Week 15 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise to me while reading the Harvard business review article was that someone who makes on $10/day is considered in the lower middle class in India. I wasn't aware of this situation.

2. The part of the reading that was most confusing to me was when the author spoke about the incorporation of technology. It seemed odd to me that technology would be useful in a situation where people were borrowing such small amounts of money.

3. 2 questions that I thought of for the author while reading were

1. Did you ever consider giving into the pressure that the gangs were imposing?
2. What made you so passionate about implementing microfinancing in India?

4. A part of the reading that I not necessarily thought the author was wrong about but simply disagreed with was the part where they mentioned how microfinancing is the solution to poverty. In my opinion, the solution is education, however,  I value the difference in opinion.

Final Reflection

• My most formative experience as well as the experience that I will remember most in the years to come was the "My Unfair Advantage" assignment. This assignment really made me realize how important it is to set yourself apart from competitors and to also be aware of the things that set you apart so you can capitalize on it.
• My most joyous experience was receiving some of the positive feedback where people told me that they could tell I was passionate. That was something I took a lot of pride in.
• Now, at the end of the semester, I can most definitely see myself as an entrepreneur. This class involved such intricate planning of our product and presented us with the chance to go out and get to meet real entrepreneurs which increased my confidence that I truly can be an entrepreneur. 
• Yes, I definitely believe that I have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset.
• One recommendation I would make to students who will be going down this path in the future would be to not only write out each assignment in your planner, but to actually read through all of the the assignments far in advance to the due date. Some of the assignments took much more time and planning than others and I wish I had been more prepared in advance for these types of assignments.
• In order to better foster the entrepreneurial mindset, I would really take the assignments where you go and talk to entrepreneurs very seriously and try to learn as much as possible.  

Elevator Pitch No. 4

The feedback that I received on my last elevator pitch consisted mostly of people telling me to work on my body language. I don't like public speaking and for some reason have really struggled with filming these videos but I tried my best. Most people liked my actual commentary but told me to simply work on how I present myself.

What I changed this time due to this feedback was trying to act more relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera. I'm not sure I did any better but I definitely tried my best to and even recorded multiple takes.

Venture Concept No. 2

Part 1: Venture Concept Description
Opportunity

• The potential customers are essentially anyone who eats at a restaurant or visits a retail store.
• The nature of the need is customers are currently not getting the type of technological experience that they desire when visiting restaurants or retail stores. Technology is increasingly being integrated in our everyday lives and this is increasing the desire for people to use technology wherever they go.
• There aren't any environmental changes effecting the need for my product.
• The market is defined geographically as the entire US, but starting more in bigger, urbanized cities.
• The market is defined demographically as basically anyone who is old enough to buy food or products themselves and operate basic technology effectively. 
• The opportunity is huge and has continued to grow since expanding my product from solely restaurants to also incorporate retail stores.
• The "window of opportunity" is definitely prime right now and will continue to decrease slowly as more competitors enter this field, which is why I need to act on this as soon as possible.

Innovation

• The innovation of the product has stayed the same for the most part, however, it has changed in regards to the expansion of the product from solely restaurants to also being incorporated into retail stores. The price that people will pay will cover the price of designing the system for that particular business as well as the implementation and customer service. This price varies per business depending on how many employees, restaurants there are.

Venture Concept

• The opportunity presented from the implementation of my product includes lowering wait times and increasing rewards for customers.
• Customers will not exactly have a choice to "switch" to this product, because the business will ultimately decide whether or not to utilize this service/product
• The competitors for this product will be any other company that uses touch screen interfaces in restaurants or stores, however, my product will have a competitive advantage because it will be consistent among all platforms.
• Customer support will be a huge advantage to using our product/service because we pride ourselves on having the best customer care and ensuring that the businesses and customers are fully satisfied.
• My "business" to promote customer satisfaction will originally consist of a team of about 25 people who will travel to the businesses who implement our product and ensure that there are no glitches and that everything is working properly. From there on, the number will increase as necessary.

3 Minor Elements

1.  Our most valuable resources will be our employees and their knowledge consistently being up to date.
2. The next step for our venture is to expand into more restaurants within the US and even outside of the US depending upon our level of success.
3. What's next for me? I will hopefully be still working with NoWait and helping it to continually grow and be successful.

Part 2: Feedback Summary

Most of the feedback that I received consisted of concerns for how I will differentiate myself among competitors. People also seemed to be very concerned how my product will effect available jobs for humans.
Overall, however, I received mostly positive feedback and people seemed to mostly agree that they would find my product helpful and would use it.
People said that if they could change anything about my product they would include more options to leave feedback and to expand on the mobile application that coincides with my product.


Part 3: Impact of Feedback

Due to the feedback I received, I began to emphasize more and more how my product will not decrease jobs, it will only increase efficiency. This helped people not to be as concerned about this. I also decided to talk more about the mobile app that I plan to make as a compliment to my product. I addressed in multiple assignments what my intent for the app was and how it would enhance my product overall.

Celebrating Failure

1) 

A time this past semester that I failed involves a different course here at UF- business Finance. I have never been very good at accounting or finance, but I never expected to struggle so much in Finance because I am usually very good at math and I had acquired many tips for success from students who had previously taken this course. 

I seemed to have done everything that I could to succeed in the course, however, it didn't help and I ultimately had to end up dropping the course and will have to retake it this fall. It has been hard to come to terms with dropping the class because of all of the time and money that I had invested into it, however,  I know that this is ultimately the best decision for me and that I can work even harder when I retake it.

2)

 I learned a lot from this experience over this past semester. I learned that you can prepare for something as much as possible but still come out unsuccessful, so you always need to aim for success but prepare yourself for the possibility of failing. 

I also learned that it is okay not to be great at everything. I am an information systems major and am very good with classes that pertain to my major and that is all that matters. I don't have to be great at every class in the business school and I have to accept the fact that sometimes you just can't be the best at everything. 

3)

 As it mentioned in this assignment description, failure really is hard, however, I feel that I learn the most about myself when I fail and how I cope with the situation. I have always come back better than before every time I fail and I am sure that I will do the same in this situation. I will learn to work even harder and learn that even when I think I am giving something my all there is still more in me that I can give.

This class has changed my perspective on failure because it has opened my eyes to many different situations where people have failed and then ultimately become successful. It has helped me to realize that success is not possible without risk and risks can be worth it. I would say that I am more likely to take a risk after this course than before this course 4 months ago.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise that I had while reading Chapter 14 was that your emotions can actually effect how valuable you believe your company is. I always thought that value was only in terms of numbers or dollars, but never considered the idea of emotional bias so this was extremely surprising and interesting to me.

2. A part of the reading that was confusing to me was the concept of control factor. I understand that you want to have as much control as possible in a company, however, I didn't understand what the author meant when they mentioned that even if you know you are investing in 49% of a company, it depends on who owns the other 51% to determine how valuable this investment truly is. Again, I always think in numbers and to me 49% seems like it should just be 49% despite the other investors.

3. Two question I would ask the author are

1. Why are there so many valuation methods that exist and how do you determine which one is the most ideal?
2. What is an example of how a letter of intent can be non-binding and binding at the same time?

4. There wasn't anything I read this week that I thought the author was wrong about.

My Exit Strategy

1. The exit strategy that I chose is to stay with the business for as long as it is successful and then either retire or sell the company depending on how profitable/successful is was.

2. I chose this exit strategy because I have dedicated a lot to this idea and I want to see it through. If the idea is ultimately unsuccessful, I choose to stick with it and see it through and vice versa (if it is successful, I want to stick with it and not sell it off)

3. As I think more and more about it, my decision has been present throughout my entire concept. I have mentioned in several assignments how passionate I am about this project and that I am excited about hiring a team that is just as passionate. I can see how if this were something that I would not want to stick with in the long run I would sell it, but since that is not the case, I want to stick with it and that has been extremely evident through many of my posts.

What's Next?

Part 1
To briefly describe my product, it is a touch-screen interface that will allow people at restaurants to view pictures, ratings, and reviews of food items before ordering. This allows people to be more confident in their order choices and to ultimately enhance their experience.
Customers can also order food, refills, request items, etc. on the screen to decrease wait time.

The new idea for what's next that I have consists of two parts and each person touches on both parts, which, is why there are only 3 videos, not 6.

1. This platform will be offered in retail stores too and not just restaurants. (Exactly what it will offer is yet to be determined)
2. All stores/restaurants that use this device will keep track of customer loyalty points/rewards through our system. This will allow users to keep track of all of their loyalty points in one place versus having to keep physical loyalty cards for each individual store or restaurant. 

Part 2

My first interview was extremely helpful because I learned that customers really love to have their opinions heard. It was mentioned that after payment, customers should have the option to rate their server, their food, and their overall experience as well as leave any comments they desire. She liked my idea of loyalty points.

My second interview was not as helpful, although she did mention that she liked my new idea so that is good to note. 

My third interview actually was the most helpful because she brought up an entirely new idea which I had not previously thought of. She said that customers should have a chance to "check in" on Facebook or similar things on other social media in order to receive a discount. This will also provide us with free publicity as well as the restaurants and stores.

Part 3

Moving forward, I believe it would be a good idea to go forward with the new market and new idea that I had proposed. Each person that I interviewed agreed that keeping track on loyalty points jointly is a good idea and one that consumers would like and benefit from. They also liked the idea of moving into the new market of offering this system in retail stores and not only in restaurants.

I will now include the idea of "checking in" on Facebook and work more on incorporating social media in general. I am glad that the third person I interviewed mentioned this because it is something that I had not thought of previously and I think that I could capitalized on this aspect well.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

The biggest surprise for me while reading was that some companies choose to withhold from strategic planning because they believe that the cost is too high. In my opinion, the benefits of investing in strategic planning far outweigh the costs. Without strategic planning, the entire company could be affected drastically.

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

The part of the reading that explained how moving from a one person business to a bigger business can be the most difficult thing because people can rely too dependent upon that one (or two) person. I don't understand how this is a bad thing if that person is still the most powerful person in the company, because they should still be extremely valued anyway.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

1. Which form of failure (moral, personal, or uncontrollable) is the most common and most difficult to recover from.
2. Even though you listed the steps to inspire innovation, how can you truly stimulate innovative ideas in people who are naturally not that creative?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

No, there wasn't anything in this chapter that I disagreed with the author on.

Venture Concept No. 1

            The opportunity for my concept is exciting and vast. My potential customers that I will be attempting to reach through this venture is basically anyone who eats out in restaurants. Fifty-eight percent of adults in the United States eat out at least once a week, according to http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/july_2013/58_eat_at_a_restaurant_at_least_once_a_week. This means that over half of the US adult population will be a target customer for my product which is extremely significant and means that I have to power to affect many lives. Customers that dine in restaurants need my service because there currently isn’t anything else previously implemented that will be as beneficial as my service.

The force that currently exists that is creating this opportunity is the technological revolution. Technology is improving at such a fast pace and has become almost a necessity in most US citizen’s everyday life. People love efficiency and speed and the integration of technology in everyday activities. All of these things help to expand the demand for my product.

To be more specific about my target market, I will contain my product to the US as it is still starting up. Eventually we could expand into foreign markets but I decided that for now it is easiest to keep it internal in the US. Demographically, my product will be targeted to adults or financially independent people that visit restaurants.

Currently there are few substitutes to the product that I am trying to offer, so customers have an unmet need. Products that are currently offered to not offer as many aspects and capabilities as my product will. Customers are not extremely loyal to these preexisting products because they are subpar and do not meet the needs of consumers. They are not offered as widely as they should be and desperately need to be upgraded.

As you can tell, the opportunity for this product truly is huge and necessary. The window for this opportunity will not be open long because I am sure that other people are catching on to the same trends that I have and will eventually begin to implement products similar to mine.

 In terms of innovation, my product is only incrementally innovative. I have taken preexisting platforms and expanded and improved upon them to create a product that customers will prefer to all preexisting substitutes.

To explain my product more in detail, I am creating a touch-screen interface that will be present in many restaurants, retail stores, etc. My system will offer different things for the different type of establishments it is implemented in, but generally it will allow users to have one sole system to electronically keep track of loyalty points, enhance their payment experience by reducing check-out time, and in restaurants it will allow users to view pictures and comments of menu items and much more.

I think that we can all relate to how frustrating and difficult it is to keep track of multiple loyalty cards, especially when they are in a physical card form. My system will allow users to download an app on their phones that will show them how many loyalty points they have collected and where, available rewards, current promotions or sales going on at their favorite restaurants/stores, etc.

My product works by the use of a touch-screen interface, such as an iPad. It will be extremely user-friendly and help to decrease wait times and increase efficiency.

I will make money because the restaurants/retailers/etc. that use my platform will pay a fee to my company for the usage of our system. When they buy our system they are not only buying the actual device but also our customer support, and our guarantee to custom design the system to their exact likings. The exact price of this will depend on the business we are partnering with and can range anywhere from $5,000 for smaller stores to millions of dollars for larger chain companies.

In terms of my venture concept, customers will switch to using my product because it will benefit them and it will not be difficult to learn to use the system. There isn’t necessarily a “switch” that is going on consciously for the user so it will be an extremely easy implementation process.

Competitors for this product are other payment terminals, however, their weaknesses are in excess and they don’t stand a chance against my product.

Customer support will be a huge part of our business model. Ensuring customer satisfaction is our number one goal and we will be extremely present in the customer experience and easily offer ways to get in contact with us with any issues. The customers experience will be one that is unforgettable-we ensure that! Customers will be amazed at how efficient and exciting our platform is and they will be so excited to go into stores that they know utilize our system just to use it!

As the systems grows, so will our number of employees. The goal for starting off will be a company of around 100 people working on developing the different systems and marketing.

Our “secret sauce” is the people we have working for our company and our insurance of guaranteeing customer satisfaction and personalizing each system purchased.

Looking into the future of my product, I envision that the next step for us will be to expand into other countries. Depending on the success of the product within the US, we can begin to slowly implement the system in big cities in other countries around the world.

Thinking about what’s next for me, if this product was to succeed, I would love to be the CEO of the company and continue expanding the company until I see it has reached a mature point where it would be ready to be sold off. Then I would embark on my next adventure and begin thinking about the next big thing to invent.

In the next decade, I want to have a solid product under my belt and to travel around to different places telling my story of how I started a company from nothing and made it into a huge success. Maybe I would even write a book about it!

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

The biggest surprise for me while reading the article on innovation was that most companies have actually given up on centralized research and design, unlike Corning.

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

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was when the author was talking about innovation creating value but also not creating value at the same time.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

1. What percentage of innovation is routine innovation.
2. Although the author had mentioned that there is no specific proportion that should be spent on innovation, what percentage does the author think is effective?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

The only thing that the author said that I did not completely agree with is that only the top senior level management should be the ones to be innovative. I believe that everyone in the company should be innovative because good ideas can come from anyone.

Amazon Whisperer

• The revenue drivers that are currently included in my business concept are product innovation and entering into new markets.Keeping my product innovative will keep people interested and excited. Opening up into  new markets and expanding beyond the restaurant industry will allow us to reach new customers previously untapped.
• I believe that the next thing customers will want is for this type of payment/ordering system to be offered in markets beyond that of solely restaurants.
• Expanding my model into new markets will help to foster customer loyalty. It can be confusing and inconvenient to keep track of different loyalty programs for different restaurants, so I think that focusing on making this facet more convenient for customers will help our customer retention rate and help encourage people to visit places using our model.
• To briefly describe my product, I am offering a system to restaurants and retailers to enhance the customer experience by integrating technology. Similar systems on the market include the touch screen payment terminals in Chili's restaurants. My product will be similar to this, but with many more features. The most similar thing to the type of platform I am aspiring to create would be a touch-screen interface similar to an iPad. 
  
• Customer reviews for this product are very positive. Most people are familiar with how to use an iPad and most people in the US own iPhones so they are very accustomed to the software in place. Some of the positive aspects I read in customer comments included light weight, user-friendly, and great display. The most frequent negative comment was the price, however, since our product will be paid for jointly by my company and the people incorporating our system, customers would not have this negative experience.
• Obviously since this will be used to a particular restaurant/service, the iPad (or alternative touch screen interface used) will be "locked" to only allow users to access certain things.
• This product would make a good addition to my service because it is extremely user friendly and since my whole concept is to incorporate technology, I can't think of any other product on the forefront of technology than apple products.

My Unfair Advantage

The 10 Resources that I possess that will help my company/product have an edge are:

*I have ranked the 1) Value 2) Rareness 3) Inimitably and 4.) Non-substitute of each of my 10 resources. 
A ranking of 1 indicates that this is a weak area and a ranking of 10 indicates this is a very strong resource for our company.

1. My team. I will hire the best team possible to develop this project. 
1. Value - 10
2. Rare- 8
3. Inimitable- 8
4. Non-substitute- 6 
2. Adding on to #1, because the standards will be set so high in my company, our company culture will be unmatched by any other.
1. Value- 8
2. Rare- 8
3. Inimitable- 6 
4. Non-substitute- 7 
3. Management. Our management team, including myself, has a main priority of customer satisfaction and we will do anything it takes to ensure that this product is a success for users even if it means editing the original model.
1. Value- 10
2. Rare- 9
3. Inimitable- 8
4. Non-substitute- 8  
4. Financial Capital.  I am passionate about this company and will do whatever it takes to develop enough capital to help get us on our feet.
1. Value- 5
2. Rare- 5
3. Inimitable- 4 
4. Non-substitute- 5  
5. Knowledge of the field. My company will dedicate itself to being updated on the latest and greatest tech information and will always be a step ahead of the competition.
1. Value- 10
2. Rare- 8
3. Inimitable- 8 
4. Non-substitute- 8  
6. Passion. The app that we are creating means so much to everyone on my team that our passion for this app and for our company will shine through and be evident to users.
1. Value- 7
2. Rare- 8
3. Inimitable- 8 
4. Non-substitute- 7  
7. Multiple locations. My company will have a headquarter in each region of the United States where our system is integrated to ensure visits to stores routinely and guarantee satisfaction.
1. Value- 8
2. Rare- 3
3. Inimitable- 1
4. Non-substitute- 1  
8. Hands-on environment. We will train future employees and users of the system by teaching hands-on.
1. Value- 9
2. Rare- 6
3. Inimitable- 2 
4. Non-substitute- 2  
9. Adaptability. We will be willing to adapt to consumers varying needs and to update our model are frequently as necessary to maintain relevance in the marketplace.
1. Value- 6
2. Rare- 8
3. Inimitable- 7
4. Non-substitute- 6 
10. Marketing. We understand the necessity of marketing to increase exposure and will dedicate a portion of our budget towards this.
1. Value- 6
2. Rare- 4
3. Inimitable- 5 
4. Non-substitute- 3

• The top resource that my company currently has in our management team. This is more important than the other resources because I realized through this exercise that most of my resources weren't anything special and could be replicated easily by other companies, however, if we have top-notch people creating impressive revenues, nothing can replace the value of human capital. 

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise I had throughout my reading of chapter 11 was how extremely important the budgeting process is in the overall success of a company.

2. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the concept of allowance for uncollectible accounts. I didn't understand how one would distinguish between whether a receivable was collected or not.

3. If I could ask two questions to the author it would be

• Which technique for the preparation of a sales forecast is more accurate/widely used?
• What is a typical amount of payments allowed to be received on account versus in cash?

4. There wasn't anything in this chapter that I thought the author was wrong about since it was all factual and definitive accounting information.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

The feedback that I received on my last elevator pitch included people telling me that I needed to practice running through my pitch more beforehand. I was also told to have better body language and to speaker more naturally as if talking to a friend or a family member. 

Because of the feedback that I received, I stood up this time instead of sitting down. I also tried to incorporate some body language and speak more naturally. I ran through my pitch a few times before recording it, as suggested, which I believe actually did help.

Here is my pitch:

My Secret Sauce

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. 

1. I am creative- I think outside of the box and am able to generate innovative ideas. This is especially useful in group projects and in problem-solving activities.

2. I am emotionally intelligent. This phrase means that I am exceptionally aware of my surroundings at all times and am able to read people really well. This makes me good at altering my demeanor and tone when speaking to different types of people.

3. I am well-traveled. I have traveled to over 10 different countries in my lifetime and this has allowed me to become a more easygoing person, better adapt to any situation thrown at me, and to understand people better.

4. I am invested in my human relationships and care deeply about the people closest to me in life.

5. I strive to be exceptional at everything I do. I have never settled for anything and when I set my mind to doing something I always get it done.

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. 

I have attached the five interviews (all audio-no visual. So don't worry that it is black)

3) Reflect on the differences. 

There were not any differences. Everyone agreed with the 5 qualities that I stated and even gave examples/explanations as to why they agreed. It was difficult for me to actually think of the 5 things but I really did enjoy this assignment of self-reflection because I am now more aware of what makes me stand out in my eyes and in others' eyes.

Week 9 Reading Relfection

1. The biggest surprise to me while reading chapter 10 was that nearly one third of Facebook users are accessing Facebook through their mobile device.

2. The most confusing thing to me in chapter 10 was the concept of Guerrilla marketing.

3. Two questions that I would ask the author after reading chapter 10 would be

• Out of all of the inhibitors to marketing research, while is the most likely to be an influence?
• Why is it that in traditional advertisements it is okay and acceptable to exaggerate but in social media advertising it is so important to be completely honest.

4. I didn't necessarily find anything in this chapter that I thought the author was wrong about, however, the production-driven philosophy seems strange to me. It seems odd to me to not be concerned at all about how many units you will sell or the current market demand and just to begin processing units immediately.

Idea Napkin No. 2

PART 1

1. You. My name is Amy Leonard. I am an aspiring entrepreneur that, like most people, loves FOOD. My talents include analyzing people's reactions to certain situations and thinking about ways to help improve their experiences. If I were to start the No Wait business, it would become a huge part of my life and something that I took extremely seriously and made it my mission to be extremely involved in the company and with the employees. I would take on a consulting role and personally visit restaurants where this systems is utilized to make sure that it is being optimized. 

2. What are you offering to customers? Over the years, I have witnessed the frustration of customers dining that have to wait an extremely long amount of time for their food for extraneous, avoidable reasons and I have made it my mission to help alleviate as much stress from the dining process as possible for both the waiters and the customers. From the feedback I previously received, I heard from someone who was a waitress herself and said that she appreciated that I touched onto how this system would help not only customers, but also the people working within the restaurant. I think it is important to revise my original statement to really emphasize that this is a two-sided product. A similar interface is used by customers and employees that allows both to get the most out of the dining experience.

3. Who are you offering it to? After the feedback I received, I realized that there are concerns on how this system could be implemented and that it would be more useful to begin implementing this system on a very small scale. I have to agree with these comments which is why I will start out by offering this system to one chain restaurant, much like how Chili's began to integrate a similar system in all their stores. After successfully implementing, the service/system will be offered increasingly to other businesses.

4. Why do they care? My product is being marketed towards restaurants, so this question is a little difficult to answer. The restaurants will be the ones assuming all costs for No Wait, however, both the customers and the restaurants will assume benefits. No Wait eases the dining process by offering immediate assistance alerts, ordering through a touch-face interface, opportunities to leave feedback on food, drinks, specific servers, etc. The overall experience will be completely enhanced and the stores will be able to serve more people efficiently and effectively in less time than ever before, hence, more revenue. I mentioned above that a similar system has been implemented in Chili's, however, I think it is important not to write off my idea because of it being slightly similar, because No Wait is a company willing to personally tailor the platform to each restaurants needs and desires to maximize efficiency. Every restaurant needs something different, and together, No Wait and these companies can, in the long run, minimize the companies' costs and maximize profits.

5. What are your core competencies? No Wait's core competencies are:
1. Speed - we will offer immediate assistance
2. Trust - we want to work very closely with the restaurants to develop a mutual trust
3. Efficiency - we want to maximize efficiency within every transaction
4. Satisfaction - we want customers to be amazed by their experience every time
5. Adaptability - we want to be able to change anything to your liking
*I believe that all 5 of these core competencies coincide. Each one relies on at least one of the others to be effective.


PART 2

Five main points that I took away from the feedback I received are:

1. My passion for this service were extremely transparent through my idea napkin.
2. People are concerned that this will negatively affect current waitresses, so I addressed how just the opposite is true.
3. People were concerned with the implementation process, so I mentioned how I will begin on a small scale.
4. I had a comment that his seems like something that will take a lot of work - however, I am up for the challenge!
5. Multiple people mentioned that if they owned a restaurant they would implement my system which was great to hear!

Week 8 Reading Reflection

1.) The biggest surprise for me while reading was that there are currently 7,000 commercial banks that are operating within the US, however, by 2020 only 4,000 may survive.


2.) One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the whole section of Fighting Terrorism with Financial Opportunity. I think it is very interesting that someone discovered a connection that Muslims are drawn to terrorism when they have no promise of economic stability. I guess I just always was under the impression that Muslims performed acts of terrorism for religious reasons.


3.) If I could ask two questions to the author they would be 1.) what exactly are the criteria for being offered a loan from crowdfunding/social lending? and 2.) Why exactly he thinks small start-up investments have weakened so much over the past decade.


4.) Something that I think the author may have been wrong about is saying that persistence is the entrepreneur's true asset. I can definitely agree with this to a certain extent, however, I guess I am having trouble understanding how exactly someone is able to create something great with no money or why they would be unable to take out a loan in this circumstance aside from personal reasons.

The Twenty Percent

1. Clelia's Party Dresses is a local boutique featuring evening gowns for special events such as proms, pageants, parties, etc. In my local area in Jacksonville, since I am home for spring break, this was the place that first came to mind when I was trying to think of an entrepreneur. I asked to speak to Clelia and she was very busy so she declined my request to video our encounter (so did all 3 of the customers I questioned. This is a very high end store and I think people were very skeptical of me questioning them which was discouraging and uncomfortable.)
Nonetheless, Clelia explained to me that her target customers were girls in pageants around the ages of 16-25. She described to me that typically women in this market have unmet needs because it is difficult and discouraging to find a dress that fits someone exactly how they like it. She offers alterations and great services to help match jewelry and shoes to dresses as well as talk to each customer about what their desires are and help them find the dress they are dreaming of. She explained that they have certain girls who act as "models" who essentially advertise the company by handing out business cards to girls in the specified target group. She also explained that she advertises heavily through Facebook and local paper advertisements.

2. I was a little confused as to whether I was supposed to find any 3 random girls who fit the specified demographic to question or 3 actual customers. It is now my understanding that I was probably supposed to do the first but I actually did the latter of the two. Nonetheless, my encounters pretty much all went the same. (I wish I had recordings of the interactions, but like I mentioned above, none of these girls were very willing to answer my questions and seemed very distracted because they were busy shopping)
The first girl I spoke with told me she was 17 and was looking for a dress to wear to her senior prom. I asked her if she had difficulty finding a dress prior to this store and she said yes and told me she had tried many other stores before this one, but was recommended by a friend to visit this store because of the great attention they pay to their customers.
The second girl I spoke with was actually looking for a dress for a pageant but never actually told me her age. She told me that she is a recurring customer, which helps me understand the 80-20 rule more in depth.
The third girl I spoke with was also looking for a gown for a pageant and she was 16. She told me about the local high school pageant that is going on next month and told me that she was able to find her prom dress at this store and was hoping to also find some luck finding a gown here for the pageant.
3. As I reflect on this assignment, I was able to see through 2/3 of the customers I spoke with that the 80-20 rule probably is a real thing. In my experience, when I find a store or brand I enjoy I typically stick to that store and become a recurring customer and there are often stores that know me very well on a personal basis for this very reason. I think customers for the most part either really enjoy or really dislike their experiences and will either, for the most part of course, never return, or return relatively frequently.

Half-Way Relfection

1. The behavior I have used most to help me keep up with this class is organization. Since this is not like a typical course at UF and there are many assignments due each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everyone and it requires a large amount of organization and time-management skills.

2. A moment that I felt like giving up was a time when I was really sick over the semester and couldn't keep up with all my school work and had to prioritize my classes and chose to prioritize this class last amongst my others. The toll that missing one week of assignment took on my grade in this class almost made me want to give up but I realized that through the extra credit I would be able to pull my grade back up and recover from a hard week.

3. 3 tips I would give to be successful in this class are 1.) Make sure to use a planner to be able to balance this class amongst your other classes and everything else going on in your life. 2.) Set a regular time each week that you would like to focus on this course. 3.) Thoroughly read the syllabus so you know what you're getting yourself into.

Interviewing Customers No. 3

I learned from this assignment that there are similar models currently on the market and it is going to take a lot to differentiate this product from others currently in use. Overall, the people I interviewed seem that they would enjoy the product and benefit from it.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1. The thing that surprised me most during my reading was that fast-growing industries are not always attractive. Just because an industry is fast-growing does not guarantee that it will be profitable if customers are powerful or substitutes are attractive.

2. Something that I found a little bit confusing while reading was that neckties and power tools are considered substitutes when shopping for father's day. I thought that only items that could be used interchangeably for the same use could be considered substitutes.

3. Two questions that I thought of for the author while reading were

• 1. If you had to add a sixth competitive force what would it be?
• 2. What industry, besides the music industry, do you think has been most affected by the internet and increase of technology?

4. The only thing that I came across while reading that I slightly disagreed with the author on was that the intensity of rivalry is greatest if there are numerous competitors that are roughly equal in size. I would think that if there are two rivals who are direct competitors and then other small indirect competitors that this would create the most intense rivalry.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. You. My name is Amy Leonard. I am an aspiring entrepreneur that, like most people, loves FOOD. My talents include analyzing people's reactions to certain situations and thinking about ways to help improve their experiences. If I were to start the No Wait business, it would become a huge part of my life and something that I took extremely seriously and made it my mission to be extremely involved in the company and with the employees.

2. What are you offering to customers? Over the years, I have witnessed the frustration of customers dining that have to wait an extremely long amount of time for their food for extraneous, avoidable reasons and I have made it my mission to help alleviate as much stress from the dining process as possible for both the waiters and the customers.

3. Who are you offering it to? Although No Wait can be implemented into any type of dining facility, I believe that this will be more applicable to middle-tiered restaurants, especially chains. The reason why people that attend high class restaurants may not get as much use out of this system is because typically, people who attend fine dining establishments appreciate the superb attention they receive from an extremely qualified and elite server.

4. Why do they care? My product is being marketed towards restaurants, so this question is a little difficult to answer. The restaurants will be the ones assuming all costs for No Wait, however, both the customers and the restaurants will assume benefits. No Wait eases the dining process by offering immediate assistance alerts, ordering through a touch-face interface, opportunities to leave feedback on food, drinks, specific servers, etc. The overall experience will be completely enhanced and the stores will be able to serve more people efficiently and effectively in less time than ever before, hence, more revenue.

5. What are your core competencies? No Wait's core competencies are:
1. Speed - we will offer immediate assistance
2. Trust - we want to work very closely with the restaurants to develop a mutual trust
3. Efficiency - we want to maximize efficiency within every transaction
4. Satisfaction - we want customers to be amazed by their experience every time
5. Adaptability - we want to be able to change anything to your liking
*I believe that all 5 of these core competencies coincide. Each one relies on at least one of the others to be effective.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

1. The thing that I was most surprised by in this week's reading was that only two percent of all patents ever actually realize profits because it costs so much to go through the patent process. I was also extremely shocked that the US Patent and Trademark Office gives priority to people who claim to have invented something first, however there is essentially no way to prove that entirely.

2. Something that I found confusing while reading this week was copyright protection in general. I was very confused by what is and isn't covered by the Copyright act and how to differentiate between what is considered an "idea" or not.

3. Two questions that I would ask the author are:

• Do you think that the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act will ever be adopted entirely by all states? I would ask this because, to me, it seems like this is something that is nearly impossible.
• Do you think that the advantages on a sole proprietorship outweigh the disadvantages or vice versa? I would ask this because I was having a difficult time deciding for myself.

4. It was hard to find something in this chapter that I disagreed with because, for the most part, everything in this chapter was simply fact. Something that I did seem slightly troublesome, however, was that the specifications for what legally classifies something as a trade secret seemed extremely vague and the author seemed to address it in a rather matter-of-fact way when it was extremely unclear to me.

Elevator Pitch

Waiting in restaurants is something that nobody enjoys. Americans love things to be completed quickly and not waste time and No Wait solves this exact problem.
No Wait is a touch screen interface that allows customers in restaurants to order and request things directly. This eliminates wasted time. No Wait can be used as much or as little as customers prefer and normal waiter and waitresses will still be needed to bring out food/drinks and assist customers, so not many jobs will be lost to this model.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

1. The thing I was most surprised that the author said was not to dream too big with innovative ideas. I feel like I have generally been told to reach for the stars when asked to come up with ideas for things, but to remember to be extremely practical and simplistic is something I found shocking but also helpful.

2. The creative exercise where you had to come up with unconventional uses for people and objects was confusing to me because I wasn't sure what to put for the people. I had a decently easy time thinking of uses for objects because it's easy to see the use in them, but every time I have done this exercise in the past it was never consisted of people so it required a lot more thinking for me.

3. If I had to ask the author 2 things I would ask the author to explain in more detail how security hunting hinders creativity because I classify myself as someone who searches for the right answers and as someone who is creative. I wold also ask the author if they consider themselves more of an adapter or an innovator. 

4. I believe that the author was wrong in saying that creativity is something that can be developed. I believe that people are naturally creative to different degrees and that is something that cannot be changed after a certain point in life.

Top 5 World Problems

Most Serious
1. Educations
2. Harmful Hacking
3. Climate Change
4. Refugees
5. Animal extinction

Most Possible to Implement Solutions to
1. Education- If more governmental spending was put towards public education and countries exported education(teachers) to countries where education and funding is lacking, we could significantly increase education worldwide. I believe this is the most implementable solution out of all the solutions to problems that I offered because we have the means to do this immediately, however, governments just chooses to put their money in order places.
2. Animal Extinction- The issue of animal extinction could have been prevented entirely if stricter regulations were in place and if people were educated about the harm that the threat of animal extinction poses. All it would take for this issue to be eliminated would be stricter regulations which is entirely feasible.
3. Climate Change- If the government could find alternative solutions to fossil fuels/gas emissions, etc., climate change could be rapidly slowed. I believe the solutions are out there and just haven't been looked into enough which is why this issue is at the middle of my list.
4. Refugees- It was difficult for me to be able to explicitly come up with a "solution" for this "issue" because this is an issue for the refugees as well as for the countries the refugees are fleeing. I believe this "issue" will be one that is hard to fix because it will take a lot of countries to work together.
5. Harmful Hacking- This is an issue that I believe is often overlooked. This issue is one that is not going to be eliminated anytime soon, if ever. Hacking will always exist and although I do not believe it can be stopped entirely, certain precautions can be taken to help limit this, hence why it is on the bottom of my list.

Very Short Interview No. 1

Mike Baker is my friend's grandfather who opened a furniture store in Boca Raton, Florida called Carl's Furniture. He is an entrepreneur who moved from Ohio to Florida. 

1. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

"Being an entrepreneur means working to solve customer's problems." 

2. What was the most difficult part of being an entrepreneur? 

"Persevering through the tough times and remaining hopeful when it seems like you will fail"

3. What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

"I wish I had learned more about managing finances and bookkeeping, because I didn't have much of a business background when I went to school. I think if I had studied business in college it could have helped me more initially."

World's Biggest Problems

1. Climate Change. Climate change is, in my opinion, the most underrated and overlooked global problem today. Of course there are many people struggling from huge issues today, however, this is an issue that will leave an impact forever if we do not take immediate action against it.
A practical solution would include getting the government increasingly involved and having them implement stricter regulations.
2. Education. 775 million people today are still illiterate. The issue of poverty coincides directly with the issue of education. If people are uneducated, they are unable to learn skills or acquire jobs to earn income.
Even in America, the education system is lacking, and I believe that if all counties focused more governmental funding on public education and outsourcing educators to incapable countries this issue could improve.
3. Harmful Hacking. 97% of companies are aware that they have been hacked. It is nearly impossible to entirely prevent data from being tapped into and if governments aren't careful enough, they can be penetrated by potentially harmful people.
In my opinion, cyber security is an issue that will never completely be able to be resolved, however, putting more effort into fraud detection can help prevent this as much as possible.
5. Overfishing. Humans are overfishing in the ocean and many different species of fish and sea creatures are becoming extinct. Since most people don't actually see this going on they don't really understand that it is actually an issue.
Stricter regulations should be enforced.
5. Animal Agriculture. There is not enough land space and water to sustain the amount of humans on earth and the amount of meat they demand. People typically think that they require meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but it is completely untrue and unfeasible.
People should consider limiting their daily intake of meat consumption.
6. Student Debt. Student debt is an issue that I do not believe most people take seriously. Countries are already in so much debt and lending out more money to students who will not be able to entirely pay it back is setting everyone back substantially. Currently, there are only 5 countries in the entire world who live debt free.
Lenders need to increase the interest rate on student loans and have stricter background checks to see if the person they are lending money too will actually be able to pay them back.
7. Refugees. The Syrian refugees are currently dispersing among any countries that will accept them. This is creating a huge issue not only for Syrians but also for the countries accepting them because they have to decide on and implement new regulations.
Stricter regulations should be intact for incoming refugees in order to prevent more harm than good.
8. ISIS. I do not believe that any group of people causing harm to others should be tolerated. I feel personally threatened by ISIS as should any person. We should not tolerate terrorists and should be actively fighting this group of individuals. I like to believe that humans are innately good and I do not understand why someone would intentionally follow orders from someone demanding them to cause harm upon innocent people they know nothing about.
Countries that are opposed to ISIS need to stand together and actively fight against this group.
9. Gun Violence. Although I do not personally believe that personal gun licenses should be banned, I do believe that this is an issue for many people. I understand that there is a lot of fear involved in peoples' possession of guns, however, I believe bad people will still do bad things even without guns and there is truly no way to prevent it.
Education would be the key to preventing gun-related crimes.
10. Water. Water is diminishing at a shocking rate. Only .3% of the water on the Earth is accessible and usable. I know that I personally don't think about this statistic, especially when taking showers.
If people were better educated on the lack of accessible water I believe that they would be more willing to conserve the amount of water they use.

Bug List

1. iPhone charger takes too long to charge phone. (All chargers in general)
*Only a certain amount of energy can surge at once through the chord
2. While watching tv/movies, the volume is inconsistent and I constantly have to increase/decrease the volume.
*Some parts of shows are supposed to draw more attention/are more dramatic
3. Pairing apple products to non-apple products. For example, I have an iPhone and it in difficult to sync it with my PC but extremely easy to pair with my MacBook.
*Different companies want you to buy multiple of their products verses giving your business to other companies so they purposefully try not to make it easy to pair their products with other companies' products.
4. Bluetooth gives me a lot of trouble when connecting to different devices now that I have such a wide variety of devices paired to my phone.
*Phones can get confused if multiple bluetooth capable devices are in the same proximity.
5. When Facebook tries to tag people automatically in your uploaded pictures and it matches the wrong person.
*No technology is perfect, especially something this intricate.
6. Going in person to redbox to return movies is frustrating. It is my opinion that if it was strictly online they would receive more business.
*Some people prefer having the physical DVD and online services would require users to have internet access.
7.  Hair straightener doesn't turn off automatically is left on accidentally, despite the passing of time.
*Technologically unable to make the straightener shut off after a certain time.
8. Having to insert things into my digital calendar and my physical planner. It would be nice if it would copy digitally as I inserted manually.
*There isn't technology to do that yet
9. While waiting on food at a restaurant, it would be convenient if you could see the estimated time for your food to arrive without having to ask the waitress.
*It is inconvenient for restaurants to have this system available.
10. When going grocery shopping, there have been numerous times I go to get a specific produce item that is out of stock when I get there. There should be a way to see how much/what fresh items are in stock.
*Extra work for the grocery stores.
11. It is frustrating to have so many paper loyalty cards in my wallet taking up space. All places should have electronic/mobile systems to allow customers to keep the loyalty card handy/easily accessible at all times.
*It is expensive for retailers/restaurants to create these systems from scratch or to hire someone to make the app for them.
12. Finding your car in a crowded parking lot is difficult and could be easily solved by having a sort of tracking system on car keys.
*Expensive and highly technology-dependent
13. Airport security could be improved to be more efficient.
*Costly
14. It seems that servers are always asking if you need anything when you are fine but as soon as you need something they are nowhere to be found. If a system was implemented to notify servers when you need something it would be better.
*Some restaurants are resistant to using new technologies.
15. The clothes dryer always over dries or under dries my clothes and I wish it could automatically shut off as soon as my clothes are just dry.
*Technology isn't up to date yet
16. Microwaves should be able to analyze the food inputted and adjust the cooking time accordingly.
*Technology isn't up to date yet
17. Too many apps on my phone. I wish instead that there was an app that could combine all social media, planning tools, etc.
*Apps like being their own
18. I wish that there was a way to change music through headphones connected to the phone rather than solely through the phone.
*Headphone providers probably deem this an unnecessary feature.
19. It would be highly convenient for all utilities to be controlled by one remote.
*Difficult to set up
20. GPS systems often lead to the wrong place and it is frustrating.
*Systems that intricate are bound to make mistakes.


I found it extremely difficult to think of 20 things. The first few things are things that occur each day so they were easy to think of, however, the further down the list I got, the less relevant the issues became. I think if I had spent more time dedicated throughout the week I could have made this assignment easier on myself, however, it was difficult to remember.