Venture Concept No. 1

I feel that my opportunity is one that people in society can greatly benefit from.  I would be offering a way for customers to use a cab service for an amount of times, whether that be unlimited or a set number, by having them prepay in monthly or yearly increments.  The cost would be based off of what the average ride costs throughout the day times what the average frequency of one user uses the service.  Since it is a bulk purchase, the user would be getting the rides at a fraction of what they would go for individually, and I, the seller, would profit by being able to guarantee the cabs/Ubers a bulk purchase of their services which they would sell to me at an even lower price of what I would sell to the customer.  The type of potential customer that I would be attracting with this service is everybody that uses cab services.  With how often people on college campuses and in cities use cabs, I think that they would be the most common users of this service.

There is only one force in the environment that is creating this opportunity.  Nobody is offering this type of service in the marketplace, so I feel that now would be the best time to launch my service.  This would give me a leg up over any potential completion because I would have been around the longest with the service, whereas everyone else would have to play catch up with me.  Given the uniqueness of my service I am offering, it is not defined geographically or demographically.  Instead, it is something that nearly everyone could use and would benefit from.  Because nobody else offers this type of service, potential customers are stuck paying fees per ride.  This adds up to a lot more in the long run than if they were to use my service.  With that, I do not think that any of the current customers would be loyal to the cab services and paying fees per ride, instead of saving money.  I think that they would happily switch to my service, which they could still use their favorite type of cab service with, but instead pay less per ride, through my bulk purchase offering.  This opportunity is very big, given that nobody else is offering this type of service.  While nobody else is offering this service, it is unclear how long the window of opportunity would be open.  Since my offering would be the first of its kind, it could take a while for others to catch up to me and offer similar, competitive services.

I have already explained what my opportunity is and how it works above, so I wont bore you with repeating the same stuff.  This service would allow for them to prepay in monthly or yearly increments for the service.  When compared to if the customer were to just pay per ride, they would be saving a lot of money with my service because of the bulk purchase in the increments specified above.

My concept will address the opportunity I have identified above.  Since no one else offers this service, I will be bringing on a completely new and never before seen idea.  With the abilities of being able to save potentially a great deal of money, many people will be attracted to this service that I am offering.  With how much money that customers could save through my bulk purchase method of cab rides, this will attract a lot of people to it.  With how many people on college campuses and in large cities use cabs, I feel that they will benefit the most from this.  Since almost nobody feels attached to a certain cab service, I do not think that it will be difficult to get customers to switch to my service.  Also, since my service just adds on to what the existing services are, they might be more inclined to switch since they already know and are comfortable with the cab services already offered.  Given that I am the first person to produce this service, I have no competitors as of right now.  Maybe after others see the success my service has, they will try to replicate my service. I think that pricing and customer experience will play the biggest roles in customers choosing my service.  The price has to be low enough to attract people and show that they can save money through choosing my service rather than paying by each ride.  Also, customer experience is going to affect them, but that is not something I can control beyond the computer and mobile app.  Since the rides are performed through existing cab services, those companies are liable to the customer experience.  With how my service is performed through online services, I do not think it would be that difficult to maintain the service for ongoing production.  I do not think I would need a large team to oversee it.  I would mostly just need a marketing team to promote it and a technology team to oversee that everything is working for the online services.

My most important resource will be great performance through the mobile and computer applications.  With these, the ability to perform just as they should will be the most important to the people first using my service and continuing to use it.

            The next thing for my service would be to work to continue the same great service as when I start as well as working to add new cab companies that may become popular to my existing available cab options.
            For me, I would like to see myself in five years as still overseeing my company and watching it continue to succeed.  After ten years I would like to see myself as potentially having another person oversee the day-to-day operations and I only work on major projects and improvements.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1. The thing that stood out the most for me was the concept of continuous innovation.  Continuous innovation is where you make gradual modifications to an existing product or service.  I have learned about the idea in my marketing class, but liked the way they described it and found it more interesting to read in this article.
2. One thing that was confusing for me was all of the business terms used in the article.  Since it is a business article it makes sense to use that style of language, but it can be confusing for someone that is not completely knowledgable in that language.
3. Two questions I have for the author are:
1. Is crowdsourcing the way of the future with creating new products, especially given our increasing technological use?
• This would be good to know because it allows a potential company to know which method of innovation could work the best for them.
2. How many innovations does the average entrepreneur make before he creates one that the market really likes?
• This would be good to know so that an entrepreneur understands how long it can take before people start to like and adopt his service or product.
4. I don't disagree with anything, I agreed with everything in the chapter.

Amazon Whisperer

• The current way I make money is through bulk purchases.  In these bulk purchases, I collet a lot of money at one time, and it covers for a certain time period of services.
• The next product offering I should make would be to have my services very own app.  Originally I thought it would be convenient to just "piggyback" off of Uber, Lyft, or other cab service apps, but having my own app would allow the user to access all of those cab services all in one app.  This would allow time saving from going through all of those different apps and instead just have them all available in one app.
• This will improve the user experience.  It make things easier for the user by allowing them to see all those cab services that are available through my service offering.
• The closest thing I could find is the Uber app.  It only allows users to receive cab services through Uber.
  
• The people really like how easy the app is to use and how easy it is to get a ride very quickly.  They don't like how the app sometimes does not work, thus not allowing them to use the service.
• I would allow more than just one cab service to be available on my app.  This would allow people to have access to Lyft, Uber, or any other cab service.
• This would be good to add to my existing service offering because it would then perfectly connect people from the app to my service if they choose to get a ride.  This would mainly speed up the time it takes from deciding you need to use my service to actually using my service.

My Unfair Advantage

• List of all the resources in my venture:
1. Online service
• V - It is very valuable in an growing technological society
• R - It is common for online services
• I - It is very imitable
• N - It is only substitutable by mobile and computers
2. Available on both phones and computers
• V - It is very valuable in an growing technological society
• R - It is somewhat common for multi-platform services
• I - It is very imitable
• N - It is only substitutable by online service
3. Customer Service
• V - It is very valuable
• R - It is extremely common 
• I - It is extremely easy to imitate
• N - It is un-substitutable
4. Excellent prices
• V - It is extremely valuable in a post-recession economy
• R - It is relatively common
• I - It is easy to imitate
• N - It can be substituted by a service that a customer values more
5. Leadership to keep the service running
• V - It is extremely valuable
• R - It is sort of common
• I - It is relatively easy to imitate
• N - It is not substitutable
6. Drive to ensure highest quality
• V - It is extremely valuable
• R - It is sort of common
• I - It is hard to imitate
• N - It is not substitutable
7. Extensive list of employees that can perform service
• V - It is extremely valuable
• R - It is realtively hard to come by
• I - It is very difficult to imitate
• N - It is not substitutable
8. Add on service to existing successful services
• V - It is very valuable to add on to a wildly successful service
• R - It is relatively hard to come by
• I - It is hard to imitate
• N - It could be substituted by a new successful service
9. 24/7 availability of service
• V - It is extremely valuable
• R - It is very uncommon
• I - It is very hard to imitate becasue of how typical business work weeks go
• N - It is not substitutable
10. Doesn't take long for service to begin
• V - It is very valuable
• R - It is somewhat hard to come by
• I - It is difficult to imitate
• N - It is not substitutable

• I think the 24/7 availability of my service is my top resource.  Being able to allow people to take cab/Uber rides whenever they want to wherever they want is an invaluable resource, especially when they have already prepaid in a bulk purchase.  It allows for me to have a superior advantage over any company that would decide to compete with me.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1. The most surprising thing for me was how much information needs to go on each chart and even budgets.  Being in financial accounting here, I have some previous experience with this, but it still surprises me so much with how detailed they need to be.
2. One thing that confused me was fixed costs vs variable costs.  I have heard about that on TV as well as read about in the textbook, but it still confuses me.  I guess I just don't understand the reason behind using one or the other that well.
3. Two questions I have for the author are:
1. Is there any specific industry that can benefit the most from capital budgeting?
• This would be good information for a company to have so if they are in that industry then they can make sure to capital budget.
2. How do you gather the information for the expected returns equation?
• This is important to know for a company that would have to use this equation.
4. I don't disagree with anything, I agreed with everything in the chapter.

Growing My Social Capital

Domain Expert in my Industry:

1. My uncle who worked in California is the person I chose for this.  He worked in the technology industry for decades and made deals in linking two companies up to work together.
2. He is filling the domain expert spot.
3. He is my uncle so I was able to just send him an email.  
4. He gave me information on how he has made deals in the past for companies he has worked for and did not ask me for anything in return because I am his nephew.
5. He has many contacts in the technology industry that I could use as well as his prior experience in situations I could face would be very helpful to have.

Expert on my Market:

1. My cousin who lives in California is the person I chose for this.  He works for Google and is in their customer experience sector.
2. He is filling the market expert spot.
3. He is my cousin so I was able to just send him a text.
4. He works in customer experience with Google services so he knows how to market their services to everybody.  While this is not a specific market, it still contains my target market.  His knowledge would be helpful in the future for my service and he did not ask me for anything in return because I am his cousin.
5. His knowledge in knowing target markets and having real world experience with it is valuable information, especially since it is a technology area.

Important Supplier to my Industry:

1. My other cousin who works in Chicago is the person I chose for this.  He has sold insurance to major transportation companies.
2. He is filling the supplier spot.
3. He is my cousin so I just sent him a text.
4. He gave me information on how he works with transportation companies as well as who some of his clients are in that area of work.  Sine we are cousins he did not ask for anything in return and was just happy to help.
5. His knowledge will help me in that I now have an idea on how it is to work with transportation companies, even if it is just from an insurance standpoint.

I learned that family connections can really help, especially when it comes to networking.  I am very lucky in that most of the people in my family are in business or technology related fields, so it was not too difficult when trying to find people that fit each part of the assignment.  Moving forward, I plan on continuing to use family connections as they are a great tool if you have them.  No, I have only ever used family connections in the past, so this was no different.  I will say that I need to start working on getting connections outside of my family for the future, but for the time being family networking connection is fine.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

One of the feedback comments that std out to me was how I would still earn revenue if people started to try to abuse the rides.  My response was to include how I charge per person's service package in the elevator pitch.  This would allow people to rest assured that I would not get shorted money if people try to abuse the system.  One thing that surprised me was still the overwhelming support for the service.  I am really happy that I continuously get great support for my idea!  Some feedback that I thought was silly was that some people just don't like Uber and felt to share that, but not include any tips for improvement.

Based on the feedback, I only changed one thing.  I included how I would charge per person's service package.  This I felt was the biggest concern of people based off of their feedback, given their worries of people trying to abuse the rides and me not being able to earn enough revenue.  With this addition, I feel that I have addressed the most pertinent concerns from my feedback.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

I found this weeks reading to be very interesting.  What stood out the most to me was all the different parts that go into creating an effective marketing strategy for a product or service.  As being someone that is taking Marketing currently, I have been somewhat exposed to all of the different factors, but seeing them again makes it still very surprising to me.  One thing I found confusing was how they categorize the priorities and major purchases for each type of person based on their age.  I am not completely sure if they have taken enough samples of people from each age group or if it is still that way since the samples were taken to make those interpretations fro each group.  I agreed with everything the author said. Overall, I thought this was a good chapter to read for this week.

Some questions I have for the author:

• In your opinion, what is the best research technique for a company to use, regardless of cost?
• This would be good information to know since you could have the authors insights in what is the best technique and that way the company is not wasting time doing a lesser technique.
• Which research technique have you found to be the least effective?
• This would be good for the company to know so that they don't waste money on techniques that aren't as good.

My Secret Sauce

1. I am very hard working.  I always put my biggest effort into things and try to make sure that I did all I can to complete a task.
2. I have good communication.  I always try to make sure that my thoughts are clearly understood by others.  Also, I work to make sure everyone is on the same page with things.
3. I am a positive person.  I try to always look on the bright side of things regardless of the situation.  This is good because I can help to keep the mood light.
4. I am adventurous.  I don't just always do the same old things over and over again.  I try to do different things and experience everything around me.
5. I am independent.  I do not need to rely on everybody else to do a task.  I am a go getter and like being able to accomplish tasks on my own.

Note: Because of the requirements of talking to five people who know you best for the second part, I had to phone call my friends and record their audio since some of them were out of state.  I just continued with the audio to make the second part look uniform.

Here is what they thought of me:

This is Shawn.  He says I have a drive to succeed at all costs.  I think this goes in part with my hard working mentality.

This is my mom.  She said that I have an optimistic attitude.  In addition, she says I have the drive to get things done no matter what.

This is Megan.  She says I am a creative person and that I have very unique ideas.  I agree with her statement on me.

This is my dad.  He says that I am very mature for my age.  He says that he has seen it for a while now and that I still am very mature.

This is Alex.  He says that I am a very hard working person.  He goes on to say that I work my hardest to always get the job done.

I think the way I see myself and the way others see me is very similar.  A lot of the traits I listed above were also ones that people said about me.  I did not think there were any differences between what I thought of myself versus what people said about me.  I think that my interviewees were correct about me.  If I had to correct anything, maybe I would add that I am mature for my age.  I do not know what I would take out, but I would definitely add that one in.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I feel that I am an outgoing person that likes to take the initiative on things. I like taking leadership roles as well as being there to see things transform from just an idea all the way to actual implementation. I aspire one day to eventually run my own firm and be there to ensure that it operates as intended. If I were to start a business from my opportunity I would think that it would take up a major part in my life. I think this because it would be essentially my "baby" and I would want to see it grow from just an idea I had for a class into something that people everywhere could use and appreciate.
2. I would be offering a way for customers to use a cab service for an amount of times, whether that be unlimited or a set number, by having them prepay in monthly or yearly increments.  The cost would be based off of what the average ride costs throughout the day times what the average frequency of one user uses the service.  Since it is a bulk purchase, the user would be getting the rides at a fraction of what they would go for individually, and I, the seller, would profit by being able to guarantee the cabs/Ubers a bulk purchase of their services which they would sell to me at an even lower price of what I would sell to the customer.
3. The demographic I would specifically target would be the 18 to 30 range of young adults.  This group is known to be the most common users of cab services, especially when they are on college campuses.
4. This service would allow for them to prepay in monthly or yearly increments for the service.  When compared to if the customer were to just pay per ride, they would be saving a lot of money with my service because of the bulk purchase in the increments specified above.
5. This would set me apart from the rest because I would be the only company offering this service to customers.  This would allow for me to be the sole company in this area of the economy.

I feel that these elements fit together really well. They all connect to each other to cohesively create a service that has not been seen before. This would allow for great profits for the company and greater customer happiness. I feel that if I were to continue with this idea and see it all the way through to implementation, I would be amazed at how fantastic it would turn out as well as make a positive impact on the economy and society as a whole.

Feedback Memo:

1. How will I charge people?  I included this in the section involving what I am offering to my customers.  It is in the bolded section.
2. Will I profit from this bulk purchase?  I included this in the section involving what I am offering to my customers.  It is in the bolded section.
3. Whats the right price for this product?  The right price depends on the location the person is in, as stated in the bolded part on the idea napkin, I go over it there.
4. What are the logistics?  Since this is only an online system, there wouldn't be too much logistics to worry about other than connecting the cab services to the customers through my product.
5. They liked the idea of the service I was offering!  This wasn't something I could incorporate, but since this is a recurring thing I saw in every comment, I thought it was still noteworthy enough to put in the feedback memo.