19A- Idea Napkin No. 2

1)    You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

Hello, my name is Victoria. I’m a Junior at the University of Florida and I’m studying Business Administration at UF’s College of Warrington. My passion for the last two years has been in being of service to those who have economic struggles such as addiction. I’ve been a mentor in changing peoples lives for the better including my own success story. I’ve instilled my dedication in growth and empowerment throughout my college career in relation to Business, while I’ve earned certificates in Business Specialist, Business Operations, and Accounting Technology Specialist. With the skills I obtained I received an Associates Degree with High Honors and transferred to the University of Florida. Right now I’m looking for an internship for this summer where I can enhance my skills in the field of Business and Economics.

2)    What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

My product/service that I could sell to customers to provide a solution to this epidemic is the creation of a navigation chip that could be surgically placed under the skin of an individuals’ body. This chip would be able to give the exact location of that individual at any given time in the case of an emergency via an online website. Each chip would be given a pin to enter onto the website to track the location according to the chips pin. This would provide a large solution to where a missing individual is and where other victims of human trafficking are located. I could price the procedure at a low cost so that any family could be able to afford it, and also retain a percentage of the profits to donate this procedure to the local homeless community and have online representatives given the information of the homeless populations pin numbers and names in the case that one is reported missing.

3)    Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

My selected opportunity is human trafficking in Gainesville, Florida. Human trafficking in Gainesville is now marked as a green zone, which means that it’s on the human trafficking map of locations for Florida. This problem directly affects woman, children, teenagers, and the homeless population. My customers all have in common that are they are the normal target of predators due to their sex being female, and age. People under 18 such as teenagers and children are more vulnerable compared to an adult and females are more vulnerable in comparison to a stronger and larger male.

4)    Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

I believe that customers will use my product because it can be applied to a widespread of concerns, not only concerning human trafficking. My product will offer the safety and peace of mind of knowing where a person is when needed, such as a simpler and higher accurate version that an Iphone does with “sharing your location” with someone. For someone or for a demographic that is directly affected by human trafficking, my product would be the best option to ensure someone’s safety and direct location if any concern would arise. My product is priceless when it comes to purchasing it. Any family would choose to spend the price of the product to ensure the safety of their loved one or themselves.

5)    What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

My product would be new to the market. There has never been a tracking chip company that places an electronic chip in people to acquire their location. Something that cannot be replicated would be that it the chip is patented to be undetectable to any system or scanner. So, when the company becomes more exposed with more users, sex traffickers will also be aware that their victim could have my chip placed and try to scan the body of the victim for it; though, my chip is undetectable and cannot be found on the body through any scanner or electronic system once it is placed. This would be give me a further advantage from my future competitors, because I would be the only undetectable chip with my patent.

18A- Create a Customer Avatar

I’ve established that my customer segment includes woman that have children, so basically moms. They would have to be of middle class or the upper class. The basic description of my customer would be a working mom with two children. The mom is 38 years old and has two children of ages 9 and 12. She is a pediatrician and has a husband that works as a police officer. Her hobbies include yoga classes, boxing classes, going to the gym, and cooking. Her favorite shows are fixer upper, 20/20, survivor, law and order: SVU, greys anatomy, and American idol. She drives a silver Volvo SUV. She could be either democrat or republican, I think both classes would find a need in my product. Her and her family go camping often and enjoy the outdoors.

 

I have nothing in common with my avatar except for liking some of her favorite shows and enjoying the outdoors.

17A - Elevator Pitch No. 2

16A- What's your secret sauce?

1. My passion for the last two years has been in being of service to those who have economic struggles such as addiction. I’ve been a mentor in changing peoples lives for the better including my own success story. I’ve instilled my dedication in growth and empowerment throughout my college career in relation to Business, while I’ve earned certificates in Business Specialist, Business Operations, and Accounting Technology Specialist. With the skills I obtained I received an Associates Degree with High Honors and transferred to the University of Florida.

2.
https://soundcloud.com/victoria-saraiva-234903203/jillian
https://soundcloud.com/victoria-saraiva-234903203/mom
https://soundcloud.com/victoria-saraiva-234903203/dad
https://soundcloud.com/victoria-saraiva-234903203/roomate1
https://soundcloud.com/victoria-saraiva-234903203/roomate2

3. I think that each of the people that states my qualities were accurate. They definitely input some qualities that I could add to my first explanation. I see myself as all of the above characteristics. One thing that nobody mentioned is my life of living with addiction and overcoming it. I definitely believe that is one of my strongest qualities. I completely turned around my life within a few years and became a very powerful motivating person. This showed me also how to help others and not only care for myself.

15A- Figuring out Buyer Behavior No.2

·      Begin with alternative evaluation. In the last case exercise, you determined how customers sought information related to solving their need. The outcome of this step is to produce a set of alternatives. Customers pick from among this set of alternatives. In this step, your job is to figure out how they do their picking. Does price matter the most? Does quality? Does style? Is there more than one factor that is important to your customer segment?

I interviewed 3 different people; 1 mom, 1 college student, and 1 homeless person.  After interviewing them the most important factor in deciding which alternative to go with was cost. Since my product is of high technology it would be a bit above the budget of most college students and they wouldn’t be able to afford a high price for my product and homeless people definitely wouldn’t be able to afford it. My best customer segment for my product would be parents. Quality definitely is a factor, I need to have a product that works perfectly and accurately, by giving accurate locations and fast searches. This would help evaluate the purpose of the high cost. Style doesn’t matter.

·      How/where do they buy? Elements of the actual transaction can help characterize your segment. Is your segment more likely to buy online or in a store? Are they more likely to use cash or will they finance the purchase? Etc. If this is a B2B purchase, who's involved in the purchase decision? 

Most of my interviewees stated that they would be more inclined to purchase my product in person. They explained how it’s a serious decision as it would require a surgical procedure and they would need to be shown examples of how it works in person. For my customer segment being parents, the mom stated she would most likely pay fully using a credit card.

·      Post-purchase evaluation. What matters most to your customers when they think back on the 'rightness' of the purchase? What helps them determine the purchase was a good idea? What sorts of things make them think a purchase was a bad idea? 

The interviewees stated that the most important aspect that would affect their post-purchase evaluation would be if the product worked accurately and consistently. They also said they would correlate how efficiently the product worked to the price they paid for it. The things that would make them believe it was a bad idea would be if the product didn’t deliver on its service consistently and accurately. That would make them believe that they spent too much on a low quality product.

·      Report the findings. Simply summarize your interviews and

Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation? 

I gained a ton of information interviewing these select individuals. I learned through alternative evaluation that the most important qualities of my product would be the cost of it and the quality. I also learned that the purchase decision of each interviewee differed in many aspects according to alternative evaluation. Meaning 2 out of 3 of my interviewees couldn’t even afford my product whether there was a need for it or not. This helped me evaluate what my customer segment would be, which would be parents. The interviewees stated that if my product didn’t deliver its’ service by giving an accurate location at all times, then they would have a negative post-purchase evaluation. They said if my product was high quality and accurate at all times, then it would be worth the cost as it could potentially save lives.

14A- Halfway Reflection

1)    Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

To keep up with the requirements of this course I am vigilant when it comes to watching each lecture online and writing notes on them. I also have learned the way he sets up the course and that has helped me efficiently schedule out when to do the assignments and cupcakes. I know that all assignments are due Friday at 12pm and that every cupcake is due Monday at 12pm and that helps me coordinate with each of my other courses and give this one the appropriate time it needs to complete the work due each week. Behaviors such as organization, routine, and consistency I’ve inputted in this course. And a behavior that I’ve learned through each assignment is the concept of complex thinking because the assignments are really not black and white; they require you to dig deep and really think with an open mind.

2)    Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

I honestly wanted to give up during weeks 4 and 5, because having 3 assignments due those weeks stressed me out. What pulled me through was that I was completely capable of completing each assignment and that the assignments themselves were actually interesting to complete. I was able to re-assort my thinking and complete one a day for 3 days and that made it less stressful for me. I definitely developed a tenacious attitude towards the last 2 months. I know that each week I have to complete at least 2 assignments, peer reviews, watch the 2 lectures and complete a cupcake. At first it seemed like a lot, but now I am dedicated to completing the work using efficient time-management.

3)    Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

Tip #1) Listen to the lectures and the professors’ explanation on how to complete the assignment. That was extremely helpful to me, and gave me the ability to complete the assignment accurately and get the most out of the actual assignment.

Tip #2) Actually do the assignments not in a rush. I have learned so much more about myself in an entrepreneurial aspect, just by efficiently doing an assignment exactly the way their supposed to be done.

Tip #3) Write notes on each lecture, and the professors’ examples of certain subjects. His applications of a definition to a real-life scenario has helped me better understand the concepts he explains. This will also help with the cupcakes.

13A- Reading Reflection No. 1

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

·       What surprised you the most?

I was surprised to learn that Elon Musk grew up in poverty raised by a single mom. I thought that he would have derived from money and was successful because of that.

·       What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire how Elon Musk grew up in poverty and watched his mother work 5 different jobs to support him, and decided to escape living the same life his parents did.

·       What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I honestly didn’t find anything that I least admire when reading this book. He grew from nothing, and worked his way to the top and is extremely dedicated and passionate about his companies.

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

Yes definitely. Elon Musk grew up in a single family home in poverty and was bullied as a kid. When he was older and created his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, the recession took place and nearly wiped out both of his companies due to financial issues. He still overcame the adversity and potential failures.

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

Elon Musk is intelligent, hard-working, and dedicated to his work. He has competencies in the ability to overcome adversity and barriers. He is a pure entrepreneur and successful at it, as he developed companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity.

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

The only confusion in the book was the explanation of the technical aspects of his companies. It was only confusing to me because I don’t have that background and knowledge on that subject.

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

The questions I would ask would be: What made you choose the path to create your first company? And did growing up in poverty and a single home family have any impact on where you are today?

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

I think that Elon Musk must believe that hard work is essential to the creation and progression of any business. I think that the main thing that he had was a strong work ethic and that could be the reason he has made it where he is today. And I believe that I definitely share that opinion, I grew up watching my family and grandparents work hard every single day to give me the life that I have. Hard work and dedication is instilled in me.