30A- Final Reflection

30A- Final Reflection

The Exit Strategy assignment stuck out to me most. I think it is very important to think about where you want to in 5, 10, 20 years from now and to think about how your career and business choices can affect that. It was exciting and interesting to think about how I plan to live my life and inspired me to work hard for my future. I am most proud of accomplishing the Elevator Pitch. The Elevator Pitch looked very scary at first glance but once I started it I felt more comfortable and eager to complete the assignment. By Elevator Pitch No. 3 I felt like I truly improved and made some great changes. 

Yes, I do see myself as an entrepreneur. I am not dreaming but doing. I think the main thing I learned from this class is that being an entrepreneur is about overcoming and to keep moving forward. I can say with confidence from the exercises in the class I have overcame each exercise and as I was given opportunities to re do the exercises, I made improvements each and every time. Yes, I do think I have made steps to having the entrepreneurial mindset. I am no longer thinking small picture but big picture. Every decision is made with the thoughts of the future, and also from my customers point of view. 

I would recommend to students who are going to journey down this path in the future to have a positive outlook on each assignment. I would recommend each student to choose an opportunity they are truly passionate about and would seriously consider doing in the future. Having passion and eagerness about your opportunity makes each assignment more interesting and allows you to explore options for your future. To foster the entrepreneurial mindset I would recommend looking at each assignment as an opportunity for improvement and to understand that your work may to be perfect but that feedback makes you better and failure gives you the drive to succeed. 

29A- Venture Concept No. 2

29A- Venture Concept No. 2

I think customers would switch to my product because it is a luxury. It is easy to use and will save time and money. I know it is hard to make people want to switch sunscreens, however, my machine will have access to as many of the different sunscreen brands as possible and we don’t ask you to switch sunscreens but how you apply it. We will provide demonstrations videos and simple step by step instructions on how to use the machine. 

There are not any sunscreen application machines that I know of, so my competitors are the sunscreen bottle companies that are already very established. My product is vulnerable because it relies on the fact that people will be willing to try something new. Since I am mainly targeting people on vacation, they will most likely be more willing to try something new, however, will people get adventurous with sunscreen application or are they going to try new things elsewhere. My competitors’ weaknesses are that they do not provide application, and they do not provide single use products except for samples which is not enough for an entire vacation. Also, my machine allows for custom sunscreen application. This means you can apply spf 15 to your face and spf 30 to your shoulders. People do not want to have to purchase multiple bottles of sunscreen for a one-week vacation. 

My business plays very strong part in my customers feeling of the worldly help of the product. By a customer using the automatic sunscreen application machine rather than buying the plastic tubes of sunscreen they are saving so much waste of plastic and conserving. The machine can be running off of solar pads so it can be very eco-friendly. Also, customers are not paying for the packaging of the product any more just the product and the use of the machine which will be cheaper than the plastic bottle. Saving time and money is what the automatic sunscreen application machine is all about. The location of the machine will be very convenient to my customers and will influence them to use the machine rather than purchase bottles of sunscreen. 

My business would need a lot of employees to restock the sunscreen application machine. This can be a job for someone at the location of the machine and then my company can provide the delivery of the sunscreen or the delivery person can deliver and restock the machine. 

I think the most important resource to remember is what my customers are looking for and understanding they want a cheap and fast way to apply sunscreen. They also do not want to switch sunscreen so I need to push that the machine has a wide variety of sunscreen brands so people feel comfortable using the machine. 

Next in my venture is to expand into other areas besides just tropical locations. I can venture into ski protectant and application, as well as more dynamic and long-lasting sunscreen. 

Next for me is to help provide people with sun damage knowledge and protection tips to as many people as possible. For my business venture I know it will take time to sign contracts with sunscreen companies and to get the machine made and safety tested but in the long run I would like to be a part of the business until I retire. 

I did not receive any feedback on my first Venture Concept or my What’s Next assignment, however, I do believe from all the assignments my main point of feedback was to ensure people understood how simple the product was and knew about the product prior to arriving at the destination because they may purchase sunscreen prior to arrival to a hotel or beach for vacation. 

I updated my Venture Concept with more detail of what my plans are and the advantages my machine has over my competitors. I also added a lot of what my customer is looking for and wants out of my machine. I also added in the customization of my machine from the feedback I received in previous exercises. 

28A- Your Exit Strategy

28A- Your Exit Strategy 

1.)  I plan to make my business into a family business. With my automatic sunscreen application machine, I think there is a lot of opportunity for growth and improvement with time. I believe that if I hold on to the business through the tough startup phase and get it to the point where it is making a steady profit, I will be able to quickly expand to hotels and resorts all over the world and then update and change the product to be even better. 

2.)  I think I have selected this exit strategy because family is very important to me. I do want to have kids in the future, but I also want to have a career. I think that having a career that your children can go into is very beneficial and can connect the family together. 

3.)  I think that my exit strategy has influenced the other decisions in my business concept by making decisions for the long run. I understand it will take time for my product to be perfect and for it to be a commonly used appliance/machine. I am willing to take the time to develop a product to being extremely popular and well known. I have made my decisions based off the fact that I will be putting in my time to sell and develop the product until it is so well known that it sells its self. To do that I had to make decisions like working with legit companies rather than cheap companies and to make a product that is customizable. 

27A- Reading Reflection No. 3

27 A- Reading Reflection No. 3 

For reading reflection No. 3 I choose to read, The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki. 

1.)  The general theme of the book was how to get the most “bang for your buck.” Kawasaki wanted to inform people how to use social media as a tool to market their businesses and themselves. 

2.)  I think the book connected with what we are learning in ENT 3003 by relating the importance of knowing your market. Kawasaki talks about how you can use social media to gain exposure but it’s what you do with that exposure that counts. Make your followers want to be involved with your page and want to learn more about your product. 

3.)  If I had to design an exercise for this class based off of the book, I would have the class choose two forms of social media to use to market their business opportunities and then make a one month plan with goals of what they want to achieve through social media at the end of the month. 

4.)  My biggest surprise when reading, The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, was that your content doesn’t have to be original it just needs to be unique to you and to your followers. This means you can repost images as long as the relate to your followers and are related to your business. I think this is kind of cheating because you are not coming up with your own content you are just stealing it from someone else, however, I have seen a lot of popular bloggers and social media influencers who post a lot of unoriginal images and content. 

26A- Celebrating Failure

26A- Celebrating Failure 

A time I have failed this semester was when I was studying for a math exam. I worked so hard and studied for three days for one exam. I had already completed all of the homework and lectures and practice exams and scored high on all of them. I wanted to be extra prepared for the exam, so I studied for a long time and I still ended up failing. It was extremely frustrating to put so much time into something and still fall short. 

From this experience I learned that you can work really hard for something and truly deserve something but that does not mean you are going to get it. This experience is extremely valuable because after failing it is so easy to give up but with a class you have to keep going and that relates to life. You may deserve a job or an experience but that does not mean you are going to get it. 

Failure is very difficult. It can be embarrassing, depressing, and hurtful but it teaches you about yourself and what you need to change and improve on. Sometimes the things you need to change are not just effort or work ethic but your outlook on them. I think if I would not have put so much pressure on myself to do well on the exam, I would have scored higher. I needed to mentally tell myself that no matter what I had tried my best and to concentrate on the things you know rather than the things you don’t. 

This class has taught me that failure is a part of life. Everyone fails at someone point and most likely many many many times. You need to embrace failure and learn from your mistakes. 

24A Venture Concept No 1

24 A Venture Concept No 1 Sunscreen Application Machine

I think customers would switch to my product because it is a luxury. It is easy to use and will save time and money. I know it is hard to make people want to switch sunscreens, however, my machine will have access to as many of the different sunscreen brands as possible and we don’t ask you to switch sunscreens but how you apply it. 

There are not any sunscreen application machines that I know of, so my competitors are the sunscreen bottle companies that are already very established. My product is vulnerable because it relies on the fact that people will be willing to try something new. Since I am mainly targeting people on vacation, they will most likely be more willing to try something new, however, will people get adventurous with sunscreen application or are they going to try new things elsewhere. 

My business plays very strong part in my customers feeling of the worldly help of the product. By a customer using the automatic sunscreen application machine rather than buying the plastic tubes of sunscreen they are saving so much waste of plastic and conserving. The machine can be running off of solar pads so it can be very eco-friendly. Also, customers are not paying for the packaging of the product any more just the product and the use of the machine which will be cheaper than the plastic bottle. Saving time and money is what the automatic sunscreen application machine is all about. 

My business would need a lot of employees to restock the sunscreen application machine. This can be a job for someone at the location of the machine and then my company can provide the delivery of the sunscreen or the delivery person can deliver and restock the machine. 

I think the most important resource to remember is what my customers are looking for and understanding they want a cheap and fast way to apply sunscreen. 

Next in my venture is to expand into other areas besides just tropical locations. 

Next for me is to help provide people with sun damage knowledge and protection tips to as many people as possible. 

25 A- What's Next

25 A- What’s Next?

Next in the existing market I need to come up with a way to find many different sunscreens that appeal to different types of people. I need to figure out a way to provide customers with a way to see how the product works and why they should use it. When I interviewed different people, I found that a lot of them would not know the service existed until they had already purchased sunscreen. So essentially, I need to market my product with the hotel, and travel agencies to inform people prior to coming out to the pool or beach. 

I also found that I need to figure out a way to solve the re apply issue. No matter what sunscreen does wear off and people would still need to re-apply. One person said possibly having a purchase number you can buy at the start of your trip. He said you could buy a set of six or so uses so it easy to just run up to the machine, type in a number or code and then reapply without having to re pay. 

As for a new market, I need to look at my machine at places where people aren’t spending their money for pleasure. So at places that are for locals that have a use of a whole bottle of sunscreen rather than a tourist that is at that tropical location for vacation. 

When speaking to locals they said the machine would be useful at places like soccer fields, and outdoor parks so parents don’t have to apply sunscreen to their little ones before practice or play. 

Also, it was brought to my attention that sunscreen is not just for warm weather places. You can get snow and sunburn when you are skiing, so if I can figure out a way to market my machine in the north then my product will not be as seasonal and limited to one area. 

I was very shocked to find out that I could possibly sell my sunscreen application machine up north. It would have to be much more customizable like only applying to face, and back of neck but it could also be before and after ski and snowboarding so people could protect and then nourish their skin after being in the cold without having to take off their gloves and jackets. 

23 A- Venture's Unfair Advantage

23 A- Venture’s Unfair Advantages 

1.    Easy to make. The Automatic Sunscreen machine is easy to make. It is very simple and has parts that can easily be duplicated so it can be mass produced. 

2.    Experience in the sun care industry. My experience in the sun care industry is very valuable and irreplaceable. I know the hard questions o expect like, “is it reef safe?” and “does this mean I won’t get skin cancer?” This questions always have loop holes and customers will look for your weak spots to rule out your product. 

3.    Contacts with sunscreen companies. Having contacts with sunscreen companies is valuable because it allows me to have a good foot in the door with product for my machine. This is not very unique; however, my contacts are very strong and very personal so I know they would be willing to help me out in whatever way I needed. 

4.    Large profit once made. Once the machine is purchased there is not a lot of work that needs to be done other than re loading the machine with sunscreen. This means that the machine can make a great profit and very easily. 

5.    Nothing like it. One of the most important resources and advantages I have is that there is nothing like it. I have never seen any type of sunscreen application machine anywhere. This is a huge advantage because it means little to no competitors. 

6.    Hotel contacts. My hotel contacts are a great resource because I know my friends would allow me to place my machines at their hotels to at least try the machine to see how it goes. This will allow me to gain legitimacy and selling points for other hotels. 

7.    Passion for the product. A major advantage I have is my passion for the product. Not only do I love traveling and tropical warm destinations, but so many in my life have been affected by skin cancer and I will do as much as I can to provide an easy way to preventing sun damage. 

8.    Travel experience. My travel experience is an advantage because I know what people are looking for. I know a lot of people are well traveled so this isn’t very unique, but it is still helpful to understand what luxuries people are willing to pay for. 

9.    Adaptation. One very important thing about the machine is that it will be able to adapt. As people’s views and wants in sunscreen change the machine can be loaded with different product to meet those needs. I have many friends all over the world who study these trends that can help me provide a modern, up to date product. 

10.  Selling sources. Since I have been in the sunscreen industry before I know it is very completive and difficult to change people’s minds once they are settled on a product, but I know great ways to sell my product like things like the Surf Expo where I can feature my product and team up with other brands to sell together. 

My top resource is my past experience. This is most important because it is always good to understand your customers wants and needs. You would think sunscreen would be simple, but people have very different tastes: cheap, organic, reef safe, strong protectant, etc. Knowing I need to sell product in my machine that meets all of these standards will help me appeal to many different people.