Assignment 22: Elevator Pitch #3

https://youtu.be/cb4D-iRPbnI

I took my feedback ant tried to incorporate it into this elevator pitch. I thought all the feedback I received was very helpful! I tried to make it more understandable to my audiences. I worked on getting the audience's attention with voice changes and hand motions. I definitely feel a lot more comfortable making my elevator pitch in front of a camera, and I do believe my elevator pitch has improved greatly!

Assignment 21: Reading Reflection #2

1)    What was the general theme or argument of the book?

a.     I would say that the general theme of this book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of Moreby Chris Anderson is the impact that technology has on marketing and how creative and innovative products are the future our economic drive. Anderson focuses on the advertisement of niche products to consumers via social media with the help of advanced technology. 

2)    How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

a.     This book connects and enhances what we are learning ENT3003 by providing real world scenarios of marketing strategies that our future businesses should take. 

3)   If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

a.     One idea for an exercise that I have based on this book is to have students try different marketing and technologies to spread the word about their new product, and see how it affects its popularity, or consumers perspectives of the products. For example, create different social medias and marketing tactics for a product and see what has the biggest impact on friends and family. 

4)   What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

a.     My biggest ‘aha’ moment when reading this book was probably when he mentioned that having a long tail makes up a good portion of a firm’s sale. In other words, I was surprised to read that a lot of companies get their revenue from niche products. I was also interested when I read about the different techniques that companies use to make the tail more beneficial to them. 

Assignment #20 Growing Your Social Capital

Growing Your Social Capital

1. Expert on your market:

• Who they are and what their background is.
• Stephanie Cohen, marketer for Sprinkles and Scoops in my hometown.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Domain expert. She fills this spot because she is targeting the same market that I am. She knows who typically buys her product and has experience dealing with these customers. Her market, like mine, consists of families and people of all different backgrounds that are looking for a place to eat with their friends.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• As a previous employer's sister, I sent her an email asking her a few questions about her market.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Since I worked with her sister, she was willing to answer a few questions that I asked her. We had already established an indirect relationship/network since I knew her sister, so this was just a favor she did for me, as I help her with any favors she needs from me.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• She will definitely help me learn as an entrepreneur and be able to grow my company into a successful one.

2. Domain expert in your industry:

• Who they are and what their background is:
• Efraim Silva, Owner/Operator of Chick-fil-A, Pompano Beach.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Market expert, he fills this spot because he runs a fast food restaurant. This is his main area of expertise. Although I had never met him before, he was willing to talk to me and answer some questions.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• This is my boss's boss from when I worked at Chick-fil-A over the summer, I simply gave him a call.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• I told him about my potential business and asked him for feedback from his experiences.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• His background and firsthand experience is definitely beneficial to my ability to exploit this opportunity. I can learn from his mistakes, not just my own.

3. Important supplier to your industry:

• Who they are and what their background is.
• Bryan Smith, a customer Support Manager at Gordon Food Service. He used to work as a Customer Development Specialist but changed positions a few years ago.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Supplier, he fits this spot because he works closely with many companies and restaurants to supply them food.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• I connected with Mr. Smith via LinkedIn when I was searching for food suppliers.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• I messaged him asking her if she would be able to answer a few general questions I had about his position.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• This was definitely an extremely beneficial thing for me to do for my future company. I got to learn a little bit about how companies and supplier's relations function.

Reflection
I believe that this was a very rewarding networking process. I will definitely remember doing this assignment when I am networking in the future. This was definitely a more formal way of networking that I am used to. In the future I will focus on having interesting questions to ask and focus on relating their feedback into my life.

Assignment 19: Idea Napkin #2

Idea Napkin #2

1. My name is Kelly Gest and I am a Sophomore here at the University of Florida. I am currently majoring in Finance and Economics. This business would be a major part of my life because I would devote most of my time and resources to it after I graduate. If I were to start this business, this concept would just the beginning of the biggest thing that will change my life completely.

2.  I am providing a place where everyone and their friends can feel comfortable eating at. I am offering to customers a way to meet their unfulfilled need of wanting fast, cheap, and healthy food at fast food restaurants. This new fast food restaurant would incorporate speed, health, and affordable options as well as offer "unhealthy options". Since different cultures have different food, some choices would be cheaper than others, creating a large market that I can target. I will call it either All Around the World Fast Food or GlobalFood. I will provide a wide variety of healthier options in a short amount of time.

3. My target market is very broad, but can be specified down if needed to. I am simply offering my business to anyone who is hungry and wants to choose from a variety of different options. Often, people can't choose where to eat lunch they disagree on where they want to eat. This would solve this problem by offering many different types of foods that appeal to many more people. This one restaurant would allow people that want healthy, fast, and cheap meals to actually get what they have been wanting for so long. Even people that just want fast and cheap (that do not care about how healthy it is) will be happy here too because we will have so many choices to choose from. 

4. In today's America, people are caring more and more  about what they eat. These individuals care because society is becoming healthier and individuals are raising their expectations of restaurants everywhere. Customers will have the option to choose to eat as healthy as they want. Customers will pay money because they can choose from a variety of options and it will satisfy them for whatever they are in the mood for eating that day.  I think this business will work because it speaks to a wide group of customers. 

5. This concept's core competencies include being healthy, cheap and fast. One advantage that this restaurant will have is that it will have different foods from all around the world so customers can choose how healthy they want to be and what type of food they want. From each part of the world, this restaurant will have the most popular dishes from each area. I also have some experience working in fast food, which will be beneficial to running this business.

Summary:

These five different elements definitely fit together because I am able to offer a solution to customers who care while adding value to the company.  Some weak points are the high costs that is going to take to make all different types of food (inventory) and the uncertainty in the food industry. One thing that will be interesting to look at during the development of this business is whether or not customers would like that many options from a fast food restaurant. 

Feedback Memo:

I received some pretty helpful feedback. I got a lot of support for my business idea. I did take into account that people are wanting more healthy options, but not just salads and veggie burgers. Also, I am going to make sure that it is actually fast. I incorporated this feedback into my idea napkin by reevaluating what customers actually want.

Assignment #17 Elevator Pitch #2

Assignment #17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDgW214O1o&feature=youtu.be

All of the feedback that I received was both insightful and useful, it help me improve my elevator pitch! I thought all of my feedback was incredibly nice and supportive and I didn't change much to my presentation based on the feedback that I received. I did try to talk louder and use different hand gestures. 

Assignment 18A - Create a Customer Avatar

Create a Customer Avatar

1. My prototypical customer can be very broad, however, I will try to narrow it down. Well, first off, my prototypical customer enjoys eating in restaurants and loves many different types of food. I would say my prototypical has middle class status. I would say it is most likely a family that would be my most common customer. More specifically, my most common single customer is probably in the rage of 18-30 years old. Someone who wants to have a bite to eat with their friends or family but can't all decide on where to eat. My customer likes to socialize and drives a decent car, not too fancy but not too cheap. They most likely don't have children since they are a little younger of a demographic, but are in a big family.
2. My prototypical customer is very similar to me. I definitely think there is a reason why my prototypical customer is so similar to be. I have this problem so I want to solve it for myself and people similar to me. I like to eat and socialize with friends but we can never decide where to eat!