Assignment 22-Elevator Pitch No. 3

Link to my elevator pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOw1Ni6sdJM
The feedback on my last post was very positive and encouraging, and it was nice to see that others see the value in my offering! From the feedback I received, I learned that people love seeing my passion for the idea that I've refined over this time period, and that they believe I am off to a good start.

Based on the feedback that I was given, I decided to play around more with the wording of the pitch to see what works best and which is most convincing to consumers. I also tried to uphold the same passion that others noticed the last time around because it seemed to be effective.

Assignment 21-Reading Reflection No. 2

For this reading reflection, I chose to read Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky. The main theme of this book is how people use their free time (their "cognitive surplus"), and how it has evolved over time to what it is today. He goes into detail about how people are increasingly using this time for collaboration on social media platforms using creativity and such rather than simply doing pointless tasks during this time. He talks about how social media can actually advance society because people are able to make waves with this sort of mass collaboration. The book connected with what I am learning in this class because it showed the importance of working together in this day and age and how it has been shown to make tangible changes through social media. This connects a lot with the networking aspect of this class and the entrepreneurial skills involved with that. He discusses how means, motive, opportunity, and culture all come together to engage in this cognitive surplus.

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would create an experimental exercise where each person posts an electronic petition for their school, local government, state government, etc. that requests a certain change be made to benefit the stakeholders of that decision. By posting this and gaining signatures, it would show students how social media collaboration can quickly make societal changes or even just bring awareness to something that had not gotten enough attention prior. I was most surprised by how much Shirky praised social media in this context. Many books and writings praise social media for reasons like it allows businesses to promote themselves cheaper and easier, but this book praised it for what individuals do on social media in their free time. It was a different perspective and I definitely agreed with it, as we have all learned that the world is "shrinking" because of social media.

Assignment 20-Growing Your Social Capital

1. The first person I interviewed is named Lainey Tarpon, and she is a student entrepreneur from my hometown. She has always been interested in natural products and a couple years ago started making her own products. Once people became interested in them she began to sell the products and fill even more orders online through Etsy and other mediums.
2. She is a domain expert because she is engaged in the same sort of business that I would like to be involved in, and she also is a technical expert because she has been researching these sorts of things for many years and only recently began to apply her knowledge to create her own products.
3. I found her because we went to the same high school, and after some text conversation we were able to FaceTime to further discuss my business idea.
4. She listened to my elevator pitch about the product offering and gave me feedback regarding refining the idea based on her experience in this market. In return, she expects me to help get more word out about her business and to keep her updated in the future.
5. Including her in my network would allow me to have advice from a young entrepreneur like myself who has already made some mistakes. She can give me advice about how to find customers and setting up an electronic platform that is user-friendly.

1. The next person is Jennifer Ryan, one of my mom's friends who manages a Lush store in our area. She has worked in this business for about a decade. She has previously sold other products as a representative and now manages the Lush store.
2. She is the market expert because she has been in this market for a long time, and after progressing in her job she knows a lot about what the customers are looking for and what their hesitations are with products like these.
3. I found her because she is friends with my mom, so I was able to give her a call and ask some questions.
4. She was able to give me plenty of advice about gaining customer support, promoting my product, and the like. Her expectation is that I keep in touch with her after this interaction to update her about the direction of my idea.
5. Including her in my network allows me to better understand what customers want and how I am able to satisfy those needs with my offering. She knows a lot about the changing needs, especially in the natural products arena.

1. Lastly, I talked to John Remy, who is in the business of handling logistics for online companies. He has worked in the logistics business for over 15 years.
2. He is the important supplier in this industry, because logistics companies supply technology and other things to help online orders be fulfilled.
3. He is an old friend of my dad's, so I was able to email him then give him a call about this.
4. He described to me how their company works and what services they're able to provide different businesses, so this insight would definitely help me if I pursued this business in the future. Knowing how to get these products to consumers is crucial. In return, he requested that I use his company if I ever pursue this lol.
5. By networking with him, he would be able to give me the ins and outs of how to get products from manufacturing to a consumer's door. He would also be able to tell me what he has seen work best for businesses and sort of become a consultant for me.

This experience differs greatly from past networking experiences I have had because it is so targeted and the interaction is already outlined for me in a way. In the past, I have been networking to look for a job or to get into an organization, but networking for my own business purposes is very different.

Assignment 19-Idea Napkin No 2

1.    I am a third year finance major, which gives me a leg up in the arena of money and budgeting a business. I am a hard worker and very organized person, which come together to make me an efficient, detail-oriented person. I am the child of small-business owners, so I have seen the dedication it takes to be an entrepreneur and have gained a ton of mentorship from my parents along the way. I see this business being my baby and taking my heart and soul!

2.     I am offering to customers a way to buy customized, natural products that work for them, as well as information about the ingredients all in one place so that they will not have to spend too much of their own time researching the benefits of specific natural ingredients. The site would offer lower prices than the expensive products sold at beauty stores and healthier alternatives to the basic drugstore brands. The site would also ask customers questions about their need in order to recommend ingredients, and then they could customize from there. For example, if I wanted a new face wash, I would click that I’m looking for long-lasting hydration, an all-day glow, and minimization of pores. The site would then recommend the ingredients to me and then I could also pick a base with vitamin C because I love the orange-y smell and want my face to smell like that!

3.     I am offering this to people who actually care about their skin and staying youthful by only putting ingredients they can actually pronounce on their hair, face, and body. They are your average Joe who isn’t willing to spend $50 on fancy shampoo that ruins your hair anyways. They want the convenience of buying online and having it delivered to their door and are always on the go, so they don’t have time to do enough of their own research.

4.     They care because it is convenient and becoming a trend in all areas of self-care to actually look at the ingredients on your products. For example, there is the whole gluten-free and vegan trends because consumers are realizing that all the non-perishables they eat every day are actually ruining their bodies from the inside out.

5.     I am able to talk to anyone and everyone, so I am sure I could market this to anyone who even lies outside of the demographic I outlined above. I fall into the target segment, so I know how to persuade people based on their unmet need, and I am also dedicated so I would work hard until I’ve found the success I’m striving for.

I think all of these elements fit together because I know what the customer want—I’m not a 20 year old girl trying to sell wrinkle cream to old women, because that just wouldn’t make sense and they would never believe my persuasion that it “works.” The feedback I received before showed me that there are more people than I think who would actually love to benefit from using this product/service.  

Assignment 18- Create a Customer Avatar

My prototypical customer is a young woman in her 20s who is educated, and therefore understands the harmful effects of products she uses. She loves to do yoga, go to the pool or beach, and cook at home as opposed to eating out at restaurants. She loves reading self-help and motivational books like You are a Badass and the like, and she is always taking pictures of anything that sparks joy around her, whether it be indoors or outdoors. She does not have children because she does not want to slow down her life yet, though she thinks about them for the future. She drives either a hybrid sedan or crossover car and always has air fresheners in her car and listens to happy, chill music in the car.

I have a lot in common with this customer avatar. I believe this is due to the fact that I thought of this product for someone just like me who possesses this unmet need. Because I am able to relate so well, I am able to understand what is the most convenient and valuable option for customers.

Assignment 17 - Elevator Pitch 2

Here is the link to my elevator pitch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokiyqTAEyU

I was unable to submit my last elevator pitch, so I didn't really have any feedback to go off of, but I did about three takes of this pitch to perfect it to make the pitch more linear and easier to follow. I found that at first I was a little bit all over the place and frazzled, so by making an outline and practicing in the mirror before filming, I was able to get it down and convey the message I intended. I wish I had been able to submit the first one to gain more valuable feedback from my peers!

Assignment 16- What’s your secret sauce?

It’s no secret that to be a good entrepreneur, it is crucial that one has to have unique human capital among other things. I believe that I am different for these reasons: 

-I have such diverse communication skills because I have experience working in a childcare center where I had to be able to communicate with people of all ages, races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and the like. 

-I am very emotionally aware and therefore feel empathy towards others and tailor my communication based on this. 

-I am not afraid to speak my my mind, so I don’t let people walk all over me and I stand up for myself. This is unique because many people tend to let others push them around. 

-I love to brainstorm with other great minds and am able to appreciate others’ ideas even if they conflict with my own or if it means my ideas were not as good. This is crucial for innovation!

-I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong. Lots of people like to sweep their mistakes and pitfalls under the rug, but I think it is important to own up to things and learn from them rather than push them away. 

I had to conduct all of my interviews via FaceTime because of conflicting schedules that prevented an extended in-person interview and the majority of the people I interviewed are outside of the Gainesville area. Therefore, I had each of them record a video to summarize what we talked about and compiled them into a video here: https://youtu.be/A7aAj55rR8s

The first is my good friend Alyssa. She explained to me how I put my whole heart and soul into anything that I do. She emphasized the fact that I have passion that drives me to do everything I do. 

Second, I talked with my younger brother, Steele. He talked a lot about my sound judgment and decision making skills that have allowed me to succeed. He said I analyze everything and take into account all factors so that I end up with my desired outcome. 

Next I interviewed my roommate and good friend, Elana. She stressed how much my work ethic sets me apart from everyone else. She said that I have the yearning for success that many others just simply don’t have. 

The next person I interviewed was my good friend Jenna. She emphasized how I have my emotions but am able to recognize that there is a time and place for those things, so I don’t allow them to hinder my decisions. She also said I am determined and reach for everything I want. 

Lastly, I interviewed a past significant other, Blake. He talked about my care for others and how I am always there to build others up as I rise myself. He discussed how I am a motivator like no other and how it has a strong positive influence on my leadership style. 

I have always seen myself as a hard worker and team player, and from these interviews have concluded that this actually does spill over into my entrepreneurial skills. I assessed myself more in terms of my emotional capabilities and people skills. While these people did discuss my people skills, etc., there was more of a focus on my hard work and determination that has gotten me to this point in my life. I believe this comes from the fact that this work ethic has always been so normal to me, so at times I underestimate my work and don’t stop to realize what I’m accomplishing. I would not make any corrections to my list above because I still believe they are huge assets and little pieces of them were present in each of the interviews I conducted.