Week 15 Reading Reflection

1.) I have to say out of all the articles in this class this one stood out the most. One of the things that surprised me the most was that there were actually loaners for the very poor. This never crossed my mind as something that could occur.]
2.) The thing that was confusing to me was how this company could stand to make such big profits. It wasn't explained in the text, and to me its a big deal.
3.) Question 1. How does a company like this make so much money? Question 2. If the poor can't pay their money back, what could a company do, it seems wrong to make their living situation any worse than it is even if they do owe money.
4.) There was nothing in the text that seemed incorrect and it was all quite fascinating.

Final Reflection

1.) this semester was filled with many highs and few lows. I remember the beginning of the semester and the excitement that came with having a hands on class. I also remember the dread of the video assignments and how pushing past fears helped renew my self confidence.

2.) 

The moments I remember the most are the interviews with people in the field. Having to play this role helped me really get into an entrepreneurial mindset. It felt like I was adulting harder than I ever have. It's definitely one of the most meaningful assignments.

3.) I definitely don't see myself has an entrepreneur. I can say that the experience in this class helped give me a glimpse of what entrepreneurial ship could be like.

4.) my biggest tip is to stay ahead of the assignments. Don't let these things pile up and overwhelm you. If you stay just one assignment ahead this class will be a breeze!

Elevator Pitch No. 4

1.)

2.) Reflection: This video included additional details about my pitch including ways that I can get more attention from customers and how I will get return customers.
3.) Unfortunately my last video didn't upload correctly and the commenters weren't able to leave sufficient feedback. I fixed this issue now.

Venture Concept No. 2

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

When new parents have to choose a diaper for their new babies the choice can be tricky. For a newborn you worry about skin sensitivities, sizing, and leaks. Most parents buy diapers based on popular brands like Pampers or Huggies, but soon they find out that these brand name diapers are full of chemicals that cause problem rashes, or they don’t offer enough overnight protection from leaks.

The problem here is that these diapers don’t come in sample size packs, and can be costly. The smallest pack these brand name companies offer are often times the least economical. Most of the time this new diaper won’t offer much difference or simply isn’t the change the new parent is looking for. So they continue on their hunt, wasting lots of money, and sometimes just dealing with the problem diaper in the end.

What happens when the baby switches to a new size diaper? As a parent, we hope that the diaper brand and style we’ve been using will suffice, but this usually isn’t the case. Babies go through many different stages, each one calling for different needs from the diaper. We know the newborn issues, but there’s also the three-month old who is finally sleeping through the night and needs a diapers that will keep them dry. Another huge change is the 8 months old baby who is starting to crawl and needs a diaper that isn’t cumbersome but doesn’t cause leaks, or the walking toddler who needs a diaper that isn’t going to cause any rashes.

It is unrealistic to expect parents to shop around so much for their newborn baby just to find the right diaper. Its also extremely demanding to have to continue searching for best fit diapers that meet the needs of your baby every step of their development.

The disposable diaper industry makes up for 80% of the diapering market and I believe they’ve fallen short of meeting the customer needs. Parents need to be able to find the right diaper for their baby in an easy and convenient method that won’t break the bank. Companies that are entering the industry now are starting to realize this need and have been offering sample packs for a low fee if ordered online. This is only scraping the surface and big companies haven’t even taken notice of it yet.

The diaper industry is fairly young at only 36 years old and I believe that right now the window of opportunity is wide open for companies looking to enter the market. In 40 years the diaper industry will have been around for much longer and will probably start to meet these demands by then. If our company could meet the needs of all these new parents with a blanket system for sampling diapers from all of the companies, I believe we would have a huge opportunity for success.

INNOVATION

The LUV Fit Kit is a kit that meets the needs of parents looking to find the right diaper for their babies. Our diaper kit will contain a few diapers from many brands for parents to try out on their babies to test for sizing and comfortability. We will have a kit for every size throughout the babies diapering journey. This means that after baby outgrows the diaper they are in a parent can return and buy a bigger fit kit to find the right size and style for their child in that stage of development. We will have a newborn kit that will target specific needs for newborns such as sensitive skin, or leak proof diapers for those watery stools. Every kit beyond the newborn size will contain two sizes for babies who are in between sizes and need to find the right diaper for that time period. On top of two sizes of diapers, each kit will contain a total of three brand names with different kits carrying different brands within.

The LUV Fit Kit will be sold in stores and online for a low price of 12.99. The kit will contain coupons from each brand in case the parent decides to purchase diapers from one of the brands within the kit.  This kit will only be slightly more expensive than the smallest pack of diapers offered by bigger companies with much more incentive to buy.

VENTURE

I believe the LUV Fit Kit is a realistic and completely implementable solution to the problem diapering parents face. Customers will definitely use our product because of different aspects including variety, problem solving, and no risk benefits. Competitors are definitely a problem as only a few large names are involved in the market right now. I believe the competitors won’t be able to apply the same concept to solving this issue simply because they are already too big. Parents want to be able to choose a diaper freely without feeling tied to a certain brand. The best solution to this is an entirely new brand with no bias for any one diaper.

            I believe as a mother I will be able to market my company in a way that will attract parents who want a company they can trust. We will be fully committed to our purpose of giving parents the peace of mind they need for diapering troubles. The fact that I am a mother means I can understand the points of view of the customer and in turn they can trust my product.

Our packaging will be marketed in a way that attracts customers because of its variety in the label. Our venture would start off small scale with five to ten employees who would have specific roles to fill such as shipping, accounting, and sales. I would be in charge of getting the big diaper companies on board through meetings. I will also be in charge of the start up cost gathering and the business plan layout. If we launch, I see this kit being a key component of the disposable diaper industry. I think it will have a ripple effect making diaper companies see the potential of variety and offering different sizing and fit options in the future market.

Description of Feedback and Changes:

The feedback I received on my last Venture Concept was minimal. Out of the three students that commented only one said anything useful. He asked how I would be able to get return customers if I am a solution to a problem that uses other diaper brands to solve it. I certainly had a bit of detail in my previous concept stating that throughout the development of the child he will have new diapering needs. Each stage calls for different diapers and bigger ones. I did add a more detailed description of how I will attain repeat customers since this point was easily missed by the commenter. Other than that my concept stayed the same.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1.) The most surprising thing in the reading this week was the part where they said that Southwest Airlines is successful because of its fun and  positive service. I would think it would take more than that to be successful.
2.)One thing that was confusing to me was the model on page 76 about entrepreneurship strategy. It seemed really all over the place and not clear enough on what the correction strategy was.
3.) Question 1.) For developing a vision do you think this has to be short and concise in order to be effective? Question 2.) How would a top tier executive make sure that management support exists within their organization on a consistent basis?
4.) One thing I thought was maybe wrong in the reading this week was the part where the author said Southwest Airlines is the most profitable airline in the industry. I though it was one of the newest one and it just seems crazy if its true.

Very Short Interview Part 2

Now that I’ve had a bit of experience in entrepreneurship I think that interview was very informative. Some of the things Dar described in our first interview sounded a little over the top and unrealistic. But after getting my hands dirty, I now realize that things like optimistic attitudes can actually contribute quite a lot in the entrepreneurial field.

Three questions and answers.

1.)   In this course I had to really focus on what was ahead in order to actually stay ahead. It was easy to very quickly fall behind. Do you think this is a good example of what it could be like as an entrepreneur?

Answer: Absolutely! When your out there in the real world, trying to get something going, sometimes the guy right next to you is already a few steps ahead of you trying to launch the exact same product. In order to have a competitive edge its important to continuously focus on what the next thing your product can do that the others haven’t thought of yet.

2.)   As an entrepreneur, what is the one most important thing you want to tell me about launching a new product, such as the one I invented?

Answer: That’s really hard. If I had to tell you one thing it wouldn’t be enough. But I guess for the sake of conversation, I would say the most important thing is to know your product. Know everything about it, what it brings to the table for not only you, but your investors, your customers, your employees. Know what its weaknesses are and how you can address them or simply accommodate them with stronger strengths.

3.)   If you were to invent a LUV Fit Kit, such as the one I used in my class, what would be your first step for bringing it to life?

Answer: I think the thing that helps me turn a vision into reality is to create a prototype. Something about a prototype, whether it be something very basic, or a full scale model, brings a project to life. Every time you get discouraged or you don’t know what the next step is, you can come back to your prototype to envision your end goal.

I think I’ve come very far in this course. I’ve been able to really put myself in the shoes of an entrepreneur. I think that if I really wanted to start my own company with the tools I gained from this class, I would actually know where to start. I think Dar could sense that I had a bit more knowledge into the world of entrepreneurship and I think that made him give me really down to earth answers and advice.

Whats next

Step 1: I believe the next product for our company would be fit kits for cloth diapers. We want to be able to brand ourselves as a company with true variety that meets the needs of every baby in diapers, including the ones in non-disposables.

Step 2: RECORDING BELOW

Step 3:
The recorded customer believed that the next best step would be a detergent kit that parents could use to test skin irritations before buying a whole kit. I liked this idea, although it might be very hard to implement just because parents would have to wash clothes and test allergic reactions on their children, which could be harsh for the child.
Another customer was not recorded but was interviewed:
The customer believed that the next step would be to offer our own diaper that truly meets every need for the diapered baby. He thought that the best idea was to start out offering our fit kit, but finish by slamming the market with our very own diaper that has all the variety a parent needs in one diaper.

I think this is a great idea and one I hadn’t pondered yet. I believe that if we start hitting the market with a brand that people can trust for finding true fits for their diapered child, then we’d have customers who believe we might be able to offer something with all the variety we’ve contained in our kits. I believe this could be a future step for sure, although I think that it should be on the back burner to offering the cloth diaper kit. I think its best to gain as much trust in our brand as possible before launching a diaper that we call our own.

Step 1: Right now our plan is to target parents. I think we could also target non-parents. It’s a big thing to give gifts to expectant mothers, and I think with the right marketing we can target non-parents to buy our kits for expectant parents. We would advertise it as the perfect baby shower gift for any new parent. It would be an easy solution for gift buying for the new parent.

Step2: I think this market would be happy to have a product like ours for the convenience and because it offers peace of mind since any new parent will need diapers and very well may need to test out a few diapers when their new baby comes. The cost of the kit is very low compared to other gifts that could be given yet the gift is very valuable and realistic.

Step 3: Interview Below

Step 4: I was surprised to learn that non-parents would feel cheap buying the gift instead of something else, but would appreciate being able to add it to a gift as a sort of “cherry on top”. Our kit could be marketed in a way that would accessorize other gifts. For example some parents will be gifted a changing table which is a bit more pricey ,but a perfect accessory gift for that would be out fit kit.

I think that my expectation that this kit could serve as a nice gift for non-parent friends of new parents was indeed accurate and feasible. I don’t think this market is as big an opportunity as my current market, but I definitely think it can serve a small purpose in our overall goal of providing variety for new parents.