Final Reflection

1) This class has definitely been interesting, especially with the blog posts. The first month of the class was kind of a dread for me because I didn't like having to write out posts, and then comment on other people's.By the second month, I had gotten the hang of it and wiring posts was kind of a breeze. I think the most frustrating thing for me was having to read three books, because that was very time consuming and I had a lot of work to do for other classes. I got really stressed when I realized one week that we had a reading reflection, and i had not yet read the book so I had to cram it into one night. Thankfully, or the most part the assignments were simple and interesting

2) The mot formative experience for me was probably the Idea Napkin. For my first idea napkin, I actually drew on a napkin which was pretty joyous because I liked making little doodles related to my product. The idea napkin assignment helped me lay a better foundation for the venture I was seeking. I am proud of accomplishing all of the interviews. Interviews were frightening and tedious at times. I feel like I gained really good insight from the people I talked too. I'm proud of myself for overcoming the fear of interviewing random people.

3) I still don't feel like an entrepreneur, but I have definitely gained a lot of insight to how they think, and the processes they go through in creating their product. My mindset definitely did shift from the beginning of the course to the end, even if only slightly.

4) I would recommend to students that they keep an open mind. At first, it can seem like there's and overload of assignments. But once you choose your product concept, most of the assignments are a breeze. Definitely don't over think it. Also, attend/watch all of the lectures because Cupcakes are an easy way to get points that you don't want to miss out on. This class is what you make of it, so if you take to the assignments grudgingly, its going to be a pain. Just try to be creative and look at it as an opportunity to develop something cool.

Venture Concept No. 2

Retractable Eno Straps (RES)

Opportunity

Outdoor enthusiasts all over America are experiencing struggles with one of the most loved outdoor adventure products: the Eno. An Eno is a portable hammock made out of a parachute material that folds up tight into a bag. It comes with nylon hammock straps that can wrap around posts, trees, and any other weight bearing object. The straps come in various sizes from standard to extra long designed to stretch across longer distances. These straps are extremely strong, supporting 500+ pounds. Because the straps are so long and thick, they are a hassle to put away. Once you're ready to take your Eno down, it takes tedious and multiple efforts to roll up your straps tight enough to fit back into the bag. This is a hassle for nature enthusiasts as it takes away from their stress free time outdoors. For those hikers who are always on the go, having to take extra time to fold up your straps can be very frustrating and inconvenient. There is an unmet need for more efficient, but still supportive Eno straps. This could be considered more of a luxury need, because it is not a detriment to one’s life. However, a solution to this problem would greatly maximize the relaxing Eno experience.

The people who have this unmet need are anyone who owns an Eno. There are people of all demographic and geographic locations that have Enos as they are a fun and popular outdoor item. There are two primary markets though. The first one being early-middle aged adults (25-40), in the middle class, living in the north east. The second market is college students all across America, but most predominantly in the north east. 

Currently, customers are satisfying their needs by coming up with their own ways to store eno straps such as using a bigger bag to stuff them in so they don’t have to be neatly folded, or winding them around something like a piece of cardboard. There is no substitute for the Eno straps themselves, so people are not necessarily loyal to their own unique process of storing their straps and would be open to an easier method.

The opportunity is moderate as there are over 300,000 people in America own an Eno. This opportunity will be around until someone comes up with a marketable way to store Eno straps efficiently.

Innovation

To address this opportunity, I am addressing Retractable Eno Straps (RES). Imagine a retractable dog leash, the kind where the lease winds out of a plastic casing and locks into place, then winds back into the case. This is the concept I will be applying to RES. It will be a case made of either eco friendly recycled plastic, or bamboo fibers, large enough to fit the rolled up straps- which would still be made of the same, sturdy material. You can pull the strap out of the case and lock it into place, and then use the strap as usual by wrapping it around a tree or such to hang your Eno. Then when you’re ready to put your Eno away, rather than spending time folding your Eno straps and trying to fit them in your bag, all you have to do is click the release button and the strap will wind back into its casing. Typical Eno straps run for about $20, and extra long straps are about $30. The casing including standard straps I would sell for $40 (2 casings and 2 straps), and the casing with extra long straps I would sell for $50.

Venture Concept

Obviously, the nature of the RES is to make putting your Eno straps away a very hassle-free process without compromising the integrity or the strength of the straps. The great thing about RES, is that I don’t have to try to get consumers to “switch” to this product per say. They still get to remain loyal to the Eno brand, and the durability of authentic Eno straps. RES is meant to supplement and enhance classic Eno straps. Because consumers are currently using minimal  ways to solve their problem, many would happily jump at the opportunity to have a real product to help them store their Eno straps.

At this moment, there are no foreseeable competitors as there are no alternative methods to store Eno straps on the market. If RES were introduced for purchases, surely competitors from knock-off Eno brands such as WiseOwl would come up with a similar product so having a patent would be essential. WiseOwl does not have near the customer loyalty as Eno.

Packaging and price point are everything in this product. The outdoor community is very invested in economic sustainability so it is critical that the RES casing is eco friendly. This will give consumers more incentive to buy it. Furthermore, I am marketing this product to the middle class, so the price must be fair in order for them to consider purchasing it.because regular Eno straps are effective as is, the price is critical to convince people it is worth investing in an “extra” product. The consumer experience totally defines my product. It is all about the consumers having a more enjoyable Eno experience by using this product.

I’ve come to realize that this business endeavor would require me to either partner with Eno, or sell the casing separately without the straps. The former would be much more difficult, so for the sake of simplicity we will imagine the latter. I would need to hire someone to actually create the product itself and engineer its workings. From there, it requires marketing and getting into shops such as R.E.I and amazon.com.

My Secret Sauce

Here is what will set me apart from other competitors: I am dedicated to serving the community more than myself. This is why I want to create my product with an eco friendly process start to finish. Furthermore, once the business takes off, I will partner with non profit organizations in donating proceeds. This urge to benefit the community is what will set my business/product apart more than others.

What’s Next?

My current product would require the consumer to have two casing two carry around for the two Eno straps. In the future, it would be great to innovate further and figure out a way to make both straps come from one casing to make the product more compact/space conscious.

What’s Next for Me?

Assuming I’m still “entrepreneuring” in 5 years, I would like to see this product be a hit that people are still using for their Eno. However, if the opportunity arose, I would sell my business out perhaps to the Eno company itself. I hope that I will have started creating other products to enhance other outdoor activities such as tent camping, fishing, rock climbing, etc. I could start a whole business based around making already existing products more efficient.

Feedback

I didn't receive a ton of criticism on my first venture concept and I thunk its because I put alot of thought and effort in the first one. I did receive some grammatical feedback. Also, one student was concerned about my idea of an eco-friendly casing being able to bear enough weight to support the Eno.

What I Changed

Obviously I fixed all of the grammatical errors that I could find. Secondly, I elaborated upon my idea for an eco-friendly casing. I more thoroughly tried to explaining that the case itself does not bear the weight of the Eno, they only contain the straps. The straps themselves are still made of the same, sturdy nylon material to support the weight of the eno. I also elaborated more on my plans for what's next.

Reading Reflection No.3

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big 

by Scott Adams

This is the story and advice of Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert Comics. Adams shares his own experiences and what you can do to increase your chances of making it big.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

This entire book describes how to invite failure into your life, embrace it, and then using that failure to your advantage.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book connected with this class in its entirety. Entrepreneurship entails a lot of risk taking, and with risk taking comes a lot of failure. Furthermore, your success is often dependent on your perspective. If your startup isn't going the way you planned, you can accept defeat or you can use the failure as a learning opportunity and create something even greater. That is what this whole book is about.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

Its funny because we actually do have an assignment about failure this week. However, if I were to create an assignment based off of this book, I would have the student list out a variety of potential reasons their business could fail. For each failure possibility, I would have them strategist how they could turn that failure around and use it to their advantage. That is what Scott Adams describes doing in his book. Finally, they would state what types of things they could learn from failure. This is a good opportunity for students to come to terms with  he fact that their original plan may not succeed, but they can actually benefit from it!

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I was most surprised that Adams did not hold back at all. I though this would be a lovely self-help style book about how not to let failure get you down. But Adams really exceeded this expectation and brought light to failure. He really detailed his most embarrassing failures, and then detailed his personal strategies for overcoming them. It made me feel less ashamed of my failures.

I also love the tip that he gave that you should NEVER expect people to act reasonably. That will also get you in trouble when you rely on people's rationality.

My Exit Strategy

What Exit Strategy do I Plan to Make?

The ideal situation would be that my retractable Eno Straps become patented, and such a hit that the actual Eno Brand buys out my idea/company.

I have selected this particular exit strategy because It seems very practical. I do think I could get quite bored selling retractable Eno straps for the rest of my life, and it would make sense for a big name company to buy my small, supplemental product. Now this may be different is I expand my business and create other supplemental outdoor products, then I may stay with my company until I retire and then sell it. But as long as its just the retractable Eno strap business, I would sell it and use the finds for another venture!

I suppose my exit strategy has influenced the other decisions I've made during this process. Because it is a shorter term business plan, I identified a very simple opportunity and created a very simple product that could easily be sold. It has influenced my intentions for growth because I hope to be able to hit peak sales, and then sell the business!

Celebrating Failure

Let me tell you a story...

about the first time I EVER failed an exam.

I studied a lot in high school. Grades were never an issue for me. I have a tried a true study method. Attend class. Take notes. Go home and read the text book. Make a Quizlet. Pass the test. Easy peasy.

This held true for me during my years at Saint Johns River State College. I breezed through my prerequisites and I write enjoyed studying!

Of course when I transferred the the University of Florida, that study method had to be altered. These upper level courses are all about application, not memorization. So I would do practice questions galore, and make it out of exams okay.

This all changed when I took a certain class. I'm not going to disclose the class name, because honestly its embarrassing. It is probably my least favorite class ever. I even like Business Law better than said class. So here I am, watching the lectures, reading the textbook, making Quizlets and doing practice questions. Come exam day, I felt fine.

So I took the exam and it didn't feel different than any other. A week later I got my score back: 53%. Impossible. I was shocked and annoyed and confused. I personally felt like I had done everything I could.

For a while, I made excuses. Blamed my performance on distractions in my apartment, my professor, ProctorU. I even emailed my professor to make sure she hadn't made a mistake. Nope. I simply failed.

After going through the stages of grief, I finally reached acceptance. I had no one to blame but myself. I learned some practical lessons from this experience. First of all, I can't treat all classes the same. Some classes apply their teachings differently, and I need to cater my studying technique to each class individually. Secondly, you can't be good at everything. I feel like its the universes way of humbling and reminding me that not all things in life are easy, and nothing is predictable, and that's okay.

This class has definitely shed a lot of light on celebrating failure. Just to create a minuscule product, you have to go through hundreds of opinions and a lot of people are going to criticize you. Sometimes you even start a business that fails. You can't let these failures become a roadblock in your life that inhibit you from pursuing any other goals. Rather, let it fuel you to try again, this time even stronger.

Now I can feel a little edgy knowing I failed an exam.

What's Next?

Existing Market

What's next in terms of products and services for your venture?

My current product is based on enhancing a preexisting product, the Eno straps. If I were to continue this venture down the road, I believe I could come up with more products that embellish already existing outdoor activities such as tent camping, fishing, rock climbing, kayaking, etc.

What customers think I should do next:

Obviously during this time, we weren't required to conduct interviews, so I just ask my family members about my endeavors. They suggested that rather than brainstorming up new products for other outdoor activities, I should think about further refining Retractable Eno Straps. They suggested finding ways to sell the casing without the straps already in them for people who already own a set of Eno straps. This is a great idea because it would cut down on costs and even increase the amount of people willing to buy it.

Path for the future:

I definitely want to heed the advice of others. It seems like I am on the right track with my idea. Many Eno owners agree they would love an easier way to store their Eno straps. I believe I would want to take the next steps in refining this product rather than jumping onto the next like I initially thought. 

This means potentially selling the casing without Eno straps already in them. Furthermore, I think it would be great to work on a casing that holds and retracts both Eno straps, rather than having two separate casings for two separate straps.

Finally, it is very important to move forward with these plans in an environmentally friendly way. This is a major appeal to the outdoor community and I cannot lose sight of that in favor of creating a cheap product!

New Market

Radically Different Market and the Value for them:

I am currently targeting middle aged middle class people in the north east, as well as college students. If I wanted to pick a radically different market, I could target an older crowd with the idea that Retractable Eno Straps make it easier to Eno, even for those past their prime time. Retractable Eno straps may make hammocking more enticing to them because folding the straps is one less thing to worry about.

Interviewing a potential new market:

Again, we cannot conduct real interviews at this time, but I did phone my grandmother who said there is no way in a hundred years she would be able to climb into an Eno. She did admit that the new straps would make it easier to set up though. I suppose if I ever wanted to pitch my product to an older age group, I would have to come up with an additional concept that makes hammocking an easy sport for them!

Conclusion:

I have decided that my fleeting thought to market to the elderly is a terrible idea. Most of them do not own Enos, nor do they want to. I thought perhaps RES would make Enoing easier for them, but most elderly people would not be able to get in and out of an Eno, let alone be comfortable laying in a hammock.This market is no where near as attractive as my current market of outdoor enthusiasts who already have a love for hammocking. 

I think if i ever wanted to extend my target market, I could focus on more geographic regions such as the west coast, or even internationally. I would still focus on the same consumer demographics and psycho graphics though!

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Venture Concept No. 1 Retractable Eno Straps

Retractable Eno Straps (RES)

Opportunity

Outdoor enthusiasts all over America are experiencing struggles with one of the most loved outdoor adventure products: the Eno. An Eno is a portable hammock made out of a parachute material that folds up tight into a bag. It comes with nylon hammock straps that can wrap around posts, trees, and any other weight bearing object. The straps come in various sizes from standard to extra long designed to stretch across longer distances. These straps are extremely strong, supporting 500+ pounds. Because the straps are so long and thick, they are a hassle to put away. Once you're ready to take your Eno down, it takes tedious and multiple efforts to roll up your straps tight enough to fit back into the bag. This is a hassle for nature enthusiasts as it takes away from their stress free time outdoors. For those hikers who are always on the go, having to take extra time to fold up your straps can be very frustrating and inconvenient. There is an unmet need for more efficient, but still supportive Eno straps. This could be considered more of a luxury need, because it is not a detriment to one’s life. However, a solution to this problem would greatly maximize the relaxing Eno experience.

The people who have this unmet need are anyone who owns an Eno. There are people of all demographic and geographic locations that have Enos as they are a fun and popular outdoor item. There are two primary markets though. The first one being early-middle aged adults (25-40), in the middle class, living in the north east. The second market is college students all across America, but most predominantly in the north east. 

Currently, customers are satisfying their needs by coming up with their own ways to store eno straps such as using a bigger bag to stuff them in so they don’t have to be neatly folded, or winding them around something like a piece of cardboard. There is no substitute for the Eno straps themselves, so people are not necessarily loyal to their own unique process of storing their straps and would be open to an easier method.

The opportunity is moderate as there are over 300,000 people in America own an Eno. This opportunity will be around until someone comes up with a marketable way to store Eno straps efficiently.

Innovation

To address this opportunity, I am addressing Retractable Eno Straps (RES). Imagine a retractable dog leash, the kind where the lease winds out of a plastic casing and locks into place, then winds back into the case. This is the concept I will be applying to RES. It will be a shell made of either eco friendly recycled plastic, or bamboo fibers, large eno to fit the rolled up straps. You can pull the strap out of the case and lock it into place, and then use the strap as usual by wrapping it around a tree or such to hang your eno. Then when you’re ready to put your Eno away, rather than spending time folding your Eno straps and trying to fit them in your bag, all you have to do is click the release button and the strap will wind back into its casing. Typical Eno straps run for about $20, and extra long straps are about $30. The casing including standard straps I would sell for $40 (2 casings and 2 straps), and the casing with extra long straps I would sell for $50.

Venture Concept

Obviously, the nature of the RES is to make putting your Eno straps away a very hassle-free process without compromising the integrity or the strength of the straps. The great thing about RES, is that I don’t have to try to get consumers to “switch” to this product per say. They still get to remain loyal to the Eno brand, and the durability of authentic Eno straps. RES is meant to supplement and enhance classic Eno straps. Because consumers are currently using minimal  ways to solve their problem, many would happily jump at the opportunity to have a real product to help them store their Eno straps.

At this moment, there are no foreseeable competitors as there are no alternative methods to store Eno straps on the market. If RES were introduced for purchases, surely competitors from knock-off Eno brands such as WiseOwl would come up with a similar product so having a patent would be essential. WiseOwl does not have near the customer loyalty as Eno.

Packaging and price point are everything in this product. The outdoor community is very invested in economic sustainability so it is critical that the RES casing is eco friendly. This will give consumers more incentive to buy it. Furthermore, I am marketing this product to the middle class, so the price must be fair in order for them to consider purchasing it.because regular Eno straps are effective as is, the price is critical to convince people it is worth investing in an “extra” product. The consumer experience totally defines my product. It is all about the consumers having a more enjoyable Eno experience by using this product.

I’ve come to realize that this business endeavor would require me to either partner with Eno, or sell the casing separately without the straps. The former would be much more difficult, so for the sake of simplicity we will imagine the latter. I would need to hire someone to actually create the product itself and engineer its workings. From there, it requires marketing and getting into shops such as R.E.I and amazon.com.

My Secret Sauce

Here is what will set me apart from other competitors: I am dedicated to serving the community more than myself. This is why I want to create my product with an eco friendly process start to finish. Furthermore, once the business takes off, I will partner with non profit organizations in donating proceeds. This urge to benefit the community is what will set my business/product apart more than others.

What’s Next?

My current product would require the consumer to have two casing two carry around for the two Eno straps. In the future, it would be great to innovate further and figure out a way to make both straps come from one casing to make the product more compact/space conscious.

What’s Next for Me?

Assuming I’m still “entrepreneuring” in 5 years, I would like to see this product be a hit that people are still using to support their Eno. I hope that I will have started creating other products to enhance other outdoor activities such as tent camping, fishing, rock climbing, etc. I could start a whole business based around making already existing products more efficient.