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.

I found asking one of the people to reflect on  me as a person to be a very awkward experience. I also remember asking or my parents to contribute last minute and they were very upset about having this sprung up on them. I felt so attacked, like there is no reason to be upset, who cares? It isn't like the professor is going to listen to what they say. But, I found mom's reflection to be very sweet. She recalled when I was very young and drew a picture of Snow White right out of memory and got all the colors in the right place. I remember mom's joy when I drew that picture, I thought she just really liked Snow White's dress. Personally, I as a toddler thought it was the ugliest dress out of all the Disney Princesses. 

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?

What sticks out to me the most is how Chris Pryor really rocks the look of having a haircut. I know he likes growing it out like that...but geez after I saw him in person I felt like he was missing something. That very suiting spiky hair thing.

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 feel more like an entrepreneur. But I feel like an entrepreneur is not much different from a normal person.

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?

I recommend having fun. No need to stress or come up with the best ever plan. It is more important to have fun so nothing is so difficult.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

When it comes to dog products, most people have basic items: a leash, a collar, and a roll of poop bags. These items are common to have for people so they may take their dogs to dog parks and other public areas. When people have yards, they often let their dog(s) loose in the backyard, allowing for their dog to take their time sniffing around to find the ideal place for their business. Not all people have the luxury of a fenced-in yard, therefore they must walk their dog through the neighborhood. While walking the dog, people often would like to have entertainment by using their phones. Using the phone requires two hands, but when the dog does its business in someone’s yard, it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure the business is picked up. No one enjoys holding dog poop bags. The bag is warm and mushy. It is entirely an unpleasant experience. There should be a way to solve this problem with a product.

With increasing awareness of health, people choose to walk their dogs rather than let their dogs loose in the backyard. Walking the dog every day is a great way to ensure the dog keeps in shape and helps the human feel happier as exercise helps the mind and body. Spending time with the dog, watching the dog’s excitement as he/she sniffs new smells is joyful. Therefore, not only do people without backyards need something to hold the dog poop with, people who choose to exercise their dogs in public and residential areas also feel need something to hold the poop bags.

Social media users enjoy showing off their pets and the newest, cutest outfits the dog is modeling. People also enjoy matching outfits/accessories with their dogs. There is a demand for matching accessories for dogs and their owners. This opportunity is large.

These opportunities presented are always existing as long as people have dogs.

Currently, people often throw their dog poop bags in trash cans when they are in dog parks. When in front of apartment complexes near The University of Florida, people leave the poop on the sidewalk edges and in the grass. When people are in neighborhoods and care about being responsible, they pick up their dog’s poop in bags and hold the bags until they get back home to their own trusty trash can. As for matching, people tend to stick with giving their dogs cute outfits and suffering as they cannot match their dog’s cute outfit.

Innovation

I propose a pet product line which would feature innovative pet products to better address the demand of pet owners. This pet line would include the Poop Pocket: a bag which may clip on to a belt loop or the leash, and be used to hold the bag of poop while the person walks their dog, allowing for a free hand for the human during their walk. Additionally, there would be a line of collars, harnesses, and leashes in XS, S, M, L, XL which will have matching colors and patterns to the human version of accessories, including bandanas, silk scarfs, and t-shirts (which would both have a cute logo of the company on them).

The products would be sold online, directly from the manufacturer. It would also be sold to retailers such as groomers, PetSmart, Petco, and Pet Supermarket.

The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for a collar would be $9.99-$12.99, depending on the size selected. The MSRP for the harness would be $22.99-$25.99. The MSRP for the leash would be $14.99. The MSRP for the Poop Pocket would be $13.99. The MSRP for the bandana would be $9.99. The MSRP for the silk scarf would be $12.99. The MSRP for the t-shirts would be $19.99. With a purchase of $25, there would be free shipping to anywhere in the US.

Venture Concept

The competitors for a line of pet products such as this would include MeUndies because they have matching bandanas for the owners and dogs called “BuddyBands”. From the looks of their website, MeUndies isn’t very successful with their BuddyBand line because it isn’t easy to get to that part of their website. It is certainly not where they are getting their money from. No one is selling a Poop Pocket or anything remotely similar. There are keychains with the empty poop bag rolls on them, but no one has touched the full poop bag problem yet. Other manufacturers of pet leashes and harnesses and collars would be a part of the competition.

The weak point of the pet collar, leash, and harness producer is their dependence on brick and mortar stores. Additionally, they do not reach the consumer directly. They depend on other businesses to do the selling work for them. Because of this, they do not earn the profit they could earn if they went direct to the consumer. My pet product line sold directly to the consumer would be more profitable than the other manufacturers, and I would also be selling the products to the same stores if they allowed me to. My products would be American Made, enabling for better branding and reputation and quality.

The business would manufacture the products and would be able to grow with demand. There would be data collected from purchases to determine what sizes sell the most and adjust to make more of the popular sizes and less of the unpopular sizes. Through this innovative way of adjusting the market, my business would have an advantage.

Final Thoughts

The most important resource would be having a head start in manufacturing and is the first one on the market. Through brand name recognition and American-made reputation, the quality products produced would be worth the extra money. This would build customer loyalty.

The next venture I would pursue would be mass producing face masks. Sure, the demand would not last much longer as high as it is now, but I believe people will gain an urgency to keep an emergency quarantine pack.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The idea of the book was basically arguing it is worth the extra effort to provide lesser popular things when you're selling virtual things. For example, BlockBuster can only hold so many movies, so they have a reason to focus on the more popular ones. But Netflix has no excuse for not providing obscure, specific niche movies because it doesn't cost much to provide. A better example would be Apple Music vs a CD store. A CD store would focus on music that is popular but Apply Music has no reason to not provide obscure niche songs that haven't sold since 1980 or other songs that were only bought by someone's mom to show her support.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

The book was basically foretelling the unavoidable movement of stores to the internet to avoid the problem of brick and mortar. It doesn't cost much to provide one more song digitally. When I buy a game, I typically get the best deal by going online. Sure, eBay is sketchy sometimes but at least the preowned games are $30 less than the original price instead of $5 less (I'm looking at you, GameStop).

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

The exercise I would create in regards to this book would be to consider what could be a digital version of your product (if it is not already digital) and what would it be and how would you sell it? If the product is digital already, consider what other digital things could be added?

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I found this quote very moving: "A small market spread out is the same thing as no market at all." It was a very good point which I had not before had put into such simple and remarkable wording. I also hadn't considered why stores don't hold as many things as they should. Why not have more of the games which sell better? Because there aren't enough people in a 5-mile radius who would go to that store to get it. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

I do not understand the idea of building a business just to sell it. When you are building a business, you should focus on making the right decisions for the business in terms of prospering. It seems wrong to just start a business to sell it. It is like raising a child for the sole purpose of selling the child to someone else.

My exit strategy is to continue the business as the owner and not consider leaving until 1) I feel like I cannot make the right decisions so I should sell it to someone else 2) Someone offers me a couple pretty pennies for it 3) The business completely fails. It is okay to sell a business, but I don't feel like I'd make the right decisions and investments in a business if I planned to sell it in some years.

26A – Celebrating Failure

When I moved out of my home, I wanted to turn myself around in terms of cleanliness. I was never going to leave my towels on the floor again. I would do all my laundry every week by myself. I would keep the trash in check. I did pretty well in my dorm - so well I hated coming home to my room because it wasn't as neat as the little space in my dorm that was perfectly organized. (It is a lot easier to organize things when you don't have much, so organization at home would be a full-time job itself).

When quarantine struck and I moved out of my dorm (because who wants to be in a ghost town of a dorm?) I made a terrible mistake. My brother explained he had difficulty sleeping in his room because he had to sleep on a twin bed. He asked if he could have the queen bed in my room to sleep on. Honestly, I don't care about the size of the bed. I much preferred the over-priced (but quality) twin mattresses in the guest room, so I didn't see why not let my brother use the queen bed at night for a week?

I can tell you why. He made my room his. His dirty laundry on my floor. His wet towels on my bed. My bed was unmade with snot stains on the sheets. Everything I tried so hard to try to control was under no control of me.

I tried for some days to keep the bed made, the floor picked up, and the room under my control. But, I felt like a maid. I refused to clean up after him. I refused absolutely. This is his mess. He is twenty-one years old. He can handle this himself.

Quarantine turned out to last longer than just a week. It has been...I don't know how long it has been. But my brother has moved his TV and PS4 into the room. He uses my restroom...what started as me allowing him to sleep on a more suitable bed turned into me losing my whole room. The best room in the whole house. I have failed and it is nothing to celebrate.

Now we wait until quarantine ends so I may be able to reclaim what is rightfully mine.

(Do I really seriously care that much? No, not enough to cry. Enough to dump his dirty laundry over his room the same way he did to mine? Absolutely. But honestly, I do feel like I failed my resolution of keeping my room clean and starting adulthood with good habits.)

25A – What’s Next?

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.

Poop Pocket to hold bags of dog poop during walks, leashes, collars, harnesses, bandanas, and t-shirts. There would also be dog training videos on the website.

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 

The three customers believe I should possibly consider what Chewy.com is doing and to understand how to ensure Chewy.com is not too big of a rival.

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

First, it would start off on eBay and the poop pocket would prove itself worthy of the market. There would be a social media account created, posting relevant posts of funny things and links to funny dog videos. There would also be posts about the products that are sold on eBay. After proving the venture is worthy of investment, investors would be consulted in an attempt to gain resources needed for mass production. Mass production happens, made in America, and gains attention from pet retailers. Get into the pet retailer stores, gain more attention for the brand, more attention for the website, and grow from there, totally independent from bricks and mortar.

New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

People who do not have dogs and rich, showy offy people are not in the market I am aiming toward.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

If I wished to get the attention of the super-rich, I would consider putting crystals on the harnesses and such. To target people who do not have dogs, which is a very bad idea, I suppose I could possibly make agreements with local pet shelters. Get them to give coupons to my website whenever someone adopts a dog.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? 

The people I interviewed suggested finding a way to make my products what people think of getting someone who has a dog as a gift.

Step 4:  Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 

What surprised me the most was when I came up with finding the people who are just then getting a dog and getting my product in their face to gain their interest.

Showy offy people like crystals and sparkly things on their belongings. That is a pretty sound assumption because if someone pursues expensive things, they are showy offy. It is basically the definition.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1 -- PupperRunner

Opportunity

When it comes to dog products, most people have basic items: a leash, a collar, and a roll of poop bags. These items are common to have for people so they may take their dogs to dog parks and other public areas. When people have yards, they often let their dog(s) loose in the backyard, allowing for their dog to take their time sniffing around to find the ideal place for their business. Not all people have the luxury of a fenced-in yard, therefore they must walk their dog through the neighborhood. While walking the dog, people often would like to have entertainment by using their phones. Using the phone requires two hands, but when the dog does its business in someone’s yard, it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure the business is picked up. No one enjoys holding dog poop bags. The bag is warm and mushy. It is entirely an unpleasant experience. There should be a way to solve this problem with a product.

With increasing awareness of health, people choose to walk their dogs rather than let their dogs loose in the backyard. Walking the dog every day is a great way to ensure the dog keeps in shape and helps the human feel happier as exercise helps the mind and body. Spending time with the dog, watching the dog’s excitement as he/she sniffs new smells is joyful. Therefore, not only do people without backyards need something to hold the dog poop with, people who choose to exercise their dogs in public and residential areas also feel need something to hold the poop bags.

Social media users enjoy showing off their pets and the newest, cutest outfits the dog is modeling. People also enjoy matching outfits/accessories with their dogs. There is a demand for matching accessories for dogs and their owners. This opportunity is large.

These opportunities presented are always existing as long as people have dogs.

Currently, people often throw their dog poop bags in trash cans when they are in dog parks. When in front of apartment complexes near The University of Florida, people leave the poop on the sidewalk edges and in the grass. When people are in neighborhoods and care about being responsible, they pick up their dog’s poop in bags and hold the bags until they get back home to their own trusty trash can. As for matching, people tend to stick with giving their dogs cute outfits and suffering as they cannot match their dog’s cute outfit.

Innovation

I propose a pet product line which would feature innovative pet products to better address the demand of pet owners. This pet line would include the Poop Pocket: a bag which may clip on to a belt loop or the leash, and be used to hold the bag of poop while the person walks their dog, allowing for a free hand for the human during their walk. Additionally, there would be a line of collars, harnesses, and leashes in XS, S, M, L, XL which will have matching colors and patterns to the human version of accessories, including bandanas, silk scarfs, and t-shirts (which would both have a cute logo of the company on them).

The products would be sold online, directly from the manufacturer. It would also be sold to retailers such as groomers, PetSmart, Petco, and Pet Supermarket.

The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for a collar would be $9.99-$12.99, depending on the size selected. The MSRP for the harness would be $22.99-$25.99. The MSRP for the leash would be $14.99. The MSRP for the Poop Pocket would be $13.99. The MSRP for the bandana would be $9.99. The MSRP for the silk scarf would be $12.99. The MSRP for the t-shirts would be $19.99. With a purchase of $25, there would be free shipping to anywhere in the US.

Venture Concept

The competitors for a line of pet products such as this would include MeUndies because they have matching bandanas for the owners and dogs called “BuddyBands”. From the looks of their website, MeUndies isn’t very successful with their BuddyBand line because it isn’t easy to get to that part of their website. It is certainly not where they are getting their money from. No one is selling a Poop Pocket or anything remotely similar. There are keychains with the empty poop bag rolls on them, but no one has touched the full poop bag problem yet. Other manufacturers of pet leashes and harnesses and collars would be a part of the competition.

The weak point of the pet collar, leash, and harness producer is their dependence on brick and mortar stores. Additionally, they do not reach the consumer directly. They depend on other businesses to do the selling work for them. Because of this, they do not earn the profit they could earn if they went direct to the consumer. My pet product line sold directly to the consumer would be more profitable than the other manufacturers, and I would also be selling the products to the same stores if they allowed me to. My products would be American Made, enabling for better branding and reputation and quality.

The business would manufacture the products and would be able to grow with demand. There would be data collected from purchases to determine what sizes sell the most and adjust to make more of the popular sizes and less of the unpopular sizes. Through this innovative way of adjusting the market, my business would have an advantage.

Final Thoughts

The most important resource would be having a head start in manufacturing and is the first one on the market. Through brand name recognition and American-made reputation, the quality products produced would be worth the extra money. This would build customer loyalty.

The next venture I would pursue would be mass producing face masks. Sure, the demand would not last much longer as high as it is now, but I believe people will gain an urgency to keep an emergency quarantine pack.

[You can stop reading here because after this, I am going over the 1,000-word limit and you're not obligated to read more than 1,000 words.]

In five years after the launch of the functioning website, I would hope to have a section of the site of dog training videos and have a famous dog trainer be featured on the website, talking about how great each product is and add validity and expertise to how the products are superior to that of other brands. As an entrepreneur, I hope to be able to come up with better ways to manage rental properties from the application process to the end.