Week 11 Reading Reflection

1. Nothing in particular came as a surprise to me because much of what Pisano was saying about needing a proper business strategy that fits your company for innovation was actually presented to us already in the Management course. Strategy, being a company effort, almost like a culture built within the business, is set by top management and implemented every employee in every department.

2. As I mentioned above, nothing was particularly surprising or confusing to me just because I have previously seen this material.

3. Although the strategy for every company is going to differ from the next, what are some general characteristics that would likely make up a good business strategy for innovation? If not characteristics, what goals should the strategy meet to be considered a "successful" business plan?

4. I don't want to say that I disagreed anywhere with Pisano because I genuinely agreed with everything he said. There wasn't a part of the reading where I doubted him. Everything made logical sense, at least to me, and he backed his statements up with more logic.

Amazon Whisperer

My venture included a third party delivery service for restaurants in which I would offer the actual customers of the restaurants free delivery. The way that I would make money would by charging the restaurant 25-30% of the order. My competitors, like GoWaiter or DoorStep Delivery for example, do the same thing except they do not offer free delivery, making them more expensive on the consumer and less attractive overall.

My Current Revenue Driver is made up of the percent commission I would take from each order. 

The next service I could provide is online ordering for pick-up in addition to just delivery. I would take a smaller fee for that, perhaps 8-10%, for each order that comes through our website. We would essentially be offering a way for a restaurant to take online orders that does not currently do so. It would be convenient for the restaurants' customers and provide a potentially new form of income of the restaurant itself.

This new service would not increase customer switching costs, but, as aforementioned, would be convenient in case they wanted to actually stop by the restaurant as opposed to getting their food delivered, increasing customer loyalty. There is already a switching cost for the end-consumer because, by using another third-party delivery service, they would have to pay delivery fees, which they do not have to with my service. 

Since this is a service I am providing as opposed to a tangible product, you can't find this anywhere on amazon. As far as reviews go for similar services, one of the biggest things is the time that it takes for the delivery to get there. The driver would need to leave our office, assuming that we had one, drive to the restaurant, pick the food up, and then drive to the customers' place. As a result, that would be something that we would need to stress to our drivers and employees in general. The food needs to get to the customer as quickly as possible. 

Even if a restaurant already had a delivery service, but no way for their consumers to order online, or if a restaurant simply did not want to deliver for whatever reason, we could still offer them this pick-up option. This is also another option for a restaurant that does not want to pay the 25-30% per order for delivery. This would still allow for the customers to view the restaurant more favorably by giving them an option to order online while potentially generating more sales for the restaurant. 

My Unfair Advantage

My venture included a third party delivery service for restaurants in which I would offer the actual customers of the restaurants free delivery. The way that I would make money would by charging the restaurant 25-30% of the order. My competitors, like GoWaiter or DoorStep Delivery for example, do the same thing except they do not offer free delivery, making them more expensive on the consumer and less attractive overall. The following are the advantages I have over my competitors:

1. Social Capital - I have a close friend in Tallahassee, Fl who owns a food delivery service and is doing well, someone who I know would be willing to help me in the event that I wanted to open my own delivery service elsewhere or even join hands with him in business.
V- Very valuable. One of the most valuable, potentially, in the start of this business venture.
R - Very rare. Not many owners of third party delivery services out there that would be willing to help you.
I - Very hard to copy because this is rare.
N - Could substitute by knowing someone who already works for such a business, but they wouldn't be nearly as knowledgeable as the owner

2. Experience in the food industry - I worked at a donut shop for two years and we actually used a third party food delivery service so I know what it is like from both the business' perspectives and the delivery services' perspective.
V - Experience is needed in whatever you do to be successful so this is valuable.
R - Not rare. In fact, this is pretty common.
I - Easy to copy.
N - No problem substituting.

3. Financial Capital - Thankfully, I have very good credit which means that, more than likely, I can access most any form of capital if need be.
V - Very Valuable. One of the most valuable because I may not be able to start the business to begin with without this.
R - Not common
I - Not easy to copy.
N - You can substitute this either with an investor who has access to capital, or with a co-signer.

4. Persuasiveness - This one might come off as a bit cheesy, but sales is a huge part of this. Obviously, the only way for me to make money would be for the restaurants to make money as well, so I have to have them on board. Being able to convince them to work together with this food delivery service is something that I would need to be successful.
V - Not too valuable because you can hire others to do this part for you.
R - Not easy to come by
I - Yes, you can copy this.
N - You can hire professional staff that are already experienced so you can substitute for this.

5. Marketing - I have taken multiple marketing courses and have undergone marketing ventures for several businesses in Tallahassee, mostly restaurants, as a way to make money. I have proven results that have come directly as a result of my work.
V - Like #4, you can hire someone to do this part for you.
R - Easy to find.
I - Yes, you can copy this.
N - You can hire professional staff that are already experienced so you can substitute for this.

6. Free Delivery - This is what will attract the consumers to begin with and will serve as a big push for our sales.
V - VERY valuable.
R - Very few similar services in the country do this. Rare.
I - Yes, you can copy this.
N - You can really substitute this with anything.

7. Professionalism - Uniforms, Sales staff and communication.
V - Very valuable to any business, wherever you go.
R - Not rare.
I - Can be copied.
N - You can't really substitute this with anything, but it is easy to attain.

8. Culture of friendliness - Always being positive and happy towards the customers to make them feel warm and welcome.
V - Also valuable to any business no matter where you go
R - Not rare
I - Can be copied.
N - You can't really substitute this with anything, but it is easy to attain.

9. Online ordering for convenience with a user friendly interface
V - Valuable now that this is the direction most delivery ordering is headed.
R - Not rare. Found all over.
I - Can be copied.
N - The only real potential replacement would be by using an app to order.

10. Fast Delivery - This makes the service far more attractive to the consumer.
V - Valuable, although it is not the most important thing.
R - Not rare.
I - Can be copied.
N - Not replaceable with anything when it comes to delivery.

I think my biggest advantage would have to be the fact that the delivery is free. That is going to be what drives people to use this service as opposed to any other. It will also be a way to convince restaurants to utilize us as opposed to our competitors because we are cheaper and more convenient for them, giving them an incentive to order more.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
     There actually wasn't anything in particular that stood out to me. I have already taken the financial accounting course required for business majors and found that this chapter was simply a basic review of the first part of that course, explaining the different financial statements, how to put them together and the purpose that each of them serve.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

     Like I mentioned in the first question, this chapter was just a very basic review of financial accounting so it is all material that I have seen before, making it all very clear. Thankfully there wasn't anything that confused me. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

- When determining whether or not a company would be a safe investment, is there one particular financial statement that a person should pay attention to? Or should they really be looking at all four of them?

- In the event that a company wants to present itself as a profitable company to attract investors, they would lower the amount of things that are "Expensed" and count more towards revenues. They would do the opposite if they want to save money on taxes. How reliable is the income statement in terms of accuracy and showing the true picture

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I agree with everything that was said in the reading. It was very objective, limiting how open it was to interpretation. He stated many facts, but did not offer opinions or subjective ideas. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

This was my third elevator pitch and it was one that I actually delivered to a group of pre-dental students (I'm pre-dental). This is a re-recording of it that I made. I am a member of Delta Delta Sigma which is pre-dental honor society that is new to campus and I was out recruiting for them. I was trying to convince them to apply to our organization in an effort to both replace those members who will graduate in the Spring and expand our overall organization. I tried to focus more on the benefits and amenities of being a member of our organization than anything else.

Based on the feedback I received on my last pitch, I did not go into enough detail about the benefits of the organization so that is what I changed here. I agreed with the people who gave me feedback on that point. I went into a bit more detail about the benefits here as opposed to simply listing them off without any explanation. I didn't receive any feedback that I disagreed with though, which is a good thing of course!

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1. There wasn't anything in particular that surprised me in this reading. I'm currently taking the Principles of Marketing course and much of the information that was presented in this reading we've already seen in there. This section simply had a large emphasis on attaining feedback from consumers to alter things for the better and help target a specific market.

2. There wasn't anything in particular that I found confusing from this reading. As aforementioned, I've already seen this marketing material from the Principles of Marketing course.

3. If you had to pick one form of marketing for a restaurant, what would you pick and why? Also, what is a good return on investment for a marketing campaign in terms of the costs?

4. I'm in 100% agreement with everything that the author said. Everything made sense to me and nothing was confusing or vague. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am currently a 3rd year pre-dental student with a major in Business Management. Needless to say, I aspire to become a dentist; however, I'd like to own and manage my own practice, which is where the business management comes in. Obviously, I could not open a dental practice at the moment because I lack the skill set to. I had a different idea. It is one that would require an incredible amount of dedication and time, but that is typically how opening a business goes!

2. The service I would be offering is a third party delivery service for many different restaurants that do not actually deliver; however, to beat out the competition like Doorstep Delivery or Go Waiter, I would be offering free delivery. The large delivery fee usually tagged onto the price by these delivery service is a huge reason why they are not as popular as they could be. The way that these companies make money, is by taking a percentage of the order that is being delivered (25-30% for example). Our free delivery service and convenience would beat that of the competition and would serve as a huge incentive to try our service instead. We would simply charge the restaurant slightly more (~5%) to cover the cost of delivery. This way, we can help the restaurants by hitting new markets that they could not previously reach and increase their sales due to this new delivery service capability.

3. This service would be offered to the customers of the restaurants that do not deliver. Take Bagels and Noodles as an example.

4. As aforementioned, customers of these restaurants would have a huge incentive to order from us because, instead of actually going to the restaurant, they can order from their homes or work and have the food conveniently delivered to them for free.

5. The difference between my competitors and I is my pricing. Every other company charges $2-4 for their delivery whereas mine will be free.

I think this is an idea that has a ton of potential. Most students  do not use these third party delivery services because it makes the food more expensive. In a college town like Gainesville, it would thrive. The market does not just stop at students, though. It can easily reach everyone within a 2-3 mile radius, including families. Aside from that, there is no other delivery service that gives free delivery. From the restaurants' point of view, they would be able to access markets that they previously were not able to, not to mention their name would be included in all of our advertising, giving them, essentially, a free marketing campaign. As a result, I would say that the elements of my business plan fit quite well.

When it comes to the feedback I received last time, it was entirely about the percentage that I would take from the restaurant (25-30%). In my Idea Napkin No. 1 post, I was not clear when explaining how I would make money. I simply stated that I would take a percentage from the order that is being delivered without mentioning that other companies do the same thing. It made it sound like I would be the only one doing this and that, for example, Doorstep Delivery did not do this.