Assignment 30A

2) After reading through all of my posts I have been able to come up with conclusions about my experiences within this course. I believe that my most informative experience has been doing all of the elevator pitch assignments because they helped me develop a lot professionally. I will always remember the assignment where we had to reach out to others and develop our social capital. My favorite experience has just been learning about entrepreneurship in general. I am most proud of the fact that I have made it to the end of this course.

3) I think I have definitely moved closer to an entrepreneurial mindset. At the beginning of the semester I would think "I wish there was something to solve this problem", but now whenever I am faced with a problem I think "How can I come up with an effective and marketable solution to this problem?"  Now I definitely see myself as an entrepreneur.

4) My biggest recommendation is don't fall behind on assignments/get ahead on assignments. Getting ahead on assignments really helped me in this course. When there were weeks that I knew I was going to be busy in my others classes, I always made sure to get the ENT3003 assignments for those weeks done early so I could spend more time for my other classes. In order to foster this kind of mindset, I recommend either buying a planner, or constantly checking canvas in order to remember/notice when you will have busy weeks coming up so you can get ahead on assignments.

 

Assignment 29A

1)
Opportunity:

My opportunity is targeted at those who drink alcohol and experience hangovers and the nature of the need arises from the fact that those who drink alcohol usually experience hangovers, and they don't like experiencing hangovers so my product will get rid of those hangovers. The force that creates this environment is the fact that people drink alcohol. Some customers satisfy this need by drinking a lot of water, Pedialyte, or not drinking on an empty stomach. This window of opportunity will be open until the day people stop drinking alcohol.

Innovation:

My original idea for innovation was somehow creating a compound that reacts with the toxins in alcohol that make you feel bad and counter those toxins out, thus leaving you still feeling the positive effects but not the negative ones. This is a dynamic form of innovation, but I was informed that this might not be possible, and even if it were, it would be very costly to try and figure out how to create a product like that. Part of my original plan was to create a "hangover pack" that included that compound, so now I can still create my "hangover pack" but I can just not include the compound pill. The pack would include snacks that are known to absorb alcohol (like crackers/bread/carbs), lots of water, a drink high in electrolytes, and some type of pain/headache reliever. This is definitely a much lower level of innovation.

Venture Concept:

My hangover pack will definitely aid in solving the problem of being hungover. It is full of ingredients that all reduce the effects of a hangover. Customers will switch to buying the hangover pack because it makes things easier. Instead of having to buy all those things separately, you can buy one item that has all of them. Also, you could buy one before going out, instead of waiting til you are already hungover to try and solve your problem. My competitors would be any producer of the objects that are in my hangover packs. To organize my business, I would buy in bulk all of the ingredients to my packs, have them shipped to my packaging center, hire workers to assemble the packs, and then sell them commercially at liquor stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, and gas stations.

2) I would say for the most part I got good feedback about my opportunity. Everyone I have talked to said they would be interested in a product that cures hangovers. I got some good points that I didn't think of that were brought up to me in my feedback. One of those points is that my idea of creating a compound that interacts with alcohol to counteract the toxins might not be possible. If this is true I'd have to change my form of innovation. I was also told even if it were, then it would still be very costly to figure out how to develop it.

3) I changed my venture concept by adapting my hangover packs. I originally was gonna have hangover packs that included this compound, but now I am just going to have the regular hangover packs.

4)

Assignment 28A

 For my exit strategy I think I would want to sell my product for a large sum of money. One, I think any patent I get wouldn't last my lifetime and competitors could come on the market afterwards which would lower my market share and profit. So if I sell beforehand, I can reap a big reward. Also owning a business seems like a lot of work so one day I would like just to get a regular job. I don't think anyone in my family would like to carry on this business so I definitely wouldn't keep it as a family venture. My product isn't really a sentimental or out of this world technology, so I don't see any extremely important reason not to sell my start up.
I honestly don't think my exit strategy has really influenced any of my other decisions that I have made for my opportunity so far. I don't really see how a decision on how to end my business is going to significantly impact my decisions on how to grow or run my business.

Assignment 27A

For this assignment I read Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc

1) What surprised me most is that Ray Kroc didn't come up with franchising until he was 52. What I admire most is that he didn't let his age stop him from pursuing a new opportunity. What I least admired about him was that he was a salesman, I think salesmen for the most part are sleazy. He definitely encountered adversity and failure, and he overcame that by never giving up.

2) I noticed that the entrepreneur exhibited tenacity, perseverance, dedication, analytical skills, persuasion skills, and charisma.

3) One part of the reading that confused me was that I don't understand how Kroc's paper cup company was able to take 60 percent of his business just because he used to be and employee for that company.

4) My two questions would be: How did you train yourself to look at opportunities at every corner? and: Did you ever feel like giving up?

5) I think Ray Kroc definitely believes that hard work is a key ingredient for success.

Assignment 26A

One example of a time when I failed this semester is when I lost a charity basketball tournament that I was playing in. The name of the tournament is called Alpha Delta Pi Lionshare. While this tournament only occurs once a year, it is something that I have participated in and failed the past three years. My team made a good run in the tournament we made it to the top eight out of over 50 teams, but I would consider myself a pretty good basketball player, and I hate losing, so I would consider it a failure. Especially considering that my first year in the tournament we made it to the final four. What I learned from this failure, is that if I really want to succeed at something, I need to make sure my teammates/team members are also on the same level of commitment as me. I also learned that if you really want to succeed at that thing, it requires time and dedication. You can't just show up with a good plan, you have to prepare mentally and physically weeks beforehand.

In general, I hate failure. That's why usually when I commit to do/attempt something, I always give my very best to try and succeed. While I hate failure, at the same time I am thankful for it. Since I hate it so much, it pushes me to be the best version of myself that I can be. It also is a great teacher, failure helps you learn a lot about yourself and the type of person you decide to be, as in if you are someone who doesn't give up or someone who does. I handle failure pretty well I would say. At first I will be upset for a minute, but then I get motivated to try even harder the next time I face a challenge. After taking this course, I would say that I am more likely to take a risk compared to before I took this course. 

Assignment 25A

Existing Market:
1) It's hard for me to think of what is next in terms of products or services for my venture because my product is about curing hangovers. There's just not much else to do or go from there. One direction I can think of is maybe create alcoholic drinks that when you drink them, they won't give you a hangover.

2) For my interviews, I found three people that like to consume alcohol and experience hangovers by standing outside of turlington and asking people if they had time for an interview. I described to them my business and afterwards I asked them the questions: What is next for a venture like mine? What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do? Do you think people would be interested in an alcoholic drink that by itself won't result in a hangover?

3) I got mixed reviews from the customers that I interviewed. At first they thought the same as me. We all struggled thinking of what direction to take since my product scope is kind of narrow. Some feedback I got is that I should just continue what I am doing. Others said I should look into finding other ways at getting rid of hangovers.
What makes most sense for the future of my venture is just to keep doing what I plan on doing in the short term. In the long term we could think of new and easier ways to cure hangovers. One way to grow my market is getting more people to drink alcohol but I am not a fan of that because I don't wanna encourage addiction. A great thing about my market is that it is always expanding as more people become of age to drink, my market expands.

New Market:
1) A radically new market that I could target could be those that don't drink alcohol.

2) One way I might be able to creep into this market is by marketing my hangover pill as a supplement. Since it has compounds that counteract with toxins, it can counteract with any other toxins that are in the body, just not from alcohol.

3) The two people I interviewed about my product did not seem that amused in my product. They both stated that if they were feeling fine, why would they need to take a supplement. They also mentioned that my product sounds like a vitamin. Because of that statement they thought that rebranding my product as a vitamin or supplement would make my product better suited for their market.

4) I didn't learn too much about this market, as it is just those who don't drink alcohol. For most of my life I was also a part of that market so I understand it well. I learned that rebranding my product as a vitamin or supplement would make my product more attractive. I assumed that I would have to market my product differently in order to be effective in this market and that was true.
This market definitely does not seem as attractive as my first market. The customers I interviewed did not seem like they would be interested in a product like this. This makes sense because my product was originally marketed as an anti hangover pill. So trying to market it to people that don't drink alcohol would be a little hard.

Assignment 24A

Opportunity:
For my opportunity, the people that have this need are basically anyone who likes to drink alcohol. It could be more narrowly described as those who drink alcohol and experience hangovers, or described as those who drink alcohol, experience hangovers, and need to be productive while they are hungover. The nature of the need is that a lot of people enjoy drinking alcohol but don't want to experience the hangover they get the next day. Or maybe they have work/school the next day and don't want the hangover to hinder their performance. The forces in the environment that create this opportunity are the customers themselves. They choose to drink alcohol because they enjoy it, and as a result, they end up getting a hangover. This market is pretty hard to define geographically or demographically because it includes all types of people that are of legal age to drink alcohol. So geographically basically anywhere, and for demographically have to be 21+ in the U.S and varying ages in other countries. Customers are currently satisfying this need in a multitude of ways, some drink pedialyte, others drink a lot of water or eat a lot of food, some people like to drink sports drinks. People are loyal to whatever will cure the hangover. If I can create a product that can effectively eliminate a hangover, then this is a huge opportunity, but if it's only as effective as most things already on the market, then this is a small opportunity because the market is kind of saturated. This window of opportunity will be open as long as people are still drinking alcohol.

Innovation:
My innovation for this product would be pretty radical, not incremental, in my opinion. I know that toxins, such as the ones in alcohol that make you feel bad, are compounds. I also know that compounds react with other substances, such as when you are on medicine sometimes you are required not to drink alcohol. So my product would include a compound that would be inside of a pill, that would react with the toxic part of alcohol and counteract those toxins. Therefore allowing you to still enjoy the perks of alcohol but counteracting the hangover. This will make me money because so many more people would be allowed to drink when they wanted, without feeling hungover the next day. Allowing them to have a little more fun at Super Bowl parties or other events that usually occur before the weekday. I would sell my pills/packs in groups of 12, and sell those packs for 24 dollars, or more or less depending on how much it costs to produce those pills.

Venture Concept:
My venture concept is that my pill that cures your hangover, will be used by people that don't like being hungover. People will buy this because most people don't enjoy being hungover, and are willing to pay to get rid of it. People will switch to this product for the exact same reason. The competitors would be people that just hydrate a lot and eat a lot before drinking and don't experience terrible hangovers because they wouldn't be willing to spend the money. Gatorade and pedialyte would also be competitors because some people use those to cure hangovers. Price point is the only factor that really plays a role in defining the business concept, along with the customer experience, because people will buy the product as long as it works and as long as it is somewhat affordable. I would hire a pharmaceutical company or drug making company to keep producing my hangover pills.

Three minor elements:
My most important resource for this product would be finding a pharmacist that is able to build a pill with the right compounds to counter out the toxins in alcohol that make you feel bad. If I could get a patent on this formula, it would make it illegal for competitors to copy my product. There won't be a next direction for my venture. I believe that this idea, if feasible, would be big enough in itself that I wouldn't have to create a new venture. What's next for me is a mystery. It all depends on the success of the venture. After five years I would like to be on the rise as a prominent company, 10 years I would like to be an established entrepreneur. My first venture would help me achieve this vision because its what will propel me to that spot.