22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

30A – Final Reflection

1. I think I really did a lot of reading and writing in this course. I hated writing before because my grammar is bad, but I did not get bored at this class as much as I think. I really like free-writing assignments in this class. I can "own" a business and I have to analyze my own company. I always find it is a challenge but interesting. I love interviewing assignments because my friends or other people can always give me some insightful suggestions. 

 

2. I will remember the "what's next" assignment many years later. The assignment asks us to come up with a new market. I always think I should start a delivery grocery business but not notice the company can enter a new market. Because of the assignment, I come up with the "seafood dessert" product and I believe it will also be successful. 

 

3. I see myself as an entrepreneur now. I get to know how to target potential customers, how to satisfy their needs, how to enter a new market, etc. I think it is important for an entrepreneur to be creative. I can not only think of "grocery" but something else. That will make the company more successful.

 

4. I recommend students to watch videos from the professor because they really help. Students can also interview more people because everyone has different views or suggestions toward a problem. 

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

1)  opportunity:

Like I mentioned in the last venture concept, the potential customers are the people who do not want to waste time shopping groceries. They want a more healthy lifestyle but want to save time and energy by getting the raw material at home. People all are "lazy"; they want their demand can be satisfied quickly. Nowadays, the virus has not been disappearing completely in China so people go outside less. In the future, people do not want to spend time shopping. I think everyone in China, even the world, all need the service. Some people are currently using the service but I think in the next generation, there will be more loyal customers. The opportunity is really big since young adults in this generation tend to be busier with their work and they do not like shopping grocery stores. The "window of opportunity" will last for the whole year.

 

Innovation:

I want to provide a seafood dessert delivery service in my new business. Currently, there is a lot of dessert store in China and the competition is intense, but there is no seafood dessert. Because the delivery grocery company is famous for its fresh seafood, I can also hire some dessert master to create some new receipt. 

 

venture concept:

For my new business (seafood dessert delivery), people may switch to another store maybe because they do not like flavor or they find something else more delicious. All of the dessert stores are my competitors, their weakness is they do not offer seafood dessert. Packaging and distribution are very important for my delivery business. I have to make sure the packaging is perfect and the delivery time is short. I will try my best to keep the price low, especially for seafood. I will hire some people to manage inventory, some are only responsible for delivery, some are creating new receipts, etc. There will be many independent but the related department in one company.

 

three minor elements:

I think the most important resource is the product quality. All of the raw material is fresh, the price is fair and the dessert is special. I am not sure what will be the next step, maybe a beverage. I want to offer some healthy beverages to people, especially for people who have obesity.I hope my business can be popular in China in the next five years and there are many loyal customers. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1. If I really start the delivery service business, I really hope it can bring large profit in next 5 years. If the future generation really likes to use online shopping and delivery service, I believe I will stay in this business. People will grow much more requirement on the delivery service although I can not predict right now. I also believe there will be more and more competitors in the market and I have to keep on creating something new. I think I may not force my children to manage the business after I retire. If my children do not interested in business, I will encourage them to try something else.

2. I believe the business will be popular in the future and it worth my investing. I really like creating something new.

3. I think the exit strategy may slightly influence other decisions since I really want the business can actually work. So I always think in long-run decision. 

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

I read Coco Chanel by Lisa for this assignment. 

 What surprised me most was Chanel's family background. I always think she must be born in a rich family and she had high-level education, but the truth was her father was a market trader and her mother died when she was only 11. I think it was hard for a young girl, but she was successful in the end. The family background really surprised me.

 The kind of entrepreneur I admire most is who is always creative. I chose Coco Chanel because I like luxuries, including expensive makeup, shoulder bags, or clothes. I believe it is always hard to build a new luxury brand, the founder must be professional in this area and also have business knowledge. 

The kind of entrepreneur that I least admire is the person who gives up when meeting failure. It is so important to lose money when investing or doing business, but I believe finding the solutions and erase past mistakes are true ways to face failure.

 

I think one of the competencies of Chanel was she was really confident and daring to use a different material, like cheap fur from rabbits and jersey. I am not sure if the cheap raw material can be counted as "creative" or "inferior", but I think she is really creative and bold. 

 

If I can ask her two questions, I will ask:

1. What is the biggest advantage of Chanel compare to other brands like Dior, Gucci?

2. What do you think is the most important characteristic for someone to start a new business?

 

I still believe that entrepreneurs always like hard work. Hard work makes people different. If your own business is hard but unique, nobody can copy the business, you must be successful. 

26A – Celebrating Failure

In March, UF has announced to remove classes online. Since I am an international student, I really want to go back to my country. I bought five flight tickets and four of them were cancelled. Although it was not my fault and no one can predict the future, I think the main reason for the failure is I can not make desicison quickly. Once we get the online classes announcement, I were not sure whether I should go back home or just stay untile the semester end. I was afraid my VPN can not work well so I can not take my three exams successfully. However, at the end of March, I think it is hard for me to stay at Gainesville and I really wanted to go back home. So I started to buy tickets but most of them are bought by other students (There were many Chinese students in the U.S. and many people wanted go back home quickly). So I can only buy the ticket which stop at Taiwan. After three days, the governemnt in  Taiwan refused all of transfer flights so my first ticket was canceled. I also tried Korean and Japenese but all of tickets were also canceld. So I justed waited until May. The fourth ticket was from New York to Shanghai but Chinese government released a very complicated rule and there are only four flight are avaiable for a week. So my ticket was canceled again. I was really desperate at that time. The final ticket did not canceled because I paid a lot (noramlly $500 for round trip but this time I paid $3000 for one way). I really ""studied" for the new rule made by Chinese government and checked the ticket online everyday and finally I can go home. I think the failure is I spend nearly one more month in Gainesville and cost much more money to buy a ticket. I was really depressed during whole month. If I can make decision quickly, I can avoid these new rules and I can go home much eariler and spend less time. I hope in the future I can be more determined. 

25A – What’s Next?

exiiting market:

I think the next service should be a dessert delivery service. Because it is difficult for people to make dessert at home and they're a lot of ingredients. People do not want to spend time learning what kind of ingredient they want to use and what are steps to make dessert. However, after I interview three people, two of them remind me there are too many competitors in the market. They are specialized in making dessert so it is hard to compete with them. In addition, dessert and grocery are totally different in two categories, it is also hard for a company to specialize in two things. I think their comments are fair but I do not think it is very impossible. I can make a special seafood dessert since my company mainly offer seafood. I hardly see stores have seafood dessert so I think it is possible to hire some professional dessert master to create something new.

 

New market: 

Some people may refuse to order delivery because they do not like cooking. I think the best way is to use social media to publicize  the harm of unhealthy food. If we can turn the people who refuse to cook for those who like cooking, there will be more chance that this person will use the delivery service. The new customers will find that the delivery service is very simple and convenient, he or she will get used to the service. The price is relatively low, the product is good and the time is saved. These are all values to the customers. Two of interviewee believes advertising the harm of unhealthy snacks can be a good idea. But advertising should also include the name of my company so people will choose this company. 

 I think the new market may not be as successful as the existing market. Also, advertising can be useful but everyone actually knows the harm of snacks. Everyone knows cooking by themselves is the most healthy way. I currently have no greater idea and I hope in the future I can come up with something new.