Assignment 30A: Final Reflection

For this post, students have been asked to look back on their semester in ENT 3003. I found this course to be very fun, and refreshing, for someone in their last semester of undergrad. I will talk about some of the highs, lows, and biggest takeaways that I had during this course below. Let’s get started!

The most formative experience that I will take from this course is learning that entrepreneurship is not really about having a good idea, but rather identifying a problem. I think that learning this distinction will shape the way that I view business for the rest of my life. As a realist, the experience that has brought me the most joy is finishing this semester. I am now done with Undergrad and am ready to join the workforce! (at least for a few years until grad school)

At the beginning of the semester, we were challenged to develop the entrepreneurial mindset. If I did not have it then, I most certainly have it now. I am confident that I will work for myself in some capacity starting at a fairly young age. I see myself as an entrepreneur through and through.

For future students looking to take this course: 1.) get ahead 2.) stay ahead 3.) watch lectures. If you do those three things, you will come away with a unique and valuable insight into the world of entrepreneurship. Everything in the world is a business on some level, as an entrepreneur it is your job to find and solve problems

Assignment 29A: Venture Concept No. 2

For this post, students have been asked to do some reflecting on their Venture Concept assignment. I will be posting my original venture concept below, and a reflection below that. Let’s get started!

Opportunity: The directions for this assignment define an opportunity as “a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs.” If you have been following my blog posts throughout the semester, you know by now that my business idea is to open a coffee shop on the grounds of Laketown Wharf Resort in Panama City Beach, Fl. You may not know, however, just what makes this opportunity so viable. The assignment has instructed us students to break down our opportunity in two different categories. The fist category is “who has the need,” the second is “the nature of the need.”

Who has the need: A few weeks ago, we were asked to do a post in which we created our typical customer avatar. For that post, I described a college spring breaker, which is a very normal visitor for Panama City Beach around this time of year. However, that would not be an accurate representation of my entire potential customer base. My opportunity is much broader than just satisfying the unmet need of my avatar description. The tourism industry in Bay County, Florida is largely the driving force behind my opportunity. This industry attracts visitors to the area from a very wide demographic. My potential customer base is truly people from almost any walk of life.

The nature of the need: Currently, potential customers are using a multitude of ways to satisfy their coffee needs. Some brew at home, while others go to big chain coffee shops, and some buy the convenient store pre-made cappuccinos. This particular opportunity is not huge, approximately the size to justify one brick and mortar location. However, further research will most likely indicate that this opportunity could be scaled and repeated. This opportunity really excites me for its potentially franchisability. I do not see this opportunity going anywhere as long as people are still traveling, and nobody beats me to the punch. However, as we have learned during this semester, the opportunity is only part of the entrepreneurial equation.

Innovation: The assignment instructions define innovation as “a new or creative service, product, or process that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs.” My coffee shop’s products and services should be thought of as incrementally innovative, because while we don’t plan on shaking up the coffee industry, we will be doing something new in our location and market. For simplification and transparency, I will break this section down into a few key bullet points.

 –What it is: Our shop will be in one of the available retail spaces along the Laketown Wharf boardwalk. We will provide an enjoyable way for guests, residents, staff members, and locals to have a cup of coffee and choose from a selection of pre-made breakfast items.

 -What it does: Our shop will primarily focus on enhancing the guest experience at Laketown by providing a high-quality coffee selection.

-How it works: Starting off small, our shop will try to establish a favorable relationship with multiple suppliers in the coffee industry, and for the food we will try to sign an exclusive deal with a big-box type supplier to keep costs low. From there we will use the revenue gained during our busy season (March-October) to reinvest in our business during the winter and make improvements to quality, operations, and marketing.

-How we will make money:

Expenses: Our expenses will be as follows:

-          Rent/Utilities

-          Employees

-          Cost of goods: (coffee, cream, sugar, food, cups/lids, napkins, utensils, etc.)

-          Cost of machinery: (coffee making and cooking machinery)

-          Taxes

-          Marketing

Revenues: Our revenues will be as follows:

-          Coffee sales

-          Food sales

-          CateringIt will be imperative that we have a solid handle on our inventory and production to keep variable costs down. The average cost of a pound of coffee for a U.S. café is around $7.50, according to this article. http://www.scanews.coffee/2014/09/15/the-cost-of-a-cup-of-coffee-where-does-the-money-go-2/ The article also goes on to say, that with an average order being a 16 oz coffee, the café can expect to get 15-17 coffee’s out of each pound, or, at $3.50 per cup, $52.50-$59.50 per pound. Obviously, there are some assumptions built in, like selling all 16 oz coffees, and selling out every order, but a $45-$50 margin per pound is not a bad starting point.

Venture Concept: The assignment instructions define a venture concept as “the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity.” It is very simple, with lack of competition, and no true convenient way for customers to satisfy this need, my business is a slam dunk!  Obviously, location and customer experience are going to play a huge role in this business. Without success in those two elements, you can throw my opportunity and innovation out the window.   Organizing this business would be fairly simple. Structurally, I would form a one-person LLC, leaving the door open for equity rounds in the future. As far as employees go, I would like at least two per store at all times, but I could see us needing up to ten per store if business allowed it.

Most of the feedback that I received was overwhelmingly positive. For this post however, I’ve chosen some of the more negative feedback about my business. I will be making some changes in the following areas: marketing and B2B market focus. For marketing, I will focus on forming a strategic partnership with the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce. This will allow my business to be more recognizable to tourists. In the B2B sector, I will be launching my catering division and forming relationships with the largest employers in the area.

Assignment 28A: Your Exit Strategy

For this post, we are to something new and exciting. Students have been asked to identify their exit strategy, which is a much more important part of the entrepreneurial process than most people realize. Having an exit strategy can also be applied to many other areas of life. This post reminds me of one of Stephen Covey’s 7 habits, “begin with the end in mind.” Let’s get going!

            

  My exit strategy will be to transition from a single brick and mortar location into a regional franchise with several locations. This strategy is a best-case scenario, but it is worth noting that sometimes the best-case scenario does actually play out. From a lifestyle standpoint, this strategy makes the most sense. While everything is exciting and new with my venture now, I am not willing to guarantee that I will want to wake up at 5:00 A.M. to run a coffee shop when I am 40. With that being said, I do know for a fact that I will always enjoy making passive income from a business that I founded and grew to a critical mass.

            

  This strategy will largely shape our decisions from the very beginning. Going the franchise route will allow us to be more aggressive with early growth and networking. Knowing where we are headed will also provide us with some leverage as we attempt to land exclusive suppliers and B2B customers. I would rather have several successful franchise locations than be the sole owner of one extremely successful location. Now let’s get out there and grow!

Assignment 27A: Reading Reflection No. 3

For this post, students have been asked to continue a series that we’ve been working on since the beginning of the semester. This will be the 3^rd of 3 required reading reflections. We were given a bit more leeway for our final book choice, and I went with Shoe Dog, an autobiographical memoir written by the founder of Nike, Phil Knight. For clarification, I will post the required questions from the assignment, along with my answers. Let’s do it!

1.)     What surprised you the most? – I was surprised to learn how late in the game Phil Knight got started with shoes. He went to Grad School, was in the Army, and traveled the world, all before selling his first shoe.

2.)     What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? – I admired the fact that everything he did in the world of shoes was done from an athlete’s perspective, since he ran college track.

3.)     What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? – I did not admire the way that he communicated with his staff. (basically, not at all)

4.)     Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? – Yes, time and time again Knight was told no. He used his knowledge, skills, and network to find a way to keep his business alive.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? – Knight’s ability to stick with a vision and stay focused is unprecedented.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. – I could not really grasp why it was so hard for him to get credit despite their early success in sales.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? – Q1.) Why did you choose your hands-off management style for something that you were clearly so passionate about? Q2.) Why did you negotiate with your Japanese partners by yourself early in the game instead of including Bowerman? – I would ask both questions to get a better look into his philosophies and decision-making styles.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?- Knight’s work would be seen as hard work by almost anyone else, but I think that he was just fulfilling an extremely consuming passion to positively impact the world that he knew, running.

Assignment 26A: Celebrating Failure

For this post, students have been asked to do a little soul searching. We are going to talk about everyone’s favorite topic, personal failure. Let’s do it!

              Throughout my life, I have been conditioned more so than others my age to appropriately deal with failure. This is primarily because my father is a college baseball coach, and baseball is definitely a game of failure. I mean, think about it, how many jobs are out there where if you fail at your primary job duty 70 % of the time, you will earn a bust in the hall of fame? (baseball hitter with a career .300 average) With that being said, I am excited to do this assignment because failure is something that I am great at.

              My fail: For me, this semester has been all about transitioning my way out of college, and into the real world as smoothly as possible. I have hit some solid milestones, like finding a job and locking up my next lease. Where I have failed, however, is in my attempt to establish a regular routine. At one point, I got up early to be productive every day for a month straight, but then my trip out to my future job location, spring break, and senioritis all got in the way!

              What I learned: The biggest learning curve for me has been learning about myself and my mental strength. Waking up for school was never difficult for me, but it was also never an option for me to sleep in. In the future, I know that I need to have a plan in place for getting myself back into routine after I have to break it instead of just letting my mistakes pile up.

              Reflection: Failure is very difficult to deal with. In general, I do think that failure is helpful. Failure, when channeled correctly, can lead us to greater success and satisfaction than the easy road ever could. Handling failure is all about taking responsibility for your actions and staying positive. This class hasn’t really changed my outlook on failure to this point, but I think that I may be less risk averse now than I was in the start.

Assignment 25A: What's Next?

              For this assignment, we are transitioning into yet another new topic, growth. With new topics, however, come familiar tasks. For this post, students will be doing (that’s right, you guessed it!) some potential customer interviews. I will be conducting five interviews total, three from my existing market and two from a completely new market. For simplicity, I will break the post into two sections, existing and new. Let’s get started!

Existing Market. 

              I would like to start by saying that I am so glad that I enrolled in this course during the spring semester where free-time is abundant, and I tend to travel home about twice as often as I do during the fall semester. Luckily, I was able to go home this past weekend. (Easter Sunday and my sister’s birthday dinner Saturday night) With everything going on, I somehow managed to squeeze in some solid interviews. For these three interviews, I really stepped outside of my comfort zone and interviewed actual random people who were staying at Laketown for the weekend. Even though Panama City Beach is usually a bit of a raucous crowd during this time of year, it was a bit more family oriented this weekend being that it was Easter weekend. I am glad to be at the point in the semester where everything really feels like it is coming together. I will summarize my interviews and takeaways below:

Interview #1: Pam: Pam is a mother of two from southern Georgia. She and her family decided to use their children’s Spring Break as the perfect excuse to come to the beach for the first time all year. After I explained my venture concept to her, (we even walked over to the potential space) she was extremely excited about the business outlook. She did explain to me that she does not consider herself to business savvy but said that she thought brand awareness could be an issue. With so much to do, and so little time, people on vacation must pick and choose their activities wisely. Her recommendation was to hit marketing hard and see what happens!

Interview #2: Henry: Henry is a semi-retired bus driver from Michigan who lives at Laketown full time when he is not on the road. I thought that he might be a resident, because we bumped into each other at the 10^th floor hot tub. (the one that most temporary guests don’t know about) When I pitched him my idea, he was gracious enough to pitch me three of his own ideas which I didn’t ask for, I’ll spare you the details. After I was finally able to get him on track, he said that he thought it could be a good idea, but I just couldn’t convince him that people would pay $3.50 for a cup of coffee. (Henry is a bit older) So he thought that I should lower my costs, which I agree with, but for different reasons.

Interview #3: Jessica: Jessica is a college student, but she came down for vacation with family. She is an everyday coffee drinker and told me it would have been nice to wake up and come down to the boardwalk for a cup. After hearing out my venture concept, and deciding that I wasn’t hitting on her, she was able to raise a good point. She said that for me to succeed in this environment, I will need to be very customer oriented. Since I don’t have the brand awareness of a big-box chain or the loyalty of a well-established local shop, Jessica thinks that I need to play up the angle of making every cup count.

Path for the Future: After taking these interviews and my work thus far into the semester into consideration, it has become apparent to me that if I want to do well, I will have to rely on marketing to get people in the door and a grassroots movement centered around quality to keep them coming back.

New Market.

Being in as many markets as possible will obviously help most businesses looking to increase their revenue. Since my business is so location specific, I was really having a tough time coming up with just how I’d get into another market. That’s when it dawned on me that B2B could be my answer. Almost all businesses have meetings on some level. It is no secret that a cup of coffee could be the difference between a head bobbing embarrassing dose off and nodding along with the key presentation that your supervisor is giving. Providing a catering service for corporate business settings could be a revenue driver for us, especially during the slower vacation months. I will summarize my interviews and takeaways below:

Interview #1: John: John is a mid-level manager for a graphics company in Orlando. Obviously, Orlando is a bit too far for our catering service currently but use your imagination a bit. When I pitched him my concept, he immediately went all tech on me. In his opinion, an app or a website could really be useful for a mid-size company.

Here is John’s ideal B2B scenario for my venture:

-mid-sized company, large enough to provide employees with coffee, but not large enough to be prepared for a 100+ person meeting with a large client

-From there, the mid-sized company can order one of several corporate catering packages or create their own

Interview #2: Matt: Matt is an entry-level analyst for a large bank. Again, Matt lives too far away for his firm to be a potential client, but I believe that there will be some reciprocity among businesses regardless of location. When I pitched my venture to Matt, I felt like he gave it an honest listen, but he did not show the same enthusiasm as John. He said that is was most certainly doable, but that I’d have to come up with a sure-fire method for differentiating myself from the hundreds of delivery services out there.

New Market Reflection:

              The most surprising thing to learn for me has been just how vast the B2B market is. In a way, I now feel that my original market is so small and limited, that the B2B should be my new focus. On the other hand, the B2B market has more obvious problems like competition and start up costs. As a whole, the B2B market is more attractive than my current one, but it would require completely different business plans and goals.

Assignment 24A: Venture Concept No. 1

For this post, students have been asked to mix things up a bit. Instead of the normal 250-300-word post, we will be writing a full two pages. This week’s topic is Venture Concepts. Specifically, we are being asked to incorporate three different elements that are all important for a budding business. The three elements are opportunity, innovation, and the venture concept. For simplification I will give each topic its’ own body paragraph, then wrap it up with a conclusion paragraph at the end, where I will address the three assigned questions. I am glad that we are mixing it up with a different type of assignment and a new topic this week. Let’s get started!

Opportunity: The directions for this assignment define an opportunity as “a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs.” If you have been following my blog posts throughout the semester, you know by now that my business idea is to open a coffee shop on the grounds of Laketown Wharf Resort in Panama City Beach, Fl. You may not know, however, just what makes this opportunity so viable. The assignment has instructed us students to break down our opportunity in two different categories. The fist category is “who has the need,” the second is “the nature of the need.”

Who has the need: A few weeks ago, we were asked to do a post in which we created our typical customer avatar. For that post, I described a college spring breaker, which is a very normal visitor for Panama City Beach around this time of year. However, that would not be an accurate representation of my entire potential customer base. My opportunity is much broader than just satisfying the unmet need of my avatar description. The tourism industry in Bay County, Florida is largely the driving force behind my opportunity. This industry attracts visitors to the area from a very wide demographic. My potential customer base is truly people from almost any walk of life.

The nature of the need: Currently, potential customers are using a multitude of ways to satisfy their coffee needs. Some brew at home, while others go to big chain coffee shops, and some buy the convenient store pre-made cappuccinos. This particular opportunity is not huge, approximately the size to justify one brick and mortar location. However, further research will most likely indicate that this opportunity could be scaled and repeated. This opportunity really excites me for its potentially franchisability. I do not see this opportunity going anywhere as long as people are still traveling, and nobody beats me to the punch. However, as we have learned during this semester, the opportunity is only part of the entrepreneurial equation.

Innovation: The assignment instructions define innovation as “a new or creative service, product, or process that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs.” My coffee shop’s products and services should be thought of as incrementally innovative, because while we don’t plan on shaking up the coffee industry, we will be doing something new in our location and market. For simplification and transparency, I will break this section down into a few key bullet points.

 –What it is: Our shop will be in one of the available retail spaces along the Laketown Wharf boardwalk. We will provide an enjoyable way for guests, residents, staff members, and locals to have a cup of coffee and choose from a selection of pre-made breakfast items.

 -What it does: Our shop will primarily focus on enhancing the guest experience at Laketown by providing a high-quality coffee selection.

-How it works: Starting off small, our shop will try to establish a favorable relationship with multiple suppliers in the coffee industry, and for the food we will try to sign an exclusive deal with a big-box type supplier to keep costs low. From there we will use the revenue gained during our busy season (March-October) to reinvest in our business during the winter and make improvements to quality, operations, and marketing.

-How we will make money:

Expenses: Our expenses will be as follows:

-          Rent/Utilities

-          Employees

-          Cost of goods: (coffee, cream, sugar, food, cups/lids, napkins, utensils, etc.)

-          Cost of machinery: (coffee making and cooking machinery)

-          Taxes

-          Marketing

Revenues: Our revenues will be as follows:

-          Coffee sales

-          Food sales

-          Catering

It will be imperative that we have a solid handle on our inventory and production to keep variable costs down. The average cost of a pound of coffee for a U.S. café is around $7.50, according to this article. http://www.scanews.coffee/2014/09/15/the-cost-of-a-cup-of-coffee-where-does-the-money-go-2/ The article also goes on to say, that with an average order being a 16 oz coffee, the café can expect to get 15-17 coffee’s out of each pound, or, at $3.50 per cup, $52.50-$59.50 per pound. Obviously, there are some assumptions built in, like selling all 16 oz coffees, and selling out every order, but a $45-$50 margin per pound is not a bad starting point.

Venture Concept: The assignment instructions define a venture concept as “the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity.” It is very simple, with lack of competition, and no true convenient way for customers to satisfy this need, my business is a slam dunk!  Obviously, location and customer experience are going to play a huge role in this business. Without success in those two elements, you can throw my opportunity and innovation out the window.   Organizing this business would be fairly simple. Structurally, I would form a one-person LLC, leaving the door open for equity rounds in the future. As far as employees go, I would like at least two per store at all times, but I could see us needing up to ten per store if business allowed it.

Conclusion: Last week, we were asked to do an assignment where we wrote about our firm’s biggest resources. I identified the natural steady inflow of customers as my number one advantage. I chose this because it is not something that can easily be recreated and will save us money in marketing. The next big hurdle for my business will be the whole becoming a business thing. So far, we look great on paper, but at some point, we will have to wake up and smell the coffee. For me, I hope that in the next five years I am running the fastest growing coffee franchise in the Gulf Coast Region. I would like to be a serial entrepreneur known for giving back to his community and having fun while doing it. The success of this venture will not make or break me, but it would be an excellent first step towards success.

Assignment 23A: Your Venture's unfair Advantage

For this post, students have been asked to expound on what will separate their businesses from the pack. More specifically, we will be coming up with a list of 10 “resources,” that we already have, and then conducting a VRIN (valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable) analysis for each resource. Let’s get started!

My resources:

1)      Top 10 University educated leadership

V: A well-educated leader will command respect from business partners and the public

R: There are approximately 10 Top 10 universities

I: This quality of education is hard to imitate by a non-top 10 university

N: A quality education simply cannot be self-taught or taught by a lesser university

2)      Location

V: Our location is valuable because of the direct access to thousands of potential customers daily

R: There are no coffee shops in the area

I: Real estate cannot be duplicated

N: Real estate cannot be substituted, no two locations are alike

3)      Natural Customer inflow

V: having easy access to customers is valuable for any business ever

R: Few businesses have the luxury of being located on the same property as most of their customers

I: This is not an opportunity that could be easily duplicated

N: There is no substitute for customers

4)      Commitment to quality

V: A commitment to providing high quality coffee will pay off with repeat business

R: Most people are used to Starbucks or Dunkin donuts, which is good but not as good as most local boutique type shops

I: This is a process that can be imitated, but it will come at a cost

N: There is no real substitute for high quality coffee at a coffee shop

5)      Lack of direct competition

V: Good fences make good neighbors; lack thereof makes good competition

R: Most of the restaurant market in the area is heavily saturated

I: It would be difficult to create a situation with the combination of steady population and little competition

N: The best substitute for lack of competition would be competition that isn’t very competitive

6)      Start up capital approx. $5K

V: Having a bit of start up money will help me put some materials together to get off the ground

R: It is somewhat rare for an American college student to be cash positive

I: There are some imitations for cash, (like a loan)
N: Credit could be a substitute for cash on hand in a business setting

7)      Human Capital

V: Having the few skills that I have gained will prove to be very valuable for my business

R: I have a relatively rare but not unheard-of amount of work experience

I: There truly is nothing that can shape you like on the job experience

N: Education can take you a certain distance, but at some point, you will have to rely mainly on work training

8)      Social Media/ Marketing Capabilities

V: Reading The Art of Social Media proved to me just how valuable having an online presence is

R: There is still a learning curve to be had before social media marketing skills are main stream in society
I: There really is nothing in the realm of marketing to make up for not having an online presence
N: Blogging or just having a website is no longer an effective substitute

9)      Property management relationship

V: Having known the managers of our potential property will help ease all negotiations
R: I’m not sure that this is very rare for experienced entrepreneurs
I: There are probably other ways to make negotiations go smoothly, but everything helps when you are a strapped for cash startup
N: I can’t think of a great way to substitute for that personal relationship

10)   Social Capital

V: The value of true social capital in many ways is immeasurably great
R: I do think that it is rare, and becoming rarer to have a substantial amount of social capital
I: In a way, true social capital can be imitated with purchased social capital
N: There is no solid substitutes for having connections in your community

My top resource:

Upon reflection, I think that the steady inflow of customers is my top resource.

Assignment 22A: Elevator Pitch No. 3

For this assignment, students have been asked to post their third of three elevator pitch videos. Continuing the trend from that has been developing during the second half of this semester, students have also been asked to reflect on the feedback that they have received from their second elevator pitch. To make things more transparent, I will post the feedback that I received below. Let’s jump into it!

 “Hey Michael!
I really enjoyed watching your video about the further consideration of your coffee business! I especially like how you incorporated comments from your last pitch to make this one even better. It really is important to incorporate either statistics or background information about the area in which you were going to open these coffee shops and you did it successfully, thanks for sharing!”

“Hey Michael,
Your video was very enjoyable as you delved deeper into your coffee business idea. Using elements of your last speech and combing them with the feedback your peers had on your previous one was a great idea, as it allowed growth not only for you as a person, but for your business idea. Using the data you did research on to make sure that you are addressing a need in a market and have a diverse amount of products that is not overly diverse, but is fulfilling the exact needs of the customer was something that I enjoyed learning about. You presented this information in a great way, and this pitch would have me investing in your business in no time. Thanks for sharing!”

“Michael, your pitch was very well thought out and I could tell that you put a lot of planning into what you were saying. The statistics and other information was very relevant and insightful. Sometimes it can be hard to have just the right amount of data to present in these quick pitches, but I think you found a great balance!”

              I found this feedback to be overwhelmingly positive. I think that if I were to get this type of feedback in the real world of business, I would keep on doing what I was doing. With that being said, I have decided to not change my pitch because all three of the people who gave me feedback did not point out any weak parts of my pitch!

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esb66AAWF2k

Assignment 20A: Growing Your Social Capital

For this post, students have been asked to meet three potential contacts, and expand their network. Let’s jump into it!

Pat:

Pat is an owner of a local restaurant near my home town. While he does not own a coffee shop, I am counting a restaurateur as an acceptable fill for the “domain expert” slot. Pat and I met shortly after I walked into his restaurant when I was home on Spring Break. I walked in during the afternoon lull, and upon finding out that he owned the establishment, I asked him for five minutes of his time. As a display of goodwill, I offered to refer all my friends to eat in his restaurant in exchange for his time. Having connections in the local restaurant scene will help me get introduced to the right kinds of people to optimize my coffee shop. In the future, I doubt I will do very much “cold calling,” where I just walk in to an establishment and strike up a conversation with the owner. I have never done that before because I have never tried to start a business, so it was different than any networking experience that I’ve ever had.

Justin:

Justin owns a local t-shirt shop in my hometown. He will be filling the slot for “expert on your market,” because he and I will both be primarily targeting tourists in the Panama City Beach area. I used to work for Justin, so I just called him and asked if he had five minutes to hear my elevator pitch and chat. In this case, the exchange was more based on our existing relationship which we both think of as a good one that we’d like to uphold. Justin and his family are prominent members of the community whose networks would be ideal ones to have access to. This won’t really change how I network in the future, because Justin is someone who I have known for years. It was different for me to network in this way, because for the most part up to this point I do not have many professional contacts that are already established.

Troy:

Troy is an employee of Sysco. While I was in Pat’s restaurant, Troy stopped by for a delivery. I grew up with Troy, so it would have been awkward for me not to speak to him. It just happened to be a big coincidence that he would be there and be able to fill my role for an “important supplier.” After I pitched Troy my idea, we decided that if I launch my business, Sysco will undoubtedly be my supplier. Having an inside man at such a large company will really help with my inventory management. This experience has taught me that networking opportunities will jump out of nowhere, so I always need to be prepared.

Assignment 21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

For this post, students have been asked to complete their second of three reading reflections for this semester. The book that I chose was The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki. I found this book to be a quick read that’s packed with great information. I would consider it a must read for almost any modern-day business owner. Let’s jump into it!

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

This book is an informative text that gives the reader over 100 tips for social media success. The tips spread across all major platforms, and teach skills like optimization, gaining followers, and curating great content.

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

This book helped me to see ENT 3003 from a more 21^st century perspective regarding networking and influence.

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

Since this class is primarily blog posts, I think I would tweak some of the overall requirements based on what I learned. I would place a bigger influence on formatting for gaining traffic to our individual blogs.

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?

My biggest surprise was finding out that Google+ existed, and that people use it. There is an entire social media world out there ran by one of the largest companies in the world that I did not even know about. Aha!

Assignment 19A: Idea Napkin No. 2

This week’s assignment will follow the trend from the past few weeks of focusing on feedback. More specifically, students are being asked to follow up the first Idea Napkin assignment by incorporating the feedback that we received from our peers into a new Idea Napkin. For clarification purposes, I will be posting the feedback below. Let’s get started!

“Michael,
I like how defined your business model is, but the restaurant industry is very volatile. My family has owned restaurants my entire life, and you really have to have a product that differentiates your business from the competition in order to succeed. Without knowing if there is any competition or other businesses like yours in the area that you plan on starting the coffee shop, it is hard to project whether or not your claims about a dedicated base of customers will actually exist. Thanks for sharing!”

“Hey Michael!
I agree with RJ, from your previous post, you mentioned the 5 steps and the models that you would like to follow for the coffee business. I really like how you went into more depth of how and why people would buy your product. It is still different from the loss information about your competition, but I believe research can easily fix that. Thanks for sharing!”

1.)    You-  I am a graduating senior this semester at UF. Being a business major, my academic skills are strongest in math and critical reasoning. My experiences thus far have been in sports, tourism, and financial services. My biggest aspirations involve working for myself in some capacity and traveling. If my business were to take off, I would feel great fulfilment at work, as well as in the lifestyle that my business would provide for me outside of work.

2.)    What are you offering to customers? -    I’ll be providing my customers with Coffee and assorted breakfast items, which they cannot get made to order anywhere very close to our location.

3.)    Who are you offering it to? -  My customers will be the guests, residents, and staff at Laketown Warf Resort. The typical guest is a family of four on vacation. Most residents are either young singles or retired people. The staff comprises of locals and seasonal workers in the summer. This is a very broad range of people, allowing me to have a diverse customer base.

4.)    Why do they care? -  Customers will care about our shop for a variety of reasons. First, caffeine is addictive, so while people won’t need a cup to get ready for work, their body will still crave that coffee. Second, there is not really a convenient place nearby to get coffee. Third, and last, people tend to go out to eat more while on vacation.

5.)    What are your core competencies? - My core competencies center around my work ethic and positive attitude. I believe that your mindset will ultimately determine success.  

I believe that these five factors fall together harmoniously. The customers will be on-sight regardless of whether the coffee is there or not, so I think demand will be easily projectable.

Feedback memo - I always appreciate feedback and have taken these two pieces into consideration for my revised Idea Napkin. While I did find this feedback useful, I think that it is worth noting that I have mentioned in several previous posts that there is not a coffee shop within 10 miles of my desired location. However, just because there are no coffee shops does not mean I would be the only one selling coffee in the area, so I guess there is still some competition.

Assignment 18A: Create a Customer Avatar

For this post, students have been asked to create a “customer avatar,” based on an ideal customer from their customer segment that they have been researching for the past few weeks. As a reminder, the customer segment that I have been focusing on is college students. Since my business idea is so location specific, and it is around that time of year, I am going to do my avatar on a Spring Breaker. Panama City Beach has long been known as a popular Spring Break destination, so I think this is realistic. Let’s get into it!

The average spring breaker is here to one thing, and that is not drink coffee. However, I think very few of them would turn down a reasonably priced morning pick me up after a day or two in the hot Florida sun. They are probably dressed in bright clothing, swimsuits, and wearing hats. As far as automobiles go, there is a great chance that they are driving whatever one of their parent’s drove until they turned 16. Their entertainment habits are incredibly diverse, one person in their group only watches sports, another is a Netflix addict, another could be a movie critic, and the fourth watches all three. Their favorite books start with the letters f-a-c-e, and they read a significant amount more on screens than they do paper. Most of the crowd is still closer to being a child than having one, but you really never know. Their favorite politicians are probably very polarizing figures with ideals relatively far from the middle ground that Americans live in daily. The average age is somewhere between “independent adult status” and “mom can you send me money for this coffee?”. Which is approximately 18-22 years old. This is the typical customer that I will proudly serve.

Assignment 17A: Elevator pitch # 2

For this assignment students have been asked to build off the first Elevator Pitch assignment. An elevator pitch is about a 90-second pitch where you describe the highlights of your company. It is important to set the hook, making sure you have the audience’s attention. It is also important to be concise, so that you won’t lose or confuse your audience. Once you have their attention, and are confident that you will not lose it, it is important to make sure they know how you will be making money. You will be doing elevator pitches for potential investors, so showing them how you make money is showing them how they will make money too.

              My previous post did get some feedback, I am going to post the comment below, then address it. The comment reads as follows:

“Hey Michael!
I enjoyed that you decided to stick with the business of coffee. I really like that you spoke about your business in 5 parts, really made it more specific and easy to follow. What other items were you planning on selling? Do you have any statistics when it comes to coffeeshops in the area? Any competition? Thanks for sharing!”

              First, I’d like to thank my classmate for the comment. I have evaluated it and have decided to tweak my pitch slightly. I will include some examples of other items that we will be selling. I won’t include any statistics about the competition because my pitch can only be 90 seconds, however, I would have that information handy in case an investor would like to know.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esb66AAWF2k

Assignment 16A: What's your Secret Sauce?

For this exercise, students were asked to reflect on what sets them apart from the crowd, their human capital. Human capital is arguably the most important tool in entrepreneurship, because it is one of the few tools that is unique to each entrepreneur. Format wise, we’ll start with a personal reflection of my best attributes, then transition into some outside opinions. Let’s jump into it!

Coming up with my five unique human capital attributes turned out to be a bit of a challenge for me. In my opinion, we are never really finished with developing our human capital. If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards. However, for the sake of this assignment, I have come up with the following five attributes that I think set me apart from the pack.

1.)    Work ethic – Playing sports growing up helped me to develop the proper work ethic needed to succeed in the real world.

2.)    Salesmanship – Through my internships during my college tenure, I have developed strong sales skills.

3.)    Positivity – I’m not sure if this was developed and cultivated throughout my life or just comes naturally, but I can usually see the good in situations.

4.)    Communication skills – It has never been difficult for me to effectively convey my positions or emotions.

5.)    Leadership – I think that this skill also comes from playing sports growing up, but I have always been a natural leader.

Interviewing the five people closest to me turned out to be much easier than coming up with five attributes myself, because I happen to have two parents and three siblings. (2 + 3 = 5)

Mom: My mom probably sees me in a more altruistic light than most people do, as is expected with most moms. She described me as intelligent and ambitious.

Dad: My dad is very much a man’s man. I’m not sure that he fully understood what we meant by “human capital.” As far as capital, he rated me as expensive and high maintenance.

Sister: My sister Tori is only two years older than me, we are by far the closest. She said that I am smart, hard-working, and have unlimited potential.

Sister: My sister Farrah is the oldest out of all of us. Being the oldest, I think she has a very realistic view of the world. She thinks that I’d be a great fit for entrepreneurship because of my uniqueness and problem-solving skills.

Brother: My brother Travis is older than Tori, but younger than Farrah. He has a great deal of professional experience and thinks that my ability to follow instructions will set me apart in the real world.

Conclusion: I think that my family largely shapes the way that I perceive myself, so we really weren’t too far off as far as human capital goes.

Assignment 15A: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

For this post, students have been asked to follow up on last week’s assignment, “figuring out buyer behavior.” More specifically, we’ll be looking at the back half of the buying process: how customers evaluate alternatives, how they purchase a product/service, and how they evaluate the purchase afterward. Like last week, I’ll be conducting three interviews from my chosen customer segment, college students. Let’s jump into it!

              Interview #1: Randy: Randy is a third-year Biology major who drinks coffee only on occasion, but he could see himself as an everyday drinker later in adulthood. He has a Keurig machine at home, so he usually uses that for making a cup. He buys his K-cups from Sam’s club, because he gets a cheaper unit price when buying in bulk. His preferences show that he leans towards convenience by using the Keurig and is price conscience because he buys in bulk.

              Interview #2: Logan: Logan is a second-year accounting major, who drinks a cup of coffee from Starbucks almost every day. Having a cup of coffee has become just as much a part of her day as going to class she says. She likes to switch up her order, but usually sticks with a size medium and not too many extras. She says she does not really think much about buying herself Starbucks every day. As an accounting major, she was able to recognize that there are cheaper alternatives out there but maintained that sometimes you just can’t put a price on convenience.

              Interview #3: Javis: Javis is a graduating senior, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. (Congrats, Javis) He is an avid coffee drinker, and will switch it up between his French press, Starbucks, and a few of the local shops. Javis explained to me that his buying decisions change depending on how he is consuming his coffee. With his French press, he is more likely to pick up a random bag of coffee at wholefoods or trader joes, whereas when he is at a shop he is more likely to stick with what he knows. For him, coffee is about having experiences with friends and getting some variety out of life. I would compare Javis’ buying behaviors to more of a connoisseur or collector than most coffee drinkers.

              Conclusions: College students are so diverse that I think I should have narrowed my segment a bit for a look at some more telling findings. I did notice some common factors, however. College students are very busy, and aside from a few outliers, convenience is a huge factor in how they consume their coffee. College students are also not quite as frugal as one may think for having the reputation of being “broke,” all the time. Students, like everyone else, are willing to pay a bit more where they see value. I had a lot of fun with this week’s assignment and learned a good bit as well. Happy Spring Break!

               

             

Assignment 14A: Halfway Reflection

For this post, students have been asked to reflect on their semester so far from the perspective of talking to a student from the next semester. The focus of this post will be about tenacity and how it relates to entrepreneurship. Let’s jump into it!

              Keeping up with this course can be a challenge. What has helped me progress this far the most has been establishing a routine. Every week, I block out some time to work on my blog posts. This has helped me stay consistent and earn all my points so far.

              There will be moments when you feel like giving up, or just don’t know how you’re going to get the assignments done each week. For me, I think back to the challenge that I faced playing high school sports and decide that if I could make it through summer practice, I can make it through this assignment. Learning discipline in sports has absolutely made me a better college student.

              Developing an attitude of tenacity will not only help you in this course, but also in life as well. There are no limits to what we can do other than those that we place on ourselves. To further cultivate your attitude of tenacity, you should follow these 3 tips. 1.) Practice deferred gratification. This will help you to recognize the value in working for what you want. 2.) Get out of your comfort zone. The only way to grow is to do things that aren’t in your wheelhouse, whether that is socially, physically, or mentally. 3.) Set Goals. It is so much easier to push yourself if there is a clear-cut picture of the finish line.

              Let’s go out and be tenacious!

Assignment 13A: Reading Reflection No. 1

For this post, students have been asked to reflect on the first of two required readings. I chose to read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future. I found this book to be a great read, let’s jump into the reflection.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

-          I was surprised to hear about how rough Elon’s childhood was.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

-          I really admire Elon’s drive to succeed.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

-          I did not like the way that Elon treated his employees in some cases.

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

      - Yes, Elon always pushed through the hard times.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

- Elon is extremely apt in engineering.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

- It was tough to keep up with all the people coming in and out of his life.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

-  Question one: May I have all of your money, please?

Why: Because that would be slightly more than my current net worth.

- Question two: May I have free advice for as long as you live?

Why: Because we only get to ask two questions.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

- Elon’s opinion of hard work would be insurmountably larger than mine, he is one of the most driven people I have ever heard of.

Assignment 12A: Figuring out Buyer Behavior

              For this post, we are taking a deeper look at the topic of “Buyer Behavior”. Students were asked to conduct three separate customer interviews of potential customers that within the same segment. The segment I have chosen is college students, and I will be interviewing three of my friends to learn a bit more about their coffee drinking habits. Let’s jump right into it!

             

Ben: Ben is an Aerospace engineering major in his second year at UF. He is originally from Canada, where the most popular coffee shop is Tim Horton’s. Ben drinks his coffee most often while studying in the afternoon. He usually gets a cup when he feels that he needs a pick me up, or to really help him focus. His go-to is usually Starbucks.

              Christian: Christian is a junior business major here at UF. He usually has a cup of coffee in the morning to get his day started. He usually has at least one cup every morning at his house but will occasionally meet his friends for a cup later in the day. Coffee is part of his daily routine.  If he’s not making the coffee himself, he’s equally likely to go to Starbucks or a local shop.

              Esteban: Esteban is a fourth-year chemical engineering student. He is originally from Mexico, and coffee is a big part of his culture. Esteban prefers home-made coffee, but only from his French press. He does not have a set time of day that he drinks coffee. He also rarely drinks coffee that he doesn’t make.

             

              Conclusion: Coffee drinkers are a very broad group of people, which can bode well for a shop looking to stay busy all day long!

Assignment 11A: Idea Napkin No. 1

For this post, students have been asked to finally get more into the details of their business. More specifically, this post will venture further into five important topics. They are: 1.) You 2.) What are you offering to customers? 3.) Who are you offering it to? 4.) Why do they care? And 5.) What are your core competencies? Let’s jump right into it!

1.)    I am a graduating senior this semester at UF. Being a business major, my academic skills are strongest in math and critical reasoning. My experiences thus far have been in sports, tourism, and financial services. My biggest aspirations involve working for myself in some capacity and traveling. If my business were to take off, I would feel great fulfilment at work, as well as in the lifestyle that my business would provide for me outside of work.

2.)    I’ll be providing my customers with Coffee and assorted breakfast items.

3.)    My customers will be the guests, residents, and staff at Laketown Warf Resort. The typical guest is a family of four on vacation. Most residents are either young singles or retired people. The staff comprises of locals and seasonal workers in the summer. This is a very broad range of people, allowing me to have a diverse customer base.

4.)    Customers will care about our shop for a variety of reasons. First, caffeine is addictive, so while people won’t need a cup to get ready for work, their body will still crave that coffee. Second, there is not really a convenient place nearby to get coffee. Third, and last, people tend to go out to eat more while on vacation.

5.)    My core competencies center around my work ethic and positive attitude. I believe that your mindset will ultimately determine success.

Assignment 10A: Elevator Pitch No. 1

              For this post, students have been tasked with recording and posting their own elevator pitch video. An elevator pitch is a short, 1-minute summary of your business idea that you would make to potential investors. In an elevator pitch, it is very important to clearly communicate your company’s value proposition to the market. The value proposition can be expressed as “We help X do Y, so that they can achieve Z,” where X is your market, Y is your product or service, and Z is the benefit gained.

              In my business, Coffee by the Lake, we have a very well-defined market. We are hoping to serve guests, residents, and staff members of the Laketown Wharf resort in Panama City Beach, FL. More specifically, we are going to sell Coffee and assorted breakfast items to them. The benefit received by our target market is a convenient place to purchase these items that did not exist prior to Coffee by the Lake.

              For my pitch, I will be covering the five areas discussed in lecture, which are: 1.) You 2.) Your offer 3.) Who to? 4.) Why buy? And 5.) Secret Sauce

Previous posts in this class have given me a great starting point for pieces 1-3 in my pitch, however establishing an incentive to buy and product differentiation will be a bigger challenge. I am looking forward to hearing feedback on my pitch and improving it as we progress through the rest of course. You can find the link to my video at the bottom of this post.

http://youtu.be/Esb66AAWF2k

Assignment 9A: Testing the Hypothesis, part 2

              For this post, students have been asked to follow up on assignment 7A, “Testing the Hypothesis. This week, students will be conducting 5 additional interviews, but with an added twist. Students must find 5 people that should be a prototypical customer for their business but for one reason or another are not. This will help students determine what the potential constraints on their opportunity are. Let’s jump into it:

Interview #1:

Jack Jackson (Yes, real person) -  Jack is an owner of a unit at Laketown Wharf. He is a retiree who spends his winters in Florida. Jack, however, does not drink coffee so he is not an eligible customer.

Interview #2:

Trey Trzaska – Trey is a college student at the local community college. He thinks that a coffee shop on campus could be a cool place to study. He and I talked at length about the possibilities of a breakfast restaurant. He was concerned that a coffee shop was selling the need short, and that more food could be involved.

Interview #3:

Taylor Swearingen- Taylor is a teenager who’s family vacations at Laketown. She thinks that a coffee shop is a great idea, especially for those cooler months where there’s not quite as much going on. She says that her family usually goes to the grocery store and buys food for breakfast, counteracting what I learned from Trey’s interview. She says coffee is a daily thing for both of her parents. Taylor does not currently drink coffee.

Interview #4:

Connie Nuenan- Connie is a manager for Laketown. She thinks that it would be nice to have a coffee shop on campus, and she is even a coffee drinker herself. She doesn’t know how much coffee that she would be buying, however, because she brews her own coffee at home.

Interview #5:

Wes Keen- Wes is a resident at Laketown. He thinks that a coffee shop on campus may be a fun place to take friends. He said that he wouldn’t be a great customer because he gets free coffee at work.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: - Guests and residents who want coffee -          Locals	Who is Not: -people who don’t drink coffee                       -people who make their own coffee
What the Need Is: - coffee	What the Need Is Not: - breakfast
Why the Need Exists: - daily routine               -caffeine intake	Alternative Explanations: - coffee for taste

                -socialization 

Assignment 8A: Solving The Problem

       For this post, students have been asked to solve the “problem,” that they have identified in the previous weeks’ assignments. The problem that I have identified is the lack of convenient access to a coffee shop on the Laketown Wharf resort campus. Upon further research, I have realized that this problem is recurring all throughout the United States, however, it does have an easy solution. Coffee shops in hotel lobby’s or on resort grounds are very common, so that is how I will attempt to solve the problem. I will be providing the service of operating the shop and selling the coffee and related products.

              

      There is currently retail space available for rent on the Laketown campus, and tourism in the area is very strong.  With 700 rooms, and occupancy being near full capacity during the tourism season, there will be no shortage of potential customers. My plan is to sell several different blends of traditional coffee, iced coffee, cappuccinos, etc. Additionally, our shop will carry some easily prepared breakfast items. To keep costs down, we will focus on carrying items with a long shelf life and put a large emphasis on building a local customer base.

            

      I feel that this would be an excellent use of the available retail space considering the success of the other restaurants that are open at Laketown. I can see tourists sitting out on the dock in the morning with a cup of coffee in their hand, getting ready to go out and enjoy Panama City Beach.