Venture Concept No.1

The opportunity I have identified is found within the college age students demographic. The learning curve leap students take from high school to college is a big one and can be especially large when it comes to exams. Often in high school, students are almost hand held through what an exam will be like and the content that will be covered. But when it comes to college, receiving a study guide can seem like finding the golden ticket in a Willy Wonka chocolate bar. Exams at the college level are much more difficult and can seem daunting to new students and even more experienced students if studying is difficult for them. There isn’t necessarily a cookie cutter way or an easy how to guide when it comes to studying. It can be discouraging to many college age students when they can’t find a way to study that works for them and exam after exam they are not scoring up to their potential. Not to mention some college courses are more difficult than others to understand and trying to find a way to study on top of that is a lot of stress for anyone to handle. With the amount of college campuses across the country, and the number of students enrolled each semester, the opportunity to assist in this problem seems promising.

The business idea I have developed is called Stud-ease. This is a studying service and aid that takes into account the concept that people learn and retain information differently. It sets itself apart because of the way it differentiates learning style through my proprietary Learning Style Assessment Quiz. This quiz which is offered free through the website identifies the learning style that best suits you and can group you into one of three categories: visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner. You will receive your results and then will be offered a monthly subscription to gain access to thousands of new resources at your fingertips designed specifically for your style of learning. The monthly subscription would be around $14.99-19.99, based upon feedback on price after launch, and would be the sole way the company gains revenue. The students would gain access to online tutors for specific courses that are especially difficult on the college level, alongside studying tips and video tutorials that would cater to the way they are able to best retain information. I would do a soft launch to begin with based on two campus locations, The University of Florida located in Gainesville and the University of South Florida in Tampa. As a student at UF I know courses and have quick access to student feedback, the reasoning behind selecting USF as a second location is my background with the campus. I attended classes there for a few years as an undergrad before transferring to UF and am still located in Tampa, FL. Selecting just two campuses to begin with would allow me to get product feedback before expanding to campuses throughout the country.

My company will help the opportunity I identified because of the personalization it offers and the uniqueness of the concept. Researching top competitors in the market I have found many companies that offer tutors but not a single one is based off of the learning style of the student. Identifying learning styles in students has become an interesting topic of research and using this to my advantage will help to differentiate my product from my competitors. The online convenience will be an asset as well since it will enable students to study and use resources in their time and whenever they find the need.  I believe a monthly subscription base for my venture is the best way to make revenue since it isn’t a long term commitment and offers an out for the consumer at any time. As a college student I can identify with the uneasiness of pledging money months in advance to a product and how difficult it is to commit to that in the consumer's mind. As college students balancing tuition and living expenses is enough to worry about each semester without having to commit to a long term subscription to a service that might not be viewed as a necessity. Setting the subscription as a smaller number would be less intimidating to the customer base I am looking to capture. In terms of employment I would need a few employees to troubleshoot and run some aspects of the day to day operations, but my most employed would be online tutors. Being online will allow them to be located anywhere across the country and offering part time hours could be a good income supplication for educators.

The most important resource to my company is the Learning Style Assessment Quiz. This quiz is what sets my company apart from competitors in the market and is the basis for the resources that are personalized for each student. The next product I would classify as “in the works” would be based on the major exams college students take. For example the CPA exam accountants take, the entrance exam for Law School, Medical school exams etc. Utilizing learning styles into studying for these tests can be big money makers and would be structured a little differently. Instead of a monthly subscription I would charge a one-time flat fee and offer it as a course with modules instead, still personalized based upon their learning style. These exams are very important to the career path these students wish to take and can be a great addition to my company. I would hope to have this product up and running at least five years into my company’s hard launch. I hope that in the same time span that expansion has taken place and the company structure is solid. I would like to always be a part of the company in some realm even though my true desire is to open my own music store and teach lessons, hopefully within the next ten years. 

Amazon Whisperer

My company Stud-ease has one primary revenue driver and that is based upon monthly subscriptions. The way my company works, for all of you first time blog visitors, is you go to our website and take a FREE Learning Style Assessment Quiz. This will determine the way that you study best and will customize studying tools that will complement the way you retain information. The monthly subscription comes into play once you decide to join and will give the customer access to online tutors and tutorials along with studying tips and exercises that will help you study efficiently for a wide range of college subjects. 

The next thing I think my customer base would want is a special studying program for Med School exams, Law exams, Accounting exams etc. Some majors offer entrance exams to get into their college and some exams are certification exams that are crucial to students careers. The main focus of my business previously was college courses and learning how to adjust to college exams. This extension would focus on specific subject area exams and creating a course that would adapt to your specific learning style and way of information retention. This would also extend the usefulness of my proprietary Learning Style Assessment Quiz and would perhaps reach into a new target audience.

The product I found on Amazon that has a similar offering to my product is a CPA Exam Review for Dummies. This product runs approximately $23 and includes registration tips along with reviews of the four areas of the exam. This product claims to be a great tool to provide an overview of what the exam is like and includes practice questions. This product's rating is 3.9 out of 5 stars on Amazon. One of the negative reviews online stated that the target market for this text is unclear and that the product doesn't go into much depth on the topics. Others stated that the book was great for the price considering some test takers spend hundreds of dollars on more advanced courses and products. Another reviewer actually said this product gives customers an access code to a free one month trial for more online tips and problems. I would never have known this since that part of the product is not advertised anywhere in the product description. 

My company would offer this resource a bit differently. For starters I would offer it exclusively online that way it would allow me to utilize the customer's learning style into the course. I think one thing I learned from the reviews is that it might be possible to partner with a textbook company and offer free trials when the product launches in order to gain some traffic and knowledge about my product. I would also try and hire a few tutors or perhaps even students who have passed to add to the content my course would offer. As I stated before this product extension would extend my target customer base and create loyalty within my company, being a one-stop shop for all college students studying needs. 

Week 11 Reading Reflection

One of the most interesting aspects of this article were the timelines that were featured on pages 5-6. Seeing Corning's breakthrough innovations through the decades and even the centuries was fascinating. The beginning innovation being the glass envelope surrounding Edison's light bulb to Gorilla Glass which has exceptional damage resistance is a lot of innovation. Starting with light bulb glass which breaks easily to damage resistant glass is quite the innovation in that time span. It really makes you think about what the future will look like with start up products today from innovation and new technology.

One thing that was a little confusing is the Innovation Landscape Map on page 8 of the article. The 2x2 grid just seemed a little confusing for the information that the article was trying to give. I personally like 2x2 squares because often times it simplifies information however I don't think that was the case here. The square size I feel limited the amount of information that could fit in each box and didn't allow the examples to be expounded upon in as much detail as I would have liked in order to understand the information.

One question I have about this article would be related to crowdsourcing. The author did a good job of explaining it but my question is about the true price of the tradeoff in using crowdsourcing? I feel like this would have been a good section to do a pros and cons list for crowd sourcing to see what the tradeoffs really are as it relates to this topic.

Another question I have would be what is the most challenging innovation for a company to overcome if its competition gets to it first? For example Netflix began the streaming and the delivering of movies to your door service while Blockbuster was considered a top dog in the movie renting industry. This innovation proved difficult for Blockbuster to ultimately overcome since it eventually closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy.

There is nothing within this article that I believe the author was wrong about. The article was well written and extremely detailed, showing the amount of research that went into the author's findings for this article.

My Unfair Advantage

My Resources:

1. Personal Story - My struggle in trying to find a way to study that is effective for me when coming to college is valuable to my company because others will be able to relate to my struggle. It is rare to me and I'm sure others will have similar stories. No one is able to copy my story since it belongs to me and no one can take my experience from me either. 
2. Leadership - My leadership skills are essential to my company because in order to run a successful business you must be able to communicate clearly and lead your employees and company into the future. Many people have leadership qualities so I wouldn't classify this resource as rare but it is specific to me. So although others can have this resource my way of doing things makes it not easily copied. 
3. Learning Style Quiz - This would have to be one of the most valuable resources my company has since it differentiates me from my competitors. With my background in psychology courses and the contacts I have made it would be difficult for other companies to copy my exact learning style quiz and without the quiz it would be hard to copy my business format. It is something no one else is really utilizing and makes it a rare resource. 
4. UF Business Degree - A business background and degree is valuable to anyone wanting to start their own business. You can get a business degree from anywhere making it substitutable, however as a top tier business school a UF degree is a valuable part of my future resume.You can't copy the degree and knowledge you gain from UF.   
5. Access to Potential Employees - As a transfer student I have access to college student bodies both in Gainesville and in Tampa. This will allow me to hire potential tutors for a variety of college classes as well as advertise in these locations. This is a valuable resource to get my company started and can't be substituted for any similar resource. These two locations will allow me to have two locations to begin with and provide jobs in those areas. 
6. Creativity - My creativity is not something that can be copied or made a substitute for. As a musician I have creativity flowing inside me nearly all the time as I try to make new renditions of old tunes and write new songs. This is beneficial to my company because my business is diverse and tries to reach a diverse range of people based upon how they learn best making it a valuable necessity in my target market. 
7. Technology Era - The technology that is readily available in this day and age such as the internet and apps is very valuable to my company. It is not rare since it is the world wide web and many people have access to it. You can't really have a substitute for this resource or copy this resource since it is already solidified and used by millions regularly. 
8. Passion for Helping Others - As a service company for others wanting to help others succeed is valuable to your company and some can argue even rare. In this day in age many companies can focus more on the bottom line and less about genuinely wanting to help others. This is something that can't necessarily be copied or substituted for anything else. 
9. Organizational Skills - This is one of the best skills I possess and as a potential CEO of my company a very valuable resource. There are many people who have this skill so I would not classify as rare necessarily but there is no substitute for organization and order. 
10. Feedback About Business - The customer interviews and the comments I have received from others about this potential business idea is vital in the startup stages of my company. It is something that there is no substitute for in terms of genuine market feedback and is valuable to my company. It is also specific to my company which can classify it as rare and inimitable. 

My Top Resource:

It was actually really difficult to narrow down one resource that is most important to my company, but after some evaluation I would say the Learning Style Quiz is my top resource. It is the piece that sets me apart from my competition and is the secret success to my company. Everybody retains information differently and discovering the way you learn is the key to unlocking the best study habits for you.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

The one section of this financial chapter that actually took me by surprise was the mention of simple linear regression. I'm currently taking business statistics and we are learning about simple linear regression right now. As with a lot of information we learn throughout college we don't necessarily see how that information always connects to other subjects and is important in the grand scheme of things, but it is cool to see something I am learning in that class tie in to this class. Finding out that this topic crosses over makes me more interested in understanding its role in finances.

This chapter is actually a lot of information that I have learned previously. I was an accounting major before I transferred to UF and changed my major so I took several classes that covered this information. This chapter was like a refresher course on this subject and wasn't especially confusing. The author had some different ways of presenting this information but all in all it was the same information.

One question I have from this chapter would be about the importance of these different financial documents. When creating a business at what point should you sit down and really iron out these documents and project costs and such? I feel as though so much information fluctuates and changes so much within a business in a matter of months. Not to mention how it would be much more fluid in a new startup or business.

In one of the subsections of the chapter the text focuses on the value of currency. My question is how has the value of the currency changed in the last century in America? I understand that things were a lot cheaper a few decades ago but is that because of the value of currency or inflation? Or some combination of the two? Gasoline used to cost so much less and fluctuates so much today. But was the value the same back then or really cheaper?

There was no information that I believe the author was wrong about in this chapter. As I stated earlier I have learned a lot on this subject and believe the author did a good job presenting the information within the chapter.

Elevator Pitch No. 3 - [Includes Outtake Video]

Elevator Pitch No.3 was definitely much easier to do than the previous two. Really understanding my company and immersing myself in the idea has allowed the vocabulary and concept to flow easier when I talk about it. On my last pitch I received relatively positive comments from my peers but there were some things that were up for me to improve upon in this pitch. One of the comments I actually got was that I seemed to be stiff when I was giving my pitch. This actually contradicted comments that I had received on my first pitch where multiple people told me to calm down with the amount of movement I was doing. I found a compromise in this dilemma by using a suggestion from one of my peers who said meaningful hand gestures would be a decent place to meet in the middle.

Another comment I received was to specifically explain how I was going to teach the different learning styles to my customers. I really wanted to include more of this is my pitch but was unable to say as much as I would have liked based on my time constraint. How the customer was going to pay was another important thing I felt the need to address and decided on a monthly based subscription as the best option for my service, which I added to my pitch as well. One comment that I received, which I didn't quite understand was related to my company name. It suggested that I consider a new name because it brought up negative connotations with it which I did take seriously, however I could not think of why this might be an issue. When I went to get more information from the peer who commented on this the comment had been deleted.

I'm sure many people can relate to the struggle it is to get a complete elevator pitch take without messing up in some aspect... So I decided to include a short video here that included all of my many mess ups! Enjoy!! :)

Week 9 Reading Reflection

One aspect of this chapter that I found incredibly interesting was table 10.4. It breaks down the changing purchases and priorities of consumers throughout their various life stages. For example a 20 year old is more apt to purchase furniture than a sole survivor who has a focus on healthcare and security oriented products. I can understand how breaking down the consumer by age can be an insightful tool for a business.

With the amount of marketing knowledge I have from other marketing courses, this chapter was pretty easy to comprehend and seemed more like a review of marketing terminology as opposed to confusing concepts. The author presented the information in an easy to follow format and explained concepts in great detail.

One of my questions relates to the quantitative and qualitative section in the text. As a new business startup, which type of information tends to be more useful? Having a lot of responses can help shape your business and give a proof of concept but I feel like sometimes it can be impersonal and unhelpful. On the other hand I feel like qualitative research can give much deeper responses and thought. Which would be more beneficial to the entrepreneur?

My other question involves the utilization of social media marketing. Social media is something that has really taken off in recent years and I would like to know if there is a concrete way to measure social media driven sales. I feel as though as a consumer I have been exposed to more companies because of social media marketing but if I go and purchase their product how do they know their social media marketing is to thank for my purchase?

Surprisingly, not really, there is nothing that I found to be incorrect in this chapter from the text. The information is presented well and the author uses a wealth of resources to prove his point. Marketing challenges in entrepreneurship seem to be straightforward and understandable.

Idea Napkin No. 2

I am someone who gives 150% to every single thing I do. When I commit to doing something I am not the type of person who halfway does it or back out of my commitments.  I am someone who is also extremely organized which benefits me greatly. I am often times the person that people ask to do things that need organization which is something I enjoy doing. If I chose to make this studying company a reality I would devote a lot of my time and energy to making sure this company would be successful. Although I think this company is a great concept I'm not sure if I would be the right person to run the day to day operations because I don't necessarily have the passion for this specific product. There are so many other dreams and aspirations I want to pursue, one of which would be  opening my own music store and teaching lessons to all ages. I think a part of entrepreneurship that can sometimes be neglected is passion.

The specific product that I have been conceptualizing and thinking through is my company called Stud-ease. It is a pretty simple concept that can be used either online or through our app. How it works is you first take a free survey that will determine which way you study best based on a variety of things about you. You will be grouped into one of three categories: the visual learner, auditory learner, or kinesthetic learner. After you receive your results you will have an option to purchase your studying package which we provide specifically for you. This package offers a variety of services that includes online tutors, videos and study tips for every subject imaginable all of which is personalized to your learning style. I have first hand experience with the struggle students face in finding a way to study for exams, especially in the leap from high school to college. Everyone retains information and learns differently and finding the most optimal way of studying should be evaluated on an individual basis.

This product is specifically aimed at students. There isn't really a specific age range since anyone who is classified as a student can benefit from the study tools my company provides, but I am going to target the high school seniors and the college aged students the most. The biggest struggle I had was from high school to college and in my customer interviews many people agreed with me.

With the competition that students face today in trying to get into college getting good grades in high school and on pre college tests, ACT/SAT, have become so much more important. High school seniors have so much pressure to succeed on these exams and knowing how they study best is crucial to this success. Learning how to retain new information can be beneficial for all collegiate age groups as well, from the first year college freshman to the student pursuing their doctorate. Although the class subject might change, the way that everyone learns is consistent.

One thing that I believe sets my company apart is the focus that I place on the individual student's learning style. Whether someone is visual, auditory, kinesthetic learner, or a little bit of each the free test evaluation will offer programs and tips that are adapted to how you best learn. For example diagrams and charts, no matter how organized, are not going to connect with someone who understands through listening to someone explain a concept to them. My program will help pinpoint how you learn best and adapt a study plan just for you.

I think that the concept I have created is realistic and something that I have not actually heard of before. I actually wish it existed when I transitioned to college because I would have learned how to study more efficiently so much sooner. I think creating tools and plans for each type of person may take time and research but is something that can be achieved. The only aspect of this company that creates pause is the market I would be attempting to enter. There are a lot of big name players in the studying and education space and if I didn't capture the market quickly they could create something similar to my concept. 

Based upon the feedback I received the first thing I had to address in my revised idea napkin was the how. I had multiple people comment that they didn't understand how my company would operate and looking back at my first idea napkin I can see why there was confusion, so I added more detail to my second paragraph. I also had questions concerning how I was going to differentiate myself from others in the market. I was able to address this question by adding a few more details about that topic as well in my second paragraph. My third paragraph needed editing as well, since my first idea napkin I narrowed who my customer was going to be and needed to correct that in my second idea napkin. Another part of the feedback that I received was actually positive in the fact that many of the commenters thought my product was a good idea and something they struggled with. This further confirmed that there was indeed a market for my product in my target customer base. The last thing that I really took away from the  first idea napkin was that I needed to speak clearer with less words in conveying my idea in order to keep the reader interested without all of the fluff of extra words which is why I retracted some previous lines from my first idea napkin.