Final Reflection

1) I would say that the most enjoyable parts of this class were the reading reflections for the autobiography on the Wright brothers and the novel How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. The second novel in particular was very interesting. Around the halfway point in the class, the assignments began to feel like a lot of drudgery. Finally, the Free Money extra credit assignment was the biggest low, because the situation was very awkward.
2) My most formative experience was probably the elevator pitches, because it allowed me to develop an important skill. For years I'll remember the human capital assignment, because it took my brother about 15 takes to get through it without laughing. My most joyous experience was is finishing the course, because it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I am most proud of myself for completing the venture concept assignment.
3) I believe that I have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset. At this point, if I was to complete the class again with a new business I would find the assignments much easier. However, I believe the work I have done with Global Brigades has made me more of an entrepreneur than this class has.
4) I would recommend that students take the assignments seriously and treat their business ideas as a real business when completing this class. Additionally, I would recommend that students complete the assignments ahead of time in order to make sure the work doesn't pile up. Finally, I would recommend that students keep an open mind in order to better develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Venture Concept 2 - Dollar Superstore

Venture Concept - Dollar Superstore

Opportunity:

• Consumers in the lower or middle classes try to save money whenever they can. Additionally, there is a market of college students and young people who are looking to save money. These are the people who prefer to shop for dollar store price products, but would prefer the variety of a larger store.
• The increasing popularity of dollar stores is creating the need for more dollar store products.  The market is defined as lower class consumers, middle class consumers, and college aged consumers looking to save money.
• Customers are currently satisfying this need by either shopping at dollar stores to save money, or shopping at larger retailers for the greater variety. This "window of opportunity" will be open for the foreseeable future.

Innovation:

• The Dollar Superstore is innovative, because their are currently no dollar stores that have a similarly large supply and variety of products. This will help to attract consumers from both the dollar store market and the larger retailer market.
• However, customers who avoid dollar stores because they believe the products are of a lower quality will not shop at a dollar superstore. This group is not a part of our target audience. 
• This business will make money by purchasing cheap goods at bulk and selling them to consumers for a profit.

Venture Concept:

• My innovation will solve this opportunity by offering a large variety of dollar superstore products to consumers for very low prices, typically $1.
• Consumers will switch to the dollar superstore from dollar stores in order to have more products to choose from. Consumers will switch to the dollar superstore from larger retailers in order to save money.
• I believe that I would be relatively easy to convince customers to switch to shopping at a dollar superstore. The top competitors are Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Walmart, and Target. Dollar Tree and Dollar General would be vulnerable, because they are a lot smaller scale than a dollar superstore. Walmart and Target would be vulnerable, because their products are more expensive than those of a dollar superstore.
• Price point is an essential factor in convincing consumers to shop at a dollar superstore. By selling most products for $1, many consumers could be convinced to shop there in order to save money.
• Business location is very important, because the dollar superstore would need to be located in a densely populated area. This location would make the dollar superstore more convenient for more people.
• In order to save money, very few cashiers would be employed and the business would feature many self-checkout systems. The business would have several employees in charge of stocking shelves and helping customers.

Minor Elements:

• My most important resource would be maintaining a dialogue with employees in order to hear their suggestions on ways to make the business more profitable. This will help the business grow over time.
• Over time, I will expand my business to sell goods online, and partner with a fast food restaurant to sell fast food inside of the store. This will increase the business's revenue.
• Five years after the store's launch, I believe that I would be looking to sell the business in order to pursue other interests.

Feedback:
I didn't receive any negative feedback in my comments, so I made the changes to my venture concept based on my own evaluation. The positive feedback I received highlighted the fact that my venture concept was specific and to the point. Also, I had all of my information under the correct sections. Additionally, people said that my dollar superstore business idea was convenient, easy for customers to transition to, and caters well to employees and customers.

Changes:
I made several changes to my venture concept based on my own evaluation of my first attempt. I decided that the blocks of text made the venture concept more difficult to read than it had to be. I switched the format from paragraphs to bullet points in order to fix this problem. Additionally, I added information to the "opportunity" section detailing the types of large retail customers that I wasn't going to be targeting for this business. This gives people a better understanding of who my customers would be. Finally, I read through the venture concept and corrected grammatical errors.

Free Money

• I plan on approaching people inside a Target.
• I will approach people who look like they are in their twenties or thirties. Also, I will only approach people in groups of one or two.
• To get the conversation started, I will tell them that I lost a bet and now I must give a dollar away to a stranger.
• My plan is to mention the bet, and then just offer the person one dollar.
• I assume that I will be able to give away four of the five dollars.

 On my first attempt, the person laughed when I told him that I lost a bet, but then said "Nah, I'm good." The second person that I approached was a Target employee. This person also did not accept the dollar. He said that he did not think he could accept money from customers, because he is an employee. The third approach that I made was a couple of college student. The girl originally took the dollar, but then she asked me if it was a scam. I told her that it was not a scam, I was just giving away money. After that, she decided to give the dollar back to me anyways. The fourth person that I spoke to was a college-aged girl who was by herself. I told her that I had lost a bet and had to give a dollar to a random person. She responded positively and took the dollar. The last approach I made was to a man who was with a woman. He took the dollar as well, and the entire interaction was very short.

This exercise was very awkward, because people typically don't try to give money away to strangers. Therefore, people don't understand the situation and don't know how to respond to it. Giving away a dollar is much harder than I thought it would be, just because it is a strange situation. My prediction was incorrect, as my success rate was half of what I predicted. My prediction was too high, because I underestimated just how awkward the situation would be. I assumed that people who didn't take the money would be more dismissive and rude than they were. While only two of the five people took the dollar, all five of them were very nice.