19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is Julianna Johnson. I am a student at the University of Florida majoring in Sociology and Family, Youth and Community Sciences with a minor in Nonprofit Organizational Leadership. I have talents in connecting with people whether in a personal or professional setting. I have worked with kids for years and in order to connect with a child you must first establish their trust which I do with many of the students I work with. In the future, I plan to help end the cycles of poverty by means of real estate investing. I will teach others how to invest and also use my funds for causes I find important. If I were to start this business, I believe it will give me a financial foundation to do other things I would like to do such as investing in real estate and communities.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

Often times, people, especially students, struggle to find open seating to study or do work. This is a prominent issue in college towns that causes individuals to waste time looking for available space. My service (an app) allows users to know before they arrive at a location if there is adequate open seating so that they can conserve their time.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I believe this service can be used by anyone, but my marketing will be the most successful if I target a concentrated audience. Thus, I am offering it to universities and businesses. I believe that this product will be the most popular and necessary in college towns for students and faculty.. Universities can choose to purchase a subscription to the app that all of their affiliates can benefit from. Last, I would market this service to businesses such as coffee shops that are popular for workspace. I would market to them so that they could be included in the app and possibly see an increase in their business.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it's valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

Universities will pay me for this service because they are constantly looking for ways to compete with other universities. This service is another feature that they can add to their list to make them more appealing during recruitment. Businesses will pay me for this app because it has the potential to increase their customer traffic and thus their sales.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

Currently, there are no companies that offer similar services which focus specifically on study space so this service is unique. This service offers something novel to both individuals and universities.

I believe all of these elements fit together nicely. I only have a few concerns. The first one is the necessary connections to build something of this magnitude. First it would require connections with someone who can build an app, as well as universities and businesses. I also believe the marketing can be quite complex as I market on different levels and scopes.

From this feedback, I took away that I needed a more targeted audience rather than offering product to “all people.” I also took away the strength of starting on a small scale and allowing the app to prove itself to the public, and expand with “word of mouth” being the (free) marketing tool. I incorporated this feedback into question three. I intentionally narrowed it down and no longer offer the product to individuals. Now it is only offered to businesses and universities. 

Elevator Pitch Practice! (Part 2!)

https://youtu.be/sEAGa6G0XIg

The most useful feedback I received was on the time requirement. A few people mentioned that my video was too short, so I made sure to lengthen the pitch this time. I also received positive feedback about my confidence, eye contact and gestures, so I tried to replicate those again. I was most surprised by how well everyone took to the idea of my product. Many people stated that they recently struggled with the problem that my product addresses. From this feedback, it seems like my product is very useful and my pitch sold it well.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My product can be sold to both individuals and businesses, but for the sake of this exercise, I will just focus on the individual.  

This individual lives in Florida, coincidentally one of the states with a top 7 public university. She attends the University of Florida, is a proud gator and is 21 years old. She is a third year student majoring in engineering. She spends a considerable amount of time studying and usually studies outside of her house. She knew engineering would be a challenging major, but she did not realize how much focus it would take. Thus, she has found she studies more effectively outside of her home free from distraction.

Because her major requires so much effort, she does not have time to tend to her hobbies, but prior to college she enjoyed skating and painting. She drives a silver Toyota Camry. Her favorite TV shows are Blue Bloods and This is Us. She does not currently have any children, but she is in a relationship. Her favorite book is Just Mercy and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Her favorite politicians are Joe Biden and Barack Obama. 

Have in common:

The customer and I are both young women in college, who study outside of the home. It seems we have similar sentiments about being a Gator at UF. We also enjoy similar shows and books. I do think all of these things are coincidences because the customer of this product can be described by a range of attributes and interests.

Assignment 14A – Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. 

The first behavior I have used to keep up with the requirements of this course is working ahead. Especially in the beginning of the course, when my workload for other courses was pretty light, I aimed to stay at least one week ahead of deadlines to avoid falling behind. In addition to working ahead, it has helped to carve out time specifically for this course. For example, I would dedicate a specific number of hours on a specific day each week to this course so I could focus on the assignments at hand.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. 

In this course, I have felt like giving up specifically on the assignments that required interviews. Those were some of the most time taking and tedious assignments as it required scheduling with others and transcribing their thoughts. I was pulled through by my desire to do well in this course and to continue learning about entrepreneurship. I had to remind myself of the importance of the small tasks. I feel like I have had a tenacious attitude for a while, but this course (as many courses do) allowed it to show.

3) Three tips. 

• First, keep the end goal in mind. Know your why and remind yourself of it often. “Why are you taking this class?”
• Second, connect with other students in the class. It always helps to have people who understand what you are going through.
• Third, power through. Remind yourself that this class (and all classes) will come to an end. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it will soon be over.

Assignment 12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Choosing a segment: 

I chose to focus on the segment of young entrepreneurial minds. All of my interviews were with people who have their own business (local coffee shops) or have considered considered starting a business of their own. One (Mariah), studies business at UF so and plans to be an entrepreneur as she seeks financial freedom. Another (Kim), is a 23 year old from Orlando, FL that wants to open a food truck. The third, is a new coffee shop in Gainesville. 

Interviews:

INTERVIEW INFO

What I learned: 

These interviews confirmed that the demand to buy this product is high among individuals but not so much among businesses. All of the individuals I interviewed, struggle with finding available space. However, the businesses do not believe it is their responsibility to keep track of open workspace as that is not their primary function.. Additionally, they do not believe implementing this service will significantly increase their profits. The individuals I interviewed agreed that they would be willing to pay for the service. Businesses said that they would participate in the app for the convenience of their customers, but they would not be willing to pay for it.

When I asked what they think people should do to find a solution to their problem, they agree that calling the coffee shop they want to go to is inconvenient for both the individual and the coffee shop, but that it is their first idea. The individuals let me know that they experience this problem most often in the late afternoon/evening when most students are out of class and studying. They also state that the problem is even more prominent during popular exam times.

When I asked how they would search for a solution to the problem, I was told that this is not something they would google because they would not think a solution like this existed. I was told by another interviewee that he would check the website of a specific location to see if they listed their seating online. 

How I would describe this segment: 

I think that there are a lot of individuals who are interested in entrepreneurship as a path to financial freedom. This segment would buy products for individuals, because they relate to the issue at hand. However, this is not a service that many people would search for.

Assignment 11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is Julianna Johnson. I am a student at the University of Florida majoring in Sociology and Family, Youth and Community Sciences with a minor in Nonprofit Organizational Leadership. I have talents in connecting with people whether in a personal or professional setting. I have worked with kids for years and in order to connect with a child you must first establish their trust which I do with many of the students I work with. In the future, I plan to help end the cycles of poverty by means of real estate investing. I will teach others how to invest and also use my funds for causes I find important. If I were to start this business, I believe it will give me a financial foundation to do other things I would like to do such as investing in real estate and communities.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

Often times, people, especially students, struggle to find open seating to study or do work. This is a prominent issue in college towns that causes individuals to waste time looking for available space. My service (an app). allows users to know before they arrive at a location if there is adequate open seating so that they can conserve their time.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I believe this service can be useful to anyone, anywhere so I am offering it to all people. However, I believe that this product will be the most popular and necessary in college town for college students. For that reason, I am offering it to three groups: individuals and universities. Individuals, including students and anyone that may have work to do outside of the office such as teachers or business people can use the app. Universities can also choose to purchase a subscription to the app that all of their students can utilize. Last, I would market this service to businesses such as coffee shops that are popular for workspace. I would market to them so that they could be included in the app and possibly see an increase in their business.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it's valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

I believe that individuals will pay me money for this service because there is an increasing importance on saving time as we become more inundated with things to do. This service offers them another way to save time and increase their hours for productivity. Universities will pay me for this service because they are constantly looking for ways to compete with other universities. This service is another feature that they can add to their list to make them more appealing during recruitment.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

Currently, there are no companies that offer similar services which focus specifically on study space so this service is unique. This service offers something novel to both individuals and universities.

I believe all of these elements fit together nicely. I only have a few concerns. The first one is the necessary connections to build something of this magnitude. First it would require connections with someone who can build an app, as well as universities and businesses. I also believe the marketing can be quite complex as I market on different levels and scopes.