ENT3003 Assignment 29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Venture Concept No. 2

1) Venture Concept:

• My product will prevail mainly because of it's features that make for an improved pencil. Plainly put, the Capable Pencil is a superior product to it's competitors but doesn't charge a price similar to a premium brand. This results in the best of both worlds including a premium, quality product with a price point that is competitive with the inferior products available. Customers will switch from standard pencils, pens, and current mechanical pencils as they will receive the many benefits discussed in the innovation section while paying the same or slightly greater/less amount. All other things equal, paying the same price for a better product is always the better choice. Current competitors on the mechanical pencil market include BiC, Pentel, and paper mate. Additionally, competitors exist in the arena of substitute products, these products include #2 wooden pencils, colored pens, iPads, laptops, and "smart pencils". The exploitable weaknesses in my competitors are the fact that their prices are significantly above the costs, leaving room for my product to be initially made a smaller margin while providing features that none of them offer. For production of my product, I believe that it will steadily grow from a small family business into a large company with factories around the world.

2) Feedback Summary

• I didn't get much feedback, but I did ask other friend of mine to tell me their feedback which I then tried to use to make adjustments. One friend said I needed more information about production whereas another said my opening was weak.

3) What I Changed:

• I made slight adjustments to my production and overview in my venture concept. I did this because I learned from my feedback that I didn't have enough detail in my production and I needed a stronger introduction to my venture concept.

4) Picture:

ENT3003 Assignment 27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

The Last Book!

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, Chris Anderson

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

• This book was discussing the "third" industrial revolution. Primarily, this revolution takes into account the digital age and automated manufacturing in the modern-era. Anderson focuses on the idea of robots manufacturing for businesses allowing for improved labor that operates 24/7 and eliminates the need for country-specific labor.

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

• I believe this book made a good connection to businesses in general. All industries will likely be effected by this "new" industrial revolution, as all businesses have inputs in some way that effect their costs and/or profits. In ENT3003 we learn how to create a business and perfect our business plan and operations, these operations will be largely effected by the changing times. This is especially true when it comes to a revolutionary industry change as discussed in this book.

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

• I would make an exercise where you have to adapt your business based on the future idea of the world. This would require the student to make hypothetical changes to his business that allow for it to capitalize on the industrial revolution as well as educate them on how it can effect them in the future, perhaps in a way that could be beneficial.

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?

• When reading this book I was most surprised by the certainty Anderson expressed in this new industrial revolution. By this I mean that Anderson seems convinced we're living in the age of only the third ever industrial revolution. Such revolutions only take place every couple centuries and have a lasting impact for a long time to come, but Anderson's take on this currently occurring revolution was quite a surprise to me.

ENT3003 Assignment 28A – Your Exit Strategy

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?

• Ideally, I would like to grow my company to a multi-million valuation and then sell it. I would foresee this occurring in somewhere between 2-5 years as the product will almost surely takeoff due to consumer demand or it will fail off the jump. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

• I'm not too invested in being an entrepreneur for my entire life due to the time constraints and work it takes. I hope to make a good living and then enjoy my life with family and retire young. If my business is successful enough that it can be sold in a multi-million deal then I would be very pleased to enjoy my time building the business and then enjoying my time with the money from selling it. 

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 believe some decisions I've made were made with the intention of selling my business because I've focused on making a useful product that can take off quickly and change the game. However, I did this knowing that there are a lot of companies currently dominating the market that would be very likely to buyout my product and make it their own. Similarly, it has made my ability to use resources a little adapted because a lot of the market works through economies of scale, which forces me to use resources potentially premium and becoming a premium brand or cheaper and focusing on the features.

ENT3003 Assignment 26A – Celebrating Failure

Let's Fail, A Lot!

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. 

• When I tried dieting in the beginning of the semester I had multiple failures. Every week I'd set calorie goals of my food intake as well as exercising plans, however between school and a general lack of motivation I never really succeeded in that endeavor. I'd like to think i've come around some recently, but I certainly had a multitude of failures throughout the semester.

2) Tell us what you learned from it. 

• What I really learned is how hard self-motivation can be sometimes. You can want something so badly but just slip up on the steps it takes to achieve that goal, which is something now I've worked on a lot more. When it comes to dieting specifically, I find that a consistent set of meals that I repeatedly eat make it significantly easier for me to stick to my diet. 

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?

• I really hate failing, I'm sure that everyone does but I just especially struggle to deal with failure at anything I do. If I fail, I use that as motivation to make sure I never fail again... I will do anything repeatedly until I'm capable of succeeding at it. I would say this class hasn't altered my perspective on failure too much, I've never really been risk-averse but I always take calculated risks, which I think my current perspective is about to the same extent.

ENT3003 Assignment 25A – What’s Next?

What's Next?

Existing Market. 

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.

• I believe my products future is based on an expanding customer base that's achieved by finding issues with similar product lines like sticky notes, pens, etc. These products are similar stationary work/school-related items that are quite basic in nature yet still lack features that could improve them greatly. 

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next.

• Interview 1: He told me that I should try to find a way to make my pencil accessible to more than just students. He said that what I had in mind to go after similar product items made a lot of sense but that a lot of them are already in established markets.
• Interview 2: This interviewee explained to me how I should try to promote and make my product more accessible to the target audience through promotions, advertisements, and social media campaigns. When I gave my ideas, I was told that it could also be another avenue but that I should focus on my current product before going onto other product lines.
• Interview 3: My final interviewee said that she believed my venture would be best off selling and profiting off of what I've already created. After giving my idea, I actually considered myself the idea of selling as it somehow never came in mind before.

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

• I want to grow in my market and I want for the Capable Pencil to be one of the most successful stationary innovations that we have faced in recent history. Based on my feedback, I believe that this can be possible by first advancing my product's outreach and growing the consumer audience. After this, I think the best possible step would be for me to come up with other product lines that could benefit off of improvements similar to that of what I did with the mechanical pencil.
• With all that was said, I think I could take quite a bit from the feedback given to me today when direction what makes sense for my venture's future. Growth in the existing market would be ideal and therefore discount the idea of selling, however potentially selling off stakes to investors could create more capital for the business that would help also promote the product more and therefore take into account a lot of the recommendations I was given.

New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

• A market I haven't yet considered that would be radically different is the demographics of older people, those long-gone from college in their 40s and over.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

• People in this market could have value from my product as for one, they're less likely to use technology and therefore have more need for writing utensils like mechanical pencils that I'm selling. The value created would be the same as for the students though, in that they can get an improved pencil that offers less flaws and premium features.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market?

• Interview 1: I interviewed my father, who says he never even uses mechanical pencils or that he doesn't choose to and rather picks whatever is closest to him when he needs to write something. More often then not, he says that he's writing with a pen. Having learned this, my product could be adapted in some ways to work for pen improvements too.
• Interview 2: My 2nd interview led to discussions about why my pencil was better, leading me to believe that the improvements in my pencil won't be as noticeable to those of the elderly age. Taken this into account, I may need more promotional materials about my product that make its benefits clear to the consumer in this market.

Step 4: Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on.

• I learned that this market is not the common user of mechanical pencils. Furthermore, I would anticipate the most of these people are not even particular at all about what they use when they're writing and focus more on convenience. With that said, my product creates more convenience for the consumer which allows it to still be an added benefit to people in this market.
• I believe this market is not as attractive as my existing market, although the fact that they're less inclined to use technological devices does make them slightly more appealing that I initially anticipated. Above all though, it seems that older people prefer to write with ink-pens, and that even those who don't aren't too picky when it comes to pencils, much less the niche of mechanical pencils specifically.

ENT3003 Assignment 24A – Venture Concept No. 1 - Capable Pencil

Venture Concept - Capable Pencil

Opportunity:

• I believe my product's opportunity lies in the inefficiency of the current marketplace. Specifically, for mechanical pencils there's a highly diluted market with a variety of different branded pencils, pens, and other writing utensils. However, all of these products are relatively similar to one another without much room for competitive advantage. This changes when it comes to the Capable Pencil, my product will be something new that the marketplace hasn't seen and it will hold many capabilities that the current products on the market lack. With all of this said, I believe my opportunity will be found with the consumer demand for a high quality product that offers features they wanted and never knew while providing these benefits at a basic cost similar to that of our competitors. This opportunity is advanced even more because of the technological advancements we're facing that's driving more people to use electronic devices, however this means a more niche audience is created for hand-writing utensils which my product will provide. I believe this opportunity is large enough to gain investments from big time sources while having the ability to last for decades to come if we instill constant improvements that keep up with times.

Innovation:

• The Capable Pencil, my business idea, is similar to that of a mechanical pencil that writes using lead inserted into a plastic pencil. The innovation for my product comes with its many features that offer benefits that consumer's hadn't before thought of, while also removing the annoyances that current similar products offer. My product will use the best available lead that's thicker in size resulting in breakage while writing becoming a much more rare occurrence. Furthermore, the pencil will a built in limit on it that only allows for lead to go an optimal amount out of the tip, therefore there's even less chance of lead snapping or going dull while you write. The final feature of the product lies in the clip on the side, while most mechanical pencils already have a clip on the side, they're not being used for any other purpose. This changes with the Capable Pencil, as the clip on the side of the product will also have a  compartment that holds additional lead inside of it that the user is able to put back into the pencil when they run out. This will effectively reduce the amount of wasted pencils that get thrown out as soon as they've run out of lead. Finally, I believe this product can be made at the same cost of current products on the market, likely with an initially higher price to makeup for the scale of economy it will possess to start. This price is likely to be somewhere around the range of five pencils for $10, offered in packs of five, ten, or twenty, while also selling individually for 3$.

Venture Concept:

• My product will prevail mainly because of it's improvements on current available products. Plainly put, the Capable Pencil is a superior product to it's competitors but doesn't charge a price similar to a premium brand. This results in the best of both worlds including a premium, quality product with a price point that is competitive with the inferior products available. Customers will switch from standard pencils, pens, and current mechanical pencils as they will receive the many benefits discussed in the innovation section while paying the same or slightly greater/less amount. All other things equal, paying the same price for a better product is always the better choice. Current competitors on the mechanical pencil market include BiC, Pentel, and paper mate. Additionally, competitors exist in the arena of substitute products, these products include #2 wooden pencils, colored pens, iPads, laptops, and "smart pencils". The exploitable weaknesses in my competitors are the fact that their prices are significantly above the costs, leaving room for my product to be initially made a smaller margin while providing features that none of them offer. For production of my product, I envision a consistent growing business that likely will begin with myself and around five employees, but that could quickly grow if we receive the proper investments. 

Three Minor Elements

Unfair Advantage: 

• I believe my most important resource will be a high-quality product. Above all, I think consumers want a product that satisfies their needs, and the Capable Pencil will do this and much more. Quality products will win out against inferior products almost every single time when the price point is even and the accessibility is at par.

What's Next for this Venture:

• With the existing customers of the Capable Pencil, there are many other products that could be targeted at them with similar improvements to everyday products. These products include sticky notes, pens, highlighters, and a number of other stationary products that can be produced cheaply and lack significant features.

What's Next for Me:

• I hope to be successful in the future, if that comes in the entrepreneurial fashion than I will be more then ready to tackle several projects to earn my success. However, I can't see myself full-on committing to the time it takes to be an entrepreneur and dedicate my life and sanity to creating products and running everything about them.

ENT3003 Assignment 23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

What Makes You So Special?

• Generate a list of all of the resources in your venture (produce a list of at least 10 resources that you already possess). This can include your human capital, social capital, financial capital, and capabilities. You may also discuss the organizational culture you intend to create (but, obviously, it's not a resource that you have, now.) 

1. I have significant financial capital although below $100,000.

2. Social capital with connection across the University of Florida
3. Connections among businessmen in metropolitan Orlando
4. Social capital with Family and graduate students in the Miami area
5. I hold myself an expected degree from Uf's business school
6. I have the passion and drive to commit 100% to whatever i put my mind to
7. I have housing and support from family
8. Information about my audience gained from ENT3003 course
9. Information about my business idea gained from feedback throughout ENT3003
10. A good business idea that is advanced in it's design

• Conduct a "VRIN" analysis for each resource. That is, describe, for each resource, how it is valuable, rare, inimitable (how hard it is to copy by others), and non-substitutable (are there other resources that can provide the same benefits?). 

1. This resource is not too rare in the sense anyone CAN have it, and it's not substantial.
2-4. My social capital is quite rare as I know people that most do not, and what I can get from them is much different than what others can.
5-6. These personal factors are all things unique to me and collectively are extremely rare to have my particular passion, support, and education.
8-10. My final points are all based on this course itself and are rare to the extent of only UF students, but others that are in this course or have taken it can compare.

• After conducting the VRIN analysis, determine what your top resource is. Explain why it's more important to your venture than all of the other resources.

I believe my top resource is my social capital as it's extremely rare and holds more significance, in my opinion, then all the other ones I've listed. I believe this is especially true because of my wide range of connections and ability to benefit from these people. I additionally find myself capable of receiving useful information and support via my social capital.