21A- Reading Reflection No. 2

I chose to read the boo, The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki. The general theme of this book was about using social media for your personal development or business, as well as different tools, tactics, and techniques that could set you apart from the rest. Each chapter discusses different aspects that people look at and he gives the reader insight and tips on how to use each tool. He even provides hyperlinks (if you have the online version of the book) to make it as simple and as easy as possible. 

This book really allowed me to see a different side of entrepreneurship than what Pryor is typically discussing in class. For example, we are usually learning about how to run a business fundamentally, or how to sell a business to investors, or even how to sell a product to a market. Yet we do not really discuss the outside tools we can use to help reach our market, which is what this book does. Even more specifically, this book discusses how a business can reach its market for free, and how to use different tactics on social media to really draw in its customers. Of course this class talks about selling to the market, but I really feel as if this book gives more in-depth, real life examples and guides on how to do this. I feel as if this book is like another branch that is not gone into deep discussion about in this class, which is extremely helpful, especially for people our age who use social media everyday. 

Based on this book, I would create an exercise where you are to create a social media account for your business/product, and then use a set number of things that the book mentions. For example, making a post a way they describe how to, posting the numbers of times they say to, or just using the tools that the book mentions in order to help promote your business. This would be an assignment that would be worked on all year long, I feel like, and then it will allow you to see how your page/ social media grows from the beginning to the end. I feel like this assignment will not only get the page up and running, but also will allow you to be in a good position to sell your product once the class is over. 

What I learned throughout this book is how you can 'trick' your followers on your social media pages. For example, they mention how if you post certain colors, or a certain picture, or a certain title then the viewer's are much more likely to click on it and read it. Even if they do not buy the product or subscribe, or whatever the case may be, they are at least spending time on your site. This was the most interesting part to me to learn because I have found myself doing this, and did not even realize that this was their tactic. 

20A Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry:

Aardvark "sales" representative:

This company is a large paper-straw distributor for various restaurants and stores across the United States. I found them simply by looking for other people who are in the business that I am looking to get into, straw distribution. I simply emailed the email on their website, and was connected to a person who worked for them giving me the answers I was looking for as far as their specific business as well as the distribution business. They helped me by giving me the background of their business and telling me how the distribution process works, especially with other companies and the contracts that they ensue.  Including this person in my network will help me have a partner, although they might also be considered competition. I will be able to learn from them and possibly make connections with the smaller businesses they have to turn away due to the high demand that the business entails. 

2) One person must be an expert on your market

Steve M. Owner of small business coffee shop:

Steve is a good family friend of mine for as long as I can remember. He recently opened a coffee shop in downtown St. Petersburg, a city that prides itself on paper straw usage. I asked him many questions on his customers response to the paper straw, and how it is affecting their experience. He described how he wishes he could find an alternative to the paper straw, simply because he has not yet gotten a postive review about it. In fact, while I was communicating with him, he even mentioned how bad the straws are and how he realized it was an unsolved problem when so many people were going out of their way to complain about such a minimal thing. He talked about how people go to coffee shops for the coffee, catch up with a friend, or a simple outing. They never go to review the straw content at the shop, so he knew there was a large problem. This connect is really good for me because it could give me my first potential customer. 

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry:

Starbucks Manager: 

I talked to the local Starbucks manager to see how the industry worked, how their straws were made, etc. They have a distinct, green straw with Starbucks wrapping, therefore you know their straws are made in house and made for them specifically, rather than buying in bulk from a larger distributor. I simply contacted them by going to the local Starbucks and asking for the manager and getting a glimpse of what their straw situation is like. I asked them how their products worked, how they enjoyed the paper straw, and how it is affecting the people's experience. Talking about this with the manager really helped me with the understanding of how it works at a large-scale company. This interacting was good for me and my business and helped me make good connections and contacts . 

This experience helped me because it really made me get out of my comfort zone and go out and talk to people in my industry. I really learned about how it works, and was able to make contacts with people I would not really have the opportunity to do so. I enjoyed learning about the industries and figured out the networking and the distribution and how it all works for each restaurant. Although I only learned about a few specific places, I was able to understand how it typically works in the restaurant setting and I would approach entering the industry. This is different than what I did before because before it was more about interviewing, rather than understanding and trying to enter the market, potentially. Before I was just asking about specific places and how their customers reacted to the unsolved problem, but through this I am almost presenting my product to them and creating contacts to enter the market with my product. 

19A- Idea Napkin No.2

1) My name is Danielle Romanello and I am from the state of Florida. I pride myself on being a hardworking, organized person who is wanting to make a mark on the world. I love to travel around and appreciate the pure beauty that the world has to offer. My aspirations are to make a mark on the world because I feel like we, as human beings, abuse the beauty we have been given by nature. I want to start my business because I want to make my mark on saving the world. I think this biodegradable straw business will allow me to feel like I make my mark. I want to phase out the plastic straw, and create the norm of plant-based straws in every place that contains straws, and get rid of plastic straws in all.

2)  I will be solving the customer's unmet needs with a straw that is functional, easy to use, and good for the environment. This straw will provide a better drinking experience for the customer, while also being good for the environment so they can feel good about their impact on the world. I will be selling this product to restaurants and businesses that offer drinks and use straws, but it will impact both the company and the company's customers, resulting in both parties being happy. I am offering a 100% plant-based straw that has the consistency of a plastic straw, yet is also 100% biodegradable.   

3) I am offering this product to restaurants who want to make a postive impact on their environment, whether by choice or by law. My marketing target for my product are local, smaller businesses in cities where plastic straws are outlawed, selling my biodegradable straws to them. From their I will try to market to the bigger companies, and distribution centers who supply products for larger corporations. This market is in the restaurant and tourism industry, where I will supply these conservative straws that leave a postive impact on our environment. 

4) My market cares about this product for two main reasons. One, they want to make their customers happy and at the moment, the paper straw is not doing it for their customers, leaving them unsatisfied with their drinks. They also care about my product because it will give them a better option for their paper straw, while making a good impact on the environment. My market can now claim to be "Environmental friendly" as they use my postive- impact straw that leaves them and their customers happy. 

5) What separates me from everyone else is that I make a product that gives you the best of both worlds, its good for the environment, yet it has the consistency of plastic. Right now, the issue is that paper straws are not liked by the customer. Yet, they are forced to be used because plastic straws are looked down upon, and even illegal in some places in the United States. My product gives you a content customer and a clean footprint on the world, truly the best of both worlds. 

I feel like all these aspects fit together perfectly. As someone who loves the outdoors and the environment, I hate paper straws more than anything. I also know I am not the only one who does. I do not believe that paper straws are the answer to this, therefore I created a biodegradable straw that leaves the Earth better after use. I feel that the restaurant industry has their hands cuffed, in a way, because they cannot use plastic straws, yet are not happy giving their customers the flimsy paper straws. I feel like my straw will make everyone happy and it will bring people together, as they are drinking from it!

I took away that my idea napkin was easy to follow and read, as well as the fact that there is a market out there for my product. A lot of the comments I received described how they too hated paper straws and thus I felt like I really had a good, useful product. In this post I focused on being more details on who exactly I was selling my product to and how it was going to impact various people, not just one specific group. 

17A Elevator Pitch #2

https://youtu.be/H09RHMNs_l0

What feedback that stood out to me most was to just be more dynamic and have a better opening statement, which I tried to do in this elevator pitch, as opposed to my last one. I tried to be more dynamic and bright, which is why I performed it outside this time in an environment that best represented my product. I also used tools and props for this elevator pitch which allowed me to not only be more dynamic, but also have examples of what problem my product solved. Overall, I took the comments I had from before and made a better pitch for this assignment. I feel like I really improved my pitch and made it much more inviting and a better hook. 

18A Create a Customer Avatar

My Custom Avatar: A small business owner who values her customers just as much as she loves the environment. 

My prototypical customer is a young, millennial who has recently opened up their dream coffee shop, that is not just a coffee shop, but a destination point of the people of her small town in Oregon. My customer loves people, animals, and the planet, which is why she is so invested in making a restaurant that is so dedicated to recycled materials, little to no waste, and biodegradable straws. When my customer isn't working, she can be seen out by the ocean or hiking up a mountain to a waterfall. She is also obsessed with yoga and will do yoga anywhere, anytime. They drive a gray Toyota Prius with a "coexist" bumpersticker. My customer does not really enjoy television and only watches shows on Netflix because she does not even have cable at her house. My customer is not married and does not have any children, because she is young and does not want to be tied down, yet at least, because she has many thing to accomplish before that happens. My customer loves to read books of all different genres, but she finds to be her favorite ones are bibliographies because she is interested in learning people and figuring them out, especially who they really are rather than what people think of them as. My customer is a well known liberal who chooses to voice her opinions. She would often be found fighting for peoples rights and in the front of any rally. My customer is 27 years old, but if you ask her she claims to be a past 21. She lives in a small, cute house outside of Portland. It is not a tiny house, but it is by no means big either. My customer believes that simplicity is key to appreciate things in life. She also describes how every night before bed she mediates and reflects on the day. She describes this as "keeping sane in a world that is so busy." 

Something that I find I have in common is our love for the outdoors and appreciation for the beautiful Earth we are blessed to live on. I have visited Oregon before and loved it there, so I understand why her hobbies are what they are. I would love to hike waterfalls everyday if I had the opportunity to do so. I think we differed a lot in some aspects, but we were the same when it came to our love for the environment and going on cool adventures. I think we shared this passion because that is somewhat the objective behind my product: a better, well functioning use of a straw, but that is better for the environment. Because we both had the same goal of keeping our planet safe and healthy, it is no shock that we share the same trait for the love of the environment. 

16A What's Your Secret Sauce

1) To describe myself in five ways I would say: Caring, driven, passionate, hard-working, and organized. I would describe these words for myself because I feel like I possess them in all facets of life, rather than one specific thing.  I believe that these things set me apart from everyone else because not every has all five of these traits and actually mean it. I feel like my maturity, drive, and overall life experience allows me to be the person I am. 

2)  https://youtu.be/jWl9OUXzKiQ 

3) After these interviews I have learned that others see me a little different, yet also the same as I see myself. Everything them mentioned about me I would use to describe myself, yet I feel like they were nicer, and more poistive about myself than I would be when describing my own traits. I feel like our views aligned when comparing myself and how I see myself to the things they said about me. I think the only differences would be their viewpoint as a friend of mine versus how I see myself in the world because I do not necessarily view myself as a friend. One person in particular described me as someone who is caring and always reaches out, yet that is something I do not necessarily think about because it is just, well, me. I do think my interviewees are correct about me and described me in a way that I enjoyed being talked about. I would not change my list from part 1 simply because they were mentioned by my interviewees and really describe who I am. 

15A Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Interviewees:

Owner of a small restaurant in Gainesville, FL

            In this interview, we really focused on the problem at hand, the fact that they had to buy all new paper straws and get rid of their plastic ones. They described how it was very hard for them to start this new investment because they had such a deep supply of plastic straws, which really hurt their monthly budget. This owner described how price was the biggest thing they had to focus on, simply because they could not afford to purchase the “higher end” paper straws, they purchase just the cheapest, easiest available product for them. They described how they buy through a supplier that also supplies them with napkins, paper towels, and other such products. In reference to post-purchase evaluation, they said how they did not like the paper straws they give to their customers, yet they feel like they have no other choice due to the plastic straw ban.

Employee at Chick-Fil-A on Archer

They describe how they changed their straws due to the ban, but get theirs through a supplier they have a contract with. Their straws are wrapped in paper wrappings that also say “Chick-Fil-A” on them, making them special and unique to their restaurant. While they know that customers are unhappy, they do not really have a choice due to the ban, along with their supplying contract. They did mention, however, that their goal is to make customers happy and they would definitely be open to an alternative if that promised a happier, more satisfied customer.

Owner of successful coffee shop in Gainesville, FL

In this interview I learned how they have been looking for an alternative solution, exactly what I am trying to produce and sell. They mentioned that they buy their straws in bulk and through various companies, having so real ties to any specific company. In fact, they mentioned how they have used various people/ companies for the straws and have not found one they are happy with. They mentioned that their goal is to give their customers a happy and positive experience and have been mad about the ban because they feel like it handcuffs them and does not allow them to give their customers the product they want to. They also described how on their post-purchase evaluation they have just been left unhappy with each paper straw company they purchase from. Their biggest complaint is how soft the straws get, regardless of what company they purchases from.

After these interviews I have learned to change who I need to pitch two. First, I would pitch to the small businesses that buy local and do not get their products from suppliers. I would need to make relationships with them and feel like that would be really beneficial for them and myself as well. After that, I would go and discuss the straw issue with local restaurants in the Gainesville area, along with other places that have a plastic straw ban, and would get them on my side of the “biodegradable straw” and then pitch my ideas their suppliers, since that is where their product comes from, rather than the restaurants buying the straws themselves. I would really focus on the post-purchase evaluation, which is what I feel like my product focuses on. The customer experience is the focus on my product, which would definitely have to deal with my products.