Your Exit Strategy

·         Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

I plan to stay with this food delivery service as my side business. Mainly, I want to work for international trading company. Since I speak English and Japanese, I think I can make the trade very smooth. I want to keep this food delivery service until I found a way to be successful, and I will sell it to a company who hires students. Then, I want students to run this service as a job or internship or just as an experience. I don’t think I am going to pass it down to my children because I want my children to open their way just by themselves.

·         Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I chose this because I am interested in many things and I want to try new things.

·         How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

By starting business while you are young, definitely it will help you to make connections with other entrepreneurs. People are one of resources and I believe it will help me in the future. Also, I want to do many other things so that’s why I am planning on selling this service in the future for next generation. 

Reading Reflection No.3

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

·         What surprised you the most?

How Apple was founded, Steve's humanity, not a half-hearted feeling for making things, and also the origin of that feeling.

·         What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I was admired by his hard work and the spirit of never giving up. Also, I was admired by people around him. A father who raised Jobs as an adoptive child, Wozniak who was an application founding partner, a male in the IT world, Bill Gates, the existence of many lovers, and people who have encountered Jobs in good or bad in the company, Extremely as an emotional aspect of Jobs, I felt that the future calling party was not always a wonderful calling party or parting, but none of them affected the job's life without any delay.

·         What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

His attitude when he got emotionally.

·         Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Jobs is dismissed and exiled a director from Apple. However, disappointing Jobs create a technology to three-dimensionally express a flat animation image and start a resurgence. He didn’t stop working and his work got admitted and he went back to Apple as a CEO.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

      Super high leadership, ability that is being loved by people, and hardworking.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

      Begging of the book was talking about technology a lot and I am not science major so it was a little difficult.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

      Would you tell yourself to not to drop out from college if you could meet younger yourself?

      I want to ask this because in this society, dropping out from school is not a good thing. I want to know even though he will be successful in the future, would you let yourself to go to college?

     

      Is there anything that you regret about your work?

      His motivation against his job is very high so I was wondering if he is regret of something.

     

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

      “Stay hungry, stay foolish”. Such a good phrase.

Celebrating Failure

1)    Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester and failed each time. 

One thing I tried several times this semester and failed each time was the relationship with my girlfriend. She goes to USF but she was in Japan for all summer. First time we had a trouble was when I decided to live in fraternity house from Fall. She thought there is more chance to meet other girls and she didn’t like it at all. I tried to convince her by telling her like how often I’m going to visit her, whenever we’re free we’ll facetime, and so on. But it didn’t work well and she is still mad about it. Second time she got really mad at me was when I went to road trip to Georgia for my big’s birthday party. There were few girls showed up too (there were 15 boys though) and she didn’t like it. I explained her most of them were somebody’s girlfriend but still she was mad. Last day of road trip, I was drinking too much and after I shotgunned four loco I literally blacked out. I knew I have to call or text her before I go sleep but I couldn’t find my phone and I fell sleep. Next morning, I woke up and of course, she was very angry because she doesn’t know what happened last night. I apologized so many times but she didn’t forgive me. And also there are several times that she got mad at me when I went to parties. Each time I try to convince her that I am not going to cheat and she is the only one I love but it is hard to change her feeling. 

2)    Tell us what you learned from it.  

I learned from this experience, I found that I am not good at long distance relationship and girls will get mad even though boys think they are not doing bad things. In addition, girls have good memories. Every time she got mad, she brings up all mistakes that I made in past years and even stuffs before we start dating. I learned that when girls got very emotionally, it is very hard to control or settle down until I made a promise to take her to expensive restaurants.

3)    Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

Through this class, my perspective on failure has changed. I learned that none of entrepreneurs became successful at their first try. They mad a lot of mistakes and they finally became successful. So now, I am not afraid of making mistakes because it is an important step to the next level.

What's Next?

Existing Market

Step 1

 I think I need to consider how to spread this service to other schools and other states next.

Step 2

 I interviewed three customers who I have previously spoken to this summer in regard to this course.  When I asked them what's next, collectively, they all mentioned that getting the word out there and spreading publicity will be very important. 

Step 3

Based on my own expectations and the feedback I have received from my interviewees, my future seems to be bright if I could fix the price problem. I see my venture as something that will continue to grow throughout time. My customers think there is a lot of ways to advertise and have happy customers write reviews on their experience. Reviews are one of ways to have a good impression.

One interviewee mentioned that making a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account would help the company’s success.  That is something I feel I would be really good at keeping up with.

New Market

Step 1

It was kind of hard to find radically different market because food, my previous market, is relates to everyone. However, what I am currently targeting would be reaching out towards individuals that famous on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. I thought it would be fun to connect companies and those people who are famous on social media.
Step 2

My venture concept would be able to connect companies and famous people (who has more than 10k followers), not celebrities. Companies pay famous people to advertise their products and my company will play an intermediary role. I think it is a win-win situation for company who financially cannot offer celebrities.

Step 3

I interviewed two people from this new market. Two of them actually got offered by a company to advertise their products. They said sometimes they are not sure if the company is reliable or not so my new company will be helpful in safe and trustworthy aspect.

Step 4

What surprised you the most?

I was surprised that many people (especially girls) have been contacted by some companies to promote their products through DM already. Especially small/new apparel companies are checking social media a lot.

Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? 

I was expecting there are companies that play an intermediary role and actually there are companies like that. To make a difference with other companies is to make my company pay system or commission system. Also, ratio of payment.

Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? 

Yes, because social media is a huge market now.

Venture Concept No.1

·         Opportunity:

·         Many college students are eating less healthy compare to days before college.

·         Many college students are wanting to eat healthy.

·         College students do not have enough time to go to grocery store because they have exams, assignments, club activities, social and so on.

·         College students tend to eat fast food or frozen food instead of cooking at home.

·         Innovation:

·         Customer can order food through the app. Very easy.

·         Product comes with ingredients which chosen by nutritionist and recipe so the customer can follow.

·         Partner up with delivery services which are already exist like Uber eat and Bites squad.

·         It is understandable that college students cannot pay too much money. So, there ways to get discount. Such as introducing this service to other friends or apply for this service with roommates.

·         There are menus for vegetarians/vegans too.

·         Venture Concept: 

·         Individuals will buy my product because I have been interviewed many college students and most of them answered they want to eat healthier.

·         Fraternities/Sororities will buy because even though they have chef at their house, their meal plan does not cover Saturday and Sunday.

·         Off-campus apartment will buy because my friends works for off-campus apartments and they can advertise my product.

·         Price points: It is very important because many college students spend money on a lot of stuff but food. There are ways to get discounts. If customers invite their friends to this service, they will get promo code for discount. Also, there are roommates discounts and group discounts too.

·         Distribution: Firstly, I think we should distribute this service to people in Greeklife first. It is because it will be faster to spread the name of this products by mouth and will be great advertisement. After that, we are going to distribute to off-campus houses. We will use social media too.

·         Customer Service: Since the company is built upon care for others friendly, honest, and concerned customer service is vital. My employees will be required to memorize key persuasive statistics in case a buyer is on the fence and be knowledgeable about the underlying cause we are representing.

·         Location: Close to college towns.

·         Packaging:  Careful because I don’t want any juice to be spilled.

·         Employees:  I’m estimating around 10 employees to begin with.

·         Operators for the orders from customers.

·         Nutritionists.

·         Drivers.

·         Workers who will pack all ingredients in one.

.

·         What’s next: I want all college students to know about this service and use it. I want to make money and I want to spread this service to all states.

·         For Me: Hopefully through this service, college students learn how to cook and what healthy food are. And contribute to their child’s health in the future too.

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.       Fundraising Experience: I have worked on fundraising project as a member of fraternity and a member of UF Club baseball.

·         Valuable: this is extremely valuable for the future of each organizations.

·         Rare: this is not rare anybody can do it.

·         Inimitable: this experience able to be imitated, but not 100%.

·         Non-substitutable: I could always hire someone to do it for me, but that would cost me money instead of time.

2.       Uniqueness of the Venture/Lack of Competitors: because there is currently a product that similar but not same so less competitive.

·         Valuable: this is very valuable.

·         Rare: It is kind of rare but similar stuff exist.

·         Inimitable: While my product is new, someone could come and copy this in the future.

·         Non-substitutable: I could definitely try to come up with some other idea that was also unique and it could have the same benefits.

3.       Social Capital: driving experience as Uber.

·         Valuable: Their experiences and words of advice is invaluable and could definitely push the venture forward into public eye.

·         Rare: It is somewhat rare. It is not easy to find a driver in your friends.

·         Inimitable: This can be imitated.

·         Non-substitutable: This can be substituted with other driving experience like taxi driver..

4.       Public Speaking Experience: I won 10^th in the State for public speaking when I was in Japan and so I am comfortable to talk in front of people.

·         Valuable: I think this is valuable because I can use these skills to speak with investors and potential customers.

·         Rare: This is not rare; I could hire a spokesperson.

·         Inimitable: This could be imitated, but not with the passion and drive that I have.

·         Non-substitutable: Nothing substitutes the power of communication.

5.       Personal relationships with fellow entrepreneurs: My father’s friend is an entrepreneur and is always encouraging me to think 4P if I want to start a business.

·         Valuable: having both the voice of experience and motivation from the inside of your closest circle is invaluable.

·         Rare: I could talk to other entrepreneurs, but none of them know me like my dad does.

·         Inimitable: This relationship cannot be imitated, nor the amount of care.

·         Non-substitutable: This could be substituted by another entrepreneurial mentor, perhaps even one who has experience in this field.

6.       Support of Current Organizations: There are many organizations that doing similar things. Definitely we can partner up with Uber eats or Bites Squad or any other food delivery services.

·         Valuable: This is valuable because I can get the support of many organizations who are already know about this industry.

·         Rare: There are lots of organizations that doing similar services, so it is not rare.

·         Inimitable: It is not inimitable because Blue Apron does same stuff but they are just not for college students.

·         Non-substitutable: I could not get the same about of support from any other group of people than from well-known organizations who are willing to help.

7.       Publicity: People know they need to eat healthy and we have been taught very well about nutrition since primary school. Once we started advertising, definitely there is a huge demand for this service. Advertising through social media will be a lot of help.

·         Valuable: Social media is definitely valuable. The more people hear about the product, the better.

·         Rare: It is rare that a new product gets a lot of publicity but I know there is demand.

·         Inimitable: It is inimitable because this service is very rare..

·         Non-substitutable: Probably TV but social media is most effective for college students.

8.       Social Capital: UF Greek Life: Because I am a student of UF, and a member of fraternity so I can contact to other fraternity and sorority.

·         Valuable: This is valuable because the relationships I have with fellow students can help push me forward, especially if those students are the heads of their fraternity/sorority chapter.

·         Rare: This is not rare because virtually any UF student could accomplish the same thing.

·         Inimitable: This is not hard to copy – it is just a matter of being willing to connect with new people.

·         Non-substitutable: Having the connections with fraternities/sororities and their leaders cannot be substituted, since they are the ones who I would try to market to first.

9.       Social Capital: worker at off campus apartments: I am very close friends with several guys who are working for off-campus apartments.

·         Valuable: This is very valuable because they can contact or put advertisement to all the students who is living in the complex.

·         Rare: This is not rare.

·         Inimitable: This could be imitated by anyone with access to these people.

·         Non-substitutable: I could not substitute their knowledge with any other knowledge.

10.   Social Capital: Preview stuff: one of my friends is one of preview stuffs and he meet many incoming freshmen Tuesday and Thursday every week.

·         Valuable: I do believe this is valuable. It will be good advertisement for sure.

·         Rare: It is quite rare for someone doing this job because there is only 30ish preview stuffs.

·         Inimitable: This cannot be copied by other competitors unless they have same friends.

·         Non-substitutable: This is substitutable if you could find somebody who have a chance to meet a lot of freshmen like preview stuffs.

After my VRIN analysis, my top resource was social capital. I think it is because connection between people is very important to start a successful business.

Elevator Pitch No.3

This time, I used my hands more to look professional and tried to be more persuasive.
I recorded this video at my work and I accidentally forgot my white shirts and tie...

Reading Reflection No.2

The Wright Brothers, David McCullough

What was the general theme or argument of the book?

A story that draws the footsteps supported by the brothers' struggle and the love of the family who realized this innovative technology that unleashed humanity from the earth, using materials such as a huge amount of diaries, news articles, letters with the family, and so on.

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

As a matter of fact, their accomplishments have not been done just by brothers. What kind of people cooperated in the test flight. Although they say they do not have many friends, they are not just freaks, but their loyalty to their work attracts many collaborators, and as a result the human power's first power flight was reached. You can tell huge amount of people helped these brothers. In ENT 3003, I’ve learnt other people’s opinions matters. You cannot start a successful business just by yourself. That’s why we have feedback every Monday.

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

Bug list, Idea Napkins, and Figure Out Buyer Behavior for sure.

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 thought they are well-educated and very genius people at first. However, they were actually did not receive engineering education and developed an airplane by themselves. Also, I didn’t know that Wright's success in developing a commercial plane was first recognized in France, not in the United States.