Exit Strategy

I think the best course of action for an exit strategy would be to sell the business in the future. As an entrepreneur, you're always looking for new things to do and new things to begin. Even if there would be some attachment to my first real go at creating something, it would be in my best interest to not have to keep focusing on it down the road and be able to start something new. Because I plan on selling it I can look at things in a more short-term point of view, since I won't be there in the long-term.

Reading Reflection No. 3

For this reading reflection, I read Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman. The book was written in 2011 and received a good amount of awards and positive reviews from well-known critics. In talking about the theme of the book, it revolves around the idea that the brain functions in two different ways. One way is through conscious logical thought, while the other is through automatic responses that you don't have control over to triggers in the environment. The book explains the details of each way of functioning and talks about how sometimes, even if both ways are being used, that paying attention to one over the other is advantageous.
This is used in the real world basically every day when decisions are being made. Whether someone is an entrepreneur and has to make decisions on how to start up a business, or a CEO of a well known company trying to make decisions to keep it on top, there are always decisions being made. In cases like these, the results of the decisions are extremely crucial and if the wrong decision is made it could be catastrophic. It would be very advantageous to use the right way of brain operation in these cases.
One thing people could do to test their thinking is be presented with different problems, puzzles, or clues, and each one requires a different way of thinking to solve them. This would help people realize which way of thinking should be used.

Celebrating Failure

One of my recent failures was in another class I am taking this semester, Business Finance. It's notoriously one of the harder classes in the business school and, throughout the semester, has proven that to me. I am uncertain I'll get the grade I want/need, but I've learned a lot throughout the semester, exam to exam. I started off very lackluster because I've never taken a class like it before, but after the first exam it kind of gives you a reality check and helps you for the rest of the semester. You definitely have to be a quick learner in this class and be able to get back up after a gut punch. Speaking for the long-term, I won't go into a class again with the mindset I went into Finance with, and instead have the mindset I now have for all my future classes. If I don't get the grade I need, I can retake the class again next semester to try again, and I think with what I have learned from this semester, that I can thrive.
Failure is one of those things that is inevitable in life, and if taken the wrong way, can be detrimental. However, if taken the right way it can drastically improve life through learning and growth. Regardless of what it is, there is always something to be learned through failure. Even if it is not learned right away, through some reflecting it can be great for you.

What's Next?

Existing Market

I think a potential next step could be to incorporate a more traditional style fitness app into the existing one. While it still does the core of it and signs people in and out of gyms, it could also track calories, track active hours, set up a schedule for when to work out and give notifications to keep up motivation and hopefully keep people from skipping days.

I asked people and most people said they already use a fitness app so if this could be included with it it’d be perfect. However, one suggestion I got was to potentially, if the app got popular enough, to contact phone companies such as Apple and have them incorporate a system like that into their baseline phone apps.

New Market

I’ve actually kind of included a new market in the market for my product. In the Unites States, there is a a lack of focus on fitness and a heavy focus on fast food, resulting in a lot of overweight people. If their lack of desire to go to the gym is because they don’t want to have to face anyone then my product could potentially help motivate them to go.

I interviewed people I am close with, as to not be rude in asking my questions, but they did say that there would be a much higher chance of them going to the gym to try to lose weight if they knew they wouldn’t have to talk to anybody.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

I think the great thing about my product is that the opportunity lies within an already large audience that, if given motivation, can easily become even larger. The already existing audience being anyone who works out at all. In America, more so than anywhere else, there is an issue with weight problems and a lack of motivation to go to the gym. Everyday there are tons of people who want to go to the gym but don’t because they don’t want to have to talk to anyone face to face out of embarrassment. My product would alleviate that issue and potentially add those people to the opportunity audience. The people that don’t go to the gym simply because they don’t want to wait in a line or think that it’s too busy also join the audience. And, of course, everyone that already goes to the gym, whether they be a casual gym goer or a more hardcore dedicated one, are in the audience.

Innovation

The specific product I will be supplying is a mobile app used to make the process off signing in, and potentially out, of gyms much easier. The concept is to have a very localized location radius around the outer walls of any set gym, where when a customer with the app walks in, the app automatically signs them in, and the same thing for when they walk out. There are multiple options with selling the product. One of these options is selling it to individual customers who are also customers of the gym and maybe charging the gym itself a fee. The other option is to make the app free to the actual gym goers and require the gym to pay a price to use the product at their location. With both of these options there is also the choice of making the product a one-time fee or requiring a monthly fee to continue use.

Venture Concept

The product will meet a convenience desire for many customers but also increase competitiveness between gyms. In many cases if people are deciding between two gyms to potentially pay for a membership at, and all other factors are similar, the deciding factor could be whether or not the gym is a user of this app. For the gym goers, they see it as a way to get in and out faster and to not have to talk to anyone if they just want to mind their own business. For gyms, they see it as a way to attract customers, and a way to increase the speed at which people flow through the gym on busy days.

Three Minor Elements

I think the most important resource will be to maintain high passion and drive. At first the product might get shot down or rejected but I think once it picks up and the train gets rolling that gyms around the country will eventually be flocking to hop on.

The concept of an app being able to sign someone in and out simply based off of location could be useful in many other industries. For example, if a professor had his/her students download the app, they could take attendance without any extra time required.

Hopefully this can become a self-sustaining venture. It will probably require constant attention to keep up with competitors and the technological world since it is changing so fast. I think the important part of this venture, though, is the exposure to all the different aspects of the entrepreneurship world to help avoid some mistakes in future ventures.

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.       Technical knowledge – As an Info Systems major I get to know about some of the more technical aspects of things, including some coding.

2.       Business knowledge – Although my major focuses on the more technical side, it is still in the business school.

3.       Family connection – My aunt has worked at Bank of America for over 35 years so she’s a great resource for learning a lot about the financial side of things.

4.       Competitiveness – My motivation for things I do in life is derived from being competitive. This allows me to really go all in and work hard on whatever I do, because competitiveness isn’t limited to only a few things.

5.       Passion – Like I said, my passion comes from being competitive. Whatever I put my mind to I instantly become passionate about it because I want to push myself to prove, to me and others, that I did the best I could.

6.       Leadership – I have held multiple leadership positions in multiple organizations and worked my way up from a lower standing position in one of the organizations, overseeing an entire project.

7.       Social – I feel like I am extremely good at being able to talk and have a good time with people, but when it is needed, I can turn around and be professional. I think for my venture this is important because you want to be able to influence people by being relatable while maintaining a level of professionalism.

8.       Network – Outside of my aunt, I have networked with people that would more specifically help this venture. I’ve talked to people about how to manage and maintain the venture from a business perspective, while also learning from others how to work out the technical side and actually make the venture effective.

9.       Capital – Throughout my time in college I feel like I have done a great job at managing my money and creating some capital for myself through scholarship savings.

10.   Organization – I used to struggle a lot with organizational skills but throughout my life I have constantly told myself that I want to be considered an organized person one day and I am confident that I have reached that point.

I think my top resource would be passion simply because it is so flexible. It contains my competitive side within it, and has the ability to be put towards anything, making it extremely versatile. It might not be the most directly helpful resource in this venture, but it is was got it all started, so everything else relies on it.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VPA9KO5FGQ&feature=youtu.be

I generally received positive feedback on my last pitch. It was exciting to hear what people were going to have to say because it was actually my first pitch. There seemed to be an agreement on some of the struggles of doing these elevator pitches, which is nice to know that I'm not alone. After finally being able to get feedback about my own pitch I made sure to focus on all of that but also I critiqued myself and tried to focus on some of the small things I noticed. I think doing this will really bring the entire thing together and make it look very professional.

Growing Your Social Capital

-Created app to help organize attendance at meetings and events, bringing in over $10,000 of revenue

-Domain Expert

-Friend who personally created the app with a group of 2 others

-He told me a lot of the struggles on the business and legal sides of running an app

-I regularly talk to this person so being able to constantly go to him for advice will help me a lot

-Professional photographer, takes photos for the Miami Dolphins and Florida Gators

-Market Expert

-Hired to take a head shot photo and kept in contact with him

-I contacted him to see if I could ask him some questions and he gave me a lot of information on what kind of market he thinks I’ll be working with and how he would approach his marketing strategy for it

-Taking photos for a college and professional football team has definitely given him some great contacts so I may be able to meet more people who could assist me through him

-Helped create small app to encourage businesses to be more environmentally green

-Supplier Expert

-I met this person through the domain expert, who is a friend of mine. I asked him if he knew of anyone else that could have any experience in the field.

-They basically told me all of the ins and outs of reaching out to a business to see if they would be interested in using your app

-I met this person through someone I had already networked with, so hopefully I can continue the chain and further expand my network

I think after this networking experience, I can more confidently reach out to people in larger companies to ask their advice on things. This kind of got my foot in the door and gave me some practice in how to network. I’m also going to reach out to everyone I talked to and see if they know anyone in a bigger company that could help and how to go about contacting them.

Idea Napkin No. 2

I am Shaun Rogozinski, a 21 year old, 3^rd year Finance major at the University of Florida. Some of my skills/attributes include leadership, technological knowledge, and being good at working with others. I’ve had a couple past jobs, one working construction and another working at Chipotle. Working jobs like these, not that they’re bad, have made me realize that I want my life to be able to go in another direction. Hopefully one day I can have a job where I travel a decent amount but also have time to spend with my family. I think my business concept could play a big role in my life because I enjoy working out and technology, and it’s a combination of both.

I am offering a product that can greatly increase the convenience of going to the gym, something many people aren’t motivated to do. Hopefully with this added convenience factor more people will be willing to go. It could also help with congestion getting in and out of the gym at busy times. The app specifically allows customers to basically sign in and out of the gym simply by having their phone on them. It would be location based and be able to tell when someone walks in to the gym and sign them in, and when someone walks out of the gym and signs them out.

Well, obviously, one thing all customers must have in common is that they must visit a gym. I do think, however, that regardless of whether the person works out 5-6 times a week or 1-2 times a week, it can fit both of their needs. It is more of a convenience app which allows it to be desirable by everyone. There is also the option to offer the app to the gyms rather than the customers of the gym. This would allow the gym to pay to use the app and not each individual customer.

Customers would care for the added convenience factor. This is not something people necessarily need, but I think once a few people start using it and other people see it, they will automatically join. No one wants to not have something that someone else doesn’t, especially the demographic I would be covering, which is a very competitive one.

I think there are definitely things that have been made in the past to help speed up the process of signing in and out of a gym, such as fingerprint scanners. This would basically just be the next technological step. Many gyms have already converted to the fingerprint scanner, so I think many would also convert or upgrade to the app.

I do think the five elements fit together for this product. Knowing many people that do engage in gym activities, I think they would be very interested. The only concern I have is that it is only a convenience product which could affect demand since it’s not necessarily a need.

One thing I didn’t think about that I received in feedback was that it could help some people who aren’t so confident in going to the gym. I mentioned this in talking about motivation, because some people who maybe aren’t confident don’t want to face the person at the front desk so this could motivate them to go since they don’t have to talk to anyone. Another point in feedback was that technology is already very common in use for the fitness industry, so this wouldn’t be a major adjustment.