Week 8 Reading Reflection

1. What I found most interesting is the amount of money that venture capitalist have invested in companies. I also thought it was interesting that they don't typically invest in start up companies and new companies but invest in later-stage companies.
2. One part of the reading that confused me was the paragraph about private placement. I was confused as to who the company could sell their stock too, whether they were allowed to sell it to friends, family, and employees or they were not allow to sell it to them.
3. The first question I would ask the author is "Which is the best way to produce capital as a start up company?" I would ask this because I would want to know which method they thought was best. The second question I would ask the author is "Why don't venture capitalist typically invest in start up companies?" I understand there is greater risk in a start up company than in a later stage company but wouldn't investing in the right start up company at the beginning be a better investment than in a later stage company?
4. There was nothing that I would disagree with that the author wrote. They covered all areas of sources of capital that I could thing of and then some. I learned a lot in this chapter.

Half-way Reflection

1. One way I have been able to keep up with the assignments for this course relatively well is to have a set time each day to work on my assignments. Having a designated period to work on assignments has helped because I am not rushing to do them or I forget about less assignments because I am always checking what is up next.
2. When I first started the class I didn't quite understand the share and declare aspect of the class. Also, I was not a fan of having my own blog. Both of these things made me not want to take the class from the beginning because I don't like to try new things sometimes. Once I got the hang of how the class worked it was much easier for me to pull through and continue on with the class. I feel like this class has made me more tenacious because I have stepped out of my comfort zone of keeping to myself and made videos and posted them online for assignments. This isn't something I would typically do.
3. The first tip I would offer to future students is to be very organized. Organization makes the assignments run smoother.
The second tip I would offer is to do as many of the assignments as you can, especially the ones that will make you uncomfortable. It is a great learning opportunity and helps you grow as a person.
The third tip I would offer is to set your own schedule for the class and stick to it. Setting a specific time to do your assignments makes them easier to complete and remember.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise to me was how marketing isn't based off of demographics as much as it used to be. Marketing also focuses on values of customers now.
2. The paragraph labelled "Can our segmentation register change?" was confusing for me. I didn't understand if the same segmentation was used throughout or did they change the segmentation to register the change.
3. My first question to the author would be, "Why do you think companies continue to use market segmentation if they don't get positive results?" I would ask this because it confuses me as to why a company would continue to do something if they aren't getting good results and research shows it isn't an affective process. My second question to the author would be, "Is it more important to retain the loyal customers you already have or to seek out potential new customers?" I would ask this because I think they are both equally important. On one hand, if you ignore your loyal customer and focus on new customers they may leave your business and tell their friends how poorly they were treated but if you don't look for new customers your business will become stagnant.
4. One part of the reading I disagree with is the table describing the gravity of decision spectrum. I think there are individuals make very important decisions based in the shallow decision portion and vice versa. Also, I think brand loyalty runs deeper to some people than others.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Here is the link to my second elevator pitch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rB1e8x_HRM

Interviewing Customers No. 3

After having my potential customers read my business concept, the most common response I got was how much is it going to cost and is there discounts for multiple washes.

1. The questions I asked were:
"Do you enjoy doing laundry for yourself or would you prefer someone do it for you?"
"Would a laundry service that picks up the clothes and drops them off at your residence appeal to you?
"How much would you actually pay to have a laundry service do your laundry?"
"How important is a personal, friendly relationship with a business to you?"
"What would you do with the free time you have if you allow All Bubble, No Trouble take care of your laundry needs?"
2. I could not get my videos to upload.
3. From the interviews I learned that people are would be willing to have a laundry service if it wasn't too expensive. Also, a customer loyalty program for re-occuring customers was a point of interest from the interviewees. The biggest surprise from the interviews that I got was what people would do with their free time that had from not having to do laundry. Most said relax or do their homework. i expect to some type of product discount for customers who continue to come to All Bubble, No Trouble for their laundry needs. I think it is a wonderful idea and keeps the customers coming back.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise of the reading for me was about how your competition isn't just businesses you are directly competing against in the same field but could be other businesses that occupy your consumers time and money in other ways.
2. One part of the reading that confused me was why a fast growing company isn't always a profitable one. I thought a fast growing company went hand in hand with a profitable company.
3. The first question I would ask the author is "Which of the 5 forces do you think is the most important to focus on?" I would ask this question because I feel like your buyers would be the most important but I would like his point of view. The second question I would ask would be, "Are there any other forces that can affect profit structure in a business?" I would ask this question because I feel like there is probably more aspects that could affect profit.
4. There was nothing that the author talked about that I could disagree with. Everything he wrote about made good sense to me and he didn't leave any room for interpretation. He was very clear with his points.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1.       I am the sole proprietor of All Bubble, No Trouble. My talents include being very personable, hard-worker, organized, and proficient. My skills include clerical work, sales, handling large amounts of money, being able to diffuse hostile situations. My experiences include being an assistant manager at Sonic Drive-In, being a paralegal for the United States Army, being a security guard at University Park Country Club, and a bank teller at Sunstate Federal Credit Union. My aspirations at All Bubble, No Trouble are to provide a cheap, fast, and efficient laundry service for the residents of Gainesville, FL so they can spend their time doing other various activities of their choice. I would like to become the go to laundry service for residents and businesses. All Bubble, No Trouble will likely consume most of my life in the beginning stages of the business until it becomes an established company. Once it becomes established, I hope to hire a good crew to run the day to day operations and focus solely on the big picture portion of the business. 

2.       At All Bubble, No Trouble I will be offering a laundry service that comes to your home or business and picks up your laundry. After pick up, I will wash, dry, and fold your laundry at my laundromat. After the cleaning, drying, and folding of the clothes is complete, I will deliver the clothes back to your home or business at the time you desire.

3.       The main demographic that I will be my services too is college students and single parents who work multiple jobs. I will be focusing on college students because they live such a busy life with class, homework, volunteer work, and sometimes work that household chores sometimes get left on the back burner. Having a laundry service that takes care of one of those back burner chores can make their lives a little less stressful. Next, I will be focusing on single parents who work multiple jobs or put in long hours at one job. Single parents have a lot on their plate in providing for a household at work then coming home to raise children on their own. My laundry service will allow them to spend a little more time with their children that they wouldn’t normally get to spend while they are doing laundry.

4.       Customers will pay money for me to take care of their laundry for them because it takes one less thing off their plate and lets them devote the time they previously spent doing laundry on something more important in their life. Knowing that they will always have clean clothes without having to do it themselves will make their lives a little less stressful.

5.       What sets All Bubble, No Trouble apart from other laundry services is the personal relationship we build together. I will treat every customer as if they are my only customer and their laundry is my laundry, not as if they are just another load. Building long, trusting relationships with my customers will be very important to me at All Bubble, No Trouble. What will set me apart from my competition is my low prices, my convenient pick up and drop off times, my attention to detail in their order, and most important the relationship I build with every customer.

I believe these aspects fit well in my business into my business concept. My biggest weakness for my business would be finding a location to actually do the washing, drying, and folding of the clothes and finding a vehicle to transport the clothes. Right now, my house and my vehicle would not work so I would have to find other avenues to make the business work. 

Elevator Pitch No.1

Being a college student, sometimes you are too busy to do everything that needs to be done around the house, whether it be dishes, cooking, grocery shopping, or laundry. My solution is to have an affordable laundry services that picks up your clothes from your house and washes, dries, and folds them for you and then delivers them back to you would make your life a little less hectic. The business' name is All Bubbles No Troubles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii9F11kIBHA