30A – Final Reflection

I believe taking the course as a whole has been a very formative experience that I will probably remember for a very long time. I think I would consider the elevator pitches my most proud experience for accomplishing considering I had never done something of the sort and I believe it ultimately came out relatively decent which I was very happy about. I would consider doing the interviews to be the most joyous even though they were also the most tedious, it increased my communication skills tremendously. I do indeed think I have moved close to developing an entrepreneurial mindset, although I still think I am far from seeing myself as an entrepreneur at the moment. One recommendation I would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future is to always be on task and never leave anything for the last minute, it can get messy and exhausting which is usually not the best tactic at all. In order to perform best in this course, I believe one should always be on top of the assignments and due dates and not make a mistake like I did and miss the first assignment because I forgot the deadline was 12PM, not 12AM.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

1) The argument of the book (Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck) revolved around the importance of changing one's mind about certain subjects. Dweck stresses that some people may believe that they have the ability to do everything while some may believe that they are unable to do anything, both of which would need to have a change in perception.

2) In my opinion, the book connected with and enhanced what I am learning in ENT3003 in terms of looking at different situations from multiple perspectives and more often than not be able to think outside the box. For a lot of assignments, I had to really think about how I would go about tackling each assignment in order to come up with competent and worthy content.

3) If I had to design an exercise for this class based on the book I read, this exercise would involve students having to come up with a very basic idea and work up thoughts up to a possibly very innovative idea in a series of steps or tasks in order to promote motivation and a positive mindset.

4) Something that I learned that differed most from my expectations was the fact that Dweck encourages the reader to aim for success through one's own potential as opposed to their money or power. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1 & 2) I am not yet sure exactly what my exit strategy will be, however, at the moment I believe I would want to keep it as a family business and pass it down to my children someday in the future once they come of age and learn the ropes if this becomes something of interest for them. I like to work and would want to work doing this for as long as I can in order to build a good reputation for the business and hopefully have a well-known name by the time I decide to retire and let my children take over as if it were their own. That is the reason why I would most likely select this particular exit strategy over any other at the moment.

3) I think that my exit strategy has influenced the other decisions I've made in my concept considering since the start I always knew how much this idea meant to me considering, in a sense, it would be following my family's footsteps in the healthcare industry. My personal experience in the field had helped me identify this opportunity and thus also helped me acquire the resources I mentioned in a previous post.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) A time this past semester that I failed in could be failing to fix my sleep schedule. In high school, I used to wake up at 5 AM every day to get on the bus and finally arrive at my school around 7 AM. Back then I had a routine to be in bed by 10 PM at the latest. Now that I'm in college and most of my classes are online, it takes a lot for me to wake up at a decent time and start my day like a normal human being. I tend to stay up at night until pretty late and then again fail to wake up early. 

2) I have learned that I should probably start declining my friends' invites to go out during the night time if I expect to fix my sleep schedule anytime soon, as well as stay away from my phone at night in order to not get distracted and actually fall asleep in a timely manner.

3) I wouldn't consider this failure to be that crucial or important considering I still function properly, either way, no matter my dilemma regarding my sleep time. I would just like to fix my sleep schedule once and for all. I know I can do it, I just have to put in more work than I currently am. I'm not sure if I am now more prone to taking risks but I'm sure that my change by the end of this course.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Livewell Coordination

• Opportunity: Family members who have an elder to care for are unable to easily, successfully develop an action plan that produces healthier, safer and more fulfilling lifestyles for everyone involved in the elder’s life because they can’t relate to their needs and safety concerns. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2018, Florida's 65-and-over population has grown by 3.4% — a growth rate more than double that of any other age group in the state. Many of these elders would benefit from a service like mine in order to figure out what's next for them in life.
• This market is composed of elders or family members who have an elder to take care of that is typically in the middle/upper-middle class that wants a better life. This is because the more care a person requires, the more expensive it gets.
• Many customers are satisfying this need at home by not taking risks and just attempting to take care of elders at home to the best of their abilities which is often not enough. Others are relying on the internet to provide them with the answers they so desperately want and are often given either outdated, incorrect, or just information that doesn't appropriately answer their questions. My service will not be for everyone that needs this help, but will definitely aid a large amount of those who do.
• This opportunity is quite large because many customers are interested in bettering their lifestyles, especially after having lived a long hard-working life.
• This window of opportunity will be open for the next few years because historically, the population of elders in Florida keeps growing at great amounts which only increases the number of potential customers for my service.
• Innovation: My service is a thorough, confidential, face-to-face assessment used to evaluate the elder's needs and safety concerns, after which we develop an action plan that produces healthier, safer and more fulfilling lifestyles for everyone involved in the elder’s life. My employees/myself would be selling an hour of our time for $50 where we figure out what are the elder's needs, safety concerns, living preferences, and budget in order to find them a place and way of living that is tailored to them in a customized way. 
• Venture Concept: This service allows those who have an elder to take care of to be more at ease knowing that their elder is in good hands and all of their needs and wants are being met. 
• Customers would want to switch to this new service because it is more fulfilling, done with ease, and is efficient. For the most part, it will not be hard to get customers to switch because of how systematic it would be. In addition, most people usually want what is best for the elder they take care of, usually one's parents or grandparents, and would do what it takes to do so.
• For the most part, I do not believe that there are any specific companies that are offering this specific kind of service, though I'm sure there are similar services to some extent. That being said, competition could be other businesses entering the market and trying to imitate what I intend to do. Some weaknesses for the potential competition would be the fact that they do not possess my same resources (as discussed in the next assignment) nor have the capability to offer the same service like mine, to the same extent nor in the same way.
• Aspects such as packaging, distribution, and business location don't really play a role in my business venture considering it is a service and not a physical location that a potential customer could walk into and purchase a product off of. However, the customer experience is extremely important considering we are doing our best to suffice their needs and provide them with a healthier, safer, more fulfilling lifestyle that will hopefully drive word of mouth and thus grow the line of customers. In addition, customer support will not be required but will be provided in case anything goes wrong or in case someone changes their mind about something and need help with it as long as it relates to the action plan we developed for them.
• Organizing a business for this service would be relatively easy considering all it takes is having knowledge about the industry as well as healthcare in order to be able to assess people's current position as far as their needs and desires go. I would need to find competent and knowledgeable employees depending on the number of customers, or I could do it myself considering it only takes a couple of hours of my time and I have what I need in terms of knowledge and resources. I would say that depending on the number of customers, I may need one or two employees or business partners that could provide the service when I am unable to do so myself. 
• The Three Minor Elements: 
• My most important resource is definitely my personal experience. I know numerous people that work in the healthcare industry that could help me network and give me extremely valuable advice, many of which are very close to me considering they are family members. In business, it is quite important to network, meaning without this unfair advantage, one would probably struggle to keep this kind of business afloat.
• I would like to expand my target market towards low-income households as well, in order to gain more trust, loyalty, and credibility as even though it will be a more challenging task considering restrictions that arise from having a limited budget, it would be worth it in the long run.
• In the next five years, I intend for my business name to be well-known across at least South Florida. Having a good reputation can only help me further my business and possibly expand to other areas such as Central and North Florida before branching out of state.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market. 

Step 1: In terms of products and services for my venture, what is think "is next" is to reach out to specific nursing homes and assisted living facilities in order to form partnerships or contracts were if they provide me or if I provide them with patients/customers, we would each get a commission for that said patient/customer.

Step 2: After interviewing three customers who are already part of the market I have identified and asked them what they believe is next for a venture like mine, I have colluded the following: when creating a customer's plan as to what they should be doing next in order to have a safer, healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle, maybe I could implement dietary programs where I provide them foods that could improve their health as well as provide them with reputable nursing homes/assisted living facilities that best tailor to their needs and wants, always keeping in mind their budget and preferences.

Step 3: In terms of growing my existing market, I believe that it would make sense to branch out of South Florida to both Central and North Florida considering these areas are also heavily populated with elders that would most likely benefit from a service such as the one I offer. Now by expanding my business in terms of location, I would also expand my business in terms of services provided such as those mentioned above that were recommended or rather suggested by three customers who are in my current market. I believe these make the most sense because it is not too big of a jump and could potentially be good moves that will create profit.

New Market.

Step 1 & 2: A  market I have identified that I have deemed radically different from my current market is low-income households. This is because as one may assume, most reputable nursing homes/assisted living facilities have expensive rates that only increase in pricing if the patient at hand needs specific care such as being bathed, needing help walking, eating, taking medication, etc.

Step 3: After having interviewed two people from this new market, I have concluded the following: they believe, just as I suspected, that they would be immensely thankful and interested in a service like mine that tailors to not only medium or high-income households but also those on a smaller budget so that no elder must suffer due to their income if they have the option to live a better life that would be provided by my service. I would help them by using their Medicaid and Medicare benefits to their advantage in the process.

Step 4: In conclusion, I have learned that this new market is in some ways similar to my original market event hough I would have to tailor my service a little bit in order to successfully reach both target markets and thus be beneficial to both of them. I don't believe this new market is as attractive as my existing market but if I were to implement this new market, my business would gain respect and admiration by those in every social class which could potentially drive word of mouth and thus affect my business venture positively in the long run.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Uniqueness: Not many people have the knowledge, drive, nor desire to create a service of this nature because they assume people know what they want and where they want without taking into account every factor including but not limited to financial factors, preferences, location, availability, etc.
• Valuable: This can be very valuable because it often means less competition.
• Rare: It is fairly rare but it is probably not a new idea.
• Inimitable: This could be imitated through the right networking and by working closely with people in the industry.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe this service could be substitutable.
2. Location: I live in South Florida which surprisingly enough has a large demand for places such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities which are the ones I would be working closely with.
• Valuable: This is extremely valuable because location plays a big role in this industry, amongst other things.
• Rare: It may not be so rare in Florida given the demographics but it would be rare compared to other states that don't have such a big population of elders.
• Inimitable: Not easily imitated, however, one could move to South Florida if they wanted to.
• Non-substitutable: I would say it's non-substitutable.
3. Social Capital- Guidance: My father and uncle have business partners and friends that have their own businesses and have offered me their advice if needed for my business venture. 
• Valuable: I consider this very valuable since it could definitely give me an edge over others.
• Rare: Fairly rare.
• Inimitable: Could be imitated through networking if done correctly.
• Non-substitutable: One could substitute this though it is in my best interest not to.
4. Peaked Interest in Healthcare: Since the population in Florida is growing older and is actually taking over in comparison with the younger folk, it is a great idea to get into this kind of business venture. 
• Valuable: This is very valuable when it comes to finding potential customers since the demand is prone to be high.
• Rare: This is not too rare considering times will change and the elder demographic will eventually die down.
• Inimitable: Anyone with a big enough influence can spark interest.
• Non-substitutable: This would be hard to substitute.
5. Communication Skills: I believe I really good at not only forming but also maintaining relationships/connections with people as well as networking thanks to my communication skills and caring personality.
• Valuable: This is very valuable as it helps me to convey my venture to potential customers.
• Rare: Although probably not rare, there are many people who tend to be too shy to try to network with others.
• Inimitable: This could probably be imitated if one has enough practice.
• Non-substitutable: Can be substituted. 
6. Social Media: Social media is a great platform to rely on in terms of sharing/promoting one's products or services and thus influence the targeted audience. I am a very frequent social media user and know how to use it for business purposes. 
• Valuable: Not that valuable but very helpful if used correctly.
• Rare: Not rare considering there are many platforms and a tremendous amount of users.
• Inimitable: It is so easy to create a social media account that it is easily imitable.
• Non-substitutable: Could be substituted fairly easily.
7. Social Capital- Connections: I know multiple people that work in many different "departments" that relate to my kind of business venture as discussed in the previously written assignment.  So I have multiple connections that I could use for reference. In addition, my father works in this industry as well.
• Valuable: This is very valuable considering the importance of relationships in business.
• Rare: Relatively rare.
• Inimitable: Could probably be imitated through networking, though not so easy but possible.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe this could be substitutable.
8. Personal Experience: I have grown up surrounded by multiple family members that work in the healthcare industry so this idea means a lot to me. I have also gone to meetings with some of these family members so I have experience on the matter to some extent.
• Valuable: My personal experiences within the cruise industry make this service very important to me.
• Rare: I would say relatively rare because not many have connections to healthcare unless they work in it.
• Inimitable: This could be imitated but not easily. 
• Non-substitutable: This could most likely not be substituted.
9. Human Capital - Strong Work Ethic: Successful business ventures, whether by selling products or services, need to have a strong driving force to push the idea which is typically characterized by work ethic which is a source I possess.
• Valuable: This is very valuable and required for a service like mine to be successful.
• Rare: Relatively rare, even though there are many people with a strong work ethic, not all of them are seeking to start a business.
• Inimitable: It is relatively imitable assuming the person has passion and desire for his/her product/service to succeed.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe there is a substitute.
10. Company Culture: My business will operate based on integrity, excellence, and honesty. Having this set of values could potentially set a high standard for other businesses that may want to enter the market thus making it harder to do so.
• Valuable: Company culture is very valuable if it is a positive one, such as the one I have envisioned for my business.
• Rare: Company culture is rare to a company itself but some cultures, in general, may not be rare to all successful businesses.
• Inimitable: This could be imitated by others but it would be fairly hard to do.
• Non-substitutable: Don't believe this can be substitutable considering most successful businesses have some kind of company culture that works for them.

I have deemed my personal experience (#8) to be my top resource. This is because not only does this give my service a personal connection, but also a purpose. It is due to my personal experience in the field that I feel overly connected to my service which only furthers my other resource being my strong work ethic (#9) and ambition to perfect my service and business venture. If this connection was absent, I believe it would be fairly difficult to be successful in this industry.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

Some comments I received on the first pitch that stood out to me as important, include having started my pitch with a question in order to engage the audience and for them to evaluate why my service is important to them. What surprised me the most was that many found my second elevator pitch to be a good one, while in my head I thought it could be done better, but, again, maybe I'm just being too harsh on myself. I don't consider any feedback wrong nor silly and I believe all of the feedback I got was both useful and insightful.

If one were to compare my first pitch to this third pitch, one would notice that by now it is almost natural and I am much more comfortable in front of the camera, though the pitch itself hasn't changed much considering the positive feedback I have been getting.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

For this assignment, I read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki

• The argument of the book revolved around the significance of implementing social media into businesses. It provided numerous tips that make the process more effective. In addition, it also made the point that social media makes it possible for businesses to have a more personal connection with potential customers.
• The book connected with what we are learning in this course because based I have learned that social media can be a necessity for selling products and services. In this day of age, most people have social media and spend many hours on it, using it for things like news, connecting with people or even shopping. Implementing social media to one's business is a way to keep up with the times and be able to reach more potential customers.
• If I had to design an exercise based on this book, it would be for students to pick which social media platform would be best to use to reach their target audience. This would force students to research different social media, and would help them better reach their target market.
• Something that I learned that I hadn't really noticed before is that one must make sure that every social media profile one has, has to be professional, cohesive and easily identifiable. I knew that people tend to assume things about others based on their social media but I guess I never realized how important it is for different profiles on different platforms to be consistent with each other in order to not give out the wrong message to the wrong person.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1) The first person that I contacted was one of my dad's friends who works in the same industry, healthcare, as my business venture. He fills the expert domain spot because he understands the healthcare industry extremely well. I got in contact with him because I had mentioned this course to my dad who then got me in contact with him. He told me to let him know if I ever need help with clarifying anything which is very helpful. I also showed him my idea napkin and he gave me some feedback based on his experiences and similar services. Having him within my network will be extremely helpful when I need advice on the industry because not too many people are willing to share this kind of information in such a competitive industry.

2) The second person that I contacted was actually my dad's business partner who is targeting my target with a similar service as mine. That is why she fills the expert on my market spot considering she understands the kind of service I am shooting for and the people I am targetting as well. I have gone to business meetings with my dad and that is how I met her and was able to contact her through my dad. She looked over a few of my posts so she could see exactly what I have been doing. She mentioned how marketing is tied to this kind of service and how it would be best to get the word out about my business in order to be successful and well-known. Having her within my network will be helpful considering she could help me with the marketing and advertising perspective.

3) The third person that I contacted was my uncle who sells a similar service to those in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. That is why he fills the important supplier of my industry spot since he basically does this for a living. As previously mentioned he is my uncle so I've known him pretty much my whole life. I showed him my elevator pitch and got feedback regarding my idea and how to tailor and perfect my pitch. Having him within my network will be helpful considering, once again, not many people are willing to share this kind of information.

4) Since I start college, time and time again I keep being told how important it is to network-- "It's not what you know, it's who you know." This has made me appreciate sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn a lot more since they can definitely aid in networking. I actually haven't been to any "networking events" per se, but after completing this assignment and gaining this experience I now feel a lot more confident and ready.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1.) My name is Nathan Craigdallie and I am an information systems major here at UF. After speaking to a few people that are super close to me, I have learned that my skills including being hard-working, detail-oriented, and easy to work with. I truly believe that with the right resources, my business idea could be successful.

 2) I am still offering the same service to my customers: I am offering a service that solves our customers' unmet needs with our thorough, confidential, face-to-face assessment and care plan methodology, that evaluates and uncovers their loved ones' needs and safety concerns. Then, we develop an implemented action plan that, as previously mentioned, produces healthier, safer and more fulfilling lifestyles for everyone.

 3) I am offering a service to family members or friends who have an elder to take care of who do not relate to their needs and safety concerns and thus require help from my service. My target market has also not changed because I will be aiming this product at those prospective customers including male and female individuals who are either elders or have an elder to take care of and do not have the knowledge or resources to successfully do so. In terms of psychographic characteristics, my customers would all share an interest in wanting to positively impact the elders' lives at hand and better their lifestyles in any way possible.

 4) People tend to care for their loved one's well-being, whether they're just friends, a significant other, or family. In this case, taking care of the beloved elders takes energy and time which most people don't have enough of. This is why people case about my service enough to be willing to pay for it: in order to mitigate stress and burden being caused by having to figure out how to properly take care of an elder on their own.

 5) My core competencies have also not changed at all. I have first-hand experience on the matter due to my stepfather being in the healthcare business. Everything I know about the industry I've learned from him through the years which is fundamental when talking about dealing with people's lives and well-being.

6) Personally, I believe that the aforementioned elements fit extremely well together. My skills and experience tied together to give me enough authority to have a say on the matter at hand. I used these to my advantage in order to come up with a successful solution to my observed opportunity that a prototypical customer, whether male or female who need help in regards to taking care of an elder, would be willing to pay for.

7) Feedback memo: The feedback that I received was mostly positive and encouraged me to stick with what I had but also improve as much as possible. I also used feedback from several different posts to assure that I catered to the optimal amount of feedback. Two things that I focused on the most were listing new skills that I believe also pertain to my business idea and thus life in general as well as specifying my target customer.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

2) Some comments I received on the first pitch that stood out to me as important, include having started my pitch with a question in order to engage the audience and get their attention as well as the call to action at the end of my pitch as a way for potential customers to get in contact with my business. What surprised me the most was that many found this pitch to be a great one, while in my head I thought it could be done better, but maybe I'm just being too harsh on myself. I don't consider any feedback wrong nor silly and I believe all of the feedback I got was both useful and insightful.

3) Considering I didn't get many comments regarding what I could improve on, except for trying to read less, that's what I attempted to do on this pitch. However, I know I did still read a bit and have to keep working on it for the next pitch so that I can perfect it.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

This is Mary. She is a 64-year-old woman living in Margate, FL. She enjoys speaking on the phone with her friends and playing bingo. She does not own a car since she thinks they are dangerous. Mary watches any and every criminal show you could imagine: Criminal Minds, NCIS, CSI New York, CSI Miami, Breaking Bad, among others. Mary has 2 sons: John and Robert. Robert is actually adopted since Mary did not want to go through another pregnancy after having John. Mary doesn't like to read books nor does she care about politics, however, she does love reading the newspaper.

Mary and I have a couple of things in common. For starters, believe it or not, I too like playing bingo. I don't own a car either, however, the reason for me is that I don't think I need one yet, I don't believe they are all dangerous like Mary. I also do watch the same shows as Mary since those also happen to be my mom's favorites and I always watch them with her. In addition, I don't like to read or pay attention to political matters, but I do not read the newspaper either. These commonalities are probably coincidences in some way, but others may not be, like not liking to read or not having a car for example.

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

I believe that the ways my human capital makes me unique are dependent on the situation I am put in.

#1: Positivity. I enjoy bringing positivity to those I interact with, no matter how much interaction is taking place. Even if we are not very close, I still like to try to provide guidance and share my own experiences if I believe it could possibly help whoever I am speaking to if the topic is brought up.

#2: Goal-oriented. This kind of mindset makes me a good competitor in any aspect of the word. I always want to be the best in any and every situation I find myself in, in order to benefit not only myself but also those around me.

#3: Honesty. I find no reason to ever want to lie to anybody considering I myself would never want to be lied to. I find this a good way to make meaningful connections with people since they can feel as if they can trust that I will always tell it how it is no matter what.

#4: Dedication. I am someone who will put in all the work and as much time as needed in order to get something done right. I think this helps me be successful in anything I put my mind to, even though some things take more time and energy than others.

#5: Resilience. I consider myself to be a resilient person. I have gone through many different experiences, some of them one would consider very difficult, yet I know how to deal with and overcome them when they take place. I don't let anything or anyone bring me down.

Interviews 1-5

1) My best friend. She describes my dedication to any situation I put myself in.
2) My very close friend. She discusses my persistent nature and desire to do things right.
3) My roommate. She mentions how I am able to overcome any obstacle that comes my way.
4) My long-time friend. She details my aspirations to want to help others in any way I possibly can.
5) My classmate. He says how much of a truthful and honest person I am.

I think that those who I interviewed see me very similarly to how I see myself. I do think that my interviewees described me accurately, however, there is no right or wrong considering everyone's opinions are bound to differ from one another. I would not change my original list because after having interviewed and reevaluated, I came to the conclusion that I still stand by the way I see myself. On the contrary, the interviews helped me further confirm the traits I picked.

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

After doing further interviewing, I have discovered a couple of things. For one, my segment tends to put more importance on quality in relation to price, in other words, making sure that the price that is being charged translates into the quality that is being offered for the service. Style is also a player in terms of importance, however, this one is seen as less important than the ones mentioned I mentioned previously.

I also discovered that my segment likes to buy in person using whatever they can offer in terms of monetary value (cash or card). I believe this is because they prefer to see what the service is all about in person rather than just by what they have heard or read online.

What helps my customers determine if a purchase was a good idea when thinking back on the 'rightness' of the purchase, is the experience and overall quality of the purchase. They tend to compare price points and evaluate the quality to then determine if the purchase was worth it or not.

During these interviews, I came to the conclusion that I need to make sure that my service meets quality expectations for a reasonable price while also containing some element of style. I will make sure we are flexible in terms of options on how to pay for the service (both cash and card). I know that if I develop a service that exceeds customer expectations, word of mouth will prevail and I will get good reviews from it.