PERFTASTIC

I decided to combine perfect and fantastic. These are two words that I use all the time and really what can better describe things than a combination of the two.
I started saying this around my friends and at first I got a little bit of confusion but they asked me what I was saying, since it sounds like I am trying to say fantastic and I told them what it meant. When something is fantastic you get this sense of perfection. They did find some humor in it but the thing with my friends is we definitely have a habit of catching on to words that they make up and say a lot. It honestly only took about three days of me saying this before I heard one of my friends use the word as well.
It's funny to see how social environments and what your friends are saying can really influence each other. Even though it was a made up word, it ended up catching on in my friend group.

Halfway Reflection

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

To keep up with the requirements of this course I have all the dates written in my planner so I can look and plan ahead each week. Sometimes I have time to split up the work into a few days and sometimes I have to sit down and complete it all in a day. I also feel that I have kept up with the course by asking questions when I feel I need to instead of waiting to figure it out on my own, very important to watch the lectures as they are helpful to completing the assignments and understanding the concepts behind what we are doing.  

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? 

I have felt like giving up when I am really busy with work and I have to get up early, stay up late, or spend my hour lunch break completing assignments. What pulled me through is the fact that I need to get a good grade in this class and it is not that the assignments are hard just a lot of them and they can be a lot of work. I feel that I have developed a tenacious attitude because I have been determined and I have done whatever is necessary to complete those assignments as I have needed to. I think that the experience of realizing my grade will drop if I do not, and I have realized that yes my job is important but in order to get a real job later on I need to complete my classes, so they come first. 

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' ?

1.) Plan ahead and do not wait till the last minute. It is easier to stay in the 'tenacious mindset' when you are not in the last few minutes and are scrambling to get things done. 
2.) Think about the outcomes of this class. Why are you taking this class? Maybe it's to boost your grade or get elective credits. Maybe it's because you want to be an entrepreneurship. Whatever it is you want out of this class needs to be your motivation. So keep that goal in mind. 
3.) Find a way to make the class interesting. Whether it be connect with other students, the professors, TAs, etc. It is easier to have a determined mindset when you are really enjoying the class. Maybe you don't quite understand an assignment and you aren't connecting with these assignments, you should talk to your professor about how you can apply this to the entrepreneurship world. They are there to help and want you to get the most out of the class. 

Reading Reflection No. 1

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

I think what surprised me the most was how controlling and manipulative Steve Jobs was as a young entrepreneur. He has such great ambition and he had some great ideas, but his attitude was awful.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I most admired his ambition and how he never gave up, even after he was fired from Apple he went on to run his own business, NeXT, as well as acquiring Pixar. He was constantly coming up with new ideas about not only computers, but also animation and new partnerships. Steve Jobs knew how to be successful. I also greatly admired him for recognizing that he wasn't ready to be CEO and continued to find other people to fill the position.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I think that I least admired his bad attitude which showed just how immature he was. I think that he should have been more caring to his employees and taking their ideas into consideration.

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

I would say that the Macintosh computer was a failure on Apple's part, yes it sold well initially but quickly began to fall. Steve Jobs was fired at this point, but he did learn from his mistakes and continue to push on and find new ways to build his new business. I think a lot of his failure rooted from the conflict with the other employees, in order to over come this failure Steve Jobs grew up and matured, which led him back to Apple.

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

Steve Jobs exhibited the ability to successfully come up with and lead new projects. He would have the idea for a new computer and he would go through the necessary steps to successfully create these computers. He was full of innovation and imagination with a lot of ambition. 

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

I think the part of the reading that was confusing to me was when they described what the business NeXT was, I didn't fully understand the point of the business. I looked more into it and found that it was a computer company that designed workstations for business and higher education markets. 

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

Do you feel that being fired from Apple was what helped you to grow as an entrepreneur and also as a person? 

Do you feel that the success of your business was worth the time that you sacrificed away from your family? 

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

I think that Steve Jobs felt that hard work was doing whatever it took. Whether that meant making deals with people you don't exactly like, hiring people that you don't agree with fully, taking time away from your family. Hard work was sacrificing a lot. 

In some ways I do agree with this but I also feel that you can work hard and not sacrifice as much. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) I am a senior in the college of business, with an area of specialization in mass communication and a minor in retail. My talents are working with customers and talking to people as well as organization and management. I feel that I am becoming more skilled in learning product placement and merchandising, to increase sales. I have in customer service positions for about 3 years total and I am continuing on in fields that are heavy in that area. I feel that it would play a role in the business aspect and my interest in marketing. Learning what market this product is geared towards and how to appeal and advertise to them. That is the area I am most interested in. 

2)  I am offering a service and a product here. The customers will pay a flat rate fee, that is much cheaper than they are paying now, for their textbooks. All the textbooks would be more standardized in their format to better suit students and they would be all accessible in the same place. Essentially it is a new way to get your textbooks that is cheaper, more convenient, and better. 

3) The customers would all be students. There is a typical range for college students that people have in mind, around 18-26, however the actual range is much larger. I will be targeting students in classes that require textbooks and students that feel they must have the books in front of them and accessible at any time.

4) It is valuable because it will be more convenient, cheaper, and make the format for these textbooks more standardized and consistent. 

5) That it would be an online database with all textbooks accessible from this website. The students don't have to register more than once, pay separate fees or worry about shipping them themselves. 

I feel that these concepts do work together, however I feel that there are many small details I have to consider if this were to be a business. In order to get the schools and the textbook companies on board I would have to have agreements and I would have to pitch the idea to them in a way that is beneficial for them as well. I feel that this is a weak part of my idea and the part that could potentially destroy the idea altogether. These textbook companies are making so much money and how would I offer the same if I am trying to sell them to students for cheaper? 

Testing the Opportunity Hypothesis Part 2

In doing these interviews I found that the problem with textbooks at UF, and them being expensive and inconvenient to locate and purchase, is a problem that students have. However, the few students I interviewed did not find that this was a problem that they had.
My solution was a textbook website that has all of your textbooks available for you and you pay a flat rate fee to have access to all of them. It will standardize the format, location, and lower the price.
These students felt that they do not need this because all students are different, some do not need the textbook and some like to find other alternatives. They like to use the library or they find pdf files for free. However, there are some students that might need a service like this but there are some factors that make it not as good for students, also not having the other options can be a problem.


https://soundcloud.com/kayla-moore-113914090/interview-1
https://soundcloud.com/kayla-moore-113914090/interview-2
https://soundcloud.com/kayla-moore-113914090/interview-3
https://soundcloud.com/kayla-moore-113914090/interview-4
https://soundcloud.com/kayla-moore-113914090/interview-5

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who: Students who need the textbook and find it inconvenient to search for cheaper prices for a lot of books.	Who is Not: Students who have other options and might not need the textbook
A cheaper, standardized system.	What the Need Is Not: No need for standardization because professors teach differently
Students are on a budget and also don't have the time to search for cheaper prices on textbooks for hours	Alternative Explanations: Cheaper textbooks all around, More fit to students need and how much they use their textbooks

Tweaking the innovation

This is my product/service table. I am suggesting that the problem with Dunkin Donuts drive-thru lane is that they can be very slow when you are in a rush and also they are careless and do not make your coffee the way you want it. My solution is to create two different drive thru lanes. One that is available for just a beverage purchase and also one that is available for food and drink purchase. If you choose the beverage only lane you will not deal with an actual person and instead you will enter your order in as you would like it. On a touchscreen you will select your beverage, then you will customize according to flavor, sugar, cream, etc. Then you will pay on that screen and through a little machine your coffee will pop out, being made by the machine and not by a person.

The other lane will be for people who are not in as much of a hurry and would like to buy food as well. This way they can be face-to-face with employees if that is what they choose. 

The revenue drivers would be through the two different drive-thru lanes and these are how they are going to make the money and charge for the items.

Drive-thru beverage lane	Drive-thru food and/or drink lane
Regular coffee	Donuts (by the dozen, half dozen, single)
Iced coffee	Combo purchases (food item and drink together
Latte	Single food item purchase (sandwich, bagel, etc.)
Macchiato
Smoothie
Iced Tea
Coolatta
Cappucino

Regular coffee	Tangible
Iced coffee	Tangible
Latte	Tangible
Macchiato	Tangible
Smoothie	Tangible
Iced Tea	Tangible
Coolatta	Tangible
Cappucino	Tangible
Donuts (by the dozen, half dozen, single)	Tangible
Combo purchases (food item and drink together	Tangible

Describe the innovations: 

1. Maybe we can make the actual service even better by making it faster and eventually adding food into the mix. 

2. Maybe we can change the way it is designed to be more friendly to different age groups. 

3. If the product is not up to your satisfaction, the next one is on us.