19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1) My name is Shelby Cohron. After listening to people's interviews on their point of view of me, I realized more of my talents. I put 100 percent into everything that I do, I take time to help others and I am a great communicator. I am an photographer for Spoon University, an online publication, and the photography director for the UF campus chapter. I also have been a contributing writer for the Alligator, the school newspaper. I aspire to be the best that I can be, to take in more of my surroundings and to obtain all of the experiences I possibly can. Experiences can range from simply enjoying what's in my city to work experiences. That might not be the aspirations the assignment calls for, but I am learning more and more to engage in the moment. I see my business concept playing a big role in my life because it is a major problem that I am passionate about. I connect with it. I can make it resonate with people by communicating my passion.

2) I am offering rewards for people to stay off the phone as well as a GPS/map to get people to their destination. I would make people purchase the app that way there would be no in app advertisement that would distract the drivers. I know some map apps have advertisements that do distract the drivers. I heard it is a pet peeve of theirs. My app will offer products or coupons that the users will want and there will be a variety that will appeal to different age groups because not every age group has the same taste in rewards. The longer the driver stays off their phone, the more points they get. The more points they get, the more rewards they can "purchase" with their points.

3) I am offering it to males and females with the ages 16-30. These customers are drivers, people who use their car daily and get distracted easily because of their phone. These customers are not a fan of driving long distances and hate traffic. These drivers also use their phone all the time whether it is walking, working out or any other daily task. What these customers all have in common is they text and drive all the time, not just at stop signs, stop lights and in traffic.

4) These customers care because it will help them stay focused on the road, help keep those in the car safer from bad driving and keep surrounding drivers a little bit safer. Not only do they have to pay a small amount, but in return they can get multiple rewards for being a better and safer driver. If they pay a couple dollars, then they get products they like in return by simply staying off their phone. Parents, who can be seen as strong advocates for this app, would appreciate it because then they know it can help keep their child, who recently got his or her license, to pay attention to the road.

5) From what I noticed there is still a competition of helping people stop using their phones while driving. The iPhone has a new do not disturb while driving feature that stops notifications to come in when a person is driving. The app can be easily disabled by the driver, and then sometimes does not continue the do not disturb while driving feature. However, I have yet to find apps that offer rewards for staying off of the phone, a map included and notifications for people who want to know the driver's status.

These elements fit together because it is a big problem that has yet to go away. People are trying, but I haven't seen much success. The do not disturb feature is new, so I do not know how much information is available for how effective it is. I know the price is a weak factor because I do not know what is too cheap or too expensive. I also do not know how to code apps, so I would have to hire someone to do my coding, which would cost more money.

The two main feedbacks that I received from my first idea napkin was that this is an app needs to have a price and needs clients who would provide the rewards. I made sure this app is going to be paid for whether it is 99 cents to $1.99. I also need to appeal to companies who would be willing to partner with me. Having a great idea is not enough, they would need to make a profit somehow as well. I also added more detail to the specific age group I am targeting because it seems to be young adults with this driving issue.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

    My customer can be male or female, but their age, ideas and habits are the same. The general customer is the age from 16 to 40. They are distracted by their phone while driving, but are more cautious when others are in the vehicle with them. They're not a fan of driving and hate traffic, like most people. What singles them out is they text and drive at all times, not just at stop signs, stop lights and in traffic.
    The two specific customers I have are Jack and Jill. Jack is 21 and Jill is 20. They're dating and always text each other even when the other is driving. Both attend different universities in Florida, which Florida has been reported the US state with the most car accidents. Jack goes to University of Florida and Jill goes to Florida State University. On the weekends they take turns visiting each other.  
    Jack is better at not texting and driving except at stop lights and in traffic. Jill texts all the time, while driving or in traffic. Neither people have a brand new car, but Jack has Bluetooth in his car. That makes calling people easier and less distracting.
    Jack's hobbies include playing football with friends and hiking. He likes to disconnect from technology to enjoy the outdoors and the moment of things, so he takes a lot of road trips when possible. He is a huge fan of multitasking and does that a lot. Jill loves photography and considers herself a foodie. She works for a local bakery and delivers the baked goods around town. She loves trying new things, so her goal before she graduates is to try all of the best restaurants and food joints in town. Neither  mind driving, but tend to get antsy when it is for a long period of time. Music isn't always enough to keep them entertained on the road and off their phone.
    Both feel young enough to where they think they are invincible and can do anything they put their mind to. They don't think anything can happen to them. They are on that young life adrenaline. They are looking for experiences and creating memories, so they take every opportunity they can. They are go getters and try not to let anything get in their way. However, they are very dependent on their phone to get where they are going and achieving.

    What I have in common with them is their adrenaline for experiences in life. I also love driving, but if it is a long distance I find it difficult to pay attention to the road. I always make sure I have a set playlist so I do not mess with my phone. I am very dependent on my phone as well for certain things: school, maps, projects, etc. I don't think this is a coincidence because my product is aimed to my age group and type of person. I am one of the types of customers I am appealing to.

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Five ways I have human capital:

1. Passionate: If I set my mind to something I am passionate about, then I will go above and beyond to best convey whatever it might be. With passion I am able to get people motivated and eager about what I am passionate about. If there are obstacles, I will overcome them no matter the difficulty.
2. Adventurous: I am daring. I love to try new things and I don't hold back. If something peaks my interest, or seems exciting and scary, I will do it. I love gaining new experiences, which lead me to grow as a person
3. Friendly: To me there are no such things as strangers, only future friends. I have always been able to strike up a conversation with anyone. I have met great people and made connections this way. I love meeting new people and making friends. It does benefit to network, but I also really love people. 
4. Leader: With my experiences in projects, work and internships, I have always been eager to take charge and lead the team. I feel as a leader I can be involved with everything and delegate tasks that I know is not possible alone. 
5. Different Points of View: I think with my experiences of studying abroad, living in different states, going to school out of state, experiencing boarding school and much more, I have gained experiences that some people have not. This allows me to see different points of views.

Interviews:
1)

What I took away was my compassion for people, friendliness and sense of adventure/spontaneity. I am never scared to try new things either. I really appreciated all that she said. I'm glad to have her as a friend.

2)

I really appreciate what my brother says. I have designed his business cards before, and with any assignment I like to get it done right.  He says that I don't like to turn in things if it is not done correctly and it is true. I think it is a weakness as well because sometimes it makes me stress too much over certain things that end up not being important in life.

3)

What I took away was she notices my positivity and energy that I bring to the table. I can also say that I am a great motivator for teams as well. I bring excitement to the table, which makes people want to get their projects done. Sometimes it's also bad because then I get distracted.


4)

She speaks about my ability to talk to anyone and can put people at ease. I am a very friendly person and I can strike up a conversation with anyone. I didn't realize, but I am really good at communication. I never thought about it being a trait of mine.


5)

I took away from Rachel that I'm reliable and will always be supportive. I love helping other people and I have a strong compassion for people as well.

Reflection:
My friends see me in the same way as I see myself. My brother sees me differently or maybe even in a better light because he saw me grow up into who I am today. He has been with me since the beginning. He has seen the negative and positive and how I've grown. I am glad they see me in such a great light. I didn't expect them to say some of these very positive things. I am grateful to have them as my friends. I think my strong personality causes these differences. I am not usually a quiet person. I stand up for what is right and I am curious and eager to learn more. My goal in my life is to make an  impact on everyone I meet. I think I would take out points of view and put conversation/communication because that seemed to be a strong theme among my friends.
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17 A Elevator Pitch No. 2

From the interviews I have gathered and the feedback, what stood out most was the liked the idea of a reward. The people who have the new iPhone update think it's great, but when they have their maps open, it no longer works and the notifications pour in. Having the motivation and reward of food or drinks makes the consumer more willing to stay off the phone. Who doesn't like free things? Many do not want to pay for the app, which was something else that stood out to me. The original plan was to make the app cost 99 cents, but I think I would make it free in the end of it all. There would probably be advertisements in it like Waze, another map app. I changed certain other minor things like it blocking notifications. If anything I would try to make it be muted or only allow certain phone calls through. 

Reading Reflection No. 1

1) What surprised me the most about the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, was the fact that they tried to sell their idea to the U.S. government, but it wasn't interested in their idea. Instead the aviation idea was sold to the French and thrived in Europe. I grew up with aviation in my family, so reading that America wouldn't hop on the plane bandwagon shocked me. What I admired about both Orville and Wilbur Wright was they kept doing different things and succeeded like running a print shop, publishing a newspaper and running a bike repair shop. All of these different things led them to creating a glider. What I least admired was the outcome of the patent war that happened between the brothers and Glenn Curtiss. After the brothers won, they were seen no longer seen as heroes, but as greedy entrepreneurs. That is not entirely they'er fault. I just think they could have handled the situation better. The amount of trial and errors they had for aviation was unbelievable, especially after the crash were their passenger died. They never stopped trying. After crashes, they continued. The Wright brothers' parents had one condition with the boys, they could not fly together in case there was a tragedy. They only flew together once.

2) The competencies that I noticed was even when they were idle, they still looked at life for inspiration and ideas.

3) I found the transactions between the French and the Wright brothers confusing because it involved patents. I haven't fully understood the process of gaining a patent.

4) If i were to ask two questions to these men I would ask why aviation? They had so much success with other things, so why start something completely new that no one has even thought of? Another question I would ask would be for Orville. What did you do when your older brother died? How did you continue his legacy and work? He died of an illness at age 45. I don't understand how he could continue.

5) I think the opinion they would have for hard work would be never give up even when things crash and burn to the ground. I share that opinion because things in life will be hard. There will be tough times ahead. It is important to keep getting up and learning from mistakes. If there are no mistakes, how does one learn and grow? I failure is a step closer to success. I think that these entrepreneurs knew this.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

After interviewing a new set of people who have iPhones and the new update (it has an app feature that turns on Do Not Disturb while driving), I have learned that my idea is still needed. It just needs to change a bit to fit the need more.

After my interviewed, I gathered that price would matter for my app. Not many people would be willing to pay for an app that stops them from using their phone, while driving. However, because it would offer rewards, the person I interviewed was more inclined to purchase it but would still want to make sure it was super cheap. No one would pay over 99 cents to buy the app. The three people I interviewed appreciated that the app would have built in map, allow music to continue to play and that there would be rewards for not using the phone. Luckily, I do not have to worry too much about style because it is an app. The people I interviewed stated that as long as the app was usable and not confusing, they would use it. Every person emphasized that it needs to be easy and the rewards need to be worth it.

This is all online and can be bought on smart phones. They see this type of app as an investment, therefore the interviewers said that they would look into other products first especially if this one had to be purchased. Even if the cost was low, they would still research alternatives in case there was a free and better app.

When they look back to see if it was a good purchase, the most important things were that earning rewards was reasonable as well as not to difficult to obtain and that the map was very helpful with no issues. These were the most important facts for post-purchase evaluation. They said if the app did not help them be motivated to not use their phone while driving, then it would be a bad purchase. The motivation/rewards are gift cards to places like Chick-fil-a, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc.

After talking with these people about the app that motivates people by offering rewards to stop using their phone while driving, I realized there is still a need. The solution just needs to be appealing to people. Two of the individuals mentioned the iPhone's update. There is now a Do Not Disturb feature while driving. However, two of the three admitted that they will turn it off anyway, so they can mess with their music and snapchat at stop lights. Once it is disabled it doesn't turn back on again. If they had an app that motivates them to stay off the phone completely, it would benefit drivers immensely. Having a free small Starbucks drink as motivation would work for them to stop using their phone, they said.

Halfway Reflection

To the student who is now taking the entrepreneurial class:

Oh boy, do I have some advice for you. With any online class, stay organized and manage your time efficiently. It is extremely easy to forget about online classes if you have one or two. It is easy to keep up with these assignments because I enjoy them. You are learning valuable things. The great thing about this class it is all interesting and you can make this class one of your favorite classes if you put in the work. I make sure every Sunday I plan my homework out and try to get it done a head of time to have a free weekend. I would also make sure to pick topics you enjoy that way it doesn't seem like another boring class. 

I wanted to give up at one point in this class when it came to choosing a big idea that will carry on the rest of the semester. I wanted it to be something I was passionate about, that was a real problem and something original. I couldn't think of anything good enough. I am still not fully in love with my idea, but I like it enough where I want to try. I think that is okay because it still holds my attention. I continued with my idea because it was still a serious problem (using the phone while driving). There are alternative ways to not, but it is still and issue in my opinion.

I think from all of these exercises I have gained a tenacious attitude. When I put my mind to something, I like to see it through and finished. It can be a failure or a success, but I need to finish through. The big major project/idea is what contributed to this the most. I haven't stuck with a business idea for this long in a long time. 

I have three tips: 

1. One skill to gain/develop is accept all criticism and learn from it. If you do not learn from it, it is useless and you will not develop your idea to its full potential. 
2. Take all failures and try to learn at least one thing from it. If you don't learn, then failing is essential to improvement.
3. The cheesy tip: never give up on something you are passionate about. If you have an idea that you really think will take off, then stick with it despite the criticism and failures that you will experience. Failing is a good thing. Criticism is a good thing. Use it. 

Now, go out there and find an answer to the many opportunities in the world. 

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

A segment:
       For this segment, I choose senior college students living off campus who drive their car to campus and use the park and ride UF offers. They all have had issues with texting and driving, but put their phones away or turn them off to not use them. One student lives near Archer, has class every day. The other lives in Cottage Grove and only two classes a week in the afternoon during rush hour. The last student lives in a house behind the law school and has classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the mornings. Each has at least 7 minutes commute to campus.

Learning:
           I learned that this need is slowly diminishing because of the iPhone's newest update. The new update now has a feature where if you are going over a certain speed, then the phone will turn off notifications and also send a message people a message that they are driving. However, the three students I interviewed do like the idea of getting rewards while not using their phone. If they have to purchase the app, then they wont use it. The rewards idea is still a good motivator. However, because it is already installed they don't see a huge need. One admitted to disabling the program in the phone when he was in traffic. He said if he did have a reward he would in enjoy in the end, he would be less likely to use his phone. That being said, I believe that this product could still be of use. Perhaps it would have to have more offers/functions that people need while driving (i.e. a map/GPS, playing music, etc.)  to make it more appealing. 

          When they were searching for solutions, most would put their phone on do not disturb or put it out of sight. However, during traffic they would reach for the phone all over again. Many students remember their parents talk to them about texting and driving when they were young. They never did full research or googling. They know texting and driving is dangerous. They see signs on the highway saying "don't text and drive," but they never looked up numbers of accidents involving phone usage. When they received information about crashes from texting and driving it was usually hearing it on the news if a car crash happened.

Conclusion: 
         I learned that the need is diminishing based from this segment. Using the phone while driving has not stopped, but there are more ways for it to be prevented. From what I understood from the interviews there is still no app that will offer rewards for you not texting and driving. This is a very helpful because then I could narrow down what my app/product would have to make it appealing for people to use. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am Shelby Cohron and I am an out-of-state student from Houston, Texas. I am in the College of Journalism and Communication at UF and majoring in public relations with a business concentration. My talents would be photography. I work for Spoon University as the photo director and photographer. Not only is it a talent it is a passion of mine. I have a lot of experience with brand building and social media management. I have interned for in realty and worked on their social media, blog and website. I also have worked with a small business that would work with multiple organizations on building the brands. I one day want to own my own business and be my own boss. I have yet to figure out exactly what type of business because there is so much I want to do. I don't have the problem of figuring out what I want. I have the problem of choosing which path to take to get to my goal. The business idea of reducing (possibly stopping) phone usage and driving is important to me. I had a friend who passed in a car accident from texting and driving as well as friends who have come close to crashing, so it has affected me. I know less accidents would occur if people didn't use their phones while driving. 

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I am offering customers and certain businesses motivation to stop texting and driving through an app. I offer customers fun motivations like gift cards, simple products, coupon, etc. if they do not use their phone while driving for an extended period of time. The longer they drive without using the phone, then the more points they can achieve. The points would buy products, coupons, gift cards, etc. Businesses can use this app to gain more business or promotion because it would be its products being offered. It is a great cause to be behind because it saves lives. The app could also be a map and allow music to be played but not search for specific songs. That way they won't be staring at their phone for long. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I am offering this to mostly young adults and teenage drivers (ages 16-35). With the younger demographic and the use of social media/data it will be easy to see what people are into, what is trending and what products should be used for motivation (like any popular coffee or fast food gift card) I also believe that age groups has the most trouble focusing on the road when using the phone. Phones can be addicting and the newer generation (ages 15-20) grew up with smartphones, which are very distracting with all of the apps it can have. That is why I targeted them as a customer. The older group (ages 21-35) are also very involved with the smart phones because that group also grew up with it. These customers have the smartphone addiction in common.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

Not only would the customer care about this, but the parents, loved one or friends would care about this because it will help stop them from using their phone while driving. Parents could make their children get this app because it is a map, deters texting and driving, and can notify people when they arrive at their destination. There is also a good motivation/reward in the end. I know many people who will download apps to help earn rewards or coupons. If they pay 99 cents to $3 (depending on what features are on the app), it would be very worth it. There is a bigger gain than loss of 99 cents to $3. 

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

From what I noticed there is competition. However, what sets me apart is that my app would have rewards, maps, notifications when people arrive at the driver's destination, and possibly more. What none of the competitors have are rewards that people/customers want. 

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I believe these elements do fit together, but there are some weaknesses to my business concept. I do not know how to create an app nor do I know anyone that does. I am not sure if people would buy the app or if it should be free like the others I've seen. I have interviewed people who would purchase the app and think it is a great idea. Many people that I talked to are unaware of actual apps that help people stop from texting and driving. They use different methods like putting the phone away or turning it on do not disturb. There is a strong need, so it would be a great use to people.