Assignment 19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1)    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 Javier Chacon and I am a 3^rd year Finance major here at the University of Florida. After interviewing the 5 people that I feel are closest to me and reflecting over my own unique characteristics that contribute to my human capital, I can see that my biggest talents are financial/data analysis and my work ethic. My past experience operating my own online business has given me experience with marketing, communicating, and selling directly to customers in both an online and in-person setting. I also was able to further develop my financial analysis skills through utilizing Microsoft Excel to track my finances and identify areas where I could improve in order to maximize profit.

·      If I were to start this business, I would see it playing a very significant role in my life. I am very passionate about everything that I do and once I start something, I put in 100% of my effort and time into it. The purpose of my product is to decrease abduction/sexual assault rates worldwide and I think that the fact that my business concept could have a positive impact on many people’s lives will inspire and push me to continue to improve my business.

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

·      I would say that what I am offering to customers has not really changed from the first idea napkin. I am offering consumers a product that will provide them with additional safety protection and peace-of-mind. My business concept is to create clothing accessories, such as rings, bracelets, and necklaces, as well as chips that can be inserted into any article of clothing. These accessories and chips would contain a “distress” button that, when pressed, would alert the authorities and emergency contacts of your choice and provide them with your live location. The technology is currently available and my goal is to modify this technology so that it can be better utilized for personal safety. Abduction rates are very high in this country, with almost 2000 children every day that go missing, and even though sexual assault rates have begun to decline, they are still very high. My product aims at solving consumer’s unmet need of personal safety protection and provides them with assurance that they will have a greater chance of a positive outcome if anything were to happen to them.

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?

·      This part has not really changed too much. I am primarily targeting female college students and families. My reasoning in targeting these two groups is that I am 100% confident that those are the two groups who face the need the most. With the increased awareness and exposure now of sexual assaults on college campuses, I think my product provides additional assurance to female college students that will aid them if they were ever faced with that situation. In addition, families would be more inclined to purchase this product for their children, with child abduction rates still predominantly high. Families want to make sure that their children stay safe and protected, something that my product can provide to ease their mind. I would say that all of my customers have a common need of wanting to stay safe. In today’s world, there has been unfortunately a lot of crazy stuff happening and everyone just wants to be safe. My product aims at trying to do that exact thing and to ease people’s mind’s a little bit knowing that they have a product that will help keep them safe.

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

·      Consumers care because their personal safety is one of their highest priorities. We are only given one life to live, so it is very important that we do everything that we can to protect ourselves. My product cannot promise to 100% eliminate the risk of anything negative happening to the consumer, however what it does do is protect consumers and provide them with a greater chance of a positive outcome. The primary goal of my product is to decrease abduction/sexual assault rates and to provide victims with a greater chance of a better outcome through increased response times. One of the biggest problems when dealing with abductions/sexual assaults is locating the victims and my product directly handles this through the “distress” button that sends out live location to the police and emergency contacts.

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

·      From all of the search that I have conducted, there are currently zero competitors with a product similar to mine that sends out live location to authorities/emergency contacts. The closest thing to a competitor is honestly the Life Alert, and that does not contain the live location feature and is primarily targeted towards senior citizens. What sets my product apart is the advanced technological capability to be able to send live location to authorities/emergency contacts, leading to faster response times to these crimes. Other personal safety accessories, such as pepper spray necklaces or alarm necklaces, obviously haven’t been affective or have not been marketed effectively because otherwise the rates for these crimes would be going down much faster. I have connections with individuals with engineering/computer science/programming backgrounds that I think would be great assets in bringing this product to life. When looking at my current network and the overall landscape of the industry, I think I have what it takes to take my concept to the next level and make it a success.

6)    In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

·      When looking at all 5 of these elements, I believe that all of them fit together very nicely.  I really don’t think that any of my elements are weaker than another, just because I have done a lot of research in determining how effective my product could be and who would be the main consumers to purchase my product. The connections that I have make it very possible to bring this concept to life and to continue to improve the overall design of my product. The media is doing a great job right now on bringing light towards abduction/sexual assault crimes and this increased awareness will only broaden up the market for my product. The need for personal safety is a very serious one and offering a product that can help improve that need is very important in satisfying the current market.

7)    Feedback Memo: 

·      One important piece of feedback that I received directly addressed the product concept. Someone commented on my post suggesting that I think about adding a microchip that can be inserted into any article of clothing with the same technological capabilities as the accessories. I decided that this was actually a brilliant idea, as it offers a more discrete product that can be transferred from one article of clothing to another. This could also potentially lead down the line to the chips being licensed with different clothing manufacturers to create “smart-tech” clothing that aims at solving the personal safety need.

·      Another piece of important feedback that I received involved the landscape of the industry. Since there are no direct competitors to my product, I had someone ask me what, if any, were the alternatives to my product. I was able to conduct more research on alternative products and found out that there really wasn’t much out there to compete with my product. Other than pepper spray necklaces, taser bracelets, or alarm necklaces, there is a lack of personal safety products that utilize the current technology that we have today. I think that in mentioning this in my idea napkin, I provide more information about the landscape of the industry and why my product has serious potential to become successful.

17A - Elevator Pitch #2

https://youtu.be/ZRZm6ZCE2pg

Reflection of feedback: From my first elevator pitch, I received a lot of positive feedback surrounding my energetic and passionate tone that made the elevator pitch more engaging and enjoyable to listen to. I changed the tone of my voice a lot to keep the audience engaged and I didn’t realize how important my use of hand gestures would be in keeping the audience interested in what I was saying. I think that keeping good energy and being excited about your product is very important because how can you expect the audience to stay interested/engaged when you can’t even do that about your own product.

What I changed, based of feedback: After reviewing the feedback I received, I decided to slow down my elevator pitch a little bit so that my speech could be more easily understood. Sometimes, I would get passionate about what I was saying and that would lead to me speeding up and making what I was saying harder to understand. I also decided to spend more time discussing the problem that my product is aimed at addressing by specifically including statistics that emphasize the seriousness of the issue I am trying to solve. Including a price estimate for my products was another tip I received and I made sure to include that as well in my elevator pitch so that consumers can get a better idea of what I am offering them.

18A - Create a Customer Avatar

For my product concept, the customer segment that I have identified and researched is female college students. My prototypical customer would be an 18-year-old female college student who is a freshman here at the University of Florida. She lives in Florida and has grown up with a loving and supporting family who are excited to see her begin her college journey. She is very excited to start university life, meet new friends, and enjoy the social nightlife that Gainesville has to offer. She is very active and social, putting herself out there to meet new people and make new friends. 

She does not have her own car since she lives on campus, however she relies on the “reliable” RTS transportation to go around campus. Living at Broward Hall has allowed her to meet new friends as she socializes with her floor-mates and enjoys the wonderful food at Broward Dining. Going out to mid-town is a regular occurrence as the weekend nears and that provides ample opportunity to relieve some stress and have a good time.

Prior to university life, she would enjoy going out to parties with her friends and engage in drinking and partying. However, now that she is far away from home, the bar/club scene is very new to her and she is still trying to get the hang of it. She grew up in a protective and safe environment, so being surrounded with strangers partying/drinking is definitely a new experience for her. When she is not socializing and partying at mid, she prefers to binge-watch new Netflix shows after completing her school work, such as the Office or Gossip Girl. Excited about her future at UF, she realizes that she must take advantage of her time here and make the most out of every opportunity that is presented to her.

What do I have in common with the customer avatar?

o   When looking at the customer avatar, I would say that we are similar in how we view university life. I tend to drift towards the social aspect of college so going out is definitely a part of that experience. Taking advantage of different clubs and organizations is also something that I do to meet new people and make new connections. I also don’t have a car on campus, so I do a lot of walking/riding the bus.

I don’t think it is a coincidence.

o   When looking at the things I have in common with the customer avatar, I don’t think there is a coincidence with the similarities. I think that the prototypical customer for my product would likely be one that is social and does like to go out, making them more vulnerable leaving the bar/club since it is dark, they are likely “buzzed” or drunk, and they may not be with a whole lot of people leaving. While I, myself, do not think I would likely be a victim of an abduction/sexual assault, I do think it’s possible since I do leave myself vulnerable at times and I think that just by being very socially active, you tend to put yourself in a lot of new opportunities/experiences that lead to your guard being lowered and of course this leads to an increased risk of something potentially negative happening.

16A - What's Your Secret Sauce?

1)    Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique.

o   Prior experience operating my own online business where I was able to achieve $8,000+ in sales

§  I think this prior experience has allowed me to learn a lot about how to run a successful business and the importance of marketing/communication.

o   Prior experience studying business in Madrid, Spain, which allowed me to develop a sense of global cultural awareness in understanding different markets

§  This experience opened my mind and allowed me to identify opportunities available in markets outside the United States, which could potentially provide expansion opportunities for my businesses in the future.

o   Strong Financial/Statistical Data Analysis Skills

§  Operating my own online business required me to learn/develop financial and statistical data analysis skills through tools such as Excel and QuickBooks.

o   Fluency in both English/Spanish

§  This allows me to be a better communicator and to reach a larger audience of people with my product.

o   Self-Motivated with a strong work-ethic that allows me to overcome anything that gets thrown my way

§  In starting up a company, having a strong work-ethic is very important as you will experience many obstacles and challenges and you must have the right mindset to become successful and overcome these hardships.

2)    Interview Summaries

o   Dad: The first person that I decided to interview was my dad. He mentioned that my competitive nature and work ethic would allow me to become successful as I always am working on bettering myself through learning different skills and exposing myself to new opportunities. https://soundcloud.com/javi-chacon-358244547/dad/s-0Gqdy

o   Mom: The second person that I decided to interview was my mom. She also mentioned my strong work-ethic and my attention to detail and related that to my online business that I operate. She stated how my online business allowed me to grow and develop key analytical skills. https://soundcloud.com/javi-chacon-358244547/mom/s-vf1ey

o   Brother: The third person that I chose to interview was my younger brother. Again, he mentioned my strong and determined work-ethic and my self-driven nature. He also mentioned something new, stating how I am a thoughtful thinker and make sure to think of the consequences of actions before deciding what decision to make. https://soundcloud.com/javi-chacon-358244547/brother/s-jTq5U

o   Roommate: The fourth person that I chose to interview was my roommate Pedro. I have known Pedro for almost 10 years and he mentioned that I am a logical thinker and make sure to think from different perspectives before making a clear decision. My background in finance and data analytics is also mentioned as a unique strength to me that would allow me to become successful as an entrepreneur. https://soundcloud.com/javi-chacon-358244547/pedro-dahl-roommate/s-Fq9B3

o   Roommate: The final person that I chose to interview was my other roommate Randimal. I have known him for 10 years as well and he mentioned my logical thinking and background of finance/data analytics as a major strength unique to my human capital. He thinks that my background operating my own online business will do good and serve as a unique experience that will allow me to become more successful in the future. https://soundcloud.com/javi-chacon-358244547/randimal-fonseka-roommate/s-nn9Qs

3)    Reflection

o   After conducting all 5 interviews, I can see that, for the most part, most people tend to agree with the unique attributes I bring to the table relating to human capital. My strong work-ethic was mentioned frequently and that allows me to become laser-focused on tasks thrown my way and that is especially important for an entrepreneur because there will be many challenges early on. There were not any clear differences that I could identify, as all of my interviewees pretty much painted the same picture of my skills/knowledge unique to my human capital. I think that my interviewees were all very accurate with their reflections of my human capital and even though new things were mentioned (such as my logical thinking skills), I wouldn’t really update the list as I feel the five that I have identified are the ones that make me the most unique and that are my strongest abilities.

15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.2

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. 

o   The segment that I identified in the first part of this assignment was female college students here at the University of Florida. For this assignment, I was able to interview both 1^st and 4^th year students involved with sorority life on campus who enjoy going out often, as well as a 4^th year student who is not involved in “Greek life” but that enjoys going out often too.

2) Begin with alternative evaluation.

o   After interviewing all three of the students, it became clear that the most important factor in deciding which alternative to go with was cost. College students do not have a lot of disposable income and I think that in making this product a reality, I am going to have to be conscious of this information. Quality was another important factor as there are currently no products like mine available on the market, but the consensus was that the product needed to be of good quality if they were to be serious about spending money on it. Since my product involves the consumer to wear it daily, I also was able to gain feedback surrounding the visual appeal of the product. The interviewees that I spoke to did not want to wear something too bulky. Out of my product concepts, the bracelet/necklace seemed to be the consensus top choice over the rings and clothing microchips just because they were seen as “discrete” and “sleek”. Overall, I was able to gather that cost and quality seem to be the main factors for consumers, but that visual appeal also played a role as well in deciding whether or not the consumer would be likely to purchase my product.

3) How/Where do they buy?

o   All three of my interviewees stated that they would be more inclined to purchase the product online. Shopping online gave them an opportunity to compare the product against its alternatives and to read customer feedback about the product. The 1^st year student stated that she does most of her shopping now online since Amazon has a student discount for Prime membership and this allows her to quickly view/compare products online and get them in her hands with 2 days. This provided me with some valuable insight as consumers want to look at the effectiveness of the product through customer reviews and they also want to compare the product to see if there are any alternatives that are more cost-effective.

4) Post-Purchase Evaluation.

o   When thinking back and evaluating their purchase, the thing that seemed to matter the most was did they get their value back from the product. Since price is one of the major factors for consumers in making their decision, I was not surprised to hear during the interviews that they look back and think about whether they got enough use/value out of the product to justify the price that they paid for it. The 4^th year student involved with sorority life on campus stated “I really try and see how much I used the product. If I just had it sitting in its package or hardly touched it, I am not going to feel as comfortable with that purchase compared to if I had used the product even a couple times a week.”. This information is important because I am able to understand the importance of value to the consumer and how the product must be easy to use so that consumers are more likely to get use out of it.

5) Report the findings.

o   When presenting my concept to the interviewees, all three of them appeared to be very interested in my product. They acknowledge the existence of the problem I am trying to solve and agreed that it is definitely a step in the right direction to solving this issue. The interviewees were very surprised to hear that there are currently zero competitors to my product on the market and stated that it would be something they would be interested in depending on the price/appearance of the product. I was able to gather valuable feedback surrounding the different versions of my product (bracelet/necklace/ring/microchip) which allowed me to gain a better sense of which versions would be more popular than others. The bracelet/necklace seemed to be the popular choice for the interviewees I selected as these versions are sleeker and more discrete for everyday use. 

6) Draw Conclusions.

o   Based on what I already knew about the segment and what I know now after conducting these interviews, I would describe this segment as being cost-conscious and analytical consumers. This segment is more cost-conscious as they have less disposable income to spend, being that they are in college and most students do not have jobs that provide them with a lot of disposable income. I described this segment as being analytical consumers because I was able to learn that (for the most part) they prefer purchasing products online so that they may compare against alternatives and review customer feedback to judge the product’s overall cost-effectiveness. This can also be seen in the post-purchase evaluation where these consumers judge the value that they were able to gain from the product in deciding whether or not it was a good purchase. Taking in all of this information, I think I am able to learn about the importance of price-sensitivity within this segment and also about the importance of building a solid foundation for the product. Consumers tend to be more likely to buy something that is great reviews, so making sure that my product is great at fulfilling its purpose will be a major key in attracting more consumers to my product and developing a solid foundation for the product.

14A - Halfway Reflection

1)    Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

a.     To keep up with the requirements of this course, I definitely have been sure to stay on top of all of my assignments through the Canvas calendar feature. This has allowed me to better manage my time and plan when I am going to complete each assignment. I think that has helped tremendously by reminding me of upcoming deadlines and also reminding me of the pace that this class runs at. I also make sure that I am reading the instructions/requirements for each assignment carefully as most of these assignments require some planning ahead of time and cannot just be completed an hour before the due date time.

2)    Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

a.     A moment when I felt like giving up had to be about 2-2.5 months ago when I actually was involved in an accident riding my bike and ended up breaking my tibia. I am very active and enjoy going to the gym and playing basketball/soccer so this injury was pretty significant in holding me back from doing those things. Going through the rehab, I felt like “giving up” because I felt like I wasn’t at the spot I wanted to be at and that no matter how hard I worked, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. Even though I had doctors/therapists telling me my leg would never get back to 100%, I pushed through all of that and have just grinded through the struggle to get to where I wanted to be at physically. I have definitely come a long way and have shocked a lot of people with my rehab and I can accredit that to the attitude I developed in my rehab. I think that all of the adversity is just a mind-game and that by strengthening your mindset and attitude, you are putting yourself in a better position to overcome anything that comes your way.

3)    Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester’s student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the “tenacious mindset”?

a.     Tip #1) Take advantage of the Canvas calendar feature

                                               i.     I think that this feature is especially important in staying on top of all of the assignments for this course and giving yourself enough time to complete these assignments. These assignments aren’t ones that you can just half-ass and submit in 10 minutes, so it is important to give yourself enough time to complete these assignments. With all the assignments in this course, it can sometimes be difficult to remember what is due each week so that is where the calendar can definitely be your friend.

b.    Tip #2) Don’t stress yourself out

                                               i.     I think that when you start looking at all of the assignments that you have due for all of your classes, it can become overwhelming and stressful. Sometimes I find myself struggling to figure out where to start, but the key is to just take a deep breath and relax. Budget your time wisely so that you are able to spend adequate time planning out how to execute each assignment. Stressing yourself out is unnecessary and isn’t going to help you complete any of your work any faster so take a deep breath and relax.

c.     Tip #3) Take advantage of the class

                                               i.     Even though this class has no “tests”, the classwork being given is by no means “busy work”. The classwork provides an opportunity to learn through experience and if you are passionate about entrepreneurship it provides the opportunity to learn valuable skills in a creating a concept and starting up a company. You are only going to get out what you put into the class and I think that by putting in genuine effort into these assignments, you will get out a lot of interesting and useful information about the skills necessary to becoming a successful entrepreneur.