What's Next

Existing Market

The next thing I think that should added to my service is a tangible product that can be offered at the point of sale or with the service. The tangible product would be liquid refreshments for customers to provide them with convenient refreshment as they go from one place to another. 

There are many things you could do with a ride sharing service but what makes the most sense is giving my customers more value to the service that I am already trying to provide. This would improve the number of turnover because for the price I feel customers will see that they are getting more in the end. This would also increase customer loyalty because I would be providing a superior service time in and time out. 

New Market

The new market I would want to reach are non-students and less affluent members of the Gainesville community. Currently I have been focused mainly on just students here in Gainesville.

I think my concept and new addition can create value for this new market because there are a lot of non students who may not want to waste gas getting around Gainesville using their car. Technically this service would be efficient enough to get people to their destinations in a time fashion even if there is traffic. Also because it would run at any time on the weekends, patrons would be able t get to more places at hours that were not before possible.

This market seems to be a good target but it may not be as promising. I dont believe three interviews  are enough to get a good feel for the target audience. However, there is potential and I'd rather try and provide a service to that market so that I potentially capitalize on a huge opportunity. I want to then test out a variation of the service for more affluent members of the community.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

One thing I found very interesting was how the book incorporated the SWOT analysis to evaluate a businesses strengths and weaknesses. I have only ever seen the SWOT analysis used in evaluating events and lesson plans.

One thing I found a bit confusing was the section on "Bureaucratization versus Decentralization." I found it confusing because I feel that as a firm grows they are both two concepts of an overall problem with expansion. It seemed like either one or the other happens and I think in a business especially one in transition to a more corporate feel goes through both and more often than not, at the same time.

If I could ask the author two questions I would ask him first, how much does the environment really affect strategy? and is better quality more beneficial than creating cost innovation?

I don't think the author was wrong on anything because he has much more experience in the field of entrepreneurship and concepts that are and have been unknown to me for a while. However, I do question sometimes the guidance of some of the rules because I personally don't believe there is one way to do things and n matter how much you show someone to do something it will always become a variation that fits their personal style.

Venture Concept No.1

The Opportunity
Here in Gainesville, we probably have the best bus system in Florida. However, this doesn't include the weekends because on the weekend here in Gainesville the bus doesn't take you anywhere after 6 p.m. and there is no guarantee that an Uber will always be cheap enough to afford. A lot of small, cheap trips will eventually add up.
For students, life doesn't stop at a certain time on the weekends and one should certainly not be forced to plan out there day with an hour of time to account for when the bus may or may not arrive. Students need reliable and stable transportation on the weekends at all times not just during the day. Sundays are the worst because after 10 p.m. it's as if the entire city has turned off in preparation for Monday. The Students of UF and many other hard working people who make work odd hours and still need reliable transportation on the weekends. RTS and Uber are not that when the weekend begins after you clock out on Friday. This is a big opportunity for another service because I believe that while it will serve the people who need to get around on the weekend currently it will also empower and persuade people to do more things on the weekends here in Gainesville because they are confident in being able to get around and get home if need be.
Innovation
A new shuttle service could be implemented to supply the market demand for travel on the weekends. I am offering a shuttle service called Swift that would run 24 hours on the weekends here in Gainesville. It would serve customers on a number of routes with 3 specific ones being considered main routes with more shuttles to decrease wait time and travel time. The shuttles will not be bigger than SNAP vans and this is because the bigger the vehicle the harder it becomes to get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time. The service would decrease travel wait times to at 10 mins at least and aim to get people from archer to Campus in less than 15 minutes. The shuttle would also be outfitted to have customers step into the van and sit around the inside so as to allow easier and quicker boarding and departure from stops. The shuttle would cost $2.50 per ride and it doesn't matter how far you go. Also for customers convenience each shuttle unit will be outfitted with a vending small vending machine to provide refreshments such as water and juice to help patrons better enjoy their ride and the overall experience. I would like to someday include snacks as well so that customers can feel like they are on a Jet blue plane while riding my shuttle service.
Venture Concept
The implementation of swift solves two major problems people have on the weekends. Getting around and the long wait times for the current transportation in place. Not only this but it will give students and others the opportunity to be out longer and be able to get more things done outside of the house without needing to ask a friend for a ride or relying on the bus. I believe customers will buy my innovation because though 50,000 students are enrolled here at UF not all of them have cars and those who don't could benefit from a service dedicated to getting students where they need to go at any time on the weekends. Right now most people rely on the bus and Uber if they don't have cars and after a while if that is what they deem is reliable then that is what becomes the norm. I believe I can get people to switch over to my service because Swift does not have a pricing model nor does it have surge pricing at certain times based on demand. Swift would be much faster than RTS and would be a great alternative to the later gator when it stops running at 3 and people are left downtown and at midtown to find a way home. As far as a business I would buy up a lot with a decent sized office space to run logistics of the operation. the lot will be for the shuttles when they need to be changed out and parked over the weekend and during the week. I believe I would need about 6 employees to start. First would be my financial officer who would oversee the financial state of the company and the inflow of money through transactions and so forth. Second, a tech expert who would over see our website and mobile application. Third, a communications officer that would handle all communications of the business. to compliment them I would also have a external communications officer to handle communications with customers and outside influences. Fifth I would have an advertising and marketing head for the business and last a driver supervisor who over sees the work of all the drivers, en route. I believe this is a service truly beneficial to the people of gainesville.

Amazon Whisperer

The revenue drivers I currently have are a card swipe system outfitted to take payments from debit and credit cards as well as, google, apple and samsung pay and, advertisements on brochures and the seats inside.

I believe the next thing my customers want is access to refreshment while traveling.

This will enhance my existing product and service because giving people access to refreshment when they want it or need it will make my service look like it really does cater to the customer. The user experience is improved and the positioning of my service is also enhanced in the mind of consumers because how many travel services do you know that offer cold water and fountain drinks?

Similar to what I want to offer is this mini vending machine to the left. It vends 10 cans of whatever you would like and I would even want to produce my own brand water in a can to serve to customers. The drinks would be a $1 and every shuttle would be outfitted with 2 to serve up to 20 drinks at a time.

The customers reviews averaged out to 3.5 stars with more positive reactions than negative ones in the last 6 months.

The only changes I'd make to design are a locking mechanism that only opens upon payment and some way to fit water in there.

I truly believe this will be a great addition to my service because even if someone isn't that thirsty the convenience of the product might spur demand.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise I found in this reading is how often and just just how much companies attempts at innovation fail. Even more so realizing that even successful companies and corporations find it hard keeping up their performance.

I think what was hard connecting was the idea of innovation and strategy. You usually picture innovation as someone sitting in a lab trying to come up with the next best thing and the BOOM it happens. How do you make the BOOM into an actual process is intriguing.

If I could ask two questions it would be first, where do you fall on the innovation landscape map? How do you feel about crowdsourcing?

I don't think he was wrong about anything. He really gave me some insight into some things I wouldn't have other wise known.

My Unfair Advantage

1. Passion
   V: This is valuable because passion will drive our company to provide the best service possible
   R: Most people lack passion these days
   I: You can't copy passion and a person's drive
   N: Not many resources can just provide passion

2. Practicality
   V: your service needs to be practical for people to want to use it
   R: this is somewhat rare because people come up with ideas that are sometimes great but largely impractical
   I: It's hard to imitate practicality because this is practical only for the students for UF
   N: there are some (uber and the bus) however not on the weekends

3. Speed/ accuraccy
   V: everyone in the world values their services coming promptly and on time
   R: this is rare because since many services rely on human capital, human error sometimes disrupts the delivery of the service to customers
   I: You can't imitate speed if your company hasn't ingrained it into the culture.
   N: Uber is fast depending on the driver

4. attention to detail
   V: this is extremely valuable because in any company you need to be meticulous and pay attention to everything that is going n especially when servicing customers
   R: this is rare because too many company disregard small details that could otherwise make their company great
   I: it's hard to imitate this because it has to be a habit that is taught and developed
   N: no other ride company  her in gainesville pays attention to detail as much

5. affordability
   V: this is valuable because college students want transportation that is affordable
   R: this is rare because when demand is high owners usually want to drive the price up
   I: this is hard to imitate because if some services changed their pricing model they would fail
   N: uber is inexpensive depending on the trip and time, and the bus is free fro students

6. comfort
   V: this is valuable because a comfortable ride is something everyone wants doesn't always think about.
   R: rare because some services are more worried about amount of people fitting than fitting a certain number comfortably
   I: this is hard to imitate because unless your product was initially aimed at providing comfort
   N: the bus isn't so comfortable and uber really depends on the car

7. mobile capability
   V: valuable because people are on their phones all the time these days and need to know
   R: not really rare because many companies are beginning to utilize mobile
   I: not hard to imitate
   N: the bus has a tracking app and uber is operated through an app

8. our payment options
   V: this is valuable because to pay for the bus besides cash, or bus card, you can pay through credit or debit
   R: this is rare because general bus services don't accept card payments of any type
   I: hard to imitate because the cost of adding hardware to do direct card transactions
   N: uber drivers and the bus dont have direct swipe features although uber is linked to your card which is convenient

9. compact size
   V: the vans used for transport are a small size and not huge like busses which provide for faster service
   R: this is rare because you either see huge vehicles being used for transport or small ones but nothing really in between
   I: could be imitated but not effectively implemented
   N: the only other service close to this is SNAP however it takes FOREVER and is only On-campus

10. For students by students
   V: this valuable because a lot of students look for jobs while in school but find it hard to attain them.
   R: rare because not many places can hire lots of students to work
   I: show me a travel service that is open to hiring students that doesn't require them to have a special license or their own vehicle
   N: there no travel services that provide this benefit for students


My top resource is speed and accuracy. Students need something that will get them places fast more than anything else. They don't want to spend 40 mins on the bus trying to get home.

Growing My Social Capital

My three new people are:
Jose
Shaun
Robert


Jose is my Domain Expert because although he has a normal job working on campus he is also an Uber driver by night. He is a recent graduate of UF and decided to stay here in Gainesville to build his experience before moving on to a bigger firm. I met this guy pretty recently because he was my Uber when I needed to get to a friend's house the other night. In an exchange for a twitter and instagram follow he told me just what it's like to be an uber in gainesville and how much roughly rides go for from certain places to others. He also told me what he does in customer service to get high ratings and tips. Including this guy in my network will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because he gave me some vital information that would allow me to make my venture better and more unique.

Shaun is my Market Expert. Currently, he is an office manager at a shuttle service for disabled older folk in New York. He oversees the set up of pickups and drop-offs for each of the shuttles throughout the week. I found this guy through some friends I had at Fiver Children's Foundation after they heard I was looking for some people to talk to about my shuttle service concept for Gainesville. In return for giving me information on setting up routes and a system of pick up all he wanted was to hear back from time to time about the progress of the venture, at least in the classroom sphere. Including Shaun in my network gives me valued insight into the business I'm trying to run from an outside perspective and from another segment of the market.

Lastly, Robert is my Supplier. Robert is a friend of my father's and works with a company that sells vans of all sizes to firms that work in fields like construction and other infrastructure related things.
Speaking to him recently I asked if people bought vans for the purpose of transporting people? and if they usually have special requests? He said people do and he also told me what van they usually go for with the help of his expertise. When he asked what this was all for he asked if I could come by and help out sometime. I think having this guy in my network helps me take advantage of an opportunity because now that I know the vehicle I wanted to use is bought for transport purposes I can bring something entirely new to market in Gainesville.

Reflect:
I think this was an interesting experience because out of a million people you really have to focus and hone in on the people you feel will give you the most benefit for your time and efforts. This will affect how I approach networking in the future because I will network with more of a purpose and end goal. In the past, I would usually just talk to people that seemed approachable and if they had things that helped me it was a plus.

Weekl 10 Reading Reflection

I think the biggest surprise for me in this chapter was just how much goes into the numbers aspect of starting a business and even running one. On the surface everyone wants to "start a business" but I am pretty sure more than half of the people with that goal have no idea how much actually goes into the process. I was definitely taken aback at how much you actually have to know financially to keep a business running stably. 

There were quite a few things I found confusing because this was probably the first time hearing the term and it's definition. One thing that really got me was pro forma statements. I just find it hard to make predictions on the future past a certain time or extent and it seems that a pro forma statement would extend a projection in years time. 

Two questions I would ask the author is first would it be more beneficial to self learn most of the concepts necessary for the financial side of the business or to just bring someone on the team whose job is solely handling that? Second I would ask if financials should be considered at the beginning of the venture in such detail or just deal with it when the time comes?

Given my lack of expertise in the area I don't think the author was wrong about any of the material. I just sometimes wonder how much he has actually implemented what is said in the book or is it all just the result of very extensive research. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

On my last pitch the biggest piece of commentary that really resonated with me was the fact that people were not sure if students would pay for the service and that I would be entering a very saturated market. I used this video to kind of describe the shuttle and the pricing of the actual ride more than actually sell it because of the feedback I had received thus far.

What I changed:
1. Pricing of the actual service
2. Maine routes to begin
3. style and build of "shuttle"

Let me know what you think.

My Secret Sauce

Five truly unique items of capital
1. I can make anyone feel comfortable
2. I can hold a well thought out conversation about nothing
3. I take constructive criticism, constructively.
4. I believe the impossible is just a simple "what if..." moment away
5. You can't tell me I will not succeed

From this first interview I learned that my drive and passion are very clear to others and sometimes so clear they can seem like tangible things for me. 

In this interview some key takeaways were that I am funny and can make any moment better. This shows me that I am friendly and really personable which are characteristics that are beneficial to everyone both in daily life and professional life as well. 

In this interview I learned that I have an inviting smile and that I am also a cuddly teddy bear? Not sure why decided to poke fun at me but who doesn't like teddy bears. So I took it as who wouldn't like me.

This interview actually showed me that even as a nice person and someone who is relatively approachable, your attitude is key. I need to be better with my attitude.

I see myself as someone who is just extremely motivated to succeed. Others see that as well but people also so how angry I can be when I fail at something. There's always differences in how we asses ourselves because that is all a matter of perception and opinion. I think my interviews are correct and I think what causes these views is the natural bias we all have toward ourselves one way or another.

I wouldn't make corrections to my list because at the end of the day how I see myself is much more important than how everyone will see me because sometimes no matter how hard you try some people will just not get you!

Week 9 Reading Reflection

This week I felt like nothing stood out to me because marketing is a concept I am very familiar with and was even my major at one point. I pretty much expected to hear how to use marketing to benefit yourself at the individual level, which is much smaller scale than an organization.

Only thing I found interesting was the fact that some customers use price as a way of determining the quality of the product. Price isn't everything?

If I could ask the author some questions I would ask him why he didn't include a section on Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) because I feel like IMC would be just as important for an Entrepreneur, business, corp, or start up.

As someone who is very big on marketing I think the author was right about everything and taught me a few new things as well.

Idea Napkin No.2

1. My name is Eddy and as I said before I am a Dominican and Puerto Rican second year college student. Based on some of the feed back I have received I realize that one of my talents is the ability to sell my idea. Also I am pretty good at creating simple but creative names for services, businesses, etc.

2. What I am offering to customers would be a"shuttle service" that runs all day on the weekends here in Gainesville. However based on one comment it never occurred to me that having a shuttle might put in a position to have to deal with federal regulations and such. As a result I am now tweaking the "shuttle" aspect to perhaps provide a service that could operate more freely with space to expand but also offers students reliable transportation without the limb prices of Uber and other Taxi-like services.

3. The demographic hasn't changed based on my feedback. It was actually encouraged. I am offering this service primarily to college students on campus and who live around Gainesville that still need transportation on the weekends to live a relatively normal life and get things done.

4. Students care because here in Gainesville students don't just go to school from Monday to Friday. There are always a bunch of things that they need to get done on the weekend and though many students may have cars a lot more do not and still need to get around. Off campus students especially care because this service would allow them to complete tasks that were otherwise extremely difficult like grocery shopping for instance.

5. So my core competencies was speed and cheaper price, however based on feedback I may have to rethink how I'm going to offer a shuttle or van like vehicle and still charge low prices. Operating costs might require that I charge more so I have to possibly change routes or the size of vehicle that would be used to transport students.

Feedback Memo:

Based on feedback my idea is a great idea but more and more it seems like my execution may not be the right way to solve students' transportation issues. The weaker aspects of my idea are for sure the type of vehicle and how I plan to provide lower prices. Five things I took away from the feedback I received was first, the idea is really strong and beneficial. Second, anything in transportation could be potentially very beneficial for customers and profitable. Third, pricing is extremely important when considering any business proposition. Forth, differentiation and competencies are the most important when starting a business because it is what will initially separate you from the competition in the consumers eyes. Last, think outside of the box: there's always another way to do something.

I incorporated the feedback I received by answering each of the questions in regards to what the feedback I got told me.