Amazon Whisperer

So the article was pretty interesting I have to admit.  Now for this exercise, my business is not product based but it is service based.  For those of you who have not seen my blog before,  my concept is a Dog Cafe in Gainesville that will give people, primarily students, a nice place to hang out and de-stress while playing along with some loving dogs.

Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 
I think the revenue drivers of my business concept are the dogs themselves, the unique menu offered, and the motif that is consistent throughout the business from the interior design to the presentation of the food/drinks.

Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?
I am not entirely sure, to be honest, what customers might want next.  Maybe offer coupon cards for free menu items of discounted items when they are frequent customers.  Maybe sell dog treats (store bought or maybe organic in house treats) that they can purchase to feed the dogs to get more aqcuainted with them or maybe take home to their dogs.  Maybe slowly offer a FEW goods they might find a pet store.  Like I said, I am not sure what customers would want next, but these are some ideas (if you have any suggestions let me know).

Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.? 
Coupon books/cards increases loyalty of customers and gives them more incentive to come back to the cafe.  As for the dog treats I think that it might make the customer experience more fun because if some dogs are not as social, giving them treats may give the dog a chance to get more comfy and playful. What dog doesn't like treats?! and it would be fun for the customers to play with them.

Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.
I decided to go with the organic dog treats, in this case they are "Fruitables Crunchy Dog Treats" (keep in mind that customers would not pay the list price of a whole pack, they would pay around $2 for a small pack to feed the dogs ).  They come in 4 different flavors shown in the screen shot below.

What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?
LIKE:  Customers say their dogs love the snacks, they even say they love the product because they smell good (no dog smell to it; one customer says the smell like "people" cookies), great ingredients, convenient size of snack
DON'T LIKE: they tend to crumble easily (can make a bit of a mess), one customer mentioned that if left out in the open worms and moths can grow on it.

Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 
well its not my specialty, but if I were to make organic treats for the cafe probably use organic ingredients that seem more resistant to bugs and try to make them in a way where their consistency would make less of a mess without being rock solid.

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.
Giving customers a product that will help them interact better with the dogs at the cafe is essential.  At the dogs cafes in Asia, they charge you $1-2 dollars for a small pack and dogs that may not be so social immediately can feel more comfortable and social around you, making your experience much better.

Now, some of you may have service-based businesses or B2B businesses; for you, finding a consumer product that compliments your existing services or products may be a challenge. If this applies to you, simply complete the exercise, but do not worry about trying to align the new product with your existing business. If you can align the new product with your existing business, so much the better!
Well even though my business is a Dog Cafe (service), at least I tried my best to fit this with the assignment.

Let me know what you guys think or if you have any better suggestions than what I did! :)

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
Not that it was a big surprise but that I thought it was interesting was the section that explained about the four different types of innovations: routine, radical, disruptive, and architectural.  I didn't know there was something so systematic like that to help with choosing an innovation strategy.  I think having them categorizes makes it simpler for businesses to see what works for them.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
There was no real part of the reading that was confusing to me, it all seemed very well explained. I guess I would say the labels for each of the types of 4 innovations; to me the names that were given don't exactly explain what each of them does correctly.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
You mention in the article twice, that two of the companies you used in the article you used to be a consultant for but that the information provided was not your opinion but from outside resources.  Does your personal opinion from working with them differ than the info from the sources? What would you have liked to have added (opinion wise), in terms of their innovation strategies?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I did not see anything that I thought the author was wrong about. It was a pretty interesting article :)

My Unfair Advantage

To understand my post go to my idea napkin 2 post And look over it so What I explain Makes more sense. http://lovetravellives.blogspot.com/2016/03/idea-napkin-no-2.html

Generate a list of all of the resources in your venture (produce a list of at least 10 resources that you already possess). This can include your human capital, social capital, financial capital, and capabilities. You may also discuss the organizational culture you intend to create (but, obviously, it's not a resource that you have, now.) 

1. My first resource is that I have several people in my network that are or have been entrepreneurs. 4 of my family members , including my dad, and several family friends have had their own businesses so they are useful assets

2. My Business Culture. so even though it is not existent yet, my emphasis is to make it a Family environment , especially among employees. Possibly have company retreat or group building exercises; I want to be efficient but I also want to be Someone my employees Can confide in. That Will be reflected in the customer service provided.

3. I have excellent networking skills. A lot of the jobs I have had and Current leadership positions have all been attained through networking. I have Volunteered with the Alachua humane society , SO if I Volunteered more and go to Know the people in charge, I can establish a Connection For having the dogs at the Cafe.

4. I am a person who is very selfless and I love being able to help Others, which makes Me a sincere person. This Will help me With investors who want to do good and for the animal shelters who want the best for their animals. that way eventually the dogs at the care will hopefully become One of my unfair advantages

5. Aside from entrepreneurs I personally Know, the business I plan to design is new to the United States, but it is completely common in Korea. I Spent 4 months in Korea And I Observed their business model, and even talked to some owners. So I've Seen what is needed to succeed.

6. I have experience in digital marketing. Making videos, flyers, social media posts and events, emails, Etc. This is extremely beneficial for promotion of my business, especially for my target audience.

7.I have connections in other countries. I have friends all around the world in business Who I can Contact to help me see if what My business needs in terms of goods is Cheaper to access than in the US or if it is belter quality; Some friends in Colombia can put me in Contact With coffee distributors For quality coffee.

8.Something that I Consider to be a very useful resource is that I Am a current college student so that makes my business more relatable to Other Students ( my target market) and can help me develop and improve the business in the future. Being younger also gives businesses a fresh perspective.

9. My dedication and perseverance are Key. Once I start something I need to see it through until the end, no matter what , Which will be useful because Start ups are no easy task And people Can lose Confidence and give up.

10. Although I do not have much, I have already started saving money for a Startup which is beneficial in the long run. Its a Startin the right direction.

Conduct a "VRIN" analysis for each resource. That is, describe, for each resource, how it is valuable, rare, inimitable (how hard it is to copy by others), and non-substitutable (are there other resources that can provide the same benefits?). 

1. So I think . this is extremely valuable, rare, not easily Copied, and cannot be substituted. I think this is an attribute that needs to come naturally from a person or needs to be developed because having a network of Self Starters is a great aid.

2. Very Valuable, not rare, Can be copied, no substitutes. Lots of businesses are family oriented just in different ways

3. very valuable, Somewhat rare depending on the personality Of a person, hard to copybecause It has to come naturally, and no substitutes. Networking is a Skill that can make or break you.

4. very Valuable, Somewhat rare, cannot be copied because it comes naturally, NO substitutes.

5. very valuable, not rare Because anyone can do it, can be easily copied, not much substitute to observing an existing business Other than having research on it but not as useful.

6. Very Valuable, not rare AT ALL ) can be Copied, one substitute Could be Word Of mouth and press Coverage of business ( Maybe?)

7. Extremely Valuable, rare for Startups, can't be copied, no substitutes. Connections are crucial around the world in a global economy.

8. Valuable, Somewhat rare, can be Copied since there are several young entrepreneurs , no substitutes really.

9. Essential (very valuable) ,rare in some types of people, cannot be Copied, no substitutes.

10. Valuable in the future, not rare ,can be copied, sutstitutes Would be loans or Other forms of borrowing money.

After conducting the VRIN analysis, determine what your top resource is. Explain why it's more important to your venture than all of the other resources.

My top resources are my network Of fellow entrepreneurs. It's like When doing a research paper; you can look up secondary data, but primary data right from the Source Will give you the last results. Entrepreneurs Know what to do and can advise me from their previous experiences. It's like having a Sort of hint Sheet to not Make the Same Mistakes they did. Who Knows, they may even have Connections that they can introduce you to.

thanks for reading and let Me Know if you agree or disagree!

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
It wasn't really a surprise but it was nice to read since it gave useful tips on how to get paid what you deserve and not becoming a pushover in your startup.  The tips given seem to be really help and can prevent startups from losing a lot of their receivables.  Anytime the textbook mentions real life tips or practical applications, those are the things that stick out most to me.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
Nothing was inherently confusing; a large majority of it seemed to be a review of what I had covered at the beginning of both my accounting classes.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
You mentioned how some startups and small ventures handle situations when the national currency loses value, but what would YOU PERSONALLY suggest to those startups? and Why? Do you think when this occurs, are they at more of a advantage or disadvantage? I want to hear what the author personally thinks on the matter rather than just spitting out facts.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I did not see anything I thought was wrong, like I previously mentioned, a lot of the material I had already seen in both my accounting classes and there were even a few topics from my business statistics class.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

Hey guys so this is my third elevator pitch, check it out! (sorry for the awk thumbnail of my face hahaha xD)

So unfortunately ( or not, depending on how you see it) I did not change much from my second pitch because a lot of the students' feedback was positive in the way I had edited it from the first pitch.  A lot  of the comments mentioned  how they loved the concept or they have had to leave pets behind, so they reinforced my pitch idea.  So since none of them really gave any constructive criticism, I tried finding errors on my own.  So the edits I made were that I tried to cut out some unnecessary words/details; basically cut out some fluff that was time consuming.  I also put on my suit because I thought it would give me a more professional look and it did give me more confidence while giving the pitch.  I also tried to be more dynamic with my hand gestures, facial expressions, and emotions instead of sounding like a robot.

Let me know what you guys think and if you have any feedback (good or bad), I am all ears!!!

My Secret Sauce

So as for my human capital here are the 5 things that I think make me different:

1. Diplomatic personality.  I am a person who absolutely hates conflict and if there is a more rational way to solve an issue, then I will figure it out.  That is why I am able to get along with almost everyone and why I have such a diverse network of people.  Usually in my group of friends or family, I am the voice of reason that settles any argument, to the point they make jokes about me being a Buddhist monk in my past life hahaha.

2. Open-minded traveler. So lots of people can say they are open minded, but I have never met anyone as open-minded as myself.  I have had the blessing to travel all around the and immerse myself in the cultures.  There is a saying that a tourist sees what they want to see and a traveler sees the world for what it is.  My philosophy to traveling is to become like the locals and live like they do.  I've gone through Buddhist rituals, Muslim rituals, eaten zebra, etc... I mention those things because there are things that most people would not be open to because of their own beliefs. My mentality is that by my participation in differing beliefs doesn't mean I am disrespecting mine, rather I am learning to appreciate others' beliefs and gain a sense of knowledge.  That is why I am a very adaptable and easy going person.

3. Selfless.  Basically all my loved ones and those in need come before me.  I tend to go out of my way to help others in whatever way I can, and sometimes I am perceived as a pushover.  I never expect anything out of return, I do it purely for the other person.  I am a firm believer that whatever you do will come back to you in due time.  Sure sometimes I am taken advantage of, but it doesn't matter because at least I know I did the right thing and I learned from the situation.

4. Love to be challenged.  I am a very competitive person, especially with myself.  I'm not someone who likes to be idle for very long and I love to challenge myself in new things that I had never tried.  I always think that no matter how well I do, there will always be room for improvement and growth. Whether in school or in life, I am usually the one who embraces a challenge because the satisfaction of overcoming it is a lot greater than my fear of it.

5. I am an onion.  The longer you get to know me, the more layers of my personality you get to see.  Also depending on the people I hang out with, depends on what layers they get to see.  Some say that sounds like I am a hypocrite with my friends, but I don't think so; I am not lying to one group and not the other, its just that one group of friends has been able to peel off more of my layers than another. It all depends on your trust and comfort level with people.


So next I interview the 5 closest people to me: My mom and dad, my aunt, my best friend of 7 years, and my other best friend of 10 years.
*Some of them are in Spanish, but I included subtitles
*some of them I had to nudge to get a more detailed response
*sorry for my mother's long winded answer....she likes to brag....just like any other mom lol

MAKE SURE TO VIEW FULL SCREEN IN CASE SUBTITLES ARE TOO SMALL

I think compared to what my interviewers said, I can see that the diplomatic personality is something we said the same.  Also the fact that I embrace challenge is true.  I found it interesting how they mention spontaneity which I never really thought of.  They also mentioned I have a fighting spirit which I thought was interesting.  There is a difference in what they assessed for sure because like I said I am an onion, so there are only certain thing I allow some people to see of me.  I think others comments on you is what you are able to show them, it is way they can see and perceive from you, while you are able to assess the things about yourself they can't see.  I wouldn't make any corrections to my list but rather, take their comments and mine and make a new revamped list!

Thanks guys and make sure to comment down below!

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
The biggest surprise to me was not so much from the concepts in the chapter, but rather the real world examples. For example, the case of the 2008 Olympics in China and the whole PR disaster it caused them. I remember the Olympic events but I actually don't remember all the chaos and I definitely don't remember all other nations protesting as well.  The fact that not only were the Chinese and Tibetan people were protesting, but also other citizens of other nations were also protesting and disrupting the torch relay show that power of people when they unite for a common cause.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
this part wasn't necessarily confusing it was just new to me.  I'd gone over pricing strategy briefly but I didn't know that each stage of the product life cycle there are different strategies and each with different names like skimming and penetration.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
In your opinion, what percentage of successful entrepreneurship is marketing? In the reading guerrilla marketing is show to have some advantages, but do you think it can also have disadvantages? everything has pros and cons.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I didn't see anything that I disagreed with during the reading.  As a marketing major, a lot of the topics covered are ones that I have already gone over.

Idea Napkin No. 2

Hey everyone! So this is round two of my Idea Napkin, hopefully you guys like the adjustments.

1.  *** This is directly from my first post since I haven't changed and my mentality has been the same for a long time haha ***
My name is Camila. I am a third year marketing student here at UF.  I could talk about my marketing skills, networking skills, etc, but you can just look at my resume for that. Aside from marketing, I am someone who loves to travels the world and experience new things.  I love helping people and animals most of all.  You can say I have weakness for those who need help. While I have traveled, I have always come across people and animals in need, and I think nothing fulfills me more than knowing I was somehow able to help them or at least make them feel better, no matter how small or big the situation.  As for aspirations, I hope that whatever I end up doing in the future will have a positive impact on other lives (human or animal), no matter how small that impact may be.  In terms of the concept I have for my dog cafe, my reason for it was to not only help college students in alleviating their everyday pressures but also help shelter animals receive more affection and possibly find their forever homes.  If this concept does come to life, I think it will play a huge role in my life, because I am a firm believer that whatever you do in life with love and dedication will impact someone else in a positive way.  (if you want a look at the initial idea before the edits, make sure to check this post! http://lovetravellives.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1.html )

2 & 3.  So the service I am offering is still the same as last time: a dog cafe. So like I had mentioned in my last napkin, lots of students on campus or in college in general suffer from a lot of stress and many of them don't really have an outlet for it.  My interviews confirmed that many students suffered from stress on a daily basis.  Studies have shown that dogs have the ability to lower stress levels in people, so I wanted to take advantage of these two topics and combine them into one.  Originally I wanted to give students a new place where they could study and relax in a fun way with dogs.  The comments from my first napkin were very positive on the concept, lots of students love the idea.  Not many gave me criticism so I took some comments from my other posts and students mentioned how making the place somewhere to study wasn't very appealing and could be distracting, so I made the concept more broad; my main focus is having a relaxing place for students to alleviate their pressures and hang out with friends with the company of dogs.  Although my main target audience is for students, anyone in the Gainesville area is more than welcome to come and be possible customers! I bet many UF faculty or even Gainesville employees also have daily stress of their own!  A lot of comments mention of liabilities or health concerns with regards to food.  I have been to very successful dog cafes in Asia, and the key to solve liabilities is just making customers aware of rules and making them visible so there is no confusion or possibly sign something before having access to the dogs (let me know what you think); also security cameras are installed to guarantee the safety of the dogs and customers in case of any liabilities.  As for health the kitchen and food prep areas are closed off and the dogs will not have access to those areas whatsoever.  Also my plan is the make the food like any other cafe, not restaurant style.

4. So why would college students even care? ***In regards to this section, not much has changed.  I decided to use parts of my previous napkin because they are relevant to what is going on now and to give a better idea and the comments on the first just further confirmed the interest I had gotten initially***: From the feedback of interviews, and even on my elevator pitches, many students actually like the idea of having somewhere to play with some furry friends and have it more accessible to them.  Some students mentioned how Gainesville apartments and UF dorms are very strict about having pets, so many students have to leave their furry friends behind at home or don't even get a chance to adopt one even after the first napkin.  I also had students mention how UF does the dogs events but its maybe one time a semester/year, and its inconvenient; they said it would be nice to have somewhere daily and near campus that they can go to have a little retreat from daily stress.  My comments on the info above from my first napkin further confirm the interest in being able to have a place to play with dogs and how some students can't have pets where they live in Gainesville.  Even after the first napkin, I kept receiving positive feedback from students and how they would definitely go to it if it were to open.

5. *** again, this has bits from the first napkin since the feedback I got did not really change the core competencies of my concept**: What sets this cafe apart from others like Panera or Starbucks is the dogs.  Theses dogs will not be pure breeds, but rather we will have dogs from the Alachua Humane society and other shelters.  So what makes us unique is that these animals will have the opportunities to be adopted and find loving homes, and students will have a unique environment to de-stress and have more accessibility to these furry friends that Gainesville seems so determined to keep away.  Something new: not sure if this is also a competency but I thought possibly making our menu more diverse than average cafes, with interesting names related to dogs and even food designs and presentation to resemble dog related objects (dog bone shaped cakes, or plates that look like bowls ahahha).  I think what makes a business stand out is also its presentation of all its aspects, so I thought of this a possibility. Let me know what you think!

At first you would think that all these elements don't quite exactly fit together, but I while in Korea, this type of business was very successful.  I want to be able to introduce this concept here.  The feedback I have gotten is very similar every time: students constantly think highly of the concept but worry about liabilities and health regulations haha.  So those are still parts that need work but I've businesses abroad do this business concept so it is just a matter of learning from them and research for these issues.

Feedback memo:  So since the feedback I recieved on my first napkin wasn't that diverse, I decided to include feedback I have gotten from both my elevator pitches and the interviews I have done.  The five main points from my feedback:

1. Don't emphasize it as a study area, because it is not appealing and can be seen as distracting.  Just focus on making a relaxing place.
2.Look into possible liabilites: dogs that may be dangerous, what if a person gets hurt, what if a dog gets hurt, etc.
3. Look into health code regulations and violations; make sure to see what restrictions can affect the business.
4. Students love the concept, especially those who are not allowed to have pets when in Gainesville; definitely creates a greater appeal to the concept.
5. Lots of positive feedback about the animals being shelter animals; helping them find homes has given students a more positive outlook on the business rather than seeing it as a money making machine.

From the feedback, you can see these points incorporated not only into this idea napkin but you can also see it reflected in my second pitch and other material.

Sorry if the post repeated things from the previous, but some of you never saw the first and also the fact the the feedback I have received has not altered the original concept by much, only a few minor tweaks here and there.  If you have any other suggestions to this, by all means let me know! I'm open to new feedback!