Free Money

For this assignment, I went to the outdoor area between library west and Heavener Hall. I approached people who looked like they were busy walking somewhere, just as the assignment requested. I expected all 5 people to take my dollar, because who doesn't want another dollar? When the conversation started I just stopped people and kindly asked them if they wanted my dollar.  When they asked why, I just said various reasons such as "because its a nice day" or "because who couldn't use another dollar." I got an overwhelmingly positive response: 4 out of the 5 people I asked kindly took the dollar and walked on.  One guy, however, did not want the dollar, and walked away quickly. I went with a friend, who is also in ENT3003, to do the assignment, and I was surprised when so many people she asked did not want the dollar.  So in my opinion, giving away the dollar was a lot harder than I imagined, because I never imagined people saying no.  I did not make any assumptions about the people I went up to before I went up to them, I just went up to people abruptly and at random.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

From my feedback, I concluded that people were a little confused with my pitch.  I think on my first pitch, I focused too much on the fact that the tracker was identical to a credit card.  Some people I interviewed about the product thought the tracker was only a replica for a credit card so a thief would try using that card instead of a real card.  I got the response, "Well, what if the thief tries all the cards?"  Now I tried to make my Elevator Pitch clear that the tracker is only for tracking purposes, not to stop the thief from spending any of the money in your wallet.  I also included the fact that a lot of people are now making purchases on their cell phones, so less people are carrying wallets.  Because of this, if you are carrying a wallet, it is more likely to be stolen, because the decrease in the amount of wallets for thieves to steal.  My third change to my product and pitch was the addition of an app or website, where people can access information about the whereabouts of their wallets.  Some of the people I interviewed seemed confused as to where they could track it from.  Overall, the two comments I received on my first elevator pitch were very positive, and people seemed excited about the idea.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

I thought this article was the most interesting reading we have done yet.  I was intrigued to read about how profitability is the most important factor in competition of businesses.  The size or intensity of the business and the product is less important, the key is how profit the business or industry is.  For example, soft drinks or toilet paper could be a more profitable business than an airline company.  Even if the product or service is intense, like in the restaurant industry or the airline industry; the profit margins could still be very slim, because there are many substitutes and high costs of supplies.  It was a bit confusing to hear about how some products can be considered substitutes or considered competition to a firm, even if it is a very different product or service.  It's interesting how one type of product can effect another's sales, even if they don't seem closely related. I would ask the author how connected these 5 forces that shape strategy are.  I would want him to go into detail about how they effect each other and how forces can be considered as more than one.  Also are there any other forces that are almost as important than the top 5? I do not think the author was wrong about anything in the article, I was just interested to read how some businesses can effect others who are distantly related, and how businesses can be more profitable with small, unsubstantial products, than companies with very important and highly respected services.

Customer Interviews No. 3

I wrote out a paragraph description of the SafeCard product, and asked my interviewees to read the paragraph.  Then I asked them what their reaction was.  Four of my interviewees liked the product a lot and said they would use it because it is applicable to their lives.  One of the interviewees was confused about what the product was, and didn't see how it would help her find her wallet.  I think she did not read the paragraph carefully enough, or my description wasn't clear that the device was a tracker.  In her response, she seemed to think that the device was just a fake credit card, with no real purpose.  If I was to do this again, I would write a different description of the product that would focus more on the fact that the card is a tracker, and less on the fact that the tracker resembles a credit card.  I was not clear enough in my description.  Similar to the previous round of interviews, I got a positive reaction to the product, and it was better to ask "What is your reaction?" because it is not a "yes/no" question.  During the first round of interviews, I got a lot of yes/no answers from my interviewees, and it was hard to analyze their reactions from that. This time around, interviewees had to answer in complete sentences, so it was interesting to see how they justified their responses. During the interviews, I was a little surprised that my product description was not clear enough, but I was not surprised by the reactions of most of my interviewees. 

Interviewing Customers No. 2

For my particular business idea, I think it applies to most people, because most people carry a wallet.  It might be a little more relevant for women, because women hold purses, which can be lost or stolen more easily than wallets in mens' pockets.  It's also probably better for students and young people who go out to bars and clubs more frequently.  If people are consuming alcohol, its more likely they can lose their belongings, and they are more likely to be a target for thief's.  Students who have studied abroad or are traveling often, like a couple of the students I interviewed, can also benefit from the wallet tracker because they might be more prone to pickpockets abroad, or more worried about having money on them while they are out of the country. I think for the future, I will ask less questions that can be answered with yes or no. Some of the people I interviewed answered in full sentences willingly, but some students chose to answer yes, because none of the questions required explanation.  Next time I might ask students about a story where something they owned was stolen. From the interviews, I learned that even if some of the students have never lost a wallet, they were all interested in an app that would keep track of the location of the wallet at all times. People are worried about pickpockets and losing their belongings even if they've never lost something before. I learned that some people are more comfortable answering interview questions in full sentences, while others are not, which makes it harder to receive maximum information.  I think asking more people and asking a more diverse group of people would help learn more about how the public feels about my product.  Here are the interviews:

Week 5 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was the time and money it takes to secure a patent, and that that fee only keeps the patent in place for 3 and a half years. Since it takes over 2 years to secure the patent, I would assume the patent would hold for much longer. I was also interested to learn about trade secrets and cyberlaw.  I didn't realize parts of a company such as marketing techniques, production techniques, and pricing information could be protected like patented objects. I thought the limited partnerships and the limited liability partnerships were slightly confusing, because I was unaware of these kinds of business alliances. The RULPA, which governs limited partnerships, had complicated and long guidelines. If I were to ask the author anything, I would ask which type of business, between sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability partnerships, corporations, and S Corporations have the most advantages and the least disadvantages in different types of countries with various forms of government. There is nothing in the chapter that I particularly disagree with, I do not think I know enough information about the different types of businesses to disagree with any of the advantages or disadvantages of them.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Have you ever lost your wallet, or are you worried about losing your wallet?  Have you ever wondered if your wallet has been stolen, or if you just lost it somewhere in your house?  If so, SafeCard will solve all these problems. Safecard is a tracker that looks identical to a credit card.  If your wallet is stolen, the thief will not be able to tell the difference between the card and a tracker, and will not know to discard of it. Most credit card’s recently have included micro chips, where the tracker will be located.  Want to switch wallets? No problem, the tracker can easily slide out of your wallet and into your new one.  If the thief tries to use this credit card, it will simply be denied. When first looking for your wallet, you may feel the urge to call your bank and quickly report your credit cards stolen.  What if you’re unsure if your wallet is stolen or simply lost somewhere in your car or your house?  Canceling your credit cards would be so unfortunate if you realize a few minutes later that your wallet was not stolen, just misplaced.  Also, not canceling your credit cards because you thought your wallet was lost in your house would be even worse if it was actually stolen. There are enough problems and circumstances to worry about in life, why worry about losing your wallet when there is a simple solution to knowing it’s whereabouts at all times.