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.