Week 8 Reading Reflection

In the reading I am surprised about the banking industry. I am currently attempting to get a summer internship with some of the big name banks like Bank of America or US Bank. Through the interviews I have done I have learned more about the big banks and how they function. I have found that they are trying to create a place where you can complete all of your financial needs. I was originally surprised that the number of banks is dropping but I understand it now because of how banks are becoming. I did not find anything really confusing to me. The two questions I would ask the author would be, should I look for individual investors or should I approach a bank and go through them as investors and secondly, what do you think is the first step to finding investors? As for what the author was wrong about, I didn't feel like he was really wrong about anything.

Half-Way Reflection

The behavior that I have used to keep up with the requirements of this class are keeping a strong work ethic and then also making sure to check the calander each day to make sure I completed every assignment. Because of this I sometimes feel overwhelmed when I see a lot of work to do on one day. This makes me feel like I should just skip all the work and take a zero but I have been able to push through because I go with the mentality to just take on one task at a time. I feel like because of this I have developed a tenacious attitude since I began this class. I think the blog has contributed to this the most. Three tips I would offer are, get work done 2-3 days before it is due, this will allow you to have a lot more free time and break down the assignments if you want to. Secondly, start off strong early, try and get as much work done as you can in one time. Thirdly, have fun with it, make your blog your own and enjoy what you are talking about.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

The biggest thing that made an impact on me in the reading was about how a person's lifestyle may be able to be capture through psycho-graphics but could be weak at understanding what they buy. It is difficult to be able to understand the difference between these two because I would think that a lifestyle would greatly influence your buying preferences. The two questions I would ask the author would be "Do you believe that lifestyle is a determinate of buying preferences?" and "Are customers only segmented into the three types that you mentioned in the reading or can there be a hybrid of the different segments?" I didn't really disagree with anything the author said, I was more just opened up to certain ideas.

Free Money

I walked along University Avenue near my house. I approached people that seemed like they were heading home from some type of event, either a party or a gathering of people. I just introduced myself to them and asked where they were coming from. I wanted to see what they had been up to that night and then ask them if they wanted the dollar. Only one was given away, which was surprising. Out of of all 5 people only one took the dollar which surprised me because I feel like generally would want free money. However, I am not surprised that people do not want free money when they are offered it. I feel like this makes them feel cheap and petty. I think that generally my predictions were wrong because of what I said above but I now understand why they were wrong.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

For my idea, the feedback that I got was generally good. However, the main point people were expressing to me was the actual logistics of this idea. Many people think that it will take a lot of time and effort to put this together, although I agree with this point, I think that at the end of the day, it is not that difficult of service. I think if you create an easy online platform for customers to submit their orders it would be easy to fulfill and deliver these orders. What I changed on my feedback was that I tried to explain that this delivery service would focus on convenience and ease of access. In order to motivate people to use this service they would have to fine it easier than going to the store and getting the products themselves.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

The thing that surprised me the most in the reading was how important competitive advantage is. I felt like in the reading, he explained not only the forces that shape competitive advantage but also how much a necessity it is in any industry. Without it I feel like any company or idea would fail.

Since I have discussed competitive advantage in many other classes of mine I was not confused by the reading. However, I did think that simplifying what shapes competitive advantage into only 5 forces was not right.

I would ask the author if he believes those are only forces that shape competitive advantage or if there are more and he just believes these are the most important. I would also ask him which of the five points is the most important, in the sense that without that one point the entire idea would fail?

Like I said, I think that simplifying the forces into only 5 sections was wrong. This is because I feel like competitive advantage is flowing and constantly changing so it is tough to get a true read on what is more important at any point of time. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

I am a 3rd year Economics major from Jupiter, FL. I like to play basically every sport. If I am inactive I get antsy and bored and have no clue what to do with myself. I am particularly good at talking to people. It is one of my best qualities. I have taken on a lot of positions in my fraternity and have coordinated many different events. I think this business would be great for me to start because it takes string time management and coordinating skills. My idea is to have a grocery delivery service that could deliver groceries while also acting as a food truck for the people using the service. So basically, it would deliver your groceries and you can also have them make you a sandwich or get your meat from an onboard deli when they drop it off. This is targeted at people that cannot make it to the grocery store easily. Specifically, this would be targeted at college students who do have transportation. Most of these college students are lazy, they would do anything to not move and going to the store is always a task for them. If they had this service they would easily pay a few extra dollars to utilize it. What sets me apart from everyone else is that I make sure things get done. I do everything I need to in order to get the job completed. Many people wouldn't have the motivation to make sure this happens but with everything I have ever done I make sure its done, and done correctly.

I think all of these elements fit together. I think the part of my plan that is weak is the food truck part. It would be difficult to double as a food truck and a delivery truck. But, I think maybe a mobile sandwich station within the delivery truck would really convince people to use the service.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Today I am talking about a great opportunity that would benefit students and other people who find it hard to travel. I found the opportunity for the idea of a grocery deliver student. So many people in Gainesville do not own a means of transportation and are left out in the cold to find a means of getting to the store. Then if they do make it to the store they cannot carry everything as you can with a car so they are limited to how much they can buy. My solution is a cheap and reliable grocery delivery service for people who can't travel. The name of my business would be "Reliable Delivery" to show that it is a reliable service.