Social Capital - 20A

ASSIGNMENT 20A

Domain expert: John is an employee for the navigation company WAZE. A friend of mine gave me his email to contact him for this assignment. My conversation with John went well and he gave me a few pointers for my business idea, Smart Park. He thinks I should expand and not focus primarily on college campuses. He also would like me to gain a better perspective in the automobile industry before I try making this service compatible in vehicles.

Expert in market: Michael is a researcher and communicator for various apps including ones regarding Apple. Michael is actually my cousin, so I was able to just call him up for this assignment. He mentioned that he is in charge of reading many reviews on various apps like Apple Maps as well as other navigation services. He said that he has read a few reports of people looking for something similar to Smart Park but not enough to where he thinks it would be totally a big hit in the market. However, he did mention that if it was installed in vehicles instead of just being an app then the potential is all there.

Supplier: Jennifer is a part time Uber/Lyft driver and deals with navigation apps on a daily basis. Like John, she is also a friend of a friend of mine. Jennifer actually mentioned that while her job pertains to dropping people off at the front of locations and does not really park, she has run into a few instances where she did have to park for a rider and could not find a spot. She wishes uber would use a similar idea of smart park into their own app.

This experience actually made me realize how many close connections I have with people who work under this small field of navigation services. I definitely think I will continue to network my ideas and my product itself in the future.

IDEA NAPKIN PT2- 19A

ASSIGNMENT 19A

YOU: My name is Chris Zislin from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Throughout my life I have learned to acquire skills in sales, networking, planning, and time management. I am very good at working with others and at times being very persuasive. My current aspirations are to let the current business idea grow and become a reality as I move along in my college and professional career. If I were to start this business, I could see it playing a huge role in my life. I also see this business as an opportunity to expand to many places nationwide that have the need for the product/services offered. After graduation I see myself constantly traveling and networking the services offered by “Smart Park” to many individuals, businesses, campuses, etc.

What are you offering to customers? A daily struggle that people around the world have is finding a parking space in rather crowded areas. Here at Smart Park you are able to know where an open parking space might be and if its legal to park in that space. Customers will no longer be strolling around looking for a parking space. In addition, smart park will eventually be installed in most modern vehicles as well as scooters!

Who are you offering it to? My target audience would be those who live in overpopulated areas, college campuses, and businesses with limited space. The reason I came up with this idea in the first place was because I noticed the lack of parking and constantly heard complaints about students on UF’s campus not knowing where they should park. One thing that every customer will have in common is the unmet need of quality parking for their car or scooter.

Why do they care? People always have somewhere they need to be during the day and the most used form of transportation today is by car. Businesses may be fond of this idea as it may bring in more customers to their organization. How this works is a business or region will have their property be stored onto the app or installed into the vehicle. An example of this is students who want to go to Swamp Restaurant, but simply don’t have a place to park because the plaza next door is usually full.

What are your core competencies? While many of us have been in parking garages where red/green lights are lit up above parking spaces to indicate an open or occupied parking space, this however is different. This does not only serve a purpose in parking garages but also to outdoor plazas, local businesses and college campuses. The benefit and ease this offers to drivers across the country is valuable to many who don’t simply have the time or patience of looking for a parking spot in a packed lot. No one else has an app or service in their car that notifies you where to park seconds after you pull into a plaza or right from the beginning of your navigation heading. Instead of the app leading you to the facility in which you are going to, it will lead you to the parking space you need to go to.

SUMMARIZATION/ FEEDBACK MEMO:

I think that overall, I believe these five elements fit well together. I think the weakest part of my business is the development of an app. However, I do think this app will be the starting point of my product. I don’t expect this product to be installed into cars immediately, but I do believe that the app will constitute into that. Most of the feedback I received was positive. The only fixable feedback I received was that I should make this not only for cars but as well as scooters, motorcycles, etc.

PItch 2 - 17A

Assignment 17A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW7JeBfVIuo

2-3. I actually received no comments on my first pitch. However, there are a couple of things I changed. One thing I changed was the initial Introduction. Instead of introducing myself I got right to the point of what I am selling. In addition, I also added additional numbers regarding the cost of the app.

Prototypical Customer 18A

Assignment 18A

I think the prototypical customer for Smart Park is part of a younger audience. I expect the average age gap for a customer to be between 18-25 years old. However, if we are able to install this product into automobiles during production, we could be looking at a very much larger target audience. I would say most likely our prototypical customer is in college and most likely does not have a new car. Our customers love watching college sports as well as popular shows such as “The Bachelor" or "The Office." I would assume that my customers most likely feel 3-5 years older than they actually are. Something I have in common with the avatar is that I am currently a 20-year-old college student who drives a 2010 ford f150, which fits right under the customer prototype. I would say the coincidence here is that the business idea came up from experiences in college, so I am not surprised that the age group is of that of a college student.

 

What they say about you 16A

Assignment 16A:

1)    Human Capital

-       I believe I have very good marketing skills due to past experience being a sales associate for West Marine and Bionic bait.

-       I have gained very good communication and collaboration skills through internships and projects over the years in study rooms.

-       Quick decision making over the past 5 years has helped my own commercial fishing business to grow into a distributor to wholesalers in South Florida.

-       Controlled emotions during chaotic moments in the work field have helped me become more aware of what to do during confusing and disorganized times.

-       Sticking to plan and staying on task has helped me enormously become a diligent worker in both school and in the business field.

2)    Interviewees

-       Roommate Ray: “You are very responsive to really any concern or question to anyone”

-       Sister Jenny: “You are a very good negotiator in business decisions and look at all possibilities”

-       Roommate Raeza: “Pretty good at being on top of new news and spreading it accordingly

-       Roommate Zach: “Very willing to try new things but also stay constant with things that work within your schedule”

-       Friend Dave: “Very committed person

3)    I see myself as a very motivated and controlled person whether that may be working or just hanging out in general. Many other people see me in this way and also have told me I am a very good negotiator and committed person to any challenge in my way. I think my work ethic is the main driving force when it comes to these skills and emotions.

15A Buyer Behavior

Assignment 15A

Interviewee 1: Jennifer age 24

When I spoke to Jennifer, she mentioned that the two main qualities when choosing a product or service is style and price. While she does not grade quality by herself, she rather looks up yelp or product reviews online. Jenny also wanted me to know that she usually waits to see if one of her family members or friends have the same or similar product. With that being said, the interviewee likes to equally shop both online and in-person. In addition, she mentioned that smaller payments under $50 are usually done with cash. When asked what matters most after the product or service has been bought is if it reaches or exceeds its full expected potential. Jenny mentioned that she knows it is a good purchase if she uses it frequently or uses it in key situations and vice versa for bad purchases.

Interviewee 2: Jack age 20

After speaking with Jack, I quickly learned that he values items based on quality. He focuses more on a products sustainability and durability rather than its price. For the most part he is willing to pay good money for an even better product/ service. He also mentioned that most of his time when shopping happens online on Amazon. With that being said you can tell his method of purchase is through gift card or a bank account. As mentioned earlier with understanding the quality of a product, this is also how Jack post reviews his own purchases.

Interviewee 3: Nancy age 42

After interviewing Nancy, I have learned that she is a big online shopper. Almost everything she purchases is done online. She mentioned that if the price is right and the product looks decently valued then she won’t hesitate to press the “Checkout” button. In fact, Nancy told me that she does all over her grocery shopping through an app called “Shipt.” Through this app she said she can get really anything delivered from Walmart, CVS, Publix, Target, etc. All of her groceries are thus brought to her house within a couple hours of adding them to her cart. Most of the time Nancy said she knows what she is going to get out of her purchases so she does not do a lot of reflecting.

Conclusion:

After speaking with the three interviewers I learned that the world of online shopping is taking over more and more every day. The availability and ease of shopping online is something that is insurmountable to the average in-person shopper. In my opinion when it comes to groceries, I would rather see what I am picking out especially when it comes to produce. I also understand that many post purchase evaluations are similar to the initial reasoning and usefulness for buying the product in the first place.