6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1. Plastic Bags- (regulatory)
1. I have found out about this regulatory trend in multiple places. I have read about its dangers to humanity and animals in the news along with changes in policy. Also, I have done a project on this issue in ENC1101 in regards to the endangerment of whales and how it affects human beings in return.
2. It has been banned in certain states including Washington state and other states have added fees as opposed to banning it. Boston is about to ban plastic bags as well. This creates an existing opportunity because now there are a lot of people that need a substitute for plastic bags. For example, this could be cute reusable foldable bags.
3. I think the prototypical customer for this opportunity is a mother who does a lot of grocery shopping and is going to be affected by the ban even though she should already be on the reusable bag trend (lol).
4. Although many businesses will jump on this opportunity making it a little difficult to successfully exploit, reusable bags is not the only substitution for plastic bags and there could be a lot of variations of reusable plastic bags such as different materials and sizes, etc.
5. I saw this opportunity because I did a big project on this topic last year so I know about the increasing number of regulatory changes being made due to the spreading knowledge of damage caused by plastic bags.
2. Funding to arts- (economic)
1. This was inspired by a local opportunity that I noticed due to the decreasing funds to the Hippodrome which really upsets me personally.
2. This suggests that an opportunity might exist because less people right now are being given the opportunity for creative outlets and places to see art-related shows and exhibitions.
3. The prototypical customer to this opportunity is an a part-time actor or dancer or artist of some sort that are looking for jobs and cannot find many opportunities.
4. This opportunity could be relatively easy to exploit because more theatres, art galleries, and dance studios are needed but the difficult part would be attracting customers to a live art business venture. This can be very difficult to find a market for this but I believe in the Gainesville community, there are many students along with locals that appreciate performance art and visual art so much that that they would spend their money on a venture like this.
5. I saw this opportunity because as an actress and arts-lover, I’ve noticed the lack of culture here and creative outlets. On top of that, I have heard from friends about the unfortunate news in regards to the decrease of funds to the Hippodrome.

3. Plastic lids- (regulatory)

1. I found this opportunity online on a news website.
2. This article discusses how many major businesses in the United States are choosing to ban plastic in order to lessen our impact on the environment. This includes places like Starbucks, Au Bon Pain, etc. This can serve as an opportunity for people to increase their usage of reusable mugs, portable cups, and so on.
3. People enjoy being comfortable and having convenient accsess to their drinks. This ban would pose a lot of problems for companies whose premise of profit comes from serving drinks. There will be a need in the market for a cheap eco friendly alternative.
4. This opportunity will be easy to exploit because more people have become proponents of protecting the environment and people love to support environmentally friendly organizations and companies.
5. The ban of plastic lids would cause a ruckus at first but overall become a brilliant business venture. Creating an eco friendly, reusable lid would promote the well being and well meaning nature of big companies. Finding an alternative to plastic lids would be easy since the market can be easily distinguished and targeted.

4. Homeless shelters- (economic)

1. I found this opportunity online on a news website.
2. This article talks about how homeless people in the Gainesville area have increased. They have become increasingly dispersed throughout the city. Creating a home for them is a good business venture because reforming the lives of homeless and reintroducing them into society will help propel the economy forward.
3. The prototypical consumer would be willing homeless people who have been known to plague the Gainesville area.
4. I think that this opportunity is easy to exploit. Many need a shelter to restart their lives and reform them into productive members of society.
5. I think that this would be an opportunity that benefits not just those directly in the shelter, but also all of society. Reforming the lives of the homeless and giving them tools to be productive members of society (such as hygiene products, business clothes, simple life courses) will be beneficial to all.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Butterfly Pea flower. Have you ever heard of a more beautiful name? This Southeast Asian wonder is a  plant high in antioxidant and anti-cancerous healing properties. It was given to me as a gift to use in teas and flavored water. I not only fell in love with its beautiful cerulean color but upon further research and a small science experiment with this flower, I realized its potential as an enticing food product. It changes color in altering acidic environments, which truly blows me away. I also realized the intensity of this flower’s novelty since no one other than me was familiar with the plant and I was constantly inquired about it.

Realization soon washed over me…With the works and wonders of this amazing plant, I can open up a small café equipped with a complete line of healthy blue products such as almond milkshakes, vegan ice-creams, pastries, coffee beverages and teas. I would be satisfying the unmet need for tasty, sweet, and relatively quick options for people that deal with allergies or dietary preferences. I have noticed an overwhelming amount of healthy, vegan, active, and fit students on and around campus that are interested in continuing their vigorous lifestyles without having to sacrifice their fit diets. My opportunity to exploit a natural food due to commence and enhance a new food trend in favor of dietary aware or restricted people. Using natural and healthy products will be what allures the market. I plan to place my café near school to target the increasing number of young students that care about their health but don’t need to compromise their wallets, time, or their taste buds.

This business idea is innovative because The Butterfly Pea Flower isn't a new flower at all. This flower has been present in history for millenia—used around the world for cosmetic, dietary, and healing purposes. The flower has made a large return as natural dye and is taking over the food industry over artificial coloring. This flower contains anthocyanin which is the flavanoid that causes this array of pigments that range from yellow, red, teal, blue, purple, violet, and pink. Affecting the pH of a solution causes color changes in the flower. Due to the internet people have been spreading word of this flower’s beautiful power and aesthetic. Many people also post about it on Pinterest due to its alluring appeal and plethora of benefits. Finally, many businesses and people have discovered this flower recently and have used it in “mocktails”, blue lemonade and other yummy drinks.

My venture concept is to target and push young and excited people to care (or continue caring) about their health while also indulging in delicious treats that make you feel good inside. I am using Butterfly Pea flower, a very feminine and sensitive flower, as my main resource to do this. The flower establishes  unison and binds my concept throughout. I am using this opportunity to develop a community of people that want to share health consciousness, local talent, and aesthetic appreciation together. I will use my store as a venue and opportunity for hip events as well as provide a space for people to meet others, study, spread art, and enjoy leading a healthy lifestyle. People will care because it will be one of the few places to indulge in sweets, promote the surrounding community, and grab a blue coffee+treat while remaining healthy. People will pay money for my products because they will be irresistibly enticing. The blue and purple hues along with the fact that there aren't that many places around here to get yummy and guilt-free items will have customers crawling back. Many people (especially students) have dietary restrictions now and there is an increasing number of students that care about fitness and wellness. People that recognize a gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan kitchen and its rarity will spend their money at Got the Blues…but after trying out my café they will definitely not have the blues.

I believe my most important resource would be my healthy supplies and ingredients that I get from local suppliers because this was my point with coming up with this venture. Healthy options need to be more accessible and the cute store is the vessel/tool in which I will use to supply the products to people. The fact that all my ingredients will be healthy, energizing, vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, and soy-free is what makes this concept so valuable. This will all be possible with my local suppliers whom I will trust and others can too. This is very valuable to this specific venture because we will brag about this characteristic of our business a lot. The main need we are supplying is healthy options for people and a menu that is clear and clean. Most food & beverage items that are available have many unclear and unhealthy ingredients. They contain high fructose corn syrup and toxic colorants. The whole reason why I chose this venture is because it is too rare and difficult for people to find healthy treats easily with vegan ingredients, or at the very least, ingredients that are not toxic to our bodies. This is possible but requires a lot of extra work. Most eateries use soy, gluten or eggs in the majority of their product. It is difficult to get your kitchen certified organic or gluten-free and not many people would deal with that work…but I definitely will. This is what will separate me from the rest.

Got the Blues will be a hip hot spot where both locals and students can feel comfortable, free, and healthy. First I have to focus on the social capital I have now, which I am immensely grateful for. Since I am a sophomore my friends are heavily into social media which would be an automatic marketing tool for me. They would help with the promotional and advertising aspect of my business by promoting the café and spreading the word. I am also in cahoots with a company than can act as my supplier with reasonable prices. Furthermore, my father is a business man and my mother is a doctor and health specialist which is basically the perfect combination for this business for when I need advice. Eventually I want to use Got the Blues as a venue for me to put on all sorts of social events, ranging from art showcases, wine tastings, live music shows, and open mics. I want to bring people together-- and unite Gainesville residents that can share this common indulgence.

30A – Final Reflection

What stuck out to me as a formative experience was learning how to pay attention to the environment around me and being able to identify needs and desires and problems within the community around me. I definitely believe that I've always had a bit of an entrepreneurial mindset but i definitely have more of one now. Overall, this class has helped me pay more attention to my surroundings. Whenever I encounter an issue or an opportunity I catch myself wondering how it can be changed to make things better, easier, or more accessible to people. There is always an unmet need or want that is waiting to be satisfied. People are typically unsatisfied. The most joyous experience that I am going to remember is writing my first venture concept and noticing how everything fell into place and writing my list of resources and realizing how many I actually have if I wanted to really explore this opportunity. What I would recommend to the future students of this course is to ask a lot of questions and dig into your personal curiosity, take risks at a reasonable cost, learn as much as possible from your failures. Learn from every business related situation because that information will help for the future. Be outgoing with your ideas and marketing strategies. Marketing is everywhere! There are opportunities everywhere! Take advantage of that.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

 

The exit strategy I plan to take is to partner up within 5 years with a larger business that can further help me exploit this opportunity. Most likely expand to other cities and bigger markets. Although my original idea was to sell it to someone that I trust to keep its integrity as a low-key type of spot, as a business-person, this option (if it happens) would make more money and spread the purpose of the venture around larger areas. In the end, I want to spread the love for health and delicious vegan treats to more than just Gainesville. I also believe this concept has a relatively easy to follow skeleton which would make it suitable as a chain. I hadn't thought about my exit strategy prior to this assignment. I guess this whole time, I just imagined that I would pass it on to a friend of mine in order to ensure that nobody changes the business in any ways that would dissatisfy me. My main intention was to keep the genuineness real however considering the latter made me realize the value behind my concept and that other businesses would be waiting to hop on it.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

 

Coco Chanel, Lisa Chaney

 

• What surprised you the most?

What surprised me the most about Coco Chanel was her drive to open up her own store as a young woman in 1910 when it was not common at all for women to support themselves and create their own business ventures. 

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

What I admired about this story was that she created her brand in an effort to offer more comfortable clothing options for women. The unmet need that Coco realized was the physical discomfort and impracticality in women's clothing so she supplied suits and "little black dresses" for women that wanted a change.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

There was nothing that I read in this book that dissatisfied me about Coco Chanel. The one thing that I'm skeptical about is that her first husband was wealthy and obviously helped her a lot to create her first business but then she left him to be with an even wealthier friend of his. I definitely don't dislike this but personally I'll never know if it was for love or for the money.

 

 Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

 

Coco grew up in the French countryside where her mother died when Coco was about 10 years old. Her father abandoned her to an orphanage where nuns taught her how to sew. When Coco was old enough, she started performing as a singer in bigger cities which is where she received her nickname. When she was 20, she was already involved with her first husband and creating her clothing brand.

  2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Coco's main competency was her ability to get what she wanted to matter what it took or no matter what societal norms were in place. Coco's advocacy for comfort within luxury was very unapologetically her and was a feminist statement for that time. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The main part that was confusing to me was the extent that her two affairs, Etienne Balsan and Arthur Capel, helped her create her first business venture. I wonder if she could have still created her brand without them. I also wonder if she was the "creative" aspect and the men carried the financial and business aspect.  

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

If I were able to ask her two questions I would ask what inspiration she used to create her scents and how was able to go about explaining that and getting an accurate representation of whatever she imagined. Another question would be about her love life since Etienne and Arthur were known to be friends. I would be interested to know what their relationships were like and what was the main reason she left Etienne for Arthur. It must have been very difficult for her to make this decision. 

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

Since Coco was a very practical and straight-forward woman, I imagine that she was a very willing and dedicated worker. I believe her opinion of hard work would be to do a lot in the field that you are really good at and then have other people take care of the other aspects of the venture. Although, I do agree with this method as efficient, I am the type of person that likes to oversee and make sure everything is running smoothly in all aspects of a project. 
 

26A – Celebrating Failure

When I moved in this semester, to my new apartment, I was disgusted by the ugliness of my room and decided to paint my walls myself and decorate my room. When hanging things on my wall I used command strips. Although a few things fell off the walls, I continued to use command strips to hang things up. A mirror that I purchased and painted myself fell and shattered. I then bought another (smaller) mirror and hung it up with command strips and it fell and broke as well. I finally decided to stop using command strips for heavy things and to use a drill instead of being lazy and looking for the easy way out. 

This experience taught me to not take the easy way out. It is better to put in the extra effort at first to ensure stability and quality so that it does not cause problems in the future. This also taught me to not trust everything I read on packaging. This experience was difficult even though it was a simple fix. It was really frustrating to fail repeatedly and it made me feel awful and like I wasted time and money. Me being stubborn did not help me at all it only caused me to damage more items and waste more of my time. Thankfully, now I realize that this experience was necessary for me to not make these same kind of mistakes in the future. Cheap and easy solutions are not stable ones. I believe this class has helped me see the good in failure and to accept it with open arms so that I can grow and enhance a venture or goal constantly.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1 

Got the Blues Cafe

During my discovery of Butterfly Pea flower, a Southeast Asian plant that has antioxidant and anti-cancerous healing properties, I was registering myself for this class. At first, it was given to me as a gift to use in teas and flavored water. This is when I fell in love with its beautiful color and started to look into it online. Then I conducted a small science experiment with this flower for an assignment and learned a lot about its potential as an enticing food product because it changes color due to acidity which is really cool. I also realized that nobody knew about this flower other than me and people constantly were attracted to it and asked me about it. 

This made me realize the opportunity that I had with this plant to open up a small cafe of my own with a complete line of blue products such as milkshakes, icecreams, pastries, coffee beverages and other beverages. The unmet need is tasty, sweet, and relatively quick options for people that deal with allergies or dietary preferences. I have noticed an overwhelming amount of healthy, vegan, active, and fit students on and around campus that are interested in a good diet. My opportunity is to exploit a low-key food trend as a natural food dye to enhance foods (visually and naturally) in favor of dietary aware or restricted people. The unmet need is tasty, sweet, and relatively quick food options for people that deal with allergies or have dietary preferences. My shop would be located near school to target the increasing number of young students that care about their health but that need to compromise either their health, their wallets, or their taste buds most of the time.

This business idea is innovative because it isn't a new flower at all. This flower has been used for a very long time in other countries for cosmetic, dietary, and healing purposes. However, the flower has made a return and natural dye is taking over the food industry over artificial coloring. This flower contains anthocyanin which is the flavanoid that causes this array of pigments which can range from yellow, red, teal, blue, purple, violet, and pink. Effecting the pH of the solution can cause color changes and due to the internet people have been spreading this around because it looks so nice. I have seen a lot of pinterest posts about it because people really appreciate the aesthetic of it. Many businesses and people have discovered this lately and have been using it to create mocktails and blue lemonade and other things.

My venture concept is to target young and excited people to care (or continue caring) about their health while also indulging in delicious treats that make you feel good. I am using Butterfly Pea flower, a very feminine and sensitive flower, as my main resource to do this. This creates unison and binds the concept throughout. I am using this opportunity as a way to create a community of people that want to share health conscious, locally talented, and aesthetically appreciative times together. I will use my store as a venue and opportunity for cool events and provide a space for people to meet others, study, and enjoy something healthy. People will care because it will be one of the few places to indulge in sweets and grab a coffee while staying healthy and possibly having a cute new location to study. People will pay money for my products because it will be so visually enticing due to its blue and purple hues along with the fact that there aren't that many places around here to get yummy and guilt-free items. Many people (especially students) have dietary restrictions now and there is an increasing number of students that care about fitness and wellness. People that recognize a gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan kitchen and its rarity will spend their money at Got the Blues. 

I believe my most important resource would be my healthy supplies and ingredients that I get from my suppliers because this was my point with coming up with this venture. Healthy options need to be more accessible and the cute store is the vessel/tool in which I will use to supply the products to people. The fact that all my ingredients will be healthy, energizing, vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, and soy-free is what makes this concept so valuable and that'll be thanks to my suppliers that I can really trust and other people can trust. This is very valuable to this specific venture because we will brag about this characteristic of our business a lot. The main need we are supplying is healthy options for people and a menu that is clear and has clean ingredients! Most food & beverage items that are available have many unclear and unhealthy ingredients and usually contain high fructose corn syrup or some variation of it. The whole reason why I chose this venture is because it is too rare and difficult for people to find healthy treats easily with vegan ingredients. This is imitable but requires a lot of work and most places use soy or gluten or eggs in the majority of their stuff. It is difficult to get your kitchen certified organic or gluten-free and not many people would deal with that work.

I really want Got the Blues to be a meeting place where both locals and students can feel comfortable but at first I would have to focus on the social capital I have now which I am really grateful for. Since I am a sophomore my friends are heavily into social media which would be automatic marketing for me which is great. They would help me promote the shop so much and they would tell a lot of people about it because they are social butterflies. I also know a company very well that can be my first supplier and offer me good prices. My father is a business man and my mother is a doctor and health specialist which is basically the perfect combination for this business. Eventually I want to use Got the Blues as a venue for me to put on all sorts of cool events bringing people together and uniting Gainesville residents that can share this common indulgence.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage 

 1. Butterfly Pea Flower.
-VRIN
--V-- This resource is valuable because this is what makes my venture unique and the theme mainly revolves around this flower because of its health benefits, feminine appeal (not meaning its only for women), and beautiful blue hues. Got the Blues will be all blue and beautiful.
--R-- It is a rare flower that is really good for you and super rare trend in food & beverage. It is not seen often at all and most places do not completely center around a color but who doesn't love blue?! This resource might be considered "organizational" and as "culture" because it would be the company artifact and symbol.
--I-- I guess there is not much that makes this resource inimitable because I guess anyone that knows what Butterfly Pea Flower is can purchase it or grow it. However not many people understand that it is color changing due to the pH balance of it.
--N-- I guess this resource is substitutable because there are many healing plants that provide health benefits and create color pigmentation.

2. Who I know, social capital (my parents, connections in MIA and Gville, people within the industry that are well-known already). Young and cool customers (like my friends)
--V-- This resource is valuable because my friends will be my first customers and number one supporters. They would help me promote the shop so much and they would tell a lot of people about it because they are social butterflies. I also know a company very well that can be my first supplier and offer me good prices.
--R-- I guess this resource isn't rare besides the fact that I have friends in different social groups.
--I--Most people have friends that would support their businesses but my friends are especially supportive and good with social media and spreading the word. Most people are not as well connected as me because my father is a business man and my mother is a doctor and health specialist which is basically the perfect combination for this business. This resource is only imitable by people that are close to the same people as me but I am fortunate enough to be very close to people that can incredibly help me with this venture.
--N-- This resource is substitutable because people are replaceable. People will come and go!

3. Kind, helpful, and happy employees. Human resources.
--V-- This is so valuable because this creates CULTURE and makes people feel comfortable and want to come back.
--R-- In Gainesville this isn't super rare because usually customer service and confrontations here are usually pretty friendly and helpful.
--I-- This resource is difficult to copy. It is not easy to create this resource and heavily depends on the boss as a role model.
--N-- This is not substitute-able !!!!! Machines, unhappy people, self -checkout.. None of that can substitute a happy smiling person that is helping you.

4. ME (as a role model, boss, designer, trainer, R&D)
--V-- I am an extremely valuable resource to this business because of the fact that I am the only Ellie and a lot of this business will be completely my style and all the crazy food inventions will be mostly invented in my crazy head.
--R-- People like me are rare haha. No but it is true. I come from a very cultured background and grew up with business people as parents and experienced a lot that will encourage comfort in creativity in my ventures.
--I--The products I will sell will be a little difficult to imitate because they will be very experimental and I will always be putting new pastries and other treats out. There would not necessarily be a set menu. 
--N-- I guess I am substitutable as the founder for example if I were to sell the business to someone else.

5. Event opportunities (local artists showcasing work, local DJs playing, catering opportunities at events)
--V-- This is valuable because this supports other businesses as well which creates the FAVOR BANK!!
--R-- This is kind of rare because you need an actual venue in order to hold an event. My store will be my venue.
--I--This would be relatively easy for someone to imitate that has a venue but in regards to the food/catering this would be difficult for people to be able to supply the type of treats I would.
--N-- I guess this could be substituted by tabling at other festivals or around campus.

6. My store! Allergy friendly kitchen and blue decor and moveable furniture
--V-- This is very valuable because it'' be a very comfortable and cute place that customers will feel attracted to. The kitchen is the most valuable aspect because it calls for very specific machinery and a space to hold all the natural ingredients.
--R-- I suppose this resource is rare because there will only be one but it isn't rare for business people to have a storefront location.
--I-- My store will be very unique due to the moveable furniture and specific style of all the cups, plates, bowls that we will have. It's also very difficult to get your business certified organic or certified soy-free and gluten-free.
--N-- This is not subsitutable. This resource cannot be replaced by something else. I need to have a store-front location.

7. social media marketing - Mariana Dugand
--V-- This is an extremely valuable resource that I will pay a lot of attention to and put in the hands of people I know are already skilled with Instagram and Facebook. This is valuable because people my age and students are really dependent on the internet to find places to go and eat and spend their money. People my age rarely visit a place before visiting it's social media page.
--R-- This is not rare at all now a days. Most businesses use social media platforms.
--I-- This is easily imitable and people often use other business's social media pages for inspiration.
--N-- This is not subsitutable! Social media is vital for any business that wants to become successful now a days.

8. healthy supplies, my suppliers, all organic, naturally sweetened
--V-- This is very valuable to this specific venture because we will brag about this characteristic of our business a lot. The main need we are supplying is healthy options for people and a menu that is clear and has clean ingredients!
--R-- This is rare! Most food & beverage items that are available have many unclear and unhealthy ingredients and usually contain high fructose corn syrup or some variation of it. The whole reason why I chose this venture is because it is too rare and difficult for people to find healthy treats easily with vegan ingredients.
--I-- This is imitable but requires a lot of work and most places use soy or gluten or eggs in the majority of their stuff.
--N-- This is not substitutable!!! This is the main purpose of the business venture.

9. talent! local talent, shows, local artists displaying artwork, my friends that are performers, etc.
--V-- This is very valuable to me because I believe local businesses should support other local businesses and this would bring culture to the cafe. This is also valuable because I am going to whip this resource out when I need a boost but not right away.
--R-- This is somewhat rare. In Gainesville the only store I usually find talent is at The Bull which is a bar that does open-mics, jazz nights, and other live music things.
--I-- This is imitable if the person who was trying to imitate me would hire all my friends and the exact same people that I would hire. Any business could promote local talent in a way.
--N-- I guess this could be substituted by using the cafe as a venue and renting it out but it would not be the same and I would not want to rent out my space to anyone.

10. Partnerships - other people's products that I could sell in my shop. Brio Cold Brew
--V-- This is valuable because these other businesses could promote me if I sold their products and these existing businesses already have a base of customers. Brio would be valuable for me to use in my coffee beverages so that I don't need to worry about brewing my own coffee.
--R-- Partnerships are not rare and Brio Cold Brew is being sold in many locations ins Gainesville.
--I-- This is imitable.
--N-- This could easily be substituted by me making my own coffee or by having a partnership with another business.


MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE
I believe my most important resource would be my healthy supplies and ingredients that I get from my suppliers because this was my point with coming up with this venture. Healthy options need to be more accessible and the cute store is the vessel/tool in which I will use to supply the products to people.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

• The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
 
- The general theme of the book, The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki is the importance of social media use to enhance your business in modern day society. Guy teamed up with a colleague of his, Peg Fitzpatrick to write The Art of Social Media. This book is the one essential guide you need to get the most out of your time, effort, and money when it comes to social media marketing. Social Media can make or break your business. There are many people now a days that are naturally proficient (similar to how people are proficient in Word or Photoshop) in Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and all of the popular social media outlets right now. These people are eager to be hired and help others with their businesses when it comes to social media because it is a skill that not everybody has. In this book, Guy and peg give practical and applicable advice and tips on how to strategize when it comes to the most popular social media platforms.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

- In ENT3003, we learned and explored a lot about "culture" in the workplace and what "culture" means when it comes to businesses. Culture is a resource that can be created in a lot of ways and is an incredibly important asset for any business. Every business has some sort of culture even if it is unintentional but social media can be a very great way to create culture for your business or show your business's culture without people needing to physically be there or literally experience it. Culture is rare and cannot be imitated but with social media it is easier to create at least an image of culture even if it isn't true (lol). Culture is the deeply held beliefs of what the business is and it is usually an unconscious thing. Social media can create culture also in the sense that people need to join (your company's page or follow it in some sense) so it creates that membership feeling.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

-My exercise would be to mimic an Instagram page to promote your business idea as if it were already up and running. This exercise would involve a screenshot of the page with the last 6 photos also showing profile picture, name, and biography. In addition, the assignment should include a description of why the posts are laid out the way they are, the common theme throughout the posts, and the captions that would go along with the last 6 posts.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

-I had a few 'aha' moments when reading this book because social media is such a prevalent thing in my generation but not really that easy to the older ones. The first one was that there are people out there dying to help local businesses with social media because it comes naturally to them (especially in my generation) and its becoming a business opportunity as opposed to just a personal leisure choice. Another realization I had during my read was that social media is so incredibly annoying and overwhelming for people that are not used to it and do not use it for personal purposes. Lastly, social media is just a race regarding how fast you can catch people's attention because there's so many things that can catch your customer's attention so it is a skill that needs to be learned.

20A– Growing Your Social Capital

AMIR BEN-ZION
1) Who they are and what their background is.
-This person is my father, a well-known Miami business man. He grew up in Israel and moved to New York around the age of 18. He has had experience in starting many businesses such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, clubs, and bars. My dad is an expert with personal projects and making them happen because he never went to college so his entire income is just based on personal projects that he takes on or projects that other people include him in.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
-Domain expert. He fills this spot because he has a lot of experience in the food industry and knows how to build a business based around the type of food ideas for a specific venture. Ever since I was a child I have seen him work on projects such as sushi, Chinese, and fusion restaurants along with cafes and bars.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
-This person is my father and I contacted him in order to help me develop my business idea and discuss the specifics about my market-type and how to go about starting the venture.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
-The nature of the exchange was that I asked him to check out my elevator pitch and go over the general idea of the business with me at first and who my market is. This led to deeper conversation about what directions the business could go in and how to get it started.  There is not much of a return expectation since this person is my father.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
-My dad can definitely help me with the financial aspect of starting the business and telling me the first steps of the legal process while at the same time probably getting some of his team to help me with those aspects of it. 

ERIK GURU LIEUX
1) Who they are and what their background is.
-Erik is trained as a psychotherapist but has his own tonic line which is basically beverages with juices and herbs and spices to promote good energy levels and physical well-being. He is located in Miami and also puts on events and hosts cacao ceremonies.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
-Market expert, he fills this spot because he sells his "Shamanic Tonic" to businesses and consumers all over Miami and also puts on his own events. He tables at festivals and farmers markets. Since this is a very similar product to one of the products I would be selling at Got the Blues, he understand how to conduct customer research for this sort of "healthy" (yogi-ish) kind of market. He represents a big chunk of my market because the majority of people that are attracted to his product are super health conscious and into yoga and spirituality which I would probably attract with my use of natural and rare ingredients.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
-This person used to help my mom with her juicing and detox events when I was younger and then created his own business. About a year ago I helped him a bit in the kitchen, delivering his products to businesses and individuals, along with helping at events. It was quite easy for me to contact him since we used to speak frequently.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
-The favor Erik did for me was discuss possible directions I could go in regards to ingredients and menu options. He helped me realize what kind of things I could have on the menu and made me realize the difference between our businesses. His is more about the aspect of gaining energy and superfoods/superherbs while mine is going to have that, it will be more about the aspect of indulging in sweets, pastries, and milkshakes. 
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
-Erik will enhance my ability to exploit this venture because he went through this himself. Having to start off at home, really small business, with mostly local and expensive ingredients and then having to market off to bigger ventures and projects. He then created more flavors of his elixirs and experienced some trial and error.  Now he actually has people that work for him. So Erik understands how to get something small up and running even if it needs to remain low-key for a little while to stay true to the mission.

DAVID "AVOCADO" WOLFE
1) Who they are and what their background is.
-David Avocado Wolf is a Health, Eco, Nutrition, and Natural Beauty Expert. He has a masters degree in nutrition, and a background in science and mechanical engineering. He is considered one of the world’s top authorities on natural health, beauty nutrition, herbalism, chocolate, and organic superfoods.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
-Supplier because he is the founder of Sacred Chocolate and Longevity Warehouse which is a B2B for other businesses to have access to natural chocolate and other herbs, etc. 
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
-This person has been friends with my mother since I was really little and used to stay with us when he had events in Miami. Him and my mom have worked together on a few projects and they still consider themselves close friends. I have all his contact information because he has been in my family's network for a long time. 
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
-The favor David did for me was talking over the general idea of the venture and making me feel really good about the idea. He obviously offered his businesses as suppliers (probably with the family discount!!!) and helped me think of realistic ways to go about getting natural ingredients in my area that his businesses would not be able to supply for me. He also gave me some other really great ideas for pastries and treats.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
- David, other than being incredibly knowledgeable on herbs and other ingredients that I could involve in my menu, will probably give me a discount if I order things from his companies for my business and he is incredibly well known. He used to have millions of followers on Facebook. If David would promote me in any way or post a picture on any social media platform advertising my business it would be incredibly helpful.

Finally: Reflect.
-This experience helped me understand that networking does not need to be by chance but can be done by thinking about what kind of people you know and what aspects of your business may need a little help. By doing this I realized how many people I know in this industry that can help me and how perfectly it aligns. In the future I am going to utilize the people that are already in my degrees of connection because I forgot that I am actually well connected due to my parents and personal experiences in Miami. 

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2 

 

1. ME
- I am Ellie Ben-Zion. I grew up in Miami with a health-nut for a mother and a father who owns restaurants and night clubs. I have a good eye for design since since I used to be in theatre and photography. I'm also really good with people and communication. I worked at my father's restaurant in high school and I was able to see all the intricacies of running a business. My aspirations are to create my own businesses that keep the well-being of humans and the environment in mind while maintaining its integrity as a product or service. For example some of my business ideas involve health and wellness such as the one I am using for this class. If I were to really start this business, I can see it playing a role in my life as a personal venture. It would start off with me doing all the work and probably be really small batch and supported by my small network of friends, classmates, and family members along with hopefully some degree of a social media following. For the most part, this business idea in my head is quite low-key and local.

2. What am I offering to customers?
- I am offering a small cafe type of store that offers a variety of vegan, gluten free, and soy free treats such as icecream, mylkshakes, puddings pastries, and lattes. I will also have seasonal items and specials since I really enjoy experimenting with food. I will only provide two different sized for the beverages and ice creams to keep it simple. All of these products will be organic and naturally sweetened but they will also have butterfly pea flower powder or extract which has health benefitting properties but also creates a beautiful blue or purplish pigment. 

3. Who are you offering it to?
- I am offering this product to Gainesville's students here that care about a cool, fun, new health trend but more importantly the increasing number of people that care about their health here and are discovering their dietary restrictions. I go to the gym a lot so those types of students would probably be a good specific example of who I am marketing to. Many of the people I encounter here are vegan, vegetarian, or do not necessarily label themselves that way but eat that way for the most part.

4. Why do they care?
- People will care because it will be one of the few places to indulge in sweets and grab a coffee while staying healthy and possibly having a cute new location to study. People will pay money for my products because it will be so visually enticing due to its blue and purple hues along with the fact that there aren't that many places around here to get yummy and guilt-free items. Many people (especially students) have dietary restrictions now and there is an increasing number of students that care about fitness and wellness.

5. What are your core competencies?
- I think what sets me apart is going to be the bright colors of my products and the fact that it'll even change color in some of the products due to the sensitivity of the pH in Butterfly Pea Flower. And if I make it in a certain way the colors will be layered in the container giving the customer the choice to shake it for a homogeneous color effect or keep the colors sort of all over the place. Also I haven't seen any butterfly pea products around here so it'll be new and exciting. It can even be used in alcoholic beverages.I will add this ingredient to my product in a variety of ways such as dehydrated petals, extracts, or powders. Eventually I may sell butterfly pea flower extracts and powders.


Feedback-
The main point I took from my feedback was the need to specify my market more. This has helped me a lot to better my business idea and create my second idea napkin because I had to decide what is most important. What I discovered is that the most important thing about this idea is its true purpose, the reason why I created it. I, personally am gluten intolerant and I am sick of not having any options when I go out to get anything to eat. I am creating this business for people like me who have dietary restrictions and allergies and are looking for a place to find food that they can know exactly what the ingredients are and feel safe. This helped me a lot to realize the type of market I am targeting. From my feedback I decided to change my venture from one Butterfly Pea Flower related product to an entire cafe with multiple products.

15A Buyer Behavior

15A Buyer Behavior

-Alternatives

Customers evaluate their alternatives by convenience, price, accessibility, ease, and pace. People usually pick something they know they like or they do what is most convenient. People do not typically go out of their way unless they know the outcome. Most people like to get what they already know they will enjoy most of the time and then take risks every now and then which means trying something new. For most students, price is the biggest factor and they will not go out of their convenience to seek for quality.

-How/Where?

Some customers prefer cash but most prefer what is easiest which is usually online purchasing. However for in person transactions credit and debit is used. People tend to find checking out on the tablet and being able to select the tip button much easier than writing the tip and total on the receipt. Also this is a more environmentally friendly direction.

-Post purchase evaluation

In the industry I am focusing in which is food, what matters most to the customer to determine post purchase satisfaction is the question was it worth it. This usually means was it tasty and filling enough to out-way the price that the customer paid for the food .

18A – Create a Customer Avatar 

(changing my idea to a Butterfly Pea Flower Vegan Mylk-Shake)

My prototypical customer is a 24 year old female student at UF. She has beachy hair with natural highlights because she likes to surf in her free time. My avatar does not have a car, she uses her bike or skateboard to get around most places. She has tangled anklets and bracelets. She watches Broad City. She does not have any children. She uses Buddah Butter lip balm. She is more on the liberal side.

I do have a lot in common with my avatar. This is not a coincidence because when I was brainstorming ideas for this class, I mainly thought about needs that I personally feel in general and specifically here in Gainesville. I noticed a few vegan places such as Karma Kream (even though they don't make the vegan ice cream that they sell..) but I still noticed a lack in health awareness and fun healthy options.

 

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

 1) 5 ways my human capital is unique!

- My knowledge for health and wellness is definitely unique. I have not met many people that know as much as I do about health trends, vitamins, supplements, and food nutrition as I do. Many people come to me when they are sick, don't know how to make something, or just want to get healthier.

- I grew up seeing many businesses get created and executed. I have seen the creative process of coming up with the ideas and then saw what it took to actually prepare for an opening. I think what was really valuable in these experiences were the failures because I was able to see what caused my dads businesses to succeed or fail. 

- I have an eye for design. I was in theatre throughout middle and high school so I had to study publicity design (designing tickets, fliers, etc) along with set design, costume design, makeup design. I also had to learn about the use of words and colors and how they effect people. I also have good over-all style and I know how to organize things very well. 

- I am incredibly open-minded. Although this can be a fault at times, it causes me to be open to all sort of ideas and think outside of the box. There's not many things that I'll immediately turn down without giving it a chance. I usually go through a process of consideration over an idea and try to learn as much as I can from every experience I find myself in.

- I have been told and I agree that my communication skills are on point. I think I have a way with being understandable and relatable to people in person and through writing. People often feel comfortable around me and confide in me due to this. I know how to give constructive criticism and lead by example.

2) My friends, for the most part, told me that what makes my human capital unique is my ability to care about my relationships with people even if its just friendships. Most people do not put that much thought into their relationships but apparently I give everyone in my life equal attention whether I'm romantically involved or just friends with the person. My friends believe I am incredibly insightful and that I don't care much for material things, how I look, or how people think about me. Also, that I am a positive person.

3) I definitely didn't think that I am a positive person because I always thought of myself as a realist and a logical person. I often worry that I am not grateful enough and that I view the society in a pessimistic way. Going back I would add my ability to love as something that makes me unique (as cheesy as that sounds). I believe my ability to care, love, and pay attention with all my being to multiple being is very unique.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

- Pick a segment.

The segment I am choosing is undergrad college students at UF. I am not sure if I should be more specific than that. 

- When does the need become salient?

At a restaurant, due to the lack of healthy beverage options. They usually have water, sodas, and alcoholic beverages but a lack of stuff in between. The people I interviewed expressed this need becoming salient when friends are getting unhealthy options and they don't want to consume something so high in calories. 

-Information search.

Many people just resort to water as the healthiest option. However I do see an expressed need for something sweet and healthy.

- Findings and conclusions!

I think I may need to change my business idea?!?!? 

Although some people have expressed this need, others have pointed out that healthy people do not really go to unhealthy places and expect to find healthy products to suit their dietary needs. They obviously do not expect much from them. Also, people do not often feel the need for lemonade or crave it. Lemonade definitely doesn't motivate someone to go and get it besides if they're already in a restaurant or establishment. However maybe if my idea was blue vegan ice cream or a blue vegan milkshake (made with almond milk) that would be something that a person would actually have a craving for causing them to go and look for it. This may have a more solid market because this would target specifically people looking for vegan options so it may be a more clear venture. Many people have expressed the need for more places that meet their dietary restrictions and I've noticed a pretty large vegan community here in Gainesville.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1 

  1. ME
- I am Ellie Ben-Zion. I grew up in Miami with a health-nut for a mother and a father who owns restaurants and night clubs. I have a good eye for design since since I used to be in theatre and photography. I'm also really good with people and communication. I worked at my father's restaurant in high school and I was able to see all the intricacies of running a business. My aspirations are to create my own businesses that keep the well-being of humans and the environment in mind while maintaining its integrity as a product or service. For example some of my business ideas involve health and wellness such as the one I am using for this class. If I were to really start this business, I can see it playing a role in my life as a personal venture. It would start off with me doing all the work and probably be really small batch and supported by my small network of friends, classmates, and family members along with hopefully some degree of a social media following. For the most part, this business idea in my head is quite low-key and local.

2. What am I offering to customers?
- I am offering a healthy blue/purple lemonade beverage by using dried butterfly pea flowers to add pigment and attract people with some visual effects such as Boba Tea or nitrogen icecream. My lemonade will be changing colors since the pigment is affected by the pH balance.

3. Who are you offering it to?
- I am offering this product to Gainesville's locals and students here that care about a cool, fun, new health trend and to local businesses here that have some sort of health initiative and care about supporting other local businesses such as Grill Fresh, Karma Kream, other cafe's and fast restaurants and some local bars.

4. Why do they care?
- People will pay money for my product because it will be so visually enticing due to its blue and purple hues. Also people will pay money for this product because they care about their health and want to quench their thirst with something that isn't bad for them.

5. What are your core competencies?
- I think what sets me apart is going to be the bright colors of this lemonade and the fact that it'll even change color. And if I make it in a certain way the colors will be layered in the container giving the customer the choice to shake it for a homogeneous color effect or keep the colors sort of all over the place. Also I haven't seen any butterfly pea products in stores or in restaurants or bars. It can even be used in alcoholic beverages.

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Identified Need: Healthier fun beverage options-- (made with butterfly pea flower)


WHO: People that do not want to spend a lot of money and assume that products with unusual herbs or organic ingredients or unfamiliar terms are expensive. There are businesses that prefer more simple beverages such as sodas and juices like most fast food places and the majority of places that don't really have a health-conscious approach because usually the level of food matches the level of drink.

WHAT: The need of drinking a beverage like this is very different from the need of just being thirsty and wanting anything refreshing. People who do not particularly care for the health benefit may just not have the need to purchase this product. People who can afford it but do not particularly share this need may still be attracted by the color and the ingredients of the beverage.

WHY: The reason for the difference in needs between the outsiders and insiders of this opportunity is upbringing, financial situation, genuine care for personal health.

14A - Halfway Reflection

14A - Halfway Reflection

To keep up the requirements of this course I had to use and develop behaviors such as...

- paying attention to the environment around me and identifying basic and complex needs/desires/problems that can be changed in some way to be make things easier or more accessible to people. The ability to think of business ideas out of any situation because there is always an unmet need or desire.
- Asking questions! Being curious! Conducting research/interviews in order to understand the customer/market better and then taking the information to better my ideas.
- Letting go and taking the risk! Understanding that things wont always work out and letting failures happen to learn from them.
- Controlling my creativity... being able to access it when I need to and out it to work but also put it to the side when other things need to be a factor.

"Giving up" Moment...

I felt like giving up when I heard Dr. Pryor say that nobody would want my ugly baby. It made me feel like my first business idea is likely to fail and that terrified me at first. It made me want to give up as opposed to putting so much of myself and energy into something that'll just appear to be my ugly baby to other people. What if people don't think my ideas are as cool? That would suck.
What pulled me through was realizing that I can gather information to find out if people are interested in an idea before I catapult myself into the market. Also, taking risks is a learning process but I am working on it and working on just being fearless with the idea of putting my ugly baby out in the world without being insecure.

Three Tips...

1. Learn from every business related situation because that information will help for the next.
2. Be outgoing with your ideas and marketing strategies. Marketing is everywhere! There are opportunities everywhere! Take advantage of that.
3. Remember to be curious and humble. Ask questions because something can be learned from everyone and everything.

13A - Reading Reflection Pt.1

13A - Reading Reflection Pt.1

• What surprised you the most?
• What surprised me the most about Yunus' story is that he created a bank (The Grameen Bank) that completely revolves around trust. In order to do this he had to completely revolutionize the way banking is done in order to have it be accessible to poor people in Bangladesh.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• Besides his undying trust for his people, Yunus is one of the few people in the world that would tackle such a wide scale problem. He chose to make it his own personal responsibility to educate poor communities in Bangladesh to take care of their finances better. I admire his incredibly strong compassion for his people and using every bit of what he's gotten and received over his relatively wealthy life to give back to people and help break the cycle of poverty.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
•  What I least admire about Yunus' process is when he got in over his head and created his own political party as opposed to becoming the prime minister of a caretaker government when the offer was proposed to him. His political party was of no success.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina never forgave him for creating his own political party and believed that he did it on purpose to remove her from politics. This put Yunus on the Prime Minister's bad side and led her to bash his name.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 
 Yunus studied hard all of his life and even came to America to learn about economics and used all of his education and compassion to go back to his hometown to help the poor people with micro-finance.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
Something about the reading that was confusing to me was the drama that happened between Yunus and the Prime Minister and how there are different governments and prime ministers. I am also generally confused about how a bank can function when its just based on trust. How is it possible that so few people in Bangladesh are taking advantage of this system.
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
1. Did you know that your bank was going to be successful? If not, were you scared?
2. Why didn't you choose to stay in America, what about your life did you have to leave behind?
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I believe Yunus' opinion about hard work is working together as a community by investing a small amount of money into something larger to benefit the community and create a chain effect. I do share this opinion with Yunus. This will create success in the long run and help people dictate their lives and beat the vicious cycle of poverty.

8A - Solving the Problem

 (This post is in reference to my previous post!)
I recently read about someone who was rushed to the hospital due to stomach pains 
caused by a liquid nitrogen beverage. When I read about this I thought about my blue 
water (my filtered water with mint and dried butterflypea flowers) which turns blue within 
minutes due to dehydrated butterflypea flowers. If people are attracted by weird tapioca 
balls and liquid nitrogen ice cream, they may be attracted to a light blue tea/ice cream/treat/latte/alcoholic beverage that looks cool and isn't bad for you.

For this assignment I'll choose a vegan gluten-free little blue cupcake or a type of squishy
rice ball treat because its a snack, it'll attract children AND it won't be an unhealthy treat nor 
will it expensive because rice is cheap. (I am so bad w decisions, very open to feedback lol)

Thanks for reading! :)