Assignment 30: Final Reflection

   I think the elevator pitches stuck out to me the most through all these assignments because I had to record myself talking about something that I kind of just came up with and then post that on YouTube. I just hope no one ever watches those videos, I definitely won't be watching those ever again. I think the most "joyous" experiment was when I had to ask people close to me what they thought of me because it was funny and interesting to see what they had to say. I'm most proud of myself for doing the networking assignments because I really had to do research and put myself out there to professionals that I otherwise would have never considered talking to. 

   I don't think I am an entrepreneur by any means but this class has shown me that it is definitely possible for me to develop more of that mindset and become an entrepreneur if I chose to in the future. I think I have some sort of entrepreneurial mindset now, that I didn't have in January so that's something. 

   I would suggest to future students to just do the work and that the assignments aren't as complicated as they look you just need to take it one step at a time. If you have any questions just ask and don't forget to turn something in because there is no tolerance for late work. If you really want to develop an entrepreneurial mindset then just make sure you do the assignments full-heartedly and watch all the module videos, they give you some really helpful information. 

                                                   

Assignment 29: Venture Concept 2

1.   My idea for a product and possible business venture is a biodegradable, eco-friendly tire. People who want to help reduce the pollution and help save the planet have the need for anything that would potentially be better for the environment than out current system. The nature of the need would be that it would be nice to have more options when it comes to choosing a tire since, right now, you can get the rubber ones that take millions of years to biodegrade back into the earth. People are recognizing our pollution problem now, the public is becoming much more educated on this issue and many of them want to help solve this issue. Right now, I am only looking at the United States but I’m sure in the future I could expand this venture to other countries (especially in Europe) if this turns out to be a success here. This product is aimed at anyone who wants to do their part in helping the environment so the demographic for this product is pretty broad. As of right now, everyone mostly uses the rubber tires and they’re pretty loyal to that because the tires are very easy to find and some of them are cheap. I think this opportunity is pretty big, I’ve talked to many people about it now and they agreed that this has the potential to be a big thing. I am not sure how long the “window of opportunity” will be but I can assume that it won’t be very long since everyone is starting to move toward the more eco-friendly products now and it won’t be long till someone else has the same thought that I did.

   My product is a biodegradable tire, it functions just as a normal rubber tire would but has a shorter half life than rubber does so when it is eventually disposed of, it will break down a lot faster. I would make money by marketing it as a more eco-friendly option when it comes to tires and the price would be around $200-300 (this is just a guesstimate).

   My product would solve the opportunity I identified by being part of the bigger movement to become more environmentally friendly in everyday life. This product gives people a choice, where right now one doesn’t exist. Customers will buy this to be part of that movement and maybe even because it’s a new alternative to the other rubber tires that are so common. I don’t think it will be too hard to get people to switch over once tests have proven that these will function the same as rubber tires or even better. The competitors are all other companies selling rubber tires. The competitors, though, offer the same rubber tires people have been seeing for decades and their product takes millions of years to break down once their thrown out, so to the market I think this new product would just look better. Packaging, price, distribution and business location will definitely play a big role in the success or failure of the venture. Customer support plays a role but I’m not sure it would define the company, and customer experience is highly important as well but, again, it doesn’t make or break a company unless it’s extreme. I would organize my business with sales and marketing at the top priority to support the ongoing production of the product. To start out, there wouldn’t be more than 50 employees since it’s a start up company. In the venture there would be mechanics, managers, sales and marketing people, a CFO and a CEO, also a person that coordinates with the production company and the suppliers. 

    I think my most important resource will be the people who make up the company. I want everyone to work together and focus on that common goal of saving the planet a little at a time, I want everything to be cohesive. I think that with the right pay to the employees, the right attitude, and having everyone work as a team will make the company succeed in ways that other companies won’t be able to. I’m not sure what is next for this particular venture but I do know that I would like to keep coming up with marketable ideas to help the environment in some way. Assuming I’ve actually launched this venture, in the next five years I would like to see this take off and be able to lower the price on the product a little. In the next decade, as an entrepreneur, I would like to have one or more new ventures that I’m working on launching or have launched already. This first venture would have helped me get a feel for the business world a bit and know what it takes to be successful. I also would like to be able to pass these businesses to my family or sell them for a nice profit because I decided that I don't want to be tethered to a venture to the point where I can't go anywhere or do what I would like to so this would be a nice option and a way for me to still make money doing what I'm passionate about. 

2./3. I kept my venture concept the same except in the future I would like to sell it or give it to a family member because I want to travel and do what I want, but I can't do that if my entire life is consumed by this, and potentially other ventures. I got nothing but positive and encouraging feedback so I decided to keep the venture idea the same but my goals for the future have been altered a bit by some recent events so I decided to alter that part of my concept. I learned from the feedback that if I'm serious about making this a reality, that I could and that's really inspiring. 

                                                     

Assignment 28: Your Exit Strategy

1. If my business turns out to be very successful in the next five years, I would decide to keep it unless some other company could offer me an amount of money that is a lot greater than my view of what the venture is at that point in time. If I did end up keeping it and it continued to be a success, I would definitely end up retiring and passing that business on to someone else or sell it to a large firm. I do not intend, at the moment, to even have children so if I were to make it more of a family business I would give it over to one of my siblings that needs it. 

2. I want the best for the company and for my family. So if it turns out being great and I keep it I would hand it over to one of my siblings whenever I saw fit.

3. I don't think my exit strategy really impacts my opportunity since I would make sure that the business would be carried on to address that opportunity before I just sold it or handed it over to someone. It hasn't really affected my growth intention either because I already have a plan for my education and future that I will not allow anything to get in the way of and I already had this ideal before I even came up with this idea. If it turned out to be a success, it would change how I acquire resources because I would have the means to those resources sooner than I would if I just go with my current plan, but I intend on using those resources in the same way. 

Assignment 27: Reading Reflection 3

Cognitive Surplus
1. The main theme/argument in this book was that as time has gone on and technology has advanced, people are coming up with new ideas and ways to use their down time more constructively. It also argues that the internet has four categories of expression and that social media should be celebrated for its use of spreading information all over the world in a matter of seconds.
2. It connects to what we're learning in this class because it places an importance of using the resources available to you to further your knowledge and position in life. This class focuses on us using out resources in a constructive way to better our lives as entrepreneurs.
3. For this book, I would create an exercise based on the four categories of the internet, that he outlines in the later chapters in the book. It would probably involve doing research to find examples of these four areas.
4. The biggest surprise I really had while reading this book was his outlook on the internet and how it is utilized. When I think of the internet today I think of social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook where people post about their daily lives or post things that show how great their life is or even just funny videos they made. He thinks of the internet in four categories and how each one is equally important and constructive to our lifestyle today. It was just a bit surprising how important he finds the internet.

Assignment 26: Celebrating Failure

1. Earlier this semester I was in a long-term relationship that wasn't all that great in terms of my mental health. In the beginning of the semester, I failed a few tests in my chem class because I just had no motivation for school and really no energy to study because of this toxic person that was draining the life out of me. Luckily I was able to get away from that and bring my grade up in that class but I consider this a failure because I let myself be apart of that toxicity for so long and was so engrossed in it that it started to impact my education.
2. I learned that no matter how much you love someone, if they're bad for you then you need to get out of that as soon as possible. I also learned that my personal life should never affect my education in a negative way like that so if it is, then I'm doing something wrong.
3. I think that failure is good to learn from. If you never fail, then you never really learn anything so it's a necessary part of life, even though we may not like it very much. With failure, you need to assess why this turned out the way it did and then learn from those mistakes so you can alter future behaviors and decisions and not make the same mistakes over again. From this class, I learned to that failure isn't that scary in the business world either and that if you never put yourself out there, then your life is just going to remain the same. I do think that I am now more likely to take risks to better my life after taking this class.

Assignment 25: What's Next?

Existing Market
1. I think that next, this venture just needs to work out whatever complications come with a start up business. hopefully it takes off and then we can lower prices on tires a bit and potentially start a service like Tire Kingdom has where we can broaden our market.
2. Based on my interviews, people see my venture developing into a business similar to Tire Kingdom, but also into something more of a mechanic type place. They mentioned that I should think about doing a full car mechanic service once the business takes off a bit. They supported my ideas for where this company could go next and added onto it with the mechanic thing.
3. For my venture, I think it would be a good idea to start out as a company that makes tires and changes/repairs them for people when they come in. I would eventually like to expand the business out to be more than just a focus on tires, but that wouldn't be until the business is stable. My interviews offered some very good insight to see what the customer base would want to see from my venture and I think it's a good idea to follow along with what the market is looking for
   I think that it makes the most sense to expand the product/service base with the needs of the market. With these interviews, I identified a second need that should be addressed with my company since I have the ability to do so.
New Market
1. A different market from mine would be one that doesn't care about the environment but just solely looks at dollar amount on the product/service.
2. I think I could create value to this market by finding ways to decrease the price or offer more for my price, like a year warranty or something to that nature.
3. When I interviewed people they suggested to me that I should lower the price or offer different perks to go along with the price that I have already set. Perks being like a 2 year warranty on the tires, fixing them at a lower price if something happens to them within the first year.
4. In this new market I learned that people who focus on price also worry about the quality they're getting as well. They may worry about how long the tires will last before they have to invest in new ones and that is a very important question to address. Nothing really surprised me per say but just reminded me of certain points that I may have been forgetting.
   Many of my assumptions for this market were correct. This market is more attractive to my venture than I previously considered because they're looking for price and quality. There isn't a reason why my product shouldn't be both eco-friendly and cost effective.

Assignment 24: Venture Concept 1

   My idea for a product and possible business venture is a biodegradable, eco-friendly tire. People who want to help reduce the pollution and help save the planet have the need for anything that would potentially be better for the environment than out current system. The nature of the need would be that it would be nice to have more options when it comes to choosing a tire since, right now, you can get the rubber ones that take millions of years to biodegrade back into the earth. People are recognizing our pollution problem now, the public is becoming much more educated on this issue and many of them want to help solve this issue. Right now, I am only looking at the United States but I’m sure in the future I could expand this venture to other countries (especially in Europe) if this turns out to be a success here. This product is aimed at anyone who wants to do their part in helping the environment so the demographic for this product is pretty broad. As of right now, everyone mostly uses the rubber tires and they’re pretty loyal to that because the tires are very easy to find and some of them are cheap. I think this opportunity is pretty big, I’ve talked to many people about it now and they agreed that this has the potential to be a big thing. I am not sure how long the “window of opportunity” will be but I can assume that it won’t be very long since everyone is starting to move toward the more eco-friendly products now and it won’t be long till someone else has the same thought that I did.

   My product is a biodegradable tire, it functions just as a normal rubber tire would but has a shorter half life than rubber does so when it is eventually disposed of, it will break down a lot faster. I would make money by marketing it as a more eco-friendly option when it comes to tires and the price would be around $200-300 (this is just a guesstimate).

   My product would solve the opportunity I identified by being part of the bigger movement to become more environmentally friendly in everyday life. This product gives people a choice, where right now one doesn’t exist. Customers will buy this to be part of that movement and maybe even because it’s a new alternative to the other rubber tires that are so common. I don’t think it will be too hard to get people to switch over once tests have proven that these will function the same as rubber tires or even better. The competitors are all other companies selling rubber tires. The competitors, though, offer the same rubber tires people have been seeing for decades and their product takes millions of years to break down once their thrown out, so to the market I think this new product would just look better. Packaging, price, distribution and business location will definitely play a big role in the success or failure of the venture. Customer support plays a role but I’m not sure it would define the company, and customer experience is highly important as well but, again, it doesn’t make or break a company unless it’s extreme. I would organize my business with sales and marketing at the top priority to support the ongoing production of the product. To start out, there wouldn’t be more than 50 employees since it’s a start up company. In the venture there would be mechanics, managers, sales and marketing people, a CFO and a CEO, also a person that coordinates with the production company and the suppliers. 

    I think my most important resource will be the people who make up the company. I want everyone to work together and focus on that common goal of saving the planet a little at a time, I want everything to be cohesive. I think that with the right pay to the employees, the right attitude, and having everyone work as a team will make the company succeed in ways that other companies won’t be able to. I’m not sure what is next for this particular venture but I do know that I would like to keep coming up with marketable ideas to help the environment in some way. Assuming I’ve actually launched this venture, in the next five years I would like to see this take off and be able to lower the price on the product a little. In the next decade, as an entrepreneur, I would like to have one or more new ventures that I’m working on launching or have launched already. This first venture would have helped me get a feel for the business world a bit and know what it takes to be successful. 

Assignment 23: Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Networking with a head mechanic at Tire Kingdom. This is a valuable resource because it is important for a new venture to have an idea of how their product will be used and tested to be able to gauge the full value of the product and how to market it to others. I don't think this type of network is rare but it is definitely beneficial and I don't think anything would really be able to substitute this resource unless the entrepreneur themselves have this type of information available to them already.
2. Network with an owner of a franchise branch of the type of business my venture is based in. This is a valuable resource because they own the type of business I am looking into making a product for so this person would know all of the regulations that comes along with the venture itself. I don't think this type of resource is rare but it is highly important to know all of the regulations and such when it comes to a business venture just so you can avoid being fined or shut down before you even start. You could just do this research yourself but why not learn from someone who knows it by heart so you can also find some loopholes that go with it. This resource can't really be substituted unless the entrepreneur already has a background in this area.
3. Network with a manager who sells and markets these types of products everyday. This is a valuable resource because this person knows what sells and what doesn't and also knows the price range for this product across the board. If you want to keep your prices competitive in the market, having this type of resource would be a good idea. This resource is not technically unique but it makes the entrepreneur's life easier to have. The entrepreneur could substitute this with prior knowledge or the internet.
4. A new idea that is attractive to many people with an interest in saving the planet. This is an important thing to have because your venture needs to be attractive to some type of market to be able to sell or be successful in any way. This resource is not unique because almost every new business venture has a market to sell to. This resource can't really be substituted because it is your target market.
5. An entrepreneur of a mother who could help me with business set up. This is an important resource because to even start a venture you need a business plan and a set up and my mom has set up multiple types of businesses in her life so she has a pretty good idea on how that works. This resource is unique because not everyone has something like that but it could be substituted with other types of advisers.
6. Drive to make this venture a reality. This is a valuable resource because if you don't have any motivation to make this venture happen, then it will never happen. This resource isn't technically unique since most entrepreneurs have this drive but you cannot substitute this resource with anything else.
7. Vested interest in my venture. This is a valuable resource because it is the basis of your entire venture. If you're not really interested in the problem you're solving then your business will resemble that. This resource is not unique but it cannot be substituted with anything else.
8. A network of people who would potentially invest in this venture. This resource is valuable because you need to have some type of money to start up any business. This isn't a unique resource and it can be substituted with the entrepreneur's ability to pay for the start up costs on their own.
9. An idea for who could produce my product at a reasonable cost. This resource is valuable because if you have no one to produce your product, then you have nothing to sell. This type of resource isn't unique but it cannot be substituted.
10. A network of people in advertisement. This is a valuable resource because people need to know your venture exists if you're going to get any type of business. This resource isn't unique and it could possibly be substituted with the entrepreneur's own efforts to advertise their venture, alone.
I believe my top resource is the network of people that would potentially be interested in investing in my venture because it is one of the most important aspects of business and this venture would not be a possibility without outside funding since I'm a broke college student with an idea.