Half-way Reflection

Tenacity & Paying It Forward

1) Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

I write all due dates down in my planner because I like to see them next to each other rather than vertically in Canvas. I also think it can get confusing differentiating between "share" and "declare" when trying to declare my points. I also try not to procrastinate that much, as videotaping people is hard to do at the last minute. I'll be honest to say too that I learned my lesson about declaring points before fully completing an exercise. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

If we're referring to this class, when I lost points for declaring the said points before fully completing the assignment, my grade went down and entire 8 points and that really hurt me. I can get it back up but it means I can't afford to do that again or forget any assignments. I do feel like I've developed a tenacious attitude since there are so many assignments to keep up with on a weekly basis. I loathe having to ask strangers if I can interview them, but once I get it out of the way early it feels so nice and really takes the pressure off from doing an assignment last minute. 

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

In regard to this class:

Fostering the skills that support tenacity:

1) Don't wait until the last minute.

2) Plan what you are going to say before you ask strangers if you can interview them.

3) Don't try to "pull a fast one" over the professor or TAs because the consequences are brutal (and could've been much worse).

Developing the 'tenacious mindset'

1) Stick to the schedule you make in the first assignment about when you are going to do the assignments. If something comes up, do it as soon as possible.

2) Go to class. Or at least watch lectures online. Discussion time is good for you, especially when you don't understand a concept.

3) Buy the book. I know some people who didn't and have to borrow every time there is a reading assignment. It's worth it and you learn a lot more than you would without it. 

Week 8 Reading Reflection

This reading was all about sources of capital for entrepreneurs- or in other words, where they get their money. Something that wasn't necessarily confusing to me, but rather just a new concept, was the idea of debt vs. equity financing. I obviously know what it means to be in debt, but had never heard the term equity financing. The paragraph later translated into "debt financing," which is where I did end up getting confused. A few other terms I hadn't heard before were social lending and crowdfunding. This chapter was an entirely new concept for me, as I had never really thought about how entrepreneurs (some anyways), become so successful. I found the idea of public offerings vs. private placements interesting as well. Stocks are important in order to make more money, but I disagree with the author of its importance. If I could ask the author two questions, I would ask for an example of a "sophisticated" investor, maybe a celebrity that is well-known that I could relate it back to. I would also ask about more myths to be dispelled about venture capital, as that was a another new term to me. Since so much was new material to me, I found this reading pretty interesting.

The Twenty Percent

For this assignment, I chose to interview the owner of Salty Dog Saloon in midtown. I was not able to record the interview, but instead wrote down his answers.

Shannon: Who do you think your target customers are?
Keith: We have a handful of locals but mostly college students- both UF and Santa Fe.

Shannon: Where do you find your customers? What are their demographics?
Keith: *laughs* Well I don't really find them, they kind of just come to the bar. We get about half-and-half of men and women. Mostly men on our slower nights. The bar is 21 and up, so everyone who comes here is at least of age. Mostly 21-22 as the majority are college students.

Shannon: What kinds of media do your customers consume?
Keith: I'd say probably Snapchat and Instagram are the most popular.

Shannon: What are your customers' problems? How are you fixing their problems?
Keith: A lot of people have this stigma about our prices being too high compared to other bars in midtown, but the liquor is better quality and we serve out of nice glasses. We also don't charge cover so it kind of evens out. Plus we have a decent amount of specials throughout the week.

Shannon: On a scale of 1-10, how big do you think this problem is in your customers' lives?
Keith: I would say it's about a 5. Price of drinks doesn't seem to be as big of an issue as we have a bunch of 'regulars'.

Shannon: Do your customers have a budget allocated to fix this problem?
Keith: As college students they figure it out. Lots love to come drink and have a good time, eat out, etc. They've figured out how to manage their money by now.

Next, I went out and interviewed 3 girls who were willing to be on camera. I sat them down in a group as they were more comfortable with the interview being more of a discussion, rather than one-on-one.

Based off the interview with these girls, I don't think Keith was even thinking about the people who are underage getting into his bar. I guess it's not something the owner thinks about when it's a 21+ venue, however I can see where the girls are coming from as their options of going out are limited in midtown. In reality, this is a college town, and people like to go out. Something I noticed is that Keith said they had a decent amount of specials but Erica said otherwise, so that didn't add up. I think price in general is definitely an issue, so Keith was on point with that notion. I think the thing I took away the most was the difference of relating to college students who are not of age.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

Something that stood out to me in this reading is the though that non-demographic segmentations have become "just as unenlightening" as as normal demographic segmentation. This also slightly confuses me, because I feel as though it contradicts the article. I understand that non-demographic segmentation is the classification of consumers based on criteria other than age, residence, and income. However, I would like to know more about what falls under the "etc." of that statement. I completely agree with the author that marketing studies based on generic demographics are no longer sustainable, what with the rise of different types of genders, sexuality, where people live, population density, and so on. I would like to ask the author to go further into buying patterns- what exactly are they, and why are they the way they are? How exactly does it tie back into non-demographic segmentation and psychographics

Free Money

In doing this assignment, I knew I was going home for the weekend, so I decided to give the money away in Jacksonville Beach. Jax Beach is a very chill, surfer area- people are constantly walking and biking around. They're also pretty friendly for the most part, so here are my predictions/ course of action:

I will walk around in my neighborhood and stop people who are either going somewhere or talking on the phone (just like the directions say). I plan on approaching people who are by themselves. Many people bike or walk around in groups in Jax Beach, and I think less people would be less intimidating. My plan for giving away the dollar is to ask these people, who are in a rush, and ask them to "pay it forward". Hopefully with this method, I will be able to give all five dollars away.

Here are my results:

The other takes were absolutely cringe-worthy for me to watch- these 2 our of the 5 weren't that bad. It wasn't hard to give away the money, as "pay it forward" is something of good intentions. I was right that everyone would want to pay it forward (or at least they said they would), however they were all either unsure (of my intentions, probably) or very uncomfortable. I don't think it helped that I was videotaping their reactions, either. Since I went home this weekend, I didn't have a friend available to videotape for me, so I had no choice other than to hold the phone- I tried making it look like I was just holding it in my hand, but I'm not sure it worked. No one asked me what this was for, so it was hard to keep a conversation going, not to mention the overall uncomfortable atmosphere- I just wanted to run away each time ha ha. Overall, this assignment was extremely uncomfortable for both parties, especially myself :)

Elevator Pitch No. 2

The feedback I received from my first elevator pitch was all positive. Each person who commented thought a food truck would be very beneficial in midtown- close to campus where foot traffic is heavy. Each person who commented would eat at my food truck because it is a healthy and cheap alternative. Since everyone was so positive, there wasn't any feedback I found outrageous or silly- it was very encouraging. I haven't made any changes really, but just furthered what types of food I would be serving to my customers.

Check it out!

Interviewing Customers No. 3

For those of you new to my blog, my idea is called the Variety Van. It is a food truck I want to locate behind midtown for late night snacking with different choices where the food changes on a weekly basis, it is healthy, and cost effective. In this week's round of interviews, I asked four questions:

When you go out to eat in midtown, where do you go and what do you like about the food there?
Is this during normal hours of the day, or more late-night snacking?
Speaking of snacking, what are some of your favorite types of snacks?
What are some of your favorite types of food in general?

This week, I lumped the interviews together as people were more comfortable being interviewed in groups.

As I found in my second round of interviews, one of the most popular food choices was Mexican. People also like to eat carbs when they've been drinking out at the bars- such as pizza or pasta. Asian cuisine is also popular. At this point, I've narrowed down the time frame from 10pm to 4am. I don't think the food truck will benefit as much during the day. Also during this time, I don't see my idea advancing any further, aside from the different types of food I will implement. Something I did change in my interviews this week was asking about snacks people like. I got a lot of fruit (which goes along with my healthy factor) along with popcorn, pretzels, and chips. I am now leaning towards a gluten free option. (I just realized by writing that sentence my idea just advanced a little more- so maybe there is room for more change).

Week 6 Reading Reflection

In this reading, I was interested in that fast-growing industries are not always "attractive", or profitable. Customers are the powerful ones. What was confusing though was the idea that neckties and power tools are considered substitutes sometimes. Just because an industry is fast-growing does not guarantee a profit. If I could ask the author two questions, it would be to elaborate on the competitive force and what other industries have been affected by the internet/ technology? I normally don't disagree with the authors on these readings, and I didn't really on this one either- one of my shorter findings. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

Hey guys! I'm Shannon and I'm a telecommunications major with a concentration in business. My idea that I have come up with is a food truck behind midtown, with health benefits, low prices, and lots of options! When I graduate, I want to work in the TV industry, so as of now this idea is just for fun. I don't have any skills/ experiences related to the food industry other than the fact that I am a waitress at Salty Dog in midtown. However, I am SUCH a foodie- I know good food like no other. That's why I thought this idea represented me as a person.

My demographic for my food truck is definitely college students. After some interviews, I think most students go to eat at midtown during the later hours of the night- such as coming home from the bars or maybe a late night study snack coming home from the library. In a sense, this is my psychographic.

I think students will care because who doesn't live cheap and healthy food? A lot of college students are hungry when drunk, and variety would be a nice change to midtown aside from the standard late night places, such as Pita Pit, Relish, Jimmy Johns, and Flacos. The variety aspect- the food changing on a weekly basis- will for sure be what sets my business apart, along with the low cost and healthy options.

I think my idea is pretty solid. Most people who have given me feedback have loved the idea. Some aren't in the college town area, or even knew what a food truck is, but still thought I had potential here. I may sound braggy, but I honestly don't think any of my ideas are out-of-joint for the most part.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

In this week's reading, the author discussed the legal challenges for entrepreneurial ventures. Something that stood out to me was the idea of tax considerations. It is also what I found confusing. I think taxes are confusing to many people- where does the money come from? How is it collected? Essentially, what really is a tax? It's just something no one has ever thoroughly explained to me. If I could ask the author two questions, I would ask him or her to go into depth about securing a patent, and to further discuss the difference between a parody or trademark infringement. More examples would be helpful. I don't think anything the author wrote was wrong- just broad.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

In my second round of interviews, I kept my demographic the same- split almost in half between men and women who go to the University of Florida. Since I live near Norman Library, a popular housing spot, it was easy to just stop students on the street. I got my last interview at Pascal's Coffee House. The only thing I really did differently was tweak my questions to get a better consensus of how often college students eat out, what they like, how much they are willing to spend, etc. I asked the following questions:

How often do you eat out?

How often do you eat out at midtown?

Is it normally late night or normal times of the day when you eat out at midtown?

What are some of your favorite types of food?

How much money are you willing to spend when you eat out? 

Side note: Matt wanted me to say that when he said he likes "good food" he meant good for you, or healthy. 

In interviewing these individuals, I concluded that most of the time when college students eat out at midtown, it is late night eating. This can be from going out to the bars and drinking, or just because they are up late. This helps me fine tune my opportunity and idea of a food truck in midtown- that it should be open in the later evening hours, maybe from 10pm-4am. I am still sticking with my ideas that there will be much variety. When asked about favorite foods, Asian, American, and Mexican were popular choices among these students. I like these ideas to factor into my "variety" aspect. Since most of them weren't willing to spend more than $10 when eating out, this just furthers my idea of cheap food. 

Elevator Pitch No. 1

When first exploring opportunities, I immediately thought of a healthier lifestyle and what not with the start of the new year. I thought about how many college students are on a budget, and healthy food can be expensive. I also thought about the lack of healthy choices when deciding to eat out, so I came up with the idea of a cheaper, healthier alternative restaurant-based place in midtown, as it is a popular area for UF students.

Something that has been growing in popularity very recently is that of food trucks. There are food truck rallies in Gainesville at least once a month- so I thought that would be a special addition to midtown since I personally am getting sick of some of the places to eat there. I thought, "okay, healthy and cheap, but what makes it even more unique?" That's when I thought of the ice cream parlor D'Lites. D'Lites changes its ice cream flavors everyday, and it's not bad for you! I thought the food truck could do the same on either a daily or weekly basis- that way students never get sick of the food.

So now, I present to you: The Variety Van