1)What was the biggest surprise for you in the
reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different
from your expectations?
The biggest surprise for me in the reading
was how the author describes the base of the pyramid as a sector that could be
as well as profitable as the top of the pyramid. I was not aware of the
different aspects that any business should take in consideration when targeting
the base of the pyramid (aka the poor sector of the society).
2)Identify at least one part of the reading
that was confusing to you.
The author could use different cases in
order to explain in a better way all the concepts in the reading. However, I
was able to understand the content of the reading with no big issue.
3)If you were able to ask two questions
to the author, what would you ask?
I would ask the author the following
questions:
·Why are there so little amount of companies
targeting this sector of the market?
·How could an entrepreneur exploit this
sector of the market? What are the tools that he or she might need?
4)Was there anything you think the author was
wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I think that this reading was one of the
most interesting readings of the semester because it talks about a sector where
most of the population lives, which is the poor sector of society. This topic
was completely new for me so I cannot tell if the author was wrong about
something or not. However, I would definitely recommend using real life cases
when explaining the concepts in the reading.
I’ve been living in this country for three years now and in
August I will begin my senior year as a college student. I can say that the
college education in America varies from a community college level to a
University level, but both levels are really high in comparison to other
countries from the region. This being said, I took many types of classes, but
this class was different. ENT 3003 forced me to get out of my comfort zone in
all types of ways. The most formative experiences were the interviews and the
elevator pitch that we crafted through the entire semester. I enjoyed that
feeling of letting other people now about my ideas and contributions to this
amazing community. I am proud of crafting a possible solution for an unmet
need, I am proud of interviewing random people and keep working and asking
people even if I face rejection. I definitely
see myself as an entrepreneur, and I realize that I was already an entrepreneur
even before taking the class, I just didn’t know what an entrepreneur was.
I would recommend future students to avoid being afraid and
feel overwhelmed with all the assignments that this class has. I would recommend
them to do all the assignments as asked, because this is the only way they will
really learn. And last, I would let them know what this class has taught me,
that failure isn’t a bad thing, but failure is the only way to success.
I would recommend for the class to elaborate ways in which students
could work in groups and teams and collaborate each other, this will enhance
their entrepreneurial experiences.
ENT3003 is by far one of the best class I’ve had in college.
I’ve been living in Gainesville,
Florida for almost three years now. As you may already know, Gainesville is
what we all consider a “college-town” given that the majority of its population
are college students. One of the biggest and unique advantages for students
that live in Gainesville is the free public transportation. But as many
advantages it provides, it also shows areas where improvement could be done.
Throughout these past three years, I’ve used the free Bus (aka RTS) to go
everywhere. From my place to Santa Fe, to Downtown or to UF Campus. But it was
not until this semester that I was able to perceive a potential solution for an
unmet need.
Opportunity
What are the forces or changes in
the environment creating this opportunity?
Almost 76% of the undergraduates
that go to UF live off-campus, which means that they have to use transportation
resources to get to their destinations. The vast majority of students that live
off-campus use the Bus as their transportation resource, and as it may sounds
great to have a free transportation source, it has its drawbacks too.
Being a college student requires effort and commitment, which means that the
source of stress for college students should be to have a good performance in
school. But unfortunately, this is not the case in Gainesville where students
that “ride the bus” experience that stressful and nerve-cracking moment of
being late to the bus stop. It is hard to imagine but this is what happens not
only every year, every semester or every day, but it happens every single hour.
This is clearly an unmet need that craves for a solution.
How is this market defined
geographically and demographically?
My market is focused on every single
person who lives in Gainesville, who owns a smartphone, and who is able to
install an application. As it is a wide market, I would first concentrate on a
specific portion of the market and these are all students at the University of
Florida, who use the bus regularly. The ages of my potential customers range
between 15 to 60 years old, which gives me the opportunity to hoard a good portion
of the market. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to satisfy those who don’t own a
smartphone and who are not updated with the process of downloading an
application to their phones.
How are customers currently
satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use
now?
Nowadays the only way of catching
the bus on time is by setting and individual alarm and/or reminder that reminds
you that it is time to go! There is a live-tracking map offered by the UF Free
Mobile Application that tells you where your bus is. However, this application
is not always updated and sometimes there are buses that are not registered
with the GPS tracking system, which make this app useless. My potential
customers are loyal to the UF mobile app simply because it’s free and works the
majority of times.
How big is this opportunity? and how
long will the “window of opportunity” be open?
The opportunity is REALLY BIG!!! Not
only because there is no other resource that helps not only UF students, but
also an entire community, to better manage their time.
Remember that we all have the same
time, but it is what you do with it that makes you unique! This app will help
you achieve this common and universal goal. This app will help you manage your
time.
Innovation
How will The Gator Spotter work?
The Gator Spotter app will offer the
student or the person that downloads the app with the opportunity of basically
scheduling his or her bus. The app will send notifications 25, 20 or 15 minutes
before the bus actually gets to the bus stop he or she usually uses. You just
have to set up the following:
Where do you take the bus (what bus stop)
At what time you usually take the bus
What Bus route you usually use (Bus number)
My venture will require an
installation of GPS on every bus stop in Gainesville and on every Bus. Using a
GPS system, the app will send you notifications before the bus gets there, so
you will know it’s time to hurry up.
Throughout the life cycle and
especially at the first stages, my venture will require a good amount of
financial resources. To maintain this type of technology, and to satisfy all
the possible costs, the price of my app will be ranging from $0.99 to $1.99 per
semester (the semester will cover from January 1 – June 30 and from July 1 to
December 31). This price is subject to change given possible unexpected costs.
Venture
·The Gator Spotter would be unique
and extremely helpful for students and people that use the bus as their source
of transportation. It would not be hard to switch and to download the app as it
would be available in the Google Play Store for androids and on ITunes app
store for iPhones.
·The only competition I will be
facing is the already Free Application that UF offers, but I would have the
advantage of offering more benefits to the same customers.
·Customer feedback will be essential
for my venture in order to maintain their level of satisfaction, and I will
focus myself to and my venture on having a fluid and constant communication
with my customers.
·I will need to hire 4 employees
experienced on the installation of GPS system as well as 3 employees
experienced on coding and developing applications. This number is subject to
change in specific circumstances.
The Three Minor Elements
1.The Gator Spotter will be unique and a complete innovation
for the Gator Nation. Competitors will not be able to copy us because we will
be the first and only business on providing this service in Gainesville.
2. We want to make it easier for our customers to manage
their time and take advantage from it. That is why for future endeavors, we
will offer our customers with a variety of events that are happening in
Gainesville. This will vary from concerts, to parties to sport events, and we
will tell you how the get there using The Gator Spotter!
3.I dream that this innovation will impact not only to
Gainesville, but also different college-towns across the country.
Analysis on Feedback
All
the feedback provided on my previous post was positive and encouraging. I can
tell that my business plan could bring positive results to a big number of
potential customers in Gainesville. This being said, I looked around for
feedback and advice from successful entrepreneurs and here are two videos that I found from icons of small business development.
1)What was the biggest surprise for you in
the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as
different from your expectations?
The biggest surprise of Chapter 4 was how
the author describes social entrepreneurship. I was not aware of the existence of
this type of entrepreneurship and all the components that make up this term. By
the other hand, I was surprised by the three main components that compromise
Corporate Entrepreneurship, which are strategic renewal, innovation and
corporate venturing. After reading this chapters I realized how important
innovation is for an entrepreneur, not only in some stages of the business, but
it a continuous basis.
2)Identify at least one part of the reading
that was confusing to you.
The author describes his ideas and his
knowledge in a way in which it is really hard not to understand. However, I believe
that the chart titled “An Integrative Model of Corporate Entrepreneurship
Strategy” on Chapter 3 is a little bit confusing
3)If you were able to ask two questions to
the author, what would you ask? Why?
I would ask the author the following two
questions:
·How should an entrepreneur take advantage from
all kinds of failure?
·What is the most common mistake that companies
make when dealing with ethical conflicts?
4)Was there anything you think the author was
wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I agree with what the author describes. I
found these two videos describing how entrepreneurs should see failure and how
to manage ethical conflicts.
