30A - Final Reflection

The experience that sticks out in my mind the most was the Bug List. This was the first assignment of the semester and I had no idea what I was getting into. Before I read into it, I thought the assignment was actually about bugs. I’ll remember this years later because I have never had to list all of my annoyances before. I realized that I have so many but they are so hard to think of. I also realized that despite being annoyed by so many things, they are easy to brush off and I am generally happy. I felt proud after I recorded my first elevator pitch because it was the first time I had ever done one. I improved the pitch over time, but watching it back I was very pleased and felt confident in my speaking ability.

Now at the end of this course, I do see that I have the potential to be an entrepreneur. I have some of the skills you need, including creative and clear communication. However, I don’t think I see myself being an entrepreneur in the future. These skills are very transferrable and I would like to focus my efforts in a different sector. My entrepreneurial mindset has developed in that I see how you can apply it to so many different parts of life. It’s easier to get what you want when you apply entrepreneurial tactics trying to get it.

To students going down this path in the future, I recommend taking each assignment one step at a time. It is easy to get overwhelmed, but if you use time management and keep up a schedule for completing your assignments, you will do just fine. Take deep breaths and focus on your strengths. Everyone has them and you will be able to use them in this course one way or another!

29A - Venture Concept No. 2

My venture concept is a product that will revolutionize how we heat our homes. My heaters will contain motion sensors so they know exactly when to turn on and off based on whether the room is occupied. This product will mainly be used by people who live in cold places where heat is needed during the winter months. This product is perfect for homeowners who pay their utilities bill. People will want this product for several reasons. It eliminates the annoyance of remembering to turn your radiators on and off. I was in this bothersome situation when I got the idea for this product. This product is extremely efficient, so it will also reduce costs on utilities bills because people will not be using excess heating. Additionally, the efficient aspect is much better for the environment in terms of energy conservation. This product uses advanced technology to save money and keep people happy and warm!

Based on the feedback I have received this semester, I realized that it may be smarter to focus on the B2B market instead of the B2C market as I had originally intended. I might find more success by selling this product to contractors and creating partnerships with companies that are in need of efficient heaters. I could get into contact with home appliance stores and other salespeople specializing in air conditioning and heating. One commenter added that I might be able to break into the room insulation industry with this product as well. That is a great idea. It is also clear from my feedback that I need to have some grasp on how much money this product will actually save the consumers before I make it available to the public. I can’t sell this product on false promises, and in order to get the data I need, I will have to go through an extensive testing period. This feedback has pushed me in the right direction, and, above all, I think I now understand the full potential of my product. There are a lot of different directions this product could go that I hadn’t originally considered. This is an idea that I continue to be excited about.

28A - Your Exit Strategy

I think I do intend to sell my business in the near future. I would like to develop the business plan and strategy continuing a little bit, and then let the venture go. The reason for this is that I never intended to make this my life’s work, and while I do feel passionate that it is a good idea that could be fruitful, I do not think doing this for a long time will make me happy. I think there are either people who know this industry far better than I do and they could be much more successful with my product. They are willing to put in the hard work and energy needed going forward. This exit strategy has not influenced my decisions int he concept, but vice versa. In reaching out to experts and customers along the way, I have realized that the rest of the decisions might be better if they are made by someone else. This idea is strong enough on its own to sell, without me investing more of my human capital in it. It has influenced my growth intentions by slowing me down a bit more.

27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

For this reading reflection, I chose How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. This book is Adams’ memoir. He is a cartoonist. His story shows that life is not a straight path, and that your failures lead you to where you eventually are meant to be. His story is a lesson in keeping your head up and continuing along despite the failures you encounter. This book connected directly with my last post about failure. Failure is a big part of entrepreneurship. There are so many ways to miss the mark and not have a successful product. This book gives great guidelines on how to remain happy through the trials and tribulations of life. If I had to design an exercise for this class, I would have people map out three of their failures and write a reflection on how those could lead them to future success. This would be a good introspective way to turn failures into something positive. My biggest surprise is that Adams doesn’t think it is helpful to find your passion, but rather find your energy. He says you’ll be happy in life as long as you are energetic. This is an interesting take that has less to do with money and more with self fulfillment.

26A - Celebrating Failure

This semester I applied to over 40 internships that I didn’t get. The entire process was grueling and very disheartening. I began to doubt my worth and think that all the hard work I have done up until now hasn’t gotten me anywhere. I did countless interviews and got my hopes up so many times, just to be ignored by recruiters or turned down without any feedback. Eventually, I did secure an internship and I was very happy. However, I’m not sure if it is going to happen now because of the virus. This whole entire process has been a crazy learning experience. I learned how to handle rejection and how to conquer the job application process. I improved my resume and cover letter and my interview skills. I learned not to take things to personally, and that you only need one job to stick no matter how many you apply to! In the future, I am definitely more willing to take risks because I am familiar with this process and have learned how to keep trying even when I feel discouraged.

25A - What’s Next?

Existing Market

I think next I have to move to the actual technological development phase of my venture. I do not have the engineering knowledge or the physical resources to create this product my own. The next step for me here is to outsource these jobs. The three people I interviewed agreed that I need to begin working on this next step. They also said I should start mapping out a rough estimate of how much the product is going to cost. A lot of data analyzation is needed to determine how quickly this product will help people save money. Customers want these answers. This path makes the most sense for my venture. I need to outsource these jobs and beginning finding the right people to do them. I need to collect data on the average wholesale cost of a heating unit and the average cost of heating that na average home owner uses in the winter months. I will begin by mapping out a timeline and setting goals so the product can reach the market sometime before next winter.

New Market

A market I haven’t thought of is the B2B market. That could completely change this venture and I feel silly for not having considered it. My product could work for B2B or B2C. People who already sell heating and air conditioning may be interested in investing in my product. This product could be the whole future of this market if it is successful with customers. Once it gains popularity, it is possible that old models may become obsolete. The two people I interviewed said that I need to make ties with my competitors in order to meet customers who may be interested. These competitors know the customers very well and could be willing to make a deal or partnership with me. These interviewees think I might be even more successful in the B2B market and could catch the attention of some salespeople dealing with similar products. This would take a big chunk of the service aspect out of my hands so I could focus more on the product. I am surprised in general that I hadn’t considered this new market. On second thought, it seems nearly as attractive as my existing marketing, if not more attractive. This new market is definitely worth more of my attention.

24A - Venture Concept No. 1 (No Hassle Heaters)

I recognized the opportunity for my product when I moved somewhere cold for the first time in my life. I was suddenly renting an apartment with a radiator in it for the first time in my life. And this showed on the utilities bill. I was spending more on utilities than I ever had before. I didn’t think bills this high were normal until I realized it was because I was using so much heat. I think had to make a very annoying conscious effort to turn the radiator on and off constantly in order to use as little heat as necessary.  My most important resource is my close connection with this problem. This annoyance and waste of money is something that is in the lives of many people. So long as people use radiators and need to be kept warm in their homes, this opportunity will exist. The window of opportunity will stay open for a very long time. The market is mainly defined geographically. People who live in warmer climates and have no need for heat in the winter and other cold months will not be interested in this product. I don’t think people are currently loyal to their heating devices. I think that many are content as long as they are warm, even if their utilities bills are high because warmth is viewed as a necessity.

The product is a motion-sensing radiator. The radiators could be installed in main rooms and throughout homes. They detect all motion and turn on when the room is occupied and turn off when the room is emptied again. The radiators are highly sensitive in order to be as efficient as possible. This will keep people warm and cozy in their homes without worrying too much about the negative aspects of owning a radiator. People would also not have to worry about children and animals touching the radiator and manipulating the temperature.

This product will help people save money in the long term on their utilities bills. It will eliminate the frustration of worrying about turning your radiators off and saving money. It is also the most energy efficient it could possibly be to keep the customer satisfied and also conserve electricity. The only reason it would be difficult to convince customers to switch is because they have to be willing to pay the money up front and wait until they see themselves saving money and earning the money back on their utilities bills in the coming months. Once this point is emphasized, people may be willing to buy the product. The competitors are standard heating unit companies, but they lack this motion technology that this product has. This business must work very hard to market the product because this idea is breaking into an industry that works to some extent and has been established for a long time. The next step in this venture is to really fine tune the technology to be exactly how I envisioned it and product effective results. In five and ten years, I hope to continue updating this product and improving it to solve all of the problems at hand on a larger scale.

23A - Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Knowledge of Industry - This is very valuable as it is essential to breaking into any industry no matter what the industry is. It is imitable as this is a well-established industry. Other resources cannot provide same benefits.
2. Personal Connection - This is very valuable because I care about my product and I have a personal will to see it succeeded. This is rare because a lot of entrepreneurs only create products for the economic benefit.
3. High Speed Technology - This is easy to copy but an important value in order to make the product as top notch as possible. This will attract more buyers. It is non-suitable.
4. Highly Sensitive Technology - Same as being high speed. It is valuable for the product to work exactly how it is meant to as quickly as it can to be the best it can be. This is sometimes rare because a lot of products slow down or break over time.
5. Marketability with Different Groups - This is very valuable and sometimes rare depending on the product. A lot of diverse groups can benefit from this product and that will lead to wider sales.
6. Efficiency - This product is eco-friendly which is a very valuable asset to many people in this day and age. It is not rare in general but in this industry it is more rare than not.
7. Interpersonal Skills - This is valuable but definitely not imitable. Any entrepreneur needs this but it is just as important to have nonetheless. Other factors can add to this benefit.
8. Novel Idea - This is important because there is not currently wide competition for the product. It is non-suitable and it can be imitated but it is not at the moment.
9. Firsthand Experience - This idea was conceived from my own experiences and this is very valuable. It is inimitable because no one else has had my same exact experiences. It is not rare in general but can be unique to this product. Nothing gives the same benefit to an entrepreneur because I can really relate to the customer.
10. Understanding of Customer Base - This is extremely important for the actual sales of the product. I think this is imitable but over time I have understood the customer base even more widely and gotten great feedback that will allow me to know my target audience well.

My top resource is my own firsthand experience with the problem that my product solves. This has led me to be really in touch with exact how the product should function. I am able to clearly see the obstacles to creating a suitable product that would provide the best solution. I understand all of the benefits of my product.

22A - Elevator Pitch No. 3

The feedback from my last pitch was very helpful. One person said it looked like I was reading my pitch. I wasn’t, but I made sure to seem more natural and fluid in this pitch. I made my presentation more conversational and natural this time around. I also know my pitch better at this point. I tweaked my hook to relate to the audience a little bit more, but otherwise I kept it mostly the same and tried to keep my safe structure and describing the problem, the product and the solution. In my feedback I was told to dress more professionally, but I did not follow this advice. I feel that I am dressed appropriately enough given the environment I am in. I would amp up my wardrobe if I was giving this pitch in front of an audience.

21A - Reading Reflection No. 2

The book I chose was Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The general theme of the book is that we must make an active effort to understand our thought processes and control our decision making in order to avoid errors and jump to conclusions. The book connects a lot to what we are learning in ENT3003 because it gives advice that is very helpful to the modern entrepreneur. He warns against going with your gut and he talks a lot about making the most economic decisions for yourself. He says to separate your emotions from your economic decisions, which could be very helpful in entrepreneurship. For an exercise in this class, I would present a bunch of logic questions and in the end students would see which ones they got wrong and reflect on why they got them wrong. Did they take the easiest and most available answer? Did they jump to conclusions or trust their gut too quickly? A part of this book that surprised me a lot was Kahneman’s on how lazy our brains are. He said people want to solve problems with the least amount of effort, regardless of the accuracy of the solution. This surprised me because I tend to think the best of peoples’ intellects but I suppose this may be naive.