Reading Reflection No.3

The book I chose is  The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. I chose this book because I thought his theory of the long tail was super interesting. Basically the theory of the Long Tail says that our current culture and economy is moving away from the really in stuff ( or the head of the demand) and moving towards a the little fads in the tail. Anderson argues that products and business's that are not as popular can come together and build a better market share than bigger companies. The long tail anderson gives examples of Amazon, Apple and Yahoo!. Those business use the long rail startegy. I never really thought about how different business collectively getting together can be a much stronger business but I always heard about business's collabertating together to stop being competitive. I loved reading this book and learning something new! I suggest everybody read this if they are serious in the entrepreneur business.

My Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

I had a lot of ups and downs during this class but all in all it was a great learning experiencing and I am glad I took it over any other class. I loved doing the assignments where we had to talk about our own ventura concepts and explain why we came up with it and what was great about it. I also thought the bugs list we did at the begining of the class was super fun and brought me back down to earth because I saw how many little things bother me. I did not like doing interviews maybe if I had more time I would like it but I was always struggling for time to do those.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

I think the experience I will remember most is how hard it is to form a ventura cocept and how much work it takes to develop one. My most joyous experience was being able to hear all the inspiring comments people posted on my blogs. I am most proud of finishing up my ventura concept.

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

I definitely think I view things differently now and developed an entrepreneur mindset. I have always grown up with several entrepreneurs in my family and they have taught me a lot but I have acquired a great deal of knowledge in this class.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

I would say to keep on top of the assignments they come and go so quickly. Write it in your calendar or put it in your phone but just make sure you get the assignements done. I also think that the main purpose of this course is to have fun while gaining knowledge on being an entrepreneur so have fun!

Making it Real

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9XHxnQlE9pxeWViUzZZVEFWcTQ/view

My Exit Strategy

1.  Although my exit startegy is not something I have thought about I do have one now. I think for me deciding whether to sell my business or keep would have to depend on how much money I am making from it and how much work I am putting into it and if the work is worth the money. I don't think and exit startegy is something you can just decide it is something you have to think about for a while and talk to people about. I think if I was making good money and did not have to work more than usual for my company then I would definitely love to pass it down to my family. If my work load is inusual for how much money I am making from the company then I would definitely try to sell it for a profit.

2. I did not specifically choose an exit strategy but in the above paragraph I explain why I would choose either of the exit strategys I talk about.

3. I think the exit strategys do not really have much affect on my concept because my cliental is so specific and if they need it they will buy it and spend the money. I think it influenced how I want to grow and definitely the intentions I would love to give it to my family but I will not be upset if I under certain circumstances could not do it.
                                

Celebrating Failure

Failure:
I feel where I have failed in this class is not getting assignments done in time for the due date. Mainly the assignments were interview assignments because for me it was hard to find the time to interview people and then find a way to post it because my computer is difficult with voice recordings.

Learning Experience:
The learning experience that I got from my failure is that I have to keep up with stuff to fully understand and get the most out of the topic or class it is in. You do not get the full learning experience in the class if you miss a few assignments. I also learned how to better organize my time and that I have to keep stuff in a calendar that the only way to keep track of everything when your busy.



Reflection:
I believe that everything happens for a reason and that missing certain assignements made me work arder on  the ones I did do so it made those assignments stronger. I also realized that I could do the work I just have to prioritize my time. You dont realize how quickly time hand days sleep through your fingers. I belive that I have learned a lot of useful real life tips. I feel this class did give me a new view of failure that I should not be afraid of it because you never know if something good will come of it. I am glad I took this class as one of the classes to end my last year of college with.

Failure-Quotes-33.jpg if picture doesnt work click this link to see it

What's Next?

Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity:

The opportunity that I have identified was finding a way to make going out on the water less of a hassel and more of an enjoyment! Being that I go fishing a lot and diving a lot I know how hard it is to come back and get ready to dock your boat as well as docking it. There is a huge market for boats that are less work because every hard working fisherman or diver knows how annoying it is when you get back and all you want to do is get off the boat and go to sleep. Obviously a self docking boat is not a necessity but it would be a great treasure a lot of people do not realize how exhausted you get on the water. There are so many boats that have different bells and whistels and a lot of people are willing to pay money for it as long as its something that will make them more money, save them time, and make their day out on the water more enjoyable. I have been on several different boats where they will be trying to dock and its very hard to dock in between two boats so my self docking boat would be súper handy in that situation. I have looked up to see if they have anything similar online of a self-docking boat but I have not found anything I did find a house that mixes soap and water that helps wash the boat faster and people have seemed to respond to it well. Their comments all said it saved them time that they could spend on the water fishing or diving.  My Innovation is an add on to an exisiting product. My product docks the boats for you and popa the bumpers out of the boat so you dont hit the dock and scratch you boat. I am not sure yet on the price of my product but after building it and seeing how it will be attached to a boat I would see the right price range I should use.
The Self- Docking boat will help give people who love to be out on the water a more enjoyable and less of a hassel time. Customers will pay money for this product because they could make more money and have more time on the water. My product would not have any competitiors because this is the first tupe of boat like this from what I have seen with my research. I think my product has really strong opportunity because of the clientel I know and would have plus it is a very convinient product.

Elevator Pitch No.3

My pitch :    https://youtu.be/HE9NUp2uIdE


2. I think what stood out to me as important was to stand up and be a little louder. Although I am a soft spoken person I tried and I guess that has to count for something. I did stand up and I dressed professionally so that is a plus.

3. What I changed from the feedback was I stood up and I tried to be a little louder. I think that next time I could try and not talk so fast I tend to do that when I get nervous. All in all I had fun doing it and I  hope you guys like it!

Amazon Whisperer

       
•          Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money.
•        The main revenue drivers of my business concept is all the fishermen and people that are always out on the water as their job. I feel that once the news about my concept is spread around a little more it will be very popular with them.
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•         Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?
•        I was thinking of possibly a self cleaning boat because yes you have the extra time on the water with the self docking boat but you can also have your boat washed by a single button all you will need to do is take your valuables of the boat.
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•         Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?
•        I think this could enhance my product because I could start selling package deals and it would definitely improve user experience. I have already help the fishermen and customers time by the self docking boat but the self cleaning boat saves more time and more effort. 
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•         Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.
•         I cannot find my specific product on amazon of my product but here is a picture of a hose that combines the soap and water to make one step easier but to wash a boat you have to use a scrubby brush as well to get all the sand completley off.
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•         What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?
•         From what I have seen people love it! What most people love about it is that it is not only used for soap and water people use it to fertalize there garden and its so much easier that way. One guy did not have a great experience with it he said that it did not connect right and he got soaked with water but he did say th 8 different spray settings are nice its not worth the money.
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•         Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 
•         I would take into account the negative comments and maybe make a specific hose that comes with it so you dont have to worry about it not fitting on other hoses and getting negative reviews.

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

 I think my product would make a good addition because it could save more time and effort for my customers and it is also something similar to my first product so people will know it works and trust it.

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My Unfair Advantage

10 Resources:

1. Determination

    

• Valuable -  I believe the  people that succed the most are the ones that have a strong drive to make there product great!
• Rare - Not many people have the drive of wanting something so much to go out there and get it.
• Inimitable - Determination is something that is something that is something that cannot be repeated in another person or product.
• Non-Substitutable - Determination is unique to one person the way one person may be determines may not always be the same way as another persons determination.

2. Clientele 

• Valuable- Without the right clientele the product will never be worth as much.
• Rare - My clientele is rare because they will spend the money on a product that does a job that gives them more time out on the water. 
• Inimitable - This clientele is unique people who love to fish and be on the water are comppletely different people and cannot be repeated by anyone else.
• Non-Subsititutable- You cannot switch out my clientele for any other clientele because they would not find the product as valuable.

3. Customer-service

• Valuable- having great customer service means that my customers will be more inclined to buy my product.
• Rare- Not many people have great customer service especially when it comes to marine instruments.
• Inimitable- You cannot copy or substituye great customer service.
• Non-substitutable- You cannot substitute having great customer service people find it more enjoyable to buy someone they get along with and trusts products.

4. I have many experts that are friends to help me

• Valuable- These experts know what to do to enhance and better sell my product
• Rare- not many people have the friends that can help them just by giving them tips because they are the tupe of customer I would be selling to.
• Inimitable- You really cannot find experts like this first hand experts that know what to do to help better your product.
• Non-substitutable- It is impossible to replace the experts I have for my product.

5. I have knowledge of my product

• Valuable- this is valuable because people who do not have knowledge of there product usually do not know how to make it better or sell it better.
• Rare- many people just let other people deal with there product and they just come up with the idea but I will know how its built and how to use it and how to fix it.
• Inimitable- You cannot copy intelligence of one certain product unless you know it inside and out.
• Non- Substitutable- you cannot interchange knowledge of one product to another.

6.  Stamina

• Valuable- If at first you fail try and try again. I will be motivated to work as hard as I have to to make the product the best and most wanted product of its tupe.
• Rare- Many people give up after seeing they are not doing well.
• Inimitable- If you do not have satina you cannot just get it out of no where.
• Non- subsitutable- if you do not have stamina it cannot be replaced with just anything.

7. I am super kind

• Valuable-Some people may not thinking being kind in a business is a good thing but  I think just the opposite I feel if people see kindness and that you care they will spend the money for your product.
• Rare- Not many people in business think kindness is a plus but they do not realize how much of an influence it is.
• Inimitable- You cannot replace or copy kindness.
• Non-subsitutable- Kindness is something that you cannot substitute.

8. I have personal knowledge about my product and what it would be used for.

• Valuable- Having knowledge about your product is very helpful you know what to add and what to change about it to make it better.
• Rare- Not many people know personally how to make there product better I go fishing and diving a lot so I know what people want and do not want with my product.
• Inimitable- People will not have the same knowledge of your product as you do.
• Non-subsitutable- as I stated earlier people will not have the same knowledge of your own product as yourself.

9. My product could help make fishermans days easier and make them more money

•  Valuable- For a fisherman the extra 30min to an hour it takes to dock the boat means alto they can catch a lot more fish and make a lot more money.
• Rare- Not many people know what this means for fisherman but since I know a lot personally and fish a lot my self  I know about it.
• Inimitable- Knowing how it can help fisherman is something that cannot be known by everybody.
• Non-substitutable- Having this knowledge cannot be substituted by anything thats not specific.

10. Although my product main customers will be fisherman people who are on the water a lot that are not fisherman could find a use for this as well.

• Valuable- This is valuable because I will have my stable customers who are fisherman and then I will also get a variety of customers who would also enjoy my product.
• Rare- To have a loyal group of customers is great but to have both local and a variety helps my business a lot.
• Inimitable- You cannot substitute these customers with any other customers.
• Non- Substitutable- As I stated earlier you cannot substitute these customers with any other customers.

I believe that most valuable resource is my stamina. I feel like when most people get knocked down they are always to scared to get back up but I am not afraid and I will get back up. I not only will get back up but will try harder and I feel if you keep trying you have to succeed.

Reading Reflection No.2

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? In the book it talks about the Dual Process theory, which contains the two systems. Most of the book talks about the mistakes that the fast, intuitive, implicit, subconscious process makes (1st system). Apparently it gets worse when it involves logic or probability.

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

It was really interesting reading this book and learning how people think. Kahneman’s research on loss aversion I feel could help us understand what people are thinking when they come by your product or idea. Like apparently people have tend to ask harder questions then easier questions. Reading this books helps you understand how people think and what you can do to attract them to your product better.

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

The exercise I would create is for us to go out and come up with a series of question one is the simple question and the other is the harder version and ask several people which question they would ask somebody.



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?

The whole book was pretty much an ‘aha’ moment. I have taken a few psychology classes but I don’t remember learning about any of this stuff. The most interesting part was learning about the two systems and all the different experiments.

Growing My Social Capital

1.     Frank Collado

-       University of Central Florida graduate who is an expert on the mechanics of boats.

-       Frank would fill the slot of the domain expert because when it comes to how my idea would work he would know way more than I would.

-       I know Frank from when I went to Santa Fe College and was studying marine science at the time. He was telling me about he grew up fixing boats with his dad and was career he wanted to pursue.

-       Frank just answered a few questions for me  and did not expect anything in return which was really cool of him if he needed any help on anything that I was an expert in

-       Including frank in my network enhance he could help me figure out how to put the mechanics of the self-docking boat together. Frank also has all the tools and resources to help me maybe create a model. Another thing that he can help with is expanding my network he knows a lot of fishermen and divers that would find this of great use.

2.     Hannah Citrin

-       Hannah is a friend of mine who was in classes with me when I was at Santa Fe she

-       She is my market expert because she also came up with different ideas for making being on a boat more of an enjoyment than a task.

-       I have known Hannah since freshman year in college.

-        She has been diving an fishing all her life and knows several people who would love to use this product. If there were any flaws in my product she would tell me and tell me the right way to fix it and help better my product.

-       People trust her because her products have always been a great help and I think her support would help me tremendously in getting my idea running.

3.     I will be using a local supplier the person who runs the store is named Nick Santore.

-       I found Nick by talking to Hannah and Frank and asking who the best supplier would be.

-       The return for them would be supplying me with the products I need to create my idea obviously me paying for them but I would get a better deal because I will sell my product in there store as well.

-       According to Nick the cost of my product would be pretty expensive somewhere in the thousands with the installation fees but he also says the return would be a great amount as well so it would be worth it.

Reflection:  I think this differed from the first networking experience because I did a lot more research and got more into the details of how and where my product would be placed.  I also feel like I did a lot more research I had to contact old friends and ask them several questions about who I should call next.

Idea Napkin No.2

1.     I am the type of person that loves to travel and loves to be in or on the water. Surprisingly my aspiration is to become a real estate lawyer. My aspiration for my business would be for it to be able to help people who love to be on the water just as much as I do by making their boat ride a lot less arduous.  It would play a big role in my life because I get joy helping people out and if my idea could help many people I would be happy.

2.     My product is a self-docking boat the boat would have a magnetic docking rope, which is shot out and attached to the dock. Also the bumpers pop out so the boat will not hit the dock and get scratched. This all is done by a touch of a button to make getting off the boat after a long day fishing so much easier.

3.     The demographic that my product would be mainly sold to would be a pretty wide range. It would be offered to people from the age of 18 to about late 60’s. You have to be 18 to drive a boat and people usually drive until there late 60’s or 70’s.  I would say fisherman and divers would love this product because after a long day they are super tired when they get back. What my customers would all have in common is that they own a boat and usually are out on the water for long periods of time to where a self-docking boat would be such a prize to them.

4.     I think the customer would pay for this because if they can dock the boat at   a push of the button they could spend the extra 30-45 min out on the water fishing or diving and not have to worry about docking the boat. Also if you are a fisherman the extra 30 min can mean a lot during that time you could catch a lot more fish and make a lot more money on them.

5.     I think what sets me apart from everybody else is that I have been in the shoes of people that are on the boats. I am on the water and chance I can get and I can relate to people and will listen to my customers.

I think these five elements fit together pretty well. I do think though one aspect of my business that my need a little more work is trying to figure out how the mechanical part of my invention can work. One thing is for sure I am no mechanical engineer and I would have to hire someone to do that aspect of it all but  after that I think my idea is a pretty solid idea for hardworking people.

Feedback Memo:

I did not complete the last assignment so I did not receive any feedback but I think there probably isn’t anything anybody would have a huge problem with. 

I think if there was anything it would be what I stated earlier about the mechanics of the idea but I cannot figure that out until I have money to hire somebody for that.