1) Read through posts
2) I think the most formative experience I learned from this class was developing and delivering a good elevator speech. Sometimes it is hard to sell something to people that know nothing about it, but this class helped me come up with a lot of good strategies to become great at it. I am not sure if there is anything specifically I will remember years later, but I will always remember this class. I am most proud of myself for completing all of the tasks. At the start of the semester I did not think I could put together a business plan like this, but now I have all the strategies to do so myself.
3) I think I do have more of an entrepreneurial mindset now after this class. Prior to the class I never really thought about ways to fix things when I got into a situation that did not have an answer. Now I always think about ways I can improve products if they do not work as efficiently as they could and other entrepreneurial ideas like that.
4) If I could give one piece of advice to students who are taking this class I would tell them to get all their work done ahead of time. Procrastinating in this class is not a good idea because you will miss a deadline at some point. As long as you embrace the entrepreneurial mindset and keep an open mind about what this class has to offer you, then you will succeed in ENT 3003.
Friday, December 7, 2018
Venture Concept #2
1) I believe there is a very good opportunity in the personal assistant field for me to create a company and maximize the opportunity. My target market will consist of private business owners of any age. I believe there is a need for a fast and easy way to match up college students that would work as personal assistants in select areas. An application or website that will allow you to search for a personal assistant in any specific field that the consumer needs. I want people who are in need of a personal assistant to utilize our college students who will be getting paid minimum wage for their services, while also earning significant experience in a specific field that they are hoping to one day be a part of. This will almost be like a part time internship. This will be an new innovative way to interact with people in your specific field as well. It will be like LinkedIn but we will aim to get the assistants our in their fields. I believe customers will use our product over other personal assistant finder sites because ours will be utilizing college students. Not only are our consumers getting the help they need in whatever field they work in, they are also helping young students earn significant field experience and help mold them into the future workforce.
2) I received all positive feedback from my original Venture Concept post. All of the students who commented on my original post believed that it was great the way it was and did not tell me to change anything about my post. I think all of the feedback that I got helped me realize that I need to organize my thoughts a little better. I have always been the type of person who gets a lot of ideas all at once and then have to get them all out of my mind at the same time.
3) Based on the feedback I received, I did not change much about my Venture Concept post. The only advice I received was to organize my post a little better because it was a little off chronologically. In my most recent post i separated all three parts in a more organized manner that fits better for a venture concept idea.
2) I received all positive feedback from my original Venture Concept post. All of the students who commented on my original post believed that it was great the way it was and did not tell me to change anything about my post. I think all of the feedback that I got helped me realize that I need to organize my thoughts a little better. I have always been the type of person who gets a lot of ideas all at once and then have to get them all out of my mind at the same time.
3) Based on the feedback I received, I did not change much about my Venture Concept post. The only advice I received was to organize my post a little better because it was a little off chronologically. In my most recent post i separated all three parts in a more organized manner that fits better for a venture concept idea.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Reading Reflection 3
I decided to read The Art of Social Media.
1) The general theme of the Art of Social Media is how social media accounts are influential to the marketing campaign of a company. This book goes into details about what someone who is starting to market their company should do in terms of marketing on social media. It talks about some basic ideas, but also is very specific in other regards.
2) I think this book really helped me see the positives of using social media marketing in order to have a successful marketing campaign. This book connects with this course because one of the biggest aspects of any new company needs to be their marketing efforts. A lot of entrepreneurs with small startup companies or ideas need to find an efficient way to market their product, and social media is the best way to do that since EVERYONE is on social media.
3) If I designed an exercise based on this book for ENT3003, I would have the exercise be all about online and social media marketing. I would have the students create their own social media advertisement and have the students come up with various ideas for marketing online.
4) I did not really have a big aha moment when reading this book. I think the only thing that really surprised me was all the different ways entrepreneurs can market their products on social media. There are countless ways to post advertisements online and on social media and there are even more strategies someone can use to market their product.
Exit Strategy
1) Prior to this assignment, I did not think much about my exit strategy. I think my plan is to build the business up over the next 5-10 years and make it worth as much as possible, and then ultimately try to sell it and make a pretty penny. The idea of building the business and then selling and investing in another company is one that sounds really good to me.
2) I selected this strategy because ultimately the goal in life is to make money. Once you build a company, there are aspirations to build something else and that is what i eventually want to do. Being able to sell my company for a large return and then invest in another company or come up with a new idea is what I would do if I were in that situation.
3) My exit strategy has not influenced the other decisions I have made in regards to my company. Going into this assignment I previously had the idea that I would build up the company to the largest it could possibly be, and then sell it down the road. The end goal in life is to provide for your family and to live a comfortable and satisfying life.
2) I selected this strategy because ultimately the goal in life is to make money. Once you build a company, there are aspirations to build something else and that is what i eventually want to do. Being able to sell my company for a large return and then invest in another company or come up with a new idea is what I would do if I were in that situation.
3) My exit strategy has not influenced the other decisions I have made in regards to my company. Going into this assignment I previously had the idea that I would build up the company to the largest it could possibly be, and then sell it down the road. The end goal in life is to provide for your family and to live a comfortable and satisfying life.
Celebrating Failure
1) Over the course of any semester, students are bound to fail at something. I am going to tell you about a time this semester when I failed at something. I was enrolled in a class this past semester that I did not find very difficult. I was doing really well in the class until I had some personal medical issues rise up. I was no longer able to walk to class every day to go to class so I had to drop it. I felt like I failed myself because I had to medically withdraw from a class that was not very difficult.
2) I learned that not everything is going to go your way in life. I have always been a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so I feel like the major lesson that I will have learned from this failure experience will reveal itself later down the road.
3) I do not think anyone enjoys failing something, however it is something that everyone experiences and teaches them lessons. For me, I deal with failure internally. It eats at me for a while but eventually I come to terms with my failures and I try to come up with a way to avoid failing again. Everyone copes with their failure differently, but for me this is the best strategy. I do not think this class changed my perspective on failure because everything this class teaches about failure is something I already knew. Failure is a good thing, as long as you can learn from your mistakes.
2) I learned that not everything is going to go your way in life. I have always been a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so I feel like the major lesson that I will have learned from this failure experience will reveal itself later down the road.
3) I do not think anyone enjoys failing something, however it is something that everyone experiences and teaches them lessons. For me, I deal with failure internally. It eats at me for a while but eventually I come to terms with my failures and I try to come up with a way to avoid failing again. Everyone copes with their failure differently, but for me this is the best strategy. I do not think this class changed my perspective on failure because everything this class teaches about failure is something I already knew. Failure is a good thing, as long as you can learn from your mistakes.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Elevator Pitch #3
2. Most of the feedback I got from my second elevator speech was very positive. I was not told to change anything from the feedback that I got. I think the feedback that I received from my first elevator pitch was enough to get my going in the right direction for the second one.
3. Based on all the positive feedback, I decided not to change much at all about my elevator pitch. This is roughly the same pitch with a few minor tweaks to the order in which I state things.
Reading Reflection #2
1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
- The book Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker has the general theme of society being driven by more and more innovation and entrepreneurship. Without constant innovation and entrepreneurial ideas.
2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
- I feel as if this book reinforced my knowledge that I picked up from ENT 3003. To this point, I learned in ENT 3003 that innovation is the key to advancing society and this book just reinforced my previous knowledge of that.
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 the book, I would design an exercise that gets people thinking of new ideas all the time. The more ideas that one comes up with, the more likely they are to hit on one of the ideas and start a great opportunity.
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 didn't really have a biggest "aha" moment when reading this book. I feel like because this book reinforced a lot of my previous knowledge, i was not really surprised when I was reading this book. If there was a real "aha" moment, it would be the moment I knew that all of the knowledge I learned from ENT 3003 is always applied to real world entrepreneurship.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Growing Your Social Capital
For this part of the assignment, I was unable to find three people that fit the parameters of the assignment for the specific industry my opportunity is in. Although I could not find three, I was able to find one personal assistant that I could do this assignment on. This personal assistant's name is Mia.
1) Who they are and what their background is.
- Mia used to be a personal assistant when she first graduated college. She went to the University of Delaware and majored in finance. She was unable to find a good job in finance so she became a personal assistant at a large financial company in New York City.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
- Mia would fall under the supplier category because she used to supply her assistance to the people that needed her help.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
- I found Mia through a family friend. She is close friends with my first cousin that currently lives in New York City with her.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation?
- Since she lives in New York, I was unable to have a face to face conversation with her. However I was able to have a FaceTime conversation and get all of the information I needed. She was willing to listen to my idea and thought very highly of it.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
- Including this person in my network will help my exploit my opportunity because she gave me a lot of good ideas as to what I need to do to succeed in the personal assistance business. She left me with a lot of good marketing ideas, along with the steps I need to go through in order to build a reputable business.
Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?
- This was a great learning experience for me. It is the first time that I actually started networking for myself. I think I am walking away from this exercise with a lot of new knowledge that I am going to need in the future. Everything gets better as you practice it more, and I believe this was the first step I needed to start networking for myself more and to build a reputable organization.
Idea Napkin #2
1) You:
I feel that I have a few strong talents. My best talent is my ability to socialize. I am a very friendly person and I can talk to anyone. Another talent I have is my ability to stay motivated on a task. I aspire to be someone with a large family that I am very close with and to have a steady job that pays enough to support my family. If I were to start this business, I would devote the majority of my day to this business if it projects to be very successful, however, family is extremely important to me and time must be devoted at night to them.
2) What are you offering to your customers?
The service that I am offering to customers is an assistant service for business owners or bosses can hire to help around the office or with personal work. This assistant service will utilize college students to give them the experience in the workplace that they are looking to be apart of one day.
3) Who are you offering it to?
My assistant service will be offered to anyone, however a smaller subset of people will find the service more useful than others. My target consumers will be any business owner, manager, or boss that needs assistance around the office or with their personal work. The consumers could be male or female and could be any age. All of my customers will have one thing in common, they will all need the help of an assistant to get their work completed on time and in an efficient manner.
4) Why do they care?
Customers will pay for my service because it is a service that will only be used by the people who really need it. The assistants will be all college students so they will sign up to be an assistant for someone in the workforce, and the people that need the assistant will pay for it because that is the only way you can get an assistant.
5) What are your core competencies?
What sets my company apart from everyone else is the utilization of college students as the assistants. This will be a fast and easy way to hire an assistant that is specializing in the same field as you but just doesn't have the same work experience because they're in college. Finding a helpful assistant will never be easier than this.
I feel that I have a few strong talents. My best talent is my ability to socialize. I am a very friendly person and I can talk to anyone. Another talent I have is my ability to stay motivated on a task. I aspire to be someone with a large family that I am very close with and to have a steady job that pays enough to support my family. If I were to start this business, I would devote the majority of my day to this business if it projects to be very successful, however, family is extremely important to me and time must be devoted at night to them.
2) What are you offering to your customers?
The service that I am offering to customers is an assistant service for business owners or bosses can hire to help around the office or with personal work. This assistant service will utilize college students to give them the experience in the workplace that they are looking to be apart of one day.
3) Who are you offering it to?
My assistant service will be offered to anyone, however a smaller subset of people will find the service more useful than others. My target consumers will be any business owner, manager, or boss that needs assistance around the office or with their personal work. The consumers could be male or female and could be any age. All of my customers will have one thing in common, they will all need the help of an assistant to get their work completed on time and in an efficient manner.
4) Why do they care?
Customers will pay for my service because it is a service that will only be used by the people who really need it. The assistants will be all college students so they will sign up to be an assistant for someone in the workforce, and the people that need the assistant will pay for it because that is the only way you can get an assistant.
5) What are your core competencies?
What sets my company apart from everyone else is the utilization of college students as the assistants. This will be a fast and easy way to hire an assistant that is specializing in the same field as you but just doesn't have the same work experience because they're in college. Finding a helpful assistant will never be easier than this.
Feedback Memo
- I received a lot of good feedback from my first idea napkin. None of the feedback really told me to make any changes so I only changed a few small parts. One of the main takeaways I took from my feedback was incorporating why the use of college students is a better use of personal assistants than using older personal assistants that already graduated from college. The second takeaway I took from my feedback was to emphasize how this will help people not waste time anymore and get their work done on time.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Elevator Pitch #2
1) The pitch.
2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.
- All of the feedback I received for my first elevator pitch was really positive. Some people made the suggestion to talk more about competing companies and other websites that have similar concepts to us and what makes them different. I think that was the biggest takeaway I took from the feedback from my first pitch.
3) What did you change, based on the feedback?
- I did not change much with the content I was telling about my company, however, I did change the order that I talked about the company. I decided to start off with describing exactly what our company does, competition from other companies, I then I finished it off by telling the audience exactly what makes our company special.
Customer Avatar
My customer avatar starts with any gender. It is most likely that our customers will be in the 25 to 45 year old age range because they have to be in a position to need a personal assistant. My ideal customer will most likely have mature hobbies because they are in an older generation. They are most likely small business owners, however, any job could require the use of a personal assistant and we are open to getting anyone who needs assistance. the right person for their need. My customer could drive any type of car. Since any job could use a personal assistant, the range of income that my customers earn will also be a wide scale. My customers could also drive any color car because that is not dependent on the need of my service. My customers most likely do not watch Netflix as much as the younger generation, therefore a lot of the tv shows that they watch are probably on cable and not specific. My customers are most likely to watch mature tv shows and follow the news regularly. Typically my customers will probably have children because of the age range that they fall under, however this is also not dependent to the need of my service. Personality traits have nothing to do with if my customer has the need for my service, therefore it is hard to pinpoint my exact customer "Avatar." The only thing all of my typical customers will have in common is a job that needs a personal assistant, a lot of work that they need to accomplish on a daily basis, and an outside life that needs to be stimulated which is why they are in the need of a personal assistant.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Buyer Behavior #2
1) For this assignment, I found three people to interview that fall into the segment of "aspiring small business owners." The three people I found for this interview are Jason, Lindsay, and Maya. I found these interviews at Heavner Hall.
2) From these interviews, I found that quality and convenience were the two most important factors for using a personal assistant. All of the people that I interviewed believed they would pay a wide range of prices for a personal assistant, as long as their assistance are convenient and good quality. Although price is a factor in the) decision to purchase the use of a personal assistant, as long as the assistance is good quality they are willing to pay a higher price for the service.
3) I plan on offering the service on a website. On this website, someone who is seeking a personal assistant will be able to enter their zip code, and the area in which they need a personal assistant in. The system will then pull up a list of all personal assistants signed up in that specific area. This will allow purchasers to hand pick exactly who they want to be their personal assistant. This is most likely to be an online transaction in which purchasers enter their credit card information. I also plan on offering a mobile application to use the service as well.
4) The thing that matters most to my customers are the quality of the service. No one wants to purchase something that doesn't work, this goes for my service as well. No one want to purchase the use of a personal assistant if they are not a good quality assistant. I want buyers to be happy that they decided to use my service, not regret the decision.
5) I found that all of the people I interviewed were seeking quality service. They all believed my service could be successful as long as it is a good quality. They also emphasized the ability to look up a personal assistant in a quick and efficient manner. They do not believe hiring a personal assistant would be worth it if it is not a good quality assistant and looking them up was not quick and easy.
6) I believe this market segment is the most popular of all the segments for my service. Aspiring business owners know how difficult it is to start a business, and they know that they need the help. Since they are in need of help starting their business, they are the most likely to purchase my service.
2) From these interviews, I found that quality and convenience were the two most important factors for using a personal assistant. All of the people that I interviewed believed they would pay a wide range of prices for a personal assistant, as long as their assistance are convenient and good quality. Although price is a factor in the) decision to purchase the use of a personal assistant, as long as the assistance is good quality they are willing to pay a higher price for the service.
3) I plan on offering the service on a website. On this website, someone who is seeking a personal assistant will be able to enter their zip code, and the area in which they need a personal assistant in. The system will then pull up a list of all personal assistants signed up in that specific area. This will allow purchasers to hand pick exactly who they want to be their personal assistant. This is most likely to be an online transaction in which purchasers enter their credit card information. I also plan on offering a mobile application to use the service as well.
4) The thing that matters most to my customers are the quality of the service. No one wants to purchase something that doesn't work, this goes for my service as well. No one want to purchase the use of a personal assistant if they are not a good quality assistant. I want buyers to be happy that they decided to use my service, not regret the decision.
5) I found that all of the people I interviewed were seeking quality service. They all believed my service could be successful as long as it is a good quality. They also emphasized the ability to look up a personal assistant in a quick and efficient manner. They do not believe hiring a personal assistant would be worth it if it is not a good quality assistant and looking them up was not quick and easy.
6) I believe this market segment is the most popular of all the segments for my service. Aspiring business owners know how difficult it is to start a business, and they know that they need the help. Since they are in need of help starting their business, they are the most likely to purchase my service.
Secret Sauce
1) I believe I am a very unique person. There are a variety of the things that make me different from others. First off, I am an only child. Being an only child in our generation is not common. I am one of the few only children that I know. Another thing that separates me from others is my compassionate attitude. I grew up with my mom and my grandfather, they taught me growing up to listen to others and to show compassion for everyone. I was always taught to treat others the way that I want to be treated.
2) All of my interviews were very similar. For this part of the assignment I interviewed my three roommates and two other guys in my fraternity. Joey, Trevor, Emilio, Jackson, and Peter all believe that my best qualities are my hardworking mentality, my devotion to anything that I am actively working on, and my ability to listen to others. Each of my friends believe that I am very smart, both in school and in "street smarts." Finally, each of my friends emphasized that I am one of the nicest guys that they know and am always someone that they can talk to when they need help.
3) After conducting the interviews, I have determined that my friends see me in a very similar way as I see myself. I have always taken pride in being a good person to others, especially ones who have done no wrong to me. I do not think I would change anything from part one after doing the interviews because most of what the interviewee's said about me was in coherence with what I said about myself. The only thing that was different that my friends said about me that I was not expecting was my hardworking mentality. I have always tried to work hard on assignments and tasks that I must complete, however, I never saw that as a quality that defines me. It makes me feel really good about myself that my friends see myself that way.
2) All of my interviews were very similar. For this part of the assignment I interviewed my three roommates and two other guys in my fraternity. Joey, Trevor, Emilio, Jackson, and Peter all believe that my best qualities are my hardworking mentality, my devotion to anything that I am actively working on, and my ability to listen to others. Each of my friends believe that I am very smart, both in school and in "street smarts." Finally, each of my friends emphasized that I am one of the nicest guys that they know and am always someone that they can talk to when they need help.
3) After conducting the interviews, I have determined that my friends see me in a very similar way as I see myself. I have always taken pride in being a good person to others, especially ones who have done no wrong to me. I do not think I would change anything from part one after doing the interviews because most of what the interviewee's said about me was in coherence with what I said about myself. The only thing that was different that my friends said about me that I was not expecting was my hardworking mentality. I have always tried to work hard on assignments and tasks that I must complete, however, I never saw that as a quality that defines me. It makes me feel really good about myself that my friends see myself that way.
Friday, October 12, 2018
Reading Reflection #1
Elon Musk
- What surprised you the most?
- I was most surprised about the fact that Elon Musk made most of his money through Paypal.
- What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
- I admire Elon Musk's ambition. He always wants to develop the new best products. Take SpaceX for an example, the first privately funded group to launch a spaceship, and aspires to put the first men on Mars.
- What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
- There was nothing that I did not admire about Elon Musk and his ambitious entrepreneurial skills.
- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
- Elon Musk grew up in a life that was filled with adversity. He was bullied as a kid and faced many problems with his entrepreneurial endeavors. A lot of problems Musk had was because of his drive for perfection, and he expected that out of a lot of his workers as well. In order to adapt, changes had to be made. Musk just recently stepped down as the chairman of Tesla and is weighing his options for the future.
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
- I think one of the biggest competencies Elon Musk exhibits is his tenacity. He is someone who does not give up, like any great entrepreneur.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
- I do not think any of this reading was confusing, some parts were less interesting than others which made it hard to follow, but I would not say any of it was confusing.
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
- The two questions I would ask Elon Musk would be: 1) How do you want your legacy to be remembered and 2) What do you hope your kids do with their careers?
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
- I think Elon Musk's opinion of hard work is perfection. He is a perfectionist and perfect is the only thing he accepts. I do not share this same opinion, I think hard work is determined by effort not perfection.
Halfway Reflection
1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?
- Some behaviors that I've had to acquire in order to keep up with the requirements of the course are my creativity skills, my ability to work ahead on my assignments, and my organization skills.
2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?
- I think I have developed a tenacious attitude over the past two months. One assignment that I felt like "giving up" on was the assignment where we chose our opportunity. It was very difficult for me to come up with a good opportunity at first but because of the development of my creativity skills and changing the way I think about situations with certain opportunities, I was able to determine the opportunity I wanted to tackle.
3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?
- If I could give three tips to incoming students that are taking this class next semester, I would tell them to first make sure you devote a couple hours to this class at least twice a week, get organized early on and plan ahead, and finally I would tell the student to embrace their creative side and start thinking outside the box as early as possible.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Figuring Out Buyer Behavior #1
1) Pick a segment
The segment I would like to look at is aspiring small business owners.
2) Interviews
I interviewed three people that are all aspiring business owners
3)
From my three interviews, a few things became apparent to me. I found that the need for my service is most prevalent when they have a lot of work due at the end of every month. This makes the most sense though because people who are interested in my service will already have a high need for the service since they went out of their way to look up my business.
4)
When someone has the need for a personal assistant, they will be able to look up my company on google and find the database that will have a list of assistants in each area with their specific specialization. The name of my company is Easy Assist, so if either of those words are in a search bar my company will pop up. I also plan to have a mobile app that works similar to Uber. I want the app to have an easy finder window in order to find the assistants in the right area. It will be extremely easy to find my company.
5)
I learned from my interviews that small business owners will definitely find my business as a great option to invest money into a personal assistant. Owning a small business is a lot of work, and having a personal assistant is a smart and efficient way to get all of the necessary work done on time.
6)
In conclusion, this market segment for my company is one that will find a lot of use with my personal assistants. All small businesses are a lot of work when you are first starting, and sometimes people cannot get all of their work done by themselves and need an assistant to help them out. These assistants might help them organize their daily lives or help them out with their workload, but no matter the case, small business owners will find this company very useful
The segment I would like to look at is aspiring small business owners.
2) Interviews
I interviewed three people that are all aspiring business owners
3)
From my three interviews, a few things became apparent to me. I found that the need for my service is most prevalent when they have a lot of work due at the end of every month. This makes the most sense though because people who are interested in my service will already have a high need for the service since they went out of their way to look up my business.
4)
When someone has the need for a personal assistant, they will be able to look up my company on google and find the database that will have a list of assistants in each area with their specific specialization. The name of my company is Easy Assist, so if either of those words are in a search bar my company will pop up. I also plan to have a mobile app that works similar to Uber. I want the app to have an easy finder window in order to find the assistants in the right area. It will be extremely easy to find my company.
5)
I learned from my interviews that small business owners will definitely find my business as a great option to invest money into a personal assistant. Owning a small business is a lot of work, and having a personal assistant is a smart and efficient way to get all of the necessary work done on time.
6)
In conclusion, this market segment for my company is one that will find a lot of use with my personal assistants. All small businesses are a lot of work when you are first starting, and sometimes people cannot get all of their work done by themselves and need an assistant to help them out. These assistants might help them organize their daily lives or help them out with their workload, but no matter the case, small business owners will find this company very useful
Idea Napkin #1
1) You:
I feel that I have a few strong talents. My best talent is my ability to socialize. I am a very friendly person and I can talk to anyone. Another talent I have is my ability to stay motivated on a task. I aspire to be someone with a large family that I am very close with and to have a steady job that pays enough to support my family. If I were to start this business, I would devote the majority of my day to this business if it projects to be very successful, however, family is extremely important to me and time must be devoted at night to them.
2) What are you offering to your customers?
The service that I am offering to customers is an assistant service for business owners or bosses can hire to help around the office or with personal work. This assistant service will utilize college students to give them the experience in the workplace that they are looking to be apart of one day.
3) Who are you offering it to?
My assistant service will be offered to anyone, however a smaller subset of people will find the service more useful than others. My target consumers will be any business owner, manager, or boss that needs assistance around the office or with their personal work. The consumers could be male or female and could be any age. All of my customers will have one thing in common, they will all need the help of an assistant to get their work completed on time and in an efficient manner.
4) Why do they care?
Customers will pay for my service because it is a service that will only be used by the people who really need it. The assistants will be all college students so they will sign up to be an assistant for someone in the workforce, and the people that need the assistant will pay for it because that is the only way you can get an assistant.
5) What are your core competencies?
What sets my company apart from everyone else is the utilization of college students as the assistants. This will be a fast and easy way to hire an assistant that is specializing in the same field as you but just doesn't have the same work experience because they're in college. Finding a helpful assistant will never be easier than this.
I feel that I have a few strong talents. My best talent is my ability to socialize. I am a very friendly person and I can talk to anyone. Another talent I have is my ability to stay motivated on a task. I aspire to be someone with a large family that I am very close with and to have a steady job that pays enough to support my family. If I were to start this business, I would devote the majority of my day to this business if it projects to be very successful, however, family is extremely important to me and time must be devoted at night to them.
2) What are you offering to your customers?
The service that I am offering to customers is an assistant service for business owners or bosses can hire to help around the office or with personal work. This assistant service will utilize college students to give them the experience in the workplace that they are looking to be apart of one day.
3) Who are you offering it to?
My assistant service will be offered to anyone, however a smaller subset of people will find the service more useful than others. My target consumers will be any business owner, manager, or boss that needs assistance around the office or with their personal work. The consumers could be male or female and could be any age. All of my customers will have one thing in common, they will all need the help of an assistant to get their work completed on time and in an efficient manner.
4) Why do they care?
Customers will pay for my service because it is a service that will only be used by the people who really need it. The assistants will be all college students so they will sign up to be an assistant for someone in the workforce, and the people that need the assistant will pay for it because that is the only way you can get an assistant.
5) What are your core competencies?
What sets my company apart from everyone else is the utilization of college students as the assistants. This will be a fast and easy way to hire an assistant that is specializing in the same field as you but just doesn't have the same work experience because they're in college. Finding a helpful assistant will never be easier than this.
Friday, September 28, 2018
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Testing the Hypothesis Part 2
This past week I conducted 5 more interviews with people who should have the unmet need that I am trying to fix, but do not have it. For these interviews, I talked to people close to Heavner Hall, the UF Business School, and asked them a variety of questions related to my opportunity in order to gauge whether or not they fit the criteria of someone who has my need and whether or not they actually have the need. For the interviews I talked to three men and two women.
Who?
After conducting the five interviews something was quickly apparent to me. I found that of the five that I interviewed, all of them should have fallen into the group of people that have the need of needing a personal assistant. This was true because two of the men I interviewed were aspiring to one day create a start up company, the other male and one of the females were marketing majors hoping to one day work for a large business, and the last female saw herself as a financial advisor in her future. All of these occupations fall under the category of possibly needing a personal assistant. After conducting the interviews I concluded that not everyone that fits the criteria of the need necessarily has the need. None of them said they ever pictured themselves needing a personal assistant, however, they were all intrigued about the idea. I found that all of these interviewee's shared a belief, in that their own time management and organizational skills would be enough for them to achieve their goals in their careers.
What?
I found that the point where my need differs from another need all comes from the individuals ability to complete tasks on their own. Some people are better equipped than others to accomplish all of their tasks on their own. I also found that my need differs from the normal need of having a personal assistant because mine would be designed around the use of college students in order to earn more field experience. This was the most intriguing part of my idea to the five that I interviewed.
Why?
The underlying cause of the outsider's need is different than the group inside the boundary. This is all a result of ones ability to get their work done on their own. If one has the ability to accomplish everything without the need of an assistant, obviously their underlying cause for the need would have to be different. This is the beauty of my idea, not everyone has the same path to the need, but it is a need that both the personal assistant and the person who needs the assistant can fulfill with my opportunity. The outsiders may not share the same need as the people within the boundary, but even the people outside the boundary could one day find themselves on the inside.
Inside the Boundary
- Anyone who has a lot of work for their job and needs help accomplishing their tasks, or college students are inside the boundary
- The need is someone who can help a working man or woman accomplish their work tasks, stay organized, schedule meetings, etc... Or, any college student looking for work experience in the field that they are studying
- The need exists because not everyone can get work done in a timely manner on their own and need the help of a personal assistant. Or, the need exists for the college students because there are only a handful of opportunities to get field experience for your future profession, while earning pay.
Outside the Boundary
- Anyone who can get their tasks done on their own without the need of a personal assistant
- The need is not for a personal assistant, however the need for a personal assistant is something that can change over time depending on your job, workload, and other factors.
- Alternative explanations for the lack of a need for my idea could be that they don't work in a profession that requires the use of a personal assistant.
Who?
After conducting the five interviews something was quickly apparent to me. I found that of the five that I interviewed, all of them should have fallen into the group of people that have the need of needing a personal assistant. This was true because two of the men I interviewed were aspiring to one day create a start up company, the other male and one of the females were marketing majors hoping to one day work for a large business, and the last female saw herself as a financial advisor in her future. All of these occupations fall under the category of possibly needing a personal assistant. After conducting the interviews I concluded that not everyone that fits the criteria of the need necessarily has the need. None of them said they ever pictured themselves needing a personal assistant, however, they were all intrigued about the idea. I found that all of these interviewee's shared a belief, in that their own time management and organizational skills would be enough for them to achieve their goals in their careers.
What?
I found that the point where my need differs from another need all comes from the individuals ability to complete tasks on their own. Some people are better equipped than others to accomplish all of their tasks on their own. I also found that my need differs from the normal need of having a personal assistant because mine would be designed around the use of college students in order to earn more field experience. This was the most intriguing part of my idea to the five that I interviewed.
Why?
The underlying cause of the outsider's need is different than the group inside the boundary. This is all a result of ones ability to get their work done on their own. If one has the ability to accomplish everything without the need of an assistant, obviously their underlying cause for the need would have to be different. This is the beauty of my idea, not everyone has the same path to the need, but it is a need that both the personal assistant and the person who needs the assistant can fulfill with my opportunity. The outsiders may not share the same need as the people within the boundary, but even the people outside the boundary could one day find themselves on the inside.
Inside the Boundary
- Anyone who has a lot of work for their job and needs help accomplishing their tasks, or college students are inside the boundary
- The need is someone who can help a working man or woman accomplish their work tasks, stay organized, schedule meetings, etc... Or, any college student looking for work experience in the field that they are studying
- The need exists because not everyone can get work done in a timely manner on their own and need the help of a personal assistant. Or, the need exists for the college students because there are only a handful of opportunities to get field experience for your future profession, while earning pay.
Outside the Boundary
- Anyone who can get their tasks done on their own without the need of a personal assistant
- The need is not for a personal assistant, however the need for a personal assistant is something that can change over time depending on your job, workload, and other factors.
- Alternative explanations for the lack of a need for my idea could be that they don't work in a profession that requires the use of a personal assistant.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Solving the Problem
One of the biggest needs of anyone who runs a business is help getting all of their work done on time in an efficient manner. Some people are able to accomplish all of their tasks on time without the need of a personal assistant, but there is a high demand for the helpful service. The solution to this problem is a super fast and easy way to find and hire a personal assistant. Anyone who is looking for a personal assistant can search on a database for an assistant in a specific location and in a specific field of work. Whether a scientist needs a lab assistant or a small business needs someone to help schedule meetings, there is a personal assistant for them.
Not only does this personal assistant finder help the people in need of assistants, but it also is designed to help the personal assistants. These assistants will be college students who sign up in order to add work experience on to their college resume, while also getting paid an hourly rate. This is an absolutely great opportunity for anyone who wants to have work experience on their resume because in the workforce today, experience is one of the most important qualities anyone could have. One of the most important things for a service is mutual benefit, and this would be extremely beneficial to both parties.
Not only does this personal assistant finder help the people in need of assistants, but it also is designed to help the personal assistants. These assistants will be college students who sign up in order to add work experience on to their college resume, while also getting paid an hourly rate. This is an absolutely great opportunity for anyone who wants to have work experience on their resume because in the workforce today, experience is one of the most important qualities anyone could have. One of the most important things for a service is mutual benefit, and this would be extremely beneficial to both parties.
Testing the Hypothesis Part 1
1) Anyone who has a lot of work, or someone running a small business cannot get all of their work done in an efficient time, and need someone to help with their schedules and workload. Hiring a personal assistant in an easier way than ever.
2)
The Who: Anyone in a small business or someone that has a heavy work load.
The What: They cannot always get their work done in an efficient time or before the deadline.
The Why: Running a business is a busy job and takes a lot of hours to complete all of the necessary work.
3)
Testing the Who: Other people may share this need as well. Anyone who is in the need of a personal assistant to organize their daily schedules and help them accomplish their tasks also share this need.
Testing the What: The only boundary of this need is that in order to have a personal assistant, there needs to be someone who is interesting in becoming a personal assistant. In addition to finding people who want to become personal assistants, there needs to be some in all areas that the service is offered.
Testing the Why: Not everyone who runs a business needs a personal assistant, some people are better equipped to do all of their work on their own, while others need the help of a personal assistant.
4)
After conducting five interviews, I now know that many people are in need of personal assistants. One thing I concluded from my interviews that I did not first think about was the idea of having the personal assistants be college students who are in need of working opportunities to put on a resume. A few of the students that I interviewed stated that they would be interested in signing up to be a personal assistant for someone in a particular field that they are interested in for the experience in a workplace. I think that this opportunity is one that could be extremely beneficial to not only the consumers, but also the people, or students, providing the service.
2)
The Who: Anyone in a small business or someone that has a heavy work load.
The What: They cannot always get their work done in an efficient time or before the deadline.
The Why: Running a business is a busy job and takes a lot of hours to complete all of the necessary work.
3)
Testing the Who: Other people may share this need as well. Anyone who is in the need of a personal assistant to organize their daily schedules and help them accomplish their tasks also share this need.
Testing the What: The only boundary of this need is that in order to have a personal assistant, there needs to be someone who is interesting in becoming a personal assistant. In addition to finding people who want to become personal assistants, there needs to be some in all areas that the service is offered.
Testing the Why: Not everyone who runs a business needs a personal assistant, some people are better equipped to do all of their work on their own, while others need the help of a personal assistant.
4)
After conducting five interviews, I now know that many people are in need of personal assistants. One thing I concluded from my interviews that I did not first think about was the idea of having the personal assistants be college students who are in need of working opportunities to put on a resume. A few of the students that I interviewed stated that they would be interested in signing up to be a personal assistant for someone in a particular field that they are interested in for the experience in a workplace. I think that this opportunity is one that could be extremely beneficial to not only the consumers, but also the people, or students, providing the service.
Friday, September 14, 2018
Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends
1. Nike Shares Close at Another Record High After Controversial Colin Kaepernick Endorsement
a) I got this information from: http://fortune.com/2018/09/14/nike-closes-another-record-high-wake-endorsement-colin-kaepernick/
b) After Nike released their new ad which featured former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, their stock dipped 3%. But after the initial dip, Nike is now up 5% from what it was before the ad was released. Nike has always been the most dominant sports brand in the business, and they will remain the king of the hill after this ad. An opportunity exists for anyone who wants to invest in Nike. I believe that Nike's stock will continue to rise after this because so many professional athletes side with Colin Kaepernick and Nike knows they need to make their clients happy.
c) The prototypical customer of Nike is anyone who wants to buy sports apparel. However, not everyone who buys sports apparel necessarily would want to invest in Nike. The prototypical investor of Nike is anyone who believes in their company to continue to dominate the sports apparel industry.
d) This is a relatively easy opportunity. All you need is an stock exchange app on your mobile device in order to invest in Nike.
e) I see this as an opportunity because I know how many professional athletes support Kaepernick for everything he does in the community. More and more professional athletes who are engaging in this movement will want to be endorsed by Nike. Nike has the opportunity to make an army of professional athletes that they have advertising and promoting their brand to dominate the industry even more.
2. Target Plans to Hire 120,000 Additional Employees This Holiday Season
a) I got this information from: http://fortune.com/2018/09/14/nike-closes-another-record-high-wake-endorsement-colin-kaepernick/
b) After Nike released their new ad which featured former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, their stock dipped 3%. But after the initial dip, Nike is now up 5% from what it was before the ad was released. Nike has always been the most dominant sports brand in the business, and they will remain the king of the hill after this ad. An opportunity exists for anyone who wants to invest in Nike. I believe that Nike's stock will continue to rise after this because so many professional athletes side with Colin Kaepernick and Nike knows they need to make their clients happy.
c) The prototypical customer of Nike is anyone who wants to buy sports apparel. However, not everyone who buys sports apparel necessarily would want to invest in Nike. The prototypical investor of Nike is anyone who believes in their company to continue to dominate the sports apparel industry.
d) This is a relatively easy opportunity. All you need is an stock exchange app on your mobile device in order to invest in Nike.
e) I see this as an opportunity because I know how many professional athletes support Kaepernick for everything he does in the community. More and more professional athletes who are engaging in this movement will want to be endorsed by Nike. Nike has the opportunity to make an army of professional athletes that they have advertising and promoting their brand to dominate the industry even more.
2. Target Plans to Hire 120,000 Additional Employees This Holiday Season
a) I got this information from: http://fortune.com/2018/09/13/target-jobs-holiday-hiring/
b) Target is getting smart this holiday season. They decided to hire 120,000 extra employees, a 20% increase in staff from last year. These new staff members are going to help with the online and digital orders that Target receive during the holidays. There is an opportunity here for people to get a new job or maybe buy some of target's products online this holiday season.
c) The opportunity here is present for anyone who needs a job this holiday season. Whether it be someone who is still in high school, or a single parent who needs a second job, Target can help you.
d) this opportunity is easy because all you have to do is apply for a job at Target
e) I see this as an opportunity because everyone could use a little extra spending money during the holiday season, and getting a job is the perfect way to start paying for things.
3. Federal tax overhaul
a) I got this information from: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7671-regulatory-issues-changes.html
b) Big changes are coming to businesses after the federal tax policy reform. There is now a newly revamped tax code, and states now have the ability to change their regulations in order to better comply with federal policy.
c) This opportunity is present for all business owners and entrepreneurs. Since it will have to be enacted in order for us to know just how much this is going to affect the economy, most entrepreneurs and business owners should lay off at first when the new tax code is implemented.
d) This opportunity is not easy because it has a lot of guessing involved in it.
e) I see this as an opportunity because whenever there are a lot of people wary of something, it is good to research the other end to understand why the minority of people agree with something. I think there is a very good chance this new tax code does a lot to improve businesses all around the country.
4. Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Policies at the Local and State Level
a) I got this information from: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7671-regulatory-issues-changes.html
b) For the past few years, there has been an recent uproar of people wanting there to be a paid sick leave and higher minimum wage rates at the local and state level. Some states have higher minimum wage policies than others. Employees want to feel protected by the companies that they work for and this minimum wage increase and the addition of paid sick leave will only help employees feel better about the company they work for.
c) This opportunity is present for anyone looking to get a part time job and be paid minimum wage, or someone who does not already have paid sick leave.
d) This is not an easy opportunity because governments have to pass legislations in order for there to be a change to the minimum wage policies at the state and local level.
e) I see this as an opportunity because part time jobs are becoming more and more popular, especially with the younger crowd. If companies like starbucks, McDonalds, Wendy's, etc. want to succeed, they need to offer more benefits to their workers.
Local Opportunities
5 Local Opportunties: Miami Herald
1. "Reports say Miami Dolphins talking to teams about a backup QB. The Dolphins respond"
- This is a story in the Miami Herald that talks about the Miami Dolphins need for a backup quarterback. A few weeks ago, reports came out that the Dolphins were looking to trade with another team for a backup quarterback. The Dolphins are still in need of a backup quarterback, but new reports recently came out that they no longer were looking to trade for one and will just use one of the three quarterbacks they have on roster as their backup. The problem presented in this story is that the Miami Dolphins have a lackluster group of quarterbacks and they are looking to upgrade the position. Any professional sports team can have this problem of wanting to upgrade a backup player.
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMHBB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%253A%2BBlogs%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0830%21August%2B30&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E25775A777BAB0
2. Electric scooters could soon be back in Miami - this time for good
- This story discusses the new legislation that has gone into works for Miami. This legislation will allow Scooter manufacturers to start selling mopeds again and start allowing residents to drive them around the busy streets of Miami. The problem that is presented in the story is the safety of the residents. The article discusses how mopeds have been extremely dangerous in other big cities but Miami wants to give it a shot after doing a lot of safety research. This problem could be present for anyone who lives in a big city and needs an efficient and affordable way to get to work.
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0906%21September%2B06&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E47CE1B78539F0
3. A masseur went too far, the state says. Now he's barred from seeing female clients
1. "Reports say Miami Dolphins talking to teams about a backup QB. The Dolphins respond"
- This is a story in the Miami Herald that talks about the Miami Dolphins need for a backup quarterback. A few weeks ago, reports came out that the Dolphins were looking to trade with another team for a backup quarterback. The Dolphins are still in need of a backup quarterback, but new reports recently came out that they no longer were looking to trade for one and will just use one of the three quarterbacks they have on roster as their backup. The problem presented in this story is that the Miami Dolphins have a lackluster group of quarterbacks and they are looking to upgrade the position. Any professional sports team can have this problem of wanting to upgrade a backup player.
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMHBB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%253A%2BBlogs%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0830%21August%2B30&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E25775A777BAB0
2. Electric scooters could soon be back in Miami - this time for good
- This story discusses the new legislation that has gone into works for Miami. This legislation will allow Scooter manufacturers to start selling mopeds again and start allowing residents to drive them around the busy streets of Miami. The problem that is presented in the story is the safety of the residents. The article discusses how mopeds have been extremely dangerous in other big cities but Miami wants to give it a shot after doing a lot of safety research. This problem could be present for anyone who lives in a big city and needs an efficient and affordable way to get to work.
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0906%21September%2B06&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E47CE1B78539F0
3. A masseur went too far, the state says. Now he's barred from seeing female clients
- This story discusses how a male masseuse inappropriately touched one of his female clients during a massage. As a result of these accusations, this man is no longer allowed to work with female patients. The problem present in this story is that men are taking advantage of women when they are supposed to be trusting their doctors or massage therapists. Anyone woman can have this problem.
4. What's happening with Miami's residential real estate? This event today has the answers
- This story is about an interview that is about to take place between a new Miami condo and residential home developer, and the Miami Herald. This group is starting to develop new luxurious condos and homes in Edgewater and the Omni District. The problem in this story is all of the new condos that are being developed and the outrageous prices that are likely to be associated with them. Anyone who lives in Miami, or anyone who is looking to buy property in Miami could be affected by this problem.
5. Keys schools computer system hacked
- This is a story about a school in Monroe County that had to shut down their computers because the entire system was hacked. The hack was trying to get the school to pay in order to access their own files. The problem that occurred in the story was the hack in the first place, and also after the school thought the problem was fixed, it came back the next day again. This is a problem that any company, business, organization, etc. could have.
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0912%21September%2B12&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E67671265CC918
Friday, September 7, 2018
Opportunity in Sports Gambling
1) I believe there is a huge opportunity in the sports gambling industry. Sports gambling has been legal in Las Vegas for some time now and more states can finally start to legalize it now. There is a huge opportunity for professional and college sports to earn a cut of every bet that is made.
2) The unmet need in the sports gambling industry is simple. Only 5 states have full scale legalized sports betting. Those include Nevada, New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Delaware. The unmet need is that a lot of people are interested in sports gambling across the country, however only a select few states actually allow it. The people who have this unmet need is anyone who is interested in sports gambling that does not live in one of the 5 states that allow it. This need has been around for a while, and until the Supreme Court recently passed a bill to allow states to legislate their own sports betting laws, people had to use illegal online betting services to meet their needs. Today, people are still using illegal betting services. Whether that be with a private "bookie" or an illegal online betting site, the vast majority of people who want to gamble on sports are doing it regardless of the laws and will continue to do it until the laws in their states have changed.
3) The prototypical customer of a sports gambling industry is absolutely anyone who is looking to wager money on a specific sporting event, or outcome in the future of sports.
4) Iterations
a) Student, Male (Business Major)
What is the exact nature of the need?
- I am always looking to make a sports bet on the big games and hate that I have to use an online site instead of being able to go somewhere and make a bet in person.
When did you experience this need?
- As I said, I am always looking to make a sports bet, I realize there is a need to legalize sports betting every time I go online to make a bet.
How often do you experience this need?
- Very often, I'd say close to 2-3 times per week.
How are you currently addressing this need?
- I typically use Bovada.com and make bets online there.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
- I would be thrilled if this were to happen in Florida within the next few weeks.
b) Student, Male (Business Major)
What is the exact nature of the need?
- I do not typically make bets on sporting events unless I am very confident that the bet I am making will be the correct one.
When did you experience this need?
- A couple of days ago I actually wanted to make a bet on the Patriots winning their division in football this year, but I had to set up an account on an online site, which caused me to no longer want to make the bet.
How often do you experience this need?
-Not often, I really only am interested in making bets once or twice in a month
How are you currently addressing this need?
- One of my good friends is actually a bookie for me and some of my friends so I'll typically place bets with him whenever I want to make one.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
- I think legalizing gambling across the country would be very convenient and beneficial to the economy.
a) Student, Female (Sport Management Major)
What is the exact nature of the need?
- I am not really sure, I have never made a bet on sports in my life. The only gambling I've ever taken part in is blackjack with my friends.
When did you experience this need?
- I have never experienced the need to make a sports bet because I do not have a way to make any bets.
How often do you experience this need?
- As a sports fan, I'd say there have been times every month that I have wanted to make a sports bet but had no way of doing it.
How are you currently addressing this need?
- I do not make any sports bets because there is no way for me to do it.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
- I would love for there to be legalized gambling. It would make me feel more intrigued to go make a sports bet rather than trying to use some website that might be a scam.
5) I learned many things about my opportunity after conducting these interviews. I found that guys are much more likely to use an illegal gambling service than women are, however women are still interested in sports gambling. The most surprising thing that I learned from the interviews is that almost everyone is interested in gambling, or at least has made bets on things throughout their life.
6) When I began writing this blog, I wanted to talk mainly about the possibility for a professional sports organization to earn a cut out of every bet that is made once it is legalized. However, after conducting the interviews and doing more research about the topic, I found that there is a much greater opportunity for individual states to make money off sports gambling. Sports gambling will only benefit the economy, and it will protect gamblers from wagering their hard earned money on a website that may be a scam. I think all of my original opportunity is still an opportunity, however I believe my new opportunity is much greater than the original. These ideas do not have to be separate though. There is a very good chance that both of these opportunities can be worked together to make more people within our society happier. Finally, I think one of the most important traits of an entrepreneur is their ability to listen to their customers, if they cannot listen to what their customers want then they will never be able to have a successful idea.
2) The unmet need in the sports gambling industry is simple. Only 5 states have full scale legalized sports betting. Those include Nevada, New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Delaware. The unmet need is that a lot of people are interested in sports gambling across the country, however only a select few states actually allow it. The people who have this unmet need is anyone who is interested in sports gambling that does not live in one of the 5 states that allow it. This need has been around for a while, and until the Supreme Court recently passed a bill to allow states to legislate their own sports betting laws, people had to use illegal online betting services to meet their needs. Today, people are still using illegal betting services. Whether that be with a private "bookie" or an illegal online betting site, the vast majority of people who want to gamble on sports are doing it regardless of the laws and will continue to do it until the laws in their states have changed.
3) The prototypical customer of a sports gambling industry is absolutely anyone who is looking to wager money on a specific sporting event, or outcome in the future of sports.
4) Iterations
a) Student, Male (Business Major)
What is the exact nature of the need?
- I am always looking to make a sports bet on the big games and hate that I have to use an online site instead of being able to go somewhere and make a bet in person.
When did you experience this need?
- As I said, I am always looking to make a sports bet, I realize there is a need to legalize sports betting every time I go online to make a bet.
How often do you experience this need?
- Very often, I'd say close to 2-3 times per week.
How are you currently addressing this need?
- I typically use Bovada.com and make bets online there.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
- I would be thrilled if this were to happen in Florida within the next few weeks.
b) Student, Male (Business Major)
What is the exact nature of the need?
- I do not typically make bets on sporting events unless I am very confident that the bet I am making will be the correct one.
When did you experience this need?
- A couple of days ago I actually wanted to make a bet on the Patriots winning their division in football this year, but I had to set up an account on an online site, which caused me to no longer want to make the bet.
How often do you experience this need?
-Not often, I really only am interested in making bets once or twice in a month
How are you currently addressing this need?
- One of my good friends is actually a bookie for me and some of my friends so I'll typically place bets with him whenever I want to make one.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
- I think legalizing gambling across the country would be very convenient and beneficial to the economy.
a) Student, Female (Sport Management Major)
What is the exact nature of the need?
- I am not really sure, I have never made a bet on sports in my life. The only gambling I've ever taken part in is blackjack with my friends.
When did you experience this need?
- I have never experienced the need to make a sports bet because I do not have a way to make any bets.
How often do you experience this need?
- As a sports fan, I'd say there have been times every month that I have wanted to make a sports bet but had no way of doing it.
How are you currently addressing this need?
- I do not make any sports bets because there is no way for me to do it.
How satisfied are you with this solution?
- I would love for there to be legalized gambling. It would make me feel more intrigued to go make a sports bet rather than trying to use some website that might be a scam.
5) I learned many things about my opportunity after conducting these interviews. I found that guys are much more likely to use an illegal gambling service than women are, however women are still interested in sports gambling. The most surprising thing that I learned from the interviews is that almost everyone is interested in gambling, or at least has made bets on things throughout their life.
6) When I began writing this blog, I wanted to talk mainly about the possibility for a professional sports organization to earn a cut out of every bet that is made once it is legalized. However, after conducting the interviews and doing more research about the topic, I found that there is a much greater opportunity for individual states to make money off sports gambling. Sports gambling will only benefit the economy, and it will protect gamblers from wagering their hard earned money on a website that may be a scam. I think all of my original opportunity is still an opportunity, however I believe my new opportunity is much greater than the original. These ideas do not have to be separate though. There is a very good chance that both of these opportunities can be worked together to make more people within our society happier. Finally, I think one of the most important traits of an entrepreneur is their ability to listen to their customers, if they cannot listen to what their customers want then they will never be able to have a successful idea.
My Story
Throughout my life I have not had much exposure to entrepreneurship. My mom is a school teacher and my dad is a lawyer, so neither of them had much experience in entrepreneurship either. My first memory of anything entrepreneurship related occurred when I was about 12 years old. I lived with my grandfather and mom when I was growing up so I spent a lot of time with my grandpa. His favorite thing to do at night was to watch the TV show Shark Tank. Shark Tank is a show that consists of 5 the most successful entrepreneurs, and someone presenting an idea to them and hoping one of the entrepreneurs will be interested in the show. My and my grandpa would talk all the time about something we could invent some day and maybe be on the show. After I started high school we would watch the show less, but some of the ideas we came up with will forever be in the back of my mind. The most memorable idea that we came up with was the "Sock Lock." Our idea was to create a magnet that would hold a pair of socks together when you throw them in the wash. The goal was to never lose one of the pairs of matching socks in the washer machine again.
The reason I decided to join this class was because it was one of the elective choices for my major, Sports Management. I always had an interest in entrepreneurship because of the times I used to watch Shark Tank with my grandpa. Even to this day he tells me that I should be taking entrepreneurship classes because of all the awesome ideas we used to come up with. I really am taking this class to see if entrepreneurship is something that I can envision myself doing for a career.
20 Things that "Bug" Me
1. My cellphone always seems to be below 50% an hour after I wake up.
- This happens because cell phone manufacturers put batteries in their phones that worsen over time and forces consumers to buy an entirely new device.
2. The pictures of food on the menu at fast food restaurant's always look better than what they actually give you.
- This happens because fast food restaurants know that if they put an actual picture of the food on their menu, no one would want to buy it.
3. Parking is always expensive whenever you go to a concert or sporting event.
- This is due to limited parking at events and lots know that they can charge a lot of money for people to park in their spots.
4. The internet on your phone is always very slow when you're out in public.
- This occurs because when a lot of people in one area are using the internet at the same time, it slows down the connection for everyone in the surrounding area.
5. Whenever I wash my socks with other clothes I always lose one of the pairs.
- This exists because there is no efficient way to wash your socks and keep them together while washing them with a large load of clothes
6. Used straws not being recycled and left on the ground
- Straw manufacturers are trying to make money by continuing to sell straws and no plastic company has been able to sell straw-less lids to shops like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc..
7. The electric bill at the end of the month is always high.
- Electric companies know that they can charge a high rate for their services because electricity is seen as a necessity to the majority of U.S. citizens.
8. When you call someone on the phone and they do not answer but you see that they have been on their phone recently.
- This occurs because some people may be busy and not answer the phone call, or in some cases the person you were calling is intentionally trying to avoid you.
9. When you go to a football game and have to wait in line to get into the game but the line is so long that you miss kickoff and part of the first quarter.
- This occurs because there are only so many people working at a football stadium and there are a lot more people who are trying to get into the stadium than workers.
10. When you go to a sporting event that your favorite team is playing in and they get blown out causing you to feel like you wasted your money on the event.
- This happens because sports are not predetermined and there is almost always a winner or loser, and when your team loses it causes you to feel sad and make you wish you never went to the game
11. When I drive to Fraternity row to park my car for lunch and I see that there are no spots available anywhere close to where I need to be.
- This occurs because there are a lot more students trying to park their cars and get to class than there are parking spots, causing some students to park far away from where they need to be.
12. When you go to the beach for the day during the summer and it starts to rain as soon as you arrive.
- This occurs because the weather patterns in Florida are very unpredictable and they always seem to change throughout the day.
13. When you go to a restaurant and order something that you have been craving and then the waitress tells you that they are all out.
- This occurs because there is a chance that a lot of people who ate at the restaurant also ordered the same dish and restaurants do not have an unlimited supply of food.
14. When you are sitting on the couch watching tv and everything in your pockets fall out into the couch
- This happens because couch cushions always have a small space in between them for items to fall through.
15. When you walk into a supermarket and do a large shop and get to the cash register lines and see that there are long lines at all the cash registers and have to wait a long time to cash out.
- Supermarkets never seem to have enough people working their cash registers. Most markets have 10 or more cash registers, but only one or two are open, especially during busy times of the day.
16. When I wake up in the middle of the night with my pillow on the floor and nothing supporting my neck, leaving me with neck pains all throughout the day.
- Many people toss and turn in their sleep, and this causes them to subconsciously throw their pillow off the bed and onto the floor.
17. When I go to the gym at Southwest and have to wait in a line to even get in the gym before I can workout.
- This occurs because UF does not have a sufficiently sized second gym for people to go to when Southwest is very busy.
18. When professional sporting events make their viewers pay to watch a game if you do not live in a certain area code.
- This occurs because professional sports have TV rights and make a lot of money off of people who want to watch their favorite team but do not live in the broadcasting area of that team.
19. When you have a lot of homework to do and your roommates are being loud in the other room.
- Sometimes walls are thin in houses or apartments and you can hear everything going on in another room
20. When you start eating a bag of chips and you keep eating them until they're gone because they do not fill you.
- Chips are extremely bad for you and they have very little nutritional value, therefore they will not cause you to feel full as quickly as foods with protein or fiber in them.
Reflection:
I did not find the creation of this list to be very difficult until the last three or four bugs. The last four were difficult because after coming up with 16 things that annoy you about everyday life and tasks, they start to become more difficult to come up with and think about why it occurs. This assignment was very fun though, I realized that there are many things about everyday life that bug me.
- This happens because cell phone manufacturers put batteries in their phones that worsen over time and forces consumers to buy an entirely new device.
2. The pictures of food on the menu at fast food restaurant's always look better than what they actually give you.
- This happens because fast food restaurants know that if they put an actual picture of the food on their menu, no one would want to buy it.
3. Parking is always expensive whenever you go to a concert or sporting event.
- This is due to limited parking at events and lots know that they can charge a lot of money for people to park in their spots.
4. The internet on your phone is always very slow when you're out in public.
- This occurs because when a lot of people in one area are using the internet at the same time, it slows down the connection for everyone in the surrounding area.
5. Whenever I wash my socks with other clothes I always lose one of the pairs.
- This exists because there is no efficient way to wash your socks and keep them together while washing them with a large load of clothes
6. Used straws not being recycled and left on the ground
- Straw manufacturers are trying to make money by continuing to sell straws and no plastic company has been able to sell straw-less lids to shops like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc..
7. The electric bill at the end of the month is always high.
- Electric companies know that they can charge a high rate for their services because electricity is seen as a necessity to the majority of U.S. citizens.
8. When you call someone on the phone and they do not answer but you see that they have been on their phone recently.
- This occurs because some people may be busy and not answer the phone call, or in some cases the person you were calling is intentionally trying to avoid you.
9. When you go to a football game and have to wait in line to get into the game but the line is so long that you miss kickoff and part of the first quarter.
- This occurs because there are only so many people working at a football stadium and there are a lot more people who are trying to get into the stadium than workers.
10. When you go to a sporting event that your favorite team is playing in and they get blown out causing you to feel like you wasted your money on the event.
- This happens because sports are not predetermined and there is almost always a winner or loser, and when your team loses it causes you to feel sad and make you wish you never went to the game
11. When I drive to Fraternity row to park my car for lunch and I see that there are no spots available anywhere close to where I need to be.
- This occurs because there are a lot more students trying to park their cars and get to class than there are parking spots, causing some students to park far away from where they need to be.
12. When you go to the beach for the day during the summer and it starts to rain as soon as you arrive.
- This occurs because the weather patterns in Florida are very unpredictable and they always seem to change throughout the day.
13. When you go to a restaurant and order something that you have been craving and then the waitress tells you that they are all out.
- This occurs because there is a chance that a lot of people who ate at the restaurant also ordered the same dish and restaurants do not have an unlimited supply of food.
14. When you are sitting on the couch watching tv and everything in your pockets fall out into the couch
- This happens because couch cushions always have a small space in between them for items to fall through.
15. When you walk into a supermarket and do a large shop and get to the cash register lines and see that there are long lines at all the cash registers and have to wait a long time to cash out.
- Supermarkets never seem to have enough people working their cash registers. Most markets have 10 or more cash registers, but only one or two are open, especially during busy times of the day.
16. When I wake up in the middle of the night with my pillow on the floor and nothing supporting my neck, leaving me with neck pains all throughout the day.
- Many people toss and turn in their sleep, and this causes them to subconsciously throw their pillow off the bed and onto the floor.
17. When I go to the gym at Southwest and have to wait in a line to even get in the gym before I can workout.
- This occurs because UF does not have a sufficiently sized second gym for people to go to when Southwest is very busy.
18. When professional sporting events make their viewers pay to watch a game if you do not live in a certain area code.
- This occurs because professional sports have TV rights and make a lot of money off of people who want to watch their favorite team but do not live in the broadcasting area of that team.
19. When you have a lot of homework to do and your roommates are being loud in the other room.
- Sometimes walls are thin in houses or apartments and you can hear everything going on in another room
20. When you start eating a bag of chips and you keep eating them until they're gone because they do not fill you.
- Chips are extremely bad for you and they have very little nutritional value, therefore they will not cause you to feel full as quickly as foods with protein or fiber in them.
Reflection:
I did not find the creation of this list to be very difficult until the last three or four bugs. The last four were difficult because after coming up with 16 things that annoy you about everyday life and tasks, they start to become more difficult to come up with and think about why it occurs. This assignment was very fun though, I realized that there are many things about everyday life that bug me.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
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