19 A

Idea Napkin No. 2



Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

· My name is Esther Goldstein. I spoke with five individuals who are familiar with my abilities and they provided me feedback concerning my strengths and weaknesses. Based collectively on those conversations I reached conclusions concerning my skills. My greatest asset in embarking down the road of life as a prospective entrepreneur is my oral communication skills. I enjoy public speaking and do it confidently. When I was in high school, my father took me to his business development group and I was able to stand up in front of seventy professionals and deliver a thirty second presentation concerning a product I was selling. After the meeting, my father received several inquiries from professionals in attendance looking to hire me for their companies. However, I needed to finish high school and attend college.

· In high school, I did start my own business manufacturing and selling bath bombs. I manufactured them in my home and was able to sell them online cheaper than the stores. I developed my own logo and web-site and even established a merchant account.

What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

· I will invent a washer/dryer combination which efficiently automatically cycles from washing to drying. I believe it will be the future for how individuals prefer to do their laundry. The potential customer based is endless as it will be used by laundromats, college students, efficiency apartments, working parents and anyone who does laundry.Using this product will help busy people by making doing laundry more convenient.

· Based on my interviews, I realized that I need to modify this invention somewhat. For example: I must have different settings that are programmable before the load begins. These setting include a delicate one in which the laundry will not automatically be dried. Interviewees also wanted the product to come in a variety of finishes. Finally, interviewees would like to see these machines come in a horizontal version to incorporate a folding table on top.

Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

· I will market the product to consumers who desire more free time. My market for the consumer can be any age group; it’s really the mindset of the person as to how efficiently they want their laundry completed.

· The second target I plan to market to is owners of laundromats. Consumers who use laundromats would prefer to not sit around to transfer their clothing into another machine. A laundromat can market itself as a leader in the industry by having the most efficient machines.

Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

· Retailer will care about this product because they like to be known as the first business carrying new products. They want to continue to keep their customers believing that they are the only store that carries the newest appliances.

· My original napkin design remains the same; the only thing that I plan to change is some of the settings on the machine, such as a feature that stops the machine from automatically drying the clothing. I do believe that consumers will purchase this product and larger families can possibly even have two in their household since it would take up the same amount of space as their current washer and dryer.

What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

· According to my research, there is a product similar to this that does exist. However, Consumer Reports does not rate it well. One of the major defects is that it takes a minimum of 4 hours to complete one load of laundry.

· What will set this product is it will be able to complete a load of laundry in the same time as a traditional washer and dryer. Unlike its competitor, the machine will be 2 separate machines. Not one machine that does both, allowing the dryer to more efficiently dry the clothing.

· What these machines will be able to do that no other ones will is they will be able to function interdependently as well as together, allowing consumers to have the best of both worlds.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

· I believe that all of my elements will work well together. One of my weaknesses is presenting my prototype to manufacturing companies. Also, since I do not have experience in the mechanical part of the machine, I will need to either find a partner who does or outsource that part. However, once I present my product and show that there are no other comparable ones like this in the industry, I am confident it will be a success.



Feedback Memo:
This process for me has been quite a journey. I have interview people closest to me and learned a lot about myself. Some of the strengths and weaknesses they identified I was aware of and others I was not. However, each person did say that my greatest strength is my communication skills. This made me happy since communication is crucial for having a successful business. 

I did decide to modify the product after interviewing people and listening to their “wishlist” as they brought up ideas that I did not think of when I invented the product. 

Based on the comments from my first elevator pitch, I also will be more cognizant as to keeping my speech less about me and more about the product. While this product will also affect my life for the better, I must convince the consumer it will also change their life for the better.

18A

Create a Customer Avatar


My product can be sold to retailers, laundromats, individuals, and businesses. For this assignment, I will focus on the end customer.

My customer lives in Orlando and attends the University of Central Florida. This is her first time away from home and she has always had everything done for her by her parents. Thankfully, at home her hobby was cooking; however, until she moved away, she had never done laundry. She worried about doing laundry for the first time. One Saturday, she decided she can no longer go without clean clothes. She walked down to the laundry room of her dormitory and began doing her laundry. She put her clothing in the washer and returned to her dormitory. A while later she remembered she was doing laundry and ran to the laundry room only to find her clothing on top of the dryer, wet.

She frantically called her mother and asked her what to do. Her mom asked her to smell her clothing and see if they smell like mildew. They did, and consequently she had to start all over again. This time she set a timer, but the timer went off as she was completing an online quiz. On a fixed income, she was upset about the money wasted using the washing machine. Eventually she adjusted to doing her own laundry, but if she had my all in one machine none of these things would have happened to her.

What do I have in common with her? This was my sister when she went away to University of Central Florida. Like many people, leaving the house and adjusting to life on your own is hard. Like my sister, I live away from home and have to do my own laundry, but there has to be an easier way.

I don’t think this is a coincidence. I came up with this idea because it will save time and be convenient for students, mothers, and anyone who does their own laundry. Technology has greatly progressed, and I am relatively certain my product could be produced and brought to market at an affordable price. This product will change the way laundry is done and will make household chores simpler.

17A

https://youtu.be/7s_A6sKt6IQ



Reflection of Feedback: Based on the feedback given, I realized that I have a good product that would make people’s lives better. I did like the positive yet critical feedback I received. I thought the most useful feedback was from Cooper G, whose advice was to provide more facts concerning the potential idea. I must better explain the need for the washer/dryer machine by showing how clothes left in the washer machine unattended can collect mildew. I will reconstruct my presentation to be more thorough.


What I changed, based on feedback: Based on the positive criticism I received I altered my presentation to better explain the important purpose of the washer/dryer combination which automatically ran through both cycles. Additionally, I will dress more professionally for future presentations and make use of hand gestures to illustrate my point.

15 A

     During my interview process I was able to see a different vision for my product. One of my interviewees suggested that the machine have an option not to have the clothing also dry for the hand washable items. She says delicate items should never be in the dryer and the machine needs a function for that.


     Another interviewee liked the idea of stackable machines, but would like to also have a side-by-side version. This way in the newer homes they can still have a folding shelf over the machines. I think this is a good point; however this model will have to be later seeing the success of the first model.


     The 5 people that I interviewed each had a different idea for the machine, but overall liked the concept. They all suggested that I offer it in colors just as appliances are. This way if the machine is in an area that can be seen it will be more seamless in the room.


     This interview process was very eye opening as to how a potential customer would feel when the product came out, how to model it, and what features is needed. They all agreed that they like the product and it would make doing laundry easier for them.

16 A

Five ways in which I think I have Human Capital:



1. Integrity. I am always honest when dealing with customers, co-workers and supervisors. People dealing with me know they can take my word to the bank as I believe that relationships are built on trust.

2. Communication Skills. I am a patient person who will always take the time to properly communicate with customers, coworkers and supervisors to make sure tasks are properly completed.

3. Inspire others. A great part of teamwork is the ability to inspire others. When I am at work I encourage my coworkers to complete tasks and complement their work product. I always try to be helpful in assisting them to complete projects.

4. Positive work ethic. My motto is early is on time and on time is late. I am always punctual at work and meet all deadlines. I am able to focus, and I always have a positive outlook even when problems arise.

5. Knowledge. When on the job, I always try to learn as much as possible about products so I can give the best advice possible to customers. Customers and supervisors truly appreciate when an employee takes the time to learn about products.

Interviews:

Interview 1: https://youtu.be/OWJbrDasoVU

Interview 2: https://youtu.be/ND2mZ_CMytQ

Interview 3: https://youtu.be/yiDu6GKcJj8

Interview 4: https://youtu.be/RNttctiN5b8

Interview 5: https://youtu.be/02C9sNJM9RU

Reflection:
Listening to what people said about me was surreal. I thought I possessed those attributes; however, it’s weird getting confirmation of them. There are areas in my personality that I need to improve hearing them will help me improve them.

14 A

14A



1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?



This course involves a lot of reading, creative thinking and writing. or this exercise, I'd like you reflect on the past two months. Some of the most important competencies used for the class are:



A. Attention to detail – all assignments are carefully reviewed and timely performed with attention to each detailed task.

B. Consistency and time management – I generally set aside 5-8 hours a week to work on assignments for class and make sure that my work schedule enables me to consistently devote the time required to succeed.

C. Creativity – In this class often times the answer is found in one’s brain after deep reflection, as opposed to finding the answer somewhere in a textbook.

D. Practical thought – Many of the assignments for this class involve practical thinking and analysis, including interviewing people to determine if a seemingly novel and potentially profitable concept is practical and cost effective.

E. Self-starter – To succeed in this class one needs to be a self-starter ready to take on regular complex assignments.



2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?



This course involves a lot of work. My attitude in life is that when presented with an opportunity one must grab it. This course cultivates free thinking and the development of creative ideas. I want to own and operate my own successful business in the future and this course teaches me to think innovatively.



3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset'?



I would counsel a student desiring to enroll in this course to prepare to devote lots of time to the class, on a regular schedule, and to only take the course if they are a creative and innovative thinker as many of the answers to questions encountered during the course are not found in textbooks. Students contemplating taking this course will also have to develop to skills referenced in response to above question 1.

For this post, please include at least one image.

13 A

13A

Entrepreneur Elon Musk



1) You read about an entrepreneur:

· What surprised you the most?

I did not know that Elon Musk made his initial money from the sale of PayPal. The first I ever heard of him was based on his involvement in Tesla.

· What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire his creativity and perseverance.

· What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

He seems kind of arrogant, but I guess that is a common trait that is often found in people who are wealthy, successful entrepreneurs or leaders. An example of this arrogance is when he recently was interviewed while he was puffing on a marijuana joint.

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

Yes. As a child, Elon Musk was bullied in school and also experienced a nasty parental break up. As a result, he became a book worm, including reading encyclopedias.

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

Passion and Motivation – Mr. Musk fully throws his passion for a project behind everything he does, whether it is PayPal, Tesla or SpaceX.

Not Afraid to Take Risks and Self-Belief – Mr. Musk is a risk taker. He sees opportunities and pursues. Others might be dissuaded by the high risk of failure.

Product and Market Knowledge–Mr. Musk knows the market. He determined that there would be a market for fully electric cars and he created Tesla.

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

I do not understand the relationship between the solar panels and Tesla.

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

What is your next invention/project?

If you could buy any five publicly traded stocks to hold for the next ten years what would they be?

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

Elon Musk is a very hard worker. Like most entrepreneurs and successful people, they initially sped lots of time in the planning stages and then implement their novel idea. Har work and proper planning are required to own and operate any business (except passive income)

12A

This exercise involves interviewing three customers to determine how they begin their buyer behavior process. Specifically, I'd like you to focus on the first two steps: need awareness and information search. This information is critically important to helping us maximize our marketing efforts.

Here's what you should do.

1) Pick a segment. In class, we have discussed how you might intuit the existence of segments that might exist in your venture's market. For this exercise, you must pick one segment.

The segment I have chosen is females between the ages of 19-23. I chose this narrow segment because those people are college students who must do their own laundry.

2) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. These interviews, if conducted properly, should take about 10-15 minutes. Any less, and you won't be able to obtain adequate information.

3) Begin with need awareness. In earlier exercises, you have identified an unmet need and developed a solution. If the person you are talking to does not have the same unmet, then you need to move on. You may not include this as one of your three interviews. If the person you are talking to does have the problem, then you're on the right track! For need awareness, we need to figure out at what times, situations, places, contexts, etc., their need becomes the most salient. The questions you ask should be related to determining exactly when, how, and where their need awareness occurs.

4) Move to information search. When the person you are interviewing becomes aware of their need, what is the very first thing they do to find a solution to their problem? What sources of information do they look for? When they search in Google, what are their search terms? Do they talk to friends and family?

In the three interviews I conducted all of those interviewed were interested in my idea of the laundry machine which automatically dumps clothes into the dryer and then starts a drying cycle. Two out of the three people interviewed immediately took to the internet on their smartphones to see if the product I was pitching already existed. The search terms one used was “washer dryer combination” the other person interviewed searched “stacked washer dryer”. I did not know if these people interviewed subsequently discussed my idea with their friends or family. I know they did not do so in my presence.

5) Report the findings of your research. Simply summarize what you learned in the interviews.

All three of the people interviewed liked my idea, but surprisingly none of the people found that my product was a game changer or essential to their lives. All three liked the convenience of such a product, but 2 out of the 3 people interviewed said that they would only buy the product if it was not significantly more expensive than a regular washer and dryer.

6) Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of need awareness and information search?

This segment is comprised of college age girls who do their own laundry. I learned pretty much that while they liked the product they could take it or leave it. The determining factor in whether they would purchase it was price. The college girls were all able to search for follow up information on the internet about my idea. The most important thing I learned in this process is that this product is a luxury, not a necessity. This means that I probably would have had more success in selling this idea for a product to older purchasers who have more disposable income to spend on luxury items like this.

11A

Assignment 11A

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am a young entrepreneur. When I was in high school I created a company called “Tub Explosions” to market and sell bath bombs. While I am creative, I would need a technical person with an electrical engineering background to bring my idea to fruition and a patent attorney to file for a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

I would be offering customers a stackable washer and dryer with the washer automatically opening and dumping the wet clothing into the drying, which would automatically start. While there currently are many stackable washers and dryers, to my knowledge, there are none which automatically cycle from one to the other. While there is an all in one washer/dryer, it take 4 hours from start to finish, which is far too much time.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I’d be offering this product to anyone who needs a new washer and dryer and does not want to waste time moving clothes from the washer to the dryer.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

Customers will be able to insert their dirty laundry into the washer machine and then not have to touch it again until they take it out of the dryer to fold it.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

I am an entrepreneur with an overall idea of a product needed by the marketplace. However, I would need the technical support of an electrical engineer to design the product and a patent attorney to assist me in patenting it.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

I believe that my idea is sound and that there would be a market for these types of machines. However, without the technical background I am unsure if my idea is feasible. Additionally, unless the concept, once patented, is sold to a company already in the washer/dryer business, the production costs might be prohibitive.