The Breakdown

Based on my venture concept No. 1, I received some feedback that really helped me substantialize the practicality of my venture idea and how I might implement it's system of long-term use. One of my classmates commented on one of my elevator pitches that there is a somewhat casual yet dependable system of umbrella interexchange that are used all over major cities in Japan. Japan's rainy season features hotter, more humid weather similar to that of Florida in the summer, making umbrellas much more practical than thick rain jackets. This loose system features buckets for umbrella drop off and pick up at the entrances/exits of stores and restaurants. With Japan's long history of umbrella use, umbrellas are not considered uncool among any specific age group or demographic, making them a popular go-to for businesspersons, students, and kids in major cities all over the country. I found all of this fantastic information to refer to because I read my peer's comments on my ...

I plan to continue working on Rent-a-Brella until I am financially stable and have completed my goal to help maximize the market that could benefit from the use of Rent-a-Brella. I believe that Rent-a-Brella products will not be effective in every situation, that's why we have to maximize the places and people that can benefit from our products. I want to leave this business with someone who is not keen on making the business survive for as long as possible, instead I want someone to aim to take Rent-a-Brella products to their peak performance and from there learn how to create a system of maintenance. I chose this exit strategy because I believe Rent-a-Brella products is not the type of business to last two hundred years. If it does? so be it. All that means is that the need that Rent-a-Brella was created with the intention of filling was fulfilled for that time. Hopefully one day something new can come along and make people's lives even easier than Rent-a-Brella does. If Re...

Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow  by Daniel Kahneman General Theme/Argument- Kahneman discusses the themes of his book in context of the idea that the human brain operates on 2 systems, your conscious and your automatic subsonscious. Conscious thinking requires active thought and attention while the automatic almost requires no thinking at all- it's instinctual, driven into our brain. Connecting the novel to ENT3003? I believe the examples and practice that Kahneman refers to with his thinking made me think a lot about knowing my business and trying to sell it to others. There are questions about my business model that I need to be able to answer off the top of my head, with little to no deliberation needed. This also made me think about the countless individuals who rely on their automatic thinking every day in their jobs-  people like ambulance drivers, heart surgeons, lifeguards, police officers, firefighters, etc. Design an in-class exercise using these concepts? ...

At the beginning of this semester, I had trouble waking up for my 8:30 A.M. class and I was sleeping through my phone alarms. I kept telling myself I would stop sleeping through my alarms, either by turning up the volume of the alarm, changing the sound, or trying to go to sleep sooner. I realized that I was failing in waking up simply because it was too easy to snooze my alarm. so I turned off the snooze ability for all my alarms, forcing me to wake up and actually turn off the alarm. I learned that I was not sleeping not because I was sleep deprived or a heavy sleeper, but because I was making it too easy on myself to go back to sleep. I think failure is a good thing in that it forces you to think. In this situation, my ideas or possible solutions were not creative enough in helping me fix my problem, so I had to really sit down and think about the process of me waking up every morning and what contributes to that process. Once I analyzed the problem as a whole, it was easier for...

Existing Market- For my existing market, I think I need to come up with a prototype for what one of my points of system and drop off will look like. I also believe I need to come up with a pricing/rental system that is accessible to all. I am worried this might be dependent on the use of a credit card, but I want students to be able to use my system without one. I also need to discuss with Gator One Central to see if there is any way that my product could become a part of the declining balance/ flex bucks system on campus that way students can swipe heir gator1 ID when picking up or dropping off an umbrella.   The name for system will probably be the "Rent-a-brella" and if I plan on attracting students as customers my business needs to be accessible on social media. I plan on releasing some sort of system of flyers or papers surveys so that I can formally get numbers on the potential amount of students that genuinely are interested in my product. New Markets- As an ac...

My venture, like most others, started with a need. As a student, I spend almost every weekday walking “from point A to point B” on campus and, living in Florida, the rain can become a hassle during these times. This left me with a need for convenient solution, a need I wondered if my peers had as well. After using my social connections and involvement on campus, I was able to interview students that were unique based on different majors, living situations, schedules, and forms of transportation used. This allowed me to get a broad scope of this need students have on campus. Whether it is a pre- med student spending time on the southside of campus, a business student walking around Heavener, scooter driver, bus taker, student living on campus, student living on campus, I found that almost everyone did not use an umbrella frequently or found it too tedious to remember/carry one every day. This made me think about alternatives. As I explored this need, I had this feeli...

10 Resources of Capital and Capabilities-  I have social capital in my interactions with other students on campus and social media. I have human capital in that I have peers who have offered to volunteer helping me spread the word on campus. I have social capital in talking to students in my classes every day to ask how can I improve my idea. As a student, I know campus very well and I know most of the pedestrian routes/destinations with most foot traffic. I lived in a dorm on campus, providing me with insight on how my idea can help students living on campus. I have financial capital with selling umbrellas on campus. I have financial capital with money saved from lower production costs as the Umbrella bucket system is cheap. I have social capital in that I am close with people in different positions on campus- students, faculty, University employees, a bus driver, etc. I am bilingual. I own a scooter, allowing me to understand the needs of those using bicycles and sco...

https://youtu.be/mx1GxYp1CWk I think the lack of available feedback hurt my ability to improve on my first elevator pitch, however I still managed to find an extra set of eyes to critique my presentation.

The prototypical customer of my product is an undergraduate college student without a car, scooter, or bicycle. The image above roughly represents would this prototypical customer looks like (in this case a female but my product is obviously unisex). this customer walks to most of her destinations on a daily basis, often depending on the bus for longer trips like coming to school in the morning and going home in the afternoon. This student spends a lot of time walking around outside on campus, often staying in one building for no more than a couple hours at a time with classes and studying. This student attends the University of Florida where there is a lot of outside walking space but consistent rain throughout the year. My prototypical customer, as seen above, is usually carrying a bag with a computer or books that he/she cannot afford to get wet in the rain. My prototypical customer is a student who is also a Teacher Assistant for one of her favorite professors and the vice p...