12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Students of the University of Florida are the targeted group for my business. There are so many places to eat on campus, but so few places where one can bring a meal from home and heat it up in order to save money and make more health-conscious decisions. In addition, there are no cheap options options for a hot meal. It's all upwards of $3 or so.

With all of the interviews I've conducted, every student had a kind of "ah-ha" moment. None of them really recognized the need before I put it in words. After I mentioned my idea to them, most were eager to share their disappointment in the lack of convenience as well as contribute ideas of their own to help create a better solution.

When I asked what they do now when they're hungry between classes, some students say they just go hungry, some purchase a lunch or snack, and some bring their own food with them. As mentioned previously, no one seems to be keenly aware of this need on campus until it's brought up in specific terms, so there's nothing that anyone really does to solve the problem. As a result, there are no Google searches unless it's looking for restaurants on or near campus.

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Coco Chanel

• What surprised you the most?

Before this assignment, I knew next to nothing about Coco Chanel! I was surprised to learn that she grew up in an orphanage after her mother died and her father left her there. This is where she learned to sew under the guidance of nuns.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire and respect her perseverance and work ethic. She could have chosen to blame her circumstances and remain mediocre but she chose to work and pursue an art that brought her happiness.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I am aware that many don't find this a fault, but as someone more traditionally-minded, I do find it a fault that Chanel was in a relationship with a duke of Westminster for several years and was proposed to several times. She is known to have said, “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster—but there is only one Chanel!” Perhaps I watch too much Frasier, but it seems to me that there is an underlying hint of pride and distrust to be found in that statement that are probably due to her childhood experiences. She also said that she no more wished to weigh a man down than a bird. I think that's an interesting statement for someone who is in a relationship and refuses to marry that person. So many complain about dating someone for 5 years and not being proposed to. Isn't that a weight on the mind?

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Absolutely! The Great Depression as well as World War II forced her to shut down her shops. In addition, she made a bad deal concerning her perfume under which she only received 10% of the profits.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Perseverance, passion, and determination.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I think it's confusing that Chanel made such a deal that compromised her earnings from her perfume. I wish that was explained more.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

How did you persevere during such hard times - whether is was when you were abandoned by your father after the death of your mother or when you were forced to shut your businesses down during the Depression and War? What was your driving force?

Who was your role model?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think she would say that hard work (as well as the right connections) is the greatest factor in the equation of success and I would agree.

10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am currently a full time student at the University of Florida; I work three jobs and do my best at whatever the task at hand is. I am a pharmacy technician, phone call campaigner, and I babysit. In the past, I worked at my father's grocery store in all departments (meat, grocery, produce, cooler, cash register, etc.) as well as interned at a local library and then a bakery in Naples, Florida called "Epiphany" where I was able to clean, bake, decorate, and eat the best brownies I've ever had in my life!

As mentioned in a previous post, I was brought up to work. Never was I handed anything - I always had to earn my rewards. This trained me to think as worker and push myself harder than any of my friends. While they were hanging out during break, I was working two jobs - 10 -12 hours a day sometimes.

By the time I graduated high school, I had my associates degree and a 5.04 GPA - all this because I was taught that there is no reward without much effort and nothing good comes easy.

These experiences helped form me into the person I am today: a hard worker with an ever-evolving skill set.

In the future, I would like to travel. I would like to teach English in a foreign country someday, open a coffee shop and cafe, perhaps have my own cooking show! In regards to this assignment and the business idea I chose to pursue, I don't see it playing much of a role outside of the university. I believe this experience will help guide my decisions in the future, but I do not see myself pursuing it in the long run.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I am offering the idea of a heating station in several locations throughout campus so that students can save money by bringing lunches from home. Accompanying this heating station, I think it would be great to have a frozen foods vending machine with cheap lunches (hello, $0.94 chicken pot pie!).

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I am offering this to the students of UF. We all have long days on campus sometimes - whether that's because we have three lectures a day or just do all of our studying in the libraries. Either way, we all get hungry because we're all human. Unlike the staff members of UF, we don't have access to microwaves. We are forced to either starve or buy a $7.00 lunch from Starbucks, Panda Express, Subway, Firehouse Subs, etc. None of these are healthy options and they're all too pricey for students!

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

Students will care because they work hard and don't want to blow their money eating out. Some may not care and some may have a dining card. But for the rest of us, we like to be conservative and smart with our money.

Microwave access will be free of charge. The frozen foods vending machine would cost money, but not much (e.g. $0.94 chicken pot pie, $1.29 burger, etc.). It is a better deal than waiting in line at Starbucks for an overpriced panini sandwich.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

See my answer to question 1.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

I do believe that my work ethic will get me far and that my experiences will help me make some right choices, but I know that I am far from where I need to be in order to start a business. I think the first steps in this process would be to find out who at UF would be willing to listen to this idea and able to help me implement it.

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

The need is a heating station on the UF campus so that students who bring a lunch to school can heat it up and enjoy it. This will save them money because they will not have to buy a lunch; it will also save them time because they will not have to wait in a lunch line.

Who falls outside the boundary of this need?

Staff, professors, and students who have a dining card. The staff and professors have access to microwaves in their break rooms or offices while students with dining cards can hit up the cafeterias if they're hungry. These groups would be the outside the boundary of this need.

What is the point where the identified need differs from another need?

The main need here has to do with convenience, being more financially responsible, making healthier decisions, and hunger! I think the point where this need differs from another need is when a person asks themselves if they're hungry and the answer is no.

Why: is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary?

The underlying cause of the outsiders' need is simply access. This is the reason the outsiders' will not need access to a heating station. They already have access to hot food whether it's from the cafeteria or because they already have access to a microwave in their break rooms.

Inside the Boundary

Who is in: Students who are keen on saving money, making healthier decisions when it comes to food, and students who prefer to eat a hot meal rather than a bag of chips for lunch.

What the need is: Access to a heating station in multiple areas on campus.

Why the need exists: Students get hungry between classes or study sessions and often want to eat a hot meal but not at the expense of travelling over a mile to the other side of campus to wait in a long line and eat food that is not healthful.

Outside the Boundary

Who is not: Staff and students who have a meal plan.

What the need is not: The group mentioned above do not need this heating station because they either already paid for their meals in advance or have access to a heating station in their break room.

Alternative explanations: Some people prefer to snack instead of eat a lunch, aren't on campus all day, or already have this need met in another way.

8A – Solving The Problem

In this assignment, I am required to find a solution to a customer need.

Remind me again; what's the problem?

Many students are poor, yet we have a reputation for eating out a lot. I think we would be able to save more money if we had the option of heating up food from home on campus. All the students that I have spoken to agree! It doesn't make sense to buy a $5 sandwich from Starbucks when we could just starve through lecture instead and eat at home. Furthermore, it would provide us with an opportunity to make healthier choices because the only food options on campus are Starbucks, Panda Express, Chipotle, etc. None of these places offer the option of purchasing a healthy meal at a reasonable price. And many of them require a hike! Not all students are able to get to the other side of campus for lunch between classes and wait in a 10 minute line for a meal that doesn't provide proper nutrition.

So what's the solution?

My solution is to set up heating stations around campus - mainly in libraries. These heating stations would consist of microwaves and sanitary wipes. Ideally, three or four microwaves would be provided and students can maintain them by cleaning up after themselves. I think it would also be a great idea for there to be a frozen foods vending machine near this heating station for students who didn't bring a meal but still want something hot and at a more reasonable price. A $0.94 chicken pot pie is filling and certainly a more financially feasible lunch than that $5 sandwich from Starbucks.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The opportunity I would like to pursue: I believe that it would be beneficial for the University of Florida students to have access to a frozen foods vending machine and heating stations on various areas of campus.

The Who, the What, and the Why:

Students, staff, and guests would benefit from this opportunity. Let's take a look at each group:

Students would benefit from a heating station because it would provide them with the opportunity to save money by bringing a meal from home. By the same token, if they do not bring a lunch but would still like to enjoy a hot meal, they can purchase one from the accompanying frozen foods vending machine without having to wait in line at the cafeterias or various restaurants on campus.

Guests would have the same opportunities mentioned above.

Staff members would have the same opportunities as students but those of them who work in restaurants would potentially see a decrease in customers during rush hours which would help them to be more efficient and decrease the risk for making a mistake on a customer's order.

The university as a whole would benefit financially due to the monetary gain made by the frozen foods vending machine should it be successful but also the students would be happier with more opportunities to choose from when it comes to food options.

The Interviews

My interviewees all said: "that's a great idea" and would love to see this idea put into play. Beau said she would love to see more heating stations around campus. Staff have access to several microwaves in their break rooms, but she only knows of three locations on campus where students can heat their food and, if you don't have classes near those buildings, then it's quite a walk. She said that the frozen food vending machine would be great but the food would have to be cheap enough for college students:

"I'm not paying $6.00 for a Starbucks sandwich!" Beau told me. "That's too expensive. And many students are becoming more aware of how to make healthy decisions when it comes to food. But we're all desperate and I think we would pay $2.00 for a frozen meal. It beats making the trip to Reitz Union for overpriced junk food."

The four other students that I spoke to also said that it would be very convenient and save them a lot of money if there were heating stations on campus. One of them said that hygiene was a concern to them and I agreed. When I suggested that it might be a good idea to have sanitation wipes near the heating station, she said, "yes! We can clean up after ourselves! But the three microwaves on campus don't have anything for us to clean up with, so they get pretty disgusting."

Another student said the line for the single microwave in Turlington was quite long, so she and another student heated their lunch up together. It was a quick solution, but it's inconvenient and certainly not a permanent one.

Summary

I learned that many students were not fully aware there was a need here before I asked them about it. They never thought there might be an alternative to eating out or starving. But when presented with this option, they all agreed it would benefit the student community immensely. Not all students will need this, but many of them would be grateful. I also learned that sanitation could be an issue if students are not presented with a means of cleaning up after themselves - but also if students simply choose not to clean up after themselves.

Overall, I think this would be a great opportunity to help students and guests make healthier decisions, but also make life a little more convenient.

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Two Economic Trends:

1. Unemployment Rate is very low.

(a) Source: Beaureau of Labor Statistics, Eurostat

(b) This information leads me to believe that an opportunity exists because the fewer people who are unemployed, the more productive society is as a whole. This leads to more ideas being generated, more products being created, and as we will see in a moment, an increase in GDP.

(c) The consumer with the opportunity: everyone. Many of those who were without jobs now have them; therefore, they are more productive members of society and can better provide for their families. Shoppers also have more opportunities because they are given more options to choose from when making a purchase. The United States benefits because the government does not have to provide for more people; instead, the citizens are taking care of themselves. The world in general benefits because the US becomes a more competitive country economically due to an increase in productivity.

(d) I see no way in which this opportunity can be exploited in general. More productivity is a good thing. Individuals with jobs and taking care of themselves and their families is a good thing. Perhaps the only negative impact would be a potential increase in workers being taken advantage of but there are a myriad of laws that protect workers and their safety.

(e) I saw this opportunity because it's one of the largest factors in determining how healthy our society is as a whole. As an economics major, this is difficult to ignore.

2. GDP is on the rise.

(a) Source: World Bank

(b) This graphs shows an upward trend in US GDP. This, and the declining unemployment rate, lead me to believe that the US is becoming a more economically competitive country due to an increase in productivity. Based on that information, there are many opportunities for investing in stocks and bonds.

(c) The opportunity here is for all who can find a way to take advantage of this information by investing in the market or starting one's own business .

(d) This opportunity is easy to take advantage of but comes with its own set of problems. One must have foresight when investing. Although the upward trends lead many to think and spend optimistically, we must also think of the future and save as much as we can now in case of another economic crash like the one in 2009.

(e) I saw this opportunity for the same reason as the one above: it's one of the largest factors in determining how healthy our society is as a whole. Also, my brother has invested in the stock markets since he was about 14-years-old, so I try to pay attention to how the stocks are doing.

Two Regulatory Changes

1. Asian products are taking off in western countries.

From Korean beauty skin care products to Japanese cars to basically everything from China, the presence of Asian products in western countries is huge. I'd like to focus just on the first of the three listed examples: K-Beauty products. Not to sound like a hipster, but I was on the K-beauty train before it was cool (in the US). While this might not seem like a traditional regulatory change, I believe it fits here because we are seeing a change in the mindset of many Americans when it comes to beauty and that will lead to a change in the beauty industry as we can already see.

(a) Source: NBC News

(b) I believe there is an opportunity here because, we live in a consumerist, capitalist society. We are always looking for the next big thing and, women specifically, want to look young for as long as possible. We spend tons of money on beauty products that promise a "youthful glow", "reduced appearance of wrinkles", and the "disappearance of dark circles". We want to be in on this trend (although it's more of a way of life with 10 steps to the Korean skincare process).

(c) The opportunity here is for investors, beauty gurus, YouTube people, and the makeup industry. The "prototypical customer" is average, everyday women who use makeup on a daily basis or who just care about their appearance in general. It's also those of us who have a hard time resisting cute packaging. I'm over the grown-up, sleek look of American packing. Pass the cute bunny mists and animal-print sheet masks, please!

(d) I don't think there is a way to exploit this opportunity.

(e) I saw this opportunity because I really believe in what the Korean beauty system promotes. It's not just about having perfect skin. It's about the difference between covering up your blemishes and preventing them by taking care of yourself. I agree more with that philosophy on beauty than the western idea of "cover it up". This change in mindset makes all the difference.


2. Tax policy

This is one of the largest regulatory changes happening right now and I think it's not one that should be ignored. We already see major changes with the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but there are many more to come.

(a) Source: Business News Daily

(b) Already we see changes being made due to the passing of this new tax law. Large companies have given employees $1,000 bonuses and raises due to this regulatory change. This leads to opportunities on the individual, societal, national, and global levels. Individuals who benefit from the bonuses will probably put some of that back into society by spending more money. Society will benefit due to the increase in spending because that creates a need for more product development and even jobs to cater to more consumers. On the national level, an increase in spending increases the GDP and consumer outlook. On a global scale, the US becomes a more prosperous country due to more products and sales which can have an impact on imports and exports and therefore a make the US a more competitive nation.

(c) The consumer benefiting the most would be the ones getting the bonuses and raises, I think. They see an immediate change and are able to change their lifestyle based on those changes. Businesses also benefit because they can keep more of what they earn.

(d) I am sure there are ways for this opportunity to be exploited, but I do not know how.

(e) This opportunity is a hard one to miss. It's all we heard about during the month of December and we still hear about the immediate impacts that it's making today. We will continue to hear about the effects of this tax law for years to come.