22A) Elevator pitch 3

Link to elevator pitch--> here

I have not received a ton of feedback from my elevator pitches, but it has been the opposite for my other assignments where I have received constructive criticism. For example, I was told to always explain in as much detail as possible what I am offering in the service. Also, I was suggested to include a free trial period so my clients would be able to try and enjoy the benefits I offer, that way they can be sure that they would get great value from paying me.

Though it wasn’t much, the feedback was really useful. I added comments about the nature of why a person would need my service and included the offering of the free trial. Also, I noticed that in my last elevator pitch I studded a little bit and got stock a few times, which is something that I improved in this attempt.

21A Reading Reflection 2

“The Art of Social Media” by Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick

1. This book, as the title suggests, talks about how to master the art of social media, especially in such an evolving environment like today’s world. The main author is Mr. Kawasaki, who wrote the entire book, but partnered with Ms. Fitzpatrick to include some of her ideas, analyses, and advices. At the beginning of the book he explains that they decided that only one of them would be in charge of actually writing the book to avoid any difference of styles. The book is divided in 12 chapters, 11 of them dedicated to a different aspect of social media, and the last one is a conclusion that puts everything together. After reading the book you would have a better understanding of how Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. work and what are their differences. Also, it will teach you how to behave online, and how to get the best out of all these platforms.

2. In this class we learn how to find an unmet need, and more importantly, how to find a solution to it. Well, in order to do that, we need to communicate with the world around us, either to find that need, or to deliver the solution. I think this book teaches you what is the best way to approach people over the different online platforms, and how to reach more prospects.

3. I would say that it is hard to design an exercise about social media in Principle of Entrepreneurship, I think that it would be part of a more specialized class. A simple exercise I would do is to tell students to find a “social media guru” and analyze and summarize what that person have done in a given period of time. It would be something like recognizing and criticizing strategies and behaviors. Probably compare the results with other authors.

4. The topic of the book was pretty much new to me, I have used social media before, but never for a business matter. In the book he explains how to promote events, how to debate online, and what are the strategies to use on the different platforms. The was something that I always wondered how people do it, and it was to add so many tags, hashtags, and so forth in every post. Moreover, I never understood how some authors can be present in all social medias at the same time, being up-to-date, and actively posting. Turns out that there are multiple apps out there that help you link your different accounts, schedule posts, and automatically add hashtags. That was mind-blowing for me.

20) Growing Social Capital

I would like to start by doing a disclosure about this assignment is that since my specific service is not being exploited in the exact same way by others in the area, I had to adapt the assignment to what I was able to find. Moreover, to avoid the possibility of someone copying my idea I did not share the entire business idea.

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•     Domain Expert:

o   Amanda, Chief of Student Maid.

o   I consider her an expert in the industry because she has been in a leading position of Student Maid for a few years now and has been part of the growth of Student Maid.

o   I googled “housekeeping service in Gainesville” and Student Maid was one of the options. I picked this one because it looked like the one more related to students, even though they don’t target my same market segment, they employ UF students. While I was trying to learn more about them, I found a link to their Instagram page, that’s how it happened.

o   We did not talk much, but I could get a glance of how it looks like to run a housekeeping service type of business. I should say that I felt a little awkward because I didn’t want to share too much detail about my idea to avoid that they would copy it. The most important aspect that I learned from them was that background checks play an important role to gain customers trust.

o   Since they are the closet thing I have to a competitor in the area, I will need to pay close attention to what they do, as well will they. Another thing is that competition makes it harder to succeed, it makes you be better as well, that is why I think that it will be a win-win experience.

•       Market Expert:

o   Hilda Rodriguez, housemaid in Miami

o   Like I said before, I wasn’t able to find any housekeeping service specifically targeting students sharing apartments in Gainesville, but Hilda is a great person that has been doing housekeeping for years and know a lot about the technical part of the job.

o   I have known Hilda for about 3 years now, she is the housemaid of my family home in Miami. So, I just texted her and then called her to ask her a few questions about the industry the business and customer’s behavior.

o   She was telling me about some skills that a housekeeper should have, and how to be effective. She thought that my idea of targeting groups of apartments that are near each other was great because she spends too much money and time traveling.

o   I enjoyed talking to her because she is very knowledgeable about the technical part of the job and she did not have any problem sharing it with me. She helped realize that my profit margins would be too low, but that Is something that I am willing to give up in order to reach my target market, plus the idea of my business is more to help students that to squeeze every penny out of them.

• Industry supplier:

o   David Whitney, management consultant and business strategist

o   Because of his position as management consultant and business strategist he offers advice to businesses and help them develop a strategy to grow.

o   As part of my Entrepreneurship class last semester I had to talk to a group of business-people living in Gainesville, and that is how I met him. I already had his email, so I decided to email him.

o   We had a short exchange since he is a very busy person, but he basically told me about how important it is to be consistent with the job and to worry about customer satisfaction. He was also worried about my profit margins and said that if I decide to work at that level, I will need to be conscious about my expenses and have a low margin of error.

o   Since he is a business advisor, I think it will be useful to go and talk to him every once in a while, to check the progress and what would be the best next step. He would also help me keep my feet on the ground since it is very common that entrepreneurs overthink everything and expect complete success from their ideas, not taking into account the possibility of failure.

This has been an eye-opening experience for me. Usually networking for me was with the aim to prepare for the future, but in this case, it felt more like a real thing, that it had significant immediate consequences. It showed me the importance of not been afraid to ask, because if you don’t do it yourself, no one will solve the problem for you. I better understood the importance of been respectful. I learned that for the future, I have to seek any chance to network, and to have an elevator pitch at any time, in case the opportunity appears all of the sudden.

19A) Idea Napkin 2

1.      My name is Enrique Cabanas and I am at my junior year of my Business Administration degree, with Entrepreneurship as my minor and Pre-Law as my area of specialization. I was born in Cuba and lived there through most of my life. I think that what I lived and learned in Cuba plays an important role in my life and helped me shape who I am today. Dealing with scarcity, be a hard worker, and have ambition in life are few of the things that came from that experience. I came 3 years ago with a huge hunger for success and willingness to work hard. I would say that I have a slight OCD for “perfection”, what I mean is that if I do something, I want to do it perfectly. All my work experience is related to customer service, but diverse in some way, at a Financial Aid office, doing catering for special events, and as a swim instructor. It has shaped me as a person and as a professional. I dream to be a great business person. I think that this business is a trampoline in my life. With EZTime, I expect to learn the duties of an entrepreneur and business person and pursue another business idea.

2.      What I am offering is a house cleaning service that will help students free up their time by cleaning and organizing their apartments while they can spend their time in more productive things like watching lectures, doing homework, or even working (for those who work). It is also a solution to those conflicts and arguments over who cleans what and when, and everything for an affordable price, below the competition. Prices will range from 40 to 55 dollars, and the service will be delivered once a week, unless otherwise required (it will mean a different fee). It includes thing like cleaning the floor, vacuum the carpets, washing the dishes, and taking the trash out. I will consider some personal request from the customers.

3.      The ideal market segment for my business would be full-time college student living in apartment complexes in Gainesville, especially for those in big apartments with a minimum of 3. Ages usually range from 18 to 25, with some outliers and I expect most of my customers to be males, but not by a big margin. Probably my last characteristic is that these customers are part of medium and high-income families. I think that these are the ones that would have the buying power to afford this service.
4.      Full-time students tend to feel like they lack time to do other thing than study. And it is even worse for those who work on top of that. House chores are a headache for people who do not like to do them, and even for those who do know how to do them, it becomes a problem to find the time. The worst part is that it needs to be done routinely in order for the living space to be comfortable and clean. Usually during weekends is when all these responsibilities accumulate and provoke a bad mood. A common issue is that people don’t like to clean other’s mess, that is another reason why roommates might coordinate to finance a service like mine. With my service people can feel more comfortable in their own house, they will be able to boost their confidence (they won’t need to worry about friends or family criticizing their mess), etc.

5.  In my case my competitive advantage is that my housekeeping service will be dedicated only to young students. It will help me create an image among the University students and increase the word of mouth. It is very important that my service will be delivered at a low fee to attract more customers and the cost will be compensated with the structure of the company. By targeting apartment complexes, I will be able to save traveling expenses and time. I will also be able to use the fact that I am a student myself and that gives me advantage to reach more students.

I believe that so far, my business plan holds together very well. I have been able to find a well-defined market segment, which was already tested by interviewing multiple people. I actually came up with this idea because I personally have this need, and I think that this service will create value in customers. I know that my biggest challenge will be to raise awareness among my market segment and convince them of trying it. But once people know this exist, it will be demanded.

Through out the development of my Business Plan in this class I have received many significant feedback and constructive criticism. I have learned from that and I have applied mist of what my classmates have recommended me. For example, I considered and included the idea of mentioning what the prices for my service is, that way I can be more specific, and customers and investors can get a better picture of what my business represents. Another example of feedback, in this case positive, was that I should get more advantage of what I learned as a person in Cuba and even market it with the business to attract more customers. Last but not least, what I have seen that people agree the most with, is the fact that with EZtime, students will be able to free a lot of time and decrease their stress levels.

17A) Elevator Pitch 2

Link: Elevator Pitch

Well, to be honest I did not receive that much feedback for my elevator pitch, actually only one. I can say that it helped me to better shape this new elevator pitch. She was straight forward and mentioned that I needed to more specific, and that I should talk about what my service will offer to those who pay for it. I think she is right that is one of the things I improved from my previous pitch.

The feedback that I received was really useful. I was suggested to add more details about what is included in the service. In this case, I added to the elevator pitch that as part of the benefits will be included periodic cleaning of the floors and carpets, washing the dishes, plus any specific request from the customers will be considered.

18) Customer Avatar

My business idea is aimed to customers (B2C). My market segment would be young students (form 18- 25 years old) that live in Gainesville and go to the University of Florida. My customers could be men and women, but I will be talking specifically about guys for this assignment.

My prototypical customer is a young man, that lives in Gainesville and spend most of its time studying. To make it easier, let’s call him John. Because John shares apartment with at least a messy roommate and doesn’t have enough “extra time” he lacks the time and motivation to do all the chores at home, like cleaning and washing. Also, he is a ports fan and enjoys watching football, soccer, the NBA, etc. either at home, or going to the stadium. He drives a relatively new black sedan, which was a gift from his parents, but he has to pay for his gas and some other minor expenses of the car. John enjoys watching Netflix, shows like Game of Thrones, Friends, and The Office are his favorites. He doesn’t have kids, and he is not hurry about that. He is 21 and he wants to enjoy the life now, so he doesn’t regret anything later.

I would say that we have a bunch of stuffs in common, like we like comedies, we love sports and we have the same age. I noticed that we have kind of the same lifestyle, where we are young and want to enjoy life. John drives a car similar to mine. But the most important fact is that neither of us has time to do the chores at home. I don’t think this is a coincidence since I came up with this idea after realizing how useful it would be for me and my roommates to have a service like this. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that my prototype customer would be someone like me or my friends, with whom I share a lot of characteristics.

16A) My Secret Sauce

1.      I am very people oriented, I think that due to my customer service background, I learned to treat people, and specially a great variety of them. I live by the rule, treat others like you would like to be treated.

2.      I am easy going with math. I think it is something in my genes, because my parents and grand parents all are good at it, and have worked all their lives with numbers, so it is something I grew up with.

3.      I tend to look at all the options to choose the best way to get things done. I like to consider costs, benefits, and time, and what people value the most. It is related to the fact that I grew up in a country where scarcity was common, so I had to analyzed everything very carefully.

4.      I always look for the why, not just the what. What I mean by that is that I like to find the explanation of why things are like they are, especially when it is something that will be part of my life.

5.      I want things to get done correctly. I don’t like to have my name related to a job that is incomplete or that is not good enough. I usually put all my effort to get things done the best way possible and fulfill people’s expectations.

Interviews and summaries:  (links are included in the names, the recordings were edited to reduce time and eliminate some noise )

·        Eduardo: He makes an emphasis on how my skills are very related to a leader and therefore a good manager. He uses terms like commitment, goal oriented, entrepreneur, which I apply in my academic and professional life.

·        Clarisel: She focusses more on my moral and ethical standards and how I apply them in all aspects of my life. She has a very strong opinion about how I relate and communicate with others, endorsing what I mentioned as one of my strengths.

·        Javier:  In the interview Javier emphasize that I always look for the why of thing and problems, that I don’t get comfortable with a simple answer, I look for the reason of why something is the way it is. He also focusses his interview about my caring for my family, friends, and people in general.

·        Teresa: She talks a little more about myself in a way of how organized I am and how I look to excel in everything I do, seeking to learn more and to forward my career. She also commented of how caring and thoughtful I am.

·        Sofia: She mentions how curious and committed I am. She also focusses on my ability communicating with people and maintaining a good relationship with costumers. Lastly, she mentions that. I am a fast learner and I can overcome any obstacle in the way

I think that overall all the interviews are quite similar in what they say about me and agree with my personal description. Endorsing my soft skills, and how people oriented I am, my math skills, and good to make tough decisions. The only thing I think that they don’t mention during the interviews is how I besides being goal oriented, like to exceed to people expect from me. It might be related to the fact that it is something that is more appreciated when big projects are projects are on stake. As I said before, I think that these interviews show from different perspectives who I am and what is special about me. Therefore, I wouldn’t make any correction on my first list.