Final Reflection

As I went through this class everything built on each other making me feel the importance of every assignment and in the real world the thorough process of entrepreneurship. The very first assignment is definitely the most formative as it really allowed me to see how hard it was to come up with twenty things that bugged me. I entered that assignment thinking that list would take me no time at all but was quite surprised by the results. I never realized how much I try to push the things that bug me under the carpet and try to not let them bug me. From the beginning of the semester to now I definitely have gain a more entrepreneurial mindset as those assignments showed me the small little details that  an entrepreneur should look at when developing a start up.  My advice to those taking this course another time is have an open mindset. You never know the impact something or someone can have on you. For me this class was an elective that I heard was easy and fun, but the value I got out of it was so much more as Pryor is so down to earth. This class has so much to offer so maximize your effort and stay on top of the assignments and lectures.

Venture Concept 2

Opportunity:
At the University of Florida and the area surrounding the university where students live, there is not a reliable, cheap and safe way to get to in from campus or even around campus at any time. This is an unmet need among the students at the university who mainly live off campus but even those who live on campus.
The demographic of my market is:

• Ages 17-25
• Students at the University of Florida
• People without a car, bike, or scooter
• People with discretionary income that will spend on transportation methods
• People who travel to campus often

The transportation methods that make up the current solution for students is walking, the RTS bus system, bikes, Ubers, or friends with cars. These solutions are use to fulfill the unmet need  but still fall short in one aspect or another. For example, the RTS is a great way to get to class when the weather conditions are not ideal. However, the bus system is not reliable the app always changes the arrival time and at night the buses are not as frequent.

There is definitely a big opportunity to solve this unmet need, as a student myself I have heard many complaints about parking and getting to and from campus. If many people are complaining about this unmet need there is an opportunity big enough to capitalize. The window of opportunity will be open for as long as the unmet need is there. Over time, I think this opportunity will grow as more and more apartment complexes are built increasing the size of the market.

Innovation:

My innovation is the UScoot which is purpose is to meet the unmet need of a reliable, cheap and safe method of transportation of University of Florida students. The UScoot is a electric scooter that is used on a rent basis. There is an app in the App Store and Google Playstore that is directly related to the UScoot. This app allows users to unlock the scooter and hook up their credit or debit card to their account allowing them to pay for their rides. The app allows has a locator on it showing you where the closes scooter is to your location. Once the scooter is unlock by a rider, the scooter will take them anywhere they want to go in a two mile radius off campus. When they are done with the scooter they leave it where they get off allowing the next user to pick it up for their turn. The cost of the ride is charged by the minute and the scooter has a flat rate to unlock it for use. To unlock the scooter it costs $1 and then it charges 20 cents per minute of use. So say it take you five minutes to get from your apartment to class it will only cost you $2. For my company, the upfront cost to start my company is so big as we have to buy the scooter upfront and hope that people use them enough to generate us profit. However, once the company takes off there are no continue costs to keep the company going besides maintenance cost on the scooters. Maintenance on the scooter would be on a per basis need and the app would let the maintenance staff when their is a malfunction with it working. 

Venture Concept:
The UScoot will solve students at the University's problem of having a consistent and reliable way to get around and to and from campus. The UScoot work on the time of the user, they do not have to stand around and wait to a certain time for them to become available. The UScoot is an easy and fun way to get places you need to be in a timely fashion. Before the introduction of UScoot there were a limited number of ways to get around campus. These ways of other transportation would be my competitors such as RTS, and Uber/ Lyft. Analyzing my competitors allows me to see their strengths and weaknesses and see how I can beat them. First looking at RTS, this is the free bus transportation for students, they have the edge over my company by being free which is huge. College kids tend to capitalize when things are free. However, RTS is not reliable at all hours of the day. At night, there are a limited number of buses and route that they bus go and even during the day the buses do not run on set times. There have been times that the app has said 5 minutes but taking more like 15 minutes putting me in a situation of being late for class. We can beat the competitor of RTS by having low prices that still entice the broke college kids and having our scooter accessible 24/7. The other competitor is Uber and Lyft. their strength is the customer loyalty of college kids that is the first thing that comes to mind when they need a ride somewhere. However, I think a great way to keep business and prevent future competitors is having a contract with the university guaranteeing a limit on competition entering the market.

Minor Elements:

1. Secret Sauce: My competitors that enter the market after me will probably have similar scooter or bikes that work the same way as mine. My advantage over them would be the customer base I built being the first of my kind being in the market. People love to go with what they know rather than switching something up.
2. What's next for the venture? I would definitely like to see how the students react to the scooter and see if it is a hit. Then I would try to add a new product of a bike to the mix. Differentiating my product line allows me to profit off two products and if one works better than the other I can adjust my numbers accordingly. 
3. What's next for me? In the next five years, I do not see myself still running the company. I would love to still be involved with the company and help them from time to time but not something I would want to run day to day. I would hopefully have a very successful company and hire people to manage the company. Also, would love to expand this idea to other college campuses around the country.

Feedback and Change:

I received a lot of insightful feedback that helped me alter some parts to my venture concept. Some things that were mentioned was how would maintenance work and how to limit other companies to come into the same market on campus. So I added that maintenance would work on a per need basis and the app would let the maintenance staff know when one is not working. Then I added that I would have a contract with the university to not allow other electric scooters companies to come on campus and steal away my sales.

Your Exit Strategy

For my company, I plan to eventually sell my company off for a large profit. I plan on staying with my company through the growth at the University of Florida and hopefully see the company start up at other universities around the nation. I want my company to eventually be on a national scale but that is something I do not feel I have the knowledge and time to run a company of that magnitude. I would sell my company off and make the profit but would still try to be present with the company. I would help them when they need help and always in my spare time help spread the word about the scooters. I have picked this exit strategy because it best fits what I want to do with my life, I want to enter the consulting field and have family. With wanting those things and having the life I want I would not have time to manage and run a company.

Celebrating Failure

This semester I applied to be a community assistant at my apartment complex, but I did not get the job.  The hiring process for this job was a little longer than I expected as I had a virtual interview, group interview and an one on one in person interview. Through the process, I experienced different emotions and when I found out I did not get the job I was upset. This job would have been something manageable with my school work and allowed me to make money in an easy fashion. In the moment the rejection stunk; however, I was able to gain interview experience from it. This experience allowed me to be more confident in my interviewing abilities which in turn helped me with two interviews I had for summer leadership programs and internships. When it came time for interviews with bigger companies and more important jobs I did much better. I landed two summer leadership programs and an internship offer for next summer. Failure is something that happens to us all but it is how you respond to failure that makes a person better and stronger. Reflecting back on that experience always allows me to see the good that came out of it. I would more likely take a risk in the future then I was before this experience.

What's Next?

Existing Market:
It is always important for a company to be thinking about what is next and what should we be doing in the future to help plan. For UScoot I think the most important things we can do to grow the company is to either offer more products to differentiate the product mix or more the company to other college towns/cities. I think adding bikes to our product mix would allow people to have their choice in the way they want to get around town enticing new customer into the market. Also when it comes to establishing UScoot on other campuses we have to look at the big college cities.

Adding bikes to the product mix-
By adding bikes to the company as another rental transportation for students to use, it allows the company to have more wiggle room when it  comes to making a profit. As the bikes are implemented on campus, we can take a survey or watch users to see what is the more popular choice. This allows the company to fix its numbers on the amount of scooters and bikes to buy and have on campus. Bike already are a popular transportation method for students but not all college kids have bikes because of their costs.

Moving to other college towns:
If this company is successful in Gainesville, it should also be successful in college towns that are similar to Gainesville. This would be a huge step for the company as we plant more UScoot all across the nations making our profit and revenue exponentially grow. The process of picking the next locations to move to is essential because we have to have a big enough market to enter that school. Schools that are commuter base are not a good area to move into such as the University of South Florida.

New Market: Cities across America

Since I was not able to contact anyone in this new market, I am not exactly sure how this idea feels to them. My idea for entering big cities is not to be a main method of transportation but to be seen as an entertainment options for families and friends to enjoy. This new market definitely has more disposable income meaning I can definitely change the prices around a little bit to still have people want to use them but increase my revenue.

People always want to see new cities and travel around them but sometimes walking miles can get old quickly and hurt your feet. This scooter would be appealing as a new way to tour the city and get from point A to point B in a fast manner. I believe if I enter this market the addition of the bike would not be very useful. This being a more leisure activity rather than a transportation method, I believe the consumers would be more attracted to the scooters. 

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resource 1: know my market because I fit into it

• Valuable: highly
• Rare: sort of 
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: not many substitutes

Resource 2: first electric scooter business in Gainesville

• Valuable: high
• Rare: high
• Inimitable: hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: not many substitutes

Resource 3: Financial Support of my family

• Valuable: high
• Rare: no
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: no substitutes

Resource 4: A lot of free time outside of academics to help run company

• Valuable: high (time is money)
• Rare: no
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: no substitutes

Resource 5: Located where my business is

• Valuable: sort of
• Rare: no
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: there are substitutes

Resource 6: Pursuing a degree in accounting- help run the books of company

• Valuable: sort of
• Rare: no
• Inimitable: no - hire an accountant
• Non-substitutable: there are substitutes

Resource 7: Dedicated to be successful

• Valuable: high
• Rare: no
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: not many substitutes to dedication

Resource 8: Exposure to electric scooter companies - know they are successful

• Valuable: sort of
• Rare: not really
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: substitutes are there

Resource 9: Exposure to competitors already in the market- Uber/Lyft and RTS- know strengths and weaknesses

• Valuable: highly
• Rare: not really
• Inimitable: not hard to copy
• Non-substitutable: not many substitutes

Resource 10: Passionate about my company

• Valuable:high
• Rare: not really
• Inimitable:sort of
• Non-substitutable: no substitutes 

Top resource is being the first time of electric scooter company in Gainesville. This is something that is huge as it helps build customer loyalty and puts my company in the front run if any competitors try to join the market.

Venture Concept 1

Opportunity:
At the University of Florida and the area surrounding the university where students live, there is not a reliable, cheap and safe way to get to in from campus or even around campus at any time. This is an unmet need among the students at the university who mainly live off campus but even those who live on campus.
The demographic of my market is:

• Ages 17-25
• Students at the University of Florida
• People without a car, bike, or scooter
• People with discretionary income that will spend on transportation methods
• People who travel to campus often

The transportation methods that make up the current solution for students is walking, the RTS bus system, bikes, Ubers, or friends with cars. These solutions are use to fulfill the unmet need  but still fall short in one aspect or another. For example, the RTS is a great way to get to class when the weather conditions are not ideal. However, the bus system is not reliable the app always changes the arrival time and at night the buses are not as frequent.

There is definitely a big opportunity to solve this unmet need, as a student myself I have heard many complaints about parking and getting to and from campus. If many people are complaining about this unmet need there is an opportunity big enough to capitalize. The window of opportunity will be open for as long as the unmet need is there. Over time, I think this opportunity will grow as more and more apartment complexes are built increasing the size of the market.

Innovation:

My innovation is the UScoot which is purpose is to meet the unmet need of a reliable, cheap and safe method of transportation of University of Florida students. The UScoot is a electric scooter that is used on a rent basis. There is an app in the App Store and Google Playstore that is directly related to the UScoot. This app allows users to unlock the scooter and hook up their credit or debit card to their account allowing them to pay for their rides. The app allows has a locator on it showing you where the closes scooter is to your location. Once the scooter is unlock by a rider, the scooter will take them anywhere they want to go in a two mile radius off campus. When they are done with the scooter they leave it where they get off allowing the next user to pick it up for their turn. The cost of the ride is charged by the minute and the scooter has a flat rate to unlock it for use. To unlock the scooter it costs $1 and then it charges 20 cents per minute of use. So say it take you five minutes to get from your apartment to class it will only cost you $2. For my company, the upfront cost to start my company is so big as we have to buy the scooter upfront and hope that people use them enough to generate us profit. However, once the company takes off there are no continue costs to keep the company going besides maintenance cost on the scooters.

Venture Concept:
The UScoot will solve students at the University's problem of having a consistent and reliable way to get around and to and from campus. The UScoot work on the time of the user, they do not have to stand around and wait to a certain time for them to become available. The UScoot is an easy and fun way to get places you need to be in a timely fashion. Before the introduction of UScoot there were a limited number of ways to get around campus. These ways of other transportation would be my competitors such as RTS, and Uber/ Lyft. Analyzing my competitors allows me to see their strengths and weaknesses and see how I can beat them. First looking at RTS, this is the free bus transportation for students, they have the edge over my company by being free which is huge. College kids tend to capitalize when things are free. However, RTS is not reliable at all hours of the day. At night, there are a limited number of buses and route that they bus go and even during the day the buses do not run on set times. There have been times that the app has said 5 minutes but taking more like 15 minutes putting me in a situation of being late for class. We can beat the competitor of RTS by having low prices that still entice the broke college kids and having our scooter accessible 24/7. The other competitor is Uber and Lyft. Their strength is the customer loyalty of college kids that is the first thing that comes to mind when they need a ride somewhere. However, over time my company can create a name for ourselves and win over students. The UScoot is definitely the more affordable option when it comes to getting somewhere.

Minor Elements:

1. Secret Sauce: My competitors that enter the market after me will probably have similar scooter or bikes that work the same way as mine. My advantage over them would be the customer base I built being the first of my kind being in the market. People love to go with what they know rather than switching something up.
2. What's next for the venture? I would definitely like to see how the students react to the scooter and see if it is a hit. Then I would try to add a new product of a bike to the mix. Differentiating my product line allows me to profit off two products and if one works better than the other I can adjust my numbers accordingly. 
3. What's next for me? In the next five years, I do not see myself still running the company. I would love to still be involved with the company and help them from time to time but not something I would want to run day to day. I would hopefully have a very successful company and hire people to manage the company. Also, would love to expand this idea to other college campuses around the country.