30A-Final Reflection

1) Read through your posts 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.

Reading through all the posts it seems like it has been years since I wrote those blog post.  I was surprised to see how much I wrote in total because it didn't seem like that much doing just a few posts a week. Starting out was definitely a low because you can tell I was really lost and all over the place with what I was wanting to come up with. As the semester went on I got a better grasp for how to turn an idea into something that I could work with. So week after week I feel like I had a passion and understanding for what I wanted to say.  

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?

The experience of actually taking an idea that I had or a need that I recognized and taking it further than just something I thought in my head. Actually getting in contact with people that could help me better understand what I need to know to create this product. Doing an elevator pitch is always something to be proud of for accomplishing. For most people talking into a camera is awkward and for me I don't prefer it.  

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

I do see myself as an entrepreneur and I honestly didn't think I would at the beginning of the semester. I look at things differently now and look at them with an all around more in depth mindset.  

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?

Students in the future will succeed in this course if you keep an open mind and are actually dedicated to the assignments. With the way the grading is set up I could see a lot of people just filling out blogs to meet the requirement, get the grade, and not be looking to get anything more out of it. You can get a lot more out of this course if you really show some passion and put forth effort into becoming an entrepreneur.

 

29A-Venture Concept No.2

Part 1

Opportunity

There are roughly six billion cellphone users worldwide and that number is constantly growing. Phones, and smartphones in particular, have become a large aspect of everyday life. Therefore, from an entrepreneur’s perspective you can see that there is a large number of potential customers in this market. So, with such large market I felt that there has to be a need out there these customers have that is not being filled. What I discovered was an area in the cell phone accessories department that was lacking and realized a wireless charging would fill this unmet need. For this opportunity there is an unbelievable number of potential customers, possibly six billion like previously mentioned, but I would focus on the white-collar workers. The customers that recognize this opportunity the most are the ones that are in the business world, using their phones all day, multiple electronic devices, and thus are familiar with the latest technology. The need that they have isn’t a full-on crisis, they could survive without this product. However, there is a level of convenience and sustainability that this product would provide that will drive their desire for it. The wired way of charging is not sustainable for the phone or the cord and is a hassle at times. This poor design on the phone manufacturers part has created the opportunity and their customers deserve better for what they are paying for. Our product likely won’t be to the liking of the phone manufactures because they won’t have to purchase new chargers from them frequently or new phones as often, less money for them. Which leads me to be wary that the window for opportunity won’t last forever. Their answer will either be to create their own form of wireless chargers or design future phones in a way that doesn’t fit our design.  At this point we will go back to the drawing board, but those counter moves would take time, time that we will certainly capitalize on.

Innovation

There are forms of wireless chargers out there, but they are very few and present a laundry list of complaints. None of the ones I have found are manufactured by one of the bigger names in phone accessories. Most of them are designed to only charge one device at a time and the phone has to be sitting on the charging mat allowing your use to limited while charging. In addition to this, the biggest gripe is that there are very few ones that it is actually compatible for. Thus, our product was created in attempt to address all of the issue and then some. Picture this, a relatively compact mat about the size of a book. On this mat there will be a power supply on the back end of it that connects via usb like most of your phone chargers out there. This will provide power to the four wireless chargers that are docked on the charging station, but removable. The idea for this is that if you don’t need to be using your phone while it charges you can lay it down on one of the four chargers and walk away. On the other hand, if you need to use your phone and charge at the same time you can grab one of the removable chargers and it will have enough power for one full charge before it needs to be put back on the dock. No longer will you have to plug into your charging port with one of the cheap iPhone cords that frays or snaps at the tip. No longer do you have to worry about that charging port on your phone giving out. Anyone that has had to experience these negative effects to the current charging design will buy this product. We will get them on shelves in BestBuy and Target most importantly. After this we will attempt to get them in stock at the phone retailers. The reason this wouldn’t be the first priority is because usually that’s only where you go to buy a new phone or get yours fixed and this wouldn’t generally be an accessory you would considering buying at those times. This is separate from the phone manufacturers, like Bose selling wireless earbuds that they want people to buy instead of Apple’s. Currently our best estimate for price will be somewhere around $40. Considering it can serve as four separate charges, that’s a bargain and it could be higher.

Venture Concept

Not all customers will buy this product right off the bat, it could be an underwhelming amount in fact and we will be prepared for that. The reason for this is large in part due to the number of customers that for a product like this will want to watch others be the guinea pig. Also, there will be another group of customers that have yet to experience the complications with wired chargers, so they won’t understand the need yet. All of this being said, eventually word will get out and people will recognize the convenience of them, they will then become common in households across the country. All it is going to take is our product to appeal to enough of those consumers that always buy the newest technology because they are curious and those that have experienced the unmet needs that created the opportunity. From there it will become like everything else in technology where people want what everyone else has. There will be competitors come along the way, but none with more control than those that design the phones themselves. They can create their own design and with their brand they will outsell us even if they have an inferior product. This product will still be able to succeed though. It is just going to take the right connections and some strategic marketing along with releasing the product at the ideal time.  

Part 2

To summarize the feedback I received this time around was all positive and there was feedback given from four individuals so I would have to take it as this is heading in the right direction. There wasn't really any negative feedback given or ideas for what should be changed. So what I was able to do was take in some of the positive things that seemed to echo in the feedback and be sure to focus on them because it obviously must have some importance to those looking at things from the outside. The biggest of which was elaborating on the descriptions leaving no room for questioning what is trying to be said. 

Part 3

The feedback was strictly positive so I just elaborated more on what I had. Things seem to be moving in the right direction so no need to stop now or drastically change things. 

Part 4

 

28A-Your Exit Strategy

1. My exit strategy and plan is to sell this business within the next 5 years. The design and our product will hopefully be sold completely to one of the larger tech accessory companies or directly to Apple, Samsung, LG etc.
2. I choose this because I can see the writing on the wall in this market. The large companies basically control everything and when there is someone new that enters the market they buy them out. That is the goal here because even though this product meets a need our customers have that we want to fill, that's not where we see the most value in this product. The reason that I see value is because this product will fill a need and take business away from the big cell phone companies. It basically calls out their design and pegs the question, why didn't you guys design this? I believe this won't give them much choice but to buy our business to protect theirs.
3. Having this exit strategy in mind has altered the way that I have gone about designing this product and laying out the road-map. There is a lot more we could do with this product and many different chargers/accessories that we could branch off of it. However, that would not fit our exit strategy because that would be typical of company that is trying to last awhile and expand their product. 5 years or less and hopefully this will be sold entirely to Apple, where they will then have another competitive advantage over Android by beating them to the punch.   

27A-Reading Reflection No. 3

The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki
1. The general theme for this book is how to use the major social media networks and it describes just this through over one hundred tips.
2. This book is full of great information and tips that are helpful for anyone that is wanting to use social media whether it be for business or personal use. In ENT3003 I have realized that social media can be a huge asset for an entrepreneur and can contribute to your success. All of the tips that Kawasaki mentions could help with this success. For example, he talks about why it is important to understand what your audience values when thinking of what to post.
3. Create a social media page for your product or business and focus on five tips from the The Art of Social Media when starting up your page.
4. There were a few things I read where I sort of had an 'aha' moment and it was because they were ideas that I had never thought to look at in that way. They talk about being a 'mensch' on social media meaning to be honorable and do somethings for others without expecting anything in return. Doing so will really change the way your audience views your content.

26A-Celebrating Failure

During this semester there was one big failure that I experienced and in doing so it consisted of numerous small failures. This experience happened outside of class at my job as an assistant high school football coach. In my field failure and losing really go hand in hand and losing is something we became too familiar with this past season. Going into it before even taking the job we knew this situation would be tough as this school had lost 13 games in a row, but we still hoped our guidance would be able to turn this failure into a success. This was not the case, we lost nine games and failed to accomplish what we wanted to. However, this experience taught all of us coaches a lot about failure. Don't get me wrong, we have lost games every year with teams I was coaching for, but not like this. 12-2, 6-4, 9-2, those were the seasons I had become accustomed to. Over the course of those seasons we lost games and we failed to reach goals, but nothing like going 0-9 and honestly not even being competitive in most of our games. There were somethings that I learned for how to succeed in the future, but what this failure really taught me was that sometimes in some situations there is just too much going wrong that you will never we able to get control off. So basically I am saying that sometimes you are just set up to fail. I absolutely believe this was one of those situations and it led to a lot of coaches resigning, including me for the first time in my coaching career resigning from a school with no current plans to go elsewhere and simply because we felt like there was nothing more we could do to turn it around. There are just some things that you can't control such as: only having 18 dressed players in our last game of the season due to injuries and suspensions, not having a player on the team that runs below a 5 second 40 yard dash, and an all around lack of size. A lot of these issues that caused us to fail are just things that you can't coach or teach. We can't make a 5'10 175 lineman type kid 6'2 240 like most others. We can't control a kid from getting tackled and tearing his ACL. When you fail like this we can't make big enough strides in the weight room to correct it and we can't fix it all with scheme and coaching. There are improvements to be made by working hard these areas, but even if we did all of this to our highest potential it still wouldn't be enough. If you are set up to fail because of one reason or another you will continue to fail until you have the tools to come close to competing on the same playing field as your competitor.

25A-What's Next?

Existing Market
The next step for our product will be taking the design to be manufactured and then the biggest hurdle of getting the product out there. The design is relatively basic and the materials won't carry a high cost, in fact every feature of our design is very common in terms of being manufactured for other tech products out there. Basically we have just combined a few different tech features and the only hurdle in terms of manufacturing it will be making sure we obtain a strong enough power supply for the capabilities we desire. The consensus when talking to a few people that are very familiar with the market about what is next for us was that we should expect some resistance getting the product into the hands of retailers. Unless my connections are stronger than they are thinking, I could be a little disappointed in the early results. The reasoning was that with the tech accessories market they are very much dominated by the major brands. So, not only will you have to compete with the phone companies own line of accessories, but also fight off the major tech accessory companies. Having heard all of this I think it makes the most sense for our product to spend more money and more resources to create brand awareness. Rather than trying to get our product on the shelves at Best Buy and Target as fast as possible we should build our brand first. Social media is certainly one of the ways we can do this. Contests and giveaways will get people talking about it and into the hands of consumers. Another idea we will explore will be celebrity endorsement. I have a few contacts in the music world and they all have a lot of followers on social media that we could target to build our brand.
New Market
If we were to enter a new market radically different from our current one it would need to target a poorer part of society. Essentially meaning we would like to make a cheaper type of product, not necessarily off limits to wealthy people, but they won't be the more frequent customer. This market would be for rechargeable AA batteries. The cost for our product would be much lower and the customer will be able to use it for anything in their household requiring AA batteries. The value a product like this creates is it is a money saver in the long run. You will no longer have to go to the store and buy AA batteries. Talking with a couple customers of the market I heard a couple of things that I had already known. I knew going into this it there are other companies out there with this product and there isn't much we can do to separate us from our competitors. The best thing we can do is pride ourselves on having the cheapest rechargeable batteries out there. This would echo our idea of targeting a poorer part of society and the hope is that it would push our brand into as many consumers as possible. Profits wouldn't be much off of this, but people would be more aware of our brand and look into purchasing other products of ours, products where we are turning more profit. This market is not going to be one where we will make a lot of money, but getting into it would serve a purpose. 

24A-Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

There are roughly six billion cellphone users worldwide and that number is constantly growing. Phones, and smartphones in particular, have become a large aspect of everyday life. Therefore, from an entrepreneur’s perspective you can see that there is a large number of potential customers in this market. So, with such large market I felt that there has to be a need out there these customers have that is not being filled. What I discovered was an area in the cell phone accessories department that was lacking and realized a wireless charging would fill this unmet need. For this opportunity there is an unbelievable number of potential customers, possibly six billion like previously mentioned, but I would focus on the white-collar workers. The customers that recognize this opportunity the most are the ones that are in the business world, using their phones all day, multiple electronic devices, and thus are familiar with the latest technology. The need that they have isn’t a full-on crisis, they could survive without this product. However, there is a level of convenience and sustainability that this product would provide that will drive their desire for it. The wired way of charging is not sustainable for the phone or the cord and is a hassle at times. This poor design on the phone manufacturers part has created the opportunity and their customers deserve better for what they are paying for. Our product likely won’t be to the liking of the phone manufactures because they won’t have to purchase new chargers from them frequently or new phones as often, less money for them. Which leads me to be wary that the window for opportunity won’t last forever. Their answer will either be to create their own form of wireless chargers or design future phones in a way that doesn’t fit our design.  At this point we will go back to the drawing board, but those counter moves would take time, time that we will certainly capitalize on.

Innovation

There are forms of wireless chargers out there, but they are very few and present a laundry list of complaints. None of the ones I have found are manufactured by one of the bigger names in phone accessories. Most of them are designed to only charge one device at a time and the phone has to be sitting on the charging mat allowing your use to limited while charging. In addition to this, the biggest gripe is that there are very few ones that it is actually compatible for. Thus, our product was created in attempt to address all of the issue and then some. Picture this, a relatively compact mat about the size of a book. On this mat there will be a power supply on the back end of it that connects via usb like most of your phone chargers out there. This will provide power to the four wireless chargers that are docked on the charging station, but removable. The idea for this is that if you don’t need to be using your phone while it charges you can lay it down on one of the four chargers and walk away. On the other hand, if you need to use your phone and charge at the same time you can grab one of the removable chargers and it will have enough power for one full charge before it needs to be put back on the dock. No longer will you have to plug into your charging port with one of the cheap iPhone cords that frays or snaps at the tip. No longer do you have to worry about that charging port on your phone giving out. Anyone that has had to experience these negative effects to the current charging design will buy this product. We will get them on shelves in BestBuy and Target most importantly. After this we will attempt to get them in stock at the phone retailers. The reason this wouldn’t be the first priority is because usually that’s only where you go to buy a new phone or get yours fixed and this wouldn’t generally be an accessory you would considering buying at those times. This is separate from the phone manufacturers, like Bose selling wireless earbuds that they want people to buy instead of Apple’s. Currently our best estimate for price will be somewhere around $40. Considering it can serve as four separate charges, that’s a bargain and it could be higher.

Venture Concept

Not all customers will buy this product right off the bat, it could be an underwhelming amount in fact and we will be prepared for that. The reason for this is large in part due to the number of customers that for a product like this will want to watch others be the guinea pig. Also, there will be another group of customers that have yet to experience the complications with wired chargers, so they won’t understand the need yet. All of this being said, eventually word will get out and people will recognize the convenience of them, they will then become common in households across the country. All it is going to take is our product to appeal to enough of those consumers that always buy the newest technology because they are curious and those that have experienced the unmet needs that created the opportunity. From there it will become like everything else in technology where people want what everyone else has. There will be competitors come along the way, but none with more control than those that design the phones themselves. They can create their own design and with their brand they will outsell us even if they have an inferior product. This product will still be able to succeed though. It is just going to take the right connections and some strategic marketing along with releasing the product at the ideal time.  

23A-Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Reliable contacts at Best Buy, T-Mobile, and AT&T: Having these are very valuable to get the product on the shelf initially, get us our start. It's not all that rare though and easy for someone else to obtain contacts of this degree. 
2. Knowledge about technology and specifically what other tech people want: Meaning that I believe I provide a value nobody else can truly match or possess when it comes to knowing what people want out of this product. Smartphones have been around for a long time now and nobody has yet to create a reliable product that fills these needs, so I have to assume nobody with the right connections possesses this vision.
3. Engineering and computer design connections: They would help to design a prototype, but really these connections don't provide as much value as I really need. This isn't their specialty and I wouldn't consider their skill set for this field to be rare. 
4. Investors that already believe in the product and willing to jump on board: This financial resource is probably the most valuable resource we have. For a product like this to manufacturer it up to our specifications is going to be costly. Thankfully I have friends and family members that are investors and they have friends that also have friends and they all will potentially invest. I would consider to these investors rare because I feel like I know a lot more than most people would, but that's not say someone else couldn't obtain just as many.
5. Personal savings that I am willing to commit: Not a lot value compared to how much the investors would be able to contribute. Therefore, not rare, easy for someone else to be able to commit more. 
6. A currently unique design: I have never seen a charging station like this that can charge up to four devices, different types of phones, and be able to use it while it is wirelessly charging. How rare it is provides the value of this resource. In a way it could be copied, but if we secure a patent for the design they would have to figure out another way to accomplish these things.
7: Easy to acquire technology products: There is a lot of value in this because it is vital to building the products, but anyone can acquire them and they might even have connections to get cheaper supplies.
8: Over 6 billion potential customers, anyone with a cellphone: This is what separates this market from all other markets. So many people now have phones and technology is in. There are a lot of customers out there. They are also available to every other person in the cell phone accessory business. 
9. A unique appeal for why people need this: Not many people are willing to separate them selves from the actual phone companies, but for us to get people motivated to purchase this we think we need to. It's not right that cell phones are being designed to not last so you have to buy a new one after a few years. Not many other companies will replicate this position because it is a risk.
10: International business community contacts: I don''t have near as many as someone that is based overseas would have, but I do have friends and family that work for large corporations based internationally and these white collar workers I believe will be our largest customers.

The unique design is the most valuable resource. Personally I have only ever seen a wireless charger that charges one phone at a time and it has to be a certain iPhone. It also only charges if you leave your phone right there, can't even sit on the couch and use your phone while it is charging. This resource is the best thing going for us. The functions could be copied, but the design itself will hopefully allow us to secure a patent.

22A-Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://youtu.be/niWlKjkb7GY









2) I was not able to submit my elevator pitch for reasons that were entirely my bad with poor planing ahead. Therefore, I went off of feedback I received in the past. The two major things I was told to improve from a previous elevator pitch was to get to the point faster and have a better stance (I was swaying a lot, bad habit).
3) I made it clear pretty quick that I'm pitching a wireless phone charging station and this is exactly what it will do for you. In addition, I did my best keep a solid stance and avoid swaying or slumping in order to avoid distracting my audience.

21A-Reading Reflection No. 2

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

1. The general theme of this book by Scott Adams is that you can fail time and time again, but still achieve what you want to and Scott gives first hand examples for why this true.
2. Scott Adams is the creator of one of the biggest comic strips out there. He has a net worth of $75 million. However, success wasn't all he experienced and along these lines is the take away that could connect to ENT3000. You are going to fail as an entrepreneur, many of the best have numerous times, but you can still win big. He talks about attitude and how having a positive attitude is key to success. You can't just have a positive attitude in certain moments, but all the time.
3. Make sure to focus on systems rather than goals. Create an exercise related to our current ideas that we have been running with now and move away from goal-oriented ideas that we have for our product or business. Create a system-oriented approach to attain what you desire from your idea.
4. Scott Adams talked about passion and more so how it doesn't cause success. This wasn't something I had thought of before. He says that it is actually the other way around. This was sort of eye opening for me and makes me question whether having a passion for something is a good enough reason to pursue it.

20A-Growing Your Social Capital

1) A support person for "Seneo" wireless phone chargers.

2) Domain expert because he is employed by a company that sells wireless phone chargers. 

3) The Seneo Facebook page where there was a contact to ask questions about their product. 

4) They generously answered a couple of questions I had about their product and it's capabilities. Knowing this gives me a better idea how my design would compare to their product. 

5) Including him in my network is a great resource for when it comes to actually designing our product. Features that they came up with might be something we look at and most importantly looking at what they lack to try to add to our design. 

1) The manager for Verizon in Destin, FL. He has been in the cell phone industry for 10 years now and has dealt with all of the latest phones and the purchasers of them. 

2) Market expert. He has extensive connections and knowledge about the cell phone market and our product will be an accessory for cell phones. 

3) The Manager has been a friend of my family for years now ever since we moved to the area. 

4) He answered a lot of my questions for how I could go about entering my market and what the first step is for getting the product on shelves. The only return he is expecting is for his store to see the product when finished and consider whether they want to sell it in their store or not,. 

5) Phones and phone chargers go hand in hand. This would be a great place to sell our product and also obtain information or recommendations from people that work with cell phone customers every day. Nobody will know better than them if this is something people would purchase. 

1) A CYD Electronics employee. He has supplied USB chargers among many other electronics to phone companies for years. 

2) Supplier. They supply electronics that will be necessary for our charging stations. 

3) The contact us link on their website. It took a little while and he gave generic answers at first, but then I was able to obtain an email address. 

4) It wasn't an extensive exchange, but he didn't have to answer questions that I did ask anyways so I was thankful. He told me about some of the products they offer and if he can meet some of the needs for my design. In return I said I would purchase from them when the final designs are ironed out. 

5) Suppliers are vital to our success. Having a good one that offers all of our product needs is important so we don't have to deal will numerous companies. Buying many electronics all in bulk will allow us to keep prices low. 

In the future I hope to have more specific question that I can ask and more importantly know exactly what we will need for our product. When everything is finalized we will be able to get more out of the networking because they will have a better for feel for what we are looking at. 

19A-Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You.  I'm a passionate person that whenever I get rolling on something I will basically plan the rest of what's going on in my life around it. Failure is not something that I find enjoyable and I don't plan on failing at this. This business concept with receive my full attention because not only do I have the need for the product, but I also want others to be able to experience the conveniences of this product. 
2. What are you offering to customers? The product is a wireless charging station for cell phones and it will meet the need for a form of charging that does not result in future costs due to breaking cords and worn down phone charging ports. It will also be one that you allows you to use your in moderation while it is still charging, a unique feature that the few charging stations out there do not offer. 
3. Who are you offering it to? All of my customers will have in common that they are cell phone users. They will be split into two groups; one being iphone users and one being android users. The product will offer the feature of charging up to 4 cell phones or two tablets at one time. What is unique to our product is that we are offering it to a much larger pool of cell phone owners. Current wireless chargers only function with a select group of phones, but our design allows for many more phones. 
4. Why do they care? People will care because not only will this charging station be cooler and more "high tech", but easier in the end and that's important to most people. Customers will pay the money for this product because it will potentially save them money in the long haul. There will also be a group that purchases the product because of the convenience of not having to plug and unplug your phone.  
5. What are your core competencies? There are not a lot of products on the market like this and the phone companies will not offer something like it because the current way of charging actually creates more revenue for them. This station will charge your phone and you will still have the ability to use it while charging unlike other products.  They want you to have to spend money on new chargers because they snap and new phones because the port gives out and will no longer charge. 

I received great feedback and a lot of it echoed some of the concerns I had already been having. The two ideas that stood out were the need to be able to use the phone while charging and the importance of creating a product unlike any other out there. I have addressed these and modeled around this in the second idea napkin. 

18A-Create a Customer Avatar

Our prototypical customer or "customer avatar" is a male or female in their 20's or 30's that is involved in the business world. Their hobbies aren't easy to pinpoint, but they are technologically savvy. They tend to drive higher tech cars, usually black or white, but with all of the bells and whistles. These customers have multiple electronic devices when you put together their work devices and their personal ones. Their work tends to require them to do a lot of multi-tasking that drains the batteries on all of their devices. After work they check out from using their devices because they have families that they want to spend time with or they want to relax by possibly watching TV. 

I have a few things in common with the customer avatar that I created. Starting with myself being in the same age group. I also do a lot of multi-tasking between electronic devices and have three devices used regularly. This is absolutely not a coincidence in my eyes, as I came up with this idea because I was also this customer with the unmet need. The only thing that differs with me and avatar I have described is the car I drive and the color of it. I drive a 1999 car that is not white or black and doesn't have many high-tech options. However, this wasn't my choice to drive this car, but rather my best option and if I had to choose I would drive a black car with all of the tech packages. It's not a coincidence as far as I'm concerned.

15A-Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

The alternatives to a wireless charging station are wired chargers and charging docks. When I interviewed three people I was curious about these alternatives and needed to understand how they do their picking among the different products. Price is important because electronics aren't cheap. However, the quality matters the most of all, because they are fine with spending a pretty penny for the product as long as it is of good quality that will last a long time. Their current situations generally cause them to go through a couple of chargers every month. In addition all three have had to purchase new phones in the past year because the charging port stopped working. These costs add up and they can be avoided if the product was of better quality. 

Understanding the how and where that these customers purchase these items is important to know. All three of the people I interviewed do their shopping primarily online. Two of them in fact said they use Amazon for almost everything, especially electronics. They will use a debit card or a credit card to make the purchase. They are all the heads of the household and do the majority of the shopping, usually the only one involved in the purchase decision. 

For the purchase to be right and them not to regret it they shouldn't have to buy another one or switch to an alternative anytime in the next year. This tends to be how they judge whether a purchase was a good idea. 

The common thought still seems to be that initial cost isn't the most important thing. They would rather pay for a quality item even if it is more expensive if it will last a long time. In fact, in order to avoid a bad post-purchase evaluation the product needs to be one they don't have to purchase again in the next year. Paying $15 for a charger just for it to break in a month and spend another $15 is not ideal. Plus, the charger breaking the phone withing a year or two then spending $1,000.  

14A-Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. I would say that I developed a more open behavior and possibly humble to keep up with this course. You will have to think about ideas of yours in ways that you wouldn't normally do and you have to find the right way to articulate these ideas. Let your guard down a little and don't be afraid to recognize when you are wrong. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Some of the assignments in this course can be time consuming or at least more time consuming than your initial thought about them. You need a tenacious attitude to not not get discouraged when the assignment is taking longer than you thought it would. Also, be organized, have a plan to attack what you need to get done. If you don't then you won't be doing a complete service to yourself or your peers. You won't get as much out of the assignments than originally intended. 

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. You have to be able to recognize your faults and what can be improved. If you want to keep rolling and pushing forward you need constant improvement. 

2. Keep an open mind especially when doing peer reviews. Don't just go through the motions when reviewing someones work. Think about good ideas they have and ideas that are lacking something. Get something out of everything you do. 

3. Develop this mindset by finding stuff that you really believe in. If you have a passion for something that is a good start because developing a tenacious mindset will then be easier to create.

13A-Reading Reflection No. 1

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Phil Knight, Shoe Dog

• What surprised you the most? I was surprised the most just to hear the real story that Knight has because honestly until he started appearing in sports media because of the Oregon Football Team a few years ago I had no idea who was behind Nike. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admire that he built this worldwide multi-billion dollar company the right way, he stayed good to himself and everyone else. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? That he didn't come forward a lot in the spotlight before stepping down as chairman. I don't blame him because he has his reasons and it is honorable, but he could've been a great influence in our world concerning many issues. 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? He absolutely did, Phil Knight was told he wouldn't make it. The way they viewed it was that they knew they could fail, but they didn't think they would.  

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? He did a great job of keeping his team working together. They all believed in each other and they loved working with each other. He also wouldn't tell people how to do things, but rather let them do their thing to figure it out, and look where it got him. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I was a little confused as to why Phil would trust that his employees would just figure things out. His vision is what got things started and successful, but he was fine with giving up control. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

Did you ever consider whether you could manufacturer your shoes over in the states? Did money or connections prove more useful for you in terms of power to get what you wanted done?  

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?I feel that Phil Knight values hard work and it is important to success, your hard work and your teams, but luck plays a role in your final outcome. 

I couldn't agree more with this. Hard work can get you far, but you will need some luck along the way to meet your goals. 

12A-Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

We first identified need awareness and through the three interviews discovered that the needs are very similar in terms of when, how, and where there need occurs. The biggest question was at what times do you generally charge your phone. All three had the same answer and this is when they get home from work for a minute and then leave it charging while they are sleeping. Thus, the charging station would be heavily used during the night. These charging patterns reflect Monday thru Friday workers that tend to get home around 4 to 5 in the evening. One of the three interviewees stated that they will sometimes browse information on their phone while it is charging when they get home. They seemed a little concerned over the inconvenience this could pose, but they could adjust to it. I again asked where they tend to need to charge their phone and they all think that about 80 percent of the time they do it at home.
The first thing these people do when looking looking for a solution is see if there is anything reliable on the market that can charge your phone wireless. They look for if it takes any longer the few products that are out there to charge their phone. The final aspect is the cost. They understand that they may have to purchase multiple stations just like chargers so the cost can't be too much. As of right now there is nothing that can meet this need in the form of a car charging station that is wireless and they are fine with that. They have car chargers that they rarely use and are OK with keeping them if they get in a spot. 
Honestly, through the need awareness and information search findings I have more concern than I initially did. This could be a great product and fill a need that the majority of cell phone users have, but the long-term success is up in the air at this point because we are finding situations where they will still have to revert back to a wired charging at some point.  

11A-Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. I'm a passionate person that whenever I get rolling on something I will basically plan the rest of what's going on in my life around it. Failure is not something that I find enjoyable and I don't plan on failing at this. If I could get this wireless charging business started a lot of other things in my life would go on hold. I would be absolutely content with that because like I mentioned I do not like to fail and to avoid doing so this would need my full attention. 

2) What are you offering to customers? The product is a wireless charging station for cell phones and it will meet the need for a form of charging that does not result in future costs due to breaking cords and worn down phone charging ports. 

3) Who are you offering it to? All of my customers will have in common that they are cell phone users. They will be split into two groups; one being iphone users and one being android users. The product will offer the feature of charging up to 4 cell phones or two tablets at one time. The device will simply have to be set on the mat that is plugged in like your standard charger would be and it will charge without plugging directly into the phone. 

4) Why do they care? Customers will pay the money for this product because it will potentially save them money in the long haul. There will also be a group that purchases the product because of the convenience of not having to plug and unplug your phone.  

5) What are your core competencies? There are not a lot of products on the market like this and the phone companies will not offer something like it because the current way of charging actually creates more revenue for them. They want you to have to spend money on new chargers because they snap and new phones because the port gives out and will no longer charge. 

From potential customers that I have talked to already they agree that they have a need for this and there are a lot of others that would purchase for the same reasons as them. What I am not sure about is whether the inability to charge your phone and use it at the same time will turn a lot of customers away. The current cord chargers allow you to do so. The other weaker aspect of the concept I have questions about involve the phone companies potentially changing their design to counter our product. However, it could turn into a bigger opportunity if the phone companies decide to endorse our product.  

9A-Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: There are people that fall outside the boundary of needing a wireless form of charging for their phones. They have the same things in common, they are iphone users, chargers are always breaking, and the charging port on their phone is eventually a hassle. These people though value what a wired charger is able to do for them though. They value the importance of being able to still use their phone and charge it at the same time for however far their cord reaches.
What: After interviewing the people now that did not have interest in the unmet need I identified it is clear there is always going to be another need. What I proposed was a wireless charging mat, but that would not work for those that want to operate their phone while it is charging.
Why: The needs are essentially the same for both groups of people. They both agree that it would be best to have a wireless way to charge their phone. Those outside the boundary just have a few more needs that would have to be met to make it worth changing from their current situation.

Inside the boundary                                                                               Outside the boundary 

Who is in: Those who have had to buy new phones                           Who is not: Non iphone users 
because their charging port gave out, people tired of going               (to begin with at least) and those
through new chargers because the cord snaps or tears, and               require being able to use their
households that have numerous iphones that would                        phone while charging.
all be able to charge on the same mat.                                          What the need is not: A form of
What the need is: A way to charge their phone                            charging that limits what you are able
that does not require plugging and unplugging                           to do on your phone while it is
that wears down their phone and charger.                                   being charged.
Why the Need Exists: Phones and chargers                               Alternative Explanations: There could
really are not cheap so you can understand the                         still be a need, but it will take a more
frustration of these items not being durable.                            advanced product and cost will likely
                                                                                                  be higher.

8A-Solving The Problem

Most phones that I have owned have eventually had charging ports that begin to wear down and I believe it is designed this way on purpose so that you will have to buy a new phone after a couple years. I understand they are trying to run a profitable business, but phone owners should be able to get more use out of their phone than they are currently getting. What I have found is that a new phone manufacturer is not something that IPhone owners are interested in. They just want a better way to currently charge their IPhone. The product I believe can fill this need is a reliable form of wireless charging. There are already some wireless charging docks and mats out there, but every one I have found has failed to be reliable. Poor reviews and no reviews at all on some wireless charging products is what I have found.


Something very similar to this charging pad pictured is the product that I would sell to customers. As you can see the IPhone charger still plugs into the pad, but there is no need to actually plug into the phone. The charging port will not wear down causing customers to have to position the charger at the perfect angle if they even want their phone to charge and eventually wearing down completely. The phones won't last forever because of this as the battery and other functions of the phone will quit working at some point, but the phone life will be prolonged to give customers their moneys worth.

7A-Testing the Hypothesis

Opportunity Hypothesis: An opportunity exists in wireless phone charging to fix the common issue of cell phones chargers breaking and phone charging ports malfunctioning.
The Who: IPhone owners
The What: They are forced to buy a new phone after only a couple years because the charging port begins to give out
The Why: Poor construction of the phone that wears down after plugging and unplugging so many times.
Testing the Who: Other phone owners I'm sure have this need because it is common among phone designers to make phones that will eventually need to be replaced. The first IPhone owner that I chose to interview is currently dealing with this issue and doesn't get their phone charged unless the cord is plugged in at the right angle.
Testing the What: Is it just the charging port on your phone or other aspects that are also wearing down? The battery is draining a little faster, but it would not be an issue if I could charge my phone more frequently.

Summary: To put it simply, there are many IPhone owners out there that desire a better way to charge their phone that won't put as much wear and tear on their charging port that will break eventually. Of the five people I discussed this opportunity with, 4 have had to get new phones at some point because it would no longer charge. What I also found interesting was these people also told me they go through numerous chargers over the course of a phone because even the charger itself is poorly constructed to not withstand everyday wear and tear. I asked the subjects also if they had looked into possibly buying a new type of phone or checking to see if there are alternative charging methods out there. The consensus was that they wanted to stick with IPhone and have explored wireless charging stations, but only one of the interviewees had purchased one. His experience with the charging station was not successful, but agrees that this is the direction someone needs to explore to fix the problem. A wireless form of charging would be in high demand to fix the issue, but it also has be reliable and not quit working after a few uses.   

4A-Forming An Opportunity

1. Recently an opportunity has began to present itself in my families business that I have had an uptick in involvement in over the past couple years. The opportunity is a need for general store items for all of the guests that come stay at our nearby Lake Shelbyville every week to camp.
2. The unmet need is not being fulfilled because it is a solid fifteen to twenty minutes into town from the campground area where we are located along with hundreds of campers each week. The people that have the need are the campers for the most part, but there all also locals that live close by. This has just recently come about because the local bait shop that used to supply visitors with these items closed down. To meet this need, people now are driving all the way into town, taking time away from their vacation. I'm 90 percent sure that this opportunity exists and during the camping season would thrive.
3a. The prototypical customers are the adults and children that come to the lake every week needing items such as: firewood, ice, soda, beer, milk, and many other everyday items they are willing to pay a little bit more for so they don't have to drive in town. The first prototypical customer is the head of household for a four person family camping by the lake for the weekend.
4a. How many times have you had to drive into town this week? 3 times and it takes about an hour out of our day each time. What items at a store nearby would prevent you from having to make trips into town? Soda, water, and beer for starters. Outside of that just some easy and quick supplies for cooking out, hot dogs and burgers.
3b. The next prototypical customer are the kids that come to lake with their families.
4b. Is there anything nearby where you guys camp to get something to eat or drink, a vending machine? Nothing at all, other than the stuff we bring with us or go to town to get. What are some things you would want after a long day on the lake? Somewhere with ice cream and at least a vending machine with soda. It's hot out and we cant't even buy ice cream if we go to town because it will melt back at our camp.
3c. The final prototypical customers are fisherman that come to the lake generally during the middle of the week.
4c. Describe your current needs for general store goods when you come fish and how do you fill them: Currently we always need ice, something to drink, and a quick bite to eat like a sandwich when we go out on the lake. Usually we will wake up well before the sun comes up to drive into a gas station fifteen minutes away to obtain these goods. Or we will get out on the lake and go out of our way to stop at the marina and pick some stuff up. If there was still a bait shop right nearby we could sleep in later and when we get out on the lake be able to spend our time on the water not at the marina.
5. I learned that people really did rely on the bait shop that closed a couple months ago to fulfill their needs when they come to the lake. The consensus seems to be that the long drive to town is a huge inconvenience and takes away from time they would rather spend relaxing on vacation. Like the campground, should we open store it would need to be seasonal, people don't come when the weather gets cold and there is no need to be open then.
7. Some of my thoughts changed after these interactions. The major takeaway was that there is a glaring need for a store and it would be profitable. What surprised me though is it doesn't need to be a very elaborate and large store. Everyone I spoke to has pretty much the same needs and the common theme is simple. You have to be able to adapt to customer feedback especially in this type of business. I need to know what they are looking for and what they will actually purchase. We don't want to purchase perishable foods that will sit on our shelves and later on need to be thrown out. We have to carry exactly what the customers want and also have some convenient services like vending machines for sodas and ice. 

3A-Your Entrepreneurship

 During the past two years of my life I have been exposed to entrepreneurship and I have been able to experience everything about a business, good and bad. My Father had a business opportunity come up that our family had been familiar with prior, but knew that it would entail much more should he choose to acquire the business. After deciding that now was the right time he went through with purchasing Coon Creek RV Park and Lodge. The initial hurdle with the new venture was the difficulty of hiring affordable help with extremely flexible hours. The park and the lodge fluctuate heavily in terms of being busy and with this so does the need for workers. In order to get his feet under him he needed to call on some family members for help and I was happy to come work for him. Being around the business has been a learning experience for us all and fortunately only once have we really felt the pressures of needing to turn a profit. I have learned how much of a risk launching your own business can be, but also have seen the great benefits when the market demand is high.
 

I am a Sport Management student at the University of Florida so entrepreneurship isn't necessarily a quality that would be at the forefront of my studies for my future career, but I can absolutely see its applications being useful in many paths. I enrolled in ENT3003 to fulfill a portion of my sport management elective requirement. This wasn't the only reason as there were other course options. Though, out of them all I believed that Principles of Entrepreneurship could potentially be more of service to me than another accounting course for example. I hope to learn more about entrepreneurship and what qualities are necessary for success should I choose to operate a business one day.         

2A-Bug List

1. The rest of my house is cold, but my room is always sticky hot keeping me up at night. Why does the bug exist? My room is furthest in the house from the heating and cooling unit, pumping a lot of cool air into the rest of the hose but bot making it to my room. 
2. My cell phone does not charge sometimes if the charger isn't resting in my phone at the perfect angle. Why does the bug exist? The charging ports on iPhones are not made well and likely on purpose so the phone will last you 2-3 years and you will have to purchase a new one. 
3. When people will drive way over the speed limit on the rock road back by my house causing dust to fly everywhere. Why does the bug exist? Well, for one we have rock roads which could be fixed if we forked over the cash and the other is people are in such a big hurry that they can't go the speed limit for the 100 yards of road. 
4. The signal on my TV will go out sometimes when a large cloud passes over. Why does the bug exist? The service company that set up our DirecTV did not set the satellite up in a very good spot. 
5. Especially in busy highway traffic when people will fail to use their turn signals and I miss an opportunity to pull out onto the highway. Why does the bug exist? People are often focused on other things than actually driving when they are driving. 
6. Weather apps that say it is going to rain all day and it never ends up raining a drop. Why the bug exists? Not always their fault as weather does change by the minute, but maybe don't give it such a high percentage chance that I plan certain things expecting rain.
7. When going to a drive-thru and they forget to give you a straw and napkins. Why the bug exists? They are often understaffed at these restaurants and constantly slammed causing the employees to forget stuff.
8. I will order something online like a Publix sub and when I go to pick it up at the scheduled time they haven't even started making it yet. Why the bug exists? Another staffing issue where they are offering this online ordering service to cut down on lines but give priority to those in line. Some places get it right and have an employee just responsible for online orders.    
9. The absolute biggest bug of mine, going to a movie and there are people talking during the entire showing. Why the big exists? Whether it was how they were raised or what, but people that do this have little respect for others. 
10. Working on something for school, work, or anything that is obviously consuming my attention at that time and friends or family wanting to ask me questions I don't have time for. Why the bug exists? There isn't a great area for me to get away from everyone else for a minute to complete what I need to finish ASAP. 
11. Being at home or at anyone's house and the paper towels are out in the kitchen and all that is left on the holder is the cardboard from the paper towels. Why the bug exists? The person that grabs the last paper towel decides not to go get a new roll. 
12. Leaving 2 pieces of candy in a bag or a couple crumbs of chips in a bag. Why the bug exists? The last person to grab some didn't want to be the one that finished them off and threw the bag away.
13. When the somebody gets the wrong number and keeps calling back even though I answered and told them. Why the bug exists? After finding out the number you have for that person is the wrong number, they fail to delete the contact or change the number. 
14. Going to any Walmart in the country and watching people leave their shopping carts in the middle of parking spots. Why the bug exists? Truly it's laziness to not walk their cart to one of the designated returns. 
15. Customers that go to dine at restaurants and make it a mission to complain about everything to the point that free stuff is given. Why the bug exists? They don't understand how unfair that is to the employee that has to deal with it and no matter what they do it's wrong. 
16. There are stoplights in areas on HWY98 that have no real need for them, but then in a heavy traffic area there isn't one. Why the bug exists? There is certain criteria for putting in a stoplight and it needs to be revisited. 
17. A machine will be used at the gym and that person will have buckets of sweat pouring off them and when they are done get up and walk away without wiping down the machine. Why the bug exists? No respect for the next person that is going to want to use the machine. 
18. Employees at the Destin McDonalds drive-thru window not saying anything when you pull up, just throwing the food at you. Why the bug exists? They aren't trained to have any customer service or the personality would just be better suited elsewhere. 
19. All of those that dig holes on the beaches and don't fill them in. Why the bug exists? Obviously those that come to the beach and vacation are not educated on the dangers this causes for turtles. 
20. When someone does an interview on TV and they aren't looking at the interviewer, but rather directly into the camera. Why the bug exists? Not really sure on this one. If you watch your interview back you will realize that it is just weird to watch. 

Reflection: There are a lot of things that bug me so it wasn't all that difficult to come up with this list. However, 20 bugs is a lot of bugs and it really takes some thought to think of stuff that bugs me that much. I probably could keep going and list more, but there are actually on a few things that truly bug me too much.   

This is a test

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