28 - Your Exit Strategy

1.  The exit strategy for my business venture entails selling my business in the next 5 years for a large return on my investment.
   
2. I have chosen this exit strategy because I don't want a business that I started to become this big inconvenience or hassle for me or my family, I want to get the business started and then get my return when I sell the business to someone that will continue to run it. Then I will be able to shift my focus to my next business venture.
   
3. I think that this exit strategy can influence the other decisions that I make in the business because I will not have to consider the life of the business past the 5 years that I will be running it. It can allow me to be more focused on growth opportunities that will increase the value of the business in the short run rather than focusing on the businesses long future.

27 -Reading Reflection No. 3

Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

1. I was most surprised that Steve Jobs become a billionaire from Pixar's IPO and not his Apple products. His stocks become worth $1.2 billion in 1995 after the success of Toy Story. I most admired Steve Jobs attention to detail. He was so precise and everything had to be perfect in his eyes. He would no put out a product just to make money, but rather he was looking to produce a product that he was valuable and perfect. He was not just in the business to make money. I least admired that Steve Jobs was very difficult to work with and he treated his employees poorly. He would fire them for no reason and would look down on them.

2. As I mentioned above, Steve Jobs' attention to detail is one of his main skills. He wanted everything to be perfect and would work unbelievably hard to make it perfect. His hard work and determination, along with his brilliant ideas is what separated him from the rest of the pack. Steve Jobs was able to build the most successful and dominant company we have ever seen.

3. The part that still confuses me is how Steve Jobs snuck back control over Apple. I'm not sure how he was able to do that, and it wasn't really explained in the book. 

4. Two Questions: What motivates you to be successful? What would you recumbent to a young kid about being an entrepreneur? I want to ask these two questions because as a young kid, I want to know what steps I could take to be motivated and become a successful entrepreneur.  

5. I believe that Steve Jobs really values hard work. He seemed to always be working hard no matter what company. Steve Jobs was a very hard worker and probably resulted in him creating such a successful business. One must always work hard if they ever hope to achieve something in life, it will never just be handed to you.

26 - Celebrating Failure

About two weeks ago I was helping my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins move into a new house. We had the U-Haul for two days to move every thing from their old house to a storage unit for a couple weeks and two more days to move every thing from the storage unit into the new house. It was the last day of moving things into the new house and the last load of boxes and furniture. It was then, loading up the final load of boxes that I realized that the giant step that we had been lugging heavy furniture over for two days out of the old house and two days into the new house, nearly killing ourselves every time, could be eliminated if we had just lifted the ramp up and put it in the notches of the truck. On the left is an example of the massive step up into the truck from the ramp that we had been lugging furniture over the whole time, and on the right is my photo that I took after I had the "Are you kidding me!" moment of realization. Literally, that's what I yelled. Obviously, from this I learned that the U-Haul ramp has notches that it is supposed to go into to eliminate the step up into the truck. In this case there were seven people helping move at one point or another, and it took until the last load up for me to realize this massive failure.

The massive step from the ramp to the inside of the truck.

When the ramp is properly used there is no step.

To top this day off, there's more.  I was tired from two full days of moving heavy furniture and boxes. So when it came to unloading my cousins Razor scooter, you know the ones that kill your ankles, from the truck, I thought it would be a great idea to ride the scooter down the ramp of the U- Haul. I know what your thinking, but I made it down the ramp great, it was when I went to get off of the scooter that I some how managed to trip over it and fall to my hands and knees. Which put a scrape on my knee and a hole in my jeans. This, of course, spawned laughs from everyone who witnessed this laps in judgement.

Failure is hard, and sometime embarrassing, but it's how we learn as humans. From this experience I know to always put the U-Haul ramp in the proper position before moving big heavy furniture and that riding down a steep U-Haul ramp in a scooter isn't a very good idea. The best way that I handle failure is the knowledge that without failure we would never have success. This class has somewhat changed my perspective on failure, because sometimes failure is the only way that you are able to find success, and I think that I am more likely to take some risks now than I was just a few months ago.

25 - What's Next?

• set a course for growth for your business
• develop plans for how you will grow in both a new market and the market that you have already identified

Existing Market:

1. I plan to begin my business venture in The Villages, Florida and plan to expand to other parts of Florida with a higher percentage of older citizens such as Punta Gorda and Bradenton.
2. The three customers that I interviewed noted expansion to more cities as I had planned, but named some other cities where this need exists such as Naples and Vero Beach. They liked the two cities that I had mentioned, saying that those cities also have a higher percentage of older citizens. One of the people that I interviewed even lives in Punta Gorda and said that she would use the service if it was in her city.
3. Based on my thoughts and the input from the potential customers that I interviewed I would, after success in The Villages, expand to Punta Gorda first and then to Naples because of their location and higher percentage of potential customers.

New Market:

1. A radically different market that I would like to consider expanding to would be people with disabilities that prevent them from being able to drive.
2. I think that my venture concept might be able to create value for the people in this new market for some of the same reasons. People that are part of this new market might not have family that is always available to give them rides when they need one and public transportation may not be an option or may pose potential problems.
3. The customers that I interviewed in this new market believe that this business could possibly be able to meet the needs of customers like them. However, they offered some ideas for adaptations to the service that could help to make it more successful in this new market. Some ideas that they mentioned are improving the accessibility for these customers such as possessing cars that are wheelchair friendly, and possibly having staff that are specially trained to assist people with different disabilities.  
4. This exercise to adapt our existing venture into a new market was very eye opening and I learned that the problem I am focusing on solving could exist for more than just the segment of people that I am focusing on. The fact that my concept existed for this segment of people is what surprised me the most. I hadn't previously thought about my venture concept being suitable for this new market.
   Once I learned that my venture idea could be suitable for this new market, I began to think about the different adaptations that could be implemented to help suit this new market. Some of the adaptations that the customers I interviewed mentioned such as wheelchair friendly vehicles are similar to the ideas that I began to brainstorm. This new market does appear to be attractive, however I believe that my existing market has a higher chance of success.

23 - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

10 Resources that makes us special:

1. Cater to the older community
• valuable and non-substitutable but, not rare or unique
2. CPR certified drivers
• valuable, rare, and non-substitutable but not inimitable
3. Clear background checks
• valuable, somewhat rare, and non-substitutable but not inimitable
4. Local hubs for quick service
• valuable, and rare but not inimitable or non-substitutable
5. monthly membership cost 
• valuable and rare but not inimitable or non-substitutable
6. Quality of service
• valuable and non-substitutable, but not inimitable or rare
7. Timeliness
• valuable, rare, non-substitutable but not inimitable
8. Friendly and personable drivers
• valuable, rare, non-substitutable but not inimitable
9. The ability to become familiar with a specific driver and grow trust in that driver
• valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable
10. The amount of flexibility and ease of use with our service
• valuable and non-substitutable, but not rare or inimitable

Through this analysis of my ventures resources and there VRIN capabilities, I believe that my top resource is the customers ability to become familiar with a specific driver and grow trust in that driver. This resource is more important to my venture than all other resources because it meets all of the VRIN requirements and, much like the relationship between a customer and their hair dresser, it is an aspect of my venture that would grow my customer loyalty and my brand equity.

24 - Venture Concept No. 1

Description: A membership organization that offers rides exclusively to the elder generation of people who can no longer drive themselves.

Opportunity: Older adults currently make up approximately 23 percent of the total population in Florida. By 2020, that number will likely increase to 28 percent—nearly one-third of the state’s population. That number is expected to grow even more substantially by 2030. Given the higher population of seniors in Florida, do we need to think more carefully about older adults and auto accident risks? The highest fatal accident rates are among Florida drivers who are aged 85 and older, but statistics show a significant increase in accident rates when drivers reach the age of 70. Beyond driving risks, some older citizens suffer from various ailments that prevent them from being able to drive themselves.

I have found that older people who cannot drive themselves most notably express this need when they need to go somewhere, such as a doctors’ appointment, and no one they know is available to drive them or public transportation is not an option.

To find a solution to this problem a customer first may ask a friend or family member for a ride. However, these people may have job and family obligations that make them unable to provide them with a ride. Then, this customer may turn to public transportation to get them where they need to go. In many parts of Florida public transportation is very limited and older citizens might not have access to public transportation. Also, they may have safety concerns related to using public transportation. However, these solutions are often flawed because friends or family members may not always be available when needed and public transportation may not be a viable option for a lot of people.

 I believe that this window of opportunity will remain open and continue to grow until a proper solution to this problem is found.

Innovation: We are different from any other similar business because we cater to the older community. All of our drivers would be CPR certified and have some Emergency training as well as clear background checks and driving records, so you know you are in safe hands with us. Also, for those who are medically unable to drive we may even be covered by their health insurance. We would also have hubs placed across the city, so that a customer could have a ride at their door minutes after calling.

When I asked potential customers about their preferred method of payment for the type of service that I plan to offer, they cited interest in a monthly member cost for customers who plan to use the service consistently. they also noted that there should be a pricing tier for customers who wish to pay per ride.

What matters most to the people that I interviewed when considering the "rightness" of the purchase are quality of service, timeliness, and safety. Customers want to be able to rely on the service to be prompt, so customers will not be late to any possible appointments. Safety is a big concern with customers, they want to know that they will be safe in transit and safe in the company of our drivers.

Venture Concept:
For this business I plan to start in The Villages and grow to be available throughout the state of Florida. I am offering this venture idea to The Villages citizens age 60 and older who can no longer drive themselves or do not like driving themselves but still have places to go and things to do.

I am offering my customers the idea of no more car payment, no more car maintenance stress, no more driving anxiety, and no more relying of other people to get you where you want to go.
My customers care because if they cannot drive themselves and they have no one who can drive them then they are stuck at home. Or if they do not like driving they may let that limit them in the things they do. Studies have shown that there are countless benefits of an active social life for older adults, and my business would make that possible.

Some of the alternatives to my service that have been mentioned in my past interviews are public transportation, car services such as Uber/Lyft, and family and friends. Above all the people that I interviewed said they relied on friends of family members to give them a ride.

Future of the Business:

• I believe that this ventures most important resource will be the quality of service, the timeliness of our drivers, and the level of safety our service can provide to our customers on a consistent, reliable basis.
• The next opportunity that I would like to tackle with this current innovation, is to expand to other states across the United States.
• In five years with this venture, I would like to be well established in our first city and looking to expand and provide our services to a second city.

21 - Reading Reflection No 2

Book: "The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users" by Guy Kawasaki

1.  What was the general theme or argument of the book? The overall topic of this book is to help build a marketing presence through connectivity and the use of social media. It goes through multiple social media platforms and explains how to successfully market a product through each social media platform. This book also made the argument that social media is one of the most important metrics for reaching potential customers. It is a great book for people who need to build social capital in their business.
   
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? The book really connects what I am learning in ENT3003 because every assignment we have in this class is posted in a blog which is a form of social media. The introduction of the book states, " In a perfect world, however, you would develop better techniques than us, and you'd tell us how to improve our game too." That reminds me of this class because it is so peer based. We try to help each other out and improve each others ideas. This class leaves most everything up to you and that's how this book approaches social media. They give you some tips and tricks but want you to put your own spin on it.
   
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? I think a very fun activity for those in the class could be for the students to pick their favorite content producing account, whether it be a journalist, newspaper, blog, store, restaurant or any other entity, and go down the list and find several of the over 100 tips being replicated on the account. I think that you will find that many of the great content producers will be tapping into at least 30 or more of these tips, perhaps over half of them. Also, the students could find a few tips that aren't already implemented and talk about how that specific account could do so.
   
   
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? The biggest takeaway that I took from reading this book was how to properly handle the comments section on social media. I have seen business respond to customers in the past, but I never realized that there was a proper way to do it. There was a part in the book that says it's okay to respond to negative comments but to only respond once, otherwise it turns into an argument online and seems unprofessional.

19 - Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You. For this business I plan to start in The Villages and grow to be available throughout the state of Florida. I have personally experienced people with this need and the unneeded stress and anxiety it puts on them.
   
2. What are you offering to customers? I am offering my customers the idea of no more car payment, no more car maintenance stress, no more driving anxiety, and no more relying of other people to get you where you want to go.
   
3. Who are you offering it to? I am offering this idea to The Villages citizens age 60 and older who can no longer drive themselves or do not like driving themselves but still have places to go and things to do.
   
4. Why do they care?  My customers care because if they cannot drive themselves and they have no one who can drive them then they are stuck at home. Or if they do not like driving they may let that limit them in the things they do. Studies have show that there are countless benefits of an active social life for older adults, and my business would make that possible.
   
5. What are your core competencies? We are different from any other similar business because we cater to the older community. All of our drivers would be CPR certified and have some Emergency training as well as clear background checks and driving records so you know you are in safe hands with us. Also, for those who are medically unable to drive we may even be covered by their health insurance. We would also have hubs placed across the city, so that a customer could have a ride at there door minutes after calling.
   
   Evaluation: I believe all of these elements fit together very well. Experts predict that, by the year 2030, the population of Floridians aged 65 and older will grow to 7.77 million. That large number of people would account for more than 37 percent of Florida’s current population. This means that the problem of older drivers on the road is only going to grow and their need to want to stay active is going to grow as well. Also,I am much more confident with the potential of this new idea than the idea that I was previously working on.

"Feedback Memo"
A couple of the points of feedback that I received is to consider how the funding of a project such as this would work and how I would get my employees CPR certified. When it comes to having employees with CPR certification, we would hire employees who are already certified or upon hiring employees would agree to take it upon themselves to get certified. For the business itself, the majority of the funds would come from the customers who use the service through membership fees/ pay per ride.