Venture Concept No. 1

The opportunity that I found is that people that use skateboards or any type of board, a lot of times, did not like to carry their boards on their hands when walking to one place to another without using their board. I asked both friends and strangers and they both agreed that something to carry their boards on their backs would make their lives easier when taking their boards places, and some even said that they would probably use their boards more. The customers that meet this need is anyone that uses a board and uses a backpack on a daily basis. This description fits mostly to high schoolers and college students but the potential customer could be virtually anyone in any part of the world. As more people, college students, realize the difficulty to get cheap and easy transportation in a college campus they also realize that using a board is both cheap and easy to transport in. It is efficient and you go faster than walking, you also don’t have to worry about parking with it and it is small compared to a bike, making it the best way to transport oneself in a college campus. These changes create the opportunity that I found. As I was saying before this opportunity has no definition geographically or demographically since it is targeted mostly to college students that use any type of board, and you can find college students with that need anywhere in the world. Some customers satisfy this need by buying a backpack that already has straps included to carry your skateboard, and they are mostly loyal to this backpack. I believe that the window for this opportunity will stay open for a while considering how long it has been open.

              My innovation that came for the opportunity described above is an adjustable strap that hooks onto any backpack, which allows the user to carry any type of board, whether the board is a skateboard, a longboard, or a pennyboard. My product is both simple and innovative since it allows the users to carry any board and keep using their favorite backpack, therefore not adding extra expense for a backpack you don’t need. The strap is made of fabric and it has to hooks on each end, which is where you connect them to the backpack. The strap then separates in two in the middle and that’s where you would put your board which then you would tighten the strap and therefore hold the board on your backpack. The strap wouldn’t be hard nor expensive to produce, the materials for it wouldn’t be expensive to gather either. So I would be selling my product on stores that sell any type of board and they would be selling around $5 - $10. I also believe that I could expand my product and produce straps to hold other things and maybe create backpack expansions.

              The innovation I described above will solve the opportunity by allowing people who use boards and that don’t want to carry them with theirs hands by giving them the choice to carry them on their backpacks with straps that hook onto one’s backpack. Customers will buy my innovation because it facilitates their life and allows them to do carry their board on their backpacks freeing their hands. I believe that customers would switch to this product because it is cheap, they don’t have to buy a new backpack so they can keep using their favorite backpack and they can carry any type of board without any problems. I don’t think it will be hard for customers to switch to my product since the other products that exist in the market are straps that have backpacks attached to them, without being able to remove those straps, so my product will allow them to use any backpack they want to carry their boards and not only the one with the straps. The competitors are the business that create the backpacks with the straps already on them, and I think that in itself is already a weakness, since people want to use the backpacks they already have and don’t want to spend more money to buy a new backpack. I think that price point plays a huge part in defining my business concept since my product is both simple and cheap, that way appealing more to the customers than my competitors.

              I believe what will make competitors to copy my success is my adaptability and open mind and my also my products adaptability. I think that with my open mind and adaptability, I will be able to take feedback easily and constructively and keep improving my product as it goes and I will also be able to improve my business. And as I improve my business I can keep going to create the next product. As I was reading some of the comments on my elevator pitches, a person suggested to create straps or something to carry textbooks, and I liked that idea. I think my next product would be to create like an expansion to small backpacks that something can’t fit big textbooks, so that way the customers doesn’t have to carry the textbooks every time they go to class or a library or something. And if this all works and it is successful, I actually don’t think I see myself working with this venture in five years. If it’s successful, I would most likely sell it and create another venture. And that’s where I see myself in the next decade, with a few ventures sold and with enough money to follow my own personal dream.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

After reading this week's reading I found most surprising was the main that the author talks about and that is the innovation strategy. Most people, me included, don't think innovation really need a strategy and so they don't come up with an innovation strategy, which leads to failure in their innovation.

A thing that I found confusing of the reading was that the different types of innovation that there are, I always thought it was just innovation and I don't I really don't understand the differences.

The two questions I would ask the author would be:
1. How much of a difference does it have to have a very good innovation strategy to a not so well strategy to not having a strategy at all?
2. How do you see innovation evolving in the future?

I didn't disagree with anything the author had to say and I think he was right about everything.

The Amazon Whisperer

Since my business concept currently only sells one product my revenue drivers are the sales on the product I have and that is about it. Since my product is a strap to carry like longboards, or skateboards, or other type of boards on your backpack, I think what my customers would want are straps designed to carry different things on your backpack, for example a strap to carry a sleeping bag for those who love camping, a strap to carry a helmet for the bikers and many more. I could also make various backpack attachments that can be attachable to virtually any backpack. It will enhance product offering because I could attract many more customers for all sorts of things, and increase customer loyalty because of the quality and price of the straps, and that way they don't have to buy unnecessary products that cost a lot. 

Similar Product from Amazon

After a few minutes searching amazon I found a few products that are kinda similar to mine. It is a backpack that already includes straps to carry boards on it. The difference between that product and mine is that mine, is just the strap and you don't have to buy a new backpack. This backpack has very good reviews but in the few reviews that I found where people said stuff that they dislike of the product is that it can't hold every size board, like a pennyboard for example, and some customers had a hard time taking their textbooks and other things from the backpack. Some also complained about it being too small. Well the changes I would make to that product is to make the straps more adaptable to different type of boards and increase the size of it making it more user friendly. I don't think this product would be a good addition to my product offering since what I offer is the idea of the straps without the need of buying a backpack. That way one can keep their backpack.

My Unfair Advantage

1. Computer Skills

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - N

2. Innovation

V - Y
R - Y
I - N
N - Y

3. Adaptability

V - Y
R - Y
I - Y
N - Y

4. Leadership Skills

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - N

5. Knowledge about the market

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - N

6. Low Cost of Producing the Product

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - N

7. Simplicity of Product

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - Y

8. Business Idea

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - Y

9. Open Mind

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - N

10. Good Understanding of my Customers

V - Y
R - N
I - Y
N - N

I think that my top resource after conducting a VRIN analysis is the adaptability of my product and my own adaptability. Adaptability is one of my top strengths, according to strengths finder, and I think that allows me to expect the unexpected. Also my product is very adaptable and because of the simplicity of the design, it allows me to make changes on it according to feedback that I would get from customers.

Reading Reflection Week 10

The biggest surprise in this week's reading has to be that cash-flow budget was more that I used to think it was. I thought it only included sales that a company did but after reading I learned it also includes cash payments and loan proceeds.

I had a hard time comprehending all the procedures that went into obtaining copyright protection. I understand the general gist of it but I just had a hard time following all the exact procedures explained.

The questions I would ask are:

1. When should entrepreneurs seek out professional help or professional services?

2. What is the most important financial ratio a new business should consider?

I did not disagree or thought the author was wrong about anything in this week's reading

Elevator Pitch No.3

As my previous pitch I got a lot of positive feedback and I enjoyed reading it because a few people were saying that this is a great idea. One thing that stood out to me about the comments was that I should be more formal in my elevator pitch, and I understand as to why one would say that, I don't necessarily agree with it because of what my product is. And one this is that was silly is that one comment said that I should put what material my product is in the pitch but I don't that is necessary. I, again, did not change much in my pitch since I keep getting good feedback, I keep assuming that my pitch is good as it is and I don't really know how I would change it to make it better. So I basically kept it the same.

My Secret Sauce

What makes me different?

• I lived in a different country giving me the ability to be open minded
• I also believe I am empathetic 
• I accept everyone for who they are 
• I can take ideas and see them from different point of views
• I try not to judge

Other people's opinions:

• My best friend from high school, Otton, thinks that I am an accepting person and that I can adapt to other people interests.
• My friend Logan thinks that I am a nice person and that I am always there for everybody, also that I can make almost any situation into a humorous one.
• Kelsey thinks that since I am from Guatemala, I am more mature and that I can understand other people's points of views.
• Jason just thinks that since I am Guatemalan, I am cool.
• Niamh thinks I am a person that will never say no to try to new things and that I love adventuring. 

Reflection:

• People think that I am there for other people and that I am nice and accepting while I never thought about that much when I think about myself. Also I think what I think about myself and what other people think about me are very close together. So I think that I know myself pretty well.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise in this week's reading was that most entrepreneurs use a different of marketing logic, the new marketing requires fundamental rethinking of old rules.

I wasn't really confused about anything in this week's reading which surprises me a little bit.

The 2 questions I would ask the questions would be:
1. Why are most entrepreneurs not carry marketing research?
2. How much are social media startups increasing compared to other startups?

I didn't think the author was wrong about anything in this week's reading.