Eric Richard UF

While looking back at my posts from this semester, there were a couple that definitely stood out to me.   I think the post that challenged me the most was Growing Your Social Capital.  I had never had to reach out to people I didn’t know and be professional.  I had to find a way to make a coonect with these people I had never met, not knowing them at all.  It was difficult to find these people, and even more difficult to work up the courage to contact them.  Looking back though, I’m most proud of this assignment.  I did something I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do.  It’s a great feeling knowing that I have these people in my network, and it showed me just how much I could do as an entrepreneur.  The other post I really remember was my first elevator pitch.  It made me really nervous at first, having to record myself speaking and posting it so everyone could see.  I wasn’t su...

Opportunity:                           Everybody has daily tasks that take valuable time that could be spent doing more enjoyable things.  These tasks are time consuming and tiring, but many people view them as a fact of life- they don’t have to be. I am selling smart home bundles; which contain products designed to lighten the load of these daily tasks.  Ultimately, the bundles are designed to make the consumers’ life easier and less stressful.  In the end, I believe that I’m selling convenience. The kind that can lead to increased productivity, as well as leisure time.   This convenience is my company’s “secret sauce”.  My aim is to make convenience what sets my company apart; during each step of the buying process. While pretty much everyone has this need, not everyone falls into my opportunity boundary....

If my business was to become successful, I think I would plan to sell it after five to ten years. In truth, selling smart home appliances isn't my passion.  I don't have much of an interest in the market, and it's not really what I want to do in business.  I identified and opportunity, and I've had to talk about it for the last semester, but I would rather do something to help the environment or something with clothing.  I would hopefully get a large enough profit from the sale of my business to start up a new venture, one that really matters.  I don't think that my idea to sell this business has influenced my ideas about it much.  I still plan to do my best with it and grow as large and as efficiently as i can.  Perhaps with my exit strategy in mind, it would be advisable to try to put in less money to the business- in order to turn a profit in a shorter amount of time. 

1) Guy Kawasaki wrote this book, The Art of Social Media  to inform the general public about the practical uses of social media.  He condenses his idea as out how to be successful in using social media into one-hundred points.  The theme of this book is the use of social media for buisness instead of pleasure.  He tries to persuade people to- instead of using it for opinions or jokes- to use it professionally.  There are a lot of ways to make social media work for you, Kawasaki highlights how to do this effectively.  Everyone can create and share their unique brand with the world, and Kawasaki believes that if you are not taking advantage of this, you aren't taking full advantage of social media. 2)  This book ties directly into what I'm learning in entrepreneurship.  One of my next steps in my buisness venture will surely be advertising.  The great thing about most social media is that it's free to use.  It also can only stand to grow....

1) This year I had a failing experience in math.  In my Calculus class we use clickers to answer questions in class that go towards our attendance grade.  I had been going to class and answering these questions, but week by week my attendance grade continued to fall.  I didn't know what was going on, and I assumed that my clicker was out of batteries or that I hadn't registered it.  I got new batteries for it, and tried to register it again, to see if either of those things would get me back on track.  Neither worked, and my grade continued to get worse.  Eventually while I was in class I tried to look up solutions to my problem, and I actually was able to fix my problem, and I was able to answer the question.  It had been weeks since my clicker had worked, and my grade in math was very low.  I went and talked to my math teacher during office hours, but he said that he had to hold my accountable.  It had been too long since my clicker had sto...

Existing Market:             I talked to three UF students who own smart home products.   I first talked to each of them about what I thought was next for my company.   I outlined in my venture concept my idea to add a repair facet to our service department, and I asked each person I talked to what they thought of this idea.   While each of them thought that this was a good idea, they each had questions about how this would work.   The first asked if the bundles would have a warranty on them.   She argued that a twelve month warranty would give the consumer more trust in the products, as well as the company behind them.   I think that this is a good idea.   I believe that as long as I honored this warranty, the customers would appreciate the convenience and reliability of our service.   As pointed out by my second interviewee, we could also offer extended warranties of t...

HomeSmarter: Venture Concept Opportunity:                         Everybody has daily tasks that take up time.   These tasks as time consuming and tiring, but many people view them as a fact of life.   I am selling smart home bundles, which contain products designed to lighten the load of these daily tasks.   Ultimately, the bundles are designed to make the consumers life easier and less stressful.   In the end, I believe that I’m selling convenience, the kind that can lead to increased productivity as well as leisure time.     This convenience is my company’s “secret sauce”.   I aim to make convenience what sets my company apart, for all my customers during each step of the buying process. While pretty much everyone has this need, not everyone falls into my opportunity boundary.   Through multiple rounds of research,...