Venture Concept

I have identified an opportunity that hinders people who enjoy studying or hanging-out at coffee shops and libraries. I have encountered this problem when I want to meet up with a friend at a local coffee shop and discover it is busy with no open tables. Most of the coffee shops in Gainesville are small and do not have much seating. I have experienced this issue in the library when I have tried to study with a friend. We had to walk around each floor trying to find two open seats next to each other. The issue of not knowing how busy a place is without finding out for yourself effects anyone who wants to study, do homework or hangout at a coffee shop, study center, library or restaurant and anyone who wants to get coffee. This opportunity is an issue most when exams are happening. More students seek places to study when they have exams. There are certain weeks in the semester where there are more exams such as midterms and finals week. This opportunity does not exist in the summer when most of the UF student population leaves. This opportunity is not very important. If students cannot find someone to study in public, they can just go back to where they live. I think this opportunity will benefit both students, young adults and the business owners. It will help bring in costumers when it isn’t typically busy. Solving this problem will help students not waste time searching for a seat. I will be focusing on students at the UF and Santa Fe and young adults who live in the Gainesville area. The locations I will be partnering with, will be places in Gainesville that the majority of student enjoy visiting.

To solve this problem, I will be creating an application that people can download onto their phones. I will first make the application for apple devices. The application will be free to download. To use the application here is an example. Mary is at Starbucks on 13^th street. If she has her notifications and location services turned on, the app will promote Mary to input how busy Starbucks is in that moment. Mary could input how many empty tables there are and how long the line is to get coffee. Using her data and others who are at the same place, the app will display real time information to other people who aren’t at that location but desire to travel there. They are then able to know if its worth packing up all their books and laptop and driving there. I will discuss with the business owners promotions to offer to app users to incentivize inputting data. I will make money by selling advertisements to local coffee shops and study places.

My application will be easy for students to download. I will advertise my app by handing out flyers on campus. I will post flyers in the locations my app will display information about. I can table about my app in Turlington. I currently do not have any competitors. The only thing that will hinder my app is people not downloading it. I could incentivize sending it to friends. I would need a hand full of employees to start my business. I would need help creating the application as I have no experience with that. I would need a few people to help me promote my app once it is created.

My secret sauce is my connection to the business owners of local coffee shops and my ability to identify this opportunity. My next opportunity is to keep updating the app and adding things to it. I don’t see this becoming a big part of my life. I think it would be a good experience to have but I don’t not see it still being a part of my life in five years.

Pitch #3

I didnt have much negative feedback. The feedback I received was encouraging. This allowed me to work off my first pitch and just improve it. When producing this pitch I worked on wording. I changed some of the ways I said and explained things. This pitch was a little shorter so I had to decide what I wanted to cut out. I felt like a lot of the information was important so that was difficult. I feel like the pitch now is concise and to the point. I was surprised by what was liked in my first elevator pitch. 

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1) I am a student at the University of Florida

• I have lived in Gainesville for two years now. I have a car and can get around town. I am familiar with the area. My app will be solely about Gainesville. 

2) I have been to nearly all the libraries and coffee shops

• I enjoy exploring new places and drinking coffee. I am a student and have lots of homework and exams. I like to study outside of my apartment sometimes. I also meet up with friends and get coffee. I understand the struggle my audience deals with. I have similar desires to them and can relate directly.

3) My friends know some of the people who work at some of the coffee shops

• I have friends who know people that work at Pascals. My friend held a pop-up flower shop on valentine's day at Pascals. She is going through the process of creating her own business and can help me with mine. Having connections to the coffee shops will help me work well with the owners. We can find ways for us to both benefit. They will be more likely to help me because of our mutual connections.

4) I have been around technology all of my life and have apple devices for most of it

• I have had apple devices since I was very young. I had iPods and multiple iPhones and now I have a Mac. I have downloaded and used multiple applications on my phone. I am aware of what is nice to have on an app. and what isnt. I took technology classes in school. I am more comfortable using technology than older generations. I am most comfortable with using apple devices but have also had other computers and phones in the past. 

5) I know a lot of people

• Coming to college has allowed me to meet people. Through engagement in classes and the different organizations on campus, I have been introduced to so many new people. Knowing people can help me get connected to resources. It can also help spread the word of my business when I am trying to promote it. 

6) I am in a sorority

• Being in Phi Mu has connected me to so many resources. The woman in my sorority are involved with some of the best organizations on campus. They are all pursuing different majors and careers. I have friends in my sorority who have all kinds of skills. To be in a sorority you have to be a female and be selected. Anyone who is affiliated with my sorority is likely to help me out.

7) I have am personable

• I am easy to approach. I enjoy being around people and talking to others. I favor talking with people one on one instead of in a group. Having good costumer service will be helpful starting up my business. 

8) My grandpa owned his own business

• My grandpa owned a lot of real-estate and managed them himself. He can help give me advice on managing people and directing work. He dealt with this for years and has encounter numerous situations that he's been able to overcome. His history is unique to him and my family.

9) I enjoy planning and organizing 

• I am good at organizing events and delegating tasks. This will help me when I get people to help me start my business. My ideas will be well thought out. My expectations of people will be clear and understandable. Deadlines will be planned. I am not super spontaneous. I think these skills will help keep my business constantly improving. 

10) I am a passionate & compassionate 

• When it comes to things I love, I go all out. I enjoy serving others and making people I care about happy. I would really enjoy making my customers lives easier. I would care about what they think and make sure my app is helping them in the best way possible. I also am super passionate about encouraging others to try new places. I think Gainesville is great and get really hurt when people say they dont like this town. I think Gainesville has so much to offer and with using my app maybe people would be more willing to try new coffee shops if they knew it wasnt busy. My love for Gainesville and desire to share this love with others is not able to be coped.

My passion for trying new places is my greatest advantage. I love exploring cities. I also am a student and have other responsibilities. Coffeeshops are where these two things meet. I am able to be a student and find new Gainesville gems at the same time. I desire to share these super cool places with others. I love local shops. I think its so amazing for the community. I want to promote local businesses and hopefully by creating this app that can happen. 

Reading Reflection No. 2

The general theme of the book How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big is about taking care of yourself and being selfish first. If you aren't happy or have enough energy or have the right mindset, then you wont be successful. You need to create systems in your life to follow, not run after goals. When you work towards goals, once they are achieved people just move on and set more. There is short lived satisfaction for goal. Following a system will ensure every time you follow the system you will be succeeding.
The book gave me so many tips on how to be successful in life. I can apply these tips to starting a business. I need to have the right "personal energy" before I can be successful in anything. The book gave me confidence because I dont think I am an expert at anything. Scott Adams explains that being good at a few things is better than being an expert at one thing. It is also good to just simply know people who know things that you dont. This course focuses on meeting new people to help create a business.
An exercise based on this book would be creating a system for something. The example used in the book is losing ten pounds. Instead of setting that goal and doing whatever it takes to lose ten pounds, Scott suggest creating a system to follow. For that example, he suggests eating healthier and working out. This system brings about long term success and happiness.
I have heard about creating a system and not setting goals before. An aha moment for me was being good a multiple things and not being an expert on one thing. I feel bad about myself because I am not super great at something. I feel like I dont stand out, but there are things I am good at. Realizing that made me feel more confident.

Idea Napkin #2

I am twenty years old. I enjoy shopping, eating a new places, exploring new places. I love to travel even though I have not been to too many places. I am trying to learn Spanish. Ive grown up in Florida. Ive been a student at UF for almost two years now. I am in a sorority. I work at the gym on campus. I have had an apple device since I was in elementary school. I don't see my business becoming a huge part of my life. Im not sure how much time it takes to create an app and keep it updated and working. It could be time consuming but I do not know.
My app would inform people about how busy a library, coffee shop or study place is at that moment. For libraries it could tell students where open seats are instead of people having to walk around the floors. People trying to study outside of their apartment wont have to drive to their destination to find it slammed packed or wait in long lines for coffee if they dont want to. This app could be for anyone but I feel like students (college and high school) will get the most use out of it. Young adults are likely to use it as well when they want to meet a friend for coffee. People would want to use this app because in our busy society, time means everything. When someone has an exam to cram for, looking for a seat at the library is wasting important time. Driving to a coffee shop to meet up with a friend and finding out there are no open seats is awkward.
This app is unique because it would give information about multiple places. It would not just be for libraries in Gainesville but also coffeeshops and any place that people go to to study. I think the app would focus on one town at a time. Maybe go off the users location and show the locations within a certain mileage. I think I would be able to create this because I have been to most of the locations in Gainesville where people study. I enjoy trying new places and driving to get there.
I am not sure how exactly to create an app like this. I would need to brainstorm ways to incentivize places to let costumers know how busy it is. Once I started making the app I would run into other problems but just thinking about it, I cant picture too many more issues. I would have to find a way to promote the app.
I received good feedback. I think the people who read my post understood what I wanted the product to do. I got good feedback about agreeing there is an unmet problem.

What's Your Secret Sauce

1) I have been to nearly all the libraries and coffeeshops in Gainesville. I enjoy going to new places and so do my friends. I also enjoy doing my homework outside of my apartment from time to time.

2) I enjoy being around people. I get lonely after being by myself for a while. I like to do homework with people around me sometimes.

3) Ambitious and hard working, but I also enjoy relaxing.

4) Compassionate, I enjoy doing for others and serving others to make them happy

5) I am a planner/ thoughtful. I feel like I have a lot of common sense. I am not a spontaneous person.

My friends pretty much said the same things that I wrote down. Me and my friends are very transparent. We discusses the things going on in our lives. They lift me up when I am thinking too negatively. They speak truth into me. I have been told most frequently that I am kind, caring and compassionate. My friends also told me that I am hard working which is something I don't usually think of myself as. When I think of hard working, I think of being studious. Someone can be hardworking at other things than just academics. I can get caught up in the aspects of myself that I am not good at and overlook what I am good at. My friends help me see that I am unique. I used what my friends said to elaborate on what I wrote for my list. I think my friends see me in a more positive way because they care about me and are my friend for a reason.

Create a Customer Avatar

My prototypical customer would be a 20 year old 2nd year UF student. They lived in a dorm their first year and spent most of their time doing homework somewhere on campus. They have learned the struggle of finding somewhere to sit late at night in Lib West. They weren't able to go anywhere off campus to do homework because they didn't have a car. Now they have a car and have explored all the local coffee shops and starb's. They enjoy hanging out with their friends and going out to eat every now and then. They are the first of their siblings to go to college. They enjoy being around people. 

I do have things in common with my prototypical customer. I am also 20 and a 2nd year UF student. I enjoy being around people and doing my homework outside of my apartment. This is because I have the same issue my avatar has with finding somewhere not too crowded to study.