Celebrating Failure

One time that I have failed this semester was on my first calculus exam. I did not actually fail, but I could have done a lot better if I would have just dedicated the time necessary to study. This failure gave me the opportunity to learn a better study technique, and I have done increasing better on the exams since.

Failure is one of those things that everyone goes through, but no one has the same outlook on it. For some people failure makes them stronger, but for others it is debilitating. Failure comes in many different forms and in varying degrees of severity, but it forces you to reflect on why it happened and how to change it in the future. Personally I view failure as a chance to learn from a mistake. Now this is not to say I handle it well, but I have learned to move past my failures in order to succeed in the future. My perspective on failure has not been to changed by this class, but this class has allowed to me to consider different types of failure. I am a little more likely to take risks, however, because I have come to realize that some of the best things come out of a little risk.

My Exit Strategy

1) Although I really do like my business concept, it is not necessarily what I plan on doing for the rest of my working life. I do think that this is a great way to address a need I identified so I would like to see this business live on after my departure. Ideally I would only sell part of my business, once it reaches peak success, to a current employee or dedicated customer who would maintain the integrity of the business concept and its overall mission. I would like to maintain partial ownership in order to continue to have a say in its future.

2) I really do think that there is an unmet need in our community and possibly other college based communities like Gainesville. I chose this particular strategy because it would not get rid of this potentially successful service, it would merely be the way I transition out of it. I also think that by potentially selling the business and keeping a partial ownership would allow me to make sure the integrity is maintained.  

3) My exit strategy has not affected how I developed my business concept because I went into it thinking longterm not how to make it successful until I leave. In fact, my exit strategy is not even to fully exit, just to remove myself as the main decision maker. 

Week 12 Reading Reflection

This chapter discussed the idea of strategic planning and growth. It details the numerous benefits to strategic planning, as well as, the challenges that arise when managing entrepreneurial growth. The biggest surprise to me, while reading this chapter, was how a lot of strategic planning seems to be common sense but unless you actually plan you can miss some very important steps. If I could ask the author two questions the would be:

1. What are the best ways to approach strategic planning?
2. Do you have personal experience with the a business that has used strategic planning and or a business that has not?

I would ask these two questions because they are things that I thought about in reading this chapter. This chapter did not leave much to disagree with, so I did not see anything that I thought the author was wrong about. 

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

I have identified an opportunity to bring affordable and healthy food to those who have the most need for it, busy young adults. More specifically, my business is meeting the unmet needs of college students in the local area of Gainesville. Focusing on one's health is such a big trend in today’s society. Juice cleanses, subscriptions to specified meal plans, and other health food trends are extremely popular ways to maintain ones health and manage weight. However, these plans all have one thing in common, their price. The price to be thin and healthy in today’s society tends to be on the high side. This high price makes these forms of healthy eating inaccessible to most college students who are on a tight budget. My target demographic is young adults, specifically college students, who do not have a lot of time or means to eat well. This demographic usually opts for quick options rather than healthy options, so I have begun to formulate a business concept to account for these unmet needs. I have determined, through a series of interviews, that my target demographic would be more than willing to use my service. The demographics loyalty to their current fixes is not so strong that they would not be willing to try my service at least once. My window of opportunity for this business does not appear to have a set time frame; people will always want quick, healthy, and affordable meals. The location of this business would begin in Gainesville solely, but this could change in the future according to the success of the business and the overall desire of potential clients. 

Innovation

My service would provide an extremely inexpensive and fast delivery of healthy/home cooked snacks and meals. Although this sounds like some services already provided in Gainesville, I have constructed this business to meet my personal unmet needs as well as the unmet needs of the people I have interviewed. Customers would pay money for my service because for the most part they have a desire to eat healthy and get food quickly, but they also have constraints like money, transportation, and time. My service would accommodate these needs leaving no reason not to utilize it. We would have a menu that includes snacks, drinks, full meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner between outlined hours), and healthy desserts. The snacks and drinks would include things like smoothies, juices, flavor infused waters, cut up fruits and veggies, healthy chips (i.e. kale chips, sweet potato chips, yucca chips), trail mixes and various yogurts. The meals would include a core set of meals along with a rotating specials menu to mix things up for repeat customers. The meal and dessert menu would also include items that accommodate certain food restrictions like lactose and gluten intolerance, vegetarian options, and vegan options. Although there are delivery services in place in Gainesville, what sets me apart is my variety of quality, healthy food options, as well as the quick and inexpensive delivery. One thing I have that nobody else has is the lack of a price minimum for deliveries.  This is something I have personally run into when ordering from delivery services; why can't I simply order a yogurt and a drink without purchasing and entire meal? The main focus for this business is providing inexpensive healthy options. The prices of snacks, drinks, and desserts would all be under five dollars and the prices of meals would be under ten dollars. One might look at this and say sure this is possible if the portions are small, but our meals and snacks would be adjusted to meet the recommended serving sizes. Another important aspect of my business concept is the focus on employing college-aged students with the inclusion of flexible work hours. In reading the feedback I received on my first idea napkin, I have found a few common comments and found ways to clarify my concept in my responses above. The common comments include: "a service like this already exists in Gainesville", "this seems like it would be expensive", and "people do not eat healthy due to its cost". All of these are valid points. Delivery services like this do exist, but they tend to have slower delivery times, be expensive, and unhealthy. I have not found one that doesn't have a minimum amount for deliveries which is another constraint for my target audience. Honestly, all of these points only further prove my business concept. I have constructed my business plan to account for the reasons why people do not necessarily eat healthy now, and the solution is in fact my service.

Venture Concept

• Reasons customers would utilize my service:
• Young adults have an overall desire to eat well
• College students tend to be on a tight food budget
• Some young adults do not have access to cars or forms of transportation
• Competitors
• The various delivery services in Gainesville (i.e. Gainesville 2 go, 352 delivery, 2 dollar delivery, and Jimmy Johns)
• The competitors supply a similar service to mine, but their services are not meeting all the needs of the target demographic. This is where my business venture comes into play. 
• The role of packaging, price, locations, etc.
• packaging definitely plays a big role because people love things that look cool, and logos and packaging that make artsy instagrams and photographs in general. This is a big part of marketing to my target demographic
• price is a big part of my business so this plays a rather large role in my concept and the unmet need of my target demographic
• thus far my location would be less important because it is meant mainly as a delivery service. However, this could change to adapt to the ever-changing needs of my clientele base. 
• Businesses ability to adapt to changing needs:
• this is an important aspect of my business concept because I need to be able to accommodate new food based needs such as intolerances and diet trends. 
• I would also need my business to have the ability to change location wise based on number of employees and orders each day.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

This article discussed the importance of having and innovation strategy and the difficulty that is maintaining innovation. The biggest surprise to me was how difficult it is to constantly enhance ones products and how detrimental this can be to a company. It also surprised me how many big companies have had issues with innovation. If I could ask the author two questions the would be:

1. How would to propose a company maintain their innovative power? 
2. Is innovation always the answer, or are there cases where the tried and true product is best?

I would ask these two questions because of how Pisano stresses the importance of innovation. I did not really see anything that I thought was "wrong" per se with what the author said. I think he did a good job explaining the importance of innovation and how a business must have an innovation strategy. 

Amazon Whisperer

• Revenue Drivers:
• inexpensive healthy snack/meal options
• fast delivery service of different food items 
• Next Product Offering:
• The next product that I could offer is a cookbook including some of our current recipes and many new ones. The recipes in this book would adhere to our mission of providing inexpensive and healthy meals. This cook book would also include a list of restaurants in the general and the local area that adhere to our mission. This list would be marked to show which eating restrictions they accommodate (i.e. gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance, etc.)
• How this will enhance my current service:
• This cookbook will definitely appeal to those who do not want to constantly order food, but still want to eat healthy on a budget. When they use my service they will see how it is possible to eat well for very little money, and when I introduce my cookbook they will be able to continue this lifestyle at home. This would ideally foster customer loyalty because they would refer their friends to try the service then consider purchasing the cookbook.

• Similar Product - Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day:
• This product offers a ton of healthy recipes for those on a tight budget
• This cookbook is also relatively inexpensive ($10) which is important considering its for those on a budget. 
• 

• Customer Reviews:
• Pros
• "This cookbook is truly a book of inspirations and ideas, not hard and fast prescribed recipes. I have yet to find a recipe in here that my family, including my 2 year old, doesn't like. To make it all even better, this cookbook is dedicated to the low-income community and helping those with limited income learn to cook healthfully - and more importantly- enjoyably, without being preachy or condescending. For any copy you buy, one gets donated to someone who needs it. I bought 4 copies which I'm sending to my siblings and friends. Buy it- it's a great cookbook and a great cause." -Lisa
• This cookbooks recipes are enjoyed by all and it has a good message in the fact that it gives back to the less fortunate.
• This was the most descriptive and top rated 5 star review. The other positive reviews praised the way the healthy meals tasted and how cheap they were to make.
• Cons
• "The math just doesn't work. Not for people on SNAP. Not $4 a day per person. I have read the recipes, came up with meal plans and there are too many missing pieces. Besides the food deserts in poor communities where it is costly and hard to find veggies and fruit and homemade bread (which is costly) and a bunch of other ingredients it is just too expensive." -Karen Rachel
• The recipes are not actually as inexpensive as they are advertised
• This was the top rated critique, and after reading other critiques they all said basically the same thing. 
• Design/usability changes to the product:
• The cover is nice to look at so i would not really change the way it looks. However, one critique it got more than once was that it seemed that certain steps/ingredients were missing from the recipes, so I would definitely make sure to clarify the recipes.
• Why this product would make a good addition;
• This product promotes my businesses mission so it would make a good addition. My costomers would appreciate the way it accommodates those on strict budgets with the desire to eat well. 

My Unfair Advantage

1. Being part of the demographic 
-Being a part of the demographic that I'm targeting allows me to understand the needs of my audience better than someone not in the demographic.

 2. The employees would mainly consist of college students

-This is an important aspect of the company because providing jobs to my target demographic would allow for dedicated workers who would then be able to potentially utilize the service with the money they made. 

3. I have friends willing to assist me 

-This is a valuable resource because my friends would be able to spread the word about my business.

4. My involvement in organizations consisting of those in my target demographic

-I would be able to work with my organization to promote the use of my service at discounted prices when one uses a specific code

5. My university and sorority events

-Much like the one resource above this is a valuable one because I can gain exposure through discount codes that benefit certain fundraisers like DM or greek philanthropies 

6. My businesses ability to evolve easily to accommodate my users

-My business has the ability to adapt to changing health food trends which is a resource that most other businesses do not

7. My ability to handle criticism well

-Criticism is a huge part of starting a business, and my ability to handle it well and channel it into improving my business is a resource unique to me.

8. My business won't "break the bank" of the users 

-It has been noted that my concept could be costly, but that is actually one of the things that makes my company different it wouldn't. I would buy in bulk and be able to 

9. My car

-My car allows to me to get a start on my own without having to pay employees for deliveries at first.

10. My personal financial capital

-This is a valuable resource because I have a starting ground financially to get my business running. 

My top resource would be my connections to organizations that can promote my business (#4 & 5).