer support so for the mean time I will handle all customer support myself. I will outsource the production of the product and buy the product in batches that I will store locally and distribute out as needed. I foresee myself being able to run the business by myself at first but once sales increase, I will need to hire one to two people to help with marketing and distributing the product.

Most Important Resource

I believe my top resource is my network. My connections throughout Gainesville as well as the business community as a whole will give me a leg up and is unique to me alone. No one else has my exact network and would not be able to form the same relationship with the people I do have in my network. This is what will set me apart from others and allow me to have a step up against competitors. 

What’s Next

The next step for the venture will be to create a way to keep students from losing their phone and IDs. I believe by pursuing this venture I will learn more about how students lose items while out drinking and could think of a way to prevent them from losing anything while out drinking.

What’s Next For Me

Over the first five years I hope to create a sold base market at the University of Florida and slowly expand to other universities. I will start with other universities in the state of Florida and slowly expand out through connections. In ten years, I hope to have created a steady business that can begin to manage itself and hopefully I will be able to either expand it even further or sell the company and start a new idea. This first venture will give me the experience and knowledge of what it takes to start a new business, so hopefully the creation of my second business will run much smoother.

2. The main feedback I got was about the numbers and predictions I expect to make from my product. Specifically how I came up with half of all UF students will purchase my product. I also received feedback about that the price, name, and variety of products were very attractive.

3. Based on my feedback I went into more detail about how I came up with the market research and explained that we don't expect half of UF students to buy the product right away but more that at the peak of the product after it is fully in production and the brand has been created we expect to have half of UF students buying the product. I also added more about how we expect loyal customers to purchase more than one product over their life span.

Assignment #30 Final Reflection

My most formative experience by far has been the workshop. Getting to sit and talk through problems in person and bounce ideas off of each other allowed me to learn a lot and understand the reasoning behind if something will work or if it won't work. Also having to think of a business idea you could implement right away made me think harder and eventually allowed me to work smarter. The most joyous experience was actually when I started to get feedback about how much people liked my business idea and that it would make a difference for some people. I'm most proud of executing the interviews. It is hard and uncomfortable to go up to strangers, so I was proud of myself for doing it. 

Right now I do not see myself as an entrepreneur simply because it is not a path I would like to take. I like structure and stability that a stable company provides. I think I would be too stressed out to be an entrepreneur. But with that being said, I do think I have developed a more entrepreneurial mindset because I notice problems and start to think of ways to fix them. I also see myself analyzing industries and markets more to see what is lacking. 

My recommendation to someone who is going to journey down the path of entrepreneurship in the future is to first fully examine the market they plan to go into to make sure their really is a need what what you plan to offer and second to not be afraid of asking other business owners for advice. I think people are more afraid of reaching out to people than they should be. Most people are willing to talk to you, and if they aren't not harm done. For someone in this class I would recommend doing the assignments early. Look at them early so you don't get caught off guard at the end of the week and realize you need to do a lot of work for the assignment. To someone who wants to foster an entrepreneurial mindset I would recommend to keep your mind as open as you can. The more open you are the more you will be able to see problems and come up with creative ways to solve them. 

Assignment #28 Your 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?

I plan to sell the business after a few years when I have turned it into a profitable company. I do not see myself wanting to work the crazy hours of an entrepreneur as I get older. I want to be able to have time to spend with my family especially when the time comes to start my own. My hopes is I will be able to get a large enough return that I can spend a few months with my family before starting to work again. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I have selected this strategy because I do not see myself as a life long entrepreneur. I think it will be a good experience and fun to start a business when I am young, but I want to be able to spend time with my family when the time comes. 

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?

I think this exit strategy has influenced my decisions by allowing me to go all in with all of my resources because I only plan to do it for a few years. I think the time for me to sell the company is after I have grown the business to a second university. This way I have set up a strategy and plan to expand the company and have shown that it is successful. This way who ever buys the company will have the information to expand the company as much as they want to. 

Assignment #27 Reading Reflection #3

I read the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

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

The general theme of the book is mindset and whether you are in a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. She explains the difference between the two mindsets giving multiple examples of each and then explains how you can change your mindset into a growth mindset. 

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

In full honesty, I don't think that this book enhanced anything that I learned in the class. It was a great book to read and good knowledge to have, but I did not see how it related back to the class. The only way I can connect it, is that the book teaches you how to be a more successful person and achieve more by having the right mindset. It is beneficial to learn to think this way as an entrepreneur. 

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

I would have an exercise that explained the two mindsets and what the difference is between the two. Then I would ask students to think of a time they had a fixed mindset and explain how they could have turned it into a growth mindset. Then I would have them explain steps on how they can have more of a growth mindset and the steps they can take now to achieve that.

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?

I was surprised and a little upset when I realized that there are situations when I am in a fixed mindset. It was interesting to learn that and think about how when I am in those fixed mindsets things do not go as well as when I am in a growth mindset. It really made me a aware of how I think about situations and react to them. I learned a lot on how I can better place myself into a growth mindset. 

Assignment #26 Celebrating Failure

1. This semester I failed to submit a lot of assignments. I had a lot of things going on with my family and had to go home a lot during the semester. On the weeks I had to do this it was hard to me to complete my assignments on time. I did not properly plan my weeks to get my assignments done early so if I did have to go home at the end of the week last minute at least they were done. Luckily I did the extra credit assignment and that really saved my grade. I also did not properly submit my assignments twice because I was in a rush to get them done and did not slow down to make sure I did it right. These were wasted points. I feel bad about not doing the assignments but it was honestly a lot to handle with what was going on in my life. But, that is no excuse. I should have done the assignments early and ahead of schedule. 
2. I learned that I need to think more in advance and anticipate when I might not have enough time to do the assignments. If I had worked ahead earlier in the semester when I wasn't as busy I would have been able to complete more assignments. In the future I will work harder to plan ahead for those unexpected setbacks. 
3. I have a very hard time accepting failure. I get frustrated and irritated, especially when it comes to school work because I always try to put my best foot forward and work hard to learn as much as I can. I do not feel like I did that for this class.  Even with saying all that, I feel like I have still learned a lot from this class on getting out of your comfort zone and taking risks. It also showed me that everyone has failures, but that doesn't make you a failure. As long as you get back up and work hard to do better, failure is just a stepping stone on your road to success. 

Assignment #25 What's Next?

Existing Market

1. I think the next step of my venture will be first to create more style options of the product. Different colors, patterns, shapes, maybe even accessories like charms on a charm bracelet. The second would be to expand the product line to include items that prevent you from losing your phone or ID. 
2. I interviewed three people in the business college and they each agreed that providing more styles and options would be a great way to expand the business. Two of them were skeptical if there could even be a product to keep you from losing your phone or ID. They thought instead of a product you would have on you create a small tracking device that could help you find your phone or ID if you do lose it. The other didn't turn down the idea of creating something for your phone or ID but said it would be a harder sell. When I asked them for their ideas of what should be next the first said to expanding to other universities would be the first step she would take. The second said he would apply the double latch to other things like key chains and purses. The third said he would first see which design sold the best and then create more products similar to the best seller. 
3. After thinking of ideas and interviewing three people the first step I will take is to create new style options for the product every few months so there is something new for customers to buy. That will be my first priority. I will then try to expand the business to other universities. The last thing I would do once the business is stable is to start applying the double latch to things like purses and wallets. I could see this as a potential way to help keep students from losing other belongings.

          I believe that with these next steps in mind that I will be able to grow and expand my business further. I think the biggest and hardest challenge of these three is expanding to other colleges.  A big part of my business plan is having influencers at the colleges that will help students see the advantage of the product as well as make it a trend. Since I don't have as many connections at other universities it will be challenging to find the right influencers. 

New Market

1. A radically new market I could enter into would be highly esteemed people in New York City who party a lot.
2. I think my product could create value for this market because I can imagine that they have the same problem of losing belongings when out partying. My product could keep them from losing their keys or even from their keys being taken from them. By having my product people in this industry will be able to worry less about getting back into their home at the end of the night. 
3. I obviously could not go to New York to ask people about this problem but I have two friends who live there now and I asked them. Their biggest concern was that it had to be fashionable, if it wasn't people wouldn't buy it. But one said that you could change the product to be a purse that had the double latch and that would be extremely helpful. She said it would make it harder for people to pit pocket her or try and steel her belongings from her purse. 
4. What surprised me the most was how fashion conscious people were and how that would be a make or break aspect of the product. I feel like in college towns that will not have as bog of an effect on people. I did however think it would be a hard market to get into, but again influencers are a huge piece of the marketing strategy. 

          I think this could be a great market to enter into but with a different product. It I was able to apply to double latch to purses and wallets like I explained earlier I could gain a market share. The purses would have to be extremely fashion forward since they would be sold in New York. But it is a potential market I could enter into, or sell the double latch right to a major purse company. 

Assignment #24 Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

The opportunity that I would like to pursue is college students who lose their keys while going out to bars and drinking. The overall “who” in this opportunity is college students, but this can be broken down even further to college students who drink, and even further to college students who drink excessively in crowded places. This has become an opportunity in the last few years because drinking is becoming more normalized and even encouraged. College movies that show students getting wasted at parties and going out to bars leaves the impression that that is what you should do in college. I defined this opportunity to college towns and the students that attend these colleges because that is where you see the most excessive drinking because there are usually bars that sell cheap alcohol to get drunk fast off of. I did not define it by legal drinking age because it is getting easier and easier to get a fake ID. Therefore, it is not only those of legal drinking age that go out to bars and drink excessively.

The reason this opportunity exists is because when college students drink excessively in crowded places, they are less control of their body and end up bumping up against a lot of people. During that time, it is very easy for a key to fall out of a pocket or purse and fall on the ground, never to be found. Those students that repeatedly have this problem currently do one of two things. Option one is try to stash the key in their shoe or another area they think will keep the key secured, or leave the key outside of their home in a secret place. Both options do not guarantee you will have your key at the end of the night and my product does. I found through my research that students are open to trying something new to keep their key on their body. It is typically the last thing they want to worry about while out drinking. From market research I believe that about half of the college students on one campus would buy this product. For the University of Florida’s campus alone this is roughly 20,000 students. The problem is that each student will most likely buy the product only once unless they lose it(while they aren’t out drinking). I think this window will remain open as long as the college party experience stays relevant, and I don’t she that changing any time soon.

Innovation

The product I will be creating will be called the Gotcha. Customers will have an option to pick from a bracelet, anklet, or clip that they will attach their key to and wear with their outfit when they go out to party. The Gotcha will 99% effective at preventing you from losing your keys.  The bracelet and anklet will come in many sizes so that customers can buy one that fits them perfectly. The clip will be offered in two sizes: small at 1 inch in length and a large at 2 inches in length. All of the products will be fastened with a specially designed latch that double locks to ensure that it will not come undone unless done on purpose. You will need to hold the latch down and twist it at the same time for it to come undone. The design of the products will be simple and stylish so that customers will want to add it to their outfit. By having it as a fashion piece we are able to come out with a first edition and add new designs as we go. This may encourage students who have already boughten one to buy another because they like the new design. We will sell the product for $15. At this price students will buy the bracelet because it is cheaper than the alternative of losing your key. These costs are buying multiple Ubers to go back to the bars and search for the key or having to call a locksmith to let you into your home. We are expecting about half of the students on a college campus to purchase this item. At the University this is roughly 25,000 units we would sell. At $15 a piece we are looking at a revenue of $375,000. Each year 13,000 students are admitted, so that is an additional 7,500 units to be sold every year and this is not including the additional units we would sell to preexisting customers. From the market research I have conducted I am expecting that the clip will be our best seller.

Venture Concept

The Gotcha products will solve the opportunity of students losing their keys by keeping the key attached to their body. By doing this this don’t need to worry about the key falling out of their pocket or purse or someone finding their hiding spot and getting into their home. Customers will buy this product because in the long run it saves them a lot of money and aggravation. I also believe that with enough influencers the Gotcha could become a trend on college campuses. I will get students to switch to this product through the influencers and explaining all the benefits that come along with owning a Gotcha. I think the hardest part about getting customers to switch will be finding the right influencers and who impacts the most people. Currently there is no direct competitor that sells a similar product, but companies that sell devices to hide your key in is my closest competitor. Their biggest weakness is that these devices can be well known and easy to detect as key compartments making it easy for someone to notice it and take the key out.

In defining my business concept, the price and distribution will be the most important. I have set the price at $15 because I believe that students are willing to spend at least that much on a normal accessory. I will distribute the products in two ways: first through local stores around the college and second through an online website. The packaging will be simple and list the benefits of the product and be very aesthetically pleasing. The customer support will be very limited until we are able to get our sales up. I do not foresee a lot of customers needing customer support so for the mean time I will handle all customer support myself. I will outsource the production of the product and buy the product in batches that I will store locally and distribute out as needed. I foresee myself being able to run the business by myself at first but once sales increase, I will need to hire one to two people to help with marketing and distributing the product.

Most Important Resource

I believe my top resource is my network. My connections throughout Gainesville as well as the business community as a whole will give me a leg up and is unique to me alone. No one else has my exact network and would not be able to form the same relationship with the people I do have in my network. This is what will set me apart from others and allow me to have a step up against competitors. 

What’s Next

The next step for the venture will be to create a way to keep students from losing their phone and IDs. I believe by pursuing this venture I will learn more about how students lose items while out drinking and could think of a way to prevent them from losing anything while out drinking.

What’s Next For Me

Over the first five years I hope to create a sold base market at the University of Florida and slowly expand to other universities. I will start with other universities in the state of Florida and slowly expand out through connections. In ten years, I hope to have created a steady business that can begin to manage itself and hopefully I will be able to either expand it even further or sell the company and start a new idea. This first venture will give me the experience and knowledge of what it takes to start a new business, so hopefully the creation of my second business will run much smoother.

Assignment 23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resources

1.  Since I fall into the customer base I have extensive knowledge of the customer base
2.  Knowledge of how to use social media as a form of marketing
3.  I have networks that can help me promote the product 
4.  I have connections in stores around Gainesville that I could potentially sell the product in
5. I can easily acquire $10,000 to start this business 
6. I have knowledge of how a business works 
7.  I know great entrepreneurs around Gainesville that can help me learn about marketing to college students
8.  I would be able to design the product and pick what colors and styles would work best
9.  My business would not need a lot of employees because I would make the bracelets and sell them online and to stores in college towns. I would not have a store to sell just my product
10.  My open schedule 

VRIN Analysis 

1.  This resource is valuable and non- substitutable. It is not rare or inimitable because there are other college students that have the knowledge that I have.
2.  This resource is valuable but not rare, inimitable or non substitutable. Social media is a great form of free marketing but others can easily do it and you can use other forms of marketing instead of it. 
3.  This is valuable, inimitable, and non-substitutable but not rare. I have a very unique network that can help me with this business idea. It would be hard for someone to copy it and you cannot substitute real connections. The only reason I say it isn't rare is because each person has their own network. Mine just is unique to me and has knowledge of business and the customer base. 
4.  This resource is valuable but not rare, inimitable or non substitutable. This resource is extremely valuable but others can easily form these connections as well. This resource is not just for me and can easily be substituted with online sales. 
5.  This resource is valuable and non-substitutable but not rare or inimitable. Money is very valuable and can't be substituted but others have money and money can be acquired by others as well. 
6.  This resource is valuable but not rare, inimitable or non substitutable. This is of course valuable, but anyone can learn about business. The only advantage I have is that my family owns and runs their own business so I have grown up learning how business works and can ask family for advise.
7.  This resource is valuable and non substitutable but not rare of inimitable. The reason I know a lot of entrepreneurs is because they have come and spoken at many of my club meetings. Therefore it is not rare or inimitable.  
8.  I believe this resource is neither valuable, rare, inimitable, or non substitutable. Anyone can do this part of the business. The only advantage I have goes back to knowing the customer base and being apart of it myself. 
9.  This resource is valuable but not rare, inimitable or non substitutable. By not needing a lot of employees I will be able to do a lot of the work myself and not need to spend money to hire someone to help me. But most entrepreneurs have to do this so it is not rare or inimitable and can be substituted with volunteer interns.
10.  This resource is valuable and non substitutable but not rare or inimitable. Right now I have very few requirements that demand a lot of my time. This allows me to dedicated more time and effort to the creation of the business. But, having time is not rare or inimitable. Someone could easily quit school or their job and have lots of time to start a business. 

Top Resource
I believe my top resource is my network. My connections throughout Gainesville as well as the business community as a whole will give me a leg up and is unique to me alone. No one else has my exact network and would not be able to form the same relationship with the people I do have in my network. This is what will set me apart from others and allow me to have a step up against competitors.