29

Opportunity:




I believe that businesses in Gainesville could benefit from my reduced priced supplies while contributing to be more environmentally friendly.


The forces that make this possible are the inherent desires of a business to cut costs as well as the existence of the RePurpose Project and other used good stores and thrift shops. Locally ran businesses are also an important feature in the mix since they have more flexibility.


The current target market of my business is Gainesville local businesses. In the future, I believe we could shift to helping out more locally owned businesses in other cities and regions. Another vital partnership would be with Alachua County Waste Management. I believe that if we had a partnership with this organization that we would be able to help the businesses we partner with recycle better and more often. We could potentially even collaborate to provide “Green Audits” of the businesses that we partner with to ensure that they are doing their best job at doing well for the planet.


Our current target market is solving this problem through accounts set up with local supply stores such as Staples or just ordering off online sites using their company’s bank account. Since these are not binding contracts, I do not foresee loyalty being an issue if we can provide similar products of high quality at a lower cost.


This opportunity expands far beyond Gainesville and applies to businesses everywhere. I believe that these reasons would drive many businesses to switch their suppliers.


This opportunity will be open until someone else does it and finds a way to do it digitally. I believe that if we were able to get a large enough supply of used goods, we could offer these services to businesses all over the nation. The biggest issue is finding that large of a supply and still keeping our prices low.




Innovation:




The RePurpose Program partners with local Gainesville businesses to provide them recycled office supplies through an established partnership with a local thrift-like, junkyard store known as the RePurpose Project. We offer low prices by buying products from the RePurpose Project and marking them up to make a solid profit but also remaining a good amount below retail price for new goods. This is advantageous for the local businesses and companies we partner with as they are able to save money while reducing their waste and helping another local business. Our pricing model is based on keeping our margins high as possible while also ensuring that they are far enough below the retail value of new goods. Our supply is based on demand; we do not buy goods from RePurpose Project until they are requested by our clients. If we end up branching off to helping more businesses, we would most likely switch to keeping an inventory of often requested goods.




Venture concept:


Since the ultimate goal of most businesses is to make a profit, I believe that our cost savings would drive a large customer base. The idea of being the cheapest available on the market tends to be a poor business model for many companies. However, due to the nature of our sourcing I do not foresee this being as big of an issue. If we were to sell digitally, this then may be an issue as shipping costs tend to be a large factor.




Three minor concepts:




Our most important resource is our partnership with RePurpose Project. This will allow us to source supplies easily and cheaply. If we get them to sign a binding agreement to not work with anyone else, that would guarantee an advantage. However, if we partner with too many businesses and sell mass quantities, we may lose this as an advantage. If we expand our partnerships, we could hedge against this risk.




Our next move would be expanding our supplier and customer partnerships. We could then drive sales due to our increased availability of suppliers. I believe that partnering with Goodwill would be a solid company to work with given their massive presence in the thrifting retail business. However, it may be easier to partner with locally owned thrift stores at first yet I am unsure since most of them just have clothing a knick knacks.




I would not be able to run this business for long unless I hired younger UF students to fill orders. It is not my dream to run this business for life but I think would be a good experience. I do not think hiring college students to continue the business would be too hard as many students work for similar businesses like Uber Eats. I would still be able to take the orders and translate them to whoever I have working in Gainesville. This would be concerning since I wouldn't be able to help fill orders if the students are busy. I am unsure that I would be able to generate enough profit to keep the business going if I had employees. If possible, I would sell it to RePurpose as they could hire people or just have their current workers and interns fill orders.




Summary of feedback from first Venture Concept:




The feedback I received from my last Venture Concept outline was to focus on finding partnerships with other businesses that could provide more supply resources. I agree that this would make my life a lot easier as I would be more assured that we would have a product available to offer to our business clients. I believe that this would allow us to expand our business to serve a wider customer base in a greater geographic region. I think Goodwill could use this as a great way to expand their service offerings and revenues. With the increase in “fast fashion” due to increased accessibility and the internet, I believe that they may eventually have to expand to being available

27

1) I chose Grinding It Out ; The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc, the man who pioneered the spread of the McDonald's franchise that many of us know and love

What surprised me the most was how old Mr. Kroc and the McDonald's brothers were when this all came about. Their older age definitely gave them the knowledge to create such an innovative way of doing things and for Kroc to know that it would change eating out forever.

What I most admired about Mr. Kroc was his constant effort and belief that things would go through. He adjusted accordingly to what he was learning and put all stability on the line for his dream to come true.

The demise of many of Kroc's relationships is not an admiral trait. It is unfortunate that he had cycled through many marriages. It is also unfortunate that his relationship with the McDonald's brothers went sour. I hope that I am always able to rekindle relationships despite hardships like his relationships encountered. 

I think that convincing people was always a struggle for Mr. Kroc. His ideas were grand so it makes sense that they would oppose him. I am unsure that I would be able to continue to persist after so much rejection. I hope that I can have as much conviction as Kroc in my future pursuits. 

2) I believe that persistence and adaptability are major things that Kroc encompassed. He was able to adjust his plans yet always stayed true to making sure that the business was a success. 

3)  The most confusing part of the whole thing is conceptualizing the culture that they lived in. McDonald's is a staple in everyday life in America and also technology has changed so much since. It is hard to put yourself in the characters shoes since we live a life very different when it comes to day-to-day functions. 

4) I would ask him what he thinks of his brand now? I am curious if he would like the direction being takes. I also would ask what he would believe the next big food/restaurant trend is. I would love to understand his perception of the industry. 

5) I think he would believe that you should do all you can to get things done. I am unsure if I completely resonate with this since I do not completely believe success in business is the most important thing in life. However, I do believe that individual fulfillment is extremely important and should be shot for. 

30

I think the most challenging and memorable experience was having to cold call the businesses that I hoped to be customers and pitching my idea to them. It was hard to remain professional given that I knew my service still had some tweeking to do. I think that emotional intelligence skills can always been improved since there are so many different people out there to meet and interact with which can at times be challenging. 

My most joyous experience was definitely pitching and coming up with what I was going to say. At times, I felt pretty silly but watching myself made me notice ways I could improve for the next one and in other public speaking contexts. I think that this is also something I most proud of being able to do and improving at. 

Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

I am unsure if I would consider myself an entrepreneur but I also have discovered that I possibly could be. I hope to open my own business one day so having this experience made me realize lots of questions I need to ask myself when making decisions about how to target ideal clients and provide a customer focused service. 

I think entrepreneurship is mostly challenging and scary because you are not guaranteed success. I think is it important for aspiring entrepreneurs to be mindful that the main objective is to make a product that makes peoples lives easier and/or better. If you always have this in the back of your head when making decisions, you'll be a lot better off.

If you're just looking to get the grade, definitely try to get ahead and not wait until the last minute to do things. It is too easy to miss points so you need to be on top of your game. However, if you want to truly get the most out of it I would recommend working a little bit on it practically every day. If it's in the back of your mind always, you may be out somewhere and see something that sparks a way for you to make your service or product better. I believe that this is the key mindset on an entrepreneur: always looking for better solutions! I think Gary Vee does a good job of embracing this mindset and I believe all entrepreneurs should listen to some of the content he has created. 

28A

1)Since my business relies so heavily on the Gainesville area and the RePurpose Project, I think it makes the most sense for me to sell my business or potentially pass it on to a club in Heavener. I think that Warrington Goes Green, the new Heavener club that emphasizes the importance of being environmentally conscious as business, could use my business as a way for members to actively be involved in this message while generating funds for the organization.
 
2) I think that it may be hard to sell the business since profits are too low. If the club is not interested, it may be advantageous for the RePurpose Project to hire someone to do this or to delegate this responsibility to their employees. I would have already done most of the hard work establishing relationships so they would just need to fill orders.

3) I think this strategy definitely impacts my strategy for expansion of the business. This is how it mostly impacts the business since it would be hard to build so many relationships and all of a sudden leave.

26

I will say that I have continued to fail at being productive this semester. In fact, I am doing this assignment far in advance to procrastinate studying for Finance even further. I have sort of burnt myself out. I took Financial and Managerial accounting this summer which was a lot on top of the internship I held along with two other classes. Spring was not an easy first semester either as I got adjusted to campus while pledging a business fraternity, doing an internship, and taking on a role in one of the "Fund" clubs. I have had barely any time to enjoy college life or build relationships with people outside of my peers in these organizations. I did it all to get ahead for a Masters program I am applying to but my lack of dedication these past few months may limit me from that.

From this I have learned the importance of work-life balance. What is most funny about my current feelings is that I did this to chase a career that is known to have 80 -100 hour work weeks. I am now trying to spend more time thinking about what I really want long term and how I can best use my education to get me there.

I think this class is valuable in that it shows students that you can come up with great ideas and start a business rather than take on a corporate role. However, what I think is most important is planning for failure. I do not necessarily think failure is bad if a concise and thought out plan leads you to it. Yet, making decisions that you know will likely end in failure are probably not smart especially if you can get the same results through a different route. I sped up my classes because I wanted to have a window to retake them but the speed is what has led me to do poorer in them. It's unfortunate but I am glad to have made mistakes early on so I can make sure I am doing things that make me exciting going into my remaining time at UF.

24

Opportunity 

Businesses in Gainesville would benefit from more affordable office and facility supplies while helping reduce waste by using recycled goods.

Although this may not be urgent, my solution would be advantageous as it would make the businesses more profitable while helping support other local businesses. 

The forces in the environment that makes this possible is the availability of recycled goods at the RePurpose Project, a local Gainesville thrift-like store, and the variety of locally ran businesses in the Gainesville area. 

Due to the limited supply of this store, it would be advantageous to mostly focus on Gainesville businesses to sell to. 

Customers are currently solving this need by using big retailers to provide their supplies, including Office Depot, Staples, and Amazon. Many of these businesses do not hold contracts with these companies and simply have opened a non-binding business account with them. 

This is a limited opportunity but there is almost guaranteed profits to be made. However, I think I may be limited in expanding my business as paying employees would dip too far into my margins which already are low.

This opportunity will be available as long as RePurpose is open and there are small businesses who are willing to do business with me. 

Innovation

The RePurpose Program partners with local Gainesville businesses to provide them recycled office supplies by an established partnership with a local thrift-like, junkyard store known as the RePurpose Project. We offer low prices by buying products from the RePurpose Project and marking them up to make a solid profit but also remaining a good amount below retail price for new goods. This is advantageous for the companies as they are able to save money while reducing their waste and helping another local business. 

At first, the idea was to work with different offices throughout the University of Florida and help them be more environmentally conscious. However, after considering the amount of work that is required in becoming a vendor to the University it made more sense to focus on outside businesses that also serve the students of UF and the rest of the Gainesville population. I would first focus on the locally-owned businesses and then see if we could expand to helping some of the bigger businesses around UF’s campus that have parent companies.

Venture Concept

I think the biggest incentive for companies to switch to my product is the cost savings. Since the ultimate goal of most companies is to make profit, I believe that any way for them to do this while retaining the quality of their services would be seen as a good thing for them to do. However, I believe that I will encounter a lot of questions about the reliability of the supplies to be available when they need it, for it to be of good quality, and also if it will be delivered as quickly as they may want it and therefore quicker than Amazon, Office Depot, or wherever else they are sourcing these goods. This has become of greater concern to me as Amazon is pushing for all of their goods to be available within one day of ordering. 

These are our biggest competitors by far. Due to the massive size of their business they practically ensure quality. I definitely am concerned by this. I will say though that this is probably the biggest advantage they have over my business, in addition to having some sort of obscure item that is not as common as a hot glue gun or stapler. I definitely will do my best to ensure that our products are held to a higher standard and are fully functional. 

Our product offerings are not delivered in any particular packaging except whatever is available at the RePurpose Project. We would deliver mostly using old cardboard boxes. Customer service may be hard as my initial intent is to run the business by myself. I am not available 24/7 as some of these customer service lines are for our big competitors yet since the nature of this business is not very urgent, I do not see a few hour delay being a huge make or break factor. I do think I would need to focus on businesses close to campus since I do not have a car. I may need to enlist a friend to help me in delivery and pickup in order to be able to get the products to customers quickly. Besides that, I believe the structure can be pretty laid back. 

3 Minor Elements

Our biggest resource will be our partnership with the RePurpose Project. This enables us to be the only company with access to their goods, creating a monopoly. I believe that we could also work on establishing partnerships with local Goodwills incase our demand proves to be too grand for the supply at the RePurpose Project. 

What’s next for our venture would be expanding to more places in Gainesville. I believe we could provide value to a wide variety of businesses beyond just office supplies. I would start with businesses close to campus and RePurpose Project and then try to expand further from there. 

I would not be able to run this business forever unless I hired younger UF students to fill orders. I do not think this would be too hard as many students work for similar businesses like Uber Eats and Bite Squad. I would still be able to take the orders and translate them to whoever I have working in Gainesville. This would be concerning since I wouldn't be able to help fill orders if the students are busy. I am unsure that I would be able to generate enough profit to keep the business going if I had employees. Also, I would have to have someone in charge of quality control which would dip even more into my margins. I could potentially just pass this program off to the Warrington Goes Green club that was recently established. 

25

Existing market

Step 1:
I think that the next step in offering my products and services to businesses is simply expansion. I believe that my business could provide value for a majority of Gainesville businesses.

Step 2:
Makayla: "I think you could go through the process of branding your goods and refurbishing them to increase value and the price slightly. If you did this, you still need to remember not to make them so inexpensive because that is one of your selling points"
Danielle: "I think you could do this with stuff from Goodwill as well but it may be hard to establish a relationship with them unlike RePurpose"
Tatiana: "You should sell products to consumers. Maybe you could fix up some of the other items they have and sell them through a website. I am sure some of the records they have are valuable"

Step 3:

I think that my friends made great points on how I could expand my business. What I think my main focuses should be for the near future is expansion into more stores and a method for refurbishing some of the items. I think establishing more contracts is important since the companies I am working for are not ordering things everyday and therefore my volume is not very high. It may be helpful to actually hold inventory of some products just in case someone comes in to RePurpose and buys out the majority of the lot of things that my business provides.
This leads in to a method for refurbishing the items that I am reselling. Potentially painting all the items a same color or adding my logo would be advantageous. This would increase product quality and serve as a way to market my products to other potential customers. However, this may cause me to get away from my guiding selling point of low costs and low waste. It may be better if I just focus on making sure that my products are as clean as possible and lack rust so they function properly. Checking for proper functioning is definitely something I should look at focusing on.

New Market.

Step 1:
I think going B2C could be an interesting space but very different. I believe that I would need to really focus on improving the aesthetics of my products if I ever expect to sell them online and shipping may cost more than service and car delivery.

Step 2:
I think value could be created here if my customers were searching for more fun products. I think that people into vintage goods may find value in a similar concept but I am not sure if it would work my current concept of selling old staplers.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market?
Valentina: "I love vintage things! I think maybe making art with the old records could be a cool idea"
Amanda: "I think some of the old magazines and cards could be repurposed into artsy decor which people may like"

Step 4: 
I think that art would be a more suitable focus for consumers. This makes more sense since I would likely have to search harder for potential customers than I would in the B2B space. I definitely could utilize the used goods RePurpose has yet this business is more risky. A business is more likely to want to purchase a fully functioning used stapler rather than consumers purchasing a piece of art since preferences are so important. I do not see this market as attractive.
If I did this business, I think I would rely to heavily on whatever RePurpose has to offer. I think that it may be hard to create things that I would find good to sell. It also would require me to establish a greater brand and style. This requires a lot more investment than my B2B idea.

23

Resources of my venture:
- ability to instill a sense of doing better for the environment, local economic community, and youth to the companies we are doing business with
- low prices as sourced by the RePurpose Project
- ability to monopolize through out partnership
- variety of experience within professional settings
- minimal financial investment required for starting the business
- culture of caring and giving back to the community and environment
- ability to market the reputation of the RePurpose Project
- derived demand for inventory which will decrease upfront costs
- ability to use school's students reputation to promote the connected culture in Gainesville
- I will also be able to use my accounting knowledge to keep track of how we are doing in terms of profitability
VRIN:
Valuable - provides low prices to businesses while helping reduce accumulation of waste throughout Gainesville businesses
Rare - since we would partner with the RePurpose Project, we are the only ones with access to the resources
Inimitable - we would create a contract with RePurpose Project
Non - substitutable - I think there may be potentially replaceable resources but I think that the idea that we are helping the planet and community is the main selling point

Our top resource is the sense of goodwill instilled by the idea that companies are helping reduce waste and helping a student develop a business

21

The book I chose to read was Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. What was great about this assignment is that I had actually already bought this book at the recycled book store here in Gainesville. It was a book that I had wanted for years and it was great to see everything tie together through my school education. I found it challenging due to the sheer size of the book.

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

The theme is understanding the levels of thinking your brain operates at in different scenarios. By understanding this better, you can think more clear in the variety of situations you encounter.

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

One of the earliest things I noticed that I thought really aligned with this coursework was what we consciously observe versus what slips right by us. I think this related back to our Bug List assignment where we had to point out things we dislike. I believe that if you can do this, you may come up with a revolutionary product idea to solve this issue for everyone.

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

The book focuses on thinking objectively versus subjectively. An interesting assignment would be showing a student a video and having them record their initial reaction on how they would react to the situation shown. 

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?

The bigggest thing for me was being able to apply these concepts to my everyday life which I believe has really helped me get through the semester. 

22

https://youtu.be/h3kDJvXs378

I believe that I did pretty well on this pitch compared to my past two. I added a more fun opener than I the one that I had in the past. I think I did a better job of showing the connection between two separate entities that are doing business together, since my company is business-to-business. I took my peers advice and did this video in a better place where the sound did not bounce off the walls. They did not comment specifically on the content but that I should strive to continue making improvements. Overall, I think I have made great strides in this department of my business and as a skill. Pitches are hard but can also be fun with practice.

20A

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry. 

- I interviewed someone named Maya Rogers who has her own online, recycled clothing brand.

- This person would potentially be a market expert since she is well aware of the business models of these thrift shops who sell used clothes, which she uses to make her products.

- I have followed this person on Instagram since we went to the same high school.

- We just had lunch and I brought her an orange clementine as a thank you since I have seen her post them a lot with her meals.

2) One person must be an expert on your 

- Unfortunately, I was not able to contact the manager of RePurpose but spoke to a worker who's name i did not catch. 

- This person would be a representative of the supplier

- I knew to contact this person by calling the store and asking who had time to speak. Not the greatest source but they were able to give me lots of insight into how their processes work. 

- I just asked them when they'd be in to work and I plan on bringing them something small when meting

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry.

- I decided to talk to a competitors since this space is not currently penetrated. Speaking to an Office Depot employee while visiting their store was a simple step towards understanding more.

- This person would also provide help similar to how a strategist would

- I found this person by visiting a local consignment store, which made it easiest for me

- after the conversation, we opted to stay in touch through Instagram. I followed her dog's Instagram account so I believe we are pretty close. 

These were not the types of people I usually encounter since their lives center around their specific industry. It was a great learning experience as all networking is but knowing more about these people revealed to me that there really may be a target market for my product that exists,

19A

1) I am a dedicated student and friend. I am talented at bringing people together and finding the root of issues. As far as tangible skills, I believe that I am decent at making PowerPoints. This business makes sense in my life since I have recently been taking on 'minimalist' habits to reduce the waste and clutter in my life.
2)We are offering customers an affordable solution to be able to receive goods quickly while promoting the reduction of waste on a corporate level.
3)We are offering this to local offices that are less focused on luxury aesthetic and more interested in catering to those who are environmentally conscious.
4) They care because they save money, get to help support a local business, and help reduce waste overall.
5) What sets myself and the company apart is that we are able to meet our goals while helping a greater good in the process. 

Generally, these fit together. This is mostly because I even used the same reasoning to answer a majority of the questions. I think it is wise for me to spend time identifying and developing more of my skills and understanding of myself. I believe this will help me in my business and while working with others.