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.  

Assignment 7A: Testing the Hypothesis, part 1

              For this post, students were asked to pick an opportunity that they would like to pursue. This is important, because several posts later in the class will build on this one. After the opportunity has been identified, students have also been asked to “test the boundaries,” of the basic who/what/when/where/why of their opportunity through 5 potential customer interviews. I’ll be sticking with my same opportunity belief from last week’s assignment 4A (http://michaelkandler.blogspot.com/2018/01/assignment-4a-forming-opportunity-belief.html) , a coffee shop on the property of my family’s condo, located at Laketown Wharf in Panama City Beach, FL.

              The original opportunity belief is that (who:) Laketown Wharf Residents and Guests (what:) are currently unable to get a cup of coffee made for them on the resort grounds (why:) because there is not a coffee shop on campus or within walking distance.

              Challenging the who:

-           Laketown Wharf has a large staff that should also be considered as potential customers.

-          The resort is located within walking distance from several residential areas, a coffee shop on the grounds would also be the closest coffee shop to those neighborhoods.

-          Some rooms may already have coffee makers in the kitchen

-          What about brand loyalty to other coffee shops?

              Challenging the what:

-          Why coffee? There may be other things at Laketown Wharf that people are missing out on.

-          How important is getting a cup of coffee without leaving the resort? People drive to Starbucks every day.

-          What percentage of residents/guests are even coffee drinkers? Even when they are on vacation and not trying to wake up for work?

              Challenging the why:

-          Is there a reason that there isn’t a coffee shop here already?

-          How many of the surrounding restaurants sell coffee but just aren’t “coffee shops”?

Conclusion: After going through the interview process, the questions and statements above really stuck out to me as important. I still believe that the opportunity exists, however it’s not quite as cut and dry as I once believed. I know that to decide whether this opportunity is viable or not, a great amount of market research will be necessary. I now realize that there could be some hidden competition, because coffee can come from almost anywhere, not just coffee shops. 

Assignment 6A: Identifying opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

              For this post, students have been asked to find four opportunities, in a similar manner to last week’s assignment 5A. To put a twist on things, this week two of the opportunities must relate to economic trends, and two of them must relate to regulatory changes. After the opportunities have been identified, students have been asked to describe their opportunities with a modification of the standard who/what/when/where/why framework. Let’s jump straight into it!

Regulatory opportunity #1:

-          Where I found it:  https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0125-0001

-          What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: In the article, it is stated that the limits for spiny lobster catching will be going up. This presents an opportunity, because to catch a lobster, a fisherman will need the supplies to do so.

-          Who I think is most likely a prototypical customer: Commercial Lobster Fisherman

-          Is this opportunity easy or difficult to exploit: This opportunity would be easy to exploit for suppliers that have established relationships with commercial fisherman.

-          Why I saw this opportunity: I believe that I saw this opportunity because I grew up in a city with a large commercial fishing industry.

Regulatory Opportunity #2:

-          Where I found it: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FWS-HQ-MB-2017-0028-0355

-          What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: Changes in limits for migratory birds will ultimately affect the entire fowl hunting industry.

-          Who I think is most likely a prototypical customer: Hunting suppliers, retailers, and consumers

-          Is this opportunity easy or difficult to exploit: This opportunity will be relatively easy to exploit.

-          Why I saw this opportunity: This opportunity was easy for me to spot, because I personally consider myself an outdoors-man.

Economic Opportunity #1:

-          Where I found it: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/us/politics/federal-reserve-rates.html

-          What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: If interest rates are low, it is less risky to borrow money.

-          Who I think is most likely a prototypical customer: Startups that are in search of funding

-          Is this opportunity easy or difficult to exploit: This opportunity is easy to exploit, if the rates stay low.

-          Why I saw this opportunity: I believe that my experience in the financial services industry lead me to spot this opportunity.

Economic Opportunity #2:

-          Where I found it:  https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/tax-cuts-jobs-act

-          What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: More money in consumer’s pockets

-          Who I think is most likely a prototypical customer: Marketing/Advertising firms

-          Is this opportunity easy or difficult to exploit: This opportunity is easy to exploit, but more difficult that the first three.

-          Why I saw this opportunity: I saw this as an opportunity, because I have the belief that most people are bad at saving money.