30A: Final Reflection

1) Looking through the assignments it was interesting to see the progression of my small business. In the beginning it was clear I was not too sure about what I was doing and then I got more comfortable. Some assignments I was almost embarrassed about because of the lack of effort, but others I felt quite proud of. Overall, I enjoyed each one.

2) I think some of the best experiences were getting out there in public and talking to strangers. I have no problem talking to strangers and I actually enjoy getting to know more about new people, but it was definitely very different for me to speak about a business idea that I had came up with on my own. I got a lot of praise and shock from people who were surprised by what I was doing while I appeared to be so young. It was satisfying when I came in contact with people that really took my questioning seriously. I gained a great sense of accomplishment.

3) I definitely believe I have developed more of an entrepreneur mindset. I know this people just walking around on a regular day I feel like my head is always moving and coming up with random little inventions or creative ideas to make something better. I made a note page in my phone where I enters ideas that randomly come up with. Started slow with one or two a day, but not I have a list of 36 ideas, some realistic and others seem silly. It's a fun way to keep your mind open and creative.

4) My number one thing to help out future students would be to keep on open mind. On any assignment you never know what you may come up with if you remain positive and allow your creative juices to flow. There's a way to get this class done by keeping your assignments safe and simple, but to make a better experience out of it push yourself to limits. Nothing is impossible in this class.

29A: Venture Concept No. 2

1)  I believe there is an opportunity behind the process that sorority girls must go through in preparation for rush. I see possibility in making the process of purchasing outfits and preparing for rush less challenging and less expensive. Building kits that are personalized to the requirements of your specific sorority, including clothing, shoes, and jewelry.

            Being in a sorority at the University of Florida was one of the best decisions I made going into my freshman year. It gave me the chance to immediately surround myself with people that made me feel comfortable and welcome in a new place. Fast forward to the start of my sophomore year and I am on the other side of the rush experience. Each one of the almost 300 girls in my sorority had to buy about five different outfits to wear during rush week. Not only can this get extremely expensive, but it can be very challenging to find specific outfits to fit the criteria when hundreds of other girls are searching for the same things. As sororities have grown at colleges and universities this issue has become more relevant. For instance, at a school as large as UF there are seventeen sororities. Each of these sororities includes between 200 and 300 members. That leads to thousand of girls in the same area, with the same unmet need. I know some girls will share outfits or purchase outfit from discount or consignment stores, such as Plato's Closet. I feel about 80% confident that an opportunity exists in this area.

            Segment: Females between the age of 18 and 22 attending a college or university as a member of sorority associated with the school.  Building kits that are personalized to the requirements of a woman's specific sorority, including clothing, shoes, and jewelry. To be slightly more specific one must understand the extent of needs and requirements that sororities provide towards the woman in order to go through the week process of rush. In reference to University of Florida sororities, typically rush requires 3-4 outfits with corresponding jewelry and shoes. This process is easy, efficient, inexpensive, and simple compared to the normal way of buying and shopping for outfits and accessories for rush. There is less stress of spending weeks and months searching. Everything can be found at once and in one place on the website I create.

            What sets this apart from everyone else is that we do it all in one place and it can all be done online and personally shipped to the customers home. They only have to go to this one website for clothes, shoes, and accessories. We choose from a pool of other online stores to help the kits remain unique and supply a variety of options. This cuts out the time of in store searching or visiting multiple websites and receiving many packages. Everything comes together in one shipment.

            Not only is it expensive but it can become very time consuming going from store to store and mall to mall to find the right outfits. On top of finding the right outfit, us sorority girls usually have to find coordinating accessories, such as shoes and jewelry. Overall, this is an expensive and time consuming process that can be made much simpler with RUSH KITS. Rush kits will provide sorority girls the opportunity to shorten this process from weeks or months to less than an hour, conveniently achieved from the comfort of their own home.

            Girls can simply visit the rush kit website, enter their outfit requirements (including color, style, size and more), then enter their accessory criteria and the website will provide 3 to 5 options for each outfit and accessory that was specified. These options are gathered from a pool of online stores, in addition to products that are made by RUSH KIT themselves. Once options are provided, the customer simply chooses the options they like the best and complete their order.

            The rush kit products are already discounted for a typical college student budget. Additionally, the other online stores that rush kit uses provide a discount from their regular prices. At the end of the process you will see an average overall discount of about 30% less compared to the price that girls would normally spend to shop in stores. 

            I would say the secret sauce to my venture is my mother because of her back ground in clothing retail. As a boutique owner, she knows all the ins and outs of buying and selling clothing and accessories from startup of a business. The next opportunity I see would be creating physical stores close to colleges and universities with Greek life sororities. This will allow consumers to come in and try on clothes and see it in person before they invest in the package. Five years from now I expect a great business to be booming. I would hope that most sororities, if not all, know the name “Rush Kit” because it has become so well known. While every girl may not decide to utilize it, I have hope that they will know the name. Also, I feel as though five years is enough time to evaluate how successful the business is and decide if building a physical store front would be helpful/successful for the company.

            Overall, I see so much potential in this idea. All parts seem to fit together greatly. The feedback I have received has only been positive. People have even added on to my ideas and provided me more insight on ways to make the website and process better. The demographic seems small, but it reaches out to so many people at the same time because of the amount of people that are members of a sorority. These girls are focused on showing their style, yet saving money at the same time.

2) I honestly didn't change much other than a few wording issues and format because I did not receive any negative feedback. My comments said that I was very thorough, detailed, and clear of what my business was and my plans for it. 

3) I did not change my concept. Just touched up the writing in general. 

28A: Your Exit Strategy

1)  I look at this business as something on the side. I have other goals in life that are more important to me so this is more of a way to make some extra money and be a part of something I find fun. I would plan to keep it going and probably sell after about a decade if I became to involved with other things in my life.

2) I chose this strategy because my number one goal is to be an orthodontist. This will be a full time job because I plan to own my own practice one day. I think dealing with both businesses at the same time and having a family would be too much to handle.

3) I honestly don't think I took my exit strategy into consideration too much in past assignments, but now that I'm thinking about it there are probably a few things I would want to change with this mindset. I would probably not want to expand too much. My venture idea was to open a physical storefront instead of remaining online only. Although, if I plan to only be a part of the company for a decade it would be a lot of work to create a storefront unknowing if it would be successful and then sell everything a few years later.

27A: Reading Reflection No. 3

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

1) This book was basically focused on the ups and downs of Adams' life. He expresses his struggles and successes, while going through his personal life situations and experiences. I felt as though it was a teaching book as if Adams was using his life experiences as lessons for others.

2) This book connected with me because one of my favorite motto's is 'nobody is perfect' and that is basically what this book instilled. Adams simply explains his experiences in a way that encouraged me to never lose hope. Nothing will be perfect on the first try, but the more you put into it the more you will get out of it.

3) If I had to design an exercise for the class I would suggest students give at least 5 significant successes they have had through out their life, but the catch is for every success that provide they must also give a failure to balance it out.

4) I was shocked when Adams said "Passion is bullshit." This surprised me because  feel as though I have always been driven by passion. I understand where he is coming from at the same time thought. It is more like you can still do something that you may not be passionate about, but it's more about personal effort. Just because you aren't passionate about something you can still make it happen with determination.

26A: Celebrating Failure

1) I took physics 1 this summer at Florida Atlantic University. The professor was very nice and it was clear he was completely interested in the success of all of his students. On each of his tests (there were 5 in total) he would be an in-depth extra credit problem at the end. If we got it completely right we received 10 extra points on our test score, but if we missed any part of it we did not receive any extra credit. The first two tests I was somewhat close to the answer, but still completely wrong. On the third test I told myself I was going to get the extra credit and after the test I felt very confident about it. The next day I found out I was wrong by the units I wrote, yet all the numbers were correct. I received zero extra points for that test. Then I was very discouraged to the point where I was almost positive I would never receive the extra credit points. On the fourth test I worked out the extra credit problem and I felt confident, but I still assumed I did not get it correct because I did not want to get my hopes up. Come to find out I finally got extra credit points on the fourth try!!!

2) I learned to be patient and not get too cocky in a situation like this. When I just took my time and used confidence over cockiness, the turn out was success.

3) I definitely see failure as a lesson. Now this does not mean I don't get frustrated or discouraged, but when it is all said and done I always look for the positive side of the situation. This class has added on to my view of failure because it goes along with my mindset. Basically, don't stop trying just because you fail. In my opinion, it is hard to understand what real success feels like unless you have experienced some type of failure in the past.

25A: What's Next?

Existing Market

• After speaking to three potential customers I received helpful feedback. My idea to grow was to eventually open a physical store instead of the company being only online based. Two of the girls I spoke to saw potential in the idea. They said that it would help consumers her do not like to online shopping. Placing it in or near college towns would be the perfect location in their opinion as well. One suggested that I wait a few years before I decide if it is a good idea or not. She said if the online store is a success is and stable, then a physical store would be a safe move in her opinion. I agree with these two, but it is still just an idea because it makes me nervous to make such a significant jump from online to storefront.
• The other girl I interview surprisingly did not agree with the idea to open a storefront and I understand where she is coming from. She said that if the way I am doing it online is successful then what is the point in changing the way things are done. She said it make mess up the way things work and take out the simplicity. She seemed very passionate about it because she explained a story about her uncle's business. She told me that he made a huge change in his business by relocating because he was so successful in his start off location and the turn out was very bad. He ended up losing a lot of money. I understand her side of the venture growth. I see the reason in playing it on the safe side to avoid messing up something that is already going well.

New Market

• My idea was to add on the selling of male attire for fraternity brothers that are going through rush themselves. I know they usually match and dress professional so I saw some potential in it. After speaking to two boys that are members of fraternities at UF I found out it wasn't the best idea.
• Both of them had the same mindset about the idea. They thought it would not be very successful because most fraternities wear the same outfits for each round of the process and it is something they usually own already. They claimed the most common is a suit and tie. A lot of men their age already own one from graduating high school or some other occasion in the past that they needed one for. If they aren't wearing a suit then they are usually wearing matching shirts that were created by a company to personalize them. I'm glad I spoke to these boys because I was not expecting this response. I thought it was a wonderful idea until I realized how simple the outfits are for fraternity boys.

24A: Venture Concept No. 1 "Rush Kit"

            I believe there is an opportunity behind the process that sorority girls must go through in preparation for rush. I see possibility in making the process of purchasing outfits and preparing for rush less challenging and less expensive. Building kits that are personalized to the requirements of your specific sorority, including clothing, shoes, and jewelry.

            Being in a sorority at the University of Florida was one of the best decisions I made going into my freshman year. It gave me the chance to immediately surround myself with people that made me feel comfortable and welcome in a new place. Fast forward to the start of my sophomore year and I am on the other side of the rush experience. Each one of the almost 300 girls in my sorority had to buy about five different outfits to wear during rush week. Not only can this get extremely expensive, but it can be very challenging to find specific outfits to fit the criteria when hundreds of other girls are searching for the same things. As sororities have grown at colleges and universities this issue has become more relevant. For instance, at a school as large as UF there are seventeen sororities. Each of these sororities includes between 200 and 300 members. That leads to thousand of girls in the same area, with the same unmet need. I know some girls will share outfits or purchase outfit from discount or consignment stores, such as Plato's Closet. I feel about 80% confident that an opportunity exists in this area.

            Segment: Females between the age of 18 and 22 attending a college or university as a member of sorority associated with the school.  Building kits that are personalized to the requirements of a woman's specific sorority, including clothing, shoes, and jewelry. To be slightly more specific one must understand the extent of needs and requirements that sororities provide towards the woman in order to go through the week process of rush. In reference to University of Florida sororities, typically rush requires 3-4 outfits with corresponding jewelry and shoes. This process is easy, efficient, inexpensive, and simple compared to the normal way of buying and shopping for outfits and accessories for rush. There is less stress of spending weeks and months searching. Everything can be found at once and in one place on the website I create.

            What sets this apart from everyone else is that we do it all in one place and it can all be done online and personally shipped to the customers home. They only have to go to this one website for clothes, shoes, and accessories. We choose from a pool of other online stores to help the kits remain unique and supply a variety of options. This cuts out the time of in store searching or visiting multiple websites and receiving many packages. Everything comes together in one shipment.

            Not only is it expensive but it can become very time consuming going from store to store and mall to mall to find the right outfits. On top of finding the right outfit, us sorority girls usually have to find coordinating accessories, such as shoes and jewelry. Overall, this is an expensive and time consuming process that can be made much simpler with RUSH KITS. Rush kits will provide sorority girls the opportunity to shorten this process from weeks or months to less than an hour, conveniently achieved from the comfort of their own home.

            Girls can simply visit the rush kit website, enter their outfit requirements (including color, style, size and more), then enter their accessory criteria and the website will provide 3 to 5 options for each outfit and accessory that was specified. These options are gathered from a pool of online stores, in addition to products that are made by RUSH KIT themselves. Once options are provided, the customer simply chooses the options they like the best and complete their order.

            The rush kit products are already discounted for a typical college student budget. Additionally, the other online stores that rush kit uses provide a discount from their regular prices. At the end of the process you will see an average overall discount of about 30% less compared to the price that girls would normally spend to shop in stores. 

            I would say the secret sauce to my venture is my mother because of her back ground in clothing retail. As a boutique owner, she knows all the ins and outs of buying and selling clothing and accessories from startup of a business. The next opportunity I see would be creating physical stores close to colleges and universities with Greek life sororities. This will allow consumers to come in and try on clothes and see it in person before they invest in the package. Five years from now I expect a great business to be booming. I would hope that most sororities, if not all, know the name “Rush Kit” because it has become so well known. While every girl may not decide to utilize it, I have hope that they will know the name. Also, I feel as though five years is enough time to evaluate how successful the business is and decide if building a physical store front would be helpful/successful for the company.

            Overall, I see so much potential in this idea. All parts seem to fit together greatly. The feedback I have received has only been positive. People have even added on to my ideas and provided me more insight on ways to make the website and process better. The demographic seems small, but it reaches out to so many people at the same time because of the amount of people that are members of a sorority. These girls are focused on showing their style, yet saving money at the same time.