13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

In this exercise, I ask you to select one of the readings from the first half of the Official ENT 3003 Reading List. That list is available in our "Tools" page. You may pick one of any of the biographies/autobiographies on the list to read. Once you have read the book, I'd like you to do a few things:

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life by Lisa Cheney

• What surprised you the most?
• I did not know that Coco Chanel was such a revolutionary!
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I loved her rebellious spirit and determination to make an impact.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• There were sometimes when reading about her life that I felt Coco was making a statement or starting a controversy just to be talked about, rather than it being something she really cared about. 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Absolutely! Coco make many actions to ruffle feathers and encountered many people who didn't agree with or even like her. However, she always kept her head up and stayed true to herself and her decisions.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? She was always willing to go for it and never doubted herself. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. Definitely the most confusing part of the book was when they went into the question of if Coco Chanel's lover was a spy for the Nazis.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? (1) Were you always as confident as you appeared or sometimes were you actually scared inside with a confident face? (2) Where did you find your creative vision?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I believe that Coco Chanel would say that the only way to get anywhere in life is to work hard and make a statement.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Pick a segment. Lower-income, 18-35 year old women with an interest in beauty/haircare.

Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them.

1. Sarah, 28, graduate student. 
1. How often do you use haircare products?
1. I'll wash my hair with shampoo and conditioner about every other day, I use leave in conditioner after every time I wash my hair, and I use a hair mask about once a week. 
2. How much do you currently spend on haircare?
1. I spend about $30 each on my shampoo and conditioner and around $25 on things like masks and oils individually. 
3. Where do you buy your haircare products?
1. I go to beauty specialty stores like Sephora or Ulta and also buy some stuff online.
4. How do you select your haircare products?
1. I like to read reviews online, get recommendations from friends, but mostly I care about getting the best products available in my price range, so I'll usually do some intense research. 
5. How often do you repurchase your haircare products?
1. Maybe every 2-3 months. 
6. Would you be willing to buy haircare online?
1. I would if it was for something I wanted and couldn't buy in store. I don't usually like paying a lot for shipping, so if it was free or cheap then I'd be more interested.
2. Jasmine, 34, barista. 
1. How often do you use haircare products?
1. About once a week I'll wash my hair. I don't use too many other things after shampoo and conditioner. Sometimes I'll splurge on a deep conditioner if my hair is feeling dry.
2. How much do you currently spend on haircare?
1. $8-10 on my conditioner and shampoo. If I buy any extra products I'll usually spend $12-14.
3. Where do you buy your haircare products?
1. Drugstore mostly but I'll only buy the nice drugstore products. 
4. How do you select your haircare products?
1. I'll usually just pick the nicest looking stuff the drugstore has. Sometimes I'll get recommendations from friends.
5. How often do you repurchase your haircare products?
1. Probably every 2 months.
6. Would you be willing to buy haircare online?
1. I would for sure to save a trip to the store if the shipping times were fast but I wouldn't be willing to pay much more. 
3. Grace, 19, student/nanny.
1. How often do you use haircare products?
1. I wash my hair everyday and use a hair oil. I also use a heat protectant cream when I curl or straighten my hair. 
2. How much do you currently spend on haircare?
1. My mom usually pays for my haircare, but I think its about $15 for my shampoo and $15 for my conditioner and then $20 for my hair oil. I'm not sure how much my heat protectant is but I assume $12-15.
3. Where do you buy your haircare products?
1. I buy some drugstore products but mostly I buy my products at Sephora.
4. How do you select your haircare products?
1. I do a lot of trial and error until I find something I like, I'll sometimes look at online reviews but not always.
5. How often do you repurchase your haircare products?
1. About every 3 months on shampoo/conditioner and around every 6 months on hair oil and heat protectant. 
6. Would you be willing to buy haircare online?
1. Sure! I actually prefer it over making a trip to the store. 

Report the findings of your research. All 3 people were willing to buy products online (what I view as our weakest element of the company) as long as shipping is fast and/or free. The 3 women rebuy their products on average every 3 months and spend an average of $15 on each of their products.

Draw conclusions. If we can offer fast and free/discounted shipping then I believe we can overcome the previous concern of having an online store be a negative. In fact, some women said that it would be a positive because they wouldn't have to go out to purchase their products!

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. I am a rising 3rd year Management student with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for the beauty industry. Starting a company like this would be exactly what I would want to do after college. With skills in management and experience in start-ups specifically, I think that this dream could really take off. If I were to start this business, it would be my entire life; I would put my heart and soul into it and work every minute until it is a success.

2) What are you offering to customers? I am offering an affordable, high-quality haircare line for consumers who have a desire for high-quality haircare products but do not have the money to purchase the current options available.

3) Who are you offering it to? My demographic is all ages of consumers, but specifically saturated with women between around ages of 18 and 35, who have the need for high quality haircare products, can't currently afford the luxury options available, and favor quality over the convenience of drugstore brands.

4) Why do they care? Customers care because with this line (1) if they use drugstore haircare currently then they can purchase better, higher quality products for the same or less money than they pay now and (2) if they use luxury brands currently then they can get similar high-quality products for significantly less money.

5) What are your core competencies? We have a business model that has been extremely successful in other similar markets and has not been used yet in haircare. We are offering a product at a quality level and price level that has not been seen yet.

These elements absolutely fit together! There is a strong need and reason to care about this new company and opportunity for consumers. The weakest point of the business model is definitely the aspect of convenience; with such low margins and as a start-up, it would be very difficult to get into stores at the beginning, which would mean that the cult-following we would hope for would have to start online (which hasn't been a problem for Colourpop Cosmetics, Morphe, or Fourth Ray Beauty, but it is still a concern to address and make a plan of action to surpass!)

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

In the last "Testing the Opportunity Hypothesis" exercise, you explored the limits of the "who," "what," and "why" of your opportunity. In this exercise, I'd like you to further refine your conceptualization of opportunity, especially focusing on setting the boundaries of your opportunity and determining areas that lie outside your boundary definition. 

1. 24 year old, female, waitress/student. 
1. Beauty enthusiast, should be interested in the product line, but prefers the convenience of drugstore brands over a higher-quality alternative offered elsewhere.
2. 19 year old, male, very passionate about haircare. 
1. Loves high-quality products, but doesn't trust that a lower cost product will be as effective as the high cost products he is willing to pay for now. 
3. 45 year old, female, mother and realtor. 
1. Very passionate about her haircare but isn't comfortable changing from her current products that work very well just to save some money. 
4. 30 year old, female, uses other high-quality affordable brands for makeup and skincare.
1. Doesn't care enough about haircare to be changing products. Keeps her hair short so she isn't worried much about damage and increasing the quality of her hair products. 
5. 21 year old, female, enjoys haircare and affordable, luxury brands. 
1. Has struggled a lot with finding products that work in the past. Doesn't want to change from her current products that are working well for her now. 

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Beauty and self care enthusiasts	People who don't care what their hair products are or people who prefer to spend more.
Affordable, high quality hair products	Convenient, cheap hair products.
Because these products are not yet available in the market.	Some people want convenience more than quality of products, which would encourage them to purchase drugstore products.

8A - Solving the Problem

Opportunity - An unmet need for affordable, high-quality haircare products. 

Product/service - A product line of low cost haircare products made of high-quality, high-performance ingredients. This would be a line of 3-4 products including shampoo, conditioner, a hair oil, and probably a hair mask. Once the company is able to sustain its operations and manufacturing, then it could expand to more product types. These beginning products would be geared towards hair health (rather than styling hair products such as hairspray, mousse, etc).

6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

• Economic Trend: U.S. production shift to Mexico


• Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeslacouncil/2018/12/14/19-trends-that-will-shape-the-world-in-2019/#5a44f3fc3b45


• Opportunity: Companies can save money in production by outsourcing to Mexico
• Customer: All customers of companies willing to outsource to Mexico. 
• Difficulty: Medium-High. This would mean shutting down production for companies who produce in the U.S.. However it would save money so the effort would be motivated I'm sure.
• Why: I've recently been trying to figure out my stance on U.S.A production vs. outsourcing to other countries, so this was an interesting read for me.
• Economic Trend: Costco growth.
• Link: https://www.ibtimes.com/costco-keeps-delivering-solid-growth-2796795
• Opportunity: Businesses could look to sell in Costco to take advantage of this growth and reach a new market. This is also good for customers because this sales demand allows Costco customers to have access to new and different products.
• Customer: All Costco customers.
• Difficulty: Depends on Costco's process of accepting new customers! Probably not too difficult because it is just getting into a new distribution channel. 
• Why: I frequent Costco often, so this caught my eye.
• Regulatory Change: 5% Tariffs on Mexican Imports
• Link: Trump Imposes 5% Tariffs On All Mexico Imports Starting June 10
• Opportunity: Production of goods in the U.S. that are typically Mexican imports.
• Customer: Previous customers of the imported goods.
• Difficulty: It would be difficult to produce at a cost low enough to compete with Mexican imports even with the tariff.
• Why did I see this opportunity: I have been closely watching the Mexico tariff story so this was especially interesting to me!
• Regulatory Change: Heartbeat Law
• Link: Louisiana Governor Signs 'Heartbeat' Bill Into Law
• Opportunity: Increase in birth control awareness and sales now that women are more scared of getting pregnant than ever. 
• Customer: Women in the United States. 
• Difficulty: Not difficult. This would just be using this unfortunate circumstance and restriction on women's rights to promote birth prevention measures while women are more aware than ever of the risk. This would definitely increase sales. 
• Why: This is a very important social topic to me, so it was interesting to think of the effects this would have on business as well. 

5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

1. "The Fight Against Red Tide" - The Sarasota Observer

• https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSOB%21Sarasota%2BObserver%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0411%21April%2B11&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17309764D1B445B8
• Joe Bruno, a Sarasota resident, became fed up with the local red tide epidemic and decided to take matters into his own hands to make a difference. Bruno decided to join the group 'Hands Along the Water', a local group that lobbies for governmental action in response to red tide. Bruno has been speaking at local government events and asking others to join in on the cause. A local Aquarium, Mote Marine, is receiving funds to research and find solutions to the red tide.
• Sarasota is facing a long and harsh spell of red tide, affecting daily lives for residents of the area, beach access, and tourism rates. 
• All Sarasota residents and visitors near the ocean. 

2. "City Works on Recycling Education" - The Sarasota Observer

• https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSOB%21Sarasota%2BObserver%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0411%21April%2B11&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17309764D0A75DE0
• The city's public works general manager, Todd Kucharski, appeared at the Coalition of City Neighborhood Association meeting to raise awareness for recycling and the new system in Sarasota. Sarasota county has officially cancelled its contract with Waste Pro and has taken recycling for the city into their own hands. This allows residents to dispose of all recyclable materials in one bin. Kucharski and his colleague made a presentation on how to dispose of your recyclables and also how to reuse recyclable materials.
• There has been multiple changes in the county's recycling management and Sarasota residents need to be educated on the new system.
• Sarasota residents who recycle.

3. "St. Armands Leaders Monitor Paid Parking" - The Sarasota Observer

• https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSOB%21Sarasota%2BObserver%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0328%21March%2B28&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17293636C74A93C0
• Gavin Meshad, chairman of the St. Armands Business Improvement District noticed that it may not be clear that parking must be paid for in the area. He brought this up to the Parking Manager, Mark Lyons. Lyons stated that they are working on putting up more signs but he is open to further suggestions. 
• St. Armands' leaders worry that it is apparent that you must pay to park and not all people are paying.
• St. Armands' leaders and the county missing out on money. 

4. "Schools PD Plans to Expand for 2019-20" - The Sarasota Observer

• https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSOB%21Sarasota%2BObserver%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0328%21March%2B28&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&format=text&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&bln-base-1=and&val-base-1=0-499&fld-base-1=wct&docref=news/17293636C1026470
• At the recent Sarasota County School Board Workshop, it was announced that the Sarasota County Schools Police Department would be taking over for all school resource officers in the county public schools. Also, in response to the increasing number of students, the SCSPD is planning to add 23 additional officers by next school year.
• There are concerns about the safety in Sarasota Schools, causing the need for the Sarasota Schools Police Department to expand and take a more prominent role in public schools.
• School parents, students, faculty, and other Sarasota citizens with a concern for school and student safety.

5. "Volunteers Leave City Island A Little Cleaner" - The Sarasota Observer

• https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSOB%21Sarasota%2BObserver%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019&sort=YMD_date%3AD&page=1&maxresults=20&f=advanced&format=text&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&bln-base-1=and&val-base-1=0-499&fld-base-1=wct&docref=news/171F10E455E23028
• Interns at Mote Marine Laboratory and their friends went to City Island to pick up trash. They ended up with around 150 pounds of trash, litter, abandoned beach toys, and more.
• City Island pollution and trash.
• Everyone who visits city island and all the sea animals in the area.