30A - Final Reflection

1) Through the course of this semester, I have had a rollercoaster of feelings about ENT3003. I really enjoyed the course, but there were definitely some moments of drudgery and stress (especially when I forgot to submit assignments on time, oops).  Overall, I thought the course was exactly what it was supposed to be. It was creatively challenging and it made you think, but it also gave back the effort that you put in. I really liked the way the course was run because it allowed me to work on my own time, when I am most productive.

2) The most formative experience that I have had throughout this course was the creative idea development. It was really cool to come up with a business idea based on things that irritate me. I never really thought of my pet peeves as a business opportunity before and this course changed that. I also really liked that I was forced to fully develop my ideas. I usually have many fleeting ideas and I never really focus fully on how I would execute them.

3) After taking this course, I do feel like I have developed an entrepreneurial mindset. When I look at the world around me, I see many more opportunities than I did before, and I know how to turn those opportunities into real ideas.

4) To ENT3003's  incoming students, I highly recommend getting started early on the assignments and making sure not to forget the peer reviews! I also recommend asking those around you about everything and getting their opinions on your ideas and how they feel. I had ideas that I loved, and once I talked to my most trusted confidants, they did not share the same excitement about them. It is essential to see how different people think and feel about your potential businesses or ideas.

29A - Venture Concept No. 2

Together - The UF Campus Cooperative

Opportunity

I will be analyzing my idea for my on-campus co-op through this venture concept plan. When creating this opportunity, I first had to identify my target market. This target market consists of University of Florida students. This market is defined geographically in the Gainesville, FL area because that is where the University of Florida is located.

The future customers for this business concept are currently satisfying their needs by trying to prepare health conscious food for themselves, or just paying more money than they would like to for healthy, fresh foods on or near campus. Customers that are currently satisfying this need may have loyalty to certain restaurants, but they do not hold full loyalty anywhere.

I believe that this opportunity has lots of potential to be big. UF has a very large student body and even if a small percentage of the students held interest in this idea, it would be enough to begin and expand this idea even further. I think that this window of opportunity will stay open for quite a long time. This need has been around for a long time because students are always hoping to strike a balance between health and time. I think this would be an excellent strategy that takes both of these factors into consideration.

Innovation

This idea stemmed from my belief that the UF campus should have more health and price moderate food options open for students. Through this, I developed an idea that the student body should take this into their own hands by creating something that would satisfy all of their different needs.

Through this, I developed a concept for an on-campus co-op. This co-op will be a store/restaurant that works with various different departments and organizations at the University of Florida. Essentially, this co-op will be student run and student planned and it will be a place where students can purchase high-quality food for low prices. By partnering with the University of Florida agricultural departments and the local Gainesville community, students will have access to fresh, local, and seasonal produce.

This produce alongside other local ingredients will be used to create fresh meals and snacks for students that participate with the co-op organization. The students that choose to take part in the co-op will volunteer for a certain number of hours per week. This volunteering shift will give these students access to low-priced food options provided at the co-op. Students who do not want to be a part of the volunteering program will also be able to participate, they will simply purchase meals at a higher price point than those that volunteer.

When I envisioned this co-op I actually pictured a non-profit organization run through the University of Florida. I think that the system of belief behind this cooperative is togetherness and a central focus on health and ease. While I do have other ideas that will generate a profit, I think that for this topic particularly, my entrepreneurial spirit is not capital driven.

Venture Concept

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch? 

Customers would switch to this product because of the simplicity and because the “green” students at the University of Florida would appreciate the motivation behind the project. I think that in order to make students switch, we would need to advertise on multiple different platforms and we would need to recruit a trial group for the campus co-op to make sure that the process flows smoothly.

Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities? 

The main competition for this business will be the Krishna lunch that is on UF campus everyday. This would be the principle competition because it is inexpensive, healthy, and vegan. However, the timing of the lunch makes it inconvenient for some with different class schedules.

What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

Each of these factors will play a small role. Packaging’s role will be important because packaging must be eco-friendly and as minimal as possible. Location is also extremely important because UF is an extremely spread out campus, so a prime location will mean a lot in terms of the business’ success.

How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?  

I would start this co-op off as a student organization and I would go via existing organizations and garner interest before beginning the venture. Then, I would start the venture off with approximately 40 employees and then increase the number with time if necessary. The idea behind this co-op is that everybody does their part, so keeping it small in the beginning is essential. There will be many different roles, there will be administrative roles, culinary roles, and customer service roles mostly.

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch? 

I don’t think that it will be difficult to get customers to switch to this organization because I think that they will support the cause. I think the best way to get them to switch, will be to educate them on the offerings and benefits of this type of organization.

 

Feedback and Adjustments:

 

Although I did not receive any feedback on my Venture Concept No. 1, I went back through the assignment and reviewed the things that I think I could have specified more. I want to further specify the fact that this business would operate more as an on-campus organization rather than a profitable business. I also want to stress the idea that with time and actual experience, my ideas about how to run this organization will change and develop as I gain real experience.

 

 

 

28A - Your Exit Strategy

1) I intend to work in this business for the remainder of my time at UF. Then I plan to find a fitting replacement that will be on-campus upon my graduation. My business is non-profit, so the step down from the founder/CEO role will be simple once the correct replacement is found.

2) I like this exit strategy because I believe that through this strategy, the legacy of the campus co-op will live on through generations at the University of Florida.

3) I believe that my exit strategy has slightly influenced my creative process. My business will be more of an organization/community effort so I never felt that I would hold full responsibility for the company rather that I would be a moving part in the collaborative effort. This would make me feel more secure stepping down, because I would know that more like-minded people will be there to happily replace me.

27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

What was the general theme or argument of the book?

 In Mindset – The new psychology of success, Carol Dweck speaks mainly about the two different mindsets and how your approach to these mindsets, affects how you live your daily life. The fixed mindset is the mindset that everything is static, while the growth mindset is dedicated to using failure as a learning experience.

How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT3003?

I think this book was extremely relevant to this week’s lesson on failure. The book put a very positive spin on failure and those who are in the “growth mindset” choose to use failure as a learning experience, rather than a setback.

If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

 In this exercise, students would be given a list of difficult situations. Then they will be told to consider each situation in either the fixed mindset, or the growth mindset. I think that this would help students understand why maintaining positive thinking is so important. I also think that it will help them improve tricky situations in their daily life.

 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?

My biggest aha moment in the book was realizing that failure is essential. Failure always has a negative connotation both in school and in the work place, however, if one is using the growth mindset, failure is just another step in the improvement process.

26A - Celebrating Failure

1)      This past semester, I underperformed in an online course. I should have been more attentive to the assignments and quiz times/dates, but I focused my energy elsewhere and I will be getting a lackluster grade as a result.

2)      I took this experience as an opportunity to learn and grow beyond my mistake. I decided that in my upcoming courses/jobs, I will do the best I can to put my full effort into everything that I do.

3)      I think failure, while painful at the time, is essential to personal growth and development. Without failure, it is impossible to gain the self-knowledge necessary for a successful life. Failure allows us to analyze, self-improve, and grow with time.

25A- What's next?

Existing Market

      For my venture concept, my main target demographic is students at the University of Florida. After interviewing three potential members of my target audience, I asked them what resources that they thought we should be taking advantage of and what other directions they could see this opportunity going in.

      There were several excellent ideas that came with these conversations. One student suggested the idea of maintaining a community garden or participating with pre-existing community gardens on campus to increase the “green” factor of this business. I liked this idea because I think the concept of togetherness and connectedness is what I would like to emphasize at the start of this business, I also think that these concepts will be some of our greatest selling tools.

     Another idea that came from this discussion was to use a style similar to the style in Buzzfeed’s “Tasty” videos to advertise for this cooperative. I thought that all of the ideas that I got were really great, but these two definitely stood out to me because they would help with promotions and they would make the business more desirable for the students of UF.

New Market

      For this new market, I spoke with a couple of agricultural/food organizations on campus. When speaking with these organizations I also got a couple of great ideas. The agricultural organizations suggested a partnership with local farm businesses. This is an idea that I thought about previously, but it was great to get possible suggestions.

      The culinary organization that I spoke with suggested that we host food preparation tutorials for students on campus. I thought this was a really cool idea because it would help us engage in person with potential customers. And we could even consider doing these types of courses over video or livestream as well. All in all, I had excellent and productive conversations with both markets.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Together - The UF Campus Cooperative

Opportunity

I will be analyzing my idea for my on-campus co-op through this venture concept plan. When creating this opportunity, I first had to identify my target market. This target market consists of University of Florida students. This market is defined geographically in the Gainesville, FL area because that is where the University of Florida is located.

The future customers for this business concept are currently satisfying their needs by trying to prepare health conscious food for themselves, or just paying more money than they would like to for healthy, fresh foods on or near campus. Customers that are currently satisfying this need may have loyalty to certain restaurants, but they do not hold full loyalty anywhere.

I believe that this opportunity has lots of potential to be big. UF has a very large student body and even if a small percentage of the students held interest in this idea, it would be enough to begin and expand this idea even further. I think that this window of opportunity will stay open for quite a long time. This need has been around for a long time because students are always hoping to strike a balance between health and time. I think this would be an excellent strategy that takes both of these factors into consideration.

Innovation

This idea stemmed from my belief that the UF campus should have more health and price moderate food options open for students. Through this, I developed an idea that the student body should take this into their own hands by creating something that would satisfy all of their different needs.

Through this, I developed a concept for an on-campus co-op. This co-op will be a store/restaurant that works with various different departments and organizations at the University of Florida. Essentially, this co-op will be student run and student planned and it will be a place where students can purchase high-quality food for low prices. By partnering with the University of Florida agricultural departments and the local Gainesville community, students will have access to fresh, local, and seasonal produce.

This produce alongside other local ingredients will be used to create fresh meals and snacks for students that participate with the co-op organization. The students that choose to take part in the co-op will volunteer for a certain number of hours per week. This volunteering shift will give these students access to low-priced food options provided at the co-op. Students who do not want to be a part of the volunteering program will also be able to participate, they will simply purchase meals at a higher price point than those that volunteer.

When I envisioned this co-op I actually pictured a non-profit organization run through the University of Florida. I think that the system of belief behind this cooperative is togetherness and a central focus on health and ease. While I do have other ideas that will generate a profit, I think that for this topic particularly, my entrepreneurial spirit is not capital driven.

Venture Concept

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch? 

Customers would switch to this product because of the simplicity and because the “green” students at the University of Florida would appreciate the motivation behind the project. I think that in order to make students switch, we would need to advertise on multiple different platforms and we would need to recruit a trial group for the campus co-op to make sure that the process flows smoothly.

Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities? 

The main competition for this business will be the Krishna lunch that is on UF campus everyday. This would be the principle competition because it is inexpensive, healthy, and vegan. However, the timing of the lunch makes it inconvenient for some with different class schedules.

What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

Each of these factors will play a small role. Packaging’s role will be important because packaging must be eco-friendly and as minimal as possible. Location is also extremely important because UF is an extremely spread out campus, so a prime location will mean a lot in terms of the business’ success.

How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?  

I would start this co-op off as a student organization and I would go via existing organizations and garner interest before beginning the venture. Then, I would start the venture off with approximately 40 employees and then increase the number with time if necessary. The idea behind this co-op is that everybody does their part, so keeping it small in the beginning is essential. There will be many different roles, there will be administrative roles, culinary roles, and customer service roles mostly.

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch? 

I don’t think that it will be difficult to get customers to switch to this organization because I think that they will support the cause. I think the best way to get them to switch, will be to educate them on the offerings and benefits of this type of organization.