Sunday, March 27, 2016
Week 11 Reading Reflection
This reading touched on why it is so hard for companies to become successful, and then also why it is so hard for companies to maintain that success. The key, according to this reading, is to not just have a business strategy, but have an innovation strategy, because this is the key to successfully competing with competitors. What interested me most in the reading was the fact that most businesses do not have an innovation strategy, and that their business strategy can conflict with their innovation efforts. I thought it was a little confusing when the author mentioned how business's should not use the innovation strategies from other successful business's, but they should come up with their own. I disagree with this a little, I think it would be a good idea for start ups, and many other innovative businesses with less of a budget to use a successful business's innovation strategy, instead of spending the money to come up with their own. There are so many companies and business's these days, so finding another company that resembles your own, or a company that is in a position with their business that you would like to resemble, would be likely possible. If I were to ask the author any questions I would ask why he believes that every company should come up with their own innovation strategy.
Venture Concept No. 1
Opportunity
With the growing theft rates, and with stress levels on the rise and our days getting busier and busier, it is easy to lose personal items or worry about misplacing your belongings. Traveling is also becoming more and more popular, where it is extremely easy to have your items stolen or misplaced. Almost everyone in every demographic uses a wallet, luggage, purse, or jacket. Sense my product can be used on almost every item or device, the customer base is endless. Currently, my customers do not have a solution to finding a lost or stolen item. They may have insurance on their products to protect them if their phone or wallet is stolen, but sometimes these insurance policies are expensive and unaffordable. I think customers would easily switch from an insurance policy to using my disguised tracker if they trusted the device, because it would be much more affordable. The window of opportunity has been open for a few years, since tracking technologies such as bluetooth, and the ways to access location, through apps and the internet, have been available.
Innovation
SafeCard is a tracker that is sold in many different forms to disguise itself from thieves. For your wallet, buy a tracker that looks like any old credit card. For your luggage, buy one that looks like a luggage tag. SafeCard uses an app and a website, where customers can log on and view the location of any of the devices they have registered. You can also use the app to make whichever SafeCard you would like make a sound, either a vibration, loud ring, or soft ring. This way, even if you know the location of your object, but it is lost in a crowded or cluttered area, you kind find it using sound. This card is disguised as many different items so that if stolen, the thief will not know to discard of it. I am also selling holders for the SafeCard to be secure on the item that you are tracking. A holder and keychain that can easily attach and detach from any item you would like. The trackers would be sold for $25.00 to $30.00 each, depending on the item that the tracker is imitating, and the holders for $5.00 to $10.00, depending on the type of holder. This is around the same price or less from any other tracker that is on the market, and it is very affordable.
Venture Concept
Consumers will use SafeCard to find their items such as jackets, purses, wallets, luggages, and more, when these items are either lost or stolen. Customers will buy this for a piece of mind, and to save money on buying insurance for their items, and instead of re-buying their items when misplaced or stolen. Customers will switch to the SafeCard because the technology will be trustworthy and reliable. Also apps are becoming increasingly popular, and are used in every day life by most Americans these days. Customers will be very comfortable with using the app to find their items, and feel more at ease while traveling or working. The competitors are other tracking device products, such as Cube, the tracking device that I mentioned in my last post. The advantage that SafeCard has over cube is that SafeCard looks like other items, such as credit cards and luggage tags. If a thief see's Cube on a wallet or luggage, the thief would recognize the tracker and quickly discard of it. For this product, I would not have a physical store, or location for people to go to, I would sell the product on the website, and from the app. If people were interested in the product, they could simply download the app and order as many SafeCards as they would like to their house. I would want a customer support team over the phone, and I would also like fast delivery and shipping to the customers house or business. The packaging could be a very basic, inexpensive job, as we are trying to cut product and shipping costs down as much as possible, and the product would not easily break.
Three Final Elements
1. Unfair Advantages:
3. Future:
With the growing theft rates, and with stress levels on the rise and our days getting busier and busier, it is easy to lose personal items or worry about misplacing your belongings. Traveling is also becoming more and more popular, where it is extremely easy to have your items stolen or misplaced. Almost everyone in every demographic uses a wallet, luggage, purse, or jacket. Sense my product can be used on almost every item or device, the customer base is endless. Currently, my customers do not have a solution to finding a lost or stolen item. They may have insurance on their products to protect them if their phone or wallet is stolen, but sometimes these insurance policies are expensive and unaffordable. I think customers would easily switch from an insurance policy to using my disguised tracker if they trusted the device, because it would be much more affordable. The window of opportunity has been open for a few years, since tracking technologies such as bluetooth, and the ways to access location, through apps and the internet, have been available.
Innovation
SafeCard is a tracker that is sold in many different forms to disguise itself from thieves. For your wallet, buy a tracker that looks like any old credit card. For your luggage, buy one that looks like a luggage tag. SafeCard uses an app and a website, where customers can log on and view the location of any of the devices they have registered. You can also use the app to make whichever SafeCard you would like make a sound, either a vibration, loud ring, or soft ring. This way, even if you know the location of your object, but it is lost in a crowded or cluttered area, you kind find it using sound. This card is disguised as many different items so that if stolen, the thief will not know to discard of it. I am also selling holders for the SafeCard to be secure on the item that you are tracking. A holder and keychain that can easily attach and detach from any item you would like. The trackers would be sold for $25.00 to $30.00 each, depending on the item that the tracker is imitating, and the holders for $5.00 to $10.00, depending on the type of holder. This is around the same price or less from any other tracker that is on the market, and it is very affordable.
Venture Concept
Consumers will use SafeCard to find their items such as jackets, purses, wallets, luggages, and more, when these items are either lost or stolen. Customers will buy this for a piece of mind, and to save money on buying insurance for their items, and instead of re-buying their items when misplaced or stolen. Customers will switch to the SafeCard because the technology will be trustworthy and reliable. Also apps are becoming increasingly popular, and are used in every day life by most Americans these days. Customers will be very comfortable with using the app to find their items, and feel more at ease while traveling or working. The competitors are other tracking device products, such as Cube, the tracking device that I mentioned in my last post. The advantage that SafeCard has over cube is that SafeCard looks like other items, such as credit cards and luggage tags. If a thief see's Cube on a wallet or luggage, the thief would recognize the tracker and quickly discard of it. For this product, I would not have a physical store, or location for people to go to, I would sell the product on the website, and from the app. If people were interested in the product, they could simply download the app and order as many SafeCards as they would like to their house. I would want a customer support team over the phone, and I would also like fast delivery and shipping to the customers house or business. The packaging could be a very basic, inexpensive job, as we are trying to cut product and shipping costs down as much as possible, and the product would not easily break.
Three Final Elements
1. Unfair Advantages:
- Hundreds of apps are downloaded everyday. They are such an available, easy, and fast way to buy and obtain a product. Most people have many many apps on their phones, and would prefer a product that they could use from the convenience of their phones.
- We have such a dependence on technology, and because we are on our phones often, we can get distracted from the rest of our belongings, meaning that they are more available to be stolen. As theft in the US and abroad becomes more common, demand for my product will go up.
- The demand for insurance is going up, as people would rather pay to feel protected. This card is a form of insurance because people are paying to be able to find their items if lost or stolen. People in the United States are spending more and more on insurance than ever before. Because this card is a form of insurance, the demand high, and rising.
- Most people who order the product will order 2, or 3, so that they can put them in different places to keep track different items. This will drive up sales. Even if the customer only buys one product to start, if he or she is happy with it, they will probably want another to put in a backpack or suitcase, and feel more secure.
- Hundreds of apps are downloaded everyday. They are such an available, easy, and fast way to buy and obtain a product. Most people have many many apps on their phones, and would prefer a product that they could use from the convenience of their phones.
- The next opportunity or aspect of my venture that I would like to accomplish would be promoting the tracker to be sold for everything. I want to make it a common, "cant live without" item, like a cell phone.
- I would expand it to go on children, pets, cars, bikes, skateboards, ect. I would want to decrease the price as much as possible so that people could afford to buy them in bulk and put it on everything.
3. Future:
- Five years from now, I would like SafeCard to be a common and necessary household item. In the future I would like people to look back and wonder how they got by without a tracker on their important belongings, just as people look back and wonder how they survived so many years without a cell phone, or the internet.
- People spend so much waisted time looking for lost or misplaced belongings, which could be simply avoided with this device. People also worry so much about items being stolen, but the police could easily use the tracker to track down any item using this product.
Amazon Whisperer
The revenue driver that I currently have is the sale of the actual tracker device. The app that came with the tracker, as well as the website, are free to download and access, as they are an essential part of the product. To develop the product further, I would have to simply add more and better features to the tracking device. Adding sound to the device would be helpful if you lost your items in your house or car and were trying to find them in dark or cluttered places. The tracker can locate your item within a few feet, but if you were trying to find it in a very crowded place, a sound on the device could help. I would expand the tracker line to disguise itself as many different common items. A credit card would be a great disguise for a wallet, but in a luggage for example, a tracker that resembles a luggage tag would be most appropriate. The whole point of disguising the tracker is to make it more difficult for thieves to recognize and discard of. I could also expand the product line to include a holder for the device. A holder that could easily attach and detach from a coat, luggage, purse, or any other place that a customer would like to place the tracker. It would be sold separately from the tracker and would secure the tracker so it was not loosely thrown into a bag or coat pocket. The purpose of SafeCard is to feel secure, and a place for the SafeCard to sit securely, will definitely enhance the feel of the product. This will be sold separately, incase consumers want to place SafeCard in other places besides their wallet.
The "Cube" product on amazon, featuring a keychain, is the closest thing I can find to my product and the secure holder that I want to offer next. The cube can attach to purses, luggages, jackets, and more using the keychain. The biggest complaints about this product was the inability of the tracker device to work when bluetooth would be accidentally turned off. This product relies solely on bluetooth, which can be risky. You can press a button to allow cube to ring, vibrate, or make any kind of sound you choose, and cube also uses an app to show the location of your product. One complaint was that the device would sometimes be activated to go off, as it was easily for this button to be accidentally pressed. If I had this product, I would disguise it as something else than a simple tracker. A thief can easily recognize this as a tracker and discard it easily after stealing the item. I think the keychain aspect of this item would make a great addition to my product line, because keychains are a great way to attach an item on anything, especially the inside of a jacket, bag, or suitcase.
Monday, March 21, 2016
My Unfair Advantage
1. Large, diverse customer base. No specific demographic.
Having a large possible customer base is very valuable, but not rare, and there are many products that appeal to all types of demographics. Some organizations that provide very specialized products for a certain age, gender, or culture, will definitely be at a disadvantage because they have much fewer customers than I could potentially have.
2. I'm involved in large social organizations, where I could spread the word about my product easily.
Being in a sorority and in business organizations at school, I could easily post in the UF class page, or in my sorority's facebook page, and within minutes thousands of people could know about my product. This is a huge advantage because I have a big network and will not have to spend money on marketing or advertising in the initial stages of developing my business.
3. People at my school and in my social organizations would invest in the product to support me.
The University of Florida is very supportive of start-up businesses, and they even have a whole program, (the innovation academy) dedicated to encouraging students to be innovative and entrepreneurs. Peers, especially sorority sisters, would likely be extremely supportive and buy the product when it first came out.
4. As theft rises, the demand for products that protect our belongings will rise.
We have such a dependence on technology, and because we are on our phones often, we can get distracted from the rest of our belongings, meaning that they are more available to be stolen. As theft in the US and abroad becomes more common, demand for my product will go up.
5. People are more likely to purchase items that have an app, because it's easy to access, easy to buy, easy to download.
Hundreds of apps are downloaded everyday. They are such an available, easy, and fast way to buy and obtain a product. Most people have many many apps on their phones, and would prefer a product that they could use from the convenience of their phones.
6. The product will have an app as well as a website, so if customers do not have their phone, they can use the website to locate their belongings.
Most apps are strictly apps, but the advantage of my product is that it can also be tracked from a desktop computer, incase a customer doesn't have their phone on them.
7. I could build the product cheaply, as it will be small, the size of a credit card, and made of plastic.
Other products are built of expensive material, driving up the prices and therefore decreasing demand. My product would be practical AND affordable, so college students will need it and be able to purchase it.
8. Most people who order the product will order 2, or 3, so that they can put them in different places to keep track different items. This will drive up sales. Even if the customer only buys one product to start, if he or she is happy with it, they will probably want another to put in a backpack or suitcase, and feel more secure.
9. This item could be easily shipped for very cheap, it could fit in an envelope.
Because the card is so small and lightweight, it could be shipped in an envelope! The cheap shipping costs would decrease prices and increase demand and profits.
10. The demand for insurance is going up, as people would rather pay to feel protected. This card is a form of insurance because people are paying to be able to find their items if lost or stolen. People in the United States are spending more and more on insurance than ever before. Because this card is a form of insurance, the demand high, and rising.
After analyzing all of my unfair advantages, I've concluded that my involvement in large organizations and easy access to a large network, as well as the fact that my product has an app aspect to it, are the most competitive of the advantages. A lot of people do not have access to thousands of people very easily, and I could spread knowledge about my product very quickly. Apps are also a very important part of technology these days, and people could easily download and buy my product on their phones.
Having a large possible customer base is very valuable, but not rare, and there are many products that appeal to all types of demographics. Some organizations that provide very specialized products for a certain age, gender, or culture, will definitely be at a disadvantage because they have much fewer customers than I could potentially have.
2. I'm involved in large social organizations, where I could spread the word about my product easily.
Being in a sorority and in business organizations at school, I could easily post in the UF class page, or in my sorority's facebook page, and within minutes thousands of people could know about my product. This is a huge advantage because I have a big network and will not have to spend money on marketing or advertising in the initial stages of developing my business.
3. People at my school and in my social organizations would invest in the product to support me.
The University of Florida is very supportive of start-up businesses, and they even have a whole program, (the innovation academy) dedicated to encouraging students to be innovative and entrepreneurs. Peers, especially sorority sisters, would likely be extremely supportive and buy the product when it first came out.
4. As theft rises, the demand for products that protect our belongings will rise.
We have such a dependence on technology, and because we are on our phones often, we can get distracted from the rest of our belongings, meaning that they are more available to be stolen. As theft in the US and abroad becomes more common, demand for my product will go up.
5. People are more likely to purchase items that have an app, because it's easy to access, easy to buy, easy to download.
Hundreds of apps are downloaded everyday. They are such an available, easy, and fast way to buy and obtain a product. Most people have many many apps on their phones, and would prefer a product that they could use from the convenience of their phones.
6. The product will have an app as well as a website, so if customers do not have their phone, they can use the website to locate their belongings.
Most apps are strictly apps, but the advantage of my product is that it can also be tracked from a desktop computer, incase a customer doesn't have their phone on them.
7. I could build the product cheaply, as it will be small, the size of a credit card, and made of plastic.
Other products are built of expensive material, driving up the prices and therefore decreasing demand. My product would be practical AND affordable, so college students will need it and be able to purchase it.
8. Most people who order the product will order 2, or 3, so that they can put them in different places to keep track different items. This will drive up sales. Even if the customer only buys one product to start, if he or she is happy with it, they will probably want another to put in a backpack or suitcase, and feel more secure.
9. This item could be easily shipped for very cheap, it could fit in an envelope.
Because the card is so small and lightweight, it could be shipped in an envelope! The cheap shipping costs would decrease prices and increase demand and profits.
10. The demand for insurance is going up, as people would rather pay to feel protected. This card is a form of insurance because people are paying to be able to find their items if lost or stolen. People in the United States are spending more and more on insurance than ever before. Because this card is a form of insurance, the demand high, and rising.
After analyzing all of my unfair advantages, I've concluded that my involvement in large organizations and easy access to a large network, as well as the fact that my product has an app aspect to it, are the most competitive of the advantages. A lot of people do not have access to thousands of people very easily, and I could spread knowledge about my product very quickly. Apps are also a very important part of technology these days, and people could easily download and buy my product on their phones.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Growing My Social Capital
University of Florida student Jonathan Katz can be both a domain expert in the industry and a domain expert on the market. He was the inventor of Qwerk, which is an app that is used by people in Gainesville, primarily by University of Florida students, to make money completing small tasks, or to pay for people to do small tasks for you. Since my product, SafeCard is an app, Jonathan Katz could help me design the app, as well as help me market it to college students in the area, as I am trying to do. I have found this person through knowledge and word of mouth about the app, and contacted Jonathan through linked in. He gave me advice on developing an app, and a ballpark amount of money it would take to get the app up and running. For marketing ideas, he mentioned his promo video, where he got well known UF students to participate in the video and share it with their friends, who then shared it with their friends. The video has over 55,000 views now. In addition to Jonathan, almost anyone in the industry of marketing would be able to help with the marketing of my product, because beyond the people of Gainesville, my product relates to almost every demographic, and can be successful in any market.
Priyanka Kotian of Thane, India, could be a supplier to my business. Kotian is a manager at Euclid analytics, which is a location tracking company. They could supply the tracking chip device necessary to make the credit card look alike tracker. I searched the employees of this Euclid company on linked in and sent an "Inmail" message to one of the managers who looked like they worked in sales. They replied that they do not have a sort of chip that I am looking for, but other options. This means I would have to tweak my idea a little, but that some version of my product is still possible.
Before this assignment, I had never reached out to anyone on linked in. I had also not spent a lot of time on linked in searching companies or the employees of these companies, so that was really interesting for me. This experience will definitely change my networking events in the future, because now I am much more comfortable with messaging strangers on linked in and asking for help or advice.
Priyanka Kotian of Thane, India, could be a supplier to my business. Kotian is a manager at Euclid analytics, which is a location tracking company. They could supply the tracking chip device necessary to make the credit card look alike tracker. I searched the employees of this Euclid company on linked in and sent an "Inmail" message to one of the managers who looked like they worked in sales. They replied that they do not have a sort of chip that I am looking for, but other options. This means I would have to tweak my idea a little, but that some version of my product is still possible.
Before this assignment, I had never reached out to anyone on linked in. I had also not spent a lot of time on linked in searching companies or the employees of these companies, so that was really interesting for me. This experience will definitely change my networking events in the future, because now I am much more comfortable with messaging strangers on linked in and asking for help or advice.
Week 10 Reading Reflection
After reading this chapter, I concluded that it was mostly a summary of my financial accounting class. Most of the information was extremely familiar, such as the balance sheet, income statement, and the explanations of these two finance tools. Especially because I am a finance major, paragraphs about aspects of finance such as cost of goods sold and cash flows were review. One thing that did surprise or interest me was the information about pro forma statements. The book described them as forecasts or projections of a firms financial period during a future period. I either do not remember covering this information in earlier classes, or we did not have time to go over it in the semester. This chapter is complicated, not confusing. There is not much to debate or disagree with because the information is very straight ford and deals with math and finances. There are set ways that business's keep track of their funding and accounting, so theres really no disagreeing with the author. If I were to ask the author a question, I would ask if he thinks that the financial aspects of a business are the most important part. Are entrepreneurs still able to successfully start a business if they know little about finance? What is the correlation between entrepreneurs being successful, and their finance knowledge?
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Elevator Pitch No. 3
After the first pitch, people where a little confused. I had 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?" For the second pitch, 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.
After the second pitch, I concluded from the comments that almost all changes had been made that needed to be, to be clear about the product. One suggestion that I added to my pitch was that the tracker could be used for luggages, duffles, and backpacks while traveling. If your luggage has ever been lost while flying, the tracker can tell you exactly where it is, so you know where to call. Overall, the four comments I received on my second elevator pitch were very positive, and people seemed excited about the idea, and happy with the changes I made on the second pitch.
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