Principles of Entrepreneurship Summer 2019

Throughout all my blog posts this semester, I have certainly learned more about the entrepreneurship process. I would say that the best moment of the semester was when I figured out the idea for the elevator programming that would be my opportunity. Everyone always says, “Why didn’t I think of that,” so having been able to think of that idea is a blessing for me. If figuring out profitable ideas was the easiest part of the process, everyone would be doing it. I would say my least favorite part of the semester was probably the end of Summer A. The culmination of the classes and pressure from exams made that week’s assignments a little more difficult to finish.                I would say the lecture on writing a business plan is the experience in the class that was the most formative. I’ll remember it for years to come, and it gave me a better idea of the entrepreneurial process. The assignments that I enjoyed the...

Feedback Summary: A recurring theme with feedback that I have received through several stages in the project is to investigate what I am already supplying and display benefits that I had not realized yet. The one that stood out to me first was to include in my venture concept and elevator pitches that not only would my solution be saving the consumers time, but it would be saving energy for the building. This was so clear once it was brought up, and I am so glad that my classmate raised this point. If I were to sit down and really look at the benefits that I am already supplying, there is so much more to market. If the conceptual “firm” were to be established with the resource of ten industrial engineers, we could go beyond just the programming of the elevators, we could improve so much more about an industry frozen in time because of the lack of dynamic thinkers. Going beyond there, we would not just be limited to quirky projects like traffic or camera sweeping, we could go into s...

My selection for this reading list was Shoe Dog , by Phil Knight, the CEO and co-founder of Nike. It actually just so happened that my roommate had a copy of the book and lent it to me for this project. Had I known it was in our apartment, I would not have had the other biography express delivered. The read was alright, I knew somewhat the story already of Nike from background knowledge, but what I was really surprised about in the book was the writing. Knight had a tremendous story telling talent in the book, which helped make the read easier. One thing I really admired about Nike’s story was the tenacity through the hardships of the development of the business. Something I was not a fan of was the clear hyperbole of the situations. It makes for a better story, but in order to really learn from the book, I wanted the real lessons, even if they were more plain. Knight’s dealings with failure lent more to the lessons that we are learning in the class, lectures and assignments about ho...

My exit strategy has been in the back of my mind since the start of the discussion of entrepreneurial ventures. One of the possibilities is to exit the venture almost immediately. I am not experienced in the sale of ideas, but if the correct government restrictions are placed on my idea, formula, and/or program, I might be willing to sell upon negotiation with the elevator companies. The way I see it, there are two options for me: develop and sell the idea or establish a firm that works in industrial/systems efficiency. It is something that I enjoy doing and has to opportunity to be profitable. As of now, I would say that starting the firm and getting the solution finalized would be the first steps. From there, based on opening offers to buy the solution or firm from companies, if they are not ludicrously profitable, I would continue working with the firm, eventually retiring from working there and keeping stock in the company. I have chosen this path because it would allow m...

My story of failure comes in the form of the Business Finance class at UF. It is widely regarded as the absolute hardest business class a student will have to take to graduate from the Warrington College of Business. The professor even provides a pass option at the beginning of the course that, should a student do all of the extra credit, all of the practice exams, and all of the exams, taking as much time as allowed, and average above a 40%, a student can pass the class with a D-, which is technically passing for the business school, but still damaging to the GPA and resume. The class was 6 weeks long, one exam every two weeks. For the first exam, I scored a 50%, which was not considered bad for the class. I did a lot of preparation. I watched lecture, I used tutoring services, and I studied for days leading up to the test. For the second exam I wanted to knock it out of the park. I studied for the two weeks leading up to the exam and when faced with the test, I was clueless. ...

Existing Market The next steps for the service my firm would be providing would likely be tackling traffic inefficiencies in major cities where in we would be profitable. Local governments could dish out for the firm to come in, observe the traffic patterns, and suggest ways to manipulate traffic lights, road closures, and detours that could streamline driving patterns to avoid accidents and holdups. The three people that I interviewed are my current roommates, who had strong and insightful opinions on the elevator idea. I asked them each what I should pursue as my next venture. Roommate 1: Go beyond working outside of the elevator companies and work in one. Good ideas like the previous venture would set me up for higher level positions in a large corporation. He thought that the traffic pattern studies would be to widespread and hard to do all over the country/world. Roommate 2: He recommended staying open as a business and installing the programming in the current elevato...

Elevators In Efficiency The potential consumers for this venture are member of the population that use elevators regularly in their daily lives. Anyone who lives in a multi-story building or who works in an office building or skyscraper. The need itself that these people have is a preferential need. People do not know that they have this need until they are in a situation where they feel it. If an elevator functions perfectly for a person, they will not think about the inefficiencies of the product. Once they are waiting for over 30 seconds or are in a rush, they then start to feel that pressure of the need, they would prefer that the elevator work as well as possible. There are two forces in the environment that create this opportunity. Overpopulation of buildings and statistical rush hours create the problem of overflow for people trying to use an elevator in a multi-level building. The customers need to be able to get where they are going incrementally faster than they are now...

1)      Persistent Need for the Solution Value: Incredibly valuable. If something is always a problem, a solution would be life changing around the world. Rarity: This is not rare because a lot of problems are constant. Imitability: Because of the lack of rarity, the imitability is high. Non-Substitutability: The only other way to provide this urgency was if it was an emergency venture. 2)      Niche Industry Value: Very valuable. Not a lot of competitors and it is hard to come up with such a unique idea. Rarity: Not rare, there are almost an infinite number of unique industries. Imitability: It is hard for someone to copy an industry as unique and complex as elevators. Non-Substitutability: There are other types of industries that can provide the wealth that I seek in this one, other industries that can provide the happiness I find in helping others. 3)      Combination of Sales and Design Experience ...

https://youtu.be/iv1mdP4o8s8 I have changed several parts of my pitch, not in tremendous ways, but just to fine-tune and include parts so that the product idea comes off as more professional. I started to memorize a few parts of the script and I definitely took less takes to make this pitch work. All of the feedback I received was positive, and helped me get more comfortable in front of the camera. I only really altered parts of the script, changed my shirt for the presentation to something nicer, and altered the camera angle slightly. Otherwise, the entire presentation had not changed much since the second draft.

I chose to read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams . I have read another one of his books in the past and found that he is a great writer with a lot of insight outside of his most well-known role as the creator of Dilbert . The general theme of the book is that failure can incite learning. In the book, Adams went on to describe his multiple failures in life, several restaurant ventures as well as his corporate and entrepreneurial careers. He also ended up with several tips for the readers to keep in mind as life lessons about the substantiality in life of things like passion and goals. They are not as important as society makes them out to be. Something from the reading that translated well to what we have learned in the class is that the most obvious business path is not always right. In recent lectures, Dr. Pryor encouraged entrepreneurs seeking investment to prefer a Venture Capitalist to say “no” to an idea right away than “maybe” becau...

https://youtu.be/1yiHRJ-cfjg Something that I did not take into account when coming up with my idea for more efficient elevators was the practical application of how much better the program was for energy consumption. Reducing the number of floors visited and time wasted was the main selling point of my pitch and my opportunity, but after some feedback from my classmates, I incorporated the green aspect of my project into the pitch and assignments. This opens up so many new avenues in marketing and profitability, without having to change my product. This feedback was important and useful. Things I changed in the elevator pitch were my location as well as my introduction. My hook is still the same, but now I include a thought provoking, but rhetorical, question about how much energy is wasted by current elevator users. Otherwise, the only changes I made were to make the presentation flow more smoothly and efficiently.

Domain Expert My father’s college roommate is the former vice president of NBC Universal’s Financial Operations. He knows so much about high-density markets, which my target segment is one of. Sage advice from him would be so valuable in tackling any industry from a financial viewpoint. After showing him my elevator pitch, he really liked the idea. Knowing this was all theoretical, but for a class, he advised me to not say “my team and I” already have a product when I truly do not. He also recommended thinking of new ways to market the product/service to my primary customers. Why would a company want to buy something that makes what they currently have obsolete? The topics we discussed gave me a great new perspective on my opportunity and how to present it. He was happy to help me on this project; having him as a contact will hopefully make finding a desirable job out of college more fluid. Market Expert My uncle is a vending machine stocking manager. He oversees the distribu...

Idea Napkin #2 I am a third-year marketing student at the University of Florida, hopefully graduating after my internship next summer with a bachelors before going into a Master’s program with the business school. I have skills and experience in sales and graphic design, as well as small business management. This business could be the only job I have after college for the rest of my life.  Optimistically, I could work on this project for several years, living off funding by a sponsor or under the employ of a company that I have pitched this idea to. Selling the idea, which should be worth millions of dollars could afford me a modest living after retirement, unless I do not sell the idea and product, but continually sell the service to companies in different forms. A utility or subscription basis would keep me working for a long time. What I am offering to customers (the elevator and real estate companies) is a more efficient way to operate the elevators, saving the comp...

The segment of the population that I selected to study is those that live in or work in multi-level buildings. This being the case and given the fact that these areas cost more money than one-story homes or offices, the segment is more likely to operate in a higher-income group. And having done a lot of my interviews with my neighbors, people on the ninth floor of my apartment, as well as my roommates, I have a pretty good idea of the person that is the final consumer of the product. The avatar is an older college student 19-21 years old, not living in a dorm, but a multi-level apartment. They have classes and work on alternating days, so they are in an out of the apartment a lot. They walk a lot of places because parking is such a nightmare in their college town, so getting places taking a lot of planning and time. If they are ever in a rush, living so high up in the apartment is a negative, because the elevators take so long to get to them. They cannot take the stairs and be ti...