Thursday, November 29, 2018
30A Final Reflection
I think that I will remember doing this whole assignment for a while. It is hard to forget about something when you spend a whole semester expanding more and more on an idea. I am most proud of actually coming up with an idea that I did not mind writing about and working on for the whole semester. It made the class much more enjoyable. I do not know if I see myself as an entrepreneur because I do not have time to be one. Being an entrepreneur takes all of your time to focus and expand on your idea, which is hard to do while still in college. The biggest advice I can give to succeed in this class is to pick an idea that you actually enjoy. It is so much harder to write and think about an idea that you do not really care about. I would also recommend staying organized for this class because all of those dates tend to sneak up on you faster than you realize.
28A Your Exit Strategy
1. My exit strategy would most likely be to hang on to my business for as long as I can. I can work hard and turn mine into a giant company that can make me lots of money. But if someone comes along and offers me the right price then I would be willing to sell it.
2. Building a company from nothing becomes your life. Selling my business off would be hard to do because it is almost like a child. I have watched it grow from nothing. I would like to keep working hard and growing it into as big of a business as I can. But if I become tired and want a break I would be willing to sell it off for the right price. If I have been pouring my heart and soul into a company for 10 years I would get pretty tired. Id be willing to sell it off and just rest and relax for a bit.
3. I think that I would rather hold onto my business it has resulted in me looking at ways to grow my business later down the road. I have not just been looking at the short term but also the long term while developing this idea.
2. Building a company from nothing becomes your life. Selling my business off would be hard to do because it is almost like a child. I have watched it grow from nothing. I would like to keep working hard and growing it into as big of a business as I can. But if I become tired and want a break I would be willing to sell it off for the right price. If I have been pouring my heart and soul into a company for 10 years I would get pretty tired. Id be willing to sell it off and just rest and relax for a bit.
3. I think that I would rather hold onto my business it has resulted in me looking at ways to grow my business later down the road. I have not just been looking at the short term but also the long term while developing this idea.
27A Reading Reflection No. 3
Steve Jobs
1. I was most surprised that Steve Jobs become a billionare from Pixar's IPO and not his Apple products. His stocks become worth $1.2 billion in 1995 after the success of Toy Story. I most admired Steve Jobs attention to detail. He was so precise and everything had to be perfect in his eyes. He would no put out a product just to make money, but rather he was looking to produce a product that he was valuable and perfect. He was not just in the business to make money. I least admired that Steve Jobs was very difficult to work with and he treated his employees poorly. He would fire them for no reason and would look down on them.
2. I mentioned it above about Steve Jobs' attention to detail. He wanted everything to be perfect and would work unbelievably hard to make it perfect. His hard work and determination, along with his brilliant ideas is what separated him from the rest of the pack. Steve Jobs was able to build the most successful and dominant company we have ever seen.
3. I did not really find any part of the reading confusing. It was all pretty straight forward.
4. If I could ask Steve Jobs two questions I would ask him advice on how to build a company from nothing and also what skill he had that helped him build apple.
5. Steve Jobs was a very hard worker and probably resulted in him creating such a successful business. One most always work hard if they ever hope to achieve something in life, it will never just be handed to you.
1. I was most surprised that Steve Jobs become a billionare from Pixar's IPO and not his Apple products. His stocks become worth $1.2 billion in 1995 after the success of Toy Story. I most admired Steve Jobs attention to detail. He was so precise and everything had to be perfect in his eyes. He would no put out a product just to make money, but rather he was looking to produce a product that he was valuable and perfect. He was not just in the business to make money. I least admired that Steve Jobs was very difficult to work with and he treated his employees poorly. He would fire them for no reason and would look down on them.
2. I mentioned it above about Steve Jobs' attention to detail. He wanted everything to be perfect and would work unbelievably hard to make it perfect. His hard work and determination, along with his brilliant ideas is what separated him from the rest of the pack. Steve Jobs was able to build the most successful and dominant company we have ever seen.
3. I did not really find any part of the reading confusing. It was all pretty straight forward.
4. If I could ask Steve Jobs two questions I would ask him advice on how to build a company from nothing and also what skill he had that helped him build apple.
5. Steve Jobs was a very hard worker and probably resulted in him creating such a successful business. One most always work hard if they ever hope to achieve something in life, it will never just be handed to you.
26A Celebrating Failure
This past semester I got a C on my statistics exam. I am used to getting A's on my exams. I stuck to my normal routine that I always do to prepare for an exam. This time it let me down and I got a grade that I was not expecting to get. I learned that you have to learn to adapt to certain situations. What may have worked for you in the past will not always work for you in the future. You cannot be stuck in your ways, but look to better yourself. Failure is the best way to learn. When you fail at something you learn exactly how not to do something. You can spend hours reading about how to run a business, but the most valuable lesson is to go out there and actually do it. You might fail but everyone fails. All successful businessmen have failed at some point in their lives. Failure is what allowed them to rise to the success they are at now.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
25A What's Next?
Existing Market:
Step 1. There are other companies that sell tickets online and can be accessed through your phone. The big ones are ticketmaster and stubhub.
Step 2. I interviewed three people who purchase UF student football tickets. Most of them were excited for my new idea because they hate waiting in line to pick up their tickets. One person said that he actually prefers the physical ticket because he collects them.
Step 3. I plan to start off on focusing on UF. When I grow I hope to expand to colleges all over the country that do not give access to student football tickets on phones. Then maybe I could compete with major companies like stubhub and ticketmaster and sell all kinds of tickets.
New Market:
Step 1. My services focuses on college students who purchase student football tickets. I could also expand into selling all kinds of tickets like concert tickets and other sporting events. The only problem is that it will be hard to compete the pre existing companies.
Step 2. Everyone could now purchase all kinds of tickets, not just college football. It can now be open to everyone, not just college students.
Step 3. The two people I interviewed liked the idea of being able to buy tickets to all kinds of events. They all just mentioned that other big name companies are already in the market so it would be difficult to compete. They mentioned that I would have to find a way to differentiate myself to compete with the others.
Step 4. My new market relates to my target market, but it will be much more difficult to enter. I think I could enter the new market once I have gotten bigger selling student football tickets because the other big companies are unable to do that. Taking advantage of that opportunity is how I differentiate myself and allow my company to grow to be able to compete in the new market.
Step 1. There are other companies that sell tickets online and can be accessed through your phone. The big ones are ticketmaster and stubhub.
Step 2. I interviewed three people who purchase UF student football tickets. Most of them were excited for my new idea because they hate waiting in line to pick up their tickets. One person said that he actually prefers the physical ticket because he collects them.
Step 3. I plan to start off on focusing on UF. When I grow I hope to expand to colleges all over the country that do not give access to student football tickets on phones. Then maybe I could compete with major companies like stubhub and ticketmaster and sell all kinds of tickets.
New Market:
Step 1. My services focuses on college students who purchase student football tickets. I could also expand into selling all kinds of tickets like concert tickets and other sporting events. The only problem is that it will be hard to compete the pre existing companies.
Step 2. Everyone could now purchase all kinds of tickets, not just college football. It can now be open to everyone, not just college students.
Step 3. The two people I interviewed liked the idea of being able to buy tickets to all kinds of events. They all just mentioned that other big name companies are already in the market so it would be difficult to compete. They mentioned that I would have to find a way to differentiate myself to compete with the others.
Step 4. My new market relates to my target market, but it will be much more difficult to enter. I think I could enter the new market once I have gotten bigger selling student football tickets because the other big companies are unable to do that. Taking advantage of that opportunity is how I differentiate myself and allow my company to grow to be able to compete in the new market.
24A Venture Concept No. 1
Opportunity:
There is a big opportunity that can be taken advantage of here at UF. The opportunity is to provide virtual student football tickets. Thousands of UF students purchase season student football tickets so there is a big market for this opportunity. I know that many students will be willing to pay more for a virtual ticket because of the hassle it is to go pick up your ticket every football weekend. Students also have to worry about losing their ticket because if they do they will not get another one. The opportunity is so big because there are currently no competitors right now. I would be the first to take advantage of it and would have no competitors.
Innovation:
I do not really think this idea is super innovative, but more so taking advantage of an opportunity. There are plenty of sites that offer football tickets that can be accessed on phones. The only difference is that those sites do not offer student tickets. They can only be picked up at the ticket office right now. I am just using their idea and taking advantage of the fact that these companies have not been able to offer student tickets.
Venture Concept:
I know that it will be pretty easy to convince students to switch to virtual tickets instead of picking up physical tickets. No one wants to wait in those long lines to pick up their ticket. Now instead, they dont have to take any time out of their day to get their ticket because now it will be on their phone. Students also do not have to worry about losing that small ticket. People carry their phones with them everywhere now and they are much easier to keep track of. Currently there are no competitors, but I would still have to worry about the big companies also taking advantage of this opportunity. I think this is a very good business opportunity that will be taken advantage of eventually, if it's not by me then it will be someone else. I think it would be an easy service to provide. I would have to have enough employees to be able to provide that services of sending out virtual tickets and keeping our website up and running. I would not have to have multiple stores, but just one central location because everything would be done over the internet. Most of my costs would come from paying employees to keep the site up and running, send out our tickets, customer reps, and also customer support.
There is a big opportunity that can be taken advantage of here at UF. The opportunity is to provide virtual student football tickets. Thousands of UF students purchase season student football tickets so there is a big market for this opportunity. I know that many students will be willing to pay more for a virtual ticket because of the hassle it is to go pick up your ticket every football weekend. Students also have to worry about losing their ticket because if they do they will not get another one. The opportunity is so big because there are currently no competitors right now. I would be the first to take advantage of it and would have no competitors.
Innovation:
I do not really think this idea is super innovative, but more so taking advantage of an opportunity. There are plenty of sites that offer football tickets that can be accessed on phones. The only difference is that those sites do not offer student tickets. They can only be picked up at the ticket office right now. I am just using their idea and taking advantage of the fact that these companies have not been able to offer student tickets.
Venture Concept:
I know that it will be pretty easy to convince students to switch to virtual tickets instead of picking up physical tickets. No one wants to wait in those long lines to pick up their ticket. Now instead, they dont have to take any time out of their day to get their ticket because now it will be on their phone. Students also do not have to worry about losing that small ticket. People carry their phones with them everywhere now and they are much easier to keep track of. Currently there are no competitors, but I would still have to worry about the big companies also taking advantage of this opportunity. I think this is a very good business opportunity that will be taken advantage of eventually, if it's not by me then it will be someone else. I think it would be an easy service to provide. I would have to have enough employees to be able to provide that services of sending out virtual tickets and keeping our website up and running. I would not have to have multiple stores, but just one central location because everything would be done over the internet. Most of my costs would come from paying employees to keep the site up and running, send out our tickets, customer reps, and also customer support.
23A Your Venture's Unfair Advantage
1. Ability to work well with others
2. Knowledge about football and attending football games
3. Being a college student
4. Experience working in business
5. Family and friends around me that have knowledge running a business
6. Friend that works in UF ticket office
7. Good communication skills
8. Good analytical skills
9. Experience with public speaking
10. Great at problem solving
VRIN:
Valuable: Valuable because there is no service for virtual student football tickets right now.
Rare: Not very rare, just no one has jumped on the opportunity now.
Inimitable: It is able to be imitated, but by signing contracts can give all the business to me.
Non-substitutable- There are no substitutes for this service right now because no one is providing the service.
I think my most valuable resource is the ability to be good at solving problems and thinking outside the box. Problems are always going to arise and being able to solve them as quickly and effective as possible is ideal. I feel that I am persistent when faced with a problem and I am able to come up with creative ways to solve that problem.
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