30 Final Reflection

1.) The first assignment, Bug List, was the most fun for me. I liked being able to write about the things that bother me and then later expand on them and turn them into a business. The most dreadful assignments were probably the elevator pitches. It's hard videotape yourself and have everything go well. It was time consuming because I had to gather enough material to make the time limit, find a good place to record, and the worst part was probably taping it. It was difficult for me to watch myself while maintaining a good volume, having proper body language, and not speak to quickly due to nerves. I also wasn't fond of interviewing people but I think it got easier with time and overall made it easier to talk to strangers.

2.)I think the halfway experience was one of the most formative and joyous assignments. I found it to be very useful to analyze myself and discuss what keeps me going when I feel like giving up. Identifying your prime motivations is important and I really enjoyed reading what keeps others going for the peer reviews. Not only is it heartwarming to read about the little (or big) things that keep others going, but it also gives us other potential motivators. For example, I wrote about how I keep a picture next to my desk where I study and someone said that they would start doing that themselves. I was personally proud of my ability to interview people as well as record my elevator pitches well. I am normally pretty shy and don't enjoy speaking in front of people but I feel that these assignments really brought me out of my comfort zone.

3.) I don't think I'm 100% there, but I do feel that I'm very close to having an entrepreneurial mindset. I feel that it's easier for me to identify potential opportunities and I often find myself looking at opportunities and trying to find a solution for them. I honestly think everyone should take this class because it does change your mindset and really allows you to think like an entrepreneur.

4.) I think to be successful in this class you should really manage your time or at least try to get your assignments done ahead of time. I found myself stressed at times because I felt that I had more on my plate than I could handle due to not completing the assignments in a timely manner. I would also suggest paying close attention to the lectures for the sake of the quizzes. I've watched every lecture but for whatever reason the details that are in the quiz seem to escape me. I think the best way to get into the entrepreneurial mindset is to think as if your business is something you're actually going to invest your time and money in. It allows you to really pay attention to your opportunity and everything you could possibly do to be successful with it.

I chose this illustration because the book I read about Steve Jobs also stuck out to me and I found it very motivating. He was a man with an entrepreneurial mindset.

29A Venture concept 2

1. Venture Concept
Opportunity
More and more people are doing what they can to eat healthy foods without breaking the bank. The target market consist of college students (since they usually look for ways to improve their diets and don't have a ton of money), vegans, and vegetarians because a lot of restaurants don't have a wide variety of alternatives for those who don't eat meat or any sort of animal byproduct. College students currently satisfy the need of being healthy by cooking themselves or by going to healthier places such as Chipotle or Bolay but they can get expensive and neither of them have a drive-thru. Vegans/vegetarians also solve the need by cooking or going to restaurants that do offer alternatives that they can eat. Chipotle and Bolay both offer vegetarian alternatives but there isn't a lot of variety. I think this opportunity has a lot of potential and will be prevalent until there is a fast, cheap way to have a healthy diet as well as cater to vegans/vegetarians. Another potential group of customers are parents. Parents often worry about what their families eat and want their kids to be as healthy as possible. Many parents settle for unhealthy fast food because it is cheap and easy, but imagine having the same opportunity, except much healthier. 

Innovation
The process used to keep the food healthy, cheap, and fast is a simple one. Most restaurants get their food delivered to them 1-3 times a week but those places freeze their ingredients. Ordering from Florida Food Service every day will allow the food to be fresh and the delivery costs to be cheap since having every day deliveries discounts the overall price. All food will be made on a daily basis, multiple times a day in order to keep it fresh. Prep employees will come in around 6 a.m. to prepare food for the day (e.g. premake veggie burgers/nuggets, prep low-carb bread dough, spiralize zucchini for noodles, etc.). Prices on the food items will be slightly more expensive than your traditional fast food places based on our high quality combined with our speed. For example, a ten-piece of nuggets at McDonald's is $4.49 and our veggie nuggets will be around $6 but will be given to the customer in the same amount of time. Prices for rice and veggie bowls are generally $7 to $8 at Chipotle but will be around $6 to $7 at my restaurant. I would also like to provide heathier beverages such as fresh juices, teas, and maybe healthier sodas rather than sugary drinks like normal sodas and lemonade.

Venture Concept
My business will allow prospect customers to save time and eat healthily on a budget. Customers that want to improve/maintain their diet will choose my food over competitors' because it is healthier and just as quick, if not quicker. Those who don't eat meat or any animal byproduct will also choose my restaurant because we will have a variety of options to cater to their needs and it won't be too expensive. I don't think it will be hard to get consumers to switch to my product since many people only eat fast food out of convenience and not for the nutrition. I think they will switch because it meets the needs of quickness, affordability, healthy, and we offer vegetarian options. My competition for quickness consists of local fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. but their weakness lies in their lack of nutritional food. Competitors for healthy food are Chipotle, Bolay, and Whole Foods but they don't have a drive-thru option and they are more on the expensive side. Gainesville is a good location to have because there are a wide variety of college students and families here which makes up most of my customer base. On top of that, more and more people are switching to a meatless diet. Price is also a major factor because because half of the selling point is it's one of the cheapest health foods around. In the mornings, the restaurant would have 4-5 employees for prep-work from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. From 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. I would have around 7 employees working and around 8 employees for the evening. The business will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. or until supplies run out for the day. There will be 2-3 cashiers, and 4-6 cooks in the kitchen.

Three Minor Elements
I have to very important resources. The first is my ample amount of funds and advice my former CEO grandfather will be willing to give me. Most start-ups aren't lucky enough to have a surplus of funds nor proper advising, raising my chances of success. The second is the fact that the food will be fast, healthy, and pretty affordable. The combination of these three elements will be hard to replicate because of the unique deal I have worked out with the supplier as well as the hard work it will take to keep the high quality of freshness and affordability.


The second opportunity I would want to tackle would be opening more locations and/or changing the menu based on customer desires. I think more locations will give a broader audience the ability to have the food and changing the menu based on customer wants will give more people a reason to purchase and enjoy the food.


In 5 years I'd like to have 2-3 successful locations with this restaurant and I'd like it to be very popular with the Gainesville crowd. In the next decade, I'd like to be working on expanding this venture even further or working on a new and innovative venture to assist people further with being healthy and/or improving their lives. The first venture will teach me a lot about customer likes and dislikes, allowing me to tailor future ventures to meet the needs of the people.

2. Feedback Summary
Everyone seems to love my idea and discusses how they think there is a big need for this restaurant since kids our age are always looking for something new to eat, something healthy, and don't have a huge amount of money. People also question how easy it will be to keep my prices low and still make a profit. Everyone loves the idea of targeting vegans and vegetarians since this is a growing trend as well as the idea to provide healthy drinks that are more than just water and Powerade. They also liked my 5 year plan. I was also told I should expand more on my opportunity section.

3. How I've Changed
Based on my feedback, I expanded more on my opportunity and added a new target market. I also incorporated my idea for healthier beverages in the innovation section. I continued to address my prices and how they compare to my competitors as well. I kept everything else the same because my feedback was very positive about elements such as my 5 year plan.

4. I included this photo because I think it's important for entrepreneurs to shoot their shot otherwise you'll never know if you'll succeed.

27 Reading Reflection 3

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

1.)Theme: The type of mindset one has greatly impacts their ability to succeed. One could even learn how to switch between mindsets in order to broaden their span of ideas because your mindset truly affects every day life.
2.)This class really emphasizes having the ability to identify and expand on opportunities. This book relates to that by discussing how having the right mindset will allow you to increase your chance of finding the right opportunity and ultimately allowing you to succeed. It talks about how you can have various mindsets and utilize them to identify opportunities.
3.) In this class specifically, I would have students perform a self-evaluation to identify their current mindset. Then ask them based on the results of that evaluation, how they think their mindset has affected their business idea(s) and if they would do anything differently. I would ask how they think they should improve their mindset and have the make a plan to put their mind where they want it to be.
4.) It really surprised me how much your mindset can have an affect on your every day life. It is something so obvious yet so overlooked. I think it's crazy that people can easily change their mindsets and the outcome could be so much different just based on the attitude they have and the way they approach things.

28 Exit Strategy

1.) My exit strategy depends on where the business is at in the next 5-10 years. Ultimately, I would like to sell the business for a larger profit, but if it is thriving beyond expectations then I will continue to let it grow and thrive under my ownership. If I feel my financial standing meets my expectations, then I will give it to my children and if I'd be better off with the money, then I will sell it.

2.) I chose this strategy because being financially stable is something I value highly. I want to be sure I have enough money to cover the necessities and do hat i need to do. Once my family and I are covered, I can then think about leaving it my offspring because I don't want to be running the restaurant forever and I want to be sure they have something to keep them afloat.

3.) I think this exit strategy has influenced my need for a healthy growth. I'm hoping that it will be so popular that I can open a second or even a third location eventually. This will allow the business to grow in popularity and hopefully maximize my profits. My need for profit has also influence how I go about looking for ways to cut costs, allowing me to keep the food cheap and the profits still decently high.

26 Celebrating Failure

This semester I have been trying to perfect my mac n' cheese recipe. A good mac generally consists of flour, milk, butter, cheese, noodles, and sometimes spices if you're feeling it, but it's all about finding the perfect balance. The first time the cheese was too soupy and didn't cling to the noodles well due to an excess amount of milk. The second time, it wasn't flavorful most likely because there wasn't enough cheese and/or spices. The third time it was too thick because I didn't balance the flour and milk properly and after that I messed up the noodles.

Last time I made it, it was really good but I also made enough to feed a small army which isn't necessarily a bad thing because my roommates loved it. It really sucked failing so many times because I was making the mac n' cheese for my friends and I felt like I was disappointing them more than myself. First and foremost I learned how to make a bomb mac n' cheese, but I also learned many ways to not make mac n' cheese or to make various types of mac. The trial and error process gives you a whole new way of thinking.

Failure is more beneficial than not and it's an important part of life. Yes, it can be embarrassing and it can get you down but I think people need have a more open mind. Failure allows you to learn from what you did wrong and modify your methods which will inevitably bring you closer to success. When I face failure, I'm generally very quiet and kind of embarrassed. I will either not admit my failure or over exaggerate it so it doesn't seem as bad. I know I'm not great with handling it but this class has taught me how to learn from it. I think Thomas Edison had a great point and this class showed me a whole new way to look at failure.

25A What's Next?

Existing Market
After this venture is already established, I would like to look into selling merchandise in the restaurant. Many of my prospect customers seem to also work out so I'd like to sell items such as water bottles, T-shirts, and card holders that stick to the back of your phone. My interviewees found this to be a good idea but two of them suggested I look into delivery as well. They said it sounds like my food will be much higher quality and people would like to get it delivered as well as get away with charging more money despite that the whole point is to keep it cheap. Another interviewee suggested I look into partnering with Bitesquad which wouldn't be a bad idea but would defeat the purpose of me offering delivery so I would have to choose one or the other. Another thing they brought up was what I offered for beverages since this is a healthy restaurant. This is something I hadn't considered but it would probably be in my best interest to offer drinks with less sugar than sodas. Finally, they asked me to consider creating a rewards program that will encourage both new and existing customers to give me their business.
It makes sense to look into delivery if the restaurant is popular enough. I would have to create a cost analysis to determine whether or not I should partner with Bitesquad or hire delivery drivers but either way I think this is a good concept to go after. I also think I should offer online ordering as well and customers can either come in to pick up their orders or go through the drive-thru.

Instead of traditional beverages like soda, it makes sense to offer healthier type beverages such as Gatorade, Vitamin Water, juices and teas. I think most of my customers will prefer to drink these rather than sodas since they are primarily focused on their health. I would also like to offer products to compliment workouts so I do plan on offering products like water bottles and shirts since my interviewees found this to be a good idea. I would also like to incorporate a rewards program that would allow customers to get free stuff after a certain amount of points.

New Market
A new market I would like to look into marketing towards is vegetarians/vegans. I think this is a growing target audience and it would be wise to tailor some foods for them. I think it would be easy to create value for vegetarians/vegans because many places don't have options for them and it's not difficult to make a few substitutions or even create new items for those who don't eat animals or products made from them. There is potential to even make the restaurant 100% vegetarian since I am an advocate for saving animals but I could lose customers if I do this due to there not being enough protein and/or having some people that just love meat.
Both of my interviewees thought this was a great idea, especially since there's not many restaurants that have a lot of options for them, even more so in fast food. One of them suggested I have three separate menus, a normal one, vegetarian one, and vegan one.The other one gave me some of her favorite foods to eat and suggested told me she would be happy to help with recipes if I needed it. They both told me that I should put a lot of effort into advertising so that local vegans/vegetarians will know that the offer is available.
I think this new market is a good idea to pursue but not as attractive as my primary market. I found it surprising how many alternatives there are for vegetarians. Grocery stores are offering more alternatives like veggie burgers and nuggets that people can just throw in the oven. Burger King just introduced the impossible burger which has become popular with the vegetarian crowd. In this case, I would have more competition than I thought.
My assumption that it wold be a popular industry to get into still holds to be true. Vegetarians are always look for new and better options to replace meats. I don't think having three separate menus is the right way to go, but rather identify every item on one menu and whether they are vegan, vegetarian, or neither. I think having a wide variety of vegetarian/vegan will create more consumer traffic within the business. Overall, I think this is a wise direction to take the business but it's not as big as I thought it would be.

24A Venture Concept 1

Opportunity
More and more people are doing what they can to eat healthy foods without breaking the bank. The target market consist of Gainesville college students since they usually look for ways to improve their diets and aren't the richest people in the word. They currently satisfy this need by going to healthier places such as Chipotle or Bolay but they can get expensive and neither of them have a drive-thru. I think this opportunity has a lot of potential and will be prevalent until there is a fast, cheap way to have a healthy diet. Another potential group of customers are parents. Parents often worry about what their families eat and want their kids to be as healthy as possible. Many parents settle for unhealthy fast food because it is cheap and easy, but imagine having the same opportunity, except much healthier.
Innovation
The process used to keep the food healthy, cheap, and fast is a simple one. The restaurant will have daily deliveries which means the supplier will cut us a deal since we order so often. Food will be made on a daily basis in order to keep it fresh. Prep employees will come in around 6 a.m. to prepare food for the day (e.g. premake veggie burgers/nuggets, prep low-carb bread dough, spiralize zucchini for noodles, etc.). Prices on the food items will be slightly more expensive than your traditional fast food places based on our high quality combined with our speed. For example, a ten-piece of nuggets at McDonald's is $4.49 and our veggie nuggets will be around $6 but will be given to the customer in the same amount of time. 
Venture Concept
My business will allow prospect customers to save time and eat healthily on a budget. Customers that want to improve/maintain their diet will choose my food over competitors' because it is healthier and just as quick, if not quicker. I don't think it will be hard to get consumers to switch to my product since many people only eat fast food out of convenience and not for the nutrition. I think they will switch because it meets the needs of quickness, affordability, healthy, and we offer vegetarian options. My competition for quickness consists of local fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. but their weakness lies in their lack of nutritional food. Competitors for healthy food are Chipotle, Bolay, and Whole Foods but they don't have a drive-thru option and they are more on the expensive side. Gainesville is a good location to have because there are a wide variety of college students and families here which makes up most of my customer base. Price is also a major factor because because half of the selling point is it's one of the cheapest health foods around. In the mornings, the restaurant would have 4-5 employees for prep-work from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. From 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. I would have around 7 employees working and around 8 employees for the evening. The business will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. or until supplies run out for the day. There will be 2-3 cashiers, and 4-6 cooks in the kitchen.
Three Minor Elements
I have to very important resources. The first is my ample amount of funds and advice my former CEO grandfather will be willing to give me. Most start-ups aren't lucky enough to have a surplus of funds nor proper advising, raising my chances of success. The second is the fact that the food will be fast, healthy, and pretty affordable. The combination of these three elements will be hard to replicate because of the unique deal I have worked out with the supplier as well as the hard work it will take to keep the high quality of freshness and affordability.


The second opportunity I would want to tackle would be opening more locations and/or changing the menu based on customer desires. I think more locations will give a broader audience the ability to have the food and changing the menu based on customer wants will give more people a reason to purchase and enjoy the food.


In 5 years I'd like to have 2-3 successful locations with this restaurant and I'd like it to be very popular with the Gainesville crowd. In the next decade, I'd like to be working on expanding this venture even further or working on a new and innovative venture to assist people further with being healthy and/or improving their lives. The first venture will teach me a lot about customer likes and dislikes, allowing me to tailor future ventures to meet the needs of the people.