Reading Reflection No. 3

For my third and final reading reflection, I read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.

I chose this book because it sounded (from the title) like a book about how to turn lemons into lemonade. It takes a special mindset and perspective to be able to do that and I wanted to see what author Scott Adams had to say about that. It's even more impressive because he didn't just talk about it but he did it! He was successful at making lemonade out of those lemons. 

The general theme/mindset of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big was to persevere through the lemons no matter how long it takes to squeeze them into lemonade. Try, try again and don't give up! Scott Adams is the creator of Dilbert, a wildly successful cartoon comic. It wasn't a hit from the get go and took years of struggling and failure before it took off and became what we know it as today. Quotes from the text to support the general theme:

• “I bought some art supplies, practiced drawing every morning before work, and wrote my affirmation fifteen times a day: ‘I, Scott Adams, will be a famous cartoonist.”
• “I find it helpful to see the world as a slot machine that doesn’t ask you to put money in. All it asks is your time, focus, and energy to pull the handle over and over. A normal slot machine that requires money will bankrupt any player in the long run. But the machine that has rare yet certain payoffs, and asks for no money up front, is a guaranteed winner if you have what it takes to keep yanking until you get lucky. In that environment, you can fail 99 percent of the time, while knowing success is guaranteed. All you need to do is stay in the game long enough.”

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big connects with what we have learned in class by showing us that it is acceptable to fail many, many times before you get something right. Just keep trying! This correlates to the "Celebrating Failure" blog post we did where we talked about a time we failed, how we processed it, and how we moved forward. Both this book and the assignment reinforced that failure is a normal and acceptable part of the entrepreneurial process. It's how we handle it that matters.

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, it would be a personal words of affirmation exercise directed at yourself. Just as Scott Adams handwrote that he would be a famous cartoonist fifteen times a day, we would do the same practice with our own words for what we aspire to do. We would record if/how our thought process and perspective of ourselves changed after repetitively doing this for x amount of days. Also, a requirement of this exercise would be to upload a picture of your handwritten affirmations. With all the constant negativity in the world, it is important to remember to compliment yourself regularly and to believe in yourself.

My aha moment while reading How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big was when Scott Adams said:

• “I’m a perfect example of the power of leveraging multiple mediocre skills. I’m a rich and famous cartoonist who doesn’t draw well . At social gatherings I’m usually not the funniest person in the room. My writing skills are good, not great. But what I have that most artists and cartoonists do not have is years of corporate business experience plus an MBA from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.” 

This speaks to me. It means that you don't even necessarily need to be the brightest or best at something to be successful at it. Just harness the unique aspects that make you you and apply everything you've got. I thought this was a very down to earth and truthful statement that we all need to remind ourselves of. It alleviates pressure and teaches us to just do the best you can do and strive to be the best you can be. It will pay off and lead to greatness if you just keep trying. 

Venture Concept No. 2

To summarize what I wrote in my Venture Concept No. 1:

Opportunity:
Mainly busy working people and elders have the need of my grocery delivery service business. They have this need because they simply don't have enough time to do everything required of them, one of the most time consuming being grocery shopping. Also, they have better things to do and to enjoy. As far as elders go, perhaps they simply just don't have a way to get to the grocery store. Maybe they are unable to drive a car or are physically incapable. This unmet need can affect anyone and everyone regardless of geographical location or demographics. There are no exemptions because everyone needs to eat. This need is currently unsatisfied so there is a big opportunity here and I believe it will be open until a giant grows and takes over the market.. me! I would be a pioneer business.

Innovation:
My innovation is called Groceries To Go, which is a grocery delivery service business. It allows people to order groceries via the website or mobile app (you can even upload a picture of your grocery list) and to have them delivered to their front doorstep within a two-hour time frame guaranteed. The fee is a small percentage of the order total amount. I'm thinking 12%-15% at this time. Customers can pay securely with their credit card.

Venture Concept:
My business venture will solve peoples' unmet need by saving them time and hassle. Customers will no longer have to take the time to go grocery shopping and to deal with the congestion of busy roads, parking lots, aisles, and check out lines. They can do other more important things like get other less time consuming errands done or spend more quality time with family and friends, or simply just not leave the house and relax at home. Customers would use my service business to save themselves time and hassle. There are no big name competitors at this point. Nothing similar has taken off. Perhaps they are not infiltrating their business well enough. My quick distribution, excellent customer service, and availability to large urban populations will put me ahead in my venture. I will need many different departments for my business to be successful. I will need market researchers, orderers, stockers, accountants, product pullers and packagers, distribution, logistics, and more. The amount of employees I would need would be determined by the amount of demand.

My secret sauce/unfair advantage would be my close attention to excellent customer service. Since this is a service business, that is extremely important. I can't stress that enough. Without excellent customer service, my business would quickly go under no matter how awesome the idea is.

What's next for the venture is making my service available to more than just populated urban areas. I would like to expand to the suburbs and rural areas alike. I would also like to include more than just groceries that can be delivered, such as items like household items and hygiene products.

What's next for me is growing my business and either nurturing it and handing it down to my family someday or if they don't want it then selling it to a company that will continue to grow it and make it great. This first venture helps to achieve my vision by showing myself that I can do it! I can create an original idea on paper and flourish it in real life. Also, the whole entrepreneurial and business growing process would teach me the ropes.

I received some wonderful feedback from my classmates about my Venture Concept No. 1. Some comments were reinforcing but there were also two that helped me with making improvements. A really good reinforcing comment was from Carlos. He agreed that my value of excellent customer service and an urban location for my service business were very important. The reinforcement helped me to feel more confident in my viewpoints. The two comments that offered improvements were very insightful and helpful as well. I appreciated it. CPaxton said that I had a great idea and it would be a great service business for elders but that she was concerned that they wouldn't be able to use it because of the technology factor, the mobile app and/or website. That's something that I hadn't really thought about but it's a realistic factor. Some elders don't have access to technology or just plain don't like it or don't know how to use it. I'm  not sure how else I would reach elders or have them place grocery delivery orders, but it's something I do need to think about now and come up with a solution for. Thanks for the insight on something I hadn't thought about Cathy! Another helpful comment was from Juan. He said that he liked my idea but that it was certainly a luxury service, which is true! I had mentioned that earlier as well. His comment was insightful because it made me reconsider my target market so that I can reach the right group of people and have the best chance at success possible.

Final Reflection

ENT 3003 has been both an interesting and wonderful experience.

I believe the assignment that has created the most formative experience for me was actually the "Bug List," our very first assignment. This might sound surprising because it was fairly simple and there was no major concept being developed at this point yet, but it was THE assignment that gave me my new entrepreneurial mindset. The Bug List is what helped me to understand what thinking like an entrepreneur was and I found myself identifying real life problems and solutions well after the assignment was over. The Bug List first embedded the entrepreneurial mindset in me.

The experience that I'll remember years from now is the interviews of course! They were intimidating, nerve wrecking, and demanding, as well as informative and eye-opening too. They were both good and bad and probably overall necessary. They definitely helped me to grow as a person. I know that.

My most joyous and proud experience was the development of my elevator pitch. I really enjoyed those assignments and the process of taking my classmates' feedback as well as my own and applying it. I feel like I really got the details together during the development of my elevator pitch and gained a lot of clarity on my venture.

I do believe I have developed an entrepreneurial mindset as I said above in my blog post. The Bug List began it all and now I am able to identify problems and solutions to unmet needs and things that can be improved.

My #1 recommendation for future ENT 3003 students is to create and develop a venture that you actually really care about and are interested in. Also, don't skip out on the assignments that include interviews. Yes, it is a hassle but it is very rewarding when you get it done and have done it right. That gives you the truest and best experience.

Making It Real

Making It Real Entrepreneurship Resume

My Exit Strategy

1) I would like to keep my business, "Groceries To Go." I would like to continue to maintain and grow it and to pass it on to my future children and keep it in the family. It would be up to them someday whether they would want to cash it in or not once it has reached max success and profitability.

2) I have selected this exit strategy because I have worked hard for it! If I were to actually launch this service business and it was successful, I would want myself and my family and future children to reap the benefits. Plus, it would be a bummer to see someone else outside of the family managing it after I created it and worked so hard at it. I think the only time I would want my family to cash it in would be if they weren't enjoying it anymore or if it became so stressful that it became harmful.

3) I do think my exit strategy has influenced other decisions I've made throughout my venture concept. I have stated that I would largely focus on excellent customer service. If I had simply just planned to create the business and cash it in immediately, then I wouldn't have focused on this so largely. Customer service is a long term goal orientation that I am focusing on because I would want to pass the business down to family in the future.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:
The opportunity I have identified is busy people who do not have enough time to go grocery shopping for themselves. These people are very busy and short on time. They range from working moms to full time students that live on campus at a university. It can also be elders that are incapable of driving themselves to the grocery store. My customers are not people who enjoy grocery shopping and have plenty of time to do it, and are not people who cannot afford this luxury service. My customers are obviously adults, not children. Within these segments, the people can be located anywhere geographically because everyone needs to grocery shop. It is not limited by region. Something I hadn't thought of before, perhaps people located in the more extreme weather climates would use it just for that reason. People don't like going out if it's too hot or too cold. It's too uncomfortable either way. Demographically, it has to be people that make enough money to afford the service since it is a luxury service.

The world is so fast paced and busy in this modern society that it is hard to find time to get everything done that is demanded of you. Customers currently do not have this need satisfied. As it is now, they have to go grocery shopping for themselves. I think the opportunity is currently big as this idea has not really been tapped into successfully yet and I don't know anyone that has ever used a service like this. There is not a giant in the market yet. It has great potential to be tapped into right now and I believe it would take off exponentially.

Innovation:
My innovation is a grocery delivery service business. How it works is you order the groceries you need via our website or mobile app. You can search for and select the groceries you need as well as the quantity or you can simply just upload a picture of your grocery list and submit it to us (as easy as that). You can also create and save a grocery list of the items you need frequently and set up an automatic order placement for however often you need those items replenished. We deliver the groceries you requested right to your doorstep within a two hour time frame guaranteed. You pay with your credit card. It is a secure checkout. The fee is 12% of your order total amount with a minimum purchase of $45 required. A $3 delivery fee is automatically applied to every order.

Venture concept:
My business idea will solve the unmet need of my future customers out there by saving them time and hassle. It will be extremely convenient for them. With my service they can do other things with their valuable time such as spend quality time with their family and friends or do other less time-consuming errands. They can avoid the congestion of grocery store aisles and parking lots and they won't have to wait in those tedious and never ending checkout lines.

I think my target segments would absolutely use my service. There are no big name competitors yet. This business idea is new and unsaturated at this time.

Logistics, customer support, and location all play a big role in the success of my business:

• Logistics are important because we need to get the right products to the right customer at the right time. 
• Since we are a service business, customer support is extremely vital. We absolutely must have top notch customer service and resolve any problems that arise immediately so that the customer is not only left satisfied but happy. Good word of mouth is everything.
• Location in urban areas is important so we can realistically deliver to the largest amount of people possible. 

I would need many employees in order to satisfy the different necessary jobs. I would need a team that processed orders, payments/accounting, pulled the orders off the shelves, makes sure groceries are always stocked and available, loaders, deliverers, and managers to oversee all of these operations. The more customers we obtained and the more we grow, the more employees we would need to satisfy their unmet needs.

My secret sauce is my persistence. I never give up even in the face of doors closing and it seeming like there is nowhere else to turn. I find a way to make it work. Always try plan a, b, and c. When those don't work, create new plans.

The next opportunity is having my service available for every American, not just for those in urban areas. Also, another next opportunity is a quicker delivery time. What if we could shorten the already short two hour delivery window time frame to an hour and a half or even within an hour. Finally, the last opportunity I can brainstorm is the delivery option of more items than just groceries, perhaps other non-grocery household products.

What's next for me is getting together an amazing innovative team and coming up with the specific final tactics and implementing them. Within the next 5-10 years, I would want "Groceries To Go" to become a common well known household name. I want the name to have integrity and value behind it. I want people to use the service and love it. I want to make a real connection with customers and genuinely make their lives a little bit easier with this service. I hope for it to be effective in saving them time and hassle. I hope my system is smooth, efficient, and works and my company is profitable. This venture helps to achieve my vision by following through with making something come to life that began as a mere sketch in my mind.

Celebrating Failure

I can't really think of one gigantic failure that I've had during this past semester I (thank goodness) but I will name all the little things I can think of:

In this class, I failed several times at doing the assignments where you actually have to go talk to people and interview them. I really dislike those assignments and don't enjoy them at all. Also, I didn't do so hot on the extra credit quizzes. In my marketing course, I missed one of the LearnSmart assignment due dates. By the way, I have A's in both classes still so don't judge me too much ha. I learned that I need to set aside more time for the assignments that I underestimated. I need to give myself more time to interview the people. Missing the marketing LearnSmart was an accidental fluke. It's the only one I missed and it's because I lost track of time because it was due around the 4th of July weekend. Next time, I'll just mark down the date better.

In my personal life, I failed at making cod one night. I tried cooking it in a pan on the stove top and it completely turned into mush. It was really gross. I'm usually a really good cook and that was the first time I ruined a dinner in the two years I've been cooking. I learned to stick with cooking salmon or to cook cod in the oven instead.

I think, probably like everyone else, that failure is never fun and usually always disappointing. Having said that, it's a fact of life and although it's upsetting to fail, you have to talk yourself through it. My rules for myself when facing failure are to be realistic with myself, not biased towards myself, and rational towards everyone involved. Figure out the cause of why you failed and how you can fix it next time and actually work on fixing it, not just saying you will.

I do believe that I am more likely to take a risk than I was four months ago. I am not a risky person by nature. I am adventurous though but not risky. There's a difference. I have learned through this class that entrepreneurship is like being a pioneer in a sense. What pioneer do you know that nailed the path right their first try? Practice makes perfects. Failure is okay and it's okay not to be perfect. It's a normal (albeit annoying) part of the process that leads to success.