30A Final Reflection

1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

• After going through my posts from this semester, I realized that I went from dreading the assignments to having fun with and embracing them.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

• The most formative experience(s) for me has to be conducting all the interviews that were required. This is what I am the most proud of myself for accomplishing as well. Growing up, I was shy and as I got older I found myself becoming increasingly introverted and reserved. However, because many of the assignments required three to five interviews, I had to step out of my comfort zone and actually speak with people I never met before. I believe that those experiences helped me a lot more than I anticipated and made me more confident in myself. What I learned from these experiences is something that I won't forget. The most joyous experience I had in this course was working on the "What's Your Secret Sauce?" assignment. It was great to hear what my closest friends thought about me and it honestly meant a lot to me. 

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

• I don't necessarily see myself as an entrepreneur, but I do believe that I have gotten a lot closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset. For example, I am willing to take more risks and I have learned to actively look for opportunities in my day-to-day life.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

• One recommendation I have for students who are taking this course would be to treat the assignments as more than just busy work. There are valuable lessons and skills that can be learned through the many assignments in this course.

29A Venture Concept No. 2

1) Venture Concept

Opportunity:

• There are many college student, specifically at UF, who struggle with maintaining a healthy diet as well as a healthy lifestyle in general. Reasons for this unmet need could be that the individual is too busy to grocery shop and prepare nutritious meals, they simply lack the proper knowledge they need in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, or they are lazy. This particular market, or the market I would be targeting, could demographically defined as college students between the ages of 19-22 who are living on a college campus, specifically here at UF. Customers are currently satisfying their need by either buying simple microwaveable meals and other easily prepared foods, opting for other meal kit delivery plans, eating fast food, or doing a combination of this but still not eating enough/properly. I would say that this opportunity is big and the window has the potential to stay open for several years. 

Innovation:

• The product/service that I am offering is an app that provides customers healthy foods and dietary information. The app will consist of multiple menus that will provide 2-3 recipes of the customers choice, a delivery of pre-prepped grocery-fresh ingredients in the proper portions that pertain to the selected recipe(s) with related nutrition information, and an in-app health forum where individuals can go to gather healthy dietary information and advice on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. A subsection of the forum would even include tips on budgeting for groceries and either of the choices offered in the apps initial service.  Each menu will have the option of selecting 2 or 3 recipes for $25 or $35, respectively, that are provided weekly. Each menu has a large serving size (serves 2) and should last most of the week. 

Venture Concept:

• I believe that customers would switch over to a product/service like this because it would honestly be a better alternative to constantly spending money on fast food throughout the week (or whatever other crap college students blow their money on (-: ). This product/service has the potential to help individuals form healthy dietary habits and even help them obtain valuable health tips and facts. There are many competitors in this market, however, I have not heard of a a company in this market that specifically targets college students. 

Three Minor Elements

1) Social capital 

2) Fully prepped meal kits, addition of other recipes 

3) Expanding the business further

2) Provide a summary of the feedback you received from your previous venture concept description. You certainly want to include the student feedback, but you may also include the feedback you received from others during the "What's Next" exercise. You want to summarize all of the feedback, but be sure to place an emphasis on what people recommended you change about your idea. (In other words, don't just describe the positive feedback.)

• In all honesty, it was difficult for me to answer parts 2 and 3 to this assignment. This is mainly because I didn't receive any feedback for my last venture concept and the feedback I received for my "What's Next" assignment was overwhelmingly positive (thank you to those who commented on that).

3) Describe how you changed your venture concept, based on what you learned from the feedback.

•  Regardless of the fact that I did not receive feedback, I personally don't think I would change anything. However, I did add a section to the forum that offers budgeting advice (specifically for those who plan to buy extra groceries combined with either of the two service options) for those who may need it. 

27A Reading Reflection No. 3

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams 

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

• The general theme of the book is that failure is okay and should serve as a learning experience. Adams is basically talking about embracing failure and learning as much as you can from it. Adams also shares his own failures and what he learned from them. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

• The book connects with and enhances what we have learned in ENT 3003 because Pryor has mentioned that successful people have often failed in the past, but they learned from those failures and kept pushing forward. Failure is a part of being an entrepreneur and should be welcomed as a learning experience. 

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

• If I had to design an exercise for this class it would be one that focuses on learning how to embrace failure and using it to succeed. 

4) 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?

• The biggest surprise to me was that Adams talks about how people shouldn't set goals but instead use systems. 

26A Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

• This past semester, I have failed several times. I failed the first exam in one of my classes and failed to manage my time wisely and keep a decent schedule.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.

•   I learned how to properly prepare for the exams in that particular class and I am continually trying to improve my time-management skills.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

• Failure is definitely hard and is often embarrassing but everyone should try their hardest to avoid sulking after a defeat. Always try avoid any form of self-sabotage. I handle failure by immediately analyzing my mistakes and figuring out what I need to change to have a better outcome the next time. I usually try to avoid sulking instead of figuring out how I need to improve. I tend to believe that there isn't enough time in the day to be upset and feel sorry for myself. In my honest opinion, that's just pathetic and extremely counterproductive. This class didn't change my perspective on failure, but I do believe that it encouraged me to take more risks.

28A Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

• I intend to stay with the business and then retire.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

• The reason behind starting the business in the first place is to help others form healthier habits, so I would like to stay with the business and help others do that for as long as I can.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

• I don't think this exit strategy has influenced any of the decisions I have made in my concept. 

25A What's Next?

Existing Market

Step 1: The next step would be to not only provide recipes and the respective ingredients but fully prepped meal kits as well.

Step 2:

• Interview 1: This individual believes that because I already have intentions of extending services to people who are lazy/busy, it would be best to add this as soon as possible.
• Interview 2: This person said something similar to Interviewee 1.
• Interview 3: This interviewee stated that this might have to be the initial option.

Step 3: Through the Interviews I conducted, I learned that it might be best to start with fully prepped meal plans.

New Market

Step 1: Since my current market is here at UF, I believe that targeting another college campus, such as GSU (Georgia State University), would be appropriate especially because I know a lot of people on that campus.

Step 2: I believe my venture concept would create value for people in this market because it also consists of college students who have the exact same needs as the students here at UF (or anywhere else really).

Step 3:

• Interview 1: This interviewee (a close friend/GSU student) stated I would need to learn how to operate within a large city like Atlanta. 
• Interview 2: This interviewee (another close friend/GSU student) stated that they believe a product/service such as this one would be beneficial to plenty of students within the city because "there is a plethora of places students can go eat, constantly spend money, and gain no nutritional value."

Step 4: I learned that in order to succeed in this new market I would need to do proper research on hw to effectively and efficiently operate within a much larger environment. Although it would be difficult to adapt to this environment, the new market still appears to be as attractive as I initially thought. 

24A Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

• There are many college student, specifically at UF, who struggle with maintaining a healthy diet as well as a healthy lifestyle in general. Reasons for this unmet need could be that the individual is too busy to grocery shop and prepare nutritious meals, they simply lack the proper knowledge they need in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, or they are lazy. This particular market, or the market I would be targeting, could demographically defined as college students between the ages of 19-22 who are living on a college campus, specifically here at UF. Customers are currently satisfying their need by either buying simple microwaveable meals and other easily prepared foods, opting for other meal kit delivery plans, eating fast food, or doing a combination of this but still not eating enough/properly. I would say that this opportunity is big and the window has the potential to stay open for several years. 

Innovation:

• The product/service that I am offering is an app that provides customers healthy foods and dietary information. The app will consist of multiple menus that will provide 2-3 recipes of the customers choice, a delivery of pre-prepped grocery-fresh ingredients in the proper portions that pertain to the selected recipe(s) with related nutrition information, and an in-app health forum where individuals can go to gather healthy dietary information and advice on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Each menu will have the option of selecting 2 or 3 recipes for $25 or $35, respectively, that are provided weekly. Each menu has a large serving size (serves 2) and should last most of the week.

Venture Concept:

• I believe that customers would switch over to a product/service like this because it would honestly be a better alternative to constantly spending money on fast food throughout the week (or whatever other crap college students blow their money on (-: ). This product/service has the potential to help individuals form healthy dietary habits and even help them obtain valuable health tips and facts. There are many competitors in this market, however, I have not heard of a a company in this market that specifically targets college students. 

Three Minor Elements

1) Social capital 

2) Fully prepped meal kits, addition of other recipes 

3) Expanding the business further

I was just winging this one tbh.