Half-way Reflection

The behaviors I have used to help in overcoming the challenges of this course have concerned time management and over coming anxieties. The course schedule is not one I am used too. The majority of online classes I have taken have had all materials for the week due Sunday at midnight. This was a convenient schedule for me as I work full-time during the week. This classes schedule of course is spread through the week with assignments due at 9:00 p.m instead of midnight. This created problems for me early on as I often don't get home until between 6-7 and sometimes later. The other skill I have improved is overcoming the anxiety associated with being on camera and approaching strangers. I am normally a private person who does not use social media so this is out of my comfort zone.

One moment where I felt like giving up was during the customer interviews. I was only able to complete five but that itself felt like an accomplishment when it was over. Other times have come through the last two months just due to the work load and schedule but I believe I have adapted well and am optimistic about the rest of the semester.

Three tips that I would give to new students next semester would be: Stay focused; Don't procrastinate; and Plan ahead. Staying focused is vital in this course as even a day's inattentiveness can make you fall behind either with new posts or commenting on others. Procrastination is a problem that I know I face and many others do as well and over coming that is needed on this type of schedule. Finally planning ahead is need more in this course than others as an assignment requiring you to interview strangers can't be completed the night before or the day of. For these type of assignments I have needed to begin planning my schedule days in advance to get it done.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was to learn that angle investments make up a larger pool of funds for entrepreneurs, especially those in the process of starting up a firm. According to the text angel investments are five times greater than investments from venture capital firms.

The only part of the reading that I found confusing was the section referring to accredited purchasers. After re-reading the section I have a better understanding as to the requirements to be considered accredited and also the limitations that come without being accredited.

Questions I would ask the author would include what would be the best method in determining the right avenue of financing to take. The chapter outlined several options ranging from commercial banks to informal investors. It seems that the right choice in money source could make or break a business with debt or relinquish to much control in the form of equity.

There was nothing in the reading that I disagree with the author or believe they were wrong about. I learned a great deal in this chapter about financing a business that I did not know before.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

What surprised me the most in this weeks reading was the over all ineffectiveness of traditional market segmentation.  I have always heard of market segmentation being used in the sort of "cut and dry" way and always assumed that it was an effective tool. What really illustrated this too me was that only 14% of the senior executives surveyed believed they received benefit from the segmentation exercise.

What confused me the most is that segmentation is still in such wide use despite the fact that it has been proven to be largely ineffective. Surely in today's highly competitive market experienced executives would understand that the techniques for identifying customer groups most be updated to match the current market conditions

The questions I would ask to the author would involve the best methods of identifying profitable customer groups. The authors indicated that one must be selective in prioritizing market groups, but in that scenario who can you be sure that a segment isn't being overlooked that could potentially be more profitable. I know in my own experiences this can be a challenge.

I did not find anything in the reading that I would say the author was wrong about. I found this article to be very informative and admittedly has changed my perception on the methods needed to understand who your customer is and what their needs are. 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

The two criticisms I gathered from the comments left in the last video concerned price points and dynamics. While the primary clientele of any sign shop is business customers, my company will also cater to consumers. As far as dynamics go I would agree that in the first pitch I was very sedentary, and I tried to rectify that in this video but it still isn't perfect. I also tried to avoid directly naming any existing competitors in this video. Watching the first video now a couple of weeks later that part sounded too arrogant for someone making a pitch to investors. Overall the feedback I received was supportive and interesting and provided a great help in further refining my pitch.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

What I found was the most surprising about the reading were the advantages of incumbents. I had never thought of these advantages when thinking of the threats facing new ventures. Its easy to believe that by providing a superior product one can easily compete with existing competitors, but the connections made within a community can be an incumbent's best asset.

I didn't find any thing in the reading confusing, the article was well written and the concepts presented are easy to understand.

My questions to the author would include: "What would be the best method of reducing the threat of rivalries forming among competitors in an industry?" The author claims that rivalry is destructive to an industry. Another question would be: "How would you determine the ideal industry growth rate as an investor?"

I found nothing in the article that I disagree with. I have read of the five forces before in other classes I have taken and nothing here has contradicted what I know.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I have worked in the signage industry now for over three years. While that time period isn't long, especially compared to my co-workers, it has netted me valuable experience in understanding what the customers needs are in this field. I am fortunate in that I have experience in every task in our little shop. I have experience in production, design, sales and installation. As far as my aspirations go, had the question been asked a year or so ago I would have been able to give a clear and detailed answer, now however I am not so sure. This business concept is one I have thought about since before taking this class, and should it become a reality I believe it would be the primary focus of my life.
2. My company's purpose is to provide high quality signage to customers anywhere in the world. I have seen the current quality of online signage and I find it lacking. 
3. My customer is a business person. I have determined both from my experiences at work and from my interviews that the average private citizen has little use for signage in their personal lives. The only call I have for signage for people not connected with a business entity is generally a birthday or anniversary banner, or perhaps a small vinyl decal for the back window of their car. Entrepreneurs and managers are the main purchasers of signage, and they are my target.
4. Customers will pay for my product because it will be of a higher quality than they can currently receive from an online sign company. While I may not beat the prices of places like Vista Print, I will beat their quality. In my current job I have many out of state customers whom I have never met face to face and likely never will. They communicate with us via email or phone and then we ship them their finished signage. My business will provide the same quality of product and service to the end user without the waste of a brick and mortar storefront. In addition, by providing an web based store front with an emphasis on user-friendliness, my company will be just as readily accessible and mass-marketable as my competitors.  
5. My core competency that sets me above my competition is a personal belief that if you deliver a quality product to the customer then they will come back. A sign isn't like most retail products. A sign is as unique as the person or company who has commissioned it. It is not mass produced (unless it's a bandit coroplast) and has to truly represent the identity of the company whose logo is on it. 

I believe these elements fit together well. While I do not have the most experience in the world, I do have drive. I know the clientele I am after and I know how to meet their needs.  The only weakness that I see is to be able to prove the difference I am offering. This will be the greatest challenge I think. My concept is to prove that I can provide a higher quality product at a comparable price, which is difficult in an online setting as there is an aspect of signage that is kinesthetic, people need to be able to see and touch the product to truly understand it's value.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

As I was unable to complete the last assignment this is my first experience with interviewing customers. I came up with four simple questions to gauge my preconceptions about the opportunity. My questions were:

1. How much of your total shopping do you do online?
2. Have you ever purchased signage before?
3. What matters more to you, quality or price?
4. Would you or have you payed more for faster shipping?

My answers surprised me in some ways. Three of the five customers were around my own age with the other two being of an older generation.  I assumed the three younger customers would do a fair amount of shopping online but one claimed none while the others claimed less than half. The general consensus about price vs. quality was equal, which I expected. All have paid more for faster shipping if needed. Only the two older customer have purchased signage in the past, which I also expected.

I learned that when interviewing strangers that I could have used less general questions. I assumed that I should keep it as simple as possible to avoid confusion. I explained the questions before filming, and perhaps I would have done better by making it more spontaneous. After these interviews I believe my opportunity of an online sign shop is still viable but will require a targeted market. My tips to next semester would be: 1. Be specific, 2. Keep an open mind about who your customers are, and 3. Don't be nervous.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

What stood out to me the most in this week's reading was the emphasis on understanding the causes of failure. As we all know well, the odds are against you when starting a business. I think what stood out the most was the failure prediction model and it's use of the role of debt. From what I have personally seen, some entrepreneurs don't give enough attention to the role that debt will play and how liabilities will stack up in lean times.

There was nothing in the reading I can say I truly found confusing, although the section referring to Z-scores seems foreign to me as I do know understand how they relate to finance. This is something I will have to do further research on.

My questions to the authors would include: What would the best way to appropriately test a product's technical feasibility on a large scale while constrained by a budget? Also, what is the best way to judge a competitive advantage when entering an existing market?

There was nothing in the chapter I disagreed with. I would say they were spot on the analysis of risks a new venture faces and reinforcing the need for truly objective analysis of the feasibility of the venture

Elevator Pitch No. 1

I apologize for the quality, it's all I have to work with. My opportunity comes from the general lack of quality I have noticed from online signage retailers. My solution is to provide the same quality one would expect from their local sign shop any where in the world. I am kicking around the "Net Signs" but I didn't include it in the video because I don't know if I will keep it.