Elevator Pitch No.3

I received yet again no feedback, and decided to continue the pitch same way as last time.

Reading Reflection No. 2

The general theme of the book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams is that enduring many failures and taking certain steps of other successful people can lead one to great success themselves.

This book connects to the course by explaining the many strategies he used that lead him to failures but then eventually success. This course teaches various concepts along with strategies to prepare us for our entrepreneurship endeavors.

Based on the book, I would design a succeed failure exercise where students present whatever ideas they have and test if their product or service would work (for the class). There would be many expected failures and the exercise continues until each student succeeds with their idea.

I was surprised when the author said "goals are for losers." I don't agree with statement for everyone but I took it into account for his life story.

Idea Napkin No. 2

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.

I did not receive any feedback from my classmates and still stand by what I originally stated.

Growing Your Social Capital

1. I decided to randomly just introduce myself to the manager of a Starbucks near my house. They have had managing experience at Starbucks' franchises for 6 years. He is the domain expert of the product (coffee). I told him about my business idea and he provided me his thoughts and his contact info if I need any business like tips and said he'd try to help in any way he could and was allowed. I'm not exactly sure how this person will help with my opportunity, but maybe he can give me needed tips to help me along the way. 

2. My sister is in the works of a business that will produce self diagnostic kits for tropical diseases. She is selling these kits to health organizations who are most likely in the same customer segment, those who are working or have very busy tasks daily. She is an expert on my market. Though she is selling a completely different product that serves a more important purpose, she is still very knowledgeable about this segment and knows how to sell to them (regardless of what it is). She advised me on what this group looks for and what will hook them to the product being sold. She said she would further help me with trying to sell the business to the segment the more it comes about. She will help me bring in customers. 

3. My roommate has a sibling who is an engineer. This person creates and sells things like mugs and drink containers. He is an important supplier to my industry. This engineer explained the manufacturing process to me after I  called and told him my vision for the types of coffee containers I'd like to sell. He said if this business idea carries through, he'd be happy to work with me and try to create the unique cups I want in the most efficient way possible. This person will bring my coffee container vision to life.

This networking experience was made a bit easy for me in terms of finding 2 of the people but was still challenging in the sense of looking to meet new people. That experience will help me find the courage to continue to take a chance seek people who I think might be a source of help to my company. Never before have I went to seek help from a complete stranger for an opportunity. 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

I didn't received much feedback for my first elevator. One person told me they thought it was fine. However, I didn't like the fact that I was looking back and forth between the camera and my script, so this time, I memorized my script a bit more than last time and angled the camera in a way that looks like I'm pitching to an audience not pictured. I think this looks more professional than the last pitch.



Elevator Pitch No.2

Customer Avatar

What do you have in common with the customer avatar? If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?

Matt is a 37 year old man who lives in Orlando, Florida. He has a wife of 5 years and 2 biological kids, 3 and 5 year old daughters . He works a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job as a personal financial adviser who is very good at his job. During his free time, he takes jogs around his neighborhood, plays golf with his buddies, goes on romantic and adventurous dates with his wife and takes his kids to the park and out for ice cream. He drives a black Madza 3 Sedan. He loves reading any book by Stephen King or James Patterson. Though he grew up in a Democratic household, he is not affiliated to a political party, though, votes mostly democratic. Matt is pretty comfortable with his life, though wants a little more for himself. He wants to be able to move up to a CEO position at his job within the next 10 years. He has a reasonable amount of stress though he still enjoys life and lives it to the fullest. His favorite TV show is Criminal Minds, favorite meal is a burger with fries (likes an occasional salad) and his favorite daily drink is coffee (big tequila fan as well). Since Matt has a busy job, he seeks a nice cup of coffee for breakfast and even lunch.

I'm interested in working with money allocation, love mystery and horror novels, and loves life. I don't think it's a coincidence that I made my customer avatar have some similarities to me since I  would hope that my customers and I would have some commonality to relate to.

What’s Your Secret Sauce?

• My willingness to make sure my products satisfy all the needs of my customers. I don't want them to have to settle for less with any of my products and if they are looking for any particular product that the store doesn't sell, I will try my best to put it in my store's inventory.

• My determination to find ways to always improve my products

• I have good interpersonal skills

I see myself for having a few important skills but my peers noticed other things I didn't realize I had, like good public speaking skills. I focused on one skill I have and two abilities and my peers talked about the various skills, abilities and emotions I have. I think I overlook some things I carry but others tend to notice. I think my interviewees are correct. I would go back and add a few more skills I have and show my emotional qualities. 

1. This interviewee identified that I through good communication, I can make connections. She has mentioned this to me and said she admired this skill.
https://uflorida-my.sharepoint.com/personal/udongwoa_ufl_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments%2FNew%20Recording%2013%2Em4a&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments

2. This interviewee mentioned my personable skills and mindset. I didn't know this was perceived of me, but I'm grateful to know that certain qualities are noticed.
 https://uflorida-my.sharepoint.com/personal/udongwoa_ufl_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments%2FNew%20Recording%209%202%2Em4a&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments

3. This interviewee touched on my emotions, which are important to have as a future entrepreneur. She even mentioned that I had emotional intelligence which is useful to have when understanding customers.
https://uflorida-my.sharepoint.com/personal/udongwoa_ufl_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments%2FNew%20Recording%209%2Em4a&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments

 4. This interviewee mentioned that I'm empathetic and strong willed. This shows highlights favorable qualities of mine, necessary for this business field.
https://uflorida-my.sharepoint.com/personal/udongwoa_ufl_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments%2FABB%2Em4a&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments

5. This interviewee mentioned my work ethic and my ability to learn new skills. This shows my potential for fast improvement in my skill set.
https://uflorida-my.sharepoint.com/personal/udongwoa_ufl_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments%2FAbby%281%29%2Em4a&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fudongwoa_ufl_edu%2FDocuments%2FAttachments

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

I interviewed a 19 year old student at UF, a 23 year old grad student at Emory and a 37 year old pilot. In the interviews I conducted, the potential customers said price does matter (probably wouldn't buy a single coffee drink over $7 collectively), has to have an overall good taste and be a smooth blend, and doesn't have to have a particular style, though a creative style would be appreciated.
All the interviewees said they're more likely to buy coffee blends at stores, but the grad student said she's ordered a few blends on amazon before. They all are comfortable with paying with cash or card. The interviewees want the price to reflect the quality. The UF student in particular wants cheap coffee blend that is still worth it. If the coffee keeps them awake and tastes good, they all said it would be worth the purchase. If the coffee is too gritty and is hard to make it taste good. The interviewees had very similar answers to the questions asked: they all valued good quality and a reasonable price for the coffee mostly. Based on the interviews, this segment wants a bang for their buck that they are very willing to pay for.