Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity. 

The opportunity is that college students love traveling and exploring, its the time in our lives where we have the freedom and time to travel but have no money what so ever to afford any of it. So we spend most of our college life in a small college town going home once a month maybe but never venturing any further. If trips were more affordable or even had options to work off the price of the trip, many more students would have the opportunity to travel and see the world. 

I know that if students were to try this once they would love it because having the freedom to travel with friends and explore new places and cities are memories that stick forever. There are many different options of travel today but none are college-budget friendly. No other service out there in my opinion meets this need. The window of opportunity will be open for as long as no one starts a company like this and starts providing students with trips they want and can afford. 

Innovation. 

The basic idea is to create trips in huge numbers for students. Students don't care about the business class flight or the 5 stare resort hotel as much so it is much easier to accommodate cheaper lodging and transportation. Like buying anything in bulk it always comes cheaper and I believe that if large enough groups were to be organized students could be able to get really cheap prices to go to amazing domestic places here in the US as well as to other countries internationally. This idea isn't really about money more about the experience about the traveling opportunity itself, but a way to make money would be commission. For x amount of trips after all expenses are paid for a would make a profit off of each trip. 

Venture Concept. 

As i've said before there isn't anything quite like this available. There are traveling agencies and different event groups in the city but there isn't anything that offers this to students here in Gainesville. Organizations like Trip provide students with hiking and diving expeditions which in my opinion are insanely over priced and don't appeal to students because of the fact that they are very structured and also allow staff and faculty to apply for them as well. 
This idea is different because its not only hiking expeditions, there would be many different options for students like traveling to different cities choosing which excursions they want to go to and which ones they don't and most importantly not having to pay for the once they don't want to go on. Providing these options will mean that everyone will have a unique and different experience in these cities, some might visit the museum or the beach or maybe are there for the gastro tourism. 
Business would be organized very simply, students can vote on where they would like to go next and then from those votes, events would be planed, lodging and transportation arranged and excursions organized for those who want them. There would have to be a lot of planing and checking with venues about housing and transpiration but I believe that after a few trips that with a good team it could be done very effectively. 

The three minor elements

The most important resource would be I believe the student body, of UF but also other participating universities. Students are what would make this work, if they like it they will invite friends and continue to come but if they don't then it just wont happen. The next venture would be to figure out working opportunities for students who want to travel like this. Many really can not afford even the cheap prices, so finding small jobs that they could do for a week or two to pay off the trip would be a really cool way to get this going as well but this would have to be much further down the road. 
In five years it would be really cool to have an organization established with many trips offered all year around to students from all different universities across the world. It would be amazing to give students the opportunity to see the world. 

Week 11 Reading Reflection

Innovation creates new jobs, opportunities and further innovations. We need innovation in our everyday lives it makes our life easier. This article is about just that.

You need an innovation strategy is about innovators or just normal people who find innovations for things that are not an issue but a nuisance in our lives. They find simple ways to make our life that much easier. 

Amazon Whisperer

By this point in the class, you have a good idea of what your business concept is. The question one might ask now is, "What's next?" What's going to be that next new product or service you offer? Or what's going to be the new market you try to capture?

The story of the Amazon Whisperers provide a great example of how a company is able to find new opportunities, and in this exercise, you'll follow their lead to discover your own next 'opportunity.' 

Here's what you need to do: 

• Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 
• The ways to make money in this firm would be to earn a percentage off of every student that booked with us. 
• What's the next thing your customers want?
• Smaller excursions? 
• 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.?
• It will provide people who do not have the time to take a long trip to take a weekend trip or a day trip with us. 
• 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.
• This is a service 

Since my idea was a service and not a product not many of these apply to me. 

My Unfair Advantage

1. University of Florida Student Body - Human Capital - college students love travel and their support is crucial in making this happen, good thing that all of the feedback has been positive and most students would love to be a part of something like this. 
2. Social Capital - Talking to many people about my idea i have raised the social capital needed. 
3. No need for financial capital - the idea is fairly easy to do because there is not need for start up capital. 
4. Support from the UF student body - so far the support has been great and all of the feedback has been positive.
5. UF Resources - UF provides many resources for students everything form printing to 3D printing. 
6. Target audience is in a concentrated area - The target audience is students ages 18 to 25 which is the population of students here at the university, most of which live within a mile radius of campus. 
7. Innovation Academy Support - Innovation Academy is a huge supporter of all of the different innovation initiatives that students are doing and if willing to help and support many of them. 
8. Social Media - Is the perfect way advertise events, get support and get the word out.
9. Heavener School of Business - Advisors are always available to help students out with developing certain parts of their idea to helping put it into action. 
10. Innovation Square - Provides all of the resources that one would need to start a business like this one. They have everything from office space to wifi and phone lines. 

Most of the resources named are things most companies would have to work very hard to get but it would be very easy for a firm like this because everything invested into the company would be used right away. 

Week 10 Reading Reflection

Week 10: Kuratko Ch. 11 (Financial Preparation for Entrepreneurial Ventures)

I was not aware of the number of different things firms muck keep track financially. It's very interesting but also very confusing at the same time. It all seems so daunting to have to keep track of every small expense for a small organization let alone a larger one like Apple or Dell. I've heard of income statements and balance sheets but never really bothered to look any further into what they consisted of. 

I was confused by the casf-flow statement because everything goes under that. All financial things are either pluses or minuses so why are they not on one statement. 
My question to the author would be why there are so many different ratios. They can be so easily manipulated by the company, they can show which ever one shows them in the light they want to be portrayed in. Although not a single one ratio can show how the firm is doing but there should all be used together. 

Growing My Social Capital

1) Domain expert in your industry. 

University of Florida TRiPs program offers trips to UF faculty, students and staff. Most trips are hiking, rock climbing or other venture in the outdoors. Not many people know about this program at UF and most of the trips are on very small scales 20-30 people maximum, also to me the trips seem very over priced. A hiking trip through the Yellowstone national park for two days is 600+ dollars not including any equipment or the ticket to get out to Ohio. I was not able to talk to anyone from this program mostly because i was referee back and forth. 

2) Expert on your market. 

I talked to Ana Rivas who works at Outdoor Pursuit at Florida State University. Outdoor Pursuit is essentially the FSU version of TRiPs here at UF. It's university led program that creates small group trips to different locations in and around Florida. Their target audience is FSU students, staff members and faculty. 
I know Ana through a friend who goes to FSU and got in touch this way. She was very nice about all of the questions I had and loved my idea.
I will definitely keep in touch with her and let her know how my idea further develops. 

3) Supplier to your industry. 

I was hopping to talk to someone from StudentUniverse because they are focused on the same target audience as I am, and they would be the perfect contact for this but unfortunately no one was able to get back to me in time for this assignment. I've personally had a lot of experience with StudentUniverse and what they are focused on is providing the cheapest tickets and hotels possible for students. It would be great to maybe be able to partner with them and since my business idea requires large numbers of tickets they could be even cheaper. 
Another option would be to see how they get their tickets, and maybe go directly through the airline companies instead of them.

Finally: Reflect. 

This experience helped me somewhat see who i would be up against. Even though some were helpful and others weren't so helpful, everyone would eventually be a competitor to my idea. It's very daunting to think that my idea could be competing against these already long standing established programs and companies. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1) The pitch. 

The business idea I have is for a company called Roam, the goal of Roam is to create affordable and adventurous trips, tailored to the student body here at the University of Florida. We are focused on providing getaways that meet the low budget of any student, while also ensuring high quality programs and excursions. Although we plan to offer these trips to all universities in the US, to begin with it would be limited only to UF. Essentially, we will organize bulk trips for students from universities across the country to different destinations around the United States as well as the rest of the world. Booking on a large scale will give students the low prices they are looking for, while also allowing them to experience new cultures, see new cities and form new friendships. 

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. 

The feedback i got was very supportive. Everyone loves the idea, the only advice i got was about the video itself about moving around more and being more dynamic.

"Highlight what makes you different from other companies that are similar. This idea could help make many students lives much easier when looking for trips to take. I wish I would of had this available to help me plan my spring break trip this year because it is very tough to figure out where to go, the best prices, and a solid group of people to go with."
"I would definitely want to sign up for this idea if it ever comes to fruition. I think its a good idea for people our age to go explore the world and be a bit humbled."
" I think this is a very good idea and something I would participate in. There are a lot of things like it already but I think your specific idea is unique."

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?
I didn't change much of the pitch itself, i mainly focused on the way i spoke and the dynamics of it.

My Secret Sauce

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. 

• I speak Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian fluently 
• Photography Skills 
• Good under pressure 
• Creative mind 
• Open minded 

2) Interview the five people who know you the best.

I have known Jake for only two semesters and we have become really good friends in a short period of time. He's very genuine in everything he does and I was surprised by how highly he thought of me. It was really nice to hear all of it. 

Ehimy has been my best friend since elementary school, we've stuck together through some really tough times and she knows me very well. I love that she looks up to me even thought she sometimes has everything together more then I do.

  Minaa is my roommate and very good friend, she puts up with me on daily basses and i think she has a really good idea of who I am and what makes me unique. 

I've known Jean all through high school and we've been through some tough time together but even after it all we have still remained friends, and I think he has seen me grow a lot. 

 Admir is like my other half, I've known him for three and a half years but he knows more about me then anyone else and he's always there for me no matter what. I think he is the most qualified to explain me.

3) Reflect on the differences. 
I was not aware of how much my friends come to me for advice, and look up to me for certain thing. I know I'm usually the more mature one but I wasn't aware that they looked up to me. I also wasn't aware that I was such a good cook and that I leave such a strong impression on people, as well as my leadership skills being so good. All in all my friends sort of help me visualise how they see me, and how I sometimes can overlook certain things about myself that they notice. 

Week 9 Reading Reflection

I was not aware of how large of a section social media marketing was. But the more i thought about it the more clear it became to me. Post are on Facebook, Intagram, Snapchat and even Pandora. Firms can buy and get sponsored adds on all of these platforms. The reason I don't see too many of them is because if the AdBlocker on my computer, so I completely forget about them existing. 

I was not aware of the different sections within social media marketing either. Social media websites have so much demographic information that it's easy for them to target certain age group, sexes and people with certain likes, needs and preferences. Advertising is made a hundred times easier by this because companies no longer have to pay enormous amounts of money for TV adds which might or might now reach their audience. They can post an add on Facebook which they know will definitely be viewed by their target costumers. Not only this but they can get instantaneous feedback. 

Why is mobile marketing it's own special category? Ads that pop up on your phone and computer are the same thing, and the line between computer and phone is getting so blurred together that this category is becoming inadequate and purposeless. This is the only thing i disagree with the author on. 

Week 9: Kuratko Ch. 10 (Marketing Challenges for Entrepreneurial Ventures)

Idea Napkin No. 2

Second Shot at Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. 

I'm a University of Florida Business Management major with a minor in Innovation. One of my talents is photography, which i believe would help me with the marketing aspect of this business idea. My hope for this business idea is for it to actually be used for it to happen, for someone even if it's not me to start a travel agency for students alone, because it will prove to be a great way for students to relive stress from college and as well as get out there and explore and meet each other. 

2) What are you offering to customers? 

Providing cheap trips on large scales for students from different universities would allow students to only only make life changing friendships but see cities and countries that they maybe would have never gotten the chance to see. College is the time to travel because we'll most likely not get the chance to after because we'll start working, families and forever be too busy to see the world, so we need to use this opportunity to the maximum. 

3) Who are you offering it to? 

This is for college students only, okay not only college students but the age group of college students, people ages 18 to 25. Student's that don't care too much about long bus rides as long as they are with friends and having a good time. 

4) Why do they care? 

We won't get the chance ever again later to travel, college is the perfect time of our lives to travel and see the world. After college were not going to have the time to travel as much as we would want to because we'll be working on our careers and families so this would be the perfect time to travel. 

5) What are your core competencies? 

What sets this apart from the rest of travel agencies is that this is for students only. It's large scale trips for students only from universities from across the country that are the cheapest way for students to travel. 

I think this is a great idea it might be somewhat hard to pull of because if the planning and organization it would take to plan this all out and keep track of a large enough group of people to get these cheap prices. But also accommodating everyone's needs and the free time they have during the semester.

All of the feedback I received was very positive about this business idea, there wasn't any negative feedback because I believe students would really like to see this happen one day and not only on the UF campus but all over the US and maybe even worldwide. Students would get the opportunity to travel and see other parts of the world for much cheaper then they would have ever before.