Elevator Pitch No. 3

1) The pitch

LINK HERE

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch

I received two comments on my second elevator pitch, both were positive and stated that they were impressed with my pitch. The first comment discussed my opening line and how she liked how I referenced a street she was familiar with in order to relate to my audience. The second comment discussed how she could tell I took my feedback and made the appropriate changes in order to better my elevator pitch as a whole. The one critique I did receive was to make better eye contact with the camera throughout the pitch. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

Based on the feedback I received, I kept a similar structure to my pitch but changed a few details. Also, this time I really focused on making eye contact with the camera or my "audience" in order to seem more engaged. Since this was my third time performing this pitch, I felt very comfortable with the pitch and had my speech almost memorized. Practicing this speech throughout the course, I was able to see how much I improved over the semester. 

Reading Reflection No. 2

Book Title: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

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

The overall theme of this book discussed how life is full of failures and mistakes, however, if you continue to persevere you will ultimately find success in your path. Also, Scott Adams emphasizes the idea that failure is not always a bad thing and it can lead to the best results. 

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

In my opinion, this book connects very well with everything I have learned in ENT 3003. Throughout this class, I have had to revise my ideas again and again. These changes and mistakes could have been considered to be "failures" if I were to look at criticism negatively instead of taking the comments as means to better my idea. This overall idea that I've had while in this class is the same theme that Scott Adams emphasizes in his book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. Being an entrepreneur means you will have many failures along the way on your road to success. However, it is how you choose to look at these failures and grow from them that determine if you will succeed in the end. I have had to learn how to take criticism and grow from it throughout this course in my assignments and these small "failure" have lead to my ultimate success of having a more detailed and thought out business proposal.

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 our class based on this book I would make the exercise about learning from your failures. I would have everyone write down three failures that they have experienced and then write at least three positive things that came from those failures. By looking at the successes that came from your failures, you are better able to appreciate your mistakes that you once viewed as a failure. 

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?

One of the most interesting points that Scott Adams makes in this book is the idea that making the assumption that people are reasonable is one that will set you up for failure. Although it seems rational to make an assumption that the people around you are rational, this is not always the case. After reading this section of the book, I thought about my past experiences and have to agree with Scott Adams on this idea. If you assume that the people around you will always make reasonable decisions, this will often lead to disappointment and frustration. In order to avoid failure and frustration, you have to lower your expectations of others due to the fact that people are not always rational. 

Growing Your Social Capital

1. Domain Expert: Mr. Bria, family owned restaurant owner in South Florida

Mr. Bria owns a single restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and has been in the restaurant business for over 20 years. I know Mr. Bria because he is my roommate's father and I was able to speak with him on the phone over this week to discuss my business proposal and requirements for this assignment. Having this expert in my network will be helpful while developing my app because he has the perspective of the restaurant side of my business idea and gave me insight on how restaurant owners and managers would be able to interact with my app. 



2. Market expert: Andrew, owns event company in Gainesville that serves mostly college students 


One of my markets would be college students who often don’t have time to wait for meals due to busy schedules and trying to fit in meals with friends, coworkers, family, etc. Andrew runs an event company in Gainesville Florida with the majority of his clients being college students planning events for their organization. My organization uses Andrew to book different social events and this is how I was originally able to connect with him. I was able to email him and ask him many questions about this specific market since he has ample experience. College students are a niche market and being able to network with Andrew gives me the benefit of being able to discuss his perspective of dealing with college students as his own market. His experience is valuable moving forward trying to market my app to college students and being able to talk to him about my business proposal. 

3. Supplier expert: Scott, app and website developer

Scott is a software expert and app and website developer who designs these projects for a living. Scott is actually my brother's friend that he connected me with after sharing about my business proposal and my desire to develop and app. I was able to call him on the phone and talk with him about my app that I want to develop and then email him any follow up questions. Developing my app is the foundation of my business idea and without having the proper connections to an app developer to give me advice or help me actually bring my ideas to life, my business would not be able to exist. Scott was able to explain to me the process of creating an app and which of my ideas are realistic and feasible given my resources. 

REFLECTION: 

Having new connections with these three experts will be beneficial if I ever pursue this business proposal or any other similar idea. New perspectives are always beneficial to help solve problems and this whole business proposal is based on solving an unmet need. The connection I found especially helpful was with Scott who was able to talk to me about how my app would actually work and who would use it. This assignment will help me in the future networking and the specific individuals who will be helpful when working on a business proposal or solving a problem. This will also help in my general professional life because practicing how to network with others is an important soft skill for any aspiring career professional. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You

I’m originally Orlando, Florida. Currently, I’m a sophomore pursuing an undergraduate and masters degree in finance. I’m involved in many organizations on campus. Right now, I work for Dr. Durant, a professor within the college of business who hired me to help with behavioral testing. This summer I’ll be studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland and next summer I hope to obtain an internship in investment banking. If I were to start this business, I think I would spend a considerable amount of time working to develop it further but I'm not sure that it would be something that I would take over as a full time job. 

2. What are you offering to customers? 

I'm offering a product that would be an interactive app for users and restaurants to update restaurant wait times in real-time. This app would show restaurants based on the user's location as well as their respective updated wait times that would allow consumers to be aware before arriving to dine out. Customers and restaurant managers would both have access to updating wait times for the most accurate time possible. Also, customers would be able to use their location to see restaurants in their area and possibly use the wait times posted to make their dining decision based off that information. 

3. Who are you offering it to?

I would be offering the app to any consumer who enjoys dining out and finds importance in knowing wait times before arriving to a restaurant in order to avoid waiting to be seated. I think this app would mostly be used by younger adults who are tech-savvy and place value in efficiency. Also, this app would be geared towards families with smaller children and larger groups who don't want to have to wait around before being seated or have to travel to a different restaurant due to too long of a wait time. However, any customer who would want to check wait times before dining out would be able to use this app. 

4. Why do they care?

I believe that consumers will use this product because in our day and age there is a huge importance placed on the value of time and consumers are constantly finding ways to enhance their experiences in the most effective and efficient way possible- something I think this product would do. 

5. What are your core competencies? 

This product is unlike any product or service that I have seen on the current market. While the trend of saving time and being efficient continues to grow, so will the value of this idea. Personally, I consider myself to be very detailed-oriented and I think this would set me apart while developing my idea further. 

I do believe that these aspects all fit together because without all of these aspects, your idea would never come to fruition or be successful. Knowing the "why" behind what you're doing only drives you more to develop your idea and work to make it the best it can possibly be. Who you are as a person and your strengths determine what you value in your business and play a role when molding your ideas into a reality. 


Feedback Memo:
For my first idea napkin assignment, I only received one comment that only included positive feedback rather than negative feedback so it was up to me to figure out how I could improve for my second idea napkin. Overall, the changes I made were mostly adding details and clarifying anything I felt wasn't as clear as it could be. 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1. The Pitch

Elevator Pitch Video

2. Feedback Reflection

I only received one comment on my previous elevator pitch, however, the suggestion given to me was to use more hand gestures as I gave my proposal. Even though I only received one formal comment, I watched back my original post and changed the content of the pitch slightly to make it better. Also, there were times where I said words such as "like", "um", and "and" when I should have just taken a breath or pause. Obviously, these issues can be resolved by practicing my pitch more but I really tried to focus more on my words this pitch and not speaking too fast.

3. Changes based on feedback

After reviewing my previous elevator pitch, I added more hand gestures and tried not to look as stiff in this elevator pitch in order to make it more engaging. As I previously mentioned, I tried to not use as many filler words for this pitch in order to make it sound smoother and more rehearsed. However, there is fine line between sounding too rehearsed and sounding like this is your first time practicing. Keeping my pitch concise but engaging was my ultimate goal for Elevator Pitch No. 2

Customer Avatar

My Customer Avatar:

My customer avatar is a 40 year old woman who is a wife and mother of two children. She is a professional who works a job during the day and then has to come home at night to spend time with her family and take care of her children. In order to balance her busy life, she looks to small things to help her save time on tasks and enjoys being organized in order to create order with all of the things going on around her. She has to take her two children to and from school every day, with the help of husband of course, and she drives them to after school programs, makes sure they are fed, and prepares them for the next day. With her busy schedule, she often doesn't have time to cook a meal and enjoys eating out at restaurants. However, having two small children under the age of 6 can be challenging at sit down restaurants, especially if there is a wait before being seated. While family is the most important thing in her life, she also is driven in her career as a publicist and is always on top of her work. During her lunch break she often goes out to eat with coworkers or friends in order to catch up and have productive breaks while enjoying a meal. 

What do you have in common with the customer avatar? If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?

Some of the things that I have in common with my customer avatar is that we are both females who live busy lives. While, I am not a mother right now, I hope to be on in the future and think that my avatar represents what most mothers of young children deal with on a daily basis. Trying to stay organized and on top of my work is something I constantly work towards in order to not fall behind. Also, I value my family as well as my education and future career because having a balance between the two is important to me. My avatar does not have that many similarities to me, I did this on purpose because while making my avatar I wanted to take a new perspective on the outlook of a customer.

What's Your Secret Sauce?

Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different? Write this up in a detailed list. 

1. Honesty: I'd say almost everyone who knows me would agree that honesty is one of my top qualities. Whether it being honest with myself or with others, I am not one to beat around the bush when it comes to tough conversations or conflict. Rather, I will get straight to the point in order to be effective and efficient. 

2. Genuine Curiosity: I am constantly challenging myself to learn about or explore new things around me. Whether it be travelling or even just reading articles I typically wouldn't read, pushing myself outside my comfort zone has proven to help me grow both personally and professionally. 

3. Detail Oriented: Being detail oriented is helpful when analyzing projects or problems, specifically when developing a product. By being able to focus on the details of a project and analyzing how they fit into the project as a whole, this helps to develop ideas that are realistic yet specific. 

4. Independent: I often enjoying working alone and solving problems on my own as it serves as an intellectual challenge. While others constantly need to be surrounded by others and have someone to bounce their ideas off of, I also find value in working alone and being able to come to ideas and conclusions on your own. 

5. Determined/Hardworking: No matter what I am working on, whether it be a small task or big project, I always try to give my full effort in order to complete the task fast while still making sure it is properly executed. 

Interview the five people who know you the best.

1. Sister: As Andie's sister, one of the biggest factors that has lead her to become a successful student and woman is her goal oriented personality. No matter what is going on in her life, she remains focused on her goals and always is creating new challenges for herself and then trying to exceed them. Growing up with Andie, she has always been very mature for her age as she is the youngest of four siblings. 
2. Leah: Andie is a very loyal and trustworthy friend who loves to stay organized and is very accomplished. She has a good sense of humor and is a quick learner. Also her experiences from travelling has given her a lot of worldly knowledge that I think makes her unique. 
3. Natalie: Andie brings passions into all things that she does including her classes, homework, and research. Her drive and initiative has been evident throughout her college career and this is shown through her acceptance into the Masters of Science in Finance combined degree program. 
4. Mom: Andie has always been very outgoing and energetic. She often times goes above and beyond what is asked of her to help others and she has always been intelligent even as a child. 
5. Francesca: As Andie's roommate, I think that there are three main factors that set her apart. The first of which being she is a good communicator and typically tells it how it is. The second is that she is very determined and often exceeds her own goals. Lastly she is fearless and confident when it comes to big projects or tasks that she is undertaking. 

 Reflect on the differences

After interviewing those who are closest to me, I found that what I believed to be my "secret sauce" wasn't that far off from what they believed it to be. Almost everyone I interviewed touched on my honest and driven characteristics. Speaking with my sister, she spoke about my maturity which wasn't something that I had previously thought about, however, being the youngest of four siblings has made me mature starting from a younger age. Also, hearing from my closest friends made me realize what they each value in our relationship and how we each how our own different yet valuable "secret sauce". I think that everything that was said about me in my interviews was true, even though some characteristics are more prevalent than others. Going back to my original list, I don't think I would change anything. 


YouTube link to interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0cf_pqpi5U&feature=youtu.be

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Segment: College Students
Interviews

1. For my first interview, I decided to interview my older brother who is currently a senior in college. When asking him about his method for discerning alternative solutions to his problems he spoke mostly about the quality of a product or service and how that plays into his decision the most. While price can be important if there is a significant difference, he explained how he saw price as a value of the quality of the product or service most often and used it as a tool to determine quality. He also spoke about how he is willing to pay a higher price if that means the quality of the product is guaranteed. As a busy college senior, my brother often purchases most of his goods online in order to save time and money, while using cash in store and his debit card online. When asked about how he determines if a product was a "good purchase" my brother said that if he feels he got more value out of the product than he paid it was a great purchase and was definitely worth it.

2. For my second interview, I chose to interview one of my close friends Alexis, who is currently a sophomore at UF. Alexis said that as a broke college student, price is often her number one factor when determining whether to buy an item. When asked about where she buys most of her products she discussed how she makes weekly trips to the store with her roommates and barely ever purchases products online even though it has become very popular to do so. She enjoys having the items she needs right away without having to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Alexis said how she determines if a product or service was a "good purchase" was by evaluating the cost of the item and then comparing it with how much use or enjoyment she received. Although these measurements are directly correlated, she said she definitely knows when she made a bad purchase after the fact.


3. For my final interview, I spoke with a freshman student who currently lives in a dorm. She said she purchases most of her products online through websites like Amazon because living on campus without a car makes it difficult to have access to goods she may need and it is easier for her to order it directly to her dorm and pick up from there. While she does consider price, she says she sticks with products she knows she can rely on for quality and style. For example, she discussed how she only uses a singular brand of face wash as she knows it doesn't irritate her skin and is reasonably priced. "When you order products online, it is the safest bet to order products you've already used before." Because of this process, she typically knows if a purchase will be "good" or not and if it is a new product she says even if the purchase turns out to not be great, at least she will know for next time.


Conclusion

These interviews were helpful for me to take a deeper dive into this segment of the market. While some college students prefer shopping online versus in-store, this isn't always the case. Price seemed to be the number one contributing factor when deciding whether or not to buy a product due to the fact that college students are often strapped on money in order to pay for the expenses of college. Quality of a product or service was the second most contributing factor, I think this is because students are selective when they actually do spend money and want to make sure the product is worth the cost and is of high quality. Most students were on the same page when it came to determining if a purchase was a "good purchase" or not by comparing the value they received from the product and how much they actually paid for the good.