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.

23A--My Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.  Location--a midtown location in Gainesville is incredibly important.  It is valuable because it is so close to campus and so close to bars.  It is a rare because there are not a lot of restaurants at midtown, and there are no chicken places.  It is inimitable because part of the success of the venture will be because of midtown being around it, it won't be duplicated if it's not at midtown.  There are no other resources that can provide these benefits of having a good location.

2. Better hours--The other chicken place close by (Chick-Fil-A at the Standard) closes early, so my chicken place will have more convenient hours.  Better hours are rare because there has to be a reason for staying open late and that is because the nearby bars are open late.  Better hours are hard to copy because a restaurant needs a reason to stay open late and not all restaurants have that reason.  There are no other resources that can provide the same benefits as being open late.

3. Nearby Bars--Valuable because we can predict busy times when the bars are crowded and have special deals.  Rare because not many restaurants can be located so close to a strip of bars.  Inimitable for the same reason as why it is rare.  Non-substitutable because bars are the only business that can bring customers at any time of the day to eat.

4. Network I already have--I have a large network through involvement at UF.  Valuable because it will get people to come through the door.  Honestly, not very rare--lots of people have big networks.  Easily copied, and substitutable because many other things can get people through the door.

5. Not as reliant on food--valuable because of other factors people will come to eat here, and it can also help us focus on being efficient.  Not rare because other restaurants in the area can do the same.  Inimitable because most other restaurants need specials and a good menu.  Maybe location and hours can do this as well.

6. No chicken competition--Valuable because competition can cause a business to fail.  Rare because competition always exists normally.  Inimitable because nowhere else because of my location there can be no chicken competition as it is now.  Substitutable because other restaurants at midtown have no competition.

7. Plans to do campus delivery--valuable because other chicken places are not close enough to deliver. Rare because not many chicken places deliver on their own payroll.  Inimitable because we would be the only chicken place able to deliver.  No other resources can provide a delivery service equivalent.

8. University of Florida--valuable because all our customers will have something to do with UF. Not super rare, inimitable, or nonsubstitutable because this can be said for all businesses around campus.

9. Advertising platform--valuable because we have so many businesses, UF, and apartments close by that we can partner with.  Not rare because any other business can do the same.  Not inimitable because it can easily be copied.  No other resource can benefit us in this way.

10. Takeout--valuable because we will not have to focus on dining in as much which can save us money.  Not rare because the other restaurants at midtown do the same.  Imitable because most restaurants need to focus mostly on dining in.  Substitutable because location allows us to have lots of takeout orders.

My top resource is location.  Location will bring more customers in the door consistently because it is walking distance from campus and bars.  Location also allows for many of our other resources to be subsititutable.  Location is by far the backbone of this business model.

22A--Elevator Pitch 3.0

In my past pitch, I got feedback saying I really sold the viewer on my business; however, I was a bit surprised by this comment because I thought my delivery could have been better.  This time, I tried to give my pitch my most confident delivery, use more meaningful nonverbal gestures while keeping my main message the same for the most part.

https://youtu.be/TzdvhJ1XYAg

Reading Reflection 2.0--21A

I chose to read Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker.  I chose this book because the title seemed exciting and innovation is not only a part of entrepreneurship, it is also required to mold new entrepreneurs.

1.  The general theme of the book, in my opinion, is that innovating and being open to growth as an entrepreneur can lead someone to discover and gain a new market opportunity.  I also believe the author is adamant on entrepreneurs thinking keenly as business people and turning their professions as entrepreneurs into habits.

2. Mainly, the book connected with the class because both the book and this class stress the importance of recognized and creating an opportunity--something that every entrepreneur must excel at.

3. My exercise for this class would be consistent with the first part of the book, the part that talks about inciting change to create a market opportunity.  I would ask my students to drive down a street with commercial buildings, strip malls, etc. and think of something on that street that has potential.  Something that you can change or mold into something that presents an opportunity.  Then I would have the students describe that opportunity.

4. My "aha" moment when reading this book came when he first discussed how entrepreneurship and innovation must be a practice, something that is always being used, in any business.  It made a lot of sense to me because this class has taught us to think like entrepreneurs, to always be on the lookout for needs and opportunities.

20A--Growing Your Social Capital

1. 

a. Owner of "New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Co."--chain of restaurants in the New Orleans area.

b. domain expert, he started as a bus boy and has worked his way up to the point of co-owner of his current restaurant.  He has worked at some of the finest restaurants in the city, and his had both failures and successes in the restaurant business.

c. I found the person because my mother served as a waitress when he was a busser, and she got me in contact with him via text.

d. I sent him a video of my elevator pitch and asked him to evaluate it and give me a tip on the food quality aspect of the restaurant.  He told me that the most important thing to do is make food the same way every time--quality and repetitiveness are keys to having success.  The return expectation is for me to be able to show him how he helped my business.  He is adamant on taking his advice not only because of his experience, but also because he has failed in the restaurant business in the past.

e. This man will help enhance my ability to exploit the opportunity because he has succeeded in one of the most competitive culinary environments in the world.

2.

a. Manager at Felipe's in Gainesville

b. Market expert, turned a build your own burrito restaurant into an outdoor patio restaurant that students fill up to enjoy burritos and Margaritas.  He saw the potential of the restaurant with the lots of open space, great outdoor area, and great location close to campus, and he began to advertise happy hour with great deals.  Now, Felipe's is a hot spot for students to unwind and enjoy drinks and atmosphere.

c. I came in contact with him one weekend while I was there and asked him how this restaurant, which is a normal restaurant in my hometown, is closer to a bar in Gainesville, and he told me how they transformed the public view of the restaurant.

d.  He told me that he realized the potential of Felipe's as a bar when he saw the patio space that the outside seating area had.  So, he planned on clearing it out one Friday afternoon and advertising with flyers on campus that they were serving bogo Margaritas.  The people showed up, and from then on Felipe's as we know it was born.  He said you have to think like a college kid when you are in the business of serving college kids.  He compared his vision of the restaurant to when he was in college looking for houses to rent.  He saw a house, looked at the patio and thought how great it would be to host gatherings.  He told me he had that same feeling with the felipe's patio when he first started working there.  In return, he said that he'd stop by if my business every got off the ground, and he'd let me know if I wasn't using my space efficiently.

e.  Having him in my network will not only help me to form ideas, but it will help me to model my business after one of the most successful college hangout destinations in Gainesville.

3.

a. I talked to an employee at Captain Sid's Seafood in Metairie, LA, one of the the largest seafood suppliers in the state of Lousiana.

b. He is a supplier of fresh catch to restaurants all over the city, and Captain Sid's his been in the business for 60 years now.

c. I found the person by walking into their seafood market earlier this week, told him about my business opportunity, and asked if I could ask for advice.

d.  He said he'd give me one piece of advice--to understand that suppliers will go the great lengths to make sales with a restaurant.  Suppliers are the salesmen of the restaurant business, and they never want to lose a client.  In return, I thanked him for his time and told him I would patronize his market for the foreseeable future in New Orleans.

e.  This connection can help me to gain leverage over my future suppliers to maximize cost-saving potential.

This experience will affirm to me that any encounter with a person can be a networking event. No mater where I am or what my objective is, there truly always is a networking opportunity available.  This experience was different than some of my past networking encounters because I had to seek out these people; in the past friendly conversation has led me to forming a new network.  I am still relatively new to networking, but this assignment was truly the first time I have actually had the intent of forming a network.

19A--Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I overall would say that I am a people person.  I enjoy meeting and getting to know people.  I also enjoy discussing business matters.  I aspire to own a business one day, and I want my social skills to help me reach out to as many customers, suppliers, and investors as possible.  If I were to start this chicken restaurant, it would lead me to meet lots of people and make connections which would make me happy.  I enjoy being around people.  Some feedback I received in the last idea napkin was that every business owner has good social skills to a certain extent, and this time I am formulating a skillset that focuses on how being a people person will benefit my life if I were a business owner.

2. Im offering chicken to my customers at any point in the day.  Last time I said I was just offering chicken but my comments were "What about the Chick Fil A at the standard?" so now I am emphasizing the business advantages that my chicken place will have over Chick-Fil-A--and that is that one can get chicken when Chick is not open.

3. My specific demographic is UF students--those who want food after going out and those who are in need of a place they can walk to from campus.  What my customers have in common is that they are all students and need affordable food at any hour of the day.

4. Customers will pay for our chicken because our it will be easy to obtain and cheap.  This part was different the last time I did the idea napkin because I didn't take convenience into account, which is also very important to college students.

5. What sets us apart is that no other chicken place will be conveniently located and open as much as we are, and this is something that will be crucial in our advertising and marketing departments.

Overall, I believe all these elements fit together because they fit around the needs of a college student.  Eating is not always easy for college students, so fitting a business plan around their needs is crucial to our success.  However, with the medley of convenience (both in getting the food and being open at good times), quality, and price, I think that this chicken restaurant is set up for success.

Elevator Pitch 17A

https://youtu.be/I9MME9GHE8A

I did not get any feedback on my last elevator pitch, so this time  focused on being more concise and shorter with my ideas by stating the need and what the restaurant will do to be successful.

Create a Customer Avatar--18A

My customer avatar is a typical college student who enjoys eating after going out at Midtown.  He/she is aged 18-23, drives hand me down cars from their parents, studies/watches Netflix in their free time, the boys watch all kinds of sports while the girls watch You, Gossip Girl, Jane the Virgin.  Most of the college students who create my customer avatar do not have children. Most of my characters aren't too interested in politics, except for the political science majors.  I have a lot in common with my avatar, because I am part of the avatar.  I do not think this is a coincidence because I felt the need that caused me to think of this business.  Being a college student, I feel like I know this need and know lots of people who are also in my customer avatar.

What's My Secret Sauce 16A

1. a. Altruism-- I have a genuine desire for the people around me to succeed, this will be especially beneficial to my employees and anyone I would do business with.  I also believe this quality will help me to defeat the detrimental God complex, that many managers have, and create a healthier environment for my business.

    b. Caring--I get attached to things I care about, and I would be fully invested in my business, regardless of initial failure.

    c. Independent--I am a very independent person, and I have always had the desire to put in extra work to be unique from others.  I would display this same level of giving 110% to my business to ensure that it is unique.

    d.  Extroverted--I am an outgoing person with good social skills.  In my career I plan on doing something involving public relations or public speaking.  Having this skill is beneficial to the appeal of the business.

    e. Drive--I grew up playing sports and this made me extremely competitive.  I hate losing more than I like to win.  The desire not to fail would surely help any business, as well as give me an edge over competitors.

Interviews available at my soundcloud profile:
note: You will hear people call  me Jake, although my real name is John, I go by Jake.

1. Interview with my mom: My mom talks about my "intuitiveness"--being able to understand and read people.  She also talks about me being a calming presence and a selfless individual.  These qualities she thinks will hep me in the business world.  All the things she discussed are similar to what I described myself as having, proof that my mom knows me well.
https://soundcloud.com/user-523861566/interviewwithmymomma

2.  Interview with my twin brother: My brother describes me as one of the nicest people he knows, driven, and smart.  These qualities are a little different than what I described, but I see what he is saying.  It is good to know I have these qualities because they will be beneficial for my business.
https://soundcloud.com/user-523861566/interviewwithmytwin

3.  Interview with my roommate: My roommate talks about me how I would talk about myself and how I did talk about myself in the first part of this assignment.  The expression of "You don't truly know someone til you live with them" suits this interview.
https://soundcloud.com/user-523861566/interviewwithmyroommate/s-9jamB

4. Interview with my girlfriend: She says that I am reliable, caring, and intelligent.  I had not heard reliable yet, but I think that is a good way to describe me, and reliability will go far when forming connections in the business world.
https://soundcloud.com/user-523861566/interview-with-my-girlfriend/s-ijiKv

5. Interview with my dad: My dad says that I am a very caring person, but the thing that separates this recording from what others said about me is that I am a grinder, he said I may not be the most talented, but I am willing to outwork competition and go the extra mile.  This is a great entrepreneurial skill in my opinion.
https://soundcloud.com/user-523861566/interview-with-my-dad/s-baCRm

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Pt. 2 15A

For my three interviews, I picked three friends who do not know each other from my previous segment of UF faculty and students.

Of all my interviewees, they each agreed that price and convenience matter the most when it comes to picking where to eat.  I expected for them to agree on price because it feeds into the stereotype that broke college kids want cheap food.  College kids are also lazy, so convenience is also important to my segment.

My first interviewee, a TA in the business school, says he prefers to pick up or dine in to get his food, because he can duck the service charge that comes from online delivery.  My second interviewee, one of my classmates in ENT3003, says he prefers to buy his online and have it delivered to him.  My third interviewee, my fraternity brother, says it all depends on price, and usually it is cheaper for him to pick-up, so that is what he does most of the time.

As for food, my three interviewees look back and want to the food to have tasted good, and they want the size and quality of the meal to worth what they paid for it.

Interview 1: This student is a TA for business stats.  He said price is definitely the most important factor when it comes to him buying food to eat.  He clarified that although price is the most important, he won't order food that he doesn't like or is unhealthy because it's cheap.  He also prefers picking his food up because it's cheaper than doing UberEats or Door Dash.  After his meal, he wants to be satisfied knowing he paid the right price for the size and quality.

Interview 2:  My second interview is one of my friends who also happens to be in this class.  He is from out of state and does not have any means of transportation, which makes location/convenience very important to him; however price is still his deciding factor most of the time.  After his meal, he wants to make sure that the food was worth the price he paid for it.

Interview 3:  My third interview is with one of my fraternity brothers.  We chatted for awhile about what goes into his ordering food and he says it's all about price, which means he picks up or dines in most of the time, unless he has a delivery coupon or a free delivery on UberEats.  He also mentioned that he likes to order from convenient locations that can have his food ready quickly.

Conclusion:  I was not surprised to hear these responses in my interviews because for me ordering food is all about convenience in price, and it was for these three students as well.  As for purchase decision, everyone likes to do what is cheapest and most convenient, and most of the time the best option is dining in or picking up, which happens in the store.  For post-purchase evaluation, each of the three responses were similar as well.  College students do not want to feel like they used their money inefficiently.  Overall, the segment of UF students has similar desires and tastes, so I think that gives an advantage to someone who can cater their business model to meet the needs of this segment.

Halfway Reflection

1. I spend time everyday doing the assignments due at the end of the week and recommend a new student do that as well so the work does not pile up.  You also must think, you cannot give half effort and expect to be able to finish the assignments in a timely manner.

2. I thought about giving up when we've had to do interviews.  I have tried to seek a diverse group of interviewees to get the best and most unbiased results.  It has been tough and has taken a long time.  Over a week in one case.  I feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude because of these interviews.  Doing these assignments have made me think more like an entrepreneur.  This attitude has helped to shape my business model as well.

3.  My first tip is to think like an entrepreneur whoever you can.  If you cannot, fake it til you make it.  It is so important to have the tenacious mindset to give you an advantage over someone who is not giving full effort in this class.  My second tip is to pick a business model that you are passionate about.  My need that formed my business is something that I personally am affected by.  The final tip is once you find something you are passionate about, don't let anyone know what you're thinking.  Any leak of an idea could derail your business venture. If you're familiar with Mamba Mentality, be like Kobe.

Reading Reflection

I read Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's, about Ray Kroc, the man who revolutionized McDonald's as what we know it as today. 

1.  What surprised me the most is that Ray Kroc isn't a founder of McDonald's, but when he heard the idea and their business model he was intrigued so he flew out to meet them.  It amazes me and I admire how much faith he had to put in his business ventures.  I most admired how he was able to see the potential in not only McDonald's but also his past jobs of paper cup sales and milkshake sales.  I least admire the dispute that Kroc had with the McDonald brothers before he bought them out.  He encountered adversity at all steps of his business ventures.  When he began selling milkshake mixers, he was only retaining 40% of this earnings, after franchising McDonald's, he went through quality control problems trying to ensure that every franchise operated exactly the same.  To solve his problem, he brought in experts to solve his problem.  For example, he struggled to get all his fries to taste the same.  He brought in the Potato and Onion Institution to perfect the process.

2.  Kroc had many competencies.  He made a McDonald's policy that customers can get refunds if their orders were wrong or took more than 5 minutes to serve.  This built customer loyalties.  He also could see potential that allowed him to be successful in different jobs.  He also always believed his best years were in front of him, which is a great skill for any entrepreneur.

3. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was how he struggled dealing with the McDonald brothers and how the best solution was to buy them out.

4. I would ask him what made McDonald's stand out from the other thousands of kitchens he'd been in before seeing the potential in McDonald's.  In his franchising process, he was told that his fries were so much better than any competitor that "he was in the fry business not the burger business."  I would ask him if he recognized this statement in his business operations and how it may have changed the outlook for the company. 

5.  I think his opinion of hard work was always looking toward the future, thinking that the future would always be brighter.  I agree with this because along the way of failures and hardships you will learn to perfect your craft as time passes.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Part 1

For my segment, I will be choosing UF students and faculty

interview 1:  In this interview I chatted with my friend who goes out to the midtown bars about 3 times a week he said.  I told him all about my business plan and then explained how it formed around a need, and I'm trying to gather information about other people also having this need.  He says he has this need, because he loves eating food after a long night at the bars, and has craved chicken nuggets but obviously can't drive to get them and no place nearby is within walking distance.  With this being said, his most salient need is late night chicken.  Our business can offer that.  When other chicken places are closed, we can be the chicken source for the people who need a late night snack.  Having the restaurant walking distance from campus is nice as well.  When he becomes aware of this need, he searches Uber eats and Hooked to try to find a good deal on chicken.  he will no longer need any of those apps, he can now just walk to get his food.

interview 2:  The next interview was with a girl in my Business Statistics class who doesn't drink and does not go to the bars at Midtown.  I knew this interview would give me lots of insight for the future of the business because I formed this idea on the need that I had for late night chicken after going out.  I first explained the need and asked her if she had this need for chicken so close to campus.  She explained that she does have this need.  She lives just steps away from Midtown at Buckman Hall, which is closer to midtown than it is any of the chick-fil-a's on campus, so her need extends to whenever she wants chicken.  She also prefers studying at Lib West, which is also very close to Midtown.  She wants chicken when she wants to reward herself after an exam or a long night of studying and on the weekends when she's with friends.  Her need is unique yet common.  Unique that it's different from most UF students' but common in that nothing really stands out about it.  It gives me an interesting background that a chicken place can be good for any students, not just the late-night hungry ones.  She also said that she wants a place to get milkshakes in this chicken place too.  This information search will help me try to make our business appealing other than just chicken, location, and convenience. 

Interview 3: My final interview was with a UF groundskeeper who works on campus.  He explained to me how most of his colleagues and he eat at the current places at midtown 2-3 times a week.  Immediately, even before explaining my business plan, I saw a new potential customer in the people who do not live in the area but work for UF.  So, I then laid out my business plan and explained the need that shows why I'm looking to start this business.  He explained that he needs to eat lunch close to campus because he doesn't have a ton of time for lunch.  He said having a chicken place, especially with flavored wings, would attract his male coworkers.  He added that since the current places at Mid have been around for a while, having a new place alone would attract him because his options are limited and he eats at the same hand-full of places most of the time.  He pinpoints a need from UF faculty who don't have a ton of time and will want to try the chicken place because of its novelty compared to their normal options.  This gave me insight to the information search as well, that online we can broadcast that we have the "newest restaurant at Midtown."

In summary, I see new need awareness and aspects of information search after doing these interviews.  As for need awareness, the big thing for this segment is convenience.  Can they walk to the place? Can they get what they want? Will it be open later/more often than other chicken places? These are the biggest questions for the UF community.  As for information search, there is not a whole lot for a chicken place because it's not something that's sold on the internet, but being able ot advertise the newness of the restaurant can go a long way in advertising and showing up on google as well as being spoken by word of mouth.  People like to try new things.

Idea Napkin No. 1

My name is John Kuebel, and I feel like I have talents that apply to my future business.  I am sociable, I enjoy meeting and reaching out to new people.  I also enjoy public speaking.  One of my most valuable skills is my ability to relate to people.  I'm very much a people person, so I take pride in being able to assimilate with almost anyone.  As for my aspirations, I am not exactly sure what my future holds as of now.  Starting this business would give me a chance to not only serve great food to people, but it will also allow me to place myself into the UF community and connect with students, faculty, and staff.

I am offering chicken to customers who frequent Midtown.  Nowhere at Midtown sells specifically chicken.  I plan to serve a variety of chicken from chicken wings to chicken salad. 

Customers of this restaurant will be any student at UF, anyone who lives in the area, and Gainesville residents in general.  However, these three categories can be broken down in different ways.  UF students who want chicken after a night out, students who study at nearby libraries, and students who work in the area all are potential customers.  Midtown is the most popular off-campus area for students.  The groups have in common that they use Mid in their everyday lives, it's part of their routine. 

Customers will pay us money because they are at midtown for many reasons--studying, drinking, working, living, etc.  Now they will not need to leave Midtown to get quality chicken.  They no longer have to go all the way to Chick-Fil-A, the main competitor of our chicken place.  We will also have better hours.  Convenience will sell our chicken.

What sets us apart from everyone else is that we have the best chicken available for how readily and easily available it is for the UF community.  We have the best location: right at Midtown.  No other chicken place in town has that location.

I believe these aspects of my business fit together well.  They are all centered around convenience and accessibility for students and residents. However, the weakest aspect of the business now is competing with Chick-Fil-A during their hours.

Elevator Pitch

https://youtu.be/_Q4AE9VDJSg

Testing the Hypothesis Pt. 2

In this post I sought out people who may already have the need for a Chicken Restaurant fulfilled and do not need one at Midtown.

Interview 1:  I talked to a friend of mine who lives at the Standard.  He lives close Midtown so he should fit into the group of people whose need a chicken place.  However, he does not because of the Chick-Fil-A at the Standard.  After talking to him about this, I realize that the people around the Standard already have their needs met.  The cause of the need for people who are in the boundary is that they do not have a chicken place around, whereas people by the Standard already have that need identified.  The need can, however, be applied to people at the Standard during late hours and on Sunday when the Chick-Fil-A is closed.

Interview 2: My next interview is a classmate 1who lives at the Nook near Archer.  He goes to Midtown to study, go out, and eat an occasional meal.  He said he would not need a chicken place because he commutes by car to campus, and if he wants chicken, he passes Chick-Fil-A and Zaxby's on his way to and from campus.  The need is different for him; however, if he chooses to go out and would like chicken when he does not have his car, then he would fall inside of the boundary.  The cause for him not meeting the need that I have presented, once again, is location. 

Interview 3:  An important aspect of the need presented is drunk kids being able to get chicken.  However, upon talking to my friend who likes to get food and walk back to his house on Fraternity row, I saw a new perspective of someone who does not meet the need.  He mentions how he likes how the food options currently at Midtown all have foods that are easy to eat while walking--Jimmy Johns, a wrapped up pita, or a slice of pizza--etc.  He said he would not want to get chicken tenders or a large chicken sandwich because they are hard to eat on-the-go.  His cause for not meeting this need is convenience.

Interview 4: The fourth interview came from an employee at Social Midtown, an upscale bar close to the restaurants.  He told me that they have chicken tenders on the menu.  Since he works at Midtown he should fit in the need but he can order chicken from Social if he want to eat chicken.  His underlying cause is the same, he wants to eat chicken, but he can fulfill it differently by ordering food from Social.

Interview 5:  My next interview was my mom.  She fits a tourist's need for chicken when she comes in town.  She said that although having a chicken place would be convenient, she wouldn't need it because she will always have her car when she's here and can drive to a different place if she prefers,  She should fit the need because she likes to stay around campus when she comes in but a chicken place would not necessarily influence her to stay around campus.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who fits the need: People who do not have cars but can walk to midtown from campus, people who carry out food late night or come from the library, employees who want a place to eat close by.  Anyone who wants food around campus	Who does not fit the need: People who don’t worry about convenience or have a chicken place near where they live or closely accessible by car.
What the need is: Getting chicken close to campus after going out or studying, etc.	What the need isn’t: Providing chicken to all of Gainesville
Why the need exists: There is currently no chicken place at Midtown.  Other chicken places in the area close relatively early an having a new one with late night hours could give a chicken place at Midtown more business.	Alternative Explanations: There are chicken places nearby, but not exactly at midtown in walking distance from the bars.

Through this interview process I see that location and convenience are the two biggest boundaries on this opportunity.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1.  The first opportunity lies in a regulatory trend:  The ban on plastic straws
      a. I found this trend because people are complaining about the paper straws and how they don't work as well
     b. The opportunity exists because people do not like these paper straws and need a better option.
     c. the prototypical customer is anyone who lives in a place where paper straws were banned and is fed up using paper straws.
     d.  the opportunity is difficult to exploit because paper straws are better for the environment and and finding something that is better than paper would be tough to create.
    I formed this opportunity because paper straws are more of a hassle to use than plastic, and I have heard people grumble about them.  This may be an opportunity for me and no one else because some people may just accept using them because they are better for the environment, but anyone who wants to use the best straw is probably thinking of an alternative.

2.  The second opportunity comes from the economic trend that happens every year in February that involves people buying specific gifts to show love to their partners/families: starting a service that makes custom Valentine's baskets and delivers them to your partner. 
     a.  I found this trend because Valentine's Day gifts are tough, especially when trying to make your husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend happy.  I never know what to get my girlfriend for Valentine's day.
     b.  the opportunity exists because people get Valentine's Day gifts because they have to show love in some way, and that might be hard for some people.
     c. the prototypical customer is anyone who wants to do something special for their other half but is too busy to shop or doesn't know where to start.
     d. the opportunity is difficult to exploit because some people may want to shop around for Valentine's day because the meaning of the holiday is all about love and doing things for your partner.
     I formed this belief because I don't like shopping for Valentine's Day. Having a service that I can customize the basket and have them handle the rest would be very helpful to me.  I feel pressure when getting Val's day gifts and that led me to form this belief and opportunity.

3. The third opportunity comes from a regulatory trend raising the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21:  Start a service to help those who are affected by the age raise to quit nicotine.
     a.  I found this trend when Alachua county passed this law, and other counties and states are following. 
     b.  The opportunity exists because there are many people out there who are addicted to nicotine but cannot purchase it any longer.
     c.  the prototypical customer is anyone aged 18-20 who now cannot buy nicotine.
     d. the opportunity is difficult to exploit because some people may want to try to get nicotine illegally or get it through other people.
     I formed this belief because I know people who are affected and had no options within the law but to quit.  I believe this opportunity exists because this truly is a health issue, and preaching quitting for your health would convince me, it might not be persuasive enough for those who do not heed the surgeon general's warning.

4.  The final opportunity exists in an economic trend: building high-end gas stations on the borders of Florida
     a. I found this trend when I heard the statistic that 150 people are moving to Florida every day.
     b.  The opportunity exists because lots of people travel into and out of Florida, and having a place like WaWa, which is starting to grow
     c. The prototypical customer is anyone traveling into or out of Florida on a particular day.
     d.  the opportunity is difficult to exploit because this is an idea that other people are picking up on as well.
     I formed this belief because WaWa's are so popular, and Walmart is entering the high-end gas station market.  However, these high end stations are not yet on the borders.  Someone who does not see this as an opportunity would think that competing against WaWa and Walmart is impossible, but not if you build them on the borders faster than the two.

Solving the Problem

The solution to the problem of not having a chicken place at Midtown is simple:  Open a chicken place at midtown!

The opportunity of opening a primarily chicken restaurant at Midtown solves the need of the people not being able to get chicken after a long night of drinking at the bars, a long day of studying at Lib West or Study Edge, or a nice church service nearby.  At this restaurant we will primarily sell chicken--in the form of nuggets, tenders, wings, sandwiches, and chicken salad, along with an array of sides.

Merely having a chicken place at Mid fulfills the need!

Testing the Hypothesis

1.  The Opportunity is the need for a chicken restaurant at Midtown in Gainesville.

2.  The who--People who frequent Midtown
     The what--they are unable to enjoy good chicken when at midtown
     The why--people want a good chicken place at midtown, to go with the other food options at midtown

3. Testing the who:  Everyone in my who has this need, but the city of Gainesville as well as a chicken chain restaurant or an entrepreneur with a recipe for chicken could have this need as well.
    Testing the what: While Relish may have chicken on the menu in some way, and so may Pita Pit (I am not exactly sure), chicken is only available on a limited basis and is not the main focus of those places.  Gainesville residents who live go to Midtown is a boundary because not all uf students go to midtown, but the need also exists for UF students because the chicken restaurant could attract new customers and patrons.
    Testing the why:  boundaries of the "why"--People want a good chicken place at Mid for many reasons.  For a student who lives nearby, he would like to be able to walk to get chicken.  For a student who enjoys going to the bars, he might want the chicken place to eat chicken after going out.  For people who spend time at nearby Lib West and Study Edge, they may want brain food.  I think the why holds for everyone and the reasons for the way are broad.

4.  Interview 1:  In this interview I talked to my roommate who does not go to Midtown that often, I asked him who would benefit from this new chicken place, what he would want in a chicken place, and why he thinks Midtown would benefit from having one.  He said he thinks all UF students would benefit because chicken is hard to come by around campus unless you live on campus and want to heed the terrible hours of the campus Chick-Fil-A's.  He said people who go to bars, live in the area, and study at the nearby libraries at all hours would benefit, but he thinks the people who satisfy the "who" are people who would want chicken at night, which sets a boundary on the who for sure.  For the what, he says he would want a fast food type chicken place, which also puts a boundary on my "what" because I think that of people want a fast food place at midtown, what is stopping them from hopping in their cars and going to a nearby drive thru.  So, this may set another boundary on having a chicken place that people can walk to.  For the question of why a chicken place would be nice, he says that the mere option of another place being available at midtown is enough to make him want to go, which is a very good response because some people may love variety however they can get it,

Interview 2:  I interviewed a girl who works at Study Edge at midtown.  She thinks the boundary on who is limited to UF students only, which is a good point because why would anyone not a UF student go to midtown? This makes me think if a chicken place could generate revenue from non UF students.  For the question of what I asked her what would a chicken restaurant add to the area she works in.  She thinks a chicken place would add appeal for people who are around midtown on a daily basis would want to try it because it's new and would add more character to area.  She also thinks that having healthy chicken options would give people who can't find healthy options a reason to come to the chicken place.  Her responses to the questions of what made me realize that having a chicken place extends beyond my original what, which is that people can't simply have chicken at mid.  For the question of why people want a chicken place, she answered simply, and it builds on her last response: people want a chicken place because there is not one.  I do believe now that this boundary is need based for the lack of not having a chicken option at midtown.

Interview 3: My third interviewee is a line worker at Pita Pit at midtown , who I asked a few questions after I ate lunch.  I asked him informally about the who, what, and why for a potential chicken place at midtown.  He says that a chicken place will attract chicken fans from all over the city if the chicken is considerably tastier than competitors.  I never even considered this before chatting with him, because I thought there would be a boundary of just uf students in the area.  When I asked him about the what, I phrased the question to Pita Pit, asking what his patrons like the most about Pita Pit.  He said the location and variety are what sets them apart from competitors.  This answer made me realize the importance of the location that meet the "what" of this opportunity.  If a pita place can do well because of location and many menu items, so can a chicken place, which will have more common items.  This question also answered my "why" because people want that extra option--why? because people want more variety.  Through my first three interviews, I have found that people wanting variety in both food items and restaurant choices is a theme in these interviews.

Interview 4:  I interviewed a restaurant manager, a friends of my mom's, in my hometown of New Orleans.  I cut to the chase with him and told him my idea.  I then asked him about who he would be appealing to, what we're providing, and why I would consider opening a chicken place in the location.  He took a very product based approach, which I thought was interesting hearing Dr. Pryor discuss the chicken restaurant that opened without knowing how to make chicken.  He told me that given the need, that there is no chicken place, the business can prosper with good chicken, and that made a lot of sense to me.  The location is perfect, we have a customer base already with uf students and people who go to midtown.  This adds some closure that the boundaries are well set up for success.

Interview 5:  For this interview, I decided to do something completely different from the previous three and call my brother who goes to college in Georgia.  I told him about midtown, and its role to the community at UF, and then told him the need and my opportunity.  I then asked him if he thought he would have this need if he was a student at UF, this question will help the "who" boundary.  He said yes, but only when he wanted chicken, and if it's not better than Chick-Fil-A he would only go after going out.  This made me wonder....how might this affect the boundary of who has our need.  However, I still see the need being bigger than just people who want food after going out, because my brother does not understand the convenience that midtown is to UF students.  This question also answered the "what" question to me, we have to be able to serve good chicken to fulfill the extended what boundary, that people may not want the chicken if it's considerably less tasty than Chick-Fil-A.  For the question of why, I asked my brother if the "why" which is people wanting to be able to get chicken while they are at midtown, is justice for the need of simply not having a place to eat chicken.  He said that it was, but make sure not to operate the business based on that need, to keep the need in mind that having a chicken place is advantageous, but the business still needs to operate smoothly.  This helps the "why" because I now see that a business, even if it satisfies a need, has to accomplish goals other than merely accomplishing a need.

Given these interviews, I learned a lot about this opportunity.  My current belief is that success of this business based on the need of chicken.  Given this need the business will be successful.  However, what I learned from these interviews that I previously did not know gave me insight to broadening the needs of the people to come to the chicken restaurant.  The Pita Pit worker told me about how they believe their customers love their variety of menu items, and the New Orleans restaurant owner told me that we can extend our need and change the who aspect to "everyone needing to try this chicken" if it is that good.  The "what" aspect of the need has changed a little bit, going from chicken based on the need from a variety of chicken dishes, as stressed by the Pita Pit and Study Edge worker.  Variety also caters to "why" aspect of the need.  A new why, the why of "People will want to try our chicken because it's a new place" was very nice to hear because it adds another aspect to the need.  Overall, I think that this opportunity fulfills my specified need and other needs that I received from my interviewees.

Local Opportunities

1. "Unhappy Lakeview crowd seeks solutions to car burglary spike: 'We're not getting what we want.'"--New Orleans Advocate

https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_7f2bcb12-3ca4-11ea-8a9e-cbf8be24879b.html

This article highlights a meeting of Lakeview officials with residents over what can be done to stop the spike in car burglaries, which have been going up every year since 2015.  

problem:  car burglaries are rising in this neighborhood

This problem affects Lakeview residents who are feeling less safe.  The opportunity is to sell video surveillance systems that will be visible to potential burglars.

2. "Years After New Orleans Banned Smoking in Bars, A Look at How Others are Handling the Issue"--New Orleans Advocate

https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_b9f9eb74-4079-11ea-9932-dfbdf17c8fa0.html

In this article The Advocate takes a look at how the smoking ban in New Orleans bars affected business for bar owners, as well as how business in Jefferson Parish, the neighboring parish, has benefited from still allowing smoking in bars.

Problem: New Orleans bar owners have lost money because smokers who prefer not to walk outside to smoke are going to the next parish (county) over to drink and smoke inside.

Bar owners are losing money because of the city ordinance.  The opportunity exists for a new bar owner to create a luxurious outdoor smoking patio for smokers, if a New Orleans bar has an outdoor smoking area it will be less likely to lose money.

3. "Mayor Latoya Cantrell owes more than $95,000 in back taxes; IRA puts liens on her home."--New Orleans Advocate

https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_649502c4-43ba-11ea-ab67-7781b2901476.html

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell has struggled with unpaid taxes since 2013, and now owes more than 95,000 causing the IRS to place a lien on her home.  The article discusses how Cantrell promises to make this right.  The tax issue was also a question for her during the 2017 campaign.

problem: The mayor cannot pay her taxes on time

This a problem for the mayor who likely seeks reelection in 2021, however, her constituents may not vote for her if she continues to struggle paying her taxes.  A tax law firm can help the mayor and use the fact that they helped the mayor of the city of New Orleans to gain credibility to gain supporters of the mayor and other New Orleans citizens who may be going through the same thing.

4. "New Orleans' troubled school bus system: 1in 5 drivers does not have required permit."

https://www.nola.com/news/education/article_0e462276-42ee-11ea-b46e-4f752e4d98d5.html

This article looks at the New Orleans public school bus system.  1 in every 5 drivers does not have the proper permit from the city.  The Advocate says they conducted this study and hope that more drivers have acquired the permits since the news was made public.

problem: The bus drivers in the public school system do not all have permits.

People who ride these buses have this problem, because they are at the hands of an unsafe driver.  The opportunity exists for a company to come in and get the contract to handle the public school bus system since people have this problem and know it needs to change.

5. "Dixie Beer is back: Take a peek inside the new brewery opening Saturday in New Orleans."--New Orleans Advocate

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/article_48bc3982-3d43-11ea-80cc-eb73e0f1d660.html

Dixie Beer has not been brewed in New Orleans since Katrina, until the new brewery opened in New Orleans East on Saturday, January 25th.  

problem: With this local business booming, there's an opportunity for Hubig's Pies, another classic New Orleans company that has not produced pies since their factory burned down eight years ago.

 Dixie Beer has boomed since it was bought by investors and made again and sold in New Orleans.  Hubig's Pies were every bit as loved as Dixie Beer, so opportunity lies in producing these pies yet again.  The people of New Orleans have been deprived for far to long--these are the people that truly have this problem!

Opportunity

1. I believe that an opportunity exists in the midtown food market.  Specifically the late-night midtown food market.  Midtown lacks a chicken restaurant. 

2. The unmet need is the need for a good chicken option for people who go to midtown.  Think about it: there's Relish (burgers), Jimmy John's (sandwiches), Pita Pit (wraps/pitas), Burrito Famous (Mexican), and Italian Gator (Pizza).  There are other options close by as well but no primary chicken restaurant.  Any UF student has this need because of midtown's convenient location close to campus; however, students who patronize the bars at midtown have even more of this need.  Let's face it: drunk college kids like to eat at the end of the night when they have finished drinking.  I think many college kids would enjoy having a place to get tenders or a chicken sandwich after a long night spent at the bars.  This need used to be satisfied by The Coop; however, The Coop closed a few years ago.  I do not believe there are any attempts in the works to satisfy this need as of now.

3. The prototypical customer is anyone in the UF community, so I interviewed three different students who use midtown in a variety of ways.

4-1. The First Student is a fraternity member who enjoys going out on the weekends and getting a late night snack after a night of drinking.  I told him about the need, and he agrees with my addressed need of a chicken place at midtown.  When I asked him when he experiences this need, he said that after going to the bar he enjoys hitting the eateries at mid so he experiences the need when he wants chicken but can't find a place to get some.  He is a senior at UF, so he said the Coop used to be around when he was younger, so he's had it since the Coop closed.  He addresses the need by eating at the other restaurants as well as ordering food on UberEats, which he claims takes long and costs more than walking in and buying food, and he thinks that his current solution will cease to exist if Midtown were to add a chicken restaurant.

4-2. The Second student is a girl who does not go out frequently, and she uses midtown explicitly for food.  She pointed out that she wishes there was a chicken restaurant as well.  She said she really wants a place to get chicken tenders, her go-to studyfood item, when she leaves live Study Edge reviews.  She mentioned how easy it would be to walk out of Study Edge or Lib West which is very close to Midtown to get her chicken, when now she has to wait to catch the bus back to her apartment near sorority row, then hop in her car to go to Zaxby's on Archer or Popeye's on Main St.  She has always had this need, since she's only a freshman.  She first became aware of this need because it first took her an hour from the time she left the library to get her food from Popeye's, which is only about 15 minutes from her apartment.  The process infuriates her because if she had a place to get tenders at midtown, she could buy them then hope on the bus and be eating within 10-15 minutes.

4-3. The Third prototypical customer is a missionary from my church, which is on the same block as midtown.  His need is for catering chicken to the students who are involved with the student group at the church.  He becomes aware of this need when they have to continually order pizza or sandwiches, which they do because those places are so close to the church.  He wants to change up the food he serves, and said a tray of chicken would be perfect for his students and logistically smart for the church because he could walk to the chicken place at midtown to pick up the large order.  He's had this need since his students have jokingly complained about them serving the same food over and over.  They tried to address the need by ordering burgers, but everyone wants different things on their burgers so it is very hard to keep track.  He does not like ordering burgers and thinks chicken would be a great solution.

5. Now I will reflect on what I learned from interviewing potential customers, I must admit I learned so much and see the need much clearer now.  My first interviewee had my perspective on the need, which is that drunk kids want to be able to have chicken after going out.  However, interviewing the two other customers changed the opportunity completely.  With the girl who wants the chicken while she's studying, I now realize how much having a chicken place would make so much logistical sense to anyone who lives within walking distance.  Students won't have to drive or scoot far away to get chicken! Business during the day will change drastically.  As for the missionary, he opened up a whole new aspect of the potential business--catering.  Catering would add so much more revenue.

7.  In summary, I have a much clearer picture then I did previously:

a. My original opportunity hasn't changed, it is still fully there, but it's expanded drastically from what it was in the beginning which was a place for drunk kids to get chicken at night.
b. I believe the new opportunity is much more accurate, because only planning to solve the need for nighttime business is too narrow to be successful in the long-run.
c. I think adapting to your customer's needs is crucial to the success of any entrepreneurial venture.  Any entrepreneur needs to know his market.  Staying firm is stubborn and will not lead to positives over time; however, starting small so as to not take in large costs before your business becomes a success is important as well.

My Entrepreneurship Story

My first exposure to entrepreneurship happened when I was 13 years old, and I had just started eighth grade.  I walked a mile down the street from my new school to go get Five Guys with my brother when I noticed a store that one would not expect to find in New Orleans, Louisiana: a skiing supply store.  Seeing this store baffled me because there are no mountains within 500 miles of New Orleans, and I've seen snow three times in 18 years of living there.  I mentioned to my brother that this store, called Massey's, had to be going out of business, why would anyone put a ski supply store in New Orleans?

I guess I did not realize it at the time, but I was looking at a problem.  It made no sense to me why this store existed in New Orleans.  This relates to entrepreneurship because it was the first time in my life that I thought like one.  I would never have opened a ski store in a city that almost never gets below freezing, not to mention a city that is actually below sea level.

I enrolled in ENT3003 because I want to get a perspective on reason to start something.  I've learned about economics, accounting, and the technicalities of businesses, but in this class, I will learn about whys.  Why start a business, why sell a product/service.  I'm excited to learn why.

20 Things that Bug Me

Here are 20 things that really bug me about life. Enjoy:

1. The rule that only authorized vehicles can drive on the streets from The Hub to Turlington.

     This exists because campus has few access points and having those streets open would make campus authorized vehicles less efficient.

2. Max Kellerman's bold takes on ESPN.  If a player plays well in a particular game Max Kellerman will say something like "Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the history of the NFL."  Patrick Mahomes has only been in the league for two years.

     This exists due to a simple psychology term known as recency bias.  When something has happened recently, people tend to be biased in the way they view it.

3.  People who know my parents continuing to treat me like a child.
   
     This exists because to my parents friends, they still view me as "Rick and Lisa's son," which
makes sense because I am not yet completely on my own yet.

4. Online classes.  I feel like as a college student who lives on campus I should be able to go to any class and not have to plan my schedule around watching videos that my attention span is not long enough to watch on my own.

     This exists especially in the business school at UF because many students are in the business school and having online class makes it more efficient for UF to be able to have more business students.

5.  Waking up early

     This is a result of having responsibilities; it would be great if I didn't have any of those.

6. UF being a Pepsi campus.

    It's truly not even about Pepsi, but Pepsi/Frito Lay owns Gatorade, and UF will always have to serve the soda that is associated with the sports that was created here.

7.  Florida basketball recruiting top talent and not being a national powerhouse.

     I believe we do not have the coaching staff that develops talent properly.  From year to year our players do not get better, they do not hone their skills.

8.  The Chipotle on University running out of rice.

     This is the busiest restaurant around campus, but still how does a Mexican restaurant run out of rice!

9.  The UF Mark Bostick Golf Course not having a student discount.

    The course is unlike other student golf courses, being that this is actually the course where the teams play, so it is maintained well, so naturally it is more expensive to play.

10.  LSU fans.

     LSU fans are the most annoying, obnoxious fan base in all of sports.  They are like this because the school literally has nothing else to offer but a good football program, and the fans are proud of that.

11.  People who take things too seriously on twitter.

     Some people cannot take a joke, maybe because they have strict personalities or have strict parents.

12.  Golf parents who take their son's golf too seriously

     These parents are trying to live through their kids, so they get way too invested in their kids' golf games.

13.  ONE.UF server being down.

     This happens at the end of the semester, probably because lots of students are checking their grades so the server crashes.

14.  My roommates not letting me borrow their cars.

     I guess they are worried about me getting into an accident, which is a valid complaint.

15.  My fan making noise while it is running

     It's an old fan so it probably needs some oil.

16.  Publix on 34th not having deals on freezer meals

     For business sake, Publix probably cannot have them on sale all the team, which is understandable.

17.  People posting long concert performances on Snapchat

     I guess people do this to let their followers know that they were there, but most of the time it is impossible to hear the songs.

18.  People who ask me what I plan on doing with my life

    I think this bothers me because I do not really know what I want to do and am embarrassed to admit it.

19.  People who never answer their phones

     I hate waiting to tell people what I want to tell them when I have it on my mind

20.  People who own dogs and call themselves "parents"

     The responsibilities of having kids and pets can often be similar.


I found this very difficult; it took me more than an hour.  I am not exactly sure why it was so hard because I feel like there are a lot of little things that bug me.  I think I struggled because I am somewhat of an easygoing guy, so even if something bugs me, I am less than likely to do anything about it.