Venture Concept No. 2

My Venture Concept No.1:

            We live in the 21^st century where technology is constantly changing our lives, some will agree for the better or for the worse. Sitting here I like to look at it as where would we be in our lives if certain inventions were never created? For example, where would we be if cars were never invented, would we be biking and riding horse’s everywhere? What if planes where never invented, would we never see the other side of the continent? What if computers were never invented, would I be handwriting this assignment and turning it in? Whether you’re on either side of the argument, I think we can all agree that technology helps us in our day to day lives. Think about it. We drive our cars to work. We use our computers to do our work. We use our microwaves to heat our food. We use our phones to conduct business. Where would we really be without all the technology advancements that have been made to this day? Living on farms and growing our crops? Riding our buggies to church on Sunday? I don’t know about you, but I rather be using my GoPro while sky diving out of a plane.

            The venture concept I am presenting you with today will most definitely involve technology and will certainly simplify your life. Nowadays everybody carries around these stuffed wallets filled with their credit cards, debit cards, bonus cards, cash, and change. Men have to try to figure out how to stuff these oversized wallets into their pants pockets, while women have to try to squeeze them into their purses. This is a never ending struggle that I believe needs a fix and a change. This current method of the exchange of money for goods and services is very inefficient. I believe with today’s technology it can be made more simplistic, and efficient. We live in the 21^st century there has to be something better, something that can make our lives easier. That something better is right in front of you, your cellphone. Everyone today is constantly glued to their smart phones. You walk down the street and about everyone you cross paths with will have some form of a smart phone in their hand. Now what if your cellphone could also be used as your wallet? Your cellphone has applications on it, so what if an application could be used to replace your wallet? What if this application could be used to store your credit and debit card information on? These were the exact questions that were running through my head when I pondered on this venture concept.

            The venture concept I am proposing to you is an application that can be used on your smart phone. This application will be either ran by your bank or your credit card company. For example, if you have a Bank of America credit card you will open up the Bank of America Mobile App, sign- in, and then Bank of America application will transfer you to my application. If your credit card is through Visa, you will login into the Visa application which will then link you to my application. Having my application directly linked to your bank accounts or your credit card accounts allows for your credit or debit card information to be stored safely within your smart phone.  Once you are redirected to my app, you will be presented with a screen that has the front picture of all the stored credit or debit cards. Having the picture visible versus your account numbers will make it easier for you to recognize and distinguish from your different cards. From here you will click on the card you wish to make your current purchase with. After clicking on the card, the stored cards personal barcode will be presented on the screen. You then turn your phone toward the cashier and they will scan the barcode with their barcode scanner. This prevents cashiers from every handling your cellphone, which again allows your information to remain safe. 

My application will be purchased through the App Store on your phone, just like all applications that are available for use on your smart phone. There will be two possible applications you may wish to download. The first application will be the FREE version. Within the FREE version there will be advertisements, which will be presented on the page that has the pictures of your stored cards. The ad will pop-up and you will be forced to close the tap before you can pick the card of your choosing to make your purchase with. The second version will be the paid version. The paid version will be a onetime cost of $4.99. On the paid version, you will never experience an advertisement pop-up. Also with the paid version you my download the updated application at any time free of charge.  Since the application is linked through your bank account or credit card account, there will also be a version that is free for certain users depending upon their account. For example, if you have a bank account with Wells Fargo they may offer free smart phone transactions if you have the College Student account with them. Therefore, by having a specific account with them they are offering you free smart phone transactions. My company will receive a set payment annually from Wells Fargo for the use of my application. These three methods for downloading my application onto your smart phone are the three ways I plan to receive profit from my application. 

My hope for this application is that it will revolutionize our current exchange of money for goods and services. We no longer need to use cash and coins to make purchases in our everyday lives. We are the generation that is ready for the change from cash exchange to barcode exchanges. Through my application that will be available for use on your smart phone, I would like to make that change possible with my application.

Venture Concept No.2:

Opportunity

My opportunity is for individuals who are in-store shopping consumers. The nature of the need is that it is not a necessity, but would simplify our lives. The changes in the environment that are creating this opportunity is the increase of smart phones in technologies within our everyday life. I believe the market for my application can be defined geographically by countries were smart phone use is  daily thing and demographically with the younger generation. Customers currently are satisfying their need by using plastic credit cards and cash to purchase their goods. I do not believe most people are very loyal to the tradition way of purchasing goods. I believe this is a significant opportunity that can ultimately change our way of purchasing goods for the exchange of money. The window of opportunity will last as long as the use of smart phones continues.

Innovation.

My innovation will be an application that is run through your personal banking to store your credit/debit card information in. This application can be used at stores or restaurants to allow the cashier to scan and purchase your goods.

Venture Concept

The reason I think customers would switch to this new product is because it is an easier way to purchase goods in your everyday life. I believe getting the younger generation to switch to this use will not be difficult. I do believe that it will be hard to get the older generation to switch to this method of purchasing goods. My competitor is the Apple iPhone application eWallet. Their possible weakness is that they are not linked to your personal banking. I would organize my business to support the ongoing production of my new application by hiring a young staff that is the most related to the use of technology and applications. The role of my venture is to continue to please my customers with a simplified way to purchase goods.  

I sadly only received one comment from my Venture Concept No.1, but it was still very helpful. Allie informed me that the iPhone wallet app does allow you to store your credit and debit information, but the Android application does not.  Based on what I learned from feedback I still will continue with my same venture concept because I believe running my application through your personal bank adds an advantage to this application form.

Final Reflection

Looking back over my blog was definitely a moment to reminisce on the past 3 months. The assignment elevate your pitch sticks out to you as the most formative experience because it made me get out of my comfort zone and present not only a speak but a pitch to possible business investors. The experience that I'll remember years later is My Secret Sauce because it was the first time I heard the people who are closest to me talk about me. The most joyous experience was being able to interview the wide range of different individuals throughout the semester. The experience I am the most proud of for accomplishing is again just interviewing people out in my community because I am normally shy so I had to get out of my comfort zone for all these experiences, 

At the end of this course I do not see myself entrepreneur since I have not official innovated anything myself yet, but I do believe I am closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset. I have acquired a lot of skills throughout this course that I believe an entrepreneur must possess. 

One recommendation I would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future is to give every assignment your full effort because that is the only way you will gain the most from this course. To perform best in this course I recommend students to stay extremely organized to stay on top of their assignments and due dates. I would recommend that they do to foster this mindset is to not be skeptical and allow their creative juices flow. 

Reading Reflection No. 3

For Reading Reflection No.3 I decided to read another biography. I choose to read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. These brothers life stories and invention was quite an invigorating story. The most admiring thing about the Wright Brothers was their fearlessness. These brothers invented something that had never been done to this extent before and the tested it out personally which showed a lot of fearlessness. After reading this biography I could not say there way anything about the bothers that I found to be the least admiring, they were true entrepreneurs of their time. The Wright Brothers most definitely encountered adversity and failure from the start of their childhood when their mother died. Another encounter of adversity was after the plane crash that almost cost Orville his life. The Wright Brothers also faced challenges with the government seeing their invention as value.

The competencies I noticed that the Wright Brothers exhibited was that they were true inventors. They followed their passion of flight from earlier years into their adulthood. They left their hometown to a location in North Carolina that would allow them to pursue their dream of flight due to ideal conditions. They put their life on the line for the success of their invention and they never gave up on themselves.

There really wasn’t any part of the reading that was necessarily confusing to me. I was a little puzzled from that fact that Orville even after his terrible plan crash still never gave up on their invention. This showed me the true grit, hard work, and dedication these brother possessed.

The two questions I would ask the Wright Brothers would be:

1. What do you believe are the necessary personality traits and steps to be a successful inventor?

2. Is there any risk you were unwilling to take for flight and your invention of the plane?

I believe The Wright’s Brothers opinion of hard work was that you have to be willing to take any risk possible to achieve success. I believe this to be true because the Wright Brothers truly did on thinkable things in their time to create flight. They flew across the Atlantic Ocean to France which had never been done before. That trip in itself is a huge risk that the brothers took in their life. I believe that you do have to take risks to achieve success, but I would not be willing to take the type of risk the Wright Brothers took during their flight.

Making it Real

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tVjRNxvVYQFax6WrDge6mBIxd-7hw4k4XbXT0Ku66RE/edit?usp=sharing

My Exit Strategy

The exit strategy I plan to make is to leave my idea out there and hope that someone eventually invents my venture. 

I selected this particular exit strategy because I myself am not passionate about technology and creating an application, so therefore can not see myself following through with my application. 

I do believe my exit strategy may have had a little influence on the other decisions I've made in my concept. I believe this too be true because I was never fully committed to seeing the complete construction of my application which may have let me cut corners. If I was full committed to see the built and use of the application I would have done everything for it's success. 

Celebrating Failure

One time this past semester that I failed was a squat attempt. I am a bodybuilder competitor and train daily. During training I was squatting, and missed my last rep. While I was stuck at the bottom of the squat my spotter saved me by grabbing the barbell.

From the experience of failing on my squat rep I learned from it that it is ok to fail. That with failure comes lessons and with life lessons we can learn, grow, and build upon it.

A famous bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzengger, once said, “Just like in bodybuilding, failure is also a necessary experience for growth in our own lives, for if we're never tested to our limits, how will we know how strong we really are? How will we ever grow?”

 

I believe this is true when it comes to failure it allows us to grow into better humans. When it comes to how I handle failure, I would say that at first I am upset but then I take the lesson learned and improve upon my mistake. From this class I would say when it comes to my career I am more likely to take a risk and less afraid of failure. 

Venture Concept No. 1."

            We live in the 21^st century where technology is constantly changing our lives, some will agree for the better or for the worse. Sitting here I like to look at it as where would we be in our lives if certain inventions were never created? For example, where would we be if cars were never invented, would we be biking and riding horse’s everywhere? What if planes where never invented, would we never see the other side of the continent? What if computers were never invented, would I be handwriting this assignment and turning it in? Whether you’re on either side of the argument, I think we can all agree that technology helps us in our day to day lives. Think about it. We drive our cars to work. We use our computers to do our work. We use our microwaves to heat our food. We use our phones to conduct business. Where would we really be without all the technology advancements that have been made to this day? Living on farms and growing our crops? Riding our buggies to church on Sunday? I don’t know about you, but I rather be using my GoPro while sky diving out of a plane.

            The venture concept I am presenting you with today will most definitely involve technology and will certainly simplify your life. Nowadays everybody carries around these stuffed wallets filled with their credit cards, debit cards, bonus cards, cash, and change. Men have to try to figure out how to stuff these oversized wallets into their pants pockets, while women have to try to squeeze them into their purses. This is a never ending struggle that I believe needs a fix and a change. This current method of the exchange of money for goods and services is very inefficient. I believe with today’s technology it can be made more simplistic, and efficient. We live in the 21^st century there has to be something better, something that can make our lives easier. That something better is right in front of you, your cellphone. Everyone today is constantly glued to their smart phones. You walk down the street and about everyone you cross paths with will have some form of a smart phone in their hand. Now what if your cellphone could also be used as your wallet? Your cellphone has applications on it, so what if an application could be used to replace your wallet? What if this application could be used to store your credit and debit card information on? These were the exact questions that were running through my head when I pondered on this venture concept.

            The venture concept I am proposing to you is an application that can be used on your smart phone. This application will be either ran by your bank or your credit card company. For example, if you have a Bank of America credit card you will open up the Bank of America Mobile App, sign- in, and then Bank of America application will transfer you to my application. If your credit card is through Visa, you will login into the Visa application which will then link you to my application. Having my application directly linked to your bank accounts or your credit card accounts allows for your credit or debit card information to be stored safely within your smart phone.  Once you are redirected to my app, you will be presented with a screen that has the front picture of all the stored credit or debit cards. Having the picture visible versus your account numbers will make it easier for you to recognize and distinguish from your different cards. From here you will click on the card you wish to make your current purchase with. After clicking on the card, the stored cards personal barcode will be presented on the screen. You then turn your phone toward the cashier and they will scan the barcode with their barcode scanner. This prevents cashiers from every handling your cellphone, which again allows your information to remain safe.  

My application will be purchased through the App Store on your phone, just like all applications that are available for use on your smart phone. There will be two possible applications you may wish to download. The first application will be the FREE version. Within the FREE version there will be advertisements, which will be presented on the page that has the pictures of your stored cards. The ad will pop-up and you will be forced to close the tap before you can pick the card of your choosing to make your purchase with. The second version will be the paid version. The paid version will be a onetime cost of $4.99. On the paid version, you will never experience an advertisement pop-up. Also with the paid version you my download the updated application at any time free of charge.  Since the application is linked through your bank account or credit card account, there will also be a version that is free for certain users depending upon their account. For example, if you have a bank account with Wells Fargo they may offer free smart phone transactions if you have the College Student account with them. Therefore, by having a specific account with them they are offering you free smart phone transactions. My company will receive a set payment annually from Wells Fargo for the use of my application. These three methods for downloading my application onto your smart phone are the three ways I plan to receive profit from my application.  

My hope for this application is that it will revolutionize our current exchange of money for goods and services. We no longer need to use cash and coins to make purchases in our everyday lives. We are the generation that is ready for the change from cash exchange to barcode exchanges. Through my application that will be available for use on your smart phone, I would like to make that change possible with my application. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ2NgsTmbzI&feature=youtu.be

Amazon Whisperer- Week 11

The revenue drivers that are included in my business concept of a phone application that can be used to purchase goods at a store is advertisements on my application. Also, a revenue driver would be the ad-free version of the app that is for purchase.

The kind of product offering you believe should be next in my business concept is a chip the size a quarter than can be attached to your key chains. This chip holds one of your credit card information and allows you to make purchases while at a store.

This chip will enhance my existing product/service offering because it gives people you do not have a smart phone to be able to make purchases without having a wallet or a credit/debit card.

There is not a product that is similar to the one I want to offer next, but it would be about the size of a quarter and it has a hole in it to be able to be added to your car keys.

I believe the customers may not like about the product because anyone could steal your keys and use your cards. I believe they would like about it not having to carry around a wallet.

The design I probably will change is you have to have your finger print press on the chip before it can be scanned for use. This added feature would allow it to be more secure.

I think this product would make a good addition to my current product/service offering because it allows you to not have a smart phone, but also offers a simpler way to purchase goods. 

My Unfair Advantage

1.      Accessibility. The accessibility of the application is valuable because it is simple and easy to access on your phone. This resource can easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable.

2.      Trouble-free Use. The trouble-free use of this application is valuable because it makes the application easy and not difficult to use. . This resource can easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable.

3.      The value of this application is it is based on Technology, so therefore if there is a bug it can be fixed. . This resource can easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable

4.      My human capital can contribute to the value of this application. I am very driven and wouldn’t create something that I wouldn’t be willing to give everything up for its success.  This resource cannot be easily inimitable and is others can provide this resource.

5.      The value of this application is it is an application built by a company built on a young staff. This would allow us to know technology best and what can make the app user friendly. This resource can easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable

6.      My human capital can contribute to the value of this application again. I have a good eye for how to sell via social media which gives me the upper hand on knowing how to build the app. This resource cannot easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable

7.       My human capital can contribute to the value of this application again. I have experience with professional speeches, so that can help with talking to investors.  This resource cannot easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable.

8.       Making your life tasks easier is a resource that makes this application valuable. This resource cannot be easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable

9.       This application is valuable because it allows a safer way to purchase goods. Since you won’t be using credit cards to purchase items you won’t have to worry about theft of your cards. This resource cannot easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable.

10.   This application is rare because it’s a great piece of technology that would be a free application. This resource can be easily be inimitable and is not non-substitutable

I believe my top resource is the accessibility of the application. I believe it's more important to my venture than all of the other resources because it’s the main factor of my venture that allows it make your life easier. 

Reading Reflection No. 2

The general theme of the book was that even though you may fail at everything, you can still be successful in life. The author of the book Scott Adams has had many failures in his corporate career, inventions, investments, and two restaurants, but still was able to come out of the rut. He is known as the creator of the comic character Dilbert.

This book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big connected with this class because it gave me life and career tips that would aid in my success as an Entrepreneur. For example, he told a story about one of his college friends teaching him a lesson in regards to overcoming being shy. He said, “the secret of overcoming shyness by imagining you are acting instead of interacting,” so pretend you’re someone else, someone who is confident. In other words fake it until you make, so if I’m not one hundred percent confident when speaking to others I can incorporate this method to boost my confidence.  

An exercise for this class that I would design based on this book would be for students to get out into the community and interview successful business or career individuals. Within their interview I would like them to ask these people what hardships or ups and downs did they have to  overcome to get where they are at today. From this exercise I believe students will learn that success is not a linear progression, but a very curvy line.

The 'aha' moment when reading this book was when Scott talked about an exercise he does before he goes to bed to increase his positive thoughts. I myself have been looking for ways to increase my so called positive vibes while decreasing my negative thoughts. This exercise of writing down three things that went well today and why they went well is something I have started incorporating into my daily routine since reading this book. Scott was right, that this exercise gives you a chance to look outside yourself and be appreciative of life’s happy moments. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

My solution to the problem I identified: Nowadays everybody carry around these stuffed wallets that are filled with tons of credit card that they use daily, this method is very inefficient and can be made more simplistic.

Once receiving feedback from fellow peers, it was brought to my attention that there is already an application that is made for our phones to put our credit cards into. So to alter my idea I want to create an application on your phone that is through your bank that allows you to have all your credit and debit card information on. Therefore when you go to purchase something at the grocery store all they have to do is scan the bar code on your phone to purchase the product. 

1) I am a college student at the University of Florida. When it comes to my talents, I am good at seeing good ways to promote a product through social media outlets. My aspirations would be to start up an app that could help me and ultimately everyone. If I were to start this business it would not play a significant role in your life because it’s not something I am patient about.

2) My product is an application that can be on your phones to put all our credit/debit cards into. Therefore when you go to purchase something at the grocery store all they have to do is scan the bar code on your phone to purchase the product. 

3) I am offering this product to anyone with a smart phone. Also, it would be individuals who also have a credit or debit card.

4) The customers will find this app valuable to them because it will be a way more convenient way to purchase goods. Also, since the application will be sponsored by your personal bank customers will feel a sense of security.

5) This app sets me apart from everyone else because it is an edited and more sophisticated version of applications that already exist.

I do believe all of these elements fit together for the success of my application that will store your credit/debit card information on and allow you to purchase items without having the credit/debit card itself. This is a much easier and simplistic method for the exchange of goods. In regards to the customers, the need for this item, why customers care, and core competencies of this unmet need I believe they all fit together. When it comes to myself and the skills, experiences, and talents I possess I believe is the weaker point to this business concept. I feel I do not have the skills or knowledge to make this business concept a success when it comes to building of the application.

There are some main points I received from my first idea napkin feedback. One was that my peers informed me there was already an application that allows you to have one credit card information stored. Since learning this information I altered my concept to be able to hold multiple credit/debit cards on.  Another, aspect I took away from feedback was that my application brings fresh ideas to this concept. Sara brought light that I can use my social media skills to make this application successful. Another classmate mentioned in the feedback that this application is something I could sell to competitors which opened my mind to different ideas. TJ mentioned in the feedback that I could possibly talk to customers about their buying behaviors which would allow me to improve the application.