Elevator Pitch 2

In this segment I decided to talk more about myself and my qualifications before talking about my product.  This will really allow everyone in the meeting to get to know me as an entrepreneur to decide if I am worth investing in and not just the product.  By knowing me they will know more about how the product may change and evolve, and if they have faith in its success.

https://youtu.be/Viom8ZP_Gac

Customer Avatar

My customer is the young business man.  He has finished his education in the past few years and is now entering the workforce.  He is career focused and looking to get ahead.  For this reason his hobbies include a lot of social events where he can network.  Whether this be attending seminars, fundraisers, or even just going out with his buddies, my target is always looking to meet new people, and always dressed snappy.  Many of the men in my target audience will likely rely on public transport, but those that do not drive midrange sedans.  Their cars are plain and professional: black, white or grey.  They watch tv when they have time, but it is not a priority.  They watch shows popular among young men such as Breaking Bad, Ozark or The Sopranos, or they watch shows that do not require much attention.  They do not have children at the time, but many of them hope to and are working to potentially build a family in the future.  They may or may not be adopted.  They like to read books that further their knowledge.  This means they are likely reading about leadership or their particular line of businessman.  Many of them are republicans, but some are democrats.  Regardless of their political association, they are involved and well informed about politics.  My target audience is around 23-27, but they like to think of themselves as mature.  Although they are young they see themselves as grown men in the business field.  My product will help to cater to them dressing to match this belief.

Idea Napkin 2

1. For this idea napkin I want to focus on a skill of mine that I have discovered since the last idea napkin.  I am both resilient and perceptive.  i do not give up when situations look dire and I am perceptive to new ideas and problems and incorporating them into my product.

2) I am sticking with my original idea.  My service will provide five ties weekly to subscribers. At the end of the week the ties are returned and a new shipment will be provided.  I came across the problem of the people forgetting to send back ties or intentionally stealing them. Due to the fact that I can not wait for the first set to return for the second set to be sent out I have come up with an idea to combat this.  I will set a required minimum subscription length in which the price will be equal or greater than the cost of two sets of ties.  This way if people steal the first two sets, I will not send out the third if the first has not been returned, and I will still make money or break even due to the minimum subscription.

3) My core consumer will be the young male entering the business environment.  At first I was looking into all business men, but the older members of this community have not had a service like this, so they likely already have a collection of ties.   Furthermore, I am looking for people in entry level positions.  They will likely not have the money required to complete a full wardrobe, but will still need to dress for success.  Also they will likely live in a place that has high living expenses because then they will have less spending money for clothes.

4) People will pay money for my product because they need to be able to dress professionally.  They will not have the money to buy a new wardrobe and likely will not have a large repertoire.  This makes this a cheaper alternative to a different option for a product that is required of them.

5) What will set me apart is both my high quality and low prices.  My ties will be quality to ensure that it is better than buying a bunch of cheap, boring ties. It will also be cheap to ensure that it is a better deal than buying a whole wardrobe of ties.

These all fit together because I have target group, and a valuable service.  I took a lot away from my last idea napkin.  Specifically, I now have narrowed down my target audience to more specifically encompass my target.  I also have combatted the problem of people not sending back ties by incorporating a minimum subscription length that will guarantee I make money.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Part 2

For this assignment I chose to deal with people who would face the problem in the future rather than people currently facing it.  I chose to interview three of my friends who are the same age as me, also in the business school.  By asking them to think ahead to the future I received valuable information about where my business could potentially be five years down the line.  I presented them with my problem of the lack of ties in their wardrobe and how they would solve it in the future when they were required to dress up for work.  By interviewing a younger demographic I was able to receive more positive results.  They all agreed that they did not own enough ties currently to start a job where they would be required to wear one daily.  In fact, one of my friends said that he only had one that he had to buy for the career showcase.  Among my three subjects, I found that their two major interests were style and cost.  In my business, I would be starting a club so to speak, where you receive five new ties every week and then return them and get five more the next week.  The number one concern that was brought up by all three was price.  If they are going to be receiving new ties every week it is a bit of a risk.  It has to be enough cheaper that it's worth it to chose my club instead of going and buying a collection of ties that they know they will like. I now know I must take the pricing comparatively into consideration.  One of my subjects also brought up a stylistic concern.  He asked if you could chose certain ties for certain occasions.  For example, if you had a black tie event, could you request that one of the ties sent to you was black.  I think that this would be a good feature to add into my service: the ability to request certain ties for certain occasions.  I am now even considering allowing the customer to chose the five that they will receive each week out of a collection.  I got two different answers when asked about how they would decide if they were happy with the purchase.  The most common was they wanted to be certain they would be receiving nice ties, nothing funky or cheap.  The other judgment that was brought up was if they felt like it was worth it pricing wise in the long run.  Overall, I was happy with the quality of my interviews, and I feel that I should focus on young people entering the work force.

Halfway Reflection

1) The main skill that I have learned to keep up with this course is scheduling.  I have never been good at keeping track of assignments and due dates, but this class has forced me to improve.  I try to set aside time throughout the week to work on assignments, but at the very least I make sure that they are done by the due date.  I have done this by setting a reminder in my phone for 24 hours before the due date of each assignment to make sure that I know to have it done.

2) There have been multiple times over the course of the semester where I have felt like giving up. I have been working long hours and have had to dealt with some personal situations, and the schoolwork felt secondary.  I have encouraged myself to get through it by thinking about the importance of passing the class.  I know that I have already payed for it, and it would be a tremendous waste of money to not make it through.

3) For this class I would recommend three things.  One would be to work ahead as much as possible.  This will allow you to not have to stress about deadlines.  The second would be to make sure that you are on top of your scheduling and know when everything needs to be submitted.  Finally, make sure that you have something that motivates you to get through the course.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

To find the needs in the market I interviewed three people. One was my father who has worked in advertising for around 20 years, another is my cousin who has worked in construction planning for around 5 years, and another is a friend of mine who interned in banking and will be working there next year after graduating this spring.  All three of them are businessmen, and when I asked all three of them agreed that they had less ties than they felt that they needed.  Even my dad who has worked in jobs where he needs suits for the past 20-30 years, said that they always seem to go missing, and he never has enough.  This makes the problem even more for someone like my friend that is just starting his business career.  he said that during his internship he wore a rotation of the same four ties, and now he only has one more.  He owns a few and his parents offered to buy him some business ware, but even so he will not have enough. My older cousin said that he buys cheap packs of ties from target, but he loses a lot of them, and they don't look as nice. This makes the product perfect for men of all age that consistently wear ties, and want a simpler and cheaper solution than always needing to buy more ties.  All men in business are looking for a way to find ties, but without my product they will not find on that is cheap, efficient and stylish.

Idea Napkin 1

1. I believe I possess multiple qualities that will help me to run my business.  The first is that I feel I am creative and an original thinker.  This will help me come up with an idea to start a business and a plan to market said business.  I also have good follow through.  When I start something I do my best to see it through.  Finally, and possibly most importantly, I am both persuasive and well spoken.  This will help me both to sell my product and to just spread general awareness about it.

2. In the business world it is a mainstay for men to wear neck ties to work.  However most men only own so many ties.  Eventually they have to buy more or keep wearing the same ones over again.  My service would fix this problem.  My company would send five ties each week.  You wear one each day to work and then on Saturday ship them back, and on Sunday you receive a shipment of a new five ties.  I would include an option to buy if you really liked one, but that is not the main point of the service.

3. My service would be targeted towards businessmen; anyone who is required to wear a suit to work could benefit.  More specifically, I was thinking young men who have recently graduated and are working in entry level positions.  They do not have the business experience to own a wide range of formal clothes, and are not making enough money to afford to buy a lot of ties.  They would definitely benefit from a service that allows them to always have new ties without going out and buying them.

4. As I previously said, many men are required to wear ties. If you only own a few, it is difficult to make sure you always have a clean one, and it is noticeable that you are wearing the same ties all the time.  With more service you would never have to worry about cleaning your ties, or being repetitive in your style.  Additionally, I would make my service a monthly fee, which would be less than the price of buying all the new ties, making my product the more affordable option.

5.  This idea of tie rental helps to set me apart.  Additionally, most clothing rental companies you have to go in and chose what you want and place an order.  For my company, once you are subscribed you will receive your shipment every week.  You don't have to remember to place an order.  My company will be efficient in shipment, and make sure everything arrives on time all the time.

I feel that all of this goes very well together.  My traits allowed me to come up with the idea, and will help me to spread awareness and sell it to people.  I have found a market that needs to be filled, customers that would like to shop in this market and a product that fills the market and satisfies the customers needs.