My Exit Strategy

1) Initially, I would run the business as if I were planning on doing so until I was able to retire. The only thing that would change this plan is if one of my children felt very strongly about taking the business on as their own. 

2) I would go into not with the mindset of passing the business down to my children because I would never put pressure on them to do so though. I want the business to be in the hands of someone who has as much passion for it as me and if that isn't my children, I totally understand that and want them to go after their dreams and not mine. 

3) I don't really think my exit strategy had much to do with the decisions I have made regarding my business. I have made all my decisions based on what I think would be best for my customers and their dogs but would also make money. Because of this, my exit strategy doesn't really affect these decisions. 

Reading Reflection No. 3

1) The Wright Brothers

• That the brothers successfully owned and operated a printing company and then a bicycle shop before they started pursuing aviation. 

• I loved that just pure curiosity and thirst for knowledge is what drove the brothers. They weren't driven by money or power which is most cases nowadays.

• There wasn't really anything I didn't admire about the brothers. 

• The Wright brothers encountered failure many times in their quest to create the first airplane but they never gave up. They learned what not to do from every failure and just tried to make the next model even better. They also faced failures when they tried to get the US government and media to share their invention. They had to travel all the way to France to get anyone to pay attention to them.

2) Both Wilbur and Orville were extremely intelligent but each in their own ways. The book describes Wilbur the analytical minded brother while Orville knew everything there was to know about mechanics. Like I said above, they both were incredibly internally motivated by their own curiosity. 

3) I was a bit confused when they would talk specifically about the science behind their inventions but that was all. 

4) First, I would ask what it was like to do something incredible alongside your own brother because inventing something is something so rewarding, and doing it with your brother must make it even better. Second, I would ask if they ever thought a person could make it to outer space because they thought of aviation like no one else did so I wonder if they would go as far as believing something could fly all the way to another planet. 

5) I think they thought of hard work as just never giving up on something no matter how hard the journey becomes. I think they lived by this which is why their countless failures didn't stop them from making history. I do agree with this definition of handwork because if you never give up on things, you can do anything in life. 

Celebrating Failure

1) As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I walk dogs as a side job. I usually schedule walks through an app that has a calendar and will send me alerts when I have a dog to walk that day. One of my clients, though, didn't want to use the app and preferred to just text me. This was fine by me because it meant I got to be paid in cash. He always texts me at the beginning of the week to schedule which days I would come over to walk his dog. Well, there was one day that I was walking a couple of dogs, had classes, and had a shift for my other job. It was quite a hectic day and I didn't realize I was supposed to walk this guys dog until he called me 3 hours after the time he scheduled and asked if I had been over there. I felt terrible and apologized profusely to my client and luckily he wasn't too worried about it.

2) I learned to always put my dog walks into my calendar, as well as to wake up everyday and immediately check my calendar to see what I have going on that day. It also taught me that I am my biggest critic so I will always be harder on myself than others are. I thought that this guy would never trust me to walk his dog again, but he understood that mistakes happen and I am still walking his dog for him to this day.
3) I take failure hard but I have learned how to move on and not dwell on it. I've played softball for the past 10 years or so of my life and it has taught me so much about failure. In a game like softball or baseball, you fail a lot. For example a .500 batting average is amazing and that only means you are getting a hit 50% of the time. That means you are failing the other 50% of the time. This has taught me that it's ok to fail sometimes - everybody does - and you just have to learn from it and keep trying to better yourself. 

What's Next

Existing Market

1.       As I have stated, my initial venture will be an indoor dog park with an area for owners to sit outside the dog area and a small café that the owners can buy snacks and drinks from. Eventually, I would love to add additional services to my venture including doggie daycare and dog boarding.

2.       Before telling my three interviewees what my next plans for my venture were, they all stated I should add dog boarding as a service to my venture. When I added that I would also want to add doggie daycare and all of them thought that it was also a great idea. The interviewees also agreed that allowing my venture to become a franchise opportunity was a good idea. One interviewee even brought up the idea of having a daycare as well, so a parent could come and drop off their dogs and kids for the day and not have to worry about them.

3.       The two biggest growth steps that my business would incur would be adding services of dog boarding and doggie daycare and then becoming a franchise business. The first step would definitely be so add the additional services to my venture. I would have to either add additional space or allocate space to be used later up front to make room for dogs to sleep at night. I would also have to have additional staff there to supervise the dogs overnight. I would have a crate-free boarding program which meant rather than the dogs sleeping in cages, we would have cots and mattresses for them to sleep on. After I had these services added and knew that my venture was a success and profitable, I would allow other entrepreneurs in different locations to open franchises of my venture. This way, I could be in charge of the overall company and my original park, but have other locations around the country. It would also save me up front costs when opening new facilities because the people choosing to franchise them would cover those costs.

New Market

1.       I am currently targeting the lower economic classes with my venture so the radically different market I could target would be high economic classes.

2.       I think my product would still create value in this market basically the same way. Rich people still own dogs and still like to treat their dogs well.

3.       The two people I interviewed from this market both agreed that they would still find a use for my venture. One interviewee stated that I would need to have nicer amenities, especially those tailored to the humans because that is what higher classes are used to. My other interviewee stated that possibly adding a service where their dogs could be picked up and brought to the park would be nice. Because higher classes have the means to pay for it, they often like things to be done for them. This could either be because they are extremely busy or they just would rather not do it themselves.

4.       The idea of having someone pick up dogs and bring them to the park was not something I had thought of but it does seem like a good idea. It would be like an Uber for dogs. In my opinion, it would be harder to break through this market than my original market which is why I think I will stick to targeting lower economic classes for my venture.

Venture Concept No. 1 for Griff's Indoor Dog Park

Opportunity

Dog owners everywhere have the need for a place to take their pet when the weather is poor. The forces in the environment that create this opportunity are poor weather conditions and dog owners’ desire for a place to take their dogs where they can run around and socialize with other dogs. The market for this opportunity would be much higher in an area where rain is more prevalent and where there is a large number of dog owners. In terms of defining this market demographically, there is not a particular limit to the demographic that this opportunity serves, considering dog owners vary by age, race, economical status, etc. When the weather is nice, customers utilize outdoor parks, but when the weather is poor, they do not have another option, so they are forced to stay home with their dogs. The loyalty of the customers differs across the board. Some customers are extremely loyal to outdoor dog parks and attend them frequently—some more than once a week—while other customers attend them only once or twice a month. This opportunity is very BIG. There are dog owners everywhere, who would love to have a place to take their dogs all the time. The “window of opportunity” will never close because there will always be dog owners and there will always be poor weather, so the mixture of the two creates my opportunity. Dog owners + poor weather = my opportunity.

Innovation

                The innovation I have come with is an indoor dog park. There will be a large open area covered with turf that is available for the dogs to run around. This open space will include small artificial ponds, agility obstacles and some fake mulch pits for the dogs to utilize. There will be staff walking around to monitor the dogs and to clean up any messes that occur. In addition, there will be places to sit for the owners to sit outside of the dog area and a café where the humans can purchase snacks and drinks. Customers can choose between a monthly membership fee to use the facility as often as they want or a one-time fee if they do not plan on coming often. The monthly membership fee would be $50 while the one-time fee would be $15. This means that if someone comes once a week, they would save $10 per month if they purchase the monthly membership over the one-time fee.

Venture Concept

                My innovation of an indoor dog park would address my opportunity by giving dog owners a place to bring their dogs to play when there are poor weather conditions. The transition from outdoor dog parks to indoor dog parks would be smooth enough for dog owners, so persuading them to switch would not be too difficult. I have tried to make my venture more appealing than an outdoor dog park is to better convince dog owners to choose my facility over outdoor dog parks. Business location is very important because if I am located in a place with a lot of dog owners and poor weather then I will be successful, but if I am located in a place with few dog owners and consistently nice weather then I will have a harder time succeeding. I would create this venture as a franchise opportunity so I could manage the company as a whole, but I would have help running the individual facilities.

Minor Elements

                My most important resources will be my passion for my venture and my dedication to high quality customer service. It will be hard for my competitors to copy my success because I will have so much passion and be dedicated to give my customers the best experience possible. I would like to add the opportunity of doggy daycare and dog boarding to my venture to allow me more opportunities to make money and serve my community. 10 years after I launch my venture, I would hope to have multiple franchises open around the country.

My Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.   Uniqueness of the Idea/Lack of Competition: My idea is the first of its kind and will therefore face no exact competition.

·      Valuable: yes very

·      Rare: yes

·      Inimitable: yes but not I would have a head start 

·      Non-substitutable: no for now

2.   Social Capital: Dog Owners: I know a lot of dog owners because I am one also.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: somewhat

·      Inimitable: no one can match exact relationships

·      Non-substitutable: yes, people could know other individuals with dogs

3.   Business knowledge: I have taken many courses relating to business throughout my time in college.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: no, many people study business

·      Inimitable: yes somewhat

·      Non-substitutable: no, could substitute education with work experience

4.   Customer Service: I plan to have excellent customer service at my venture.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: yes

·      Inimitable: yes but to the extent I plan to provide

·      Non-substitutable: yes

5.   Prime Location: I plan to be located in a city that has a large population of dog owners and also has a lot of bad weather, Seattle.

·      Valuable: yes very

·      Rare: no, many ventures plan location carefully

·      Inimitable: yes but not I would have a head start in that city

·      Non-substitutable: yes

6.   Passion: I love dogs and would put everything I had into making my business successful so that it would be available to pet owners.

·      Valuable: yes very

·      Rare: yes, to this extent

·      Inimitable: no 

·      Non-substitutable: yes, no substitute for passion

7.   Affordable Price: I want everyone to be able to afford to use my facility so it will be affordable.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: somewhat

·      Inimitable: yes, people can match prices

·      Non-substitutable: no, someone could make a nicer product and charge more but then we wouldn't really be direct competition/substitutes

8.   Dog Experience: I have a lot of experience caring for dogs whether it was my own throughout my life or dog-sitting/walking other's dogs.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: no

·      Inimitable: no one can match exact experience

·      Non-substitutable: no

9.   Social Capital: Pet Industry Individuals: I know many people within the pet industry.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: somewhat

·      Inimitable: no one can match exact relationships

·      Non-substitutable: yes, people could know other individuals within the industry

10.                 Extra Amenities: I will have food and drinks, doggie daycare, and even boarding opportunities available in addition to just access to the indoor dog park.

·      Valuable: yes

·      Rare: somewhat

·      Inimitable: yes

·      Non-substitutable: yes

Of course all of these resources are what give my venture an unfair advantage but I think the one that gives me the biggest would be my passion I have for my venture. Not only will I have passion to make sure the business succeeds so I can support my family, but I also will have passion to provide the product my customers need with the best customer service possible.

Reading Reflection No. 2

"The Art of Social Media"

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of the book was how to utilize social media to best represent and shape your personal brand. The book consisted of over 100 different tips on how to use social media to best sell yourself or your brand to your audience. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

We haven't really talked much about social media specifically in class but we have talked about our personal brands. This book goes right along with arguing the importance of having a great personal brand and also how to represent any product or business you may be apart of. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would have an assignment that went along with all the other assignments that we do in this class and I would have students make a social media page for either themselves or the product they created. Then, I would have them make two different blog posts, about a month apart from one another about it. The first post would include the link to the social media account and a brief summary of what they hope their account will accomplish. The second post later on will also include a link to their social media account and a summary of how they used the account to accomplish their goals and what they learned over the month. Throughout the month in between the blog posts, students will be required to post periodically just as you would on any social media account. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations? 

I think social media is such a huge part of our society I really enjoy reading books about how to best use it. It has so many features that can be used to benefit someone or something but it can also have dire consequences if you use it poorly. I was pretty shocked at how almost all of the tips seemed like common sense, but that people still don't know about them and use them. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1. The Pitch

2. Reflection
I didn't receive too much feedback on my last pitch but the few things my peers pointed out to me were that I lacked a hook, that is needed to be more engaging to the customers, and that I should include my dog in the video. None of this feedback really surprised me and I loved the idea of having my dog in it, I just knew it would make the filming process a bit harder.

3. What I Changed?
I took all of the feedback discussed above and tried to incorporate them into my pitch this time. I made a bit of a hook at the beginning, which also helped me engage the customers, and I included my dog in the whole video. I was still a little uncomfortable in front of the camera but having my pup beside me made it a little easier.

Growing my Social Capital

1. Domain Expert: Daniel Clifton
Daniel and I have some mutual friends but I have never really spoken to him before, so I gave him a quick phone call for this assignment. He has been working for a local animal rescue called Gainesville Pet Rescue for a few years now which is why I used him for this slot. He works with dogs every single day as well as the people adopting and fostering the dogs. He gave me some great advice on what dogs need physical activity wise and also how to talk to and deal with dog owners. I am grateful to have Daniel in my social network now so that if I ever have questions relating to dogs needs or temperaments or how to deal with dog owners, I can turn to him for help.

2. Market Expert: Fred Goldsmith
I reached out to Mr. Goldsmith via email to get some words of advice from him. He is the founder and CEO of Pet Paradise, a dog kennel chain that prides themselves on having the highest quality treatment of peoples pets. He is actually from my hometown, so he was happy to help out a student from his area. He talked about how being an animal lover himself has helped him in his journey because he knows how he wants the animals in his facilities to be treated. Then, he just has to make sure all of his employees think the same. To further his point, he told me he even goes to the kennel sometimes to play with the dogs there. This was great news as I am also a huge animal lover, so hopefully that would be a help to my future business.

3. Supplier: Laura Wilkin
Laura Wilkin is the Chief Supply Chain Officer of Petco. I reached out to Laura via email and I was skeptical I would hear back from her since she holds such a high position in a company as large as Petco but fortunately, I did. It wasn't a long exchange but I think being in contact with her at all is a big deal for me. She gave a tidbit of advice in her email to me to always do ample research when choosing who should be the supplier for my product. She said there are a lot of cheap, low quality products out there and don't let the great price get you hooked but also don't overpay. she finished wth "there are always good products out there selling for a good price, you just have to work hard to find them." I thought this was great advice and just having Laura recognize my name could be a huge asset for me in my future business endeavors.

Reflection
I actually learned a lot in this assignment. I first learned to always take advantage of mutual friendships because it makes people feel a much closer connection than say a stranger would have and so people are much more willing to help. It also taught me to not be afraid to take chances when reaching out to possible network people because you never know who may respond and who you may need help from down the road. I never thought I would hear back from Laura Wilkin, but I did and it was a great experience.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) Me. My name is Leah Pendarvis and I am studying sport management hear at UF. I work at RecSports here on campus in our two weight rooms in Student Rec and Southwest Rec. Because of that job, I have developed really great customer service skills and can much better pick up on needs of customers that aren't being met. I am a huge dog lover and actually walk dogs as another job currently. If I were to start this business, I would definitely be in the facility everyday helping running operations and talking to customers.

2) What am I offering to customers? My idea is to create an indoor dog park. Because it is indoors, you would never have to worry about weather ruining your dog park plans ever again. To fund the park it would cost a small fee, somewhere between 5-15 dollars to get in or you could buy a membership for around 30 dollars a month to come as frequently as you would like. There would be staff hired to clean the facility and keep an eye on dogs to ensure the safety of all of our furry friends. There would be separate areas for our small dogs and our large dogs to been even more cautious with their safety. There would be lots of things for the dogs to use like agility obstacles and pools. You as owners will be able to watch from outside the play zone so that you don't have to fear getting run over by dogs playing tag. There will even be concessions offered for owners to purchase but water bowls will be provide for the dogs throughout the park. 

3) Who am I offering it to? I'm offering this product to any dog owners that have well behaved dogs who would like their dog to get exercise and socialization.

4) Why do they care? My product is valuable to customer because it gives them an opportunity to take their dog to a park in more comfortable conditions and without having to worry about the weather since it is indoors. It will also be staffed with people who know how to spot uncomfortable and aggressive dogs to keep your dog safe as well as keep the park clean.

5) What are my core competencies? My competition is outdoor public dog parks and all of the things I have mentioned above are things I offer that outdoor parks do not. The main concept which makes my product stand out is the fact that it is indoors and is therefore protected from the elements at all times.

I do believe all of these elements fit together and therefore will make for a successful business. 

Feedback Memo: I really only received positive feedback from my previous idea napkin so I didn't change too much. I added a few details and other things from what we have talked about in class since then, but that is about it.