25A - What's Next?

Existing Market
My application is obviously dependent on technology as usage of cellphones or other devices in need for this application to be utilized. As technology continues to evolve so will the application including its features and incentives.

1. The first customer that I interviewed stated that I should spread more awareness of the application at each university to really reach the maximum potential on the marketing side of the business. As stated above with technological, maybe buying advertisements or posting more on different media platforms would better increase usage.

2. The second customer that I interviewed mentioned that I need to run out of the box promotions and really increase my incentives and features so there would be no reason that everyone would download the application. They think when there are incentives that it increases the chances people will use the app.

3. The third person I interviewed brought up that I should maybe consider expanding my team and bringing in my workers to help me more creatively innovate more and different ideas that will better the overall flow and infrastructure of my business.

As I reflect on the interviews that I held, it obviously is motivating to hear from people and to hear views that are from outside of your internal team. Speaking with the direct customers provides me with a better way to handling our application and with what I want to do with it moving forward.

I agree that my team and I need to market our brand better and really offer incentives that everybody wants to be included on. If that means partnering with big companies to expand and have growth then that might be something that needs to be done in the coming future.

New Market
In this market, I am targeting the ones who are financially handicapped as compared to the original target of just any college student who needed a ride home from school to home.

1. The first person I interviewed was someone who is not financially in a situation where they can not afford to tip the driver but it worked out due to a segment in the application that offers customers free rides with no tips needed for this ride.

2. The second person thought my service would not work for people that couldn't financially afford this application due to the fees that may be included within the application.

Overall theses interviews were good because they gave me a good overview and different view of people who may not be the target market or demographics. Getting a different outlook provides me a better idea of the people to target and what I ultimately want to accomplish.

I think that my interviews went better in the first round compared to my second interviews even though the second group provided me with more insight. More research and thinking will definitely better my knowledge.

24A - Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

This opportunity is one that has a lot of potential is an opportunity for a group of customers and people who have an unmet or under-met need. As a freshman at the University of Florida, I was part of this unmet need as I was from south Florida living in Gainesville, Florida with no car and no real transportation. Finding rides back home were always a pain and something that was such a hassle to deal with at the time. If I couldn't find a ride my options were to take a bus that essentially doubled the travel time or instead pay for a plane ticket that usually more than $500 one way. This seemed like a conflict that needed to be solved and I felt that I was the right person to make sure that this unmet need went met in the coming future. The need of this service is college students all around the state of Florida and the nature of this need was critical as students are constantly traveling back and forth from school to home etc. The forces that helped create this opportunity is the never ending conflict that not every kid at school has a car that they can use to travel from home to school. Geographically most kids from the state of Florida end up going to college in the state Florida that may be as close as minutes away to almost eight hours away, overall this idea has potential based on the fact that the attendance of these schools is through the roof and not decreasing anytime soon. Customers are currently satisfying this need by taking busses and planes which is not convenient nor price friendly to the consumers. This window of opportunity will be open ultimately forever as parents do not allow students to take their cars up to school with them.

Innovation:

My innovative thinking and idea is to establish an application that can be utilized on any mobile device that is used as a communication forum for students at each local university that allows you to communicate and offer students to drive other students back to their home whether that mean dropping them off at a certain location or bringing them straight to their door, ultimately these needs need to be met because consumers are suffering all the time when they are in need of a ride and have nowhere to go for it. My application allows you to do background checks and find out basic information with the person you are driving with as well as allows you to chat and for you to get to know one another. A feature on my application is offering incentives for both the driver and rider based on how many miles you have traveled together which include different restaurant promotions and coupons as well as saving money on gas and car washes as we all know cars get very dirty when traveling long distances. I will make money from this opportunity by students all around the state of Florida by downloading this application that will serve as a convenient service for students that do not want to spend money on airplane or bus rides. I was planning on starting this application for free so that it gains traction and popularity amongst the local schools and then she where I can make extra money buy ultimately I believe the popularity and potential is there for this service.

Venture Concept:

My innovation will directly solve this opportunity and unmet need because it serves as a benchmark and a sense of simplicity as this travel application allows students to communicate with other students to coordinate rides home amongst each other. This service solves many financially discrepancies that many students still encounter with today so I believe that this idea will help solve that and I truly believe that there are many features and incentives that this will be a hit on college campuses in the state of Florida and hopefully across the United States. This concept started as an idea as I was a freshman at UF with no car and nobody to ride with, this idea helps a financial burden as it is too expensive and not simple for kids to get rides home from school anymore. Students will adapt to this service and use it as their number one go to when they are in need of a ride whether that be for a break such as winter or spring or just they need to go home for an emergency and they luckily caught a student going home at the same time as them. Overall, this has potential and room to grow, this service will be of usage in the future to many students.

My most important resource within this service as to serving the consumer is that as of now no other company has come up with such a service and the only existing similar idea is social media pages that are highly unreliable and have many problems attached to them. I believe that these incentives an features based on milage for food and other cool things give me the upper hand in this process and makes my brand and service stick out.

The next thing that is up for my venture is to reach out and really test this application on local gainesville students who are in need of rides for summer break. Clearly kids do need this service as the struggle occurs every semester with kids who need to have their parents drive up here to help them go back home or to buy plane tickets. It is a financial burden and I believe this idea will be successful and just need the right guidance ahead.

The thing that is up for me, assuming I launched this application, is to watch it grow and expand. Hopefully that in the state of Florida it will be very successful in the coming half decade and thats where I will probably attempt to move it and expand past the state of Florida and see if I can test this out in other states. I believe that the unmet need that exists in Floria fully exists in other states so I think that expanding across the United States is where I want to go with this idea.

23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1: My major: Business Administration

V: Has allowed me to build and sustain business-related relationships, assists in conducting my service.

R: Even though there are many business majors, not many have the same insight and career aspirations as I do.

I: I am a business major specializing in sports management so it separates myself from the main population.

N: Having the ability to have different majors and work pasts to be able to accomplish a product or service.

2. My transparency skills

V: I am very transparent with everyone and never try to hide the truth.

R: A lot of people aren't transparent and rather hide information instead of releasing it to the public.

I: It isn't difficult to be transparent, it's a character trait that comes with honesty and communication.

N: I plan on having people work with me so having them be transparent is key as well as myself.

3. My interest in simplicity

V: I am an advocate for simplicity and want a world that isn't complex.

R: What the current standing situation is for what my idea is very complex and not easy.

I: It can be simple, just takes the correct planning and efforts to get the task completed.

N: I need to be able to implement my plan and make it as simple as possible so no issues occur.

4. Lack of competitors in field

V: Outside of social media failing groups, no application's purpose it to solve what I am solving.

R: It's uncommon to not have competition especially in regard to involving a cellular device.

I: Obviously other companies can establish a similar idea, but not having competition is key.

N: The service is very straight forward but obviously expanding and being innovative is an option.

5. My family

V: My mother is a hard-working individual who has kept the same job with the same company since she was 21 years old.

R: Not always is someone fortunate enough to have a family that is a good support cast during this process.

I: If you don't have it, you won't be able to utilize it. 

N: Outside of your family, comes external support and other "business family"

6: My work ethic

V: I was raised with parents who implemented a strong work-ethic and that's how I carry myself daily.

R: Not everyone has a good work-ethic and that is why many businesses fail.

I: If you don't have a good work-ethic you won't be able to grow and ultimately achieve your goal.

N: Nobody is going to give you a work-ethic you need to strive and work hard to obtain it.

7: Support from local consumers

V: Many potential consumers from the Gainesville area want this idea implemented and to be apart of it.

R: Not everyone is going to use it, but the vast majority without cars will utilize this service to their wanting.

I: If I didn't have this local support, there are tons of colleges in the state of Florida who need this service.

N: Unless you are taking a plane home or walking, this service will not be substituted.

8: My hunger to succeed

V: I grew up hungry to succeed in the business world and plan on doing so in the future.

R: Not everyone is as hungry as the next person and opportunities need to be taken advantage of.

I: If you don't have the hunger to succeed, someone else who is will and then you won't have anything.

N: It can replaced only if you don't want to achieve your business goal, other than that it's not.

9: My leadership skills

V: I have had numerous leadership roles in the past few years that have made me into a great leader.

R: Not everyone is a leader so these skills are rare in that not everyone is build for it.

I: If you don't want to be a leader then you will have to take a minimized role.

N: Being a leader is critical and you can't not be one if you want to be the captain of your own ship.

10: My personal connection

V: I was a college student with no car with a need of trying to get home, I needed this service when it did not exist.

R: It is rare because these social media pages did not exist and the only way of getting home was plane or bus if you couldn't get a ride.

I: You can imitate a personal connection or make it up, it just exists.

N: Your past experiences and connections builds the personal connection and it is something that can't be substituted.

My top resource is my hunger to succeed. My hunger to succeed is due to my connection to my family and what they want from me in the future with my career aspirations. They believe in me and think I have the most potential in the world to be successful with any business idea or service I have. Overall, my hunger to succeed and not taking no as an answer has built me up to who I am today. 

22A- Elevator Pitch No. 3

The feedback that I received from my last elevator pitch was very resourceful and helpful in that I am able to gain criticism and feedback from kids my age who are in the same position as me. Obviously there are always things that you need to work on to make sure your pitch is perfect but getting these lessons now are crucial. My posture was a good feedback that I received as well as my direct tone of voice. I'd say all of my feedback was insightful and helpful.

I am definitely more comfortable in front of the camera versus the beginning of this semester for our first elevator pitch. I need to work on the memorization portion of the elevator pitch are there are some details from time to time that I still leave out by accident that could better the pitch overall. I believe the pitch is better completely compared to the first elevator pitch I did for this class. Overall, all these attempts and pitches help grow your brand and make you better at speaking.

21A- Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
By Scott Adams

1. The general overhaul and theme of this book is the process of conflicts and issues that Adams had to encounter with on his journey route to success, sharing going from loss to loss and until eventually winning big.

2. This book connected with me personally and enhanced with what I am learning in ENT3003 because every entrepreneur has predicaments and issues when starting a business and not everything is perfect and smooth sailing in the beginning of an product/service. Having a strong work-ethic and being able to overcome adversity is key to ultimately becoming successful which is a main plot line in the story that Adams tells.

3. If I had to design an exercise for this class based on the readings of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big it would include scenarios where I would have students come up with a script of an product or service an demonstrate it to the class almost as an elevator pitch. I would then allow the other students to offer criticism and show that not everything is perfect its first time and that you need to practice and practice more to make sure that you know the information and that you can overcome any adversity thrown your way.

4. My biggest surprise from after reading this book would probably be when he states that "My worldview is that all success is luck if you track it back to its source." I don't believe necessarily that everything successful is lucky because that comes with having the right mindset and being a hard worker with a strong work-ethic. I think that luck is something that comes along the journey but not necessarily that everything you do successfully is luck. Overall, this way the biggest surprise moment for me when reading this novel.

20A- Growing Your Social Capital

Person 1: Lioz is someone I want to add to my social capital. He is someone who is very experienced and engaged in similar business activity as me as he is someone who manages different applications to reach out to college students as well. He is the domain expert of my capital because of his experience and technical skills that he brings with him. He knows what I want to accomplish and has similar goals in mind. I found this person through connections and relationships that I built at the University of Florida as he is a student at Florida State with the same mindset as me as to helping resolve the traveling issue. The nature of exchange that I have with Lioz is that we agreed to both help each other in our respected applications as we are both technologically advanced, we believe that we can balance each other out and ultimately help one another. Including Lioz in my network will better enhance my ability to exploit this opportunity because it gives me another brain to work with which means the innovative thinking is increased.

Person 2: The second person that I want to add to my social capital is Jessica. She is another college student but attends the University of Miami. She is super involved and someone who has a lot of experience in customer research and target marketing. She would be the expert of my market because of her past experiences and aspirations for researching customers and what they look for when deciding to use a product or service. She had once attempted to create a service but didn't have the right tools to do so, she believes together, we can make this service work. I contacted her through friends who attend the University of Miami so it was easy to get in contact with her. The nature of the exchange was that we agreed to work together one multiple projects whether that be something I want done or she wants done. It it a mutual agreement that will lead to a great relationship. Including her in my capital will better enhance this opportunity because of her skillset and what she brings to the table.

Person 3: The last person who I want to add to my capital is Colin. He is a student at the University of Florida. He is a genius and someone who has been a entrepreneur since a young age. He sells services to similar organizations around the state which is why I would be making him the important supplier in my social capital. He has a ton of experience and have no doubt that those experiences make him a great candidate and someone I could trust in the future moving forward. I found Colin at the local Reitz Union where I overheard him discussing his supplier experience with a fellow student, I spoke with him and believed this could be a fit together. The exchange that we have amongst each other is that I would help him in his supplier experience and he would me build my brand and to become more knowledgable to the public eye so I gain more traction on campus. Colin will help me build my network not only with his past experiences but also because of the relationships he has built that can help me further my business.

This experience will better shape my participation networking skills dramatically. This experience allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and really communicate with people I hadn't with before. These people that I chose as my social capital will better my overall service with what I am trying to accomplish. This experience differed from my past experiences because in the past I was someone who was to shy to talk to a stranger or someone who would be conservative. This experience built up my character and ultimately helped me get to where I want to go with this service.

19A- Idea Napkin No. 2

1. Hi, I am Alex Bachenheimer, a junior majoring in business administration with a certificate in sports management. My talents are that I am a hard-worker and have great communication skills. I love to work in groups because of the total brain power that is there that can help produce a bigger product. I am a leader and someone who knows sometimes in a specific project I may have to take the back seat and take on a different lesser role. My experiences entrepreneurial wise aren't too huge, I used to do local car washes in my neighborhood at a young age as well as sell jerseys and sneakers. My career aspirations are to work in the sports industry either as a sports agent or in a professional sports organization. My business concept of stop-in-go was something that I thought about while I was a freshman at school and believed the idea of it had potential something that maybe could be realistic. I don't think it would play a major role in my life, but for right now it could have some significance.

2. I am offering an application service that connects local college students amongst the state of Florida to communicate and chat about car rides that will be taking place on future dates. It essentially is a platform for communication and allowing college students to see who they are riding with and offering them incentives and features within the application.

3. I am offering my application to specifically college students, both male and females. They are my demographic and target market because I am focusing on making going home more convenient and easy for students around the state of Florida. This service is suppose to be for college students who find a hard time to get a ride home to their respected city.

4. Customers will actually pay for this service because instead of having to take greyhound or red coach busses, they will have a much easier way of finding local rides at a much cheaper price. They also will be riding with college students versus random strangers on a bus. My application gives incentives and features that other options don't.

5. The thing that sets me apart from everyone else such as facebook is that this is much more convenient and holds features and incentives such as tipping and food coupons. Using facebook to connect with kids is not always an easy task and sometimes harder than you want it to be. Using my application gives you complete background checks on people and gives you a better sense of comfortability.

I believe that these elements fit together very well and strengthen the overall message and goal of this application service. I was once a freshman with no car and put in a situation where I had to take a random bus company back to south Florida. My service offers a much more convenient and easy way to facilitate that. These elements put together complete the overall message and system that I am trying to accomplish. This had a lot of potential and believe this will be a very popular idea moving forward.

Two main points that I took away from my feedback memo is that I should explain more thoroughly the incentives and features that my application has and what comes with it as well as how far am I trying to expand this service. Just within Florida or am I trying to expand throughout the United States. I incorporated these ideas back into my napkin by specifically listing my goals and what I want out of this service, especially listing incentives and features. Overall, I hope I can put this app to usage.

17A- Elevator Pitch No. 2

18A- Create a Customer Avatar

Josh is a 19-year-old college student at a local state university in Florida. He lives in Pine Crest, Miami with his mother, father, and two little sisters. He lives in an house not in a gated community, but with tons of surrounding land around it both in the front and back yards of the area. While he is at school he lives in the broward dorms and majors in business administration with a specialization in sports management. His only means of communications around campus are either taking the bus system, walking or ubering.

Josh is a sports freak and loves both playing and watching sports. Another thing he enjoys is going to the beach while he is at home, when he has the chance to catch a ride from someone since he does not have a car at school. Josh watches only a few select channels and shows on tv which include sportscenter, highly questionable, and the bachelor on ABC. Josh is a sophomore in college and still trying to grow his brand with experience and meeting new interesting people around campus.

The things that I have in common are that we both enjoy and love sports on many different platforms such as watching and playing sports. Another thing we have in common is that we are both business administration majors so we take similar courses. I think that it is not a coincidence that we both enjoy sports and are business majors because so many people in the world are majoring in business and want to always be growing their network. Overall, Josh is a typical customer and someone who has a lot of things in common with me.