Healthy Treatz for Pets - Venture Concept No. 2

The people with the need for my product are those that are new pet owners that do not know the foods that are good and bad for their pets. The forces that are changing to make this opportunity possible are that regulations on pet food in foreign countries are constantly changing and not at the same par as pet food produced in the United States. A lot of this food is still available in the United States though. This is a problem because harmful products are being sold to people and they do not even know it. Graphically, this product is for people in the United States. Demographically, this service is for people around the 20-30 year old range and for senior citizens. Customers are currently satisfying the need for my service by just going to the store and purchasing whatever product catches their eye or is the cheapest. Some of these potential consumers would be too lazy to change their actions, since buying whatever is the easiest for them to do. If they found out about the dangers in some food available on the market, they might think twice about purchasing it. The older generation has trouble figuring out what products are best as well. They might not know how to find this information out with the ever changing technology, so if they can learn about my service, it can benefit them greatly. This opportunity has potential to be big, but only if consumers really like it. With a product like this, it is hard for people to spend extra money to change their ways if they are content with what they are doing then. The window of opportunity may be long. It would really depend on how long it will take for foreign countries to up their standards or how long it would take for a competitor to join the market. The biggest concern for this service would be if people found the need to purchase it. There is a good chance many people will think it’s just a waste of money and they can decide on what pet food to purchase themselves.

My innovation is to have a website that shows consumers the foods that are safe and good to give their pets. Consumers can only see the pet foods that are completely safe to give to their pets, so they will not have to worry about their pet's health. There will be an option for consumers to break down their searches based on pet type, dry vs. wet food, and so on with many different filters. By doing this, the pet owners can find the perfect food for their pet. I will charge a subscription for users to use the website, maybe around $5. If the website is unable to generate money like this, I might just hope I could get money from advertisement revenue.

By creating this product, people can save money from not having to bring their pets to the doctors for problems with their health. Consumers would only know the best of the best products for their pets so they should only have problems with natural causes. Consumers will buy my service to protect themselves financially in the long run and their pet's health. I think it will be hard to get people to start using my service. People are already used to solving their issues themselves and will not spend money if they do not see a reason. To make them sign up for it, I will really need to show the potential harms of some products. There are no real competitors. The workers in pet stores probably do a lot of recommending which would really take customers away from me. They have no rely on their own knowledge though and there may be different answers from person to person. There will be a customer service number to call if the consumers have any problems so that they do not feel like they are ever ripped off. There would not be too many employees running the service since it would really run itself. There would not be a lot of work to be done on a daily basis.

I believe my most important resource would be my own resiliency. I want to be successful more than anything and I would do anything in my power to get there. No matter what obstacle is placed in my way, I will try to get past it the best that I can. Other competitors will find it hard to copy my drive no matter what business I go into later in life.

The next venture for my service to is find some customers. I need to find people that are really willing to spend on my service to get people talking about it so that I can find more customers. I would need to market myself better and advertise my business so more people become aware of the upcoming service I am starting.

I hope the venture is resulting in a decent cash inflow in another ten years. While I would not want to do this venture forever, I will hopefully be starting something that I am very passionate about. Hopefully this first venture will give me all the toys I will need to be successful in the future. Preferably, I would sell the business after five years. Since this is not a business I would really enjoy running, it might be hard for me to find success or to give it my all every day.

I received mostly positive feedback from my peers. They thought my ideas were unique and that I should follow through with my venture. They liked the idea of having my product being subscription based. I was encouraged to increasing my marketing to the older generations because they may be valuable customers, but may be harder to reach since they do not use social media or other technology as others. Somebody said that I should increase the information about my next step for my venture. I was also recommended to increase the long-term future plans of my venture.

Based on my feedback, I included a little more information on the older generation. I became aware of the value of the older generation later on, so I included that in my plan. I also added a little more information to the next step for my venture. People need to be aware of a service in order for them to purchase it. I need to increase my advertising in order to do this. Finally, I changed the long run plan for my venture a little bit based on later assignments. I would want to sell my business quickly because it is something I do not see myself enjoying. Liking your job is a very important aspect of working. If you are doing something you do not enjoy, you should stop as soon as you can and find something you enjoy.

Your Exit Strategy

If I pursued this business, I would plan on selling it within the next five years. Might keep it a little bit longer after that if it is profitable and does not require much work from me. If somebody in my family was interested in taking over or saw high potential in it, I might keep it for longer. I have selected this particular exit strategy just because it is not a business I would enjoy running for a long period of time. I like pets, but I just do not have the same passion for animal food as I have for things such as football and music. I would want to get out of this business so I could go into something I would really enjoy doing. I do not believe my exit strategy influenced many of my other decisions. The opportunity I decided on what the opportunity that I saw the most easy to fix. My strategy has encouraged me to try to expand the company as much as possible quickly. I would not be as focused on maintaining customers as I would be attracting new ones, simply because they will not be a long-term customer for me.

Celebrating Failure

One time I failed this semester was when I first got here. I transferred to the University of Florida this semester from a community college in Illinois. I assumed all of my previous credits would transfer over, since the university did not tell me otherwise. When I was told this may not be the case, I had to talk to countless people to get my answers. Since it was the beginning of the semester, the lines for all the offices were out the door. I had to bounce back between Heavener Hall and Criser Hall mainly, but I had to go to other schools as well even though I wasn’t in them. I failed to get anywhere with my problem again and again.

I learned that sometimes you have to work hard to get the information you want. Sometimes even something you think is obvious may not be. It is always best to get a solid confirmation before assuming anything, especially when there is a big decision on the line.

Overall, I and probably almost everyone, dislike failure. It is really a confidence destroyer when you are unable to do something. Emotionally, I feel like I take failure pretty well, unless it is a big failure. If I fail something important, I am usually very hard on myself and becoming angry at myself. I try to always do my best so it is very hard for me when it does not pay off. Behaviorally, when I fail, I am less likely to try the same activity again. I think I am unable to do it again since I was not able to the first time. This class did change my perspective on failure though. I learned that even when you fail, sometimes it is best to just keep trying. Often people gave me poor responses or did not fit the qualifications I was looking for. It is time consuming trying to find these people, but it pays off in the end. I believe I am more likely to take a risk now. Often risky activities are the ones with the best rewards.

What's Next?

Existing Market: I believe the next step for my venture is really finding the customers that would be interested in purchasing my product. I need to find a group of people that would support my product to slowly build the gathering of my product.
After interviewing, my first interviewee believed that my service would be unsuccessful and should not be worth pursuing, even though they fit the qualifications for my market. They do not see people changing their ways to get this product since they could get something very similar for free.
My second interviewee said that I should try to figure out what products I will be offering on my website. It is one thing to say I will have all the products shown on my website that are healthy, but it will take work looking about each product and figuring out which ones are qualified to be on there.
My last interviewee said that I should start advertising my potential service to get the word of mouth out there. If people are talking about it and seem interested, it will most likely be more successful if I decide to follow through with it.
The path that makes the most sense to me is to listen to my second interviewee first. By doing this, my product will be more ready to be released. I could then listen to my last interviewee and try to announce the product to the public to try and get them talking. Afterwards, I can look for direct customers, but that should not really be my main focus at this time.

New Market: My new market is for the older generation of pet owners that live on their own. They are probably used to giving their pets the same food over and over again for years and are probably unaware of the many foods that are healthier for their pets that developed over the years. By targeting this market, they can stay more up to date with new, healthy treats for their pets.
My first interviewee said that I should try to make the filter function on my website easier to use. Older people are often not as good as the younger generation with technology, so too many filters may make them lost and unable to find what they are looking for.
My second interviewee said that I should just make the website for a specific type of pet. They said the older generation would be more likely to use a website specifically for dogs than for everything. I am not sure if this is true.
In the beginning, I did not really see a market in the older generation. I felt like they probably would not want to use technology to change their old ways, since they have been doing what they have been doing for so long. I was surprised that many people thought there could be a market there. This may overall be a more attractive market than my original. A lot of younger people are just lazy and think the are always right. They are not willing to spend money on a product they do not think they need. If the older generation is not like this, they may become my new target market.

Healthy Treatz for Pets - Venture Concept No. 1

The people with the need for my product are those that are new pet owners that do not know the foods that are good and bad for their pets. The forces that are changing to make this opportunity possible are that regulations on pet food in foreign countries are constantly changing and not at the same par as pet food produced in the United States. A lot of this food is still available in the United States though. This is a problem because harmful products are being sold to people and they do not even know it. Graphically, this product is for people in the United States. Demographically, this service is for people around the 20-30 year old range. Customers are currently satisfying the need for my service by just going to the store and purchasing whatever product catches their eye or is the cheapest. Some of these potential consumers would be too lazy to change their actions, since buying whatever is the easiest for them to do. If they found out about the dangers in some food available on the market, they might think twice about purchasing it. This opportunity has potential to be big, but only if consumers really like it. With a product like this, it is hard for people to spend extra money to change their ways if they are content with what they are doing then. The window of opportunity may be long. It would really depend on how long it will take for foreign countries to up their standards or how long it would take for a competitor to join the market. The biggest concern for this service would be if people found the need to purchase it. There is a good chance many people will thing its just a waste of money and they can decide on what pet food to purchase themselves.
My innovation is to have a website that shows consumers the foods that are safe and good to give their pets. Consumers can only see the pet foods that are completely safe to give to their pets, so they will not have to worry about their pet's health. There will be an option for consumers to break down their searches based on pet type, dry vs. wet food, and so on with many different filters. By doing this, the pet owners can find the perfect food for their pet. I will charge a subscription for users to use the website, maybe around $5. If the website is unable to generate money like this, I might just hope I could get money from advertisement revenue.
By creating this product, people can save money from not having to bring their pets to the doctors for problems with their health. Consumers would only know the best of the best products for their pets so they should only have problems with natural causes. Consumers will buy my service to protect themselves financially in the long run and their pet's health. I think it will be hard to get people to start using my service. People are already used to solving their issues themselves and will not spend money if they do not see a reason. To make them sign up for it, I will really need to show the potential harms of some products. There are no real competitors. The workers in pet stores probably do a lot of recommending which would really take customers away from me. They have no rely on their own knowledge though and there may be different answers from person to person. There will be a customer service number to call if the consumers have any problems so that they do not feel like they are ever ripped off. There would not be too many employees running the service since it would really run itself. There would not be a lot of work to be done on a daily basis.
I believe my most important resource would be my own resiliency. I want to be successful more than anything and I would do anything in my power to get there. No matter what obstacle is placed in my way, I will try to get past it the best that I can. Other competitors will find it hard to copy my drive no matter what business I go into later in life.
The next venture for my service to is find some customers. I need to find people that are really willing to spend on my service to get people talking about it so that I can find more customers.
I hope the venture is resulting in a decent cash inflow in another ten years. While I would not want to do this venture forever, I will hopefully be starting something that I am very passionate about. Hopefully this first venture will give me all the toys I will need to be successful in the future.

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Financial Capital: From all the jobs I have worked in the past, I have saved up a lot of money that can help me jumpstart my business.
Valuable - Having this money will allow me to not take out any loans, making my business a whole lot more safe.
Rare - Even though I am still a young age, most people do not have as much money as I have in the bank. Those with lots of money generally have them put into funds that they cannot use, but will increase their payout in the future.
Inimitable - If people are able to live extremely cheaply and are willing to work a lot and save their money, they can get to my position.
Non-substitutable - There are no substitutes for money, unless somebody is willing to barter.

2. Ability to make a website: A website designer recently showed me how to do the basics of creating a website.
Valuable - The service would either be coming from a website or an app, so this would be very valuable to set it up.
Rare - While the average person does not know how to create a website, with money people can find someone who does.
Inimitable - I do not think it would be very hard for some other entrepreneur to start a very similar service.
Non-substitutable - If I do end up making a website, people can make an app very similar to my website. They can also make books and other forms of transferring information, but they would not be as interactive.

3. The heart to make sure only healthy foods are listed: While I could probably make more money by promoting whoever is willing to pay me the most, I would feel like I am letting the helpless animals down by allowing their owners to serve them bad food.
Valuable - Customers would be more encouraged to use my service if they feel comfortable with the seller.
Rare - Most people just do their work to get the most money possible. It is rare somebody's main motivation is to do good.
Inimitable - While people can try to do the right thing, money usually can help change that, making it difficult to imitate.
Non-substitutable - While it can be substituted for other motives, people would feel most happy buying from a trustworthy source.

4. Past experience of owning a pet: In the past, I have owned two dogs, fish, a cat, and a crayfish. While I was not the primary caretaker of these animals, I have taken care of all of them in some way.
Valuable - It is important to buy from a reputable source. If somebody has absolutely no experience in a field, they are probably not a good person to buy from.
Rare - It is actually extremely common. The majority of at least United States citizens have had a pet at some point.
Inimitable - It is very easy to copy. Especially since I was never the primary caretaker of a pet, my experience is not the most experienced.
Non-substitutable - The only substitute would be if somebody did not own a pet, but worked at a shelter for them and were forced to care for them.

5. My domain expert: This is a very techy person and can help me learn how to set up features later on for my website.
Valuable - This person can teach me new things that can make my service more efficient and effective for customers.
Rare - People with this about of tech knowledge are not impossible to find, but they are not too common.
Inimitable - It takes a while to gain as much knowledge as this person has, but it is very possible.
Non-substitutable - People can use the internet to try to find specific information, but it may be hard to find specifics and less common information.

6. My market expert: This person works at a pet store and can provide me with important information.
Valuable - This person can let me know the new products being served in the store and items that are soon going to be dropped.
Rare - A person with the same qualifications can be found at a local pet store. All somebody would have to do is talk to somebody at a store.
Inimitable - This is very inimitable.
Non-substitutable - People can look up sales on past products and figure out which products are most likely on their way out and information on new products.

7. My supplier: This person can help advertise my service if we support their product.
Valuable - With a supplier I can trust and they trust me back, we can help market each other.
Rare - It is not too difficult to contact a supplier, but it would be hard to find somebody with this type of relationship.
Inimitable - Other businesses can find different suppliers for help.
Non-substitutable - People can make products themselves instead of finding a supplier.

8. Strong passion for starting a business: I very badly want to start my own business from scratch and see it grow.
Valuable - I will invest a lot of my time and money into the business to make sure its successful.
Rare - A lot of people want to be entrepreneurs so this is not too rare.
Inimitable - Either somebody wants to start their own company or they do not, so they cannot just get this trait.
Non-substitutable - People can just buy into a company and take over, skipping over the beginning phases.

9. Resilience: I do not give up easy even when I am faced with a lot of adversity.
Valuable - I will do whatever it takes to make sure my business is successful.
Rare - A lot of people throw in the towel when the times get tough. If their business is not doing hot, they might try to get rid of it.
Inimitable - It is hard to get this trait. Sometimes a strong passion for something can make them this way.
Non-substitutable - If somebody never faces adversity, they will never really need this. If they also have a lot of money, they can just buy something better.

10. Good at problem solving: When I am hit with a difficult problem, I am usually good at finding a solution to it.
Valuable - This can help me find the best solution to my problems and can help raise profit, lower costs, or even increase consumers.
Rare - Sometimes people are good at problem solving, but a great amount of people are not.
Inimitable - More education usually helps this.
Non-substitutable - People can just try different things and go through trial and error. It would not be as effective, but it can work.

The most important resource I believe is my resiliency. All good entrepreneurs have resiliency. Things do not always go as planned. It is important to take the blows life gives you, but keep fighting forward with everything you have.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://youtu.be/ZET29KVNwLo

From the feedback I received from my last elevator pitch, I was told to try to be more comfortable while giving the pitch. They said I seemed stiff and did not really feel comfortable. While I was not nervous like the first time, it seemed like I was just trying to get it over with and did not want to do it. I also had a few lapses in my thoughts. This made me look unprepared and I was told to try to fix that. I believe all of this feedback was helpful. I did not think I seemed stiff when I made the second pitch, but after watching it, I realized it was accurate.

Based on the video, I tried to get more into my elevator pitch. I did not want it to seem like I was just forced to be there and wanted to make it seem like I am passionate about what I am doing. I tried to make sure I only included the absolutely important details so I do not lose my train of thought. After making an elevator pitch for the third time, I did realize that I had the pitch basically memorized, I was more comfortable in front of the camera, and the pitches got better as I went.