Final Reflection

Experiences: I think the assignments that left a lasting impression with me were the Portmanwho? assignment and the Bug List assignment. I had a lot of fun with both of these and I think the reason that I enjoyed them was because I was basically given the opportunity to complain about all of the little things that inwardly bother me every day for one and the other I was given complete creative flexibility to create a new word. I thoroughly enjoyed both assignments, and I can proudly say that I know my family (at least, I haven’t checked in with anyone else) is still using Queception!

Mindset: I definitely think that I have further developed my entrepreneurial mindset. I think that being a part of the Innovation Academy gave me a great head start on developing this way of thinking, but this class has definitely refined it. Even if I never get around to actually completing this venture, I do see myself as an entrepreneur.

Recommendation: If I were to give future students one recommendation, it would be to start early and be aware of your surroundings. Read the schedule early, find your books early, start and complete the assignments early, etc. I also would highly recommend trying to be fully aware of everything around you. Things that bother you, things you hear others complain about, things you complain about, things you take notice of, literally anything. Just be aware of it. I feel like half the time we just go through the motions of complaining or noticing a trend and then we just let it slip away. In the past three hours alone I have complained about slow drivers in the fast lane, people rubber-necking at a crash and backing up traffic even more, and the lines at Walmart being tremendously long. All of these moments are opportunities. The key is to actually notice when you are complaining or when you see a trend, and then take a moment to think if it is an opportunity you could or would want to possibly pursue. If it’s something you happen to be passionate about, go for it!

Reading Reflection No. 3

“The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users”

By Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick

This book contained 100 and something tips about how to successfully use social media as well as how not to use social media. It actually connected with what we are learning in this class a lot. We are running our own blog for this class, and there was a lot of helpful tips in the book to keep a successful blog running. In addition to this, I think the book serves as a perfect tool for all entrepreneurs as it is imperative in today’s day and age to have a strong social media presence when trying to be successful with a new product or business.

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would probably have students recognize their venture’s largest competitor and research how that company uses social media. I would have them describe what they think the company is doing successfully based on the tips provided in the book, as well as how they think the company could improve their social media use. I would then have the students come up with their own social media strategy. I would ask them what they would do the same as their largest competitor, what they would do differently, and why.

The biggest surprise or ‘aha’ moment that I encountered was probably using Google+ as a social media tool. Google+ is not something that I ever really considered as a social media platform, and it is not something that I have used in the past to connect with others other than creating the blog for this class, which is why that kind of surprised me. I never would have even thought to use it as another platform to reach more people.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

The opportunity at hand is a lack of functional rain gear that is designed to keep both you, and your stuff, dry. The products that are currently on the market usually meet customer needs to stay dry, but there are only a few products on the market that are designed to keep your stuff dry, which is where the opportunity lies.

The market for these products will always be there because the force that is creating the opportunity will always be there – weather. Weather is an unavoidable part of our daily lives, and as such there will always be a need for products that can functionally be used for various parts of our daily lives.

The market is defined geographically by weather, as there is a larger market in areas that receive more rainfall annually. Demographically the market appeals towards people who are regularly exposed to the elements, such as hikers or people who walk/bike to work/class.

The most common way that customers are trying to satisfy this need is by using multiple different products in ways that they were not intended to be used. An example of this would be using two raincoats, one for the customer to wear and one to wrap around whatever it is that you are trying to keep dry. Another way is by using one of the few products that are currently on the market designed just for this, but many are very use-specific and as a result still fail to completely meet the customer’s needs. Because of this, the customer loyalty is not very strong.

The opportunity here is tremendous. The market for waterproof textiles is expected to reach $2.18 billion by 2022, and I believe that the window of opportunity will be open for a while. This need is often overlooked because people have been coping with it for so long that they don’t even think about how to solve it.

Innovation

The PackSaver Raincoat is a raincoat for you and your backpack. An added area in the back of the raincoat allows customers to wear the raincoat over their backpack. When not in use, the pleated sides of the backpack area can be folded in and Velcro-ed shut so that it lies flat with the rest of the raincoat. The backpack area also includes as an interior pocket flap, allowing wearers to keep items dry even when they are not carrying a backpack. The Quick-Dry interior lining helps to wick away moisture for those times when you didn’t get your raincoat on fast enough before it started raining. This feature also helps to decrease overall coat drying time by absorbing some of the leftover water from the outer shell if you roll the coat up after use.

Additional Features include:

• Waterproof breathable outer shell
• Quick-Dry interior lining
• Reinforced seams
• Flexible, detachable visor at the top of the hood to help keep your face from getting wet
• Hidden drawcord system on hood
• Velcro flap over zipper
• 2 zippered front pockets
• 1 interior front chest pocket
• Adjustable Velcro cuff tabs

There are many different color options available to best fit the customer’s wants and needs. The PackSaver would also be available in an insulated option if they are looking for something with added warmth for cold rainy days. The regular PackSaver raincoat retails for $70, and the insulated version retails for $90.

Venture Concept

The PackSaver raincoat addresses the lack of functional rain gear available that keeps both you and your stuff dry. I think that customers will want to buy this because many people have experienced this problem before and have been in a situation in which they end up having to sacrifice themselves or their stuff to keep the other dry. I think customers will be willing to switch because PackSaver can be converted into a normal raincoat, so there is only added benefit with this product. Because of this I think that it will be fairly easy to get customers to switch.

The main competitors would probably be North Face and Columbia. I think their biggest weakness or vulnerability would be their prices. Both sell high quality outdoor wear but at a very high price, and while I want my product to be on the same level of quality as theirs, I think that there are cost saving methods that I could employ in various aspects of business that would allow me to sell my product at a more reasonable price, giving me an advantage. Another competitor would be the Packa, which is a product similar to mine but is designed specifically for hikers with very large hiking backpacks, however it too is very expensive and it does not have any of the design features that my product will have.

Minor Elements

I think the most important resource for PackSaver will be design. It is a completely new design for a raincoat and because there is nothing out there that has even a remotely similar design, I will probably look into getting a design patent. This will make it a lot more difficult for competitors to copy my success.

I think the next thing for this venture would be expanding the product line as well as continuous innovation as feedback from actual customers comes in. If I were to actually launch this, I would like to see it become a household name for outdoor gear and have several other products on the shelves within the next 5 years. I think starting something like this on the side would definitely help me achieve my vision as it would prove that I can take one of the many ideas in my head and turn it into a successful product and company, which would give me extremely valuable experience that I can apply elsewhere in my life. The problem with doing this however is juggling the management of the company while still in school. Because of this, another option that I might consider doing is pitching my product idea to a larger company after I obtain design patents. This would allow me the time to focus on my schoolwork while still getting my product out there on the shelves so that it can benefit others.

Feedback

All of the feedback that I received was positive. People really liked the concept and the features that I plan to offer. They thought that my product was reasonably priced as well, so that feedback was really nice to hear. I had one person mention that I should consider pitching my idea to a larger company such as NorthFace, which I added as an option I might consider for the future. 

My Exit Strategy

My exit strategy for this venture is to obtain design patents for my product and eventually pitch my venture to some of the existing companies out there in the hopes of either selling the rights to the design completely or coming to a deal that would allow them to use my design in exchange for a portion of each item sold. My plan is to do this sometime within the next 5 years. 

I have selected this particular exit strategy because as much as I would like to pursue this further, it is not something I would say I am truly passionate about. I think that selling the rights for a profit would be more beneficial to me in the long run because the money that I make from this would allow me to pursue a venture that I am more passionate about or at least help me to pay off some of my student debt.

I don't think my exit strategy has had all that much influence on the decisions that I've made throughout this venture. I am a perfectionist and a people pleaser, so I've tried to explore every suggestion that has been made to me as well as every opportunity related to my product that has presented itself. I think the one decision that my exit strategy has affected is which product I chose to stick with. I originally had 3 different product ideas that were all related, and I think that if I knew this was something that I planned to stick with and not sell, I probably would have kept the other two around as possible product ideas in the future. But since I knew that this was something I would likely be selling, I instead chose to focus my attention on the raincoat and only made notes about the others in case I ever decided to return to them. 

Making It Real

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16-qcALXzsJCtSxANzvbllcWCCtPugLIaB8drUnx-q_E/edit?usp=sharing

Celebrating Failure

I think my biggest failure this semester was in my finance class. I knew from the beginning that the class is basically set up to fail you (40% midterm, 60% final, EC only counts if your end grade is below a 70% at the end of the course, normal grading curve), and on top of that this is the first time this teacher is teaching the course at UF so all the old exams given as practice tests are only helpful to a certain point because of differences between this professor and the previous one. It was very difficult to keep up with, and I often found myself several times throughout the semester behind on lectures and trying to keep up. Now I’m in a position where if I don’t get a 75% on the next exam I will likely have to retake the class (the average on the first exam was a 51%, so a 75% is a lot harder than it sounds). I think what made it even more frustrating was the fact that it’s a subject that I likely won’t be using very often professionally.

What I learned from this failure was that often times people and things will be going against you because they don’t want you to succeed. Life works the same way as my finance class. Just like this class is set up in a way to fail people that don’t put in enough effort or who just aren’t very good at the subject, employers and businesses only want the best. So they’re going to push you and test you and compare you with others to make sure that you can meet their need for the very best. Starting a business or a venture concept is the same thing. People will try to end your idea or put you out of business because it’s a dog eat dog world.

I think failure is a part of life. We’ve all failed at something, nobody’s perfect. I think I personally handle all of my failures differently because they are different scenarios and should be treated as such. I may get emotional with some that I worked really hard for or get really frustrated when I was really close but didn’t quite make it. I think these are natural reactions that anyone could have to any situation but I think it’s how you handle failure that separates the people who eventually succeed from the people who eventually give up. You have to look at your failures and analyze what went wrong and why and figure out how to change it. You have to look at all the possibilities and decide which course of action should you take next. I think this class has showed me that great things can come directly from failure and I definitely think that I would be more likely to take a risk than I was four months ago.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

The opportunity at hand is a lack of functional rain gear that is designed to keep both you, and your stuff, dry. The products that are currently on the market usually meet customer needs to stay dry, but there are only a few products on the market that are designed to keep your stuff dry, which is where the opportunity lies.

The market for these products will always be there because the force that is creating the opportunity will always be there – weather. Weather is an unavoidable part of our daily lives, and as such there will always be a need for products that can functionally be used for various parts of our daily lives.

The market is defined geographically by weather, as there is a larger market in areas that receive more rainfall annually. Demographically the market appeals towards people who are regularly exposed to the elements, such as hikers or people who walk/bike to work/class.

The most common way that customers are trying to satisfy this need is by using multiple different products in ways that they were not intended to be used. An example of this would be using two raincoats, one for the customer to wear and one to wrap around whatever it is that you are trying to keep dry. Another way is by using one of the few products that are currently on the market designed just for this, but many are very use-specific and as a result still fail to completely meet the customer’s needs. Because of this, the customer loyalty is not very strong.

The opportunity here is tremendous. The market for waterproof textiles is expected to reach $2.18 billion by 2022, and I believe that the window of opportunity will be open for a while. This need is often overlooked because people have been coping with it for so long that they don’t even think about how to solve it.

Innovation

The PackSaver Raincoat is a raincoat for you and your backpack. An added area in the back of the raincoat allows customers to wear the raincoat over their backpack. When not in use, the pleated sides of the backpack area can be folded in and Velcro-ed shut so that it lies flat with the rest of the raincoat. The backpack area also includes as an interior pocket flap, allowing wearers to keep items dry even when they are not carrying a backpack. The Quick-Dry interior lining helps to wick away moisture for those times when you didn’t get your raincoat on fast enough before it started raining. This feature also helps to decrease overall coat drying time by absorbing some of the leftover water from the outer shell if you roll the coat up after use.

Additional Features include:

• Waterproof breathable outer shell
• Quick-Dry interior lining
• Reinforced seams
• Flexible, detachable visor at the top of the hood to help keep your face from getting wet
• Hidden drawcord system on hood
• Velcro flap over zipper
• 2 zippered front pockets
• 1 interior front chest pocket
• Adjustable Velcro cuff tabs

There are many different color options available to best fit the customer’s wants and needs. The PackSaver would also be available in an insulated option if they are looking for something with added warmth for cold rainy days. The regular PackSaver raincoat retails for $70, and the insulated version retails for $90.

Venture Concept

The PackSaver raincoat addresses the lack of functional rain gear available that keeps both you and your stuff dry. I think that customers will want to buy this because many people have experienced this problem before and have been in a situation in which they end up having to sacrifice themselves or their stuff to keep the other dry. I think customers will be willing to switch because PackSaver can be converted into a normal raincoat, so there is only added benefit with this product. Because of this I think that it will be fairly easy to get customers to switch.

The main competitors would probably be North Face and Columbia. I think their biggest weakness or vulnerability would be their prices. Both sell high quality outdoor wear but at a very high price, and while I want my product to be on the same level of quality as theirs, I think that there are cost saving methods that I could employ in various aspects of business that would allow me to sell my product at a more reasonable price, giving me an advantage. Another competitor would be the Packa, which is a product similar to mine but is designed specifically for hikers with very large hiking backpacks, however it too is very expensive and it does not have any of the design features that my product will have.

Minor Elements:

I think the most important resource for PackSaver will be design. It is a completely new design for a raincoat and because there is nothing out there that has even a remotely similar design, I will probably look into getting a design patent. This will make it a lot more difficult for competitors to copy my success.

I think the next thing for this venture would be expanding the product line as well as continuous innovation as feedback from actual customers comes in. If I were to actually launch this, I would like to see it become a household name for outdoor gear and have several other products on the shelves within the next 5 years. I think starting something like this on the side would definitely help me achieve my vision as it would prove that I can take one of the many ideas in my head and turn it into a successful product and company, which would give me extremely valuable experience that I can apply elsewhere in my life.