1. For this assignment, the portmanteau that I came up with was "loanership." I came up with this after finally receiving back my Playstation 3 game console (PS3) from one of my friends, who had had the device on his shelf after borrowing it for such a long period of time that he basically owned it, even though it was still being "loaned" to him.
2. After coming up with "loanership," I decided to define it as something that refers to a situation where someone has loaned or borrowed something from someone else for an extended period of time, and now essentially owns said item, even though it's still technically being borrowed.
3. In order to get exposure to my new word, I decided to tell my friends and family about the story about recently receiving back my PS3 from my friend after such a long period of him loaning it from me. I dropped "loanership" in each of these conversations, at first with no explanation and then if they asked about it, I would explain afterward. In most of the conversations that I have had, they have asked me, at least at first after saying the word, what I meant by that. There were no initial laughs in any of these conversations, unfortunately, but after explaining what loanership meant, I was able to get a few chuckles here and there. In other conversations, I would attempt to use the word when someone was discussing borrowing something from someone else, saying things along the lines of "Watch out, you don't want this to turn into loanership," or "Man, that sure does sound like they're beginning loanership of your (blank)." Yeah, these conversations ended up being kind of awkward after using a word no one had heard of before, but that's okay because it was all for the assignment.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Halfway Reflection
1. The behaviors that I have developed/used to keep up with this course are that I make sure that I pay attention to the due dates of the assignments, take a look at what they entail beforehand, and ensure that I have enough time set aside in order to be able to sufficiently complete them. I find that all of these actions have become essential in actually completely said assignments.
2. One moment where I felt like "giving up" was whenI realized that one of the past assignments required me to go out and interview strangers. I didn't think that I would have the time to do it, and I wasn't motivated to actually go out and ask people about something completely random for the class, primarily because I thought that no one would care and no one would be willing to talk to me. However, I was able to successfully complete the assignment and I'm glad I did because it allowed me to talk more about my business concept with those who might've been interested in what I had to offer. In certain situations, I find that I have a tenacious attitude and others, not so much. I think that this class has helped me in areas where my tenacity has been lacking, and I'm glad it has.
3. The three tips that I would offer students who take the class in future semesters would be to:
(1) Make sure to have the assignments complete on-time, as they are given in advance and are relatively straight-forward in what they ask for.
(2) If you can't do an assignment, for whatever reason, make sure to back it up with extra credit as there are many opportunities for it.
(3) Try to look at the assignments from an entrepreneurial mindset if you're struggling to see the end goal of said assignment, because it helps with the motivation to actually complete it.
2. One moment where I felt like "giving up" was whenI realized that one of the past assignments required me to go out and interview strangers. I didn't think that I would have the time to do it, and I wasn't motivated to actually go out and ask people about something completely random for the class, primarily because I thought that no one would care and no one would be willing to talk to me. However, I was able to successfully complete the assignment and I'm glad I did because it allowed me to talk more about my business concept with those who might've been interested in what I had to offer. In certain situations, I find that I have a tenacious attitude and others, not so much. I think that this class has helped me in areas where my tenacity has been lacking, and I'm glad it has.
3. The three tips that I would offer students who take the class in future semesters would be to:
(1) Make sure to have the assignments complete on-time, as they are given in advance and are relatively straight-forward in what they ask for.
(2) If you can't do an assignment, for whatever reason, make sure to back it up with extra credit as there are many opportunities for it.
(3) Try to look at the assignments from an entrepreneurial mindset if you're struggling to see the end goal of said assignment, because it helps with the motivation to actually complete it.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1 (Need Awareness and Information Search)
After interviewing my three candidates, all of which came from the small-business owner segment, I came to the conclusion that they all have similar needs. Each voiced similar opinions on why they desired a stronger social media presence for their businesses, and what they were hoping to achieve through using my business concept. In regard to need awareness and information search, all were aware of their need for a social media consultation service and they had researched, at one point or another how to possibly remedy the situation they were currently faced with. I was glad to learn that these owners went through the same reasoning and thought-process as to why they decided that they needed to use the service, and this experience has only encouraged me in finding out more about what business owners need and desire from my business concept.
https://soundcloud.com/connor-harding-1/interview-1/s-WIELU
https://soundcloud.com/connor-harding-1/interview-2/s-oZHJd
https://soundcloud.com/connor-harding-1/interview-3/s-uTYVb
https://soundcloud.com/connor-harding-1/interview-1/s-WIELU
https://soundcloud.com/connor-harding-1/interview-2/s-oZHJd
https://soundcloud.com/connor-harding-1/interview-3/s-uTYVb
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Week 7 - Reading Reflection No. 1
For this assignment, I read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.
1. What surprised me most about this book is that until reading it, I didn't know all that much about the distant past in the life of Steve Jobs. As a long-time Apple fan, I was some pretty sad when I first heard when died some five years ago, mainly because he affected both my life and countless others around the world through his passion for making the world a better place through technology, and it's what I admired most about him. I never knew that after being fired from Apple, he attempted to 'come back' into the industry with his NeXT computer, and that it ultimately failed and was considered a total flop. What I found out about him, that I ended up not really liking, was the suggestion that he was actually not a very nice guy. He treated those around him poorly, and was a very demanding boss to work for that often yelled and threw tantrums if he didn't get his way. I understand why he was like this, in that it mainly stemmed from his desire to have complete creative control over Apple's products, and that it had to be 'perfect' in his eyes. Steve Jobs definitely encountered adversity and failure in that the company he started, Apple, eventually voted him out after he proved to be too much of a problem for the board of directors and the CEO, and his previously-mentioned failure in the form of the NeXT computer.
2. I noticed that Steve Jobs was a visionary. A true big-picture guy, with an entrepreneurial mindset from the very beginning, and it allowed him to elevate his products and services to heights because he was excellent at knowing exactly what customers wanted, and how to create a product that would cater to these needs. In addition, he was very good at picking and choosing what ideas and concepts worked (or how they should work), and those that did not. Although he had some misfires earlier in his career, by the time he reached his prime when debuting the iPhone in 2007, he had perfected his craft.
3. The most confusing part of the reading for me, at least, was his attitudes toward his ex-lover and her daughter (which turned out to actually be his). Jobs refused to acknowledge the daughter as his own, and didn't want to pay child support to the mother for some reason that I'm still not entirely clear on. Eventually, he changed his attitudes on this, but as to why he acted like this in the first place, I'm really not quite sure.
4. “If you could live Another 200 Years, what would you want to accomplish?”
I would ask this because I'm curious to see just what exactly Steve Jobs would try to accomplish if he actually could live that long, because I think the answer would truly be fascinating and if I had to guess, would probably involve space exploration.
and
"Why did you, despite all of the urging not to and with all your available capital, decide not to undergo preventative measures to cure your cancer earlier?"
I would ask this because when I found out that Jobs decided to first attempt to cure his treatable form of cancer with homeopathic remedies (none of which helped and actually made the situation worse), I thought that it was completely idiotic and I would like to hear his actual rationale for why he decided to do this. Especially since he'd probably still be alive today if he decided to take the traditional medical route.
5. I think that Jobs greatly valued the concept of hard work, mainly because he was a very demanding person to work with and he only wanted the best people working on developing his products and services, and that those who were not hard-working didn't make the cut, in his eyes.
1. What surprised me most about this book is that until reading it, I didn't know all that much about the distant past in the life of Steve Jobs. As a long-time Apple fan, I was some pretty sad when I first heard when died some five years ago, mainly because he affected both my life and countless others around the world through his passion for making the world a better place through technology, and it's what I admired most about him. I never knew that after being fired from Apple, he attempted to 'come back' into the industry with his NeXT computer, and that it ultimately failed and was considered a total flop. What I found out about him, that I ended up not really liking, was the suggestion that he was actually not a very nice guy. He treated those around him poorly, and was a very demanding boss to work for that often yelled and threw tantrums if he didn't get his way. I understand why he was like this, in that it mainly stemmed from his desire to have complete creative control over Apple's products, and that it had to be 'perfect' in his eyes. Steve Jobs definitely encountered adversity and failure in that the company he started, Apple, eventually voted him out after he proved to be too much of a problem for the board of directors and the CEO, and his previously-mentioned failure in the form of the NeXT computer.
2. I noticed that Steve Jobs was a visionary. A true big-picture guy, with an entrepreneurial mindset from the very beginning, and it allowed him to elevate his products and services to heights because he was excellent at knowing exactly what customers wanted, and how to create a product that would cater to these needs. In addition, he was very good at picking and choosing what ideas and concepts worked (or how they should work), and those that did not. Although he had some misfires earlier in his career, by the time he reached his prime when debuting the iPhone in 2007, he had perfected his craft.
3. The most confusing part of the reading for me, at least, was his attitudes toward his ex-lover and her daughter (which turned out to actually be his). Jobs refused to acknowledge the daughter as his own, and didn't want to pay child support to the mother for some reason that I'm still not entirely clear on. Eventually, he changed his attitudes on this, but as to why he acted like this in the first place, I'm really not quite sure.
4. “If you could live Another 200 Years, what would you want to accomplish?”
I would ask this because I'm curious to see just what exactly Steve Jobs would try to accomplish if he actually could live that long, because I think the answer would truly be fascinating and if I had to guess, would probably involve space exploration.
and
"Why did you, despite all of the urging not to and with all your available capital, decide not to undergo preventative measures to cure your cancer earlier?"
I would ask this because when I found out that Jobs decided to first attempt to cure his treatable form of cancer with homeopathic remedies (none of which helped and actually made the situation worse), I thought that it was completely idiotic and I would like to hear his actual rationale for why he decided to do this. Especially since he'd probably still be alive today if he decided to take the traditional medical route.
5. I think that Jobs greatly valued the concept of hard work, mainly because he was a very demanding person to work with and he only wanted the best people working on developing his products and services, and that those who were not hard-working didn't make the cut, in his eyes.
Idea Napkin No. 1
1. My name is Connor Harding and I'm going to be a senior ISOM student at the University of Florida. Some of my talents include my attention to detail, my ability to read and comprehend things quickly, and my ability to draw and paint. I have previous experience working in two part-time jobs in which I worked as part of a team to complete tasks and assignments. I have also worked in an internship in the technology industry in which I honed my skills in multimedia, app development, and data analysis. My aspirations include completing my Masters degree in ISOM and getting a job in the industry that I both enjoy and feel that I'm making an impact on those around me. I see this business as playing a role in my life because I feel that it would become my full-time job if it were to take off and it would work directly with what I have already and what I will learn with my ISOM degree.
2. My product/service is a social media consultation company, in which I will approach businesses who desire to have a social media presence in order to cater and market directly to their potential customers, but are unsure as to how exactly they would do that. I would meet these businesses' unmet need of wanting to better market their own product or services to consumers through data analysis and comprehension, an extension of experience I have obtained from my internship and my skills that I have developed as an ISOM major.
3. I feel that my customers (in this case businesses) are those that are not large enough to have an internal marketing and data analysis department in which that can perform the tasks of my business idea in-house. I think that larger companies will already have these needs met because they will have the budget to afford hiring an internal team of strategists and analysts who can perform the same tasks my business can. I think that another similarity that my customers have is a strong desire to tailor their marketing strategies and market outreach to customers that will actually be receptive to their efforts, versus simply throwing things at the figurative wall and seeing what sticks. I hope that my business will be able to meet these unmet needs and lead to customers who are both happy and satisfied with my product/service, and have it lead to expansion and increased business with other similar companies.
4. I think that customers (businesses) will actually care about my product/service because I offer something that they want and need, and they cannot do it themselves, or they're attempting to and failing to get the results that they desire. I think that by my business idea offering a must-have marketing and strategy consultation service for social media usage, I will create something that small and medium-sized business owners must have.
5. What sets my business idea from everyone else is that there is virtually no competition in my business' field yet, and I have a unique perspective on how social media works from my experience in the ISOM and technology fields, instead of just from a marketing perspective. I can take and use the numbers from data analysis to understand what truly caters and appeals to potential customers and what it takes to get said customers to pay attention to my clientele, which in this case are businesses.
I believe that the elements of my post actually fit together quite well. I think that I might have a weak area in that my product/service may not necessarily be the only one of its kind, and that I might have to figure out a stronger way to distinguish myself from other competitors. I feel that this concept goes together nicely with my experience and skills, and I think that it's a service that's only going to grow larger and larger as time goes on. The presence of social media in our lives as consumers grows everyday, and more and more companies are realizing this every day. With my idea, I hope to capitalize on said growth.
2. My product/service is a social media consultation company, in which I will approach businesses who desire to have a social media presence in order to cater and market directly to their potential customers, but are unsure as to how exactly they would do that. I would meet these businesses' unmet need of wanting to better market their own product or services to consumers through data analysis and comprehension, an extension of experience I have obtained from my internship and my skills that I have developed as an ISOM major.
3. I feel that my customers (in this case businesses) are those that are not large enough to have an internal marketing and data analysis department in which that can perform the tasks of my business idea in-house. I think that larger companies will already have these needs met because they will have the budget to afford hiring an internal team of strategists and analysts who can perform the same tasks my business can. I think that another similarity that my customers have is a strong desire to tailor their marketing strategies and market outreach to customers that will actually be receptive to their efforts, versus simply throwing things at the figurative wall and seeing what sticks. I hope that my business will be able to meet these unmet needs and lead to customers who are both happy and satisfied with my product/service, and have it lead to expansion and increased business with other similar companies.
4. I think that customers (businesses) will actually care about my product/service because I offer something that they want and need, and they cannot do it themselves, or they're attempting to and failing to get the results that they desire. I think that by my business idea offering a must-have marketing and strategy consultation service for social media usage, I will create something that small and medium-sized business owners must have.
5. What sets my business idea from everyone else is that there is virtually no competition in my business' field yet, and I have a unique perspective on how social media works from my experience in the ISOM and technology fields, instead of just from a marketing perspective. I can take and use the numbers from data analysis to understand what truly caters and appeals to potential customers and what it takes to get said customers to pay attention to my clientele, which in this case are businesses.
I believe that the elements of my post actually fit together quite well. I think that I might have a weak area in that my product/service may not necessarily be the only one of its kind, and that I might have to figure out a stronger way to distinguish myself from other competitors. I feel that this concept goes together nicely with my experience and skills, and I think that it's a service that's only going to grow larger and larger as time goes on. The presence of social media in our lives as consumers grows everyday, and more and more companies are realizing this every day. With my idea, I hope to capitalize on said growth.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Tweaking the Innovation
Here's my product service mix for my company idea: Virtual-reality rental lounge business.
Revenue Drivers:
Headset Rentals
Revenue Drivers:
- Items
- Services
Headset Rentals
- Physical Lounge Area - Furnish our building (lounge) with comfortable furniture geared towards relaxation and comfort for those sitting for long periods of time.
- Variety - Offer several different types of VR headset to rent, and charge customers based off of type of headset and duration of session in lounge.
- Selection - Allow customers to use VR headset for several different purposes, such as watching TV, movies, or playing games.
Games and Peripherals
- Sales - Carry and supply retail versions of headsets for customer purchase and sale of peripherals for lower cost than other suppliers, as well as copies of the games used in the VR headset rentals.
- Try-before-you-buy - Allow customers to demo products and allow for selection based off of their personal preferences.
- Incentive - Provide top-of-the-line equipment and areas that can only be used feasibly in the lounge setting.
Food and Refreshments
- Supply and Demand - Customers to the lounge are intended to stay for long periods of time, so providing food and refreshments will create an additional revenue stream.
- Quality - Ensure that products offered are of high quality and encourage customers to become repeat-purchasers in the future.
Starting up this kind of business, a VR lounge, I feel would be a very interesting and unique opportunity to capitalize on in today's market. VR is up-and-coming currently, but I strongly feel that VR will be one of the "next big things" to hit the market, as evidenced by its already-positive response from early adopters and those who have tried the technology, myself included. The possibilities for this kind of business are boundless, and I think it's an interesting concept to think about.
Elevator Pitch No. 1
For my first elevator pitch, I decided to talk about myself and who I am as a person and what I can bring to a company. I feel that having the ability to pitch yourself to a company during something such as Career Showcase can make or break one's chances of actually getting an interview with said company. Personally, I prefer having a more natural conversation with recruiters because I find elevator pitches to be very artificial and doesn't really show who one is as a person.
https://youtu.be/ir2wCgHeOkg
https://youtu.be/ir2wCgHeOkg
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