Celebrating Failure

         In this entrepreneurship class, we had to give out free money to random people on the street. My friends in this class didn't want to do this assignment because they felt uncomfortable giving free money to people. I was super uncomfortable, but I decided to just do it. On a Sunday night, I stood outside of a Publix supermarket in Orlando, and offered a dollar to anyone who walked out of the store. Every single person said no to me, and walked away looking at me like I was a complete freak. It was probably one of the most degrading moments of my life. Every person who I offered money to and refused to accept it was a failure. I learned that people will say no and it will make you feel uncomfortable, but there is no way to know if they will say yes unless you put yourself out there. Failure is embarrassing and insulting, but I have learned to deal with it by accepting it. If I am failing it is because I can improve on something. I could have used different tactics to give people the money. One can always improve on one's self, and that is what failure is all about. Not about failing, but about what you can change to succeed. This class has changed my perspective on failure by making me realize it's okay. I didn't fail the assignment because I didn't give away the money like most classes would have done. Instead, I wrote about how I could have improved, and what I would have done differently. I am much more likely to take risks now. In fact, there was an officer position open in one of my clubs, and usually I would not be the one to run for that kind of thing, but I am running, and I don't care if I loose. It's the experience that counts, succeeding is just an added bonus. 

My Exit Strategy

        I plan on staying with my business until I retire because my product will be in high demand for years to come. In many University buildings, there are not enough outlets for their students, and it is cheaper to buy my product instead of building new buildings with more outlets in them. I think that my business has the potential to be very lucrative; therefore, I plan on running this business till I retire.My exit strategy has influenced other decisions for my product in the way that I have made sure I can continue to expand my business to be the most successful it can be without going bankrupt.  

What's Next

Existing Market

   Everyone I interviewed was really helpful towards my goal to expand my market. I interviewed students from a University Florida dance team, and I got great results. Everyone really liked my idea of a portable charger with outlets on it to charge all major electronics. My favorite suggestion from my last interview was to make a case for the portable charger. 

     This was really interesting. I told these girls my idea about creating a waterproof version of the portable charger. The girls were really appreciative of this. They also suggested that I make the Pod eco friendly. The girl who said to create the case to sell with the pod also said to make that case waterproof. Which makes sense. What benefit to college students have from buying a waterproof portable charger? A waterproof case for the Pod seems to be perfect for these girls. 

      The girls also suggested to make the Pod have a better battery life. This is true because this is the next best step in making my product more efficient for the students. It can last longer and be perfect for a student's long day of studies in the library. I was really appreciative of all the wonderful feedback and it made me want to use this advice to make my product even better. 

New Market

   

      The new market I decided to tackle was Starbucks coffee locations. I thought that it would be really great to take the pods to Starbucks all over the country because although it is a place for people to go and drink coffee, it could be a great place to bring the Pods.
      I sought out Starbucks addicts and asked them if they thought that the next best place to take the Pod to would be the most popular coffee shops in the world. They all thought that it was a great idea. They said a lot of students go to Starbucks coffee shops so I would still be making students happy.
       I thought it would be cool to power the coffee machines by the Pod to make it more eco friendly. Maybe the shop could add more coffee machines by adding the Pods into their stores and delivering coffee to customers more efficiently. I was really happy with all the great feedback I got from these people. I think it will be a really cool way to create a new market.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1) The biggest surprise during the reading for me was finding out that the reason companies have problems with innovation are because they lack an innovation strategy. I thought this was very interesting because I didn't know you could have a strategy to innovate your company.
2) One part that was confusing to me during the reading was the paragraph about crowd sourcing and how it was a way to sift through a lot of ideas of innovation.
3) If I were able to ask two questions to the author, they would be the following. Is talking to customers and seeing what they want a method of crowd sourcing or is it just a way to develop a strategy for innovation? The next question I would ask is what kind of innovation produces the best results in any company, overall? I understand that every company is different, but there must be some kind of innovation strategy that is good for every company to start with.
4) I disagree with the author when they said that the leaders should be the ones innovating. I think it should be the people in the lab who are there every day, finding out different ways to make a product even better than the last product.

Venture Concept No.1

          Most of the objects and services we use in our daily lives are electronics, but all electronics have a small battery life compared to the amount of time we use them for. However, outlets are limited in most public places, and this causes people to be upset at the lack of services a building is providing. Therefore, a lot of people have this need, but I plan on targeting people in Universities and airports. University students constantly use their laptops and other electronics to complete assignments. Businessmen who travel all the time and need to do work on the go need to have a dependable outlet that works all the time. Overall, this product I have come up with will eliminate the problem(the absence of outlets) that these people face while doing work in public places. Our world is changing to an electronically dependent environment which creates this opportunity that I have chosen to work with. This opportunity is pretty large considering the demand to have a person’s electronics charged at all times, especially for college students. Having one’s computer die during an important quiz is not exactly the best thing to happen because most teachers blame it on the student and not the electronic. Another important aspect is Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is one of the most common services needed in the world right now. Every public and private business in America understands the importance of having free wifi for customers. Students and businessmen need a reliable connection to the internet in order to work. As a student, I know that an unreliable internet connection can lead to not being able to watch a class lecture or complete a quiz. This combined opportunity is important because of the great need of a power connection and internet connection. This window of opportunity is closing fast considering the amount of portable chargers for cellphones there are in the market and technological advancements are improving greatly. So it is only a matter of time before companies will be selling the portable chargers that I am offering to my customers. 

           The innovation I have created is a portable charger with outlets on it that will serve as a way to charge any electronic with a plug. This product will also be a Wi-Fi hotspot which is very important because crowded places like libraries can be hard to get an accurate Wi-Fi connection. It will provide a reliable connection for all students and businessmen. My product has a dome like shaped with up to four outlets on it and is called the Pod. The Pod will be sold privately to Universities and airplane companies in bulk for a cheaper price. I want to add a cool aspect to the pods by selling customized pods that are designed to match logos and colors of companies. For example, if I were selling pods to the University of Florida, I would make ones that are blue and orange. I would paint a gator on them too. It will make the pods more fun to use. As far as working them, the customer simply plugs in their charging chord to any electronic the device will charge or start working. The most important thing of the Pod is that it is a chargeable device. A power chord will be given to the customer and they can be charged at home or a dedicated location in the library. Customers can take the pods with them to any place in the library or airport. To the companies that buy them in bulk, a censor will be added to the Pod that will set a buzzer off once it leaves a building so they are not stolen. For the  individual customers who want to to buy the Pod for their own personal use they will be available on the website. They will be sold for seventy-five dollars individually. Additional designs and shipping will be added fees, but otherwise it is a pretty affordable device for those who want it. 

          Customers would switch to my product because it will be a reliable internet connection and a way to have their electronics constantly charged. People won’t have to worry about forgetting their charger at home or where the nearest outlet is. It is just very necessary for the technology dependent life we have adapted to. The competitors are the companies that sell portable chargers for I-Phones, but customers will come to find that the Pod works for all electronics(lamps, hair straighteners, blow driers,ext.) Customer experience and support is important for this business concept because if there are glitches, University libraries will not want to invest in the product. Price points have a role in my business concept because I will use it to find a way to charge the companies I will be selling a lot of Pods to. I would organize my business by making it a small office with ten salesmen, a team of accountants, and a team of engineers dealing with the advancement of my product. 

Being a college student, I understand the importance of a reliable internet connection and outlet; therefore, other competitors cannot relate to college students like I will. I also have connections with a marketing expert who sells computer advancements to schools. The next step in my venture would be to create a Pod that is waterproof. It will be a new device that will be even better for the customers. In five years, I want to have a large building and be selling devices all over the world. In the next decade, I want to be coming up with new ideas and discovering new opportunities to tackle. This venture was really important in developing my skills as en entrepreneur. I will always look back at it and use the same techniques I learned to develop my ideas. 

My Unfair Advantage

Human Capital

1. Creativity
V: It is valuable in the sense that it will help me come up with new ways to make my business the best it can be.
R: No, it is not rare. Everyone is creative in their own way.
I: It is not easy to copy one's creativity because everyone has different ideas and skills which enhances their creative process.
N: People who aren't creative can hire people who are creative or look up what people have done in the past and copy their methods.

2. Organization
V: This is valuable because it will keep everyone in check and focused on a goal. It will help my product continue to move forward.
R: No, it is not rare.
I: It is easy to learn to be organized. Anyone can bring that to the workplace.
N: There is no way to be organized in another way, you either have to be organized or not organized.

3. Outgoing Personality/Motivator
V: This is valuable because it will keep the energy going and get people excited about what they work for.
R: It is not that rare.
I: It is easy to be copied by others because people can copy the tactics you use to motivate people.
N: There are different ways to motivate people. Maybe by paying workers more?

4. Persistance
V: This is valuable because it it a good mentality to have. It will help my product go far and it is very entrepreneurial.
R: It is not that rare, but it potentially can be because people tend to give up fast.
I: Sometimes people do not have the drive to be persistent so being persistent can be hard to copy.
N: There is no other way to be persistent.

Social Capital

5. Connection to a Supplier:
V: This is valuable because it will be imperative to move my business forward and to get advice to achieve the most.
R: It is not rare to have a supplier, but it rare to know the same supplier I know, and I will be better off with my supplier.
I: It is hard to copy this because my supplier will be different from a supplier someone else finds.
N: Yes. People can know other suppliers, so they will get the same benefit that I do.

6. Connection to Market Expert:
V: This is valuable because I will be able to market my product extremely well with the market expert I have.
R: It all depends on the market experts you know and work with.
I: It could be, because people use the market tactics that they learned in school or the same market tactics that have been used for years.
N: Yes. People can know other market experts, so they will get the same benefit that I get.

7. Connection to Domain Expert:
V: This is valuable because it is important to know someone who is experiencing or has experienced what a person goes through when they create a product or expand a business.
R: Again, it depends on the people you know.
I: I don't think that one could copy the benefits I receive from the Domain Expert I know because every person's experiences are different.
N: Yes, people can know other domain experts, but everyone is different; therefore, people will get different results.

Miscellaneous :

8. Time:
V: This valuable because competitors may not have so much time on their hands like I do as a college student.
R: It is rare.
I: No one can copy how much time I have on my hands unless they go back to school.
N: It is hard to not have to deal with time since it is everywhere.

9. College Student:
V: This is valuable because I am selling a product to college students and Universities so I can relate to the hardships students go through.
R: It may be rare to be a college student.
I: There are a lot of college students so people could have this advantage.
N: You could hire college students to market your product if you weren't a college student yourself.

10. Taking this Entrepreneurship Class:
V: It is very valuable that I am taking this entrpreneurship class because I am learning a lot about my abilities and learning methods to tackle situations.
R: A class this well taught is very hard to come by.
I: Maybe if you knew people who have took this class before or hired people who took this class to work for you, then it would be easy to copy.
N: One could take other entrepreneurship classes to makeup for not having gone through this one.

Growing Your Social Capital

1. The Domain Expert:
- John Lynch is an electrical engineer at the University of Florida
- John is one of my older brother's roommates, and he is a fourth year in the engineering program.
-My brother gave me his number and I talked to him about my product and the way I wanted it to work.
-We talked about the importance of getting the engineering right since it is a tricky concept and how I would have to make sure to market my product so it is not just like every portable charger that exists right now.
-John is very valuable to my social capital because he is an engineer and can make my product something real and valuable. The engineer would create the product and make sure it works before I market and sell it.

2. The Marketing Expert:
- Zachary Smith is a marketing manager of a company that promotes the increase of technology in Public schools in the US.
- I contacted Zach on the phone since we are cousins, and I have a close relationship because he traveling to Florida with his company a lot. He and his employees come up with ways to market new software and devices for kids to use at school. We talked about my product, and how I could be marketing it in Universities all over the United States.
- Zach was a valuable addition to my Social Capital because he already successfully has marketed different kinds of products to schools and will be helpful when I need to market my product to different Universities.

3. The Supplier:
-Mario Uber, owner of an phone and computer company.
- Mario is one of my uncles from my mother's side.
- I contacted him over Facebook and told him about my product, and how he has been able to grow his company by adding new additions.
- Mario is a great addition to my social capital because he could take on my product or help me develop mine with a bigger company. He can teach me a lot about taking it further.

Reflection: Talking to these people wasn't as hard because I already knew them, but it was still a little nerve wracking when I had to tell them about my idea. They weren't rude, but one or two of them were a little skeptical at first, but they were quick to help me out and give me some pointers. Talking to these people will give me the courage to venture out and talk to people I don't even really know to expand my product.