https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ruc-r9UNlaRNCv91UUG4bfcRMWqWcIX9kb1a_jh6k78/edit?usp=sharing
Here is a link to my updates resume.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
My Exit Strategy
My exit strategy is so sell my company after I leave the Gainesville area. I would only want to own the company for as long as I am in school. I think GatorShuttle would be a great business for someone who will stay in Gainesville and really work with the company. I would want to kick start the business, but once it is going strong sell it by the time I intend to leave Gainesville.
I chose this strategy because I have no desire to stay in Gainesville. I think I would want to move on to new ideas and a new market that I could create new products in. I want to keep making products as I grow, not stick with the same one.
I think my exit strategy influenced my concept because I wanted to create a product mainly for college students. I think wanted to sell my product after I am done with college is the right move. I will no longer be a college student, so I will lose my edge for what college students will want.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
What's Next
https://soundcloud.com/mary-kate-cobb/sets/whats-next
Existing Market:
From my interviews with Riley, Tommy and Josh I learned why students think there should be parking and how much they'd be willing to pay. Tommy said he'd only be willing to pay $50 dollars which is just not feasible for a new business to start. For my existing market, I want to interview students or people who needed to park on or near UF every day.
Riley made a good point that having a garage near campus would also make it easier for people to go downtown. They could park at the garage and walk the rest of the way. All of these people have a need for Gator Shuttle. From the interviews however, I learned that not everyone needs the garage. Parking is the key factor for the people I talked to.
New Market:
For my new market I interviewed people who will most likely never have a need to use a parking garage to go to UF. In Andrea's interview, she talked about putting cameras into the garage because then it would be great for night life in midtown. Having a cheaper parking garage that is well lit with camera will help bring students to my area when they go out.
Both Ashlee and Liz never travel to campus or really to midtown. They didn't really have any new ideas and weren't very helpful with what would make them want to do it. From their interviews, I got two different reactions. Ashlee said that she travels on Archer to get to work, and that traffic would be better because there wouldn't be a line of cars backed up from campus. However, Liz disagreed saying her trip down University would make traffic worse because the garage would be there.
Existing Market:
From my interviews with Riley, Tommy and Josh I learned why students think there should be parking and how much they'd be willing to pay. Tommy said he'd only be willing to pay $50 dollars which is just not feasible for a new business to start. For my existing market, I want to interview students or people who needed to park on or near UF every day.
Riley made a good point that having a garage near campus would also make it easier for people to go downtown. They could park at the garage and walk the rest of the way. All of these people have a need for Gator Shuttle. From the interviews however, I learned that not everyone needs the garage. Parking is the key factor for the people I talked to.
New Market:
For my new market I interviewed people who will most likely never have a need to use a parking garage to go to UF. In Andrea's interview, she talked about putting cameras into the garage because then it would be great for night life in midtown. Having a cheaper parking garage that is well lit with camera will help bring students to my area when they go out.
Both Ashlee and Liz never travel to campus or really to midtown. They didn't really have any new ideas and weren't very helpful with what would make them want to do it. From their interviews, I got two different reactions. Ashlee said that she travels on Archer to get to work, and that traffic would be better because there wouldn't be a line of cars backed up from campus. However, Liz disagreed saying her trip down University would make traffic worse because the garage would be there.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Celebrating Failure
What I learned from this experience is that it's okay to ask for help. It's okay to be "in the weeds" and not know what to do. I recently watched a video on Facebook about this girl who's dad praised her for failing because that meant she tried. I think this is a great way to look at failure and that's how I am going to chose to look at my failures from now one. Just becauseI failed doesn't mean I did something wrong. It just means I tried, and I can try again to see if I can get a different outcome. This class has definitely pushed my outside of my comfort zone and I think that has helped me with failure. Pushing myself to work harder will help me fail less. Just like the image above, I think that in order to succeed, you have to fail.
Venture Concept No. 1
Opportunity:
The opportunity I have found is the need for extra parking and easier access to the University of Florida main campus. Students, faculty and just the general public all have this need. This what I would call a luxury need. It is not necessary for its customers to have, but it does make their life easier. It is a huge hassle to pay hundreds a semester for the possibility of finding parking on campus. Then after finding parking, its hard to hop on a bus with multiple stop just to get to campus. My intended marking for this opportunity is literally anyone who has the needs to come onto campus without paying extreme amounts of money. I think that more areas for parking in the Gainesville area will last for the long haul.
Innovation:
For the opportunity above, I came up with Gator Shuttle. What Gator Shuttle is, is a parking garage and shuttle that travels directly to campus. The shuttle will travel to all the main points on campus (hoping to work with UF). These points include: Library West, The Hub, Turlington Plaza, South West Rec. The hope is there will be 4 shuttles that travel specifically to that destination. There will be no extra stops in-between the parking garage and campus. This way uses who are crunched for till should always know just how long the ride should take. Traffic depending of course. The parking garage will be 10 stories full of spots.
The garage will be a pay to park either daily, weekly, or on a semester basis. It will cost $3 dollars a day, $10 dollars a week, or $100 dollars a semester. It includes 24 hour parking. So say a student buys a week pass, their car can stay in the garage without leaving for the entire week and not get towed. The shuttle will be $2 dollars no matter if your a student, faculty member, or just wanting to visit the campus. However, there is also a semester pass for the shuttle that will be $45. I will profit off of the above charges. I'm hoping with the right investors to get this project going.
Venture Concept:
Gator Shuttle will definitely help solve the issue of there not being enough parking on campus. It will offer another option for students to park at allowing both Gator Shuttle and the other parking options to make their full profits. Customers will buy my innovation because it will be another option for parking. My innovation is cheaper than my competitors. UF's park and ride option is $150+ a semester. The Reitz Union Garage is $5 a day always. The lot on University across from Smathers Library is around $6 for 3 hours during normal running operations. I don't think it will be hard to get customers to switch to my product especially with the prices I'm offering. My competitors weakness is that they are not offering what I have and their prices won't compete. From the interviews I've conducted I've found that this is something students will definitely want to have. As far as running the businesses goes, it would mainly be be running the garage. I would need several different bus drivers. I don't think finding drivers would be hard especially since it is located in a college town where students are always looking for work.
I think my most important resource would be my education. I am learning how to run my own business and I have seen it be done first hand through my parents. Learning the proper ways to handle a business is always important. There are so many obstacles that go into it and I feel like you can never learn enough. Also having my parents helps because they've actually started a business. I can learn all I want but sometimes life throws curveballs. This is where their guidance will come in handy.
My new product for the service would be the daily rental of scooters. This would take some time to further get the idea solid, but I think it is something students would really benefit from. It would also help increase sales of my parking garage because students who drive could park then use a scooter to travel to campus.
I hope once this venture starts it will take off. I honestly think it could be great in other large college towns in Florida. I hope that my idea could lead to other students in colleges around Florida to start their own shuttle companies to make traveling to school easier for everyone.
The opportunity I have found is the need for extra parking and easier access to the University of Florida main campus. Students, faculty and just the general public all have this need. This what I would call a luxury need. It is not necessary for its customers to have, but it does make their life easier. It is a huge hassle to pay hundreds a semester for the possibility of finding parking on campus. Then after finding parking, its hard to hop on a bus with multiple stop just to get to campus. My intended marking for this opportunity is literally anyone who has the needs to come onto campus without paying extreme amounts of money. I think that more areas for parking in the Gainesville area will last for the long haul.
Innovation:
For the opportunity above, I came up with Gator Shuttle. What Gator Shuttle is, is a parking garage and shuttle that travels directly to campus. The shuttle will travel to all the main points on campus (hoping to work with UF). These points include: Library West, The Hub, Turlington Plaza, South West Rec. The hope is there will be 4 shuttles that travel specifically to that destination. There will be no extra stops in-between the parking garage and campus. This way uses who are crunched for till should always know just how long the ride should take. Traffic depending of course. The parking garage will be 10 stories full of spots.
The garage will be a pay to park either daily, weekly, or on a semester basis. It will cost $3 dollars a day, $10 dollars a week, or $100 dollars a semester. It includes 24 hour parking. So say a student buys a week pass, their car can stay in the garage without leaving for the entire week and not get towed. The shuttle will be $2 dollars no matter if your a student, faculty member, or just wanting to visit the campus. However, there is also a semester pass for the shuttle that will be $45. I will profit off of the above charges. I'm hoping with the right investors to get this project going.
Venture Concept:
Gator Shuttle will definitely help solve the issue of there not being enough parking on campus. It will offer another option for students to park at allowing both Gator Shuttle and the other parking options to make their full profits. Customers will buy my innovation because it will be another option for parking. My innovation is cheaper than my competitors. UF's park and ride option is $150+ a semester. The Reitz Union Garage is $5 a day always. The lot on University across from Smathers Library is around $6 for 3 hours during normal running operations. I don't think it will be hard to get customers to switch to my product especially with the prices I'm offering. My competitors weakness is that they are not offering what I have and their prices won't compete. From the interviews I've conducted I've found that this is something students will definitely want to have. As far as running the businesses goes, it would mainly be be running the garage. I would need several different bus drivers. I don't think finding drivers would be hard especially since it is located in a college town where students are always looking for work.
I think my most important resource would be my education. I am learning how to run my own business and I have seen it be done first hand through my parents. Learning the proper ways to handle a business is always important. There are so many obstacles that go into it and I feel like you can never learn enough. Also having my parents helps because they've actually started a business. I can learn all I want but sometimes life throws curveballs. This is where their guidance will come in handy.
My new product for the service would be the daily rental of scooters. This would take some time to further get the idea solid, but I think it is something students would really benefit from. It would also help increase sales of my parking garage because students who drive could park then use a scooter to travel to campus.
I hope once this venture starts it will take off. I honestly think it could be great in other large college towns in Florida. I hope that my idea could lead to other students in colleges around Florida to start their own shuttle companies to make traveling to school easier for everyone.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Elevator Pitch No. 3
The biggest piece of feedback I got back from everyone was to add a good closer and to try to make my pitch more conversational. I thought all of my feedback was very helpful. However, adding a good closer was way harder than I thought. So heres what I came up with! I tried to take everyones advice.
https://youtu.be/IW0EG6F8VKs
https://youtu.be/IW0EG6F8VKs
Amazon Whisperer
The revenue drivers I currently have through my product, Gator Shuttle, are through customers paying to park in the parking garage and ride the shuttle. I would make money through offering daily, weekly or semester based parking options as well as shuttle options.
I think the next product my consumers would want to have would be rentable scooters. I think day renting a scooter would be a great idea for customers. It would offer a quicker way to get to campus at a cheap cost and an easy way to drive around campus. It will definitely improve user experience.
Since my product is a service based product, I found a scooter online to compare prices and read review about to see if it would be a good quality scooter that students could rent.
https://www.amazon.com/Dynacraft-Surge-Scooter-Turquoise-White/dp/B00KGQ6TK8/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1468719684&sr=8-14&keywords=electric+scooters
There are six customer reviews about this product. A big issue with this scooter is that parts of it would be broken upon delivery. Other than that everyone loved this scooter (if it didn't come broken).
I wouldn't really change this product I would just find a way so student could rent it per day and drive it around campus. As I said above I think this product would be a good addition to my current service because it would offer another alternative to just riding the shuttle to campus.
I think the next product my consumers would want to have would be rentable scooters. I think day renting a scooter would be a great idea for customers. It would offer a quicker way to get to campus at a cheap cost and an easy way to drive around campus. It will definitely improve user experience.
Since my product is a service based product, I found a scooter online to compare prices and read review about to see if it would be a good quality scooter that students could rent.
https://www.amazon.com/Dynacraft-Surge-Scooter-Turquoise-White/dp/B00KGQ6TK8/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1468719684&sr=8-14&keywords=electric+scooters
There are six customer reviews about this product. A big issue with this scooter is that parts of it would be broken upon delivery. Other than that everyone loved this scooter (if it didn't come broken).
I wouldn't really change this product I would just find a way so student could rent it per day and drive it around campus. As I said above I think this product would be a good addition to my current service because it would offer another alternative to just riding the shuttle to campus.
Friday, July 15, 2016
My Unfair Advantage
1. Support from friends and family
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- yes
2. I have a steady job
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
3. I am in the age group my product with mainly reach
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
4. I am taking classes to help me run my own business
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
5. I am able to talk to just about anyone
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
6. I am able to properly give and revive feedback when it comes to my product
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
7. I fully believe in my product
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- yes
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- yes
8. I have a good work ethic
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- yes
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
9. I have experience when it comes to starting a company
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- yes
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
10. I know what students my age want
- Valuable- yes
- Rare- no
- Inimitable- no
- Non-Sustanable- no
I think my top resource is my good work ethic. I am such a hard worker and even if I don't know something, I will always figure it out. I think that resource alone will help take my product very far.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Idea Napkin No. 2
The YOU portion of my idea napkin no. 2 is basically the exact same as before. I'm a twenty year old journalism major. I've struggled with parking on campus the past three years of college and I thought there has to be something I can do to change parking. If this concept became a reality, it would not only help thousands of other University of Florida students but also myself.
I am offering a quick and easy way to have access to easy parking and a easy ride to campus. From the interviews I have conducted, I have learned that is it easier to build up rather than out. So I would build a 20 story parking garage to hopefully offer more easy access to parking. Students and faculty can pay by semester and it would only cost $100 a semester. For anyone else who may need to park on campus but doesn't want to buy the semester pass, it is $3 a day or $10 a week. We also offer a shuttle which is $1.50 or free with a gator one card. This shuttle will run to the Hub, Library West, Southwest Rec, and Century Tower making no other stops that is designated one.
I am offering this product to anyone. It can be a student, faculty member or anyone in the general public. All my customers have to the need to park in common.
Customers will pay me for my product because it is by far the cheapest around. The direct shuttles to campus us unique only to us. No other buses or shuttles offer one direct stop.
What sets Gator Shuttle apart is basically the same as on my Idea Napkin No. 1: our prices and space. We would be the cheapest and quickest option offered to students or whomever else.
I think all these ideas fit together very well. After planning out the different prices, I think everything goes together. There still needs to be a bit more planning as to where the parking garage would go, but all in all I think it has come together nicely.
Five main points I took from the feedback was: figure out the shuttle pricing, make parking pricing cheaper than the park and ride semester parking UF offers, make the shuttle go to specific locations, and making Gator Shuttle as a whole stand out from the different parking options at UF. I incorporated this feedback by changing all my prices to become more affordable and beat out literally all other competitors while still looking to make a profit. I also added four direct shuttle locations that hit all the main points of campus.
I am offering a quick and easy way to have access to easy parking and a easy ride to campus. From the interviews I have conducted, I have learned that is it easier to build up rather than out. So I would build a 20 story parking garage to hopefully offer more easy access to parking. Students and faculty can pay by semester and it would only cost $100 a semester. For anyone else who may need to park on campus but doesn't want to buy the semester pass, it is $3 a day or $10 a week. We also offer a shuttle which is $1.50 or free with a gator one card. This shuttle will run to the Hub, Library West, Southwest Rec, and Century Tower making no other stops that is designated one.
I am offering this product to anyone. It can be a student, faculty member or anyone in the general public. All my customers have to the need to park in common.
Customers will pay me for my product because it is by far the cheapest around. The direct shuttles to campus us unique only to us. No other buses or shuttles offer one direct stop.
What sets Gator Shuttle apart is basically the same as on my Idea Napkin No. 1: our prices and space. We would be the cheapest and quickest option offered to students or whomever else.
I think all these ideas fit together very well. After planning out the different prices, I think everything goes together. There still needs to be a bit more planning as to where the parking garage would go, but all in all I think it has come together nicely.
Five main points I took from the feedback was: figure out the shuttle pricing, make parking pricing cheaper than the park and ride semester parking UF offers, make the shuttle go to specific locations, and making Gator Shuttle as a whole stand out from the different parking options at UF. I incorporated this feedback by changing all my prices to become more affordable and beat out literally all other competitors while still looking to make a profit. I also added four direct shuttle locations that hit all the main points of campus.
Reading Reflection No. 2
For the second reading reflections, I read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users.
1. The general theme of the book was a humorous how to style book that focused on making connections online and how to use social media to your advantage whether your an entrepreneur or a business owner.
2. This book helped me connect with the class because it helped show me how I could use social media for my product Gator Shuttle. It gave hands on examples and showed just how I could tweak social media and use it all to my advantage.
3. My exercise would involve creating social media posts on different social media platforms for our proposed product. I think this would be so helpful in the long run because social media is becoming a big part of the marketing process with new businesses.
4. My biggest aha moment when reading this book, was just how much companies are using social media to market their products. As well as, how using social media in the wrong way can dramatically affect your company and harm it.
1. The general theme of the book was a humorous how to style book that focused on making connections online and how to use social media to your advantage whether your an entrepreneur or a business owner.
2. This book helped me connect with the class because it helped show me how I could use social media for my product Gator Shuttle. It gave hands on examples and showed just how I could tweak social media and use it all to my advantage.
3. My exercise would involve creating social media posts on different social media platforms for our proposed product. I think this would be so helpful in the long run because social media is becoming a big part of the marketing process with new businesses.
4. My biggest aha moment when reading this book, was just how much companies are using social media to market their products. As well as, how using social media in the wrong way can dramatically affect your company and harm it.
My Secret Sauce
1.I think I am a very outgoing person. I can go up to anyone and talk to them.
2.I am also very non confrontational. I don't think of this in a bad way, but in a way that helps me. I want to make others happy and will chose with others want over myself.
3. I am very hardworking. When given a task I will always accomplish it, especially when it comes to my job.
4. I am a take charge person. I can make decisions quickly and I will typically step up first if someone needs something done.
5. I am very caring. I put others first always and will always look out for those I am close with.
https://soundcloud.com/mary-kate-cobb/sets/secret-sauce
All in all most of my friends said what I put about myself. I am a very hard worker and I will always do what is asked of me. I think my friends were correct because they have known me for many years. I don't think I would change anything about the list.
2.I am also very non confrontational. I don't think of this in a bad way, but in a way that helps me. I want to make others happy and will chose with others want over myself.
3. I am very hardworking. When given a task I will always accomplish it, especially when it comes to my job.
4. I am a take charge person. I can make decisions quickly and I will typically step up first if someone needs something done.
5. I am very caring. I put others first always and will always look out for those I am close with.
https://soundcloud.com/mary-kate-cobb/sets/secret-sauce
All in all most of my friends said what I put about myself. I am a very hard worker and I will always do what is asked of me. I think my friends were correct because they have known me for many years. I don't think I would change anything about the list.
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