Assignment 30A - Final Reflection

Assignment 30A – Final Reflection

Looking back at all that I’ve done and learned throughout this class, the most formative experience was going into such complexity with my business idea. In the beginning I didn’t think it was my best idea, but after talking to people and fleshing the idea out fully, I really realized as the semester came to an end how plausible my business actually is. It is something that could really take off, given the right resources and employees. I am actually thinking about starting this business for real, which is something that I’m sure I will remember years later. My most joyous experience was realizing that I could actually start a business if I really wanted to. We can all be entrepreneurs.

With that being said, I definitely see myself as more of an entrepreneur now than at the beginning of the semester. Since I’ve been able to see my business idea come to life, I think I have more of an entrepreneurial mindset and the belief that anyone can succeed at it if they want to.

One recommendation I would make to students who are going to journey down this path in the future is to go all in. Don’t do your assignments just to get them done and get the A. If you really throw yourself into your business idea, it may actually come to life before your eyes and you will be inspired to start something real. Of course, to perform well in the class I would recommend doing all your assignments on time and never missing a quiz or a peer review. However, the class is so much more than that and I would recommend always keeping an open-mind and noticing the world around you in order to foster that entrepreneurial mindset.

Assignment 29A - Venture Concept No. 2

Assignment 29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

·      There is an unmet need among newly professional young adults today for quality, healthy, home-cooked meals. With their new jobs and new time commitments, they do not want to spend extra time cooking, meal prepping, or stressing about what to buy at the grocery store in general. They should be finding the right work-life balance which also incorporates relaxation time as well as time with friends and family.

·      The forces in the environment creating this need are the general trend towards eating healthier foods and moving towards a well-balanced lifestyle. Millennials feel the need to do it all and have it all, while maintaining their health and wellbeing.

·      The market is defined demographically by young adults who have just entered the work force and are just beginning to figure out their careers and long-term goals. They don’t have a lot of time left over for cooking, but still value healthy choices. The market is defined geographically by higher populated areas (cities) because there you will find enough chefs to sign up for the program as well as enough young working professionals.

·      Customers are currently satisfying this need by eating out at fast food restaurants or spending their extra time cooking when they could be doing something else. They are not very loyal to what they are doing now because they are extremely busy and wish they could find alternatives to make their lives easier without sacrificing health or wellbeing.

·      This is a large-scale opportunity. I believe this could work in any city and could continue to expand internationally. Convenience, health, wellbeing, and time savings are all things everyone cares for.

·      The “window of opportunity” will be open for as long as someone else hasn’t thought of the same idea. I don’t think any of these societal priorities will go out of style any time soon. There seems to be a general shift towards healthier choices and maintaining a work-life balance. This company satisfies both.

Innovation

·      My service consists of personal chefs that will home-cook your meals for you. All you have to do is request the chef with the personalized dish that you would like, and they will come to your house and cook the dish for you. It is like having a personal chef.

·      Each personal chef will have a profile on the app. It will show who they are, what dish they specialize in, and what ingredients they use. It will show the price and the travel time.

·      After the service, customers can rate the chefs on the app as well as recommend them/save them to their “liked” chefs. This way they can request them again.

·      Using artificial intelligence, the app would determine the personalized price for every chef/dish based on how many servings, the ingredients, the travel time, and compensation for the chef. Each price would be different.

Venture Concept

·      This app will solve customers need for home-cooked meals, while saving their time, and allowing them to do other things. Amateur chefs will have a platform to market their services while making a little bit of extra money. The emphasis is being taken away from big corporations who monopolize the food industry, to the everyday chef.

·      Customers will switch to this product because they want food cooked for them using healthy, honest ingredients. They don’t want to travel anywhere and wait for food to be made. They want to be at home, relaxing, spending time with loved ones, or getting things done while food is being made for them. I don’t think it will be hard to get them to switch, since they are already familiar with how apps like Uber work.

·      The competitors are any other food delivery service. However, their weakness/vulnerability is that it is not home-cooked. You never know what is going into the food they are making and it is most likely not healthy. Customers want ingredients they can see and recognize, and will prefer home-cooked meals to generic food delivery.

·      The customer experience will play a large part in the business. When chefs are going to customers’ homes, it should be a positive and pleasant experience for everyone. The customer experience is going to be a make or break aspect of the business because customers will never come back if they are treated badly or have a negative experience with a chef. The business location will play a large part in defining this business concept because the first city we start the program in will be a defining moment in the success of the company. If it succeeds in the first city, we can continue to expand to other cities.

·      My business would only need one central location in the beginning, with only a few employees. Obviously as the company grows, more employees will be needed but that can only be decided as time goes on. Most importantly, we will need to have chefs signed up with the program in designated cities.

My most important resource is the uniqueness of the business idea and its’ relevance in today’s society. There’s no other product/service on the market today with emphasis on food delivery, home-cooked meals, personal chefs, and health and wellbeing. Customers would also be familiar with apps like Uber and so would understand the concept and how it would work.

What’s next for the business is having home-cooked meals cooked in the chefs’ kitchens and brought to the customers’ homes. This way, if customers don’t want a stranger cooking in their home, they don’t have to. I also think this business could work the “other way around.” Meaning, the chefs advertise something that they had already made and customers will pick it up if they are interested. It would be a community in which home-cooked meals are advertised and shared.

In five years, I would hope that this business venture is continuing to grow and expand to more cities around the world. I would hope that I am still involved with the business, if not as CEO then as a member of the board of directors. As an entrepreneur, I hope I am still coming up with creative ideas to improve the world’s issues. Going through this first venture will expand my knowledge exponentially in regard to starting a business and things to look out for next time.

Summary of feedback:

The feedback I received on my first venture concept was all positive; they were impressed by my idea and how I was able to flesh it out. No one recommended I change anything, however, in the “What’s Next” exercise, someone reiterated how people might feel uncomfortable with someone coming into their homes. I have always agreed with this, however, I don’t feel the need to change it because that’s what this entire idea is based off of. If someone isn’t comfortable with the idea, then they wouldn’t use the app, or they would use our delivery feature which I already mentioned in the first venture concept idea.

I didn’t change much in this venture concept, because I believe my first one was well thought out and said everything that I wanted it to say. The feedback I received also didn’t include any recommendations for changes. However, I made some minor grammatical changes.

Assignment 28A - Your Exit Strategy

Assignment 28A – Your Exit Strategy

1.     I intend to stay with my business for as long as possible, and then retire. If you are starting a business, you should be extremely passionate about it, instead of just wanting to make money. As long as my business is alive, I will be involved with it, making sure that it remains honest and ethical.

2.     I have selected this particular exit strategy because I don’t want to start this business just to make money. I am passionate about the outcome, and will always be concerned with how the business is run, regardless if I am the CEO or not.

3.     I think this exit strategy has influenced the other decision I’ve made in my concept because I’ve always had the long-term impacts in mind when planning this business. It influenced how I identified the opportunity in the first place because I know that food preparation is something that will always a need in the market, and combining it with convenience and ease means it will always be desirable. I knew that this would be a long-term business and commitment. It has influenced my growth intentions because I would like it to grow to as many cities as possible and make as many people’s lives as easy as possible. I am passionate about the impact of my business and hope to continue making that impact for the rest of my working life.