My Exit Strategy

1)      I ultimately plan to either sell this app to someone else or keep it as a side business for as long as I can. My reasoning is the fact although this was my first entrepreneurial venture and was a fun and valuable experience, I never stay put for long.

2)       I want to continue investing in and launching new ventures. I had my experience and I would like to cash out on my app and use the money to help others have their experience. I would like to not have “all my eggs in one basket.” I want to be a part of many ventures and if I continue with this venture for too long I may get too consumed with it to move on. If no one is willing to buy it I would create a small department of employees to keep maintaining the app while I move on to other ventures.

3)      I think the way I like to move from one project to another helped influence my decision on the problem I chose to solve and the way I went about solving it. I chose a problem me and my close peers personally experienced. This is because I believe if you are not happy with something change it. I hated wasting a ton of money foolishly on a night out and vacations so I created a plan to fix it. The reason I chose an app as my solution is because the idea never expires. I can use this app for as long as I’d like and the effectiveness will never diminish. However I also needed a solution I do not have to manage 24/7 so I can continue to search for day to day problems in my life and fix those. If I had come up with a solution that took up to much of my time I would not have a chance to experiment with other ventures. This venture helped me locate resources I did not have as well as shed light on myself being a huge resource to any venture I choose to take on.

Making it Real

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0qOoMqDL4xxSjBfeTA4V2lkVzg

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: There use to only be three or four ways to use currency. You either had to pay with cash, write a check, or slide your credit card at places. With today’s technological advances there are now many more innovative ways to pay for things. There have been apps such as apple pay, venmo, snapchat, etc. Though there are more ways to pay for things this brings the complication of keeping all of your information safe. In 2014 there was around 31.8 million cases of credit card fraud which is three times the amount in 2013. I believe this has to do with the increasing amount of ways to spend currency. This number alone shows the number of people that could benefit from an app like mine. The fact there can be a limit on the card and not have to physically have it with you can help decrease the number of credit card scams occurring. Most of these frauds do occur online but still about 15% happen from lost cards and credit card skimming. The fact you don’t have to physically have your card to pay at places can help prevent you from losing your card on a night out or getting it skimmed at sketchy bars or restaurants. Consumers are beginning to see this trend and begin to look for safer forms of payment. No form of payment will ever be 100% safe for consumers, however my app will greatly reduce the risk as well as the financial impact of a credit card scammer. With this enormous amount of consumers being victims to credit card fraud every year I would say there is huge potential for my app to be successful. If I could even capture 1% of the people effected it would give me a customer base of around 30,000 people which will make my app more desired to advertise on and create great revenue for me. This window of opportunity will remain open for as long as people need to spend money.

Innovation: CardBlock will be an app that allows people to put a limit on how much they can spend on their card on one night at multiple different places. Whether the customer is going out to a bar, going on a date to the movies, or even out of the country on a vacation they will be able to electronically budget their spending habits. The customer will be able to pick the desired locations they plan on going to and then set up the amount they plan to spend there and will not allow them to go over budget. This app will also alert the consumer after every transaction and tell them the percentage of the limit they have already used. These constant alerts keep people aware of how much they are spending and do not get carried away. This app will be 1.99 to download which if I got the projected 1% on people in need of an app like this one that will generate around $60,000. After that I will allow advertising space on the app which will be how I get constant revenue after the app has been downloaded. There will be short advertisements in the beginning while users are signing into their accounts and little banners of advertisements posted around the site while users are navigating through it.

Venture Concept: My innovation is set out to help make a form of payment that gives consumers the flexibility and convenience of a credit card but the limitations of cash. When cash is involved you can only spend up to the amount on you. With credit cards people can make large payments on cars, houses, bar tabs etc. without actually having that amount of money in their bank accounts. This app will make your money more secure because it cannot be lost or stolen from you like cash or a card can. Yes the phone the app is on can be stolen, however due to a fingerprint or passcode lock, nobody except the owner can use their money. Also it will help with spending too much money foolishly on a night out or while getting caught up in the moment on vacations, shopping adventures, etc.

My number one resource will be my communication skills. When dealing with money people tend to shy away from using third party services like my app. People want to use more “secure” ways of payment that may come from banks or other financial institutions. I believe my use of good communication skills will help me make my customers feel safer when trusting my app with their money. Once they are convinced they will voice their opinions to their peers who trust them, therefore helping my app grow in popularity.

The next thing I would like to tackle is making this form of payment more convenient for my consumers. I will need to be able to get local businesses on board first and then branch out to larger corporations to allow my app to be used in their stores.

In the next five years after this launch I would like to use my profit earned from this first app and invest it into other startup companies and local entrepreneur’s ideas. I would like to have a small department of employees who continually run maintenance on my app and keep it up to date. However I do not like remaining on one project for a long period of time and would hope to move on to “the next big thing”.

Celebrating Failure

One thing I have failed at was becoming a pescetarian this spring. This is a lifestyle of a vegetarian with the exception of eating fish. My main reason for this change was just to live a little bit of a healthier lifestyle. This diet change prevented me from eating out a lot more of the times and save money by doing meal preps. I went without eating all meat except fish for about 4 months and finally broke down and ate a chicken sandwich.

                From this experience I learned that eating healthier made a huge difference in the way I felt every day, and my weight dropped and I began to look more cut. I also began to make more health conscious decisions just because I would start my day with a healthy mentality. Sadly I also learned I was not the most disciplined in my eating habits. I learned that I have a few more failed attempts in my future until I truly go fully pescetarian.

Failure is usually said to be a good thing. A lot of people say that no one who has ever done something great hasn’t endured many failures. Although this is probably true it doesn’t make failure any easier to deal with. It’s a hard obstacle to overcome and the first few times it’s very easy to give up and not try anymore. The emotional aspect to failure is probably the worst feeling there is. I personally felt a long period of disappointment and it effected my perspective towards myself for a while. I began to eat really unhealthy again, a lot of activities like the gym and skateboarding constantly decreased taking a toll on my mental and physical health. I got over it finally and began eating healthy again although I continued to eat chicken and beef. This class has taught me a pretty good amount about dealing with failure. With the comments on my constant posts it helped steer me in the right direction for my venture and helped me see what may or may not be working. Finding out an idea I thought was full proof isn’t really working out was pretty tough and sometimes hard to let go of. However reevaluating my idea a few times helped it become successful.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCQbXf2tOBY&feature=youtu.be

This is the link to my elevator pitch,

Reflection: While reading the comments on my first elevator pitch I got pretty good reviews. I saw that my idea came off as very clear and people understood what my product does. Some tips I did see multiple times was slow my talking down a little and add a little more movement, aka stand up, hand gestures etc. 

Execution: I first off tried to speak more clearly and a little slower while keeping the video around 1 minute. I also tried to be as clear as possible on what my product will do as well as why it will be useful by comparing it to cash. I tried to stress that it is the best of both worlds by being limited like cash but safe like a credit card. I also wanted to move around more and use my hands a little more. I tried to practice a little more as well so I would not get stumbled up on my speaking. However I took a few takes and could not find one where I did not get tongue tied a little. During pitches your mouth is moving faster than your mind and trip up sometimes. I know I’ll need more practice but still fun to test the waters of an elevator pitch.

My Unfair Advantage

1. Experience in what my consumers want.

·         This is important because I am part of the target audience I am trying to reach out to. I know this target so well already I know what to put into my product to make it popular.

2. Experienced app developer.

·         Parker lives in Gainesville and has had experience building multiple apps already. He will be easily accessible and very effective in building my app.

3.   Experience in helping run a business in high school.

·        I was head of the PR department for a start-up business in high school through an organization called “Junior Achievement” this gave me a little experience on how to begin and maintain a start-up.

4.   Being a UF student will make it easier to test my app small scale.

·        It will be easy to find fellow peers that will use this app and tell me their genuine thoughts on it. I will be able to take they comments and ideas to further develop my app to make it more user friendly.

5.   Virtually no money being invested into the development of my app.

·        Little to no startup costs make it easy to operate and test my app. Virtually no risk for a big reward.

6.   Advertising space.

·        This allows me to use my advertising space as leverage to get people to help me start my business such as getting a developer, promoter, etc. This is also my best source of revenue.

7.   Local marketing expert Dalton.

·        Dalton works as a leasing agent for the Retreat currently and so he is well connected to the Greek Life demographic, which I believe will be a large portion of my target audience.

8.   Local entrepreneur readily available to help me.

·        Jordan Snyder has worked with other start-up companies before so he can be very valuable in getting my app on its feet and keep it expanding.

9.   4 years of experience giving premier customer service.

·        A big part of this app’s success will be getting customers to trust that their bank information is safe. I will have to use my ability to comfort customers to make them feel safe while using my app. Without the trust of my customers my app cannot be successful.

10. Being heavily involved on campus makes it easy to find target market potential.

·         Hitting the right target market off the bat will be a big key to the success of my app as well. Too many businesses begin their business by targeting the wrong demographic and then believe they have a bad idea. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth, the people that need that service just don’t know it’s available.

Most Important: I believe the most important resource I have is being in Gainesville around the perfect demographic of people I am targeting. Too many businesses have a great idea but just try to sell it to the wrong people. I am targeting people that have trouble spending to much money out on a night out with friends. This is a very common occurrence in Gainesville being a very prominent party town. Being able to get my app into the right target audience will encourage them to share the app with other friends who could benefit from this and will be free advertising for me.

Amazon Whisperer Week 11

·         Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

    1. There are three main sources of revenue after creating this app. The first one will be the cost of downloading the app which will be $1.99. There are a lot of free budgeting apps but none of them actually force you to stop at a specific cap that you, yourself has chosen. As well as send you alerts after every purchase. The next source of revenue will be through advertising on this app. There will be multiple different apps wanting to advertise their games, as well as businesses specific to my app like bars who are having specials, ladies night etc. Lastly I will have an option that will allow the app to be app free. The cost will be around $5 monthly and this will be for people trying to save time from listening to videos or advertisements in between setting up budgets for different bars.

·         Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

2. The next big thing that I would like to work on is making a software that allows you to put money into an app. This would work like a visa gift card. When $40 is transferred from your bank into this app you now have a balance of $40. You can then take your phone out and bars can scan a barcode that acts as a debit card. It will automatically deduct the cost out of that account. This way you are as limited as cash without the fear of losing it. Also it is safer than a credit card because one cannot simply steal it and swipe it at bars. You must first unlock your phone, then type in another password to access the app.

·         Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

3. The next product may not enhance my first product but it will compliment it. I believe the users who are wanting a more all in one app will like the next product even more than the first one. The hassle of having to pick out every place they want to go for the night and then setting up a budget is a lot of work. There is also still the chance of losing your credit card which are two things my new app would eliminate. The one downside is some people do not like to put that much trust into technology and would rather remain sticking to my first app. This app will foster customer loyalty in the sense that they will continue using my apps as long as I am catering to their needs.

·         Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

4. I have searched the app store and could not find any product that is like mine except for apple pay. This app to my knowledge still does not give you the option to cap off your spending for the day. Or send alerts when you are close to your cap.

·         What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

5. Customers actually love the apple pay app. It received 4-5 stars on almost every website I visited. It talked about how fast and secure the process is. This would be great for bars as well as the customers. I bars get the process done much quicker because there is no signing process since there must be a touch ID process on the phone to reach my app. Also cards and money can be stolen but if the iPhone is people still cannot get access into your account and run up a ridiculous bar tab. People do not like that it only works in the US and that it is much easier to spend money this way/ harder to keep track.

·         Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. My two main differences to this product will be the fact that you can be alerted every time this app is used to keep track of your spending.

6.    Also if this is still a struggle you can load a certain amount of money onto the app and it will not allow you to spend any more than that.

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

7.    I believe this new product I am coming out with will cater to most of my customers’ evolving needs while still allowing my old app to attract the older or more cautious crowd that would still rather be using a wallet over a cell phone for every payment. Either way both apps will help customers save money on a night out. This is just a way to reach a larger target audience.

Growing My Social Capital

Jordan Snyder

1)      Jordan is a transfer student from Jacksonville, currently in many business and entrepreneurship organizations on campus.

2)      I have chosen Jordan to be my domain expert. Jordan is involved with developing many startup companies already so he knows how to network, develop a business, and then execute the plan.

3)       I first met Jordan through the IA academy. I later met up with him when we both joined an organization on campus called HLC. After a few sit downs with him he told me about his involvement with startup companies and his passion to run companies. Therefore I saw this man as a perfect contact to work with.

4)      Jordan and I have been good friends for some time now and for the most part he is just happy to help and get the experience of this venture. We have not discussed if he would ever become a partner in the business but he has discussed advertising his startups through my app.

5)      Having Jordan on my team will help me learn the process of starting a business as well as network out to other students with the same interests on campus.

Dalton Dessi

1)      Dalton is a third year transfer student from Tampa. He is heavily involved in many Greek organizations on campus and with-in his Fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha.

2)      I have chosen Dalton Dessi as my marketing expert. Dalton has been very active in the night life on both the USF campus as well as at UF. Dalton is currently working for The Retreat so he knows the college student community very well. He is very familiar with what students would have a great need for this app.

3)      I met Dalton Dessi through the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. I pledged the fraternity with him last fall semester and have been in constant contact with him ever since.

4)      In a result of Dalton helping me with the marketing aspect of my venture he has requested that he gets the app for free and is allowed to promote the Retreat on my app.

5)      Having Dalton on my team will help me find my exact target market making it easier for me to get my app onto people’s phones.

Parker Fields

1)      Parker is a second year student in the Innovation Program. He is involved with many programming organizations on campus.

2)      I have chosen Parker as my Developer. Parker has already launched multiple successful gaming apps and is constantly working on other projects.

3)      I met Parker during my first summer semester on campus in my creativity class. We were assigned to a lot of group projects together and ended up competing against one another in last year’s catalyst. Soon after we met in class he also joined an organization I was involved in called HLC.

4)      As with the other two people I am hoping to partner with I was willing to trade advertising space for his gaming apps if he helps me create my app.

5)      Parker has an exceptional amount of expertise in building apps, how to make it user friendly as well as appealing to potential customers. This will help attract my customers.

Reflection: This experience has helped me network within my college community. I believed this has helped me learn how to find people that can be great help to my business as well as how to bargain for their help. This experience differed a little from my networking in the past simply because I already knew a lot about the people I wanted on my team so although it was a very laid back pitch to get these guys on board it sometimes was a little awkward when we were asking on exchanges of “payment” of goodwill.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1)      My name is Collin Schramm I am a second year student at the University of Florida currently majoring in Public Relations. My talents in a business aspect are communicating with clients and gaining trust. From a non-business aspect I am very good at skateboarding, trying to surf, and baseball. I aspire to own my own business or partner with peers to help create a start-up business. Put simply, I want to be a game changer in the business field. This business concept I have come up with does not hold a specific place in my heart, it is simply an idea I have and would be practice for other ventures I will hopefully pursue. I see this as an experience to learn from for later projects I take on.

2)      I am offering an app that will control how much you are allowed to spend on your card in 24 hours at specific businesses such as bars, restaurants, vacation destinations. This app will stop the act of excessive spending when under the influence of alcohol or just under the influence of being careless. This app will not only cut off your card after the cap you set is reached, it will also send texts after every purchase so it will force the spender to avidly keep track of their spending throughout the night.

3)      This app has a large target market which will benefit the amount of success with the idea greatly. The age range for this market will be 21-35. This market can include college students who are very social in the night life scene, fraternity and sorority scenes, as well as older adults who still want a guy’s/ladies night out on the town. I am predominately focusing in on the college crowd because I share the same common need so I will be able to find a more fitting solution for this crowd and cater more to their specific needs.

4)      People care because this app has to do with saving money. Money does not grow on trees and people all work hard for their money. People also make mistakes… The fact this app can help people not wake up to a regretfully low bank account and wasting money on activities they can’t recall makes this app valuable to my target market.

5)      My communication skills along with my desire to have meaningful relationships with people sets me aside from a lot of people in a competitive business world. I like to have one on one’s with potential clients, I like transparency in a business, customers can know everything about me and I hope to learn a lot about them.

Feedback Memo: The five main points I took away from the feedback I received from my peers is:

·         Communication is a strong skill to have in the business community

·         Have to gain customers trust to give bank information

·         How will it not fall to cyber hackers like Venmo did

·         Differentiate yourself from other “budgeting” apps

·         Money is important to everyone so I have a big target market

I tried to incorporate these 5 qualities into my 5 part assignment above. I tried to emphasize how I excel in communication and building relationships because all of my peers agreed this is a good skill to have to help network as well as get people’s trust to give a third party app their banking information.  I have tried to come up with the fact this app will directly text you every time your card has been used and also give you a limit for the night and then freeze the card as a way to differentiate my app from other money saving apps. 

My Customer's Avatar

The images below reflect are taken from google images and are representations of the consumers I am aiming my app towards. I want a predominately younger crowd, anywhere from 21-35, but are not limited to that age. Personally from my experience and my interviews I see college kids deal with this problem more than any other consumer that goes out to clubs socially. College kids tend to go out most frequently as well as drink more while they are at the bars. My typical avatar is a very sociable person who has the money to go out frequently but still needs to budget for food, rent, tuition, etc. Although it will be easiest for this app to cater to college student’s needs, the beautiful thing about this app is it can benefit anyone over the age of 21 and who goes out to drink with friends as a social event. These customers I am focusing on drive scooters, ride bikes, or walk, very few actually drive cars. They live in dorms or on campus apartments which both are far more expensive than other living places in Gainesville. These kids normally work part time if they work at all due to the strenuous classes they are taking 9 months out of the year. These kids are very sociable, highly likely to be in organizations on campus or associated with Greek life as long as have a strong social network. If this app benefits even a few of our customers it will be easy for our app to be spread through word of mouth.

I share almost every quality I described about my consumer besides the minor detail that I am one of the few that own a car. I do go out frequently simply because it is something to do as a social event with my friends. I am currently active in three different organizations as well as associated with Greek life. I live in an apartment near campus and constantly have to worry about budgeting throughout the month. I believe it is no coincidence that I share all the same attributes as my potential consumers. I built this app to fill my own personal needs and am now seeing there is a huge market of people that have the same needs as I do.