Week 15 reading reflection

Business Basics at the Base of the Pyramid by Vikram Akula

I found this article to be very informative and it took an interesting perspective on customer growth. I would most interested to hear about the three entrepreneurial principles that make up SKS's business strategy. These three principles include adopting a profit-oriented approach, standardizing products in order to boost capacity, and using technology to reduct costs and limit errors. All of these strategies seem very useful. They described the most important part of their growth as increasing customer loyalty which is definitely something I agree with. One question I would ask the author is why they chose these as their business concepts, what pushed them to take an entrepreneurial, customer based approach to their organization? The other question I would ask would be why the organization decided to invest so much time and energy into a market where they receive little profit margin in return. While it is a new and innovative idea to provide microloans to less fortunate, it does not seem like a good return for the organization. Nothing was confusing about the article and it was easy to follow along with the ideas and business concepts behind SKS.

Final Reflection

I definitely will remember the elevator pitches. I mostly remember being uncomfortable recording myself talking to a computer, without a script. However, it got a lot easier as the semester progressed and I became more comfortable. I'm definitely proud of myself for the elevator pitches and the venture concept/idea napkin as well. I will remember the fact that I created such a realistic business idea that could easily be implemented in real life and be successful. 

I wouldn't say I see myself as an entrepreneur but I definitely think like an entrepreneur would throughout my day-to-day life. Whether I am at a convenience store buying something, or waiting in a long line to get food, I am always thinking of ways businesses can be more efficient and modernized to better accommodate customers. I didn't really think this way before taking this course so it is interesting to see things from a different point of view. I have definitely moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset.

One recommendation I would make to future students is to plan out when you are going to complete each assignment at the beginning of every week. You will perform better in the course if you have a plan. Especially with the video assignments, it will be important to plan out the days you are going to interview people. In order to foster the entrepreneurship mindset I would recommend that students do not just go through the motions of the assignments and get them done quickly or last minute in order to get the points. This class really is helpful for the real world so it is important to take every assignment as a useful challenge.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity.

There is an important opportunity I have identified for my app FuturePay in the University of Florida community, and possibly other college communities as the app gains success. The potential customers are college age students who enjoy night life and the social scene of college, specifically bar-goers. The market will geographically start in Florida, but has the potential to expand to other college campuses and cities in general with a big bar scene such as New York City, Miami, Boston, etc. The recent breakthroughs in technology in the past few years have allowed for a high possibility that this app will be successful in a college community. I do not believe that the window of opportunity will last very long. Although nobody has created something quite like this app, as technology continues to improve and cash becomes even more obscure, I do not believe paying cover will be nearly as popular across the country.

Innovation. 

FuturePay is an app available to iPhone users that allows you to upload credit/debit card information so that you can pay cover at a specific bar you wish to go to in Midtown. This would essentially diminish the extensive wait time to get into the bar. You will be able to upload a picture of your ID to the app, but will also have to show your ID at the door as verification that you are over 21. Once you have shown your ID in person to a bouncer at any bar, you will be placed into an online system so you will never have to show your ID again. As FuturePay gains popularity and success, you will be able to open and close your bar tab to avoid the annoyance of trying to get the bartenders attention to order a drink. This, again, will diffuse the necessity to get cash out at the ATM before going out. I will make money by selling this idea to the bars in Midtown. This will make everything easier for bar managers and bouncers because everything will be put into an online system where they can see everyone who is at the bar and what their drink orders are. The price will start at $100 a month on a minimum 1 year plan.

Venture Concept.

I do not think it will be hard to get students to use this app, however, I will probably experience difficulty trying to get the actual bars to use this service. I am sure that they have their own system at their establishments and may be unwilling to change if it is something that works for them. The bars may end up making even more money because it will force them to charge a cover, where some bars do not charge cover for those over 21. I will have to explain to them how secure FuturePay will be and how much more efficient it will make their bar. They will have the opportunity to track how many drink orders they receive and how many people attend their bar on a given night which may be important information to the finances of their business. If people are using cash to pay for drinks and ordering them by word of mouth, there is no way to tell what they are buying and how much. I don't think packaging and price points will play a major role in my business concept. It will be more about selling my idea in an effective manor so that bar owners view FuturePay as a necessity in our ever-changing technologically advanced world. As one or two business establishments begin to understand this idea, it will help others realize the necessity for it. There are not currently competitors besides the app BarEye which allows you to buy drinks for friends on the app. But nothing that is as specific and innovative as FuturePay. Some weaknesses may be the fact that IDs need to also be checked at the door for first time users.

Three minor elements.

• My secret sauce: the fact that nothing like this exists, along with the fact that cash is becoming more and more useless.
• What's next for the venture? I think that FuturePay will start as just a way to pay ahead of time for your cover charge. As the app grows, I would like to expand it into a way to order drinks and open/close your bar tab. I would also like to expand the use of the app to other universities and cities around the U.S
•  What's next for me? I hope to continue on with other business ideas in the social scene to help make life easier for college students in any minor way I can. With the success of this idea, I think I will realize that a simple concept and a simple problem/solution can go a very long way and make a very large impact on the community. 

2) Overall, I received a lot of useful feedback. While a lot of it was positive, some of the advice was critical and really helped shape my idea. Almost everyone was on board with my idea and agreed they would download my app. One student brought up a good point about legal issues with checking vs not checking IDs from regulars. One student agreed that most difficult thing would be to get the bars to use it, like you said, but if you got 1 bar to do then the others would follow suit. One of the most valuable comments I received said "At the door, you would still have to show your idea and have them scan your app or you would have to give them a code. How much longer does it take to hand over $10? Perhaps hand over $10 and be handed back $5? How much time would you end up saving?" This really made me think deeper about the logistics of FuturePay and if it would actually be successful. 

3) I changed  my concept by creating a database that stores previous users so that IDs do not have to be checked over and over again. Once a user becomes a "regular" they will be placed into a system and confirmed as 21 years or older. In terms of getting the idea to sell to the actual bars, I changed my venture concept by stating that I will provide a full financial outline of the potential added revenues that will created when students get the app. For example, bars like Fat Daddy's do not even charge cover so creating this app will force them to charge a cover charge to everyone. They will see an influx of new revenue while also making their bar system much more efficient.

Going For Google Gold

1) For each blog, to pursue SEO I posted each of my assignments not just to my blog, but also made them public on my google account. They are able to be seen by anyone. I also added the Week label. In my comments on other people's posts I always put a link to my blog/assignment in order to gain more SEO.

2) My main key word was definitely entrepreneurship, innovation, venture, business, and words related to my business idea such as app, customers, product, efficient, and experience. All of these are general and can be applied to a variety of different things so this definitely helped my blog gain traction.

3) I did not use social media to enhance my SEO efforts but I did publish all of my posts publicly to my Google account so that they can be seen by anybody, not just class members who look at my blog. This gave my blog posts a lot more views. Posting videos to my youtube account also gave more views to my posts because they were able to be searched with a few key words such as "pitch" "elevator" and "entrepreneurship"

4) My most viral posts were my elevator pitches and my venture concept. I think these obtained the most traffic because the pitches both contained public youtube videos. The venture concept was a big assignment with a lot of content which I think contained a lot of key words. I also think that it gained views because there were 4 peer reviewers assigned to comment on my post.

5) When I typed in my key word with "ENT3003" after it I was on the first page.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

Chapter 3 discusses corporate entrepreneurship and chapter 4 discusses social entrepreneurship and the global environment for entrepreneurship. Both of these chapters were very well written and helped give a good explanation of the topics at hand. I was most surprised to find out that rules are set for innovation within a company. Some of these rules include "use formal meetings whenever possible," "reward and promote innovative personnel," and "put people on small teams for future oriented projects."  One question I would ask the author would be whether these rules/guidelines can be applied to any type of company, or if there are specific types of companies, maybe larger ones vs. small businesses, that would benefit more from following these rules for an innovative environment. There was nothing in these two chapters that I disagreed with or where I thought the author was wrong. Everything was very straightforward and the reading made me realize a lot about entrepreneurial environments. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was that one of the corporate innovators commandments was to "come to work each day willing to give up your job for the innovation." I'm not sure this is something that creates a community environment and a truly entrepreneurial environment for the company. It seems that it is contradictory. Employees should not have to give up their job.

Celebrating Failure

1) In class this semester I have failed during the interview and video assignments. Most of the time I immediately chose not to complete these types of assignments because it seemed like such a big task to take on and I always had other things to do instead. I rationalized my decision to not complete the interview assignments because of the extra credit opportunities.

2) By opting to not complete these assignments throughout different points of the semester I learned that there are going to be things in life, especially in my job later in life, that I will have no desire to do but I will have no choice. In this class, I did have a choice to not do an assignment because there are extra credit opportunities to make up for it. However, I realized that this will not be the case when I am assigned a tedious, even annoying, project at my job.

3) There are not many times where I have truly failed throughout my life. If I ever have it has been something very small that eventually becomes irrelevant and I forget about it. I am starting to realize that as I get older my failures may become more and more relevant and important. However, it is something we all just have to accept because nobody is perfect and things are going to go wrong at some point. Emotionally, I try to handle failure by always staying positive and trying to make up for a failure in a different way with something that I excel at. If you accept your failure, find a silver lining, and learn from your mistake, you will become a better person because of it. The biggest thing I have learned about failure is that it is not a bad, negative thing. It is a regular occurrance throughout life and there is nothing you can do about it. So the best option is to learn from it and move on.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

Valuation of Entrepreneurial Ventures

               I found this chapter to be very interesting. What stood out to me the most was the idea of "rollups." I had never heard this term before but I realize it has become more and more popular in business. A roll up is when investors acquire and merge multiple small companies together in order to achieve cost savings. This seems to be a very innovative and modern way of business that could potentially have a very large impact on an industry. Something that surprised me while also confusing me was that "the stated net income of a private company may not truly reflect its actual earning power." I wish this author explained this a little bit more for the reader to understand. Overall, this chapter had a lot of useful information for entrepreneurs that could easily be applicable to real life. If I could ask the author something it would be to give a real life example of when a start up business or entrepreneur has used the "checklist for analyzing a business" to give it credibility and show how it is applicable to the real world of business. Otherwise, there wasn't anything that I disagreed with the author about.

My Exit Strategy

1) I would like to sell my business idea to someone who is more educated with technology and creating apps so I can ensure the app and computer programming will be easy to use. By selling my idea, I would hope to make a large profit. I would like to be heavily involved in the decision making behind the app for the first 5 or so years and then sell the business and receive some type of compensation after selling it.  

2) I have selected this strategy because at first I want to be involved with the creation and success but I do not want to make it my whole life.  I would like to have a different, full time job and see this as a side project that I eventually wouldn't have much time for. At first, I want to see through it's success.

3) I think my exit strategy shows how an idea like this could easily take off and become an extremely popular app for the college age and young adult generations. It has greatly influenced my growth intentions of the app.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth

This was a very informative chapter and I learned a lot while reading. I never really realized the need for planning when it comes to starting a business. The chapter outlined the use of unsystematic as well as systematic planning. Planning is all dependent on the level of experience. With that said, strategic planning is still a very important piece to being a successful entrepreneur. The author did a great job of explaining how to properly plan and why it is necessary. I was most surprised by all of the flaws that often occur during strategic planning. Some of these include misunderstanding industry attractiveness, compromising strategy for growth. I most liked figure 13.2 the integration of entrepreneurial and strategic actions. I thought this helped further explain the information Kuratko was hoping to tell readers. Overall, I thought this chapter had very useful information about the different stages of entrepreneurial growth.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity.

There is an important opportunity I have identified for my app FuturePay in the University of Florida community, and possibly other college communities as the app gains success. The potential customers are college age students who enjoy night life and the social scene of college, specifically bar-goers. The market will geographically start in Florida, but has the potential to expand to other college campuses and cities in general with a big bar scene such as New York City, Miami, Boston, etc. The recent breakthroughs in technology in the past few years have allowed for a high possibility that this app will be successful in a college community. I do not believe that the window of opportunity will last very long. Although nobody has created something quite like this app, as technology continues to improve and cash becomes even more obscure, I do not believe paying cover will be nearly as popular across the country.

Innovation. 

FuturePay is an app available to iPhone users that allows you to upload credit/debit card information so that you can pay cover at a specific bar you wish to go to in Midtown. This would essentially diminish the extensive wait time to get into the bar. You will be able to upload a picture of your ID to the app, but will also have to show your ID at the door as verification that you are over 21. Once you have shown your ID in person to a bouncer at any bar, you will be placed into an online system so you will never have to show your ID again. As FuturePay gains popularity and success, you will be able to open and close your bar tab to avoid the annoyance of trying to get the bartenders attention to order a drink. This, again, will diffuse the necessity to get cash out at the ATM before going out. I will make money by selling this idea to the bars in Midtown. This will make everything easier for bar managers and bouncers because everything will be put into an online system where they can see everyone who is at the bar and what their drink orders are. The price will start at $100 a month on a minimum 1 year plan.

Venture Concept.

I do not think it will be hard to get students to use this app, however, I will probably experience difficulty trying to get the actual bars to use this service. I am sure that they have their own system at their establishments and may be unwilling to change if it is something that works for them. The bars may end up making even more money because it will force them to charge a cover, where some bars do not charge cover for those over 21. I will have to explain to them how secure FuturePay will be and how much more efficient it will make their bar. They will have the opportunity to track how many drink orders they receive and how many people attend their bar on a given night which may be important information to the finances of their business. If people are using cash to pay for drinks and ordering them by word of mouth, there is no way to tell what they are buying and how much. I don't think packaging and price points will play a major role in my business concept. It will be more about selling my idea in an effective manor so that bar owners view FuturePay as a necessity in our ever-changing technologically advanced world. As one or two business establishments begin to understand this idea, it will help others realize the necessity for it. There are not currently competitors besides the app BarEye which allows you to buy drinks for friends on the app. But nothing that is as specific and innovative as FuturePay. Some weaknesses may be the fact that IDs need to also be checked at the door for first time users.

Three minor elements.

• My secret sauce: the fact that nothing like this exists, along with the fact that cash is becoming more and more useless.
• What's next for the venture? I think that FuturePay will start as just a way to pay ahead of time for your cover charge. As the app grows, I would like to expand it into a way to order drinks and open/close your bar tab. I would also like to expand the use of the app to other universities and cities around the U.S
•  What's next for me? I hope to continue on with other business ideas in the social scene to help make life easier for college students in any minor way I can. With the success of this idea, I think I will realize that a simple concept and a simple problem/solution can go a very long way and make a very large impact on the community. 

Amazon Whisperer

• Revenue Drivers:

It will be difficult at first to make money because FuturePay will be a free app. Revenues will be made off of advertisements for the app which will be posted to Facebook, twitter, and instagram. The bars in midtown that use my service will have to pay a small fee which is the main revenue driver, as well as the consumers of the app. 

• What's the next thing your customers want?

The next thing my customers will want is to be able to pay for drinks through the app and open/close their bar tab. This will de-crowd the bar area and make it much easier to get drinks. 

•  Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

This will greatly enhance the user experience because not only to students get annoyed by the long bar lines in mid town they also get annoyed with how long it takes to get the attention of a bar tender. This process could be much more efficient if it was all done on the app.

BarEye is the most similar app to my service. It was created in 2013, this app allows you to buy drinks and "send" them to your friends. The concept is similar but it is less of a service than my app would be. However, you are able to purchase drinks at partnering bars through the app which is the next service I would provide next to the ability to pay cover. If I teamed up with BarEye this could make for a really successful idea. According to Techcrunch.com, " you can buy drinks for friends through Facebook or to anyone checked in to a BarEye bar. You can also buy yourself a drink to avoid opening a tab or waiting for service. Just select the bar and drink, pay with credit card and redeem with the bartender." Customer reviews for this app were generally very positive. People rated it high because they liked the idea. People only rated it low because of technical difficulties with connecting to the app. 

Week 11 reading reflection

You Need an Innovation Strategy

I was mostly surprised to hear that innovation efforts fail at first a majority of the time. The reason is because of a lack of alignment between innovation and business strategies. This is something I found to be very surprising and interesting. Before reading this article, I never would have though that businesses would mis-align their new innovation ideas with their typical business strategies. I learned many things in this article that are applicable to the start up of a business as an entrepreneur. There must be a specific innovation strategy in order to see success. Gary Pisano identifies the problem, a solution, and the proper steps to be taken. I like how Pisano discussed the success with Corning's innovation strategies and used a chart to show his success. I do not have any questions for the author and do not disagree with him. He provided a very indepth, clear, concise, and efficient analysis of where company's go wrong in innovation and how they can change their strategies to see more success.

My unfair advantage

FuturePay: app used to pay ahead of time to get into bars to avoid long lines

1. knowledge of how midtown works: I have a good understanding of how the bars in midtown operate.

Valuable: yes
Rare: no
Inimitable: no
Non-substitutable: yes

2. people skills: I am outgoing and good at talking to people

Valuable: yes
Rare: no
Inimitable: yes
Non-substitutable: no

3. lack of competition: similar apps do not currently exist

Valuable: yes
Rare: yes
Inimitable: yes
Non-substitutable: yes

4. college relevance: for use by college students

Valuable: yes
Rare: no
Inimitable: yes
Non-substitutable: yes

5. possibility to spread: if popular could spread to other college campuses

Valuable: yes
Rare: no
Inimitable: no
Non-substitutable: no

**6. convenience: It makes going out easier

Valuable: yes
Rare: yes
Inimitable: yes
Non-substitutable: yes

7.  large customer base: UF has a huge student body

Valuable: yes
Rare: slightly
Inimitable: no
Non-substitutable: yes

8. easy to access: most people have iPhones

Valuable: yes
Rare: slightly
Inimitable: no
Non-substitutable: yes

9. iPhone proficiency: I am easily able to navigate my phone and all the apps so I would be able to efficiently explain my app

Valuable: yes
Rare: no
Inimitable: no
Non-substitutable: yes

10. creativity: I believe this is an original idea and could create branches off of this service (such as ability to order drinks on the app)

Valuable: yes
Rare: yes
Inimitable: yes
Non-substitutable: no

My top resource is the convenience aspect. I do not believe that there are other services out there that make going out in Gainesville's midtown an easier and more efficient process.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

Marketing Challenges for Entrepreneurial Ventures

I really enjoyed reading this chapter and learned just how important the marketing process is when you are starting a business. Something from the reading that stood out to me the most was that there is a distinct difference between conventional marketing and entrepreneurial marketing. I never really recognized that there were different types of marketing based on the success and maturity of the company. The chart outlining traditional versus entrepreneurial marketing in this chapter was really helpful in better understanding this. Nothing in the reading was confusing to me, it was all very straightforward and the author did a good job of clearly and concisely explaining the importance of marketing and the different tactics that entrepreneurs should practice. I would ask the offer to provide real life examples of when these marketing tactics actually worked and were successful and how companies used these tactics in real life. This would help make the information of the chapter more credible and would also allow readers to better understand the matter. That is the only question I would ask. I did not think the author was wrong about anything in this chapter. I am someone who is usually interested in marketing so I found this reading to be very easy to read and understand.

Idea Napkin No. 2

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. 

Most of this section is going to be the same as the Idea Napkin No. 1. I am a junior at UF who is very sociable and enjoys spending time with friends and family. Since classes, tutors and playing lacrosse take up much of my time, when I do get free time I like to use it to the fullest. I am a very motivated individual that is devoted to the things that interest me. I enjoy making others happy. I believe the social aspect of college is one of the most important. College is where you shape who you are, who you will become, and establish a core group of friends who will stay in your life for a long period of time.

2) What are you offering to customers? 

The service I will offer to customers is an app called Future Pay that allows you to pay hours ahead of time to get into your favorite Midtown bars. This will speed up the long waiting process to get into the bars. It will be a more efficient system for both the bouncers and the bar goers. If you have paid and end up deciding not to attend the bar, you will be able to use the payment towards another night you wish to go out. To deal with the issue that it may be difficult to upload your ID and therefore detect fakes, once you are recognized as 21 and have shown your ID to a bouncer, you will be uploaded to an online system. A star will appear next to your name to indicate that your ID has previously been checked and you will not ever have to show it again. I will also extend the app so you will be able to order and pay for drinks while you are at the bar to avoid the frustration of trying to flag down a bartender.

3) Who are you offering it to? I will still offer this product to UF students who like to go out in Midtown. Most, if not all, of those who go to bars in Midtown are college students. The bar owners and bouncers of the bars will also be offered the app because they will have to operate their business through Future Pay in order to manage how many people they allow into their bar. In addition to Gainesville, I will also offer Future Pay in bigger cities such as Jacksonville and Miami.

4) Why do they care? 
 This service will be valuable to customers because the last thing people want to do when they are going out is to wait in a long line and deal with obnoxious people trying to cut them. With Future Pay, lines will hopefully be eliminated completely to make for a much more efficient system than what is currently in place. The process of ordering a drink will also be much less time consuming and frustrating to ensure a positive bar experience. Especially in Gainesville, the social scene is very important to the culture of the University of Florida so it is necessary to make it as appealing as possible.

5) What are your core competencies? 
What sets me apart from most people is my constant drive, determination, and motivation to complete my goals. I am able to work through adversity and failures have never caused me to give up. I am very independent and self motivating which would be vital to working on the completion of Future Pay.

I believe these elements fit well together with the concept of my business idea. In order to make a new app work, you must have confidence in yourself and be willing to accept failures. I have never been someone who gets discouraged when things don't work out at first. These are very important traits when working to become an entrepreneur because there is no doubt that you will faced with obstacles, difficult decisions, and failures before you are successful.

Feedback Memo

The feedback I received was very helpful in shaping my business idea. The aspects of my idea that were week is the fact that it will be hard to scan your ID to an app and have it recognize whether the person is 21 and over. I recognize that with this issue, the idea of Future Pay may not even speed up the waiting process at all. A few changes I made were the online system that keeps track of a history of bar-goers who have already been identified as 21 or older. I also added a drink ordering feature to the Future Pay app that will hopefully assist people in getting drinks more efficiently. Overall, the feedback was positive, but also critical and helped me better transform my idea.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

Sources of Capital for Entrepreneurial Ventures

Much of this chapter was information I have previously learned in my finance classes so it was interesting to see things like debt, equity, and IPOs applied to entrepreneurship ventures. I think it is important to note the thinking and time needed to secure a bank loan. It is not an easy process. The most surprising thing I read was that "more than 25% of all small ventures were started with less than $500." There is nothing I disagree with in this chapter. Everything was explained well and related back to entrepreneurship accurately. I would ask the author which types of businesses are usually started using  each method of raising capital such as venture capital versus equity financing or private placement. I thought it was interesting that the author included how entrepreneurs should ask questions of venture capitalists and what the 7 best types of questions were.

Half-way Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a skill. The most important thing in order to stay on top of this course is to always try and get ahead. You have to look ahead the week to make sure you have enough time to get everything done. I have tried to get at least 1-2 assignments done by Wednesday so that I don't have to worry about them over the weekend. For the bigger assignments, like posting videos, I have learned to not procrastinate because they end up taking more time than you think.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude.  There have definitely been times where I felt like giving up and even considered dropping the class. There are a few assignments I did not pass in because I didn't feel like taking the time to do them. When this happened I tried to look at the class from a different perspective. As opposed to just going through the motions of the assignments, I tried to relate them to my major and what I will be doing later in my life. When I did this, I realized just how much this class applies to the real world and it made me more motivated to complete assignments.

3) Three tips.  
       1. Do NOT procrastinate, especially when there are multiple assignments due in one day.
       2. On Monday, look ahead at what assignments are due the rest of the week.
       3. Don't post a blog and Declare if you have not met all the requirements for the assignment

Week 7 Reading Reflection

I thought this article was very interesting. Market segmentation is something that I have learned many times in different classes I have taken at UF so I know how important it is. I was most surprised by how much it has changed and evolved over time. I was interested to read about the 1964 market segmentation plan. I was also very surprised at the fact that although market segments may reach the target market, sales do not always increase because of it. Because of this, I would ask the author what makes market segmentation so important aside from the chance of it increases sales, because it is clear that this is not always the case. I do not disagree with the author and thought he did a thorough analysis of market segmentation.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

2) The feedback that was most important to me was to be more enthusiastic which is definitely something I struggle with, especially when I am recording a video of myself. I got a lot of positive feedback about my idea which gave me more confidence that it could actually work. The most surprising feedback was that someone didn't think the Midtown bars would agree to it because they rely on getting money from IDs that they know are fake, so the whole uploading your ID thing wouldn't be practical. I did not agree with this. Especially because most bars don't charge a cover if you are over 21 so this would automatically be making them a lot more money.

3. I changed this pitch from the last one by starting off with questions that I thought would relate to most college students. I also included something at the end about getting 2 free drink vouchers when you sign up to give people more of an incentive. Overall, I tried to appeal more to my target audience and consumers.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

What stood out to me the most is that the forces that shape competition are different based on different industries or markets.  

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One part that was confusing was that "eliminating rivals is a risky strategy." This doesn't really make sense to me how one would go about eliminating a rival from the market. That seems unrealistic.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

First, I would ask the author is if rivalry among competitors is something that drives people away from certain industries?

Second, I would ask the author statistics regarding how these factors actually effected to success of failure of new competitors that enter existing markets (aka entrepreneurs)?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

There wasn't anything in the article that I disagreed with but I think the author could have used more real life examples to go along with the information he provided.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. 

I am a junior at UF who is very sociable and enjoys spending time with friends and family. Since classes, tutors and playing lacrosse take up much of my time, when I do get free time I like to use it to the fullest. I am a very motivated individual that is devoted to the things that interest me. I enjoy making others happy. I believe the social aspect of college is one of the most important. College is where you shape who you are, who you will become, and establish a core group of friends who will stay in your life for a long period of time.

2) What are you offering to customers? 

The service I will offer to customers is an app called Future Pay that allows you to pay hours ahead of time to get into your favorite Midtown bars. This will speed up the long waiting process to get into the bars. It will be a more efficient system for both the bouncers and the bar goers.

3) Who are you offering it to? I am going to offer this product to UF students who like to go out in Midtown. Most, if not all, of those who go to bars in Midtown are college students. The bar owners and bouncers of the bars will also be offered the app because they will have to operate their business through Future Pay in order to manage how many people they allow into their bar.

4) Why do they care? 
 This service will be valuable to costumers because the last thing people want to do when they are going out is to wait in a long line and deal with obnoxious people trying to cut them. With Future Pay, lines will hopefully be eliminated completely to make for a much more efficient system than what is currently in place. Especially in Gainesville, the social scene is very important to the culture of the University of Florida so it is necessary to make it as appealing as possible.

5) What are your core competencies? 
What sets me apart from most people is my constant drive, determination, and motivation to complete my goals. I am able to work through adversity and failures have never caused me to give up. I am very independent and self motivating which would be vital to working on the completion of Future Pay.

I believe these elements fit well together with the concept of my business idea. In order to make a new app work, you must have confidence in yourself and be willing to accept failures. I have never been someone who gets discouraged when things don't work out at first. These are very important traits when working to become an entrepreneur because there is no doubt that you will faced with obstacles, difficult decisions, and failures before you are successful.