Final Reflection

For me, I feel like the most formative assignment this semester was the elevator pitch portion. That type of thing is so far out of my comfort zone and I've never really had to do anything like that before, so it was really a change and sticks out in my mind from all the other assignments. I feel like the most joyous experience were the reading reflections simply because I like to read, and the books I chose were also incredibly interesting to me. I love history and am always looking for ways to learn more about it, so those assignments for me were a personal enjoyment. The thing I will probably remember most years from now isn't necessarily one assignment, but the comments for all the assignments. Just the process of feedback to and from a network of students was different for me but in a good way and I'll remember it for a long time to come.
I feel like at the end of the semester I have developed more of an entrepreneurial mindset, however I still don't think I have quite what it takes to be an entrepreneur on a big level. I like to be able to jump around between a variety of different projects and I love creating something purely for the sake of the process and creating, rather than actually going through all the steps to get my creation to market.
The thing I would suggest to future students would have to be to look ahead and plan accordingly. Also my number one tip, if you don't like having assignments due on Friday nights, pretend they aren't. Do them by Thursday at the latest and you'll save yourself so much stress. To foster the entrepreneurial mindset, I'd say to believe in yourself and to never discount something because of its size. All ideas have value, it just takes the right person to come along and see it.

This is me at the end of the semester, and I'm so excited to be on the other side of this last week. 

Venture Concept No. 2

1. Venture Concept:

Opportunity:

The most basic response for the need would be overcrowded animal shelters. The potential customers I would say are both small individual-owned motels and businesspeople away on trips. Since this is a bit of a two-part customer group, there are a little bit more opportunities for future growth here.  Forces in the economy that’s even creating this opportunity is the constant travel for businesspeople, and the ever-increasing amount of animals in shelters that end up resorting to euthanasia. The market is more centered around smaller towns at the moment in order to have a drawing-in factor, but as far as geographically, this idea could take place anywhere. Customers currently are just traveling to normal motels, and the motels stay in business because as long as people have to travel there will at least be some business coming in. So on that note, the customers are loyal now simply because of necessity. I don’t think the opportunity is huge, but because of the nature of the specific market, I think the opportunity will be open for a long window. Especially because there are so many animals in the shelter unfortunately being put down due to overcrowding. 

Innovation: 

My innovation is a service that teams up local motels with overcrowded animal shelters. Every room would be assigned a pet that lives there, and in exchange for taking care of the pet, the room’s fee would be paid for for as many days/nights as the business trip lasted, since I’m making the initial pitch to businesspeople on conferences. For each room that has an animal, profits for the hotel would come from sponsorships and donations, ideally from big-name sponsors like Petsmart. This arrangement would also work for out-of-towners later down the line with a love for animals looking for lodging, or potentially even college students. The money will be made from the sponsors, companies I partner with for supplies, and I’ll get a percentage from all the business I bring to the hotels involving the program. 

Venture Concept: 

My innovation will solve the unmet need of a place for animals in shelters to go rather than being put down. I feel like customers will invest in and be a part of my innovation because many people do care about animals and want to help in finding a solution for them, and my program is also a way to make a long, dreary trip feel a little bit more refreshing and like home, and these are two reasons that customers would be likely to switch to my product. I don’t think it would be too hard to get them to switch as long as the service had had a first test run to iron out all of the hiccups. As far as competitors go, the only competitors I see would be big hotel companies that have a never-ending stream of revenue in general. Their weakness against my concept would be their lack of animals. Price point and marketing would play a key role in getting my service up and running. I’d go with marketing heavily, to try and drum up interest, and then use the cheaper price points of local motels to my advantage in drawing customers in. For the business organization, I would have may regional managers to oversee the whole interaction between shelter, motel, and customer, and I’d also ideally like to have several employees specialized and working in each of these areas. I’d also like to have a team of people who work in expansion and travel to new towns with the potential to implement the program. Another element I could add to my concept would be branching out largely to other sorts of markets, sort of like in the assignment that we actually had to pick another assignment. So while initially I'd stick with motels, in order to eventually grow the service I would move to personally owned shops and other businesses similar to that. 

Three minor elements: 

1. I think the most important resource here is the creativity of the idea. This will be the factor and the difference from everything else that draws in customers. Also, just the fact of working with and helping provide care for animals I feel like will be something many people will want to take part in, which will help business even more. It will be hard to compete with because of the feeling that it gives the customers- feelings of helpfulness and of having a home-away-from-home. 

1. What’s next for the venture is more resource to go through every last detail that I have yet to think of or any of the ones that have come up in the interviews. After that, I’ll probably start with polling of large samples of people to see if this product is something a large group of people would be interested in and what other improvements could be made. After this step, I’d go to implementation in a few select motels for a test period before going on a larger scale. 

1. As far as what’s next for me, if I were to get this idea up and running, I’d like to always work closely with is, as it deals to an issue so important to me. Eventually, I’d like to just be able to travel to all the motels and regions the service was in to check up on how its going and work with the design team to come up with changing advertisements. This first venture idea has helped me into thinking big and because of that, I could potentially see myself joining in with other individuals to work on new projects I feel passionately about. 

2. Feedback:

As far as the feedback goes from my first venture concept, it was very positive. The people that commented said they thought my concept was fun and had great value so to move forward with it in the future. However, there weren't really any constructive comments on how to improve upon my idea, so the changes I made in my above version of the concept were my own.
3. How you changed the concept:
I really didn't change my concept very much, as I like it right now how it is for the starting off stages, but I went back in and added a little more room for potential growth and new directions that could be beneficial in the future.
4. Picture:
Wouldn't this just be a great view to see when you walked into your hotel room?

Reading Reflection No. 3

For this reading reflection, I read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. This is from the biography section of the reading list. 

1. Since I read about two entrepreneurs rather than one, The thing that I found most surprising about the Wright brothers was how much of a unit they were. From the very beginning and all throughout the book, the author painted a very clear picture about how much of a cohesive team they were and while they worked together, they each had their own specific thing to contribute to the team. For example, Wilbur Wright did almost all of the writing for their inventions simply because he preferred writing more than Orville. The thing that I most admire about these two men was their ability to work so well as a team and to consider the other person’s point of view at full value. I have two uncles who went into business together and that was the most difficult thing for them so even though it’s a simple thing for them to have accomplished, I admire it greatly. I don’t really think that there was a thing I disliked most about the brothers, but I did notice that the author made a point of throwing in little facts throughout the book that gave nods to negative qualities or situations surrounding each of the two on occasion. These men both encountered adversity and failure many times- they were inventors after all. How they dealt with this was just going back to the drawing board and refining their prototypes until they got to where they had successes in their machines. 
2. I noticed that both men exhibited competencies in areas beyond just mechanical and construction abilities. This kind of goes back to their background where their father raised them to be well-rounded gentlemen, so they were well-versed in many things besides just what made them famous. 
3. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the discussion of the plane prototypes and the building process. I am not a handy person at all, so I was a little lost whenever these descriptions came up. 
4. If I were able to ask the brothers two questions, they would probably be “How would you explain aerospace engineering to the common person?” and if they were living today, I would ask them what they thought about drones and helicopters. 
5. I think their opinion of handwork would involve communication and good teamwork. I think they would stress to never be disheartened by any failures and to just keep tweaking your ideas until they have success. I agree with these ideas a lot because I was kind of raised with the “don’t give up keep trying again until it works” mindset, and throughout the book, I got the feeling that this is what Wilbur and Orville Wright did through their entire lives and inventing careers. 

Your Exit Strategy

1. My exit strategy for my business would be working with my program for maybe 5-10 years and really get it up and running, then have trusted and longtime employees put into a place or more responsibility so that I would have the opportunity just to go around to all the different motels We’ve partnered with and see how the service is running. I would like to do eventually wind up more in the traveling and human resources area to be able to still talk to and meet different people that my program is impacting. Due to this exit strategy, I will still hold some company authority, but not all of it. I want to see where it can go and how other people with similar opinions can grow it, so I’m not sure that I would make it something to only be passed down to family. 
2. I’ve selected this particular exit strategy because it leaves me open to other possibilities, but I can still be in a positions where I can see my program grow and flourish. I like to be active in a good amount of different things at once and I love traveling, so this is the perfect way to do both. 
3. I don’t think my exit strategy has influenced my concept at all because I’ve tried to be really careful about thinking objectively as far as my concept goes. For example, if I were to talk about something the owner/head person would do, I don’t necessarily think of it as me doing it. Ideally I would just think the job could be completed by either the person or team that can accomplish the task best. 

Celebrating Failure

1. For my fail part of this assignment, I’d probably say that it involves a painting studio class I’m currently enrolled in. Everyday when I go into class, I have a change of clothes so that I don’t get paint on my normal clothes and then I can change back at the end of the studio. I go to work after my class usually, and the first few days of the semester I noticed some of my coworkers giving me strange looks. Took me a little while to realize it was because I had paint all over me. So as far as failing goes, I can’t even count the number of times my painting clothes didn’t help keep me clean at all and I’ve had to just go about the rest of my day with paint all over the place. I’ve also accidentally put my hand in wet paint several times then had to go back and fix it, which is generally just the worst feeling in the world. 
2. What I learned from this is to take my time and be especially conscious as to where my hands are at all times. Also, painting from left to right is a way smarter move because then my hand won’t be hovering over the sections I’ve already completed. 
3. In general, yes failure is hard. It’s one of the most discouraging things ever and it makes finding motivation to keep on pushing through really difficult. Typically, I’d like to think that I handle failure pretty well. I’m able to realize it, take a short step back, and then try either approaching it from a different angle, or I work on something else so I can take a break and still be productive. This class I think made me realize that it’s okay to fail because so many people do in business but then are still able to make something of themselves. I think that even after this, I’m still pretty much the same on my risk-taking because whenever I judge something like that, I always know there’s a possibility to fail, so that’s not really a deciding factor for me. 

What’s Next?

Existing Market

1. I think for my venture, the next step would be heavy advertising and partnering between animal shelters and hotels. Another step to look into could be a sort of adoption program after the motel pets. For example, if a businessperson really felt a connection with a pet that was in their motel room, they would have the option to adopt the pet and take it home with them, freeing up space in the motel for another pet to be taken from the shelter.

1. Three customers
1. The first is a friend of mine named Molly. Molly works at an animal shelter and while she is not in charge of it, she’s there a lot and knows most all the employees. After I told her about my venture concept, she suggested that maybe I start with only small towns to begin with. In one of my previous assignments I mentioned how smaller towns need a “wow factor” thing to draw people in, and Molly made this point as well, so I think that may be a good suggestion to start with.
2. The second person’s name was Hector. Hector is the front desk clerk at the local motel in my hometown. I’ve had family stay in the motel for graduation or weddings over the years, so I felt comfortable enough walking in and talking with him about my idea. He smiled and said that if I had pets then and there he would home one in each of the rooms. He suggested that I should maybe start looking into certain gadgets. For example, partner with companies that make automated water bowls and things like that to not only gain income and sponsors, but to make the process of caring for the hotel pets even easier for the room occupants. 
3. My third interviewee was a worker at PetSmart named Jenna. I went in with a friend to get stuff for a fishtank and she helped us, so I explained a little bit of my idea to her. Her thoughts were to definitely go with partnering with bigger companies, and to find a way of maybe matching a specific pet to a type of person. Like roommate matching in apartment complexes. I hadn’t even thought of this idea, but once she suggested it I really like it and would absolutely implement it. 
2. The path for my venture’s future would start of with more research and planning before I was ready to start putting it into practice. I feel like what makes the most sense for this current market is personalization of the service itself, and starting small. I think this is a good idea because while thinking big initially might be a good way to get the word out and start a ton of businesses, just in my interviews I’ve already found a lot of things to improve upon in my idea that I would want to get out of the way before launching the project on a larger scale. I feel like the next probable step is setting up websites or channels for the adoption process, so it could be relatively easy for all parties involved and not have to rely on older paper adoption methods. 

New Market

1. My new market would be clothing retailer stores. So for this market, the retailer company could adopt a pet to keep in each of its stores.

1. The reason behind this new market was because a few months ago, I was shopping with my sister and we went into this cute little boutique place and there was a cat in a bed by the cash register that my sister fell in love with. I’ve been in a couple other small clothing stores that had pets, and they were always more memorable to me, so that could be part of the pitch to include when trying to get into this new market. Not only would the animal be an attention-getter to bring more customers in the door initially, but after the owner were to tell them about the cause that they’re helping, the business might gain more lasting support in the community and have repeat customers. 
2. New market interviews
1. My first interviewee was with the owner of a boutique called Ella Blu. I’ve gone to this shop a few times over the years, and it has that little but stylish shop feel to it. The owner wasn’t there, but I spoke to the manager about the idea. She loved it and thought it would be a great thing for business. The only suggestion she made was to maybe have the pets basic trained to be in the shops, which is something I agree with. 
2. The second person I interviewed was for a shop in downtown Pensacola that sold clothes, but also had souvenirs and household items, so there was a wider spectrum of customers in the store. The owner/manager of this shop liked the idea to begin with, but he suggested that since there was a good bit of traffic in his store, to maybe have it be a smaller animal like a cat or bird for that particular store. I feel like this is a good point to consider too and it kind of goes back to the idea I had before about matching the pet to the client/room occupant. 
3. The thing that surprised me most about this new market was how accepting and on board my interviewees were to the idea. Also, I feel like this market is similar to the hotel one in the aspect that it would probably be good to start off in privately owned stored rather than huge department stores, and then grow my idea from there if it goes well. I still think that my first market is a little more appealing, but only by a little bit. After my second round of interviews I found out that having a “store mascot” if you will was an idea that actually appealed to certain business owners because it would bring in not only more customers, but would probably boost the morale of their employees. 

Venture Concept No. 1

Venture Concept: Project Pet Shelter, Hotel Rescue
Opportunity:

As far as who has the need here, the most basic response would be overcrowded animal shelters. For who the potential customers are, I would say both small individual-owned motels and businesspeople away on trips. Forces in the economy that’s even creating this opportunity is the constant travel for businesspeople, and the ever-increasing amount of animals in shelters that end up resorting to euthanasia. The market is more centers around smaller towns at the moment in order to have a drawing-in factor, but as far as geographically, this idea could take place anywhere. Customers currently are just traveling to normal motels, and just go in and out without really thinking. The motels stay in business because as long as people have to travel there will at least be some business coming in. So on that note, the customers are loyal now simply because of necessity. I don’t think the opportunity is huge, but because of the nature of the specific market, I think the opportunity will be open for a long window. Especially because there are so many animals in the shelter unfortunately being put down due to overcrowding. 

Innovation: 

My innovation is a service that teams up local motels with overcrowded animal shelters. Every room would be assigned a pet that lives there, and in exchange for taking care of the pet, the room’s fee would be paid for for as many days/nights as the business trip lasted, since I’m making the initial pitch to businesspeople on conferences. For each room that has an animal, profits for the hotel would come from sponsorships and donations, ideally from big-name sponsors like Petsmart. This arrangement would also work for out-of-towners later down the line with a love for animals looking for lodging. The money will be made from the sponsors, companies I partner with for supplies, and I’ll get a percentage from all the business I bring to the hotels involving the program. 

Venture Concept: 

My innovation will solve the unmet need of a place for animals in shelters to go rather than being put down. I feel like customers will invest in and be a part of my innovation because many people do care about animals and want to help in finding a solution for them, and my program is also a way to make a long dreary trip feel a little bit more refreshing and like home, and these are two reasons that customers would be likely to switch to my product. I don’t think it would be too hard to get them to switch as long as the service had had a first test run to iron out all of the hiccups. As far as competitors go, the only competitors I see would be big hotel companies that have a never-ending stream of revenue in general. Their weakness against my concept would be their lack of animals. Price point and marketing would play a key role in getting my service up and running. I’d go with marketing heavily, to try and drum up interest, and then use the cheaper price points of local motels to my advantage in drawing customers in. For the business organization, I would have may regional managers to oversee the whole interaction between shelter, motel, and customer, and I’d also ideally like to have several employees specialized and working in each of these areas. I’d also like to have a team of people who work in expansion and travel to new towns with the potential to implement the program. 

Three minor elements: 

1. I think the most important resource here is the creativity of the idea. This will be the factor and the difference from everything else that draws in customers. Also, just the fact of working with and helping provide care for animals I feel like will be something many people will want to take part in, which will help business even more. It will be hard to compete with because of the feeling that it gives the customers- feelings of helpfulness and of having a home-away-from-home. 
2. What’s next for the venture is more resource to go through every last detail that I have yet to think of or any of the ones that have come up in the interviews. After that, I’ll probably start with polling of large samples of people to see if this product is something a large group of people would be interested in and what other improvements could be made. After this step, I’d go to implementation in a few select motels for a test period before going on a larger scale. 
3. As far as what’s next for me, if I were to get this idea up and running, I’d like to always work closely with is, as it deals to an issue so important to me. Eventually, I’d like to just be able to travel to all the motels and regions the service was in to check up on how its going and work with the design team to come up with changing advertisements. This first venture idea has helped me into thinking big and because of that, I could potentially see myself joining in with other individuals to work on new projects I feel passionately about.