The Twenty Percent

1) I interviewed the owner of Sips in Tampa. Sips is a coffee house that is known for hosting open mic events for local talent to perform. The owner did not want to be recorded so I will include a transcript of the interview
Q: Who do you think your target customers are?
A: Mainly younger adults who love coffee
Q: What are your customers unmet needs?
A: My customers need coffee so I provide that to them, there isn't really any coffee places around here besides Starbucks in the mall.
Q: Where do you find your customers?
A: I have workers advertising on the side of the road
Q: What are your customers demographics?
A: Younger adults or older teenagers who hang out here when we host events and also like to drink coffee.
Q: What kind of media do your customers consume?
A: Most of my customers follow the popular culture and wear/act in the matter of that type of media.

2)

3) The entrepreneur does not really know what their customer's problems by the answer they gave to the second question. The customers I interviewed gave problems such as not being greeted, and the coffee shop not being open late enough. These differences might exist because the entrepreneur may think that the shop is very successful and doesn't have many problems, or the entrepreneur is just oblivious of the problems.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

1) I was surprised by the decreasing demand for commercial banks. I thought that with a growing economy and more money being made, more banks would be demanded.

2) The idea of angel financing was a little confusing to me. I want to know how people obtain the contacts to get this kind of financing and investment support for a company.

3) 1) What is the best way for a small business to start up?
     2) Should a private business who is really successful go public?

4) I did not disagree with anything the author had to say in this chapter.

Half-way Reflection

1) I tried to finish assignments in this course a day or a couple days before they were due, that way I would never feel rushed into finishing an assignment.

2) I thought about giving up on a couple assignments because they just seemed ridiculous. Instead, I just decided to try them out and actually have had a lot of fun with them. I definitely feel like I have had a tenacious attitude because I spend a lot of time putting in work into my assignments and staying motivated towards this class and others. The assignments where we had to go out and speak to people have helped contribute to it.

3) 1) Do your work and finish it a day before
    2) Read over assignments a week in advance so you know what to do
    3) Be confident when interviewing customers

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1) What stood out to me was that after world war II, so many new products and inventions came out on the market. I never knew about this so reading about this was shocking to me.

2) I was confused on how consumer spending and consumer demand changed in the 1960s. The author did not really go into detail of why patterns like this changed, so it never really made sense to me.

3) 1) If you were asked to define a segmentation, how would you define it?
     2) What creates good segmentations?

4) I disagree with when the author brought up the changing consumer demand or how they shopped. I am just confused on how the consumers were conforming less to buying certain products.

Free Money

I went to Library West and stood outside of the library and approached people as they headed to the library or walked past it. I approached people who were busy and also tried to target those drinking coffee. To start conversations I basically said hey and walked up to them and they usually followed through with the conversation. Since Dunkin' Donuts has $1 coffee I proposed that they take the dollar and go buy coffee with it.

I thought this exercise was interesting and I don't think I got the point of the assignment. I thought it was surprisingly harder to give away the dollars so my prediction was incorrect. I am not really sure why, but I guess because some people don't like just taking money or think it is a prank. I thought everyone would want a dollar so I guess I was wrong about that.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1)

2) After reading feedback from my first elevator pitch, I understood that my idea wasn't specific enough. So I decided to make my mission to reach out to local producers that can provide the food for much cheaper. This helps give strength to my idea and makes it more likely to be successful. Along with this, many people agreed on how the dining hall food isn't that great and needs to be fixed, which shows that there is an opportunity.

3) I changed my goal on focusing on the audience, or the students. The students are the customers so it is absolutely necessary to reach out to them in order to make them happy. Along with this, which I stated in number 2, I focused on reaching out to local producers in order to get the cheaper but better quality food.

Customer Interviews No. 3

1) I asked:

Is there anything you can think of that could make you happier with the meal plan?
Would you be willing to spend more money for better quality and variety food?

I tried to ask students who live on campus and have the meal plan, this week I reached out and interviewed girls to get their opinion as well. Along with this, each of these students all come from different backgrounds so more opinions of different nationalities were taken into account.

2)

3) These interviews really helped me understand more about the needs for customers that live on campus. Some customers argued how the staff was not very good, and that they would have a better experience if the workers were better. Along with this, most of the customers were saying that they are willing to pay extra money for better quality and variety food, which makes my opportunity much more easier to reach. Now I know that customers are unsatisfied with the workers and have more support of students who are unsatisfied with the food offered.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1) The biggest surprise to me about the 5 forces that shape competitive industry was the power of the buyers. As a day trader, I know that buyers are the ones that affect the stock prices, but I never thought about how a few buyers could affect competition in an industry. It definitely makes sense to me now that a few large consumers could make or break a company.

2) The only thing I thought was confusing about the five forces was the possible introduction of a sixth force; the economy. I feel that a declining economy could definitely cause a shift in the competition of an industry.

3) 1) How do you think the economy will affect competition?
     2) Could you put a ranking on the forces based on which one effects competition more? Or are they all equal?

4) I just disagree with the thought of only 5 forces affecting competition. I understand how those may be the biggest forces but I believe there could be other big forces that affect competition, like the economy. The five forces are important to understand and know for business owners in competition.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) I have previous experience in being a leader, which helps me with planning events and meeting important deadlines. My aspirations in life is to start my own business, but I'm not really sure if I have a great idea or opportunity yet. If I were to go through with this business, I believe it will become a big part of my life as I help students enjoy their campus dining much more.

2) I am offering to students all over the country a better dining option. I want to take over current meal plans that schools have and offer better quality food to students who do not think they are getting their money's worth

3) I am offering this to students, mainly around the age of 18-23, and mainly who live on campus near dining halls. This will be offered to students who do not like the quality of the food that their current meal plan is giving them. If successful, my demographic could reach out to younger students who are in high school and want better food. Most of my customers will all have in common the hatred towards their current dining hall food.

4) The customers care because they would definitely appreciate better food if it was offered to them for the price they are paying. My customers will pay the same amount of money and get better quality food and healthier food if they request it.

5) I believe I have a lot of motivation towards my task at hand, and if I start something I want to be the best at it. Along with this, I know that most students are not very happy with their meal plan, so I have the backing of thousands of students who want change. Along with the backing of students here at UF, I will most likely gain support of students in different schools as well.

I believe that these points work very well together. The only thing I lack is experience in the food industry and connections to large farms to get cheaper food for better quality. Once I figure out a way to make better quality and a better variety of food for the price of the meal plan, then my idea will be very successful. With the backing of thousands of students begging for better food for the price they are paying, the opportunity is right in everyones face.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

1. What really surprised me the most was the requirements needed to obtain a patent. I thought that it was just way too hard to obtain one and the process was way too long. I had no idea about the process of obtaining a patent but I didn't think it would be that hard.

2. The idea of trade secrets is confusing to me. I don't really understand how someone can protect their idea or property with no legal documentation.

3. 1. What is your opinion on the best type of business to run?
    2. How do trade secrets protect a companies ideas or property?

4. I disagree with how the author says sole proprietorships have an ease of formation. I don't think sole proprietorships are easy because the one person doing it has to work on their own to do it, unless with assistance of someone who isn't going to be an owner.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

I kept my opportunity idea the same, I felt like it had a strong backing by those who have a meal plan. I should have interviewed girls who own a meal plan, that way my potential customers had more differentiation. My strategy changed because I went out to different food places on campus where they can get food using the meal plan.

After interviewing 10 customers, I received mainly the same answers as before in regards to the dining hall food. I learned that customers still would want to request for better food from the dining hall. Interviewing new customers has been easier this time around because of my experience before.

My three tips for interviewing would be to be confident, speak clearly and try to get a close connection when interviewing the customer, that way you can get better answers from the customer.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

My opportunity is to help fix the dining hall food not only here at UF but at any school where the students feel unsatisfied with their food. I plan on providing better quality food and more variety for students because that is what they seemed to dislike most about the food. My company is called College Campus Dining and will try to reach out to as many college campuses as possible.