Halfway Reflection

For this course, I've had to develop patience in order to have gain the motivation to stay on top of my work. It's very easy to forget to do or turn in an assignment so I now have to make sure all my t's are crossed every Friday night. A few weeks ago I spent a lot of time doing the seventh and eight assignments, posted them on my blog and did my replies only to later realized I didn't submit my blog links to the assignment on Canvas and got zeros for both parts of both assignments. At that point, I wanted to give up since I wasted so much energy just to get a zero, but I then realized that it's not the end of the world and now I just make sure to do every single requirement for my homework assignments. I have developed tenaciousness over the last few months because I want to see where this class can take me in my entrepreneurship endeavors. I suggest to do the work ahead of time if possible so that the due dates don't sneak up on you, use the old exemplar work as a guide for doing assignments and take advantage of the information being taught since there are no tests.

Reading Reflection No. 1

I read Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s by Ray Kroc. I think the fact that Ray Kroc wasn't in his twenties or thirties when he grew and popularized McDonald's is what surprised me the most. I found Kroc's work ethic and persistence inspiring. I believe that it was a bit irresponsible for Kroc to just blindly quit his safe job without making sure they had some security first and the fact that he worked so hard despite the fact that he was older and not in the best health. However, his sacrifices paid off in the long run. Kroc faced many entrepreneurship failures in his past, which eventually led him to McDonald's. I noticed that Kroc wasn't afraid to try new things and take risks throughout his biography. I was initially confused because I assumed Kroc was the founder of the restaurant but later realized McDonald's becoming huge success was mostly due to him. Also, the part of the book where Kroc had a sudden outburst during a baseball game seemed odd of him to do and confused me. If I could, I would ask Kroc how he stumbled upon the Multimixer and how he pitched them in the first instance. I think Kroc knew it would take hard work to expand McDonald's and because he was willing to make sacrifices and never gave it, it became extremely successful. I share Kroc's opinion about hard work and hope my laboring will all pay off in the meantime.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

My sector is the work force and students (high school, college and post-graduate school). I interviewed an 18 year old UF student, a 26 year old product engineer and a 49 year old nurse practitioner (all have busy schedules).

All three interviewees agreed that it would be more convenient and enjoyable to have a coffee superstore with different accessories and supplements to enhance their experience. They become aware after having the same coffee types and struggling to get all the coffee materials needed in a store, or if not both, one or the other. The nurse practitioner makes coffee at work during her afternoon break and sometimes gets coffee on the go. She doesn't put much thought into her coffee but she expressed that it gets repetitive and she would like some excitement with what she consumes. The product engineer makes coffee at home before work and is fine with his coffee routine but like the nurse practitioner, he too is open to change in his coffee experience to excite him before a long and tiresome day at work. The student usually gets coffee at Starbucks on campus between classes, but if not, she makes some before heading to class. She mentioned that she loves Starbucks coffee and their flavors but the drinks she orders aren't anything special and they don't have the full selection of packaged coffee for her to make at home. She said she would be interested in a coffee store with a variety of coffee blends, etc. and  a cafe that has a calm and stress-free atmosphere.

These individuals visit various grocery stores for coffee blends and their supplements other than their primary one and they try coffee from restaurants but never get the satisfaction they need, so they settle for less. In their search, they look for places that they may have heard friends or random people mention when concerning coffee.

Through these interviews, I learned that my opportunity really isn't a pressing issue that many people have but many people would be interested in a change if it were provided to them at their comfort.

This segment was useful because they have the biggest need for coffee in their busy day-to-day lives. This is the segment that appeals to the market because they are the market that many producers try to appeal to since they are in the work force/going in the work force and have many needs to upkeep their livelihood.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I'm Abigail Udongwo, and my talents are to entertain people and keep them happy. I am skilled at managing items and keeping track of money. I aspire to have a profound impact on people and improve the quality of many lives. If I were to start this business, it would keep me occupied and productive and would prompt me to dedicate myself to it to keep customers feeling great.

2. I plan to serve my customers with a more convenient and creative way to get their coffee: a coffee superstore. It will have all things related to coffee and untypical things for coffee to add some fun to drinking coffee.

3. My customers would be those who need coffee to function early in the day for long hours and also those who just desire coffee as a treat. Both of these groups have a steady relationship with coffee as it is part of their regular diet.

4. Customers will pay money for my products because they are made at their convenience and are served differently than other coffee products in the sense that my products offer more than an average coffee experience with taste, aesthetics and personality.

5. No one else has a store designated to just coffee with a plethora of selections. I have a desire to make complacent people more satisfied than they thought they could already be with coffee.

I think all these elements fit together; they don't fit perfectly, but they are still good pairs. My business idea is weak in the sense that there isn't an urgent/clearly evident problem with the coffee industry since people are mostly happy with how the system today works. However, I feel that with my coffee superstore and all the different elements it will entail, that people will appreciate the new innovation.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Who: The people who don't need this product either don't like coffee or don't heavily rely on it. One of the interviewees said that though she is a coffee lover she doesn't drink coffee often and when she does she only drinks cafe produced drinks. She specifically likes Starbucks since they offer her favorite flavors. Another person mentioned that she is fine with Walmart since the items are cheap and she loves Starbucks coffee for its quality.

What: The need for convenience isn't different from others however, in terms of coffee, it's important that people get all the coffee products they need without a hassle. After all, coffee is especially important to the workforce and students and needs to be easily accessible and made the most convenient to have an overall productive experience. Many say that their day doesn't start before coffee, so if that is true, coffee is a necessity that can be provided nicely at All Things Coffee superstore.

Why: People don't always care for fancy coffee, so they'll stick to the stores they are already used to.

(Although it's not necessarily an issue, I think a caffeine superstore would be exciting for the workaholics and insomniac students in the area.)

                     Inside the Boundary                         |                         Outside the Boundary
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                                                                                 |
Who: Caffeine lovers and cravers                           |  -Those complacent with cafes such as                                                                                                   |    Starbucks and stores like Walmart and people                                                                                     |    who don't care for/enough for coffee                 
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What: Creative coffee items at their                       |  - An already established coffee business that                      convenience                                               |    they are familiar with
                                                                                 | 
Why: So coffee lovers can have a fun and more    |  - An anticipated experience with coffee
          fulfilling experience with coffee                   |
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Elevator Pitch No. 1

https://youtu.be/Oy2gZ4W31FY

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Caffeine lovers/cravers drink their coffees/energy drinks in a boring and repetitive fashion and have no single venue to go to to supply all their coffee wants and needs. This is due to a lack of creativity and diversity in the products sold.

The who: Caffeine lovers and cravers

The what: They drink their coffees/energy drinks in a boring and repetitive fashion and have no single venue to go to to supply all their coffee wants and needs 

The why: A lack of creativity and diversity in the products sold 

Testing the who: Do you feel that your coffee/energy drinks can get boring sometimes? In terms of    the style of how its made, what it looks like or how it's presented by the barista?

Testing the what (asking the who): If yes to the above question, is there really no where that serves caffeine in a creative way? Is this how you feel each time you take coffee related trips to the store? Have you terrible coffee experiences in the past?

Testing the why (asking the who): What do you think about the creativity and diversity of coffee shops and stores that have coffee blends, etc.? Do you feel that it would be convenient to have a store that sold all caffeine related things?

Interview #1
 - No, I do not care about the extra appliances/services, I just want coffee. I don't believe anyone has this problem.
 - No, since I don't have this problem
 - They have some level of creativity and they have diverse coffee flavors already. I really only need coffee to-go so, a coffee superstore doesn't interest me.

Interview #2
 - No, I like my coffee experiences.
 - My coffee experiences have been decent.
 - I love the way these coffee shops operate. However, I do think it would be great if there was one particular store that sold all things caffeine since I love it so much.

Interview #3
 - No, I just drink different flavors of coffee all the time. I only care about the taste of my drinks, that's all.
 - Sometimes my coffee experiences are bad. The barista doesn't always make it nicely.
 - There's not that much diversity, but I don't mind since I get the same types of orders. I think the caffeine store would be a cool idea for caffeine lovers.

Interview #4
 - Yes, which is why I have to switch up the way I drink coffee and I drink many types of energy drinks. I love Starbucks though.
 - I have bad coffee experiences all the time, but I usually just deal with it.
 - I think the diversity is good, I don't need much creativity. I don't think it's necessary for a caffeine oriented store because stores like Walmart exist. However, if this does happen and you create your own brand of caffeinated drinks, it would probably be hard to convince me to get your product over what I'm used to.

Interview #5
 - No, as long as it taste good and does its job, it never gets boring.
 - I have bad experiences all the time.
 - Coffee shops are diverse with flavors but people just care about getting good quality coffee. I would love a caffeine convenient store if it makes items cheaper than Walmart.

I didn't realize before that so many people were mostly satisfied with how they get their caffeine already, though they complain at times. It doesn't seem like there is much of a problem, however, people seem to be open to the idea of a caffeine superstore and would consider shopping at that one location for their caffeine if it truly is convenient for them.