28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. 

My immediate thought when reading this question is that I would want to stay with the business for several decades; however, the future is unknown and depending on where the business stands in 5 years i might sell it. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I would want to  stay with the business because its something that i am passionate about, and when i put my heart and hard work into something i stick to it and want to grow with it. i think it would be hard for me to sell any of my future businesses. 

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? 

My exit strategy has influenced the way i think about this business and therefore the long-term goals that i have of growing the company and expanding. 

27A- Reading Reflection No.3

For this assignment i chose to read Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life. This biography tells the compelling story of Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel life. I picked this book to read because Chanel is such a prestige brand and i was interested to get to know more intimate aspects of the brand and its creator. 

• What surprised you the most?

what surprised me the most was Chanel's past. I would have never guessed that the founder of such a known and high valued brand would have such a dark and challenging upbringing. 

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

What i admired the most about Chanel is her persistence and resourcefulness when building her brand and now is an icon in the fashion industry.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I least admired the way she viewed relationships, the book described that she had affairs with men who were rich and powerful in order to move up in the industry. 

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Yes, Chanel went through a lot of failure and hardships. She had to keep persisting and work smartly in order to get achieve her goals. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

She exhibited determination, resourcefulness, and good decision making. 

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

What confused me was how secretive Chanel was about her life, she had destroyed a lot of documents which indicated she was hiding some things. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask?

- If you saw how your business is now, what would you change about it? Design wise and company wise. 

-What would you say is the thing that helped you the most in the success of your career?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think Chanel's opinion on hard work was positive, she hustled a lot to get to where she got. She did what she saw as necessary in order to be successful. 

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) This past semester I failed many times on my goal of going to sleep by midnight. I am trying to make it a habit of going to sleep "early" so that I can wake up earlier. Given the lack of structure and schedule in my life due to quarantine- class is online and i'm not currently working- I really have nowhere to be at certain times anymore. I have been trying to self- discipline myself as far as my sleeping habits... but no luck so far lol! 

2) I basically learned that I have no self discipline, at least in this situation. I understand that its okay to not have the best sleeping schedule right now but i think that my goal isn't super hard to do because i try not to make goals that are too demanding- like is i said 10pm instead of 12. 

3) My failure has showed me that it is hard to motivate ourselves to change our habits. Something as simple as my above experience can be applied to more drastic examples like managers trying to change or adapt their management ways or business owners having to motivate themselves to keep pushing themselves even when they only encounter failure. I handle failure okay-ish I definitely need to improve and being less bummed out when it happens and seeing it as an opportunity to learn and change. This class has kinda changed my perspective on failure because it shows how the basis for entrepreneurship is failure and its about how you rise up from that.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market:

1. As mentioned before what I plan on doing in the future is creating an extension online where customers could pair different pieces in a virtual model to see what outfits they could create before or after they purchase the clothes. Also have a photo gallery with outfit ideas and you can click on it to be redirected to the page of the specific clothing article.
2. After interviewing the three customers what they said where things they saw next for this business where expanding the product line to include workout pieces, dresses, and more bottoms. Also, one mentioned expanding the color line to include light pink, baby blues, and soft colors.
3. Growing in my existing market will include adding product lines for dresses, skirts, activewear, etc. Also, experiments can be done with incorporating color in the brand, primarily soft colors in a way that keeps the pieces timeless and elegant. I also think incorporating the virtual software in which customers can pair pieces together and create outfits would be helpful in growing the user interface of the website and attract new customers within the market.

New Market:

1. Targeting lower income women ages 18-30
2. Value can be create for people in this market by having lower prices and maintaining the good quality. 
3. The interviewees mentioned that having something like this venture would be great for them because what they can find now in the market is cheap quality clothes. They find that instead of having super formal clothes, that they would benefit more from casual and semi-formal clothes. 
4. What i learned about this market is that i would have to adjust the product mix of the company to better adjust to the lifestyle of the market. I don't think it is attractive for a business concept like mines to enter this market because it would diminish the image and value of the brand. The whole point is to have good quality clothes for reasonable prices while being sustainable and not supporting fast fashion. Entering a lower income market would prompt us to cut costs at a certain level which would impact sustainability. 

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:
There is an unmet need for one-stop-shop clothing brand for quality ‘basics’. This exists because although theres many clothing brands most are a mix of cheap quality pieces, or the ones that are good quality, are expensive for the everyday consumer. Also, theres almost no competitors for this very specified brand concept of basics, most clothing brands now a days have breadth but not depth in their merchandise. This opportunity is targeted to middle class women ages 18-30. There's about 22,000,000 women in the US within that demographic (Census 2010), a big amount are found in the south and west regions of the US. I believe the window of opportunity for a business like this is now, it's a competitive industry and many new brands are being build in this day and age.


Innovation:
My business concept can be described as incrementally innovative, because compared to the clothing brands that currently exist this concept improves the depth of merchandise. It provides different forms of basics- casual shirts, formal shirts, blouses, casual pants, formal pants, blazers, sweaters, and cardigans- all in a more neutral color spectrum including white/black/nudes. This is innovative in a way because I can't pinpoint one brand with that spectrum that has good long lasting quality in a medium price range- they are all expensive! $30 for a simple casual shirt - no thanks! This concept makes money by selling the clothing pieces for a range of $15-$70. Also the business would strive on being more than 50% sustainable overall and it would grow alongside those who make it possible.

Venture Concept:
This concept addresses the opportunity mentioned above because it would fill the gap in the market for good quality essentials and all at the ease of a one-stop-shop. Customers would switch to this brand because it provides them with an ease of shopping, by having all the essentials in one place, for a reasonable price. This concept is also special because of its sustainability efforts and community growth which is rare for clothing companies. If done correctly, this can go a long way.

The Three Minor Elements:

1. As identified in the prior assignment my most important resource is  the support of my family and friends. Its really important as a start-up to have people who believe in you and can invest in you. It's also important for you to trust the person(s) who give you money. It's easy for someone to be starting their first business venture to get scammed or start partnerships with bad character people.

1. The next step in this business would be creating an extension online where customers could pair different pieces in a virtual model to see what outfits they could create before or after they purchase the clothes. Also have a photo gallery with outfit ideas and you can click on it to be redirected to the page of the specific clothing article.

1. In five years I want the brand to be known in the United States, specifically having stores in major cities and shipping nationwide. I want to start thinking about expanding outside the US by then and having a great team of talented and expert professionals working side by side with me.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resources: 
* below are the 10 resources my venture has. I will only mention the VRIN of each resource if it contains it.
** quick reminder this is based on my business idea for a clothing company for basics

1. My experience with online and traditional shopping
• V- valuable because it gives me reference to things that make the customer experience better with both methods of purchase. 
• N- not substitutable
2. My experience with putting together coherent and fashionable outfits
• V- valuable because it gives me a sense of style that can be expressed in the brand 
• R- not necessarily rare, but definitely has a room in the market as far as creating a brand with a website that shows different ways to style the pieces 
3. Social responsibility
• V- growing attention to customers and stakeholders in company's social responsibility. Creates value.
• N- not substitutable 
4. My attention to detail:
• V- allows me to notice things that many others cannot, specially in design 
• R- moderately rare 
• N- not substitutable
5. Business Major 
• V- courses and overall involvement I have in school can help me in my business
• N- degree is not substitutable
6. Support of family and friends- moral and financial 
• V- can help in encouraging me, and help financially in the beginning 
• R- kind of, many relatives of start ups aren't supportive and can't financially help 
• I- kind of hard to have supportive people that believe enough in your business idea that would help financially 
• N- perhaps it can be substitutable, but having family support is different 
7. Connections to alumni and university's social capital 
• V- very valuable because gators help gators, and university has many connections that are transferable to its students 
• I- can't imitate the amount of social capital that the institution can offer
• N- not substitutable 
8. No outstanding debt
•  V- valuable to start a business without any debt already on your back
• N- not substitutable 
9. Long-term vision
• V- valuable because it sets a path for the business in a way that you can break it down to short-term goals
• R- depends, many start ups don't have a business idea they have a product 
• N- not substitutable 
10. 2+ years of working experience 
• V- no matter the job it gives you experience with working with people, shows you the value of money through hard work, teaches you life lessons

My top resource seems to be the support of my family and friends. Its really important as a start-up to have people who believe in you and can invest in you. It's also important for you to trust the person(s) who give you money. It's easy for someone to be starting their first business venture to get scammed or start partnerships with bad character people.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

Reflection: I received great responses on my last pitch, people seemed to like it and saw the passion I put into it. After receiving great constructive feedbacks the main points made to improve my pitch were:

• project my voice more (speak louder)

• increase the length of video 

In response to the feedbacks I kept in mind to speak louder (without seeming mad or screaming) throughout the video, and although the script didn't change i tried to control the speed in which i was talking. 

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

For this reading reflection I chose The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki

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

the main point the book made was how social media is a key asset in today's world in growing a business. Social media can have positive or negative effects on a business and Kawasaki with his background at Apple, shows the reader how to take full advantage of it. The book provides over 100 tips, tricks and insights on how to set up a successful social media account. 

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

this book connects with what we are learning in this class because it teaches you how to connect with your audience. As we have seen before knowing your target customer is very important and connecting with them is essential. Social media is the #1 way you can connect with the younger generations and show them what your business is about, having a strong social media present today is very important for a successful business. The book gives advice on how to comment, what to post, and how to set up your profile so that it matches your target audience.

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

the exercise i would design for this class based on the book would be for people to create a social media account for their business. For those who actually already started their business or are in the beginning stages i would ask them to start an account (if they havent already), and for others who are just brainstorming business ideas i would ask them to find accounts of their potential competitors and print out the things they like and dislike about their page.

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

my biggest 'aha' moment while reading the book was how serious social media is to companies. As a daily user of it i see it more as a form of entertainment where i can find funny memes and see what my friends are up to, but as a business platform it can take a lot of time and effort to make your business stand out and get into peoples radar. He mentions how people only spend a few seconds in a post, so it is critical to optimize it as much as you can.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1.) Domain Expert

• Who they are and their background: I interviewed my friends mom who owns a jewelry kiosk in the mall. Although this isn't a clothing store, it is in the retail industry so I felt like it would give me some insight.
• What makes them an expert: she has been successful in her business for many years, and can manage inventory really well.
• How I found this person: friends' mom
• Nature of exchange: I simply asked her for her time over the phone, i explained to her the business idea i have and wanted to get a perspective of working in the retain industry. 
• How this person will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: including this person in my network can help me understand the factors that go into starting a business

2.) Market Expert

• Who they are and their background: the girl i interviewed owns a small online clothing boutique 
• What makes them an expert: although i don't know the profits of her business, i know she has a great platform and followers
• How I found this person: i got in contact with her through instagram 
• Nature of exchange: at first i didn't think she would even reply, but was surprised when she was so helpful and nice. I explained to her I am a student and the assignment. In exchange I just shared one of her posts in my story.
• How this person will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: including this person in my network can provide me with great contacts. She has been in this market for a while and can give me helpful advice

3.) Industry Supplier

• Who they are and their background: the person i interviewed buys clothes in bulk and resells the pieces online
• What makes them an expert: she has been doing this successfully for 2 years
• How I found this person: on campus, through a friend
• Nature of exchange: i just texted her and asked if she could answer some questions 
• How this person will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: including this person in my network can help me build my business by giving me advice.

4.) Reflection: finding and asking these people questions was a bit challenging because it was out of my comfort zone. The ones i was already acquainted with was just a matter of asking for a favor which can be scary, but it showed me that the worst that can happen is them saying no.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch
After receiving great constructive feedbacks the main points made to improve my pitch were: 

• to specify what type of clothing range the brand provided to help target a specific audience

• to make the pitch longer 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?
The changes I made were all based on the previously mentioned bullet points. I now feel like the pitch has improved from the first one by adding the range and values of the business.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

I believe these elements fit together because they reflect the values which can be seen as the foundation of a business. This didn't change much from my first idea napkin because although I found more about the consumer most things stayed the same. In describing who I am I took what I learned from the previous assignment where people had to describe me and used it in here.

*Feedback memo:
I didn't receive any feedback from my 11A assignment.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My customer avatar is a 22-year-old woman who loves to explore coffee shops and trendy restaurants. She drives a grey 2017 toyota corolla and her main priority in her life at the moment is her career. She loves hanging out with friends and coworkers, and loves to dress up whenever she gets a chance. Her style is simple but chic, her closet color palette can be described as neutral (black, whites, nudes) with only a couple colorful pieces. She's an adventure seeker and loves to plan small trips that fit her busy work schedule.

**What do you have in common with the customer avatar?
The avatar and I have the age range in common as well as the overall lifestyle such as car type and adventurous spirit. We both also have similar clothing style which fits the product i am developing. 
**If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?
No, its not a coincidence because the product I have been focusing on in this course reflects myself and my style, so its only fair that the prototypical customer is similar to me.