ENT 3003: 4A – Forming An Opportunity Belief

Belief:  Small business owners are looking for communities of like-minded people to share failures, successes and clients.

Unmet need: A destination site that allows SMBs to collaborate and share success, failures and client contacts that enable growth.  Small business owners have this need while trying to effectively network and learn to grow their business. The need originates during the start up phase of a business as they look to acquire clients.  Business owners are joining networking groups or posting ideas on social media that broadcast to a broad, untargeted population of people.

Prototypical Customer:  A small business owner in the first three years of business.

Customer Interview 1:  Solo practitioner of law firm

 This customer strongly agreed there is a need to connect with other attorneys and share opportunities and success.  She went on to say that it does exist today through attorney networking groups, but they are not targeted to specific areas of practice.  The need arises when matters are outside of their experience and include processes that need to be followed by the court, preference of a particular judge, or billing/estimating issues.  They first became aware of the need when they started practicing law.  They encountered a matter that did not relate to case law or statues- which are very accessible.

She is currently addressing the need with two networking groups: NPI (Network Professionals Group, Inc.), and JDNG (Juris Doctor Networking Group).  It was noted that the value is hit or miss and not all meetings are relevant or valuable, but for the few client leads that converted, it was well worth her time.

After reflecting I realized her need was partially being met by groups, but they were inefficient and too broad.  Technology was lacking, but they did have a private Facebook page for the members already enrolled.

Customer Interview 2:  Bakery Start Up

This customer did not initially understand the value of my proposition and thought their biggest challenge was marketing.  They did come to the conclusion that it could be valuable to connect with other bakers but were afraid of sharing trade secrets and thought others would feel the same.  Given they felt their unmet need was generating awareness of their brand, we spent the rest of the time chatting about that.  They first became aware of this need when they came up with their business plan.  As they were generating a sales forecast, they realized how many customers they would need pay for their initial investment and variable costs.  They are currently addressing this need through 1) local green markets where they share samples of their baked goods and sell product from on-site inventory or delivery at a later date; and 2) by launching a web site that they will announce and communicate via email lists purchased.  Their initial results from the markets are better than expected, but still not enough volume to meet their forecasted targets.

After reflecting on this interview, I quickly realized that trade secrets prevent this small business from sharing success and failures and this they would not be an ideal customer for my solution.

Customer Interview 3:  Accounting Firm

This customer did agree that it would be valuable to participate in a community of accountants.  However, he noted that it would be good to associate with broader groups too because everyone could use an Accountant- especially during tax season.  He informed that most of his leads come from unrelated industry, not other accountants.  He felt that given federal accounting standards and his collective knowledge, the need for consulting other accountants was minimal.  He first identified with this need during his first year of business.  He knew that networking was a popular way to establish trust and get referrals.  As his business grew, word of mouth and repeat visits replaced the need to hunt for new clients.  It is still a practice he does, but a much less frequent basis and mostly for social interaction with company he enjoys.

After reflecting on this conversation, I started to feel like me belief was indeed present for small businesses.  Although the baker was not a good fit for my belief, the accountant and lawyer were.  Their preferences were slightly different though- the lawyer wanted efficiency and expert advice; the accountant wanted leads. I also realized that events and groups satisfy this need, but millennials will likely want to achieve this with greater efficiency and prefer a technology solution.  Older generations enjoy the social benefits. 

ENT 3003: 3A – My Entrepreneurship Story

I grew up in South Florida in a typical family.  My father is an immigrant from Italy, who made his living in America doing blue-collar work.  My mother, a registered nurse, worker her way up to a hospital administrator.  My sister and I never went without, but my parents were very financially conservative, and I worked to make money for all the “extras” that every child wants from an early age.  My parents saved and did not spend on anything other than necessities.  When they bought a house, they did not have all the furniture they needed, but instead of borrowing money, they simply purchased things for the house as they could afford them.  My parents’ ways have served them well because, to this day, they are financially independent and live comfortably and within their means.

As a child and a young man, I wanted cool toys, nice clothes, popular shoes, a new car and top of the line stereo equipment.  My earliest experience with entrepreneurship was when I was 9 years old.  I started to cut the neighbors lawns and wash their cars.  Later, I formalized a landscaping business with an older friend and drafted contracts to avoid competitors from taking my business.

In my last year of college, I was recruited by Office Depot’s global headquarters while working in one of their stores and made the switch to financial security and significant career growth opportunities of corporate environment.  I have worked for Office Depot for over 20 years and worked my way up to an executive position after working in over six different business units.

My most significant (and most challenging) experience with entrepreneurship is being a small business owner.  My wife became a licensed attorney in 2014 and we opened a law firm that same year.  Our initial challenges were typical of any startup business: how to stick to a small budget, how to market effectively, how to attract the right types of clients, when and if to hire support staff (virtual or in-person), which networking opportunities to focus on and which to forego.  Today, we are focused on growing the firm and building on the success we have enjoyed.  We have narrowed down the practice to a few interrelated areas of law and have invested into training and client attraction.

I enrolled in this class hoping to see things in a different lens while fostering new entrepreneurial ideas.  What I hope to get out of this class is fresh ideas and a non-corporate perspective that will help me be a better small business owner.  I have never owned a small business before and my wife has never worked for a large corporation.  We come from very different professional backgrounds and have different management and decision-making styles.  I hope this class gives me more insight into my wife’s daily struggles and concerns of being a solo practitioner, which I may be unable to relate to easily, working at a 2,000+ person office of a Fortune 200 company.  My wife and I have set a challenging goal for the law firm’s revenue for 2018 and I am excited to learn anything that will move us closer to achieving that goal.

ENT 3003: Bug Assignment 2A

Bug 1:	When you make a reservation for dinner, arrive on time, and wait 30 min to be seated.
Why:	The restaurant is not using a digital solution and the associate that answered the phone did not record the reservation, or it was misplaced.
Bug 2:	When pepper does not come out of the shaker.
Why:	Pepper and salt shakers have different size holes and someone placed pepper in a salt shaker.
Bug 3:	When you go out to dinner and someone doesn’t come over after being seated.
Why:	Likely the server has more tables than they can handle, and they are short staffed.
Bug 4:	When solicitors call me on my mobile phone.
Why:	I likely opted in online without realizing and entered my cell phone number for an order placed and my data was shared.
Bug 5:	When you order online, and it doesn’t arrive at the promised time.
Why:	There may be multiple carriers handling the package and poor chain of custody and tracking during the handoffs.
Bug 6:	When you go to a store and you know more than the personnel.
Why:	Absent of ineffective training or poor associate engagement.
Bug 7:	When you reach an automated system and enter your credentials and they ask three more times after that for your credentials.
Why:	They could be using multiple call centers or different specialty units with systems that don’t talk to each other.
Bug 8:	When you receive an attachment in email that you cannot open.
Why:	It’s possible you don’t have the native application the file was created in.
Bug 9:	When the bathrooms are dirty at the store.
Why:	Limited budgets and short staff to do the cleaning.
Bug 10:	When they charge for WiFi in the hotel.
Why:	They know its in high demand and people will likely pay a nominal fee for it.
Bug 11:	When the GPS takes to the wrong location.
Why:	It could be a new address or an area with recent construction.
Bug 12:	When a bottle of water costs $4.00 at the airport.
Why:	They know its in high demand and people will pay for it given there are no alternative options.
Bug 13:	When you must take off your shoes at the airport.
Why:	Because threats have been, or likely can be hidden or in passenger shoes.
Bug 14:	When cell phone battery dies.
Why:	I talked on the phone a lot or did not charge my phone long enough.
Bug 15:	When people get in the elevator before you get out.
Why:	They have poor manors and are in a rush and not aware.
Bug 16:	When I get junk mail.
Why:	Companies are trying to increase awareness and d not have a digital solution.
Bug 17:	When I can not find something in an unfamiliar store.
Why:	Ineffective navigation and way-finding signage.
Bug 18:	Long wait times when calling for customer service.
Why:	Call volumes exceeded operator capacity or budgeted staffing.
Bug 19:	When you finally make it to the store and they are out of stock.
Why:	Inaccurate perpetual inventory counts and/or poor forecasting of supply.
Bug 20:	When you’re at the express lane and someone has more than 10 items.
Why:	People are willing to disobey the rules to reduce their wait time.
	After completing this assignment, I realized several entrepreneurial opportunities to eliminate problems and thought it was very insightful.  After raising my awareness, it made it much easier to identify problems.  I also realized I had accepted many of the problems because entrepreneurs are often solving the big problems and selling them in the marketplace.