Week 15 Reading Reflection

Business Basics at the Base of the Pyramid

1.  What was most surprising to me wa that most companies don't focu on the customers first. I would think the customers would drive most of what they do.

2. What was confusing to me was how simple the three strategic business plan is. You would think it'd be a more for how some business flourish so easily that with these you would think most people should be doing well.

3. Where should I focus my standardization and who should I look at first if I planned on starting a business?

Where do you go to enlist trusted workers to build your applications that no one has built yet?

4. There wasn't anything that I disagreed with with the author' writing. 

Final Reflection

Most formative experience: My most formative experience that sticks out the most to me is, along with what most people will probably say, will be my venture adventure. What I will remember in the years future will definitely be my elevator pitch because I feel as if I put all the general ideas of the venture in it. I actually enjoyed the first interviews we've done. They let me get to know people around me and improve my communication skills. I'm most proud of completing the venture concept.


Are you an entrepreneur?: I kind of always saw myself as an entrepreneur because I always took financial risks be it either in video games are real life when I'm investing my money in someone to complete what they needed help with and a return for my help. I have moved closer to the mindset of an entrepreneur.


Advice?: Finish assignments before they are due. Some of them require more work than you will think at first. Also, really think about your venture because some people will think you're completely serious about it so make it realistic and something you will stick by. To foster an entrepreneurial mindset I would say to talk to other entrepreneurs (and those around them ie. customers or coworkers) and see what they have to say.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

The Pitch: 

G.R.E.E.N.

(Green Research in Ecologically Enhancing Networks) 

 My idea is to create a company in which produces green products that can combine your everyday necessities with green concepts hence the name G.R.E.E.N. meaning Green Research in Ecologically Enhancing Networks.  We would use environmentally friendly resources that are both cheap and easily recyclable or biodegradable such as Aluminum for metal and biodegradable polymers for filters, packaging, you name it. For our first concept we would like to introduce the Potter Spotter (name in pending) which will make use of your phone and any type of plant you may have. The phone would be placed on an adjustable platform that would connect to an aluminum container with enclosed water and the plant placed right under it. Now instead of forgetting where you place your phone and having no place to put your phone when your studying or going to sleep you can place it on the Potter Spotter (name in pending). When your phone vibrates for whatever alarms you set, the vibrations will navigate through the aluminum bars and shake the canister full of water which will cause the water inside to drip through the biodegradable filter and water your plant. This is just a beginning design an will surely improve as will others green concepts.  

This time I just gave a general overview of what my company is about and my plants for the "Potter Spotter" which the changes I got from feedback.

Here's a link to my previous video: http://thisisnotawkward.blogspot.com/2016/03/elevator-pitch-no-3.html

Venture Concept No. 2

What is an opportunity?

     An opportunity is an occasion or situation that makes it possible to do something that you want or have to do. Simply put it is the possibility to do something.

     The opportunity that I chose to pursue are to those who have plants that need to be watered and often forget to water them (All ages). It can also be for those who need a place to put their phone if they lose their phone (The reason I say it can be a place for your phone because I could add an app to the phone that could keep tabs on your indoor watered plant). I have both of these issues because I have terrible short term memory so I can forget things too easily.

     My opportunity allows plants to grow so it will positively affect the natural environment while also easing the social environment by not losing phones or forgetting to water your cherished plant(s). Although I might be changing it so that you don't need to place your phone near the plant in case of sun damage or the phone being 'lost within the base of the plant if the plant is leafy' which are a few good points I received.

     My marketed idea is for all ages and can be used pretty much anywhere. Even better if in humid environments.
     My opportunity is not very large as it's a placeholder for phones and waters plants.
     My window of opportunity will almost always be open as long as there are forgetful types of people living who also have plants and need a place for their phone.

What is innovation? 

     Innovation is the creation or alteration of a method or from a new idea.

     My product is rather incrementally innovative as I do take what is already been created but altering them in a way to involve your phone to keep you checked up on the progress on your watered plant. It's like a swiss army knife but for your phone and indoor plant.

     My product is a structure that will be able to hold your phone on the side as you charge it or use it as a placeholder. As your phone vibrates from a text, alarm, call, candy crush invite notification (you name it) the vibrations will travel through the thin metal casing and to a canister that contains water for a plant right below it. The vibrations will cause water to trickle down the dense filter below the canister to water your plant. After a certain set amount of water has passed through the filter no more water will pass. If you forget to refill the canister with water there will be a small graham condenser that will take the humidity from the air and condense it into water inside the canister. his product will allow a place for your phone and as you place your phone there it will also water your plant. 
     This is my first attempt at my idea so it will have many flaws. Ideas that I have received from interviews and my last concepts review  would be to have it so you don't need to place your phone on the place structure. Problems that may occur would be phone damage to UV rays, being lost within a leafy plant, forgetting to place your phone on the structure, or just not knowing whether your plant is doing well or not. The main way to fix all of these issues would be to have an app that would remind you about the care of your plant, tips to help it grow, and some of the fine details about the current conditions of the plant.
    As for cost, it hasn't been worked out yet but I would definitely make it less than 50$ an hour for teaching people how to play the piano. Let's say, 20-30$?

     Possible problems? I've discussed the issues a few paragraphs above.

     Here a a few links to help describe the product some more: http://thisisnotawkward.blogspot.com/2016/03/elevator-pitch-no-3.html

http://thisisnotawkward.blogspot.com/2016/03/amazon-whisperer_27.html

Venture Concept

     Customers may switch to my product because it will be knew and look very different from other self-watering plants as it will also tell you how your plant is doing from an app that would be connected to the plant's casing telling you things like water concentration, nutrition in the soil, or the amount or lack of sunlight your plant may be getting. It may be hard for people to switch to this because it is new and sounds difficult but I'll be fine with a slow switch, to let people get used to the idea first.
     Competitors will be all those who create self watering plants. Their weakness would be the fact that my connected app ill give details about the plant while other competitors don't do this (from what I'e researched).
     The role of my product in packaging, price, distribution won't really define my product (although I would try to make it as cheap as possible and not do it just for the money; reasonably) but the role in customer experience and support will be defining as m product will give a new experience to the customers and the support will be tailored for their product rather than trying to get them to buy my other products in the making. Nothing has changed here.
     To support this ongoing business I would hire employees that would help me build the product as well as giving the company more ideas to change the product to make it even better as well as ideas for new products.


Three minor elements
(Nothing changed here)

My most important resource? How the idea is put together itself. I would need to create it to know what would be even more important first hand.

What's next? I'm going to try and think of other ideas that include a G.R.E.E.N addition for the natural environment but also incorporates something social or fun.

This venture will help me decide if I'm the right fit for being an entrepreneur. I don't see myself working to at this company in the next five years because I would be selling it to someone more passionate about it.


Feedback
(The main points of feedback)

1. There are already other self watering plants or people who have jobs watering plants.
2. Sun damage from having the phone on the structure near the sun all the time.
3. Phone being lost in a plant too leafy.
4. That people love plants and plants love them.
5. If the phone has to be on vibrate or not.
6. Moving to a larger city to make a greater impact.
7. People actually forget to water their plants and this product peaked their interest.

What I changed?

     I made it so you wouldn't need to have your phone on the product for it to work. Instead the plant would continually water itself with the addition of an app that wold allow you to know what conditions it is in such as sunlight intake, water concentration, nutrition in soil, etc. Basically I have moved the phone away from the plant so the owner wouldn't have to remember putting the phone on the plant to water it ans so they would know how their plant is doing from reminders and on the go.

(Me when I finished this venture concept)

Week 14 Reading Reflection

Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice

Chapter 3 & 4

1. What surprised me in the reading wa to change the plan when people have learned new things. Usually people keep the same vision an work only towards that without changing it. To change it as you progress is really good.

2. I didn't know there were two different forms of innovation. Radical and incremental. It confused me at first but it make a lot of sense.

3. Would it be more wise to made a radical or incremental innovation?

Which guidelines would you recommend to follow more closely too that might seem out of the ordinary to the usual?

4. I couldn't find anything that the author was wrong about.

Google Gold

1.  Early in the game I added a few extra words in my label like Entrepreneurship, Interview and Reflection as a few somewhat basic words to broaden my accessibility when a blog is searched for our type of posts. Otherwise I didn't really do much to promote my SEO.

2.  The keywords I used were related to what kind of post I was doing such as "Interview" with ones with videos or "Reflection" for the readings. I did this a lot early in the semester but started slacking as the weeks progressed. The keywords weren't refined at all. They just disappeared from my labels at some point.

3.  The only social media I used to promote my blog were the comments that I had to do every week. I didn't get any improvement in my blog's views but that was again my lack of social media promotion. Otherwise social media didn't affect my blog views.

4.  My most "viral" post was my "Customer Interviews No. 1". I think it received the most traffic because it was one of the earlier posts so more people were completing their assignments and also that people had o comment on the post so it had to have quite a few views.

5.   I guess I should have mad my own quality, extravagant keywords so my blog would even make it on the pages of google. I tried searching the basic "Entrepreneur", "Reflection" etc int he google bar and my blog didn't even make it in the top 5.

Celebrating Failure

1. The only time that I could think that I failed sometime this semester was playing Capture the Flag and when I was running I slid on the wet grass and face planted. I got up with the massive headache while walking to the outzone until I was tagged back in. We won the game in the end but after the game I had scratches all up my legs. I guess that's what I get for playing something that I haven't played in a long time. My arms and legs were sore that entire weekend afterwards.

2. I learned that no matter how hard you failed when trying to run towards a goal, as long as you have a team and keep trying you can make that goal during some point if you work together.

3. I think failure sucks but without it I would get complacent. I really don't show much emotion towards failure I just keep quiet and keep trying until I need to say something. This class has taught me that failure is good. It shows that your on your way to something greater and that takings risks can be what life is all about.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice

Chapter 14

1. What was and that the same time if you think about it not very surprising is the amount o points of evaluation one goes through to show a firm's operation and potential.

2. What confused me was the divergent goals. I would think that the entrepreneur would thoroughly go through their aspirations and goals for their company as detailed as possible so everyone is on the same foot.

3. What would be the most important aspect for the potential of someone's firm to look at first or most?

How would you avoid most of the start-up costs?

4. There wasn't anything in the reading that I found the author to be wrong about.

My Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy

1.  When I exit my business I would sell my company to someone mro devoted to the work. I would still have some say to what can and will come out from the company but most of that will come from the new team and owner.

2. I've selected this exit strategy because I can't see myself going through with it to the end. The company's idea was created in a rush so I wasn't able to lay down a lot of groundwork nor did I have much as a passion to pave that groundwork. This exit strategy will allow me to leave the business and have someone else who shows more passion than I do for it. I'll still be able to oversee the company but I won't have the majority word for what comes out. 

3. This exit strategy has largely influenced the growth in my company and has made me make rash decisions into what I would make and what I would add to something to whatever I was in progress with. This exit is like my blind spot that I'm not willing to work around or with. This is why I would rather have someone more passionate than I am about the company to run it so they'll make the better decisions that I ever could have.

What's Next

Existing Market

My existing product, a product with watering plants, isn't really going to fall through. I may just do this as a side project and work on it from there. I can expand on it some other time.

3 Interviews in current market




Expectations/Feedback

     To grow my venture I'm going to have to figure out how to incorporate a new ecologically friendly product that would see more use in it's day. Something that's more modernized. My initial idea was for forgetful people who lose track of time and forget that they need to water their plant or even lose track of where their phone is. That was my original thoughts and people have taken it in different directions where it wasn't meant to go so a longer, more thought out explanation for further products would be implemented.
     The feedback I got was mostly positive and they gave me ideas for future implications for the original idea as well as setting me a focus to gear towards larger communities such as cities where the impact of the ecological product would be the biggest. Having a team hep me out would also be helpful as I would get more criticism and feedback that would help the business grow as well as ideas and skills that I couldn't provide on my own.


New Market

My new market would be people who live in bigger cities. More tightly knit community so it'll have  larger impact than just sell my product to anyone who has a plant. My new venture off this business would incorporate something everyone uses. Maybe a new type of environmentally friendly doormat or toothbrush.
3 Interviews in new market




Expectations/Feedback

     I've learned that this new larger city market will have more revenue and cause a larger impact than would just selling my original product to forgetful people. I was even suggested making an app that could help out those forgetful people that would remind them of other things they would need to do. It would be like an alarm but all in a more neatly manner and easier to categorize and look at.
    What surprised me the most, and at the same time not so much, was the negative feedback that this has already been done before or I would just being taking someone else's job away from them by just using technology. My new concept was to just make products that people use more everyday like biodegradable doormats or self-charging toothbrushes from other sources of energy like water or something. My new concept was just plants and I guess I didn't get that across as I would have liked to int he first two interviews. This new market would be more attractive as it would make a the business run easier with a larger revenue but my products may cause controversy like "This has been done before" or "It's taking away already made jobs that people do". That isn't what I'm trying to do a all. I'm just trying to make green idea innovations.
(Try not to pester the same questions over and over)

Week 12 Reading Reflection

Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice

Chapter 13

1.  What surprised me in the reading the most was the value of strategic planning. Planning is the basis of someone's innovation. Their idea. The author has research that researches the value of planning and it's impact and I was shocked that a or of different firms or innovators did have plans.

2. What confused me was compromising strategy for growth. I believe that to grow you need to be very strategic and compromising your strategy may compromise the innovation or plan.

3. Would you compromise strategy for growth? If so, how would you compromise, exactly?

How would you find strategic positions? Where would you look first?

4. There wasn't really anything that the author was wrong about. They had research to back up what they were saying.