30A--Final Reflection

1.  This semester I enjoyed a lot of the posts, like forming a need and describing how our strengths would help us in our concepts, etc.  I had a lot of fun and enjoyed being creative with my assignments.  I did not enjoy interviewing, especially the ones where we needed long interviews.  I can remember waiting too long to start my posts and having to make phone calls late at night, etc.

2.  My most formative experience was reading the books about Phil Knight and Ray Kroc.  I truly enjoyed reading about how these men thought and how they created Nike and McDonalds, and I realized from reading what qualities it takes to be persistent and successful.  I'll always remember and I am most proud of my concept of a chicken restaurant at Midtown.  It's not flashy or super creative compared to many other concepts but I believe it will work, and I'm proud of how it turned out through the activities in this class.  I most enjoyed giving elevator pitches.  I believe they are so important and very crucial to developing important social skills. 

3.  I definitely have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset in this class.  I think more like an entrepreneur now then I did before taking the class.  I see opportunities when I drive down a street and realize needs in my home cities of New Orleans and Gainesville.

4. I would tell future students of this class to always be attentive and be open minded in looking for opportunities to be an entrepreneur.  I would tell them the key to being successful in this class is doing everything in a timely manner so they can have extra time to be creative and open minded.  To foster their entrepreneurial mindset I would tell them to always be paying attention to something that can be a new opportunity.

29A--Venture Concept No. 2

My Venture Concept

Opportunity--

My business opportunity is based of a need that The University of Florida does not have a chicken restaurant at Midtown.  Midtown is the most popular area in Gainesville that is not on campus.  It is home to bars, study services, and restaurants.  All of these are a crosswalk away from campus and are heavily populated for about 18 hours per day.  There is a sandwich place, a burger joint, a pizza stand, and a pita pit at midtown that are open til about 3 AM every night.  The one major type of American food that is missing is a chicken place.  Yes there is a Chick-Fil-A closeby but its hours do not coincide with the late night crowd at midtown.  A new chicken place would give all students a walking distance restaurant close to Study Edge, Off-Campus and On-Campus housing, the libraries, and the bars.  Because of the variety of things that our new chicken place would be close to, all UF students as well as faculty and nearby residents have this need for a chicken restaurant; although, I did form this business concept with a particular customer in mind--the drunk college student who needs food after a long night at the bars.  Many students patronize the other restaurants at mid as well as order UberEats.  Adding a chicken place would allow us to jump into this market.  Along with the late night crowd customers can come in after studying at nearby Lib West or Study Edge.  Customers can also takeout or dine-in after walking from their dorm or apartment. The opportunity has no limits as to who it will serve even though it is targeted at a specific audience.  Customers are not satisfying this need now, and loyalty to one of the other restaurants at midtown is not very prevalent, as I have asked many students and I know this from experience.  The opportunity exists because of the open real estate at Midtown, and will be open as long as there are vacant properties.

Innovation--

As far as innovation goes, there really is not much to consider with my business opportunity.  I want to open a chicken place to get in the midtown market.  We plan to serve wings, tenders, fried chicken, nuggets, and sides like fries and mac and cheese, all for a fair price around what you would pay for chicken at Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes, or Zaxby's.  Part of our current plan is to deliver to areas in a close radius to the restaurant--dorms, fraternity and sorority houses, and apartments around campus.  Having a delivery service will help us cater to lazy college kids.  Another innovation I plan on implementing will be an efficient food preparation method, one similar to McDonald's in its infancy.  It is important to me to be as innovative as we can with our service concept to make up for our lack of innovation in the product itself.

Venture Concept--

Customers will buy our chicken not for any innovation but because we will be an option to them whether they are on campus or not, we will be close by.  Our location and hours will be out biggest innovation because no one else is doing what we will be doing.  Taking a look at our competitors, Chick-Fil-A is truly the only one.  Chick-Fil-A is a couple blocks away so it is not as close to the heart of campus like we will be.  It also is only open until 8 PM and is closed on Sundays.  As for the other competitors at midtown, we simply need to be an option of students.  As previously mentioned, location plays a huge part in our business plan.  In addition to location, we want to produce fresh, hot chicken faster than the competitors.  These are the two biggest aspects that will help us to succeed.  As far as employees go, we only need line workers and delivery people to produce our product.  However, I also plan to employ marketing and advertising majors to help us gain an edge in advertising and making deals for students.  Social Media will be a large part of our business concept.  I think social media is so important because our target customer is a college student with man different forms of social media.

Our unfair advantage is being located at Midtown.  We will be  a good option for 18 hours a day as I said earlier.  People will want to eat at our place simply because it's close to campus and close to apartments and fraternity and sorority row.  At night, people will takeout after spending time at the midtown bars.  We will be a destination for students going to and from the libraries.  Our location is a crucial part of the opportunity.  It truly would not exist if we were planning on opening a chicken place on archer or 34th. 


In five years, we would like to be thriving as a part of midtown, Gainesville, and the UF community.  I hope to be a partner of UF athletics and really be special to students and residents of Gainesville.  This business, if successful, may seem to be a franchisable or growable business.  I have not thought that far because no matter how successful we might become, I feel as though it can be owed to the location and market.  In other words, I would be reluctant to grow the company if an opportunity similar to the opportunity that formed the restaurant in Gainesville were not available.  Also, I plan to sell out if I my business has a franchising or opportunity to grow significantly.  This business is not a current focus for me at the time but I would love ot come back to it if the need still exists in the future.

Part 2:

I got very good feedback from my last venture concept.  However, it was mostly all constructive.  I think this is due to the concept being largely need based on not terribly risky as some concepts may be.  As for other comments, I realized that I needed to add something to help advertise and reach my target audience more than I currently am planning on, and I need be more resolute with my plans for the future as to how I want to continue my concept or exit the market.

Part 3:

As previously mentioned, a comment asked how I would utilize social media in my business.  And I highlighted in the new concept that I plan on employing some social media experts, possibly UF students, to help us reach more students because students will be our number one demographic of customers.  

27A--Reading Reflection #3

Shoe Dog

1.  What surprised me the most is that Blue Ribbon Shoes was actually his first company and it failed, I believe due to Knight not yet knowing the business.  I admire how good Knight was at using his resources and taking risks--for example he took out loans from his parents and traveled to Japan to begin exploring the shoe market.  Similarly, I do not admire how he hired a spy at the Tiger company and stole papers from a tiger company employee's briefcase.  He faced plenty of adversity--Nike was sued, his first company failed, and their breakout athlete passed away.  They responded by coming together around these events and continuing to push through or "just doing it."

2. I noticed that Knight is very driven, whether it was fighting to make ends meat in the early days of Nike or trying to learn the shoe market, Knight was always very proactive.  He also fostered a healthy environment at Nike.  He and his employees were very close and on the same page with other most of the time

3.  One part of the reading that confused me was the lawsuit from Kitami.  I do not really understand legal terminology so I was slightly confused why Nike breached their contract and why the appropriate action was a lawsuit.

4. I would ask if he thinks another upstart shoe company can be as successful as Nike in today's market? I would ask him this because he did this when he started Nike, and I would love to know if he thinks its possible today given Nike and all the other big shoe companies that exist internationally.  I would also ask him who the most valuable brand ambassador to Nike is.  I would love to hear his response because Nike has had so many athletes in almost every sport.

5.  To me, Knight's definition of hard work is pretty simple: Just Do It.  This motto makes Nike stand out and it makes Knight stand out as an entrepreneur.  He was not afraid to take chances and risks that could have made or broken his company.  Being able to take chances is crucial in any business.  I agree with this definition and believe it to be why so many people fail--because they are afraid of failure.

28A--Exit Strategy

I plan to eventually sell my chicken restaurant to a larger company or conglomerate group.  I plan to do this because the business was founded based on an opportunity that may not always exist.  Once the need is met, I plan to grow into new markets.  When the original opportunity no longer exists based on my venture to explore new markets, I will look to sell out. 

Also, based on the current direction of Midtown, we know that it may be converted into housing eventually.  In this case, I would love to have other stores and then sell out because the original opportunity is no loner available.  However, I would also say that my exit strategy is dependent on whether the company can grow, and the company's growing is based on my original opportunity.

26A--Celebrating Failure

1. This past semester, I failed constantly when learning a new software called JMP in my business stats class.  In preparation for the first test, I neglected the software and attempted to do all the math required for the exam using my calculator.  I have always been reluctant to use technology, preferring hand calculations to ensure I was not making a mistake.  On the first exam, I failed miserably and did not succeed with neglecting the software.

2. It wasn't until I was sitting in a review session for financial accounting when it hit me that I needed to learn to use technology.  The study expert giving the review session said that this class should be teaching us how to input things into the computer instead of doing things by hand.  This made me realize just how important adjusting to technology is.  As for the big picture, I learned the importance of being open to growth in anything I may encounter.  For the second exam, I made sure I could do everything with the software, and got an A.

3.  I hate failure, and I hate losing.  Failure, whether in school, sports, or life, affects me greatly.  It doesn't just make me sad, it angers me.  I can't shake a failure until I can replace it with success.  After taking this class, I can't say with any certainty that I would take a risk that I would not have before, but thanks to this class, I know how to reason and think logically in order to take a risk.

25A--What's Next

Existing Market

For my chicken restaurant, what's next is potentially growing into the Gainesville market in places other than Midtown.  It's hard to grow as a restaurant so quickly. 

interview #1: I called a friend of mine who was a big fan of my idea at first and asked him what should be next.  He said given our current business the next step is to grow into some new markets, and if we succeed, the next step after that is to franchise.  I then asked him what customers might want next and he said we need a trademark menu item--like the Chick Fil A chicken sandwich.

interview #2:  The next interview is one of my fraternity brothers in this class who helped me come up with my idea in the first place.  I asked him the same two questions as before: He said what's next for the restaurant is partner with people in other states and open new stores.  He then answered the next question by saying the restaurant needs to create a special beverage so we can be recognized for something other than just chicken.

interview #3: My next interview is to a different friend who was in ENT3003 last spring.  I asked him the same questions as before.  His answer surprised me the most. He said our next step needs to be expanding our menu to eventually be better than our competitors at Midtown.  I feel as though this claim is too ambitious.  As for a new product/menu item, he said he would like to see burgers, possibly other sandwiches.

     Given this feedback, the best course of action is to try to grow around the state of Florida first.  By doing this, the original restaurant staff and managers are able to monitor the progress of the new restaurants.  I truly believe there is a lot to learn from the story of McDonalds.  McDonalds grew too quickly in my opinion and there franchising got off to some turmoil before becoming what we know it as today.  As a restaurant aspiring to potentially enter the market in as many areas as possible, expanding to only a few closeby areas is probably the best course of action before opening branches that the original managers cannot oversee.
     I previously mentioned in another assignment that I would be reluctant to opening another restaurant if it did not have an opportunity similar to the one that the one at midtown had.  I think this is  good mindset but the next step of the restaurant would be to expand one way or the other, so growing nearby and monitoring their revenues and management is a good way to test whether or not the restaurant would succeed without the need that Midtown has.

New Market

To go with the idea of the assignment, let's say my new venture is opening up a chicken food truck, same name and menu, in New York City.

I think there is plenty of value in this market.  People in New York are busy, working a lot, riding the subway, living in apartments, etc.  People in New York might appreciate southern style chicken and be able to get it to-go quickly.  I believe a chicken truck could do very well in New York, the concept is not all that different from the thousands of pizza places that are simply wait in line and buy a slice and go. 

Interview #1: I interviewed a friend of mine who is a UF student and from NYC.  He said the concept of a food truck or stand could work because workers are very busy and look to eat quick lunches.  He also said tourists enjoy getting quick bites for lunch so as to not miss out on time seeing the city. He thinks I need to feel out the best spots for our truck by first setting up stands in different parts of the city.

Interview #2: I interviewed my uncle who has worked in the city for many years.  He said for lunch when he chooses to go get something to eat it's all about how long lines are.  This makes me think that growing in this market would be going in a place where there are long lines and setting up to get the attention of customers who are now looking for a new place because the line was too long.

     I was right in the fact that New York is all about convenience.  Both interviewees talked about a convenient location for people to get quick food.  I was wrong about a food truck because traffic in the city is so severe a food truck would be less effective than a truck.  With all the information from my two interviewees about having multiple stands and going in places with lots of lines I've discovered that this will be more difficult than I thought.
     My current plan if I follow this venture is to bring a limited menu to multiple stands around the city with a limited menu.  Based on revenue I will then decide if it's worth bringing the full menu to the stand.  This opportunity is definitely more difficult than the one in Gainesville.

24A--Venture Concept No. 1

My Venture Concept

Opportunity--

My business opportunity is based of a need that The University of Florida does not have a chicken restaurant at Midtown.  Midtown is the most popular area in Gainesville that is not on campus.  It is home to bars, study services, and restaurants.  All of these are a crosswalk away from campus and are heavily populated for about 18 hours per day.  There is a sandwich place, a burger joint, a pizza stand, and a pita pit at midtown that are open til about 3 AM every night.  The one major type of American food that is missing is a chicken place.  Yes there is a Chick-Fil-A closeby but its hours do not coincide with the late night crowd at midtown.  A new chicken place would give all students a walking distance restaurant close to Study Edge, Off-Campus and On-Campus housing, the libraries, and the bars.  Because of the variety of things that our new chicken place would be close to, all UF students as well as faculty and nearby residents have this need for a chicken restaurant; although, I did form this business concept with a particular customer in mind--the drunk college student who needs food after a long night at the bars.  Many students patronize the other restaurants at mid as well as order UberEats.  Adding a chicken place would allow us to jump into this market.  Along with the late night crowd customers can come in after studying at nearby Lib West or Study Edge.  Customers can also takeout or dine-in after walking from their dorm or apartment. The opportunity has no limits as to who it will serve even though it is targeted at a specific audience.  Customers are not satisfying this need now, and loyalty to one of the other restaurants at midtown is not very prevalent, as I have asked many students and I know this from experience.  The opportunity exists because of the open real estate at Midtown, and will be open as long as there are vacant properties.

Innovation--

As far as innovation goes, there really is not much to consider with my business opportunity.  I want to open a chicken place to get in the midtown market.  We plan to serve wings, tenders, fried chicken, nuggets, and sides like fries and mac and cheese, all for a fair price around what you would pay for chicken at Chick-Fil-A, Popeyes, or Zaxby's.  Part of our current plan is to deliver to areas in a close radius to the restaurant--dorms, fraternity and sorority houses, and apartments around campus.  Having a delivery service will help us cater to lazy college kids.  Another innovation I plan on implementing will be an efficient food preparation method, one similar to McDonald's in its infancy.  It is important to me to be as innovative as we can with our service concept to make up for our lack of innovation in the product itself.

Venture Concept--

Customers will buy our chicken not for any innovation but because we will be an option to them whether they are on campus or not, we will be close by.  Our location and hours will be out biggest innovation because no one else is doing what we will be doing.  Taking a look at our competitors, Chick-Fil-A is truly the only one.  Chick-Fil-A is a couple blocks away so it is not as close to the heart of campus like we will be.  It also is only open until 8 PM and is closed on Sundays.  As for the other competitors at midtown, we simply need to be an option of students.  As previously mentioned, location plays a huge part in our business plan.  In addition to location, we want to produce fresh, hot chicken faster than the competitors.  These are the two biggest aspects that will help us to succeed.  As far as employees go, we only need line workers and delivery people to produce our product.  However, I also plan to employ marketing and advertising majors to help us gain an edge in advertising and making deals for students.

Our unfair advantage is being located at Midtown.  We will be  a good option for 18 hours a day as I said earlier.  People will want to eat at our place simply because it's close to campus and close to apartments and fraternity and sorority row.  At night, people will takeout after spending time at the midtown bars.  We will be a destination for students going to and from the libraries.  Our location is a crucial part of the opportunity.  It truly would not exist if we were planning on opening a chicken place on archer or 34th. 

I previously mentioned that our innovation will hopefully come in our assembly and kitchen style, much like McDonald's in its early days.  If we can create something repeatable we can grow our company, but this is not part of our business success plan just yet.  As for our existing customers, we hope to create food that becomes a part of the Gainesville food experience.  When you eat here, we want you to come back and look forward to coming back again.

In five years, we would like to be thriving as a part of midtown, Gainesville, and the UF community.  I hope to be a partner of UF athletics and really be special to students and residents of Gainesville.  This business, if successful, may seem to be a franchisable or growable business.  I have not thought that far because no matter how successful we might become, I feel as though it can be owed to the location and market.  In other words, I would be reluctant to grow the company if an opportunity similar to the opportunity that formed the restaurant in Gainesville were not available.