Venture Concept No.1

Putting it All Together

For this week’s assignment we are supposed to create a venture concept write-up. A venture concept write-up is a description of a possible product or service. It contains a description of the opportunity present, the innovation of a new idea, and the overall venture concept incorporating the other aspects. Until now we have been working backwards. We first came up with a venture concept and then settled the details later. This time around we are going in an order that makes sense. So here is my attempt at putting things in the right order again.

The first step is defining an opportunity. Unlike the name suggests, an opportunity is a group of customers with unmet or under met needs. I have chosen to target a customer base that I am a part of; Young adults with little and time and big appetites. I feel that by choosing an opportunity with a common connection with myself will allow me to service the venture to my best ability. The nature of the need of this opportunity is predominantly personal and a luxury. This venture is not necessary for life but it does increase the ease of life. Knowing the wait time at restaurants is a helpful tool and for some people it is a dire need. With recent improvements in the economy, people are beginning to eat out again. With this increase in restaurant patrons comes a proportional increase in wait times and lines. Currently this market is focused on college towns and busy cities. This is because there is the highest concentration of restaurants and people who eat out in these areas. College students tend to eat out with friends, on the run, or when they don’t feel like cooking. Families with small children like to get in and out of a restaurant as soon as possible. Waiting for food is not a simple task for hungry small children.  Currently customers are not satisfying this need; they are merely dealing with the problem. Any new information would be welcomed with open arms by all foodies alike. This opportunity is huge. Food is any important part of everyday life, as is time. Both are important aspects of life. People will always need food and they will always need to save time. The only reason the “window of opportunity” would close would be because someone else swopped in and created their own product with the same end goal.

Once you have defined an opportunity, you must create an innovation to address these customer’s needs. In response to the peoples need to get food fast and efficiently I have created The Waiter.  The Waiter is an app that tells you the current waiting time at your favorite restaurants. The app will also give the customer and option to call ahead to order their food to go, in case all the lines are long. It is a simple app that can be downloaded through the app store. Restaurants report the wait time in 15 minute intervals directly to the app, in turn the app relays the information to consumers. The app will also offer other information such as delivery services, phone number, ratings, reviews, etc.  The revenue from my venture is purely based off of app sales and advertisements. Like most apps I will offer two versions of my app.  A free version, with advertisements and a paid version which allows people to view the app without extra ads. These advertisements will come from the restaurants that are already partnered with the app.

The third and final step is two combine these two aspects. A venture concept is the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this case I will show how The Waiter benefits the target market, college students and other families. Since there are no other products on the market like this I don’t believe it will be difficult to get people to start using this app. It might take a bit of time to gain popularity but I believe that after one successful use the word will spread like wild fire and people all over will be using The Waiter. Companies such as Yelp and a few other apps are similar to the Waiter but do not combine all the components that make The Waiter successful. The weakness of these other companies are all different, it is the fact that each of them lacks what the other has that makes them vulnerable. Because The Waiter is an app packaging does not play an important role in its success. However the way the app is presented could make a big difference. The first thing consumers notice about an app or product is the way it looks. A simple design for the logo that is still eye catching is the best route to go. There are several other aspects that define my business concept. These include price points, distribution, customer support, and the customer experience. In sales reports it would be interesting to see how customers prefer the free version with ads or the paid version without ads. From those results it might be beneficial to change the way the app is priced.

Apart from having a unique product there are several other resources that will make my venture succeeded my greatest resource is my ability to communicate my message. This skill will help me communicate my venture idea with potential investors, clients, and connections. This is more important than all my other resources because it leads to success with the other resources. This difference in me is that I am passionate about this idea, because food is a good portion of my life. When something directly affects you people are more likely to do something about, make a move, change in some way. For me the fact that I am a busy college student, and hopefully one day a busy med student means that this app will become a sort of life line for me.

In the future I hope to build off this app. One day building a restaurant that guarantees no wait, no lines, and good food. Another idea would be to target the same customer base with other things college students need. For myself the future holds a lot of things hopefully, including medical school, a successful career as a pediatrician, travel, volunteering, family, and thousands of happy memories to come.

Reading Reflection Week 11

   This weeks reading reflection is based off an article from the Harvard Business Review. "You Need an Innovation Strategy" by Gary P. Pisano is a key informational component in making a successful entrepreneur.  As a part of the Innovation Academy at the University of Florida I found this article to have several relations to my other classes. Innovation is a peculiar subject, not many really known what innovation is or what makes an innovator. This article and the other classes I take give me a special insight into innovation.
   In my first innovation class at UF I felt overwhelmed with ideas. While I thought that was a good thing, to have thousands of ideas, my teacher taught us that it is better to focus on one thing at a time. Much like this article she suggested that we come up with a strategy to help us better form our ideas to be successful. Based on my experience in innovation I completely agree with the author that you need an innovation strategy. I did not agree with the whole article however. Pisano uses Corning's approach to innovation as a key aspect in his article. He did not spend much time looking into other innovation strategies and I believe the article would benefit from that.
    If I were to ask the author two questions I would ask him about his own experience as an entrepreneur and what was his innovation strategy? The article was well written and I did not find anything too confusing. This was my favorite writing assignment so far.

The Amazon Whisperer

    No I am not talking about the mysterious snakes that hide in the deep dark corners of the Amazon. I am talking about the website where we college students spend hours on end adding stuff to our wishlist but never quite making it to the shopping cart.
    As a class we recently read an article about a man who spends alot of time on Amazon, just like us. But he's putting all that time to good use, searching through other amazon posting for comments suggesting ways to improve upon the products. So while the original producer is busy selling the same old same old, he steps in and makes the same product but improving it with the suggested comments he finds in the product reviews. So I thought I would give it a try for myself:
     The revenue from my venture is purely based off of app sales and advertisements. Like most apps I will offer two versions of my app.  A free version, with advertisements and a paid version which allows people to view the app without extra adds. These advertisements will come from the restaurants that are already partnered with the app.
     The assignment was to look at Amazon for possible offerings for the future. As my product is an app I bent the rules a bit and went to the itunes app store to see if there were any suggestions in the app review. What I found was that on similar apps, they weren't very reliable and they didn't offer very many options in the app.
     Based off this information I believe that I can make a reliable app with plenty of options making my venture superior to others of its nature. I also looked into amazon to see if there were any products that might accompany my venture but couldnt come up with a compatible product.

My Unfair Advantage

Human Capital
 1. Hardworking: I will not stop until I have reached my goals; many people give up before the task is completed, not me; in this day in age it can be hard to find people who are willing to put in the work for what they want; nothing replaces hard work in success.
2. Passionate: I have a vested interest in this venture; alot of people are passionate about food; anyone can be passionate but it is how they apply the passion to their work; no.
3. Knowledge of the food industry: In my venture knowledge of the food industry is key; this is not a very rare resource since; for people without prior knowledge it can be difficult to gain.
Social Capital
4. Connections with software engineers: My venture is an app and having people with the knowledge of how to format it will help be set it up; I have a unique connection through my father who works for a software company; there are hundreds of people in the world with programming experience; there is no other way program an app without prior knowledge.
5. Social Media Outlets: If it isn't apparent on your facebook, I believe that one of the best ways to spread information about your project is through social media; anyone can post to social media outlets; it does not take alot to set up a social media account.
6. Instant Feedback: I have friends willing to help and give instant feedback. They are not afraid to be brutally honest with me and it helps me develop my venture better; it is rare to find good friends these days.
Financial Capital
7. Savings: I work hard and every sent I earn goes straight into my savings. I can use this money to fund my venture; money isn't a rare venture; with hard work and a good paying job anyone can have financial capital.
8. Good Credit Score: Banks are more willing to give a loan to someone with a good credit score; in today's economy it is hard to get a loan from the bank; it takes years to repair/ build credit.
9. Family backing: I thankfully come from a fortunate background and know that I have built a relationship with my parents and other families that would make them feel comfortable giving me a personal loan; some families don't have the capability of funding big ventures.
Capabilities
10. Ability to communicate well with others: I am an independent person and have been since I was little, because of this I am comfortable talking to anyone and getting my point across; it is a special skill to be a confident speaker; it is not a skill than can be learned overnight.

My #1 Resource
My ability to communicate my message. This skill will help me communicate my venture idea with potential investors, clients, and connections. This is more important than all my other resources because it leads to success with the other resources.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

   A big thing to consider in all entrepreneurial adventures is the financial aspect of these undergoings. Most times you front your on own money and if the project goes belly under then that effects your family personally. This chapter gave alot of information about how to budget your entrepreneur projects. And I agreed with the author that it is important to budget and budget well. I also agreed with the author that it is one of the biggest reasons for failure as an entrepreneur.
   I found the concept of the NPV and IRR methods a bit confusing and would have appreciated it if the author would add some information about it to clarify it. From a mathematical point of view I found the ratios to be interpreted. If I had to ask the author two questions, I would ask him his personal experience with budgeting and if he had any advice for college students budgeting in general for this first time.

Whats Your Secret Sauce?

    Everyone is  unique in their own way. It is sometimes difficult for us to see what makes us special, and I am no exception. The hardest part of the assignment was having to talk about myself. I could go on and on about my classmates and friends but when it comes to listing features of myself it was alot harder. Having said that I gave it my best shot and here is what I came up with:

 1. I am competitive by nature. I like to be the best and am always trying to one up myself.

 2. Along with being competitive I like proving people wrong. When someone tells me I cant or I wont, I respond with I can and I will.

 3. I am a good judge of character. As evident by the friends I have, I may not have many but the ones I have are far superior. 

 4. I have an intuitive need to help others. I have since I was little. I get more pleasure out of helping others than anything in the world. The greatest thing people ever say to me is thankyou.

 5. I am good at puzzles. Sudoku, crosswords, people, instructions, building things, all types of puzzles and I enjoy figuring them out. It makes me feel accomplished.

Now that I've said more about myself than anyone should ever have to read here is what my friends and family had to say about what makes me different:

My mom has always been my biggest supporter and has always encouraged me to do my best. For me this video is more a reflection of all she has accomplished raising me. I would not be the person I am today without her love and nurturing. Everything I am is thanks to her and my father.

My dad looks big and tough on the outside but is a soft underneath it all. He spoke about me being independent and it is only after years of him teaching me and guiding me that I have been able to be this way. I aspire to be as successful and strong as my father. 

Ashley is my best friend since middle school and has seen me at my best and my worst. And still continues to love me through everything. We are complete opposites in nearly every way except for when it comes to caring for others. She is loving and kind and having her as a best friend makes me a better person.

I did a video for Jessie and it was nearly identical to the video she did for me. The fact that such an amazing and kind person sees me in the same light as I see her makes me feel truley blessed. I have only known Jessie for about a year but she knows me better than some people who have known me since I was a baby. 

 Veronica sent me this video within 5 seconds of me asking for it. I know I can always count on her and hearing her speak about me like this made me smile. I am smart, but I think my friends give me to much credit for it. And I am super competitive and I am glad she sees that as a positive quality in me and not as a bad thing.

I think similar to most people what others had to say about me was much more kind than what I had to say about myself. I find it difficult to accept compliments but when they come from the five people who know me most and who I care about most it makes it a bit easier. There were quite a few differences in the way I see myself and the way others see me. For instance my father talked about my independence but I feel like I still rely on so many people to help me through life. I also found it interesting that the two people who I met in college, Jessie and Veronica, talked about how smart I was. It made me laugh because like every college student I feel like I am barley keeping my head above water sometimes. Above all else though watching all these videos gave me a new found confidence. If these amazing people can say such nice things about me some of it must be true. I just need to start believing in myself more and I am working on it. A final big thankyou to all my friends and family for their kind words, without them I wouldn't be as special <3

Week 9 Reading Reflection

      In this weeks reading we focused on marketing and the skills that go hand in hand with being an entrepreneur. This chapter discussed the the process of successful marketing, as well as several reasons why entrepreneurs marketing research. Marketing only works well if you do the research first. There is no point in declaring your product has the newest technology if your target crowd is the elderly. 

     I found it surprising that so many entrepreneurs do not do marketing research. I thought it was one of the easiest ways to build a more successful business. The chapter goes on to discuss reasons why people choose not to do the research prior to marketing. These reasons include cost, complexity of the undertaking, belief that the data will be irrelevant, etc. I did not agree with the author on this point. Marketing research doesn't have to be expensive. For this class we have had to do alot of research on our products and how to best market them and it hasn't cost me a thing. 

    If I had to ask the author two questions I would ask him to clearly define the relationship between marketing and pricing as I found this concept a bit confusing. I would also like to ask him for a few examples of successful and unsuccessful marketing schemes. For the most part I did agree with the author that marketing research is vital to being a good entrepreneur.

Idea Napkin No. 2

Critiques: I didn't receive many comments on my last idea napkin and the comments I did read were mainly positive. I did receive some feedback about who I should be targeting with this app. Someone suggested that I also use the app to target the specific restaurants in order to get the best approximation of wait times and have the most efficient app ever. So taking that advice into consideration here is my new and improved idea napkin!

Me: On several earlier posts on this blog, I told you about myself. For those of you who don't spend hours checking my blog to see what the newest and hottest is, first of all shame on you, and second of all here is a quick summary. My name is Niamh Clancy, I am an IA sophomore at the University of Florida studying Biology on the pre-med track. I aspire to one day be a pediatrician and have since I was three years old. I am stubborn, hardworking, suturing (to the point of nagging my friends), I like mom jokes and dad jokes, and I am not a quitter. As a future doctor I predict that I will have a busy schedule and no time to wait for long restaurant ques, similar to many other professions.

Offer: The Waiter, an app that tells you the current waiting time at your favorite restaurants. The app will also give the customer and option to call ahead to order their food to go, in case all the lines are long.

Who: This app is beneficial to both restaurateurs and anyone who likes to eat. The restaurateurs benefit because it will allow for a more efficient flow of restaurant patrons. Not too many people in the restaurant at one time, and they wont have to turn people away because people wont come when it is crazy busy.

Why does it matter: This app is important because it effects all of us in every way. If you don't like food than this app doesn't matter to you, at all. But for the rest of the population eating out is a part of our culture. At the same time however we are a community based off of instant gratification. Waiting in lines does not fit into the equation of our lifestyles. With the Waiter people will know where they can get there food as soon as possible while still enjoying the process of going out to eat.

Core competencies: I have already told you about me, my skills, and why I think this app will be a success. But alot of people can say they are hard workers that don't quit. This difference in me is that I am passionate about this idea, because food is a good portion of my life. When something directly affects you people are more likely to do something about, make a move, change in some way. For me the fact that I am a busy college student, and hopefully one day a busy med student means that this app will become a sort of life line for me.