Maria Pivaral-ENT3003

After looking through all the assignments for this class I was surprised at how much I accomplished. I saw how my ideas and concepts developed and each time they had more life (closer to a reality). I definitely enjoyed thinking outside the box and developing a "company" concept from a simple idea and wrapping up with a solid venture concept. At the beginning of the class I was unsure about peer reviews as sometimes people don't take the time to really look over what I wrote. However, the people in my group always gave me great feedback and I enjoyed reading about their ideas. I think that the best thing I got from taking this class was how to really explore the ideas I come up with and how to adapt my mindset to expand the concept of my ideas. I also learned a lot about time management and motivation. This class really required motivation to do the assignments right. It required motivation to go beyond the minimum requirements to really understand your ideas and take you...

  Opportunity: Being a full-time student, growing up with working parents and being surrounded by busy people made me realized that there is an opportunity to help busy people out. Running errands is an essential part of people's lives but it is also an activity that takes up a lot of time. Many people also find errand running tedious and stressful. The opportunity lies with people that have busy schedules, cannot run errands themselves or dislike running errands. These people need a way for errands to be run for them to relieve their strain on their time or stress that is associated with running errands. This opportunity would be quite big as many people would rather have their errands done for them than do it themselves. Currently people hire delivery services but most of the time these services are specific to food related establishments.   Innovation: In order to exploit this opportunity, there would be a service that would run errands for people that do not have time to r...

My exit strategy would be to start the company up so that my vision is there. I would like to stay at the company but would like to partner with another company or investors as the company starts growing in order to have more financial backing to expand the business and as the company grows so does the financial risk.  As the company grows, I will need more capital and financing options. Expanding the business entails more risk. Because the risk is bigger I don't want to carry the weight of the risk by myself. I created a concept that would be attractive to my competitors as it would be an opportunity to partner with a competitor company. This strategy has influenced the way I will get resources as I plan to acquire more resources by partnering and reducing my financial risk. 

I read Coco Chanel by Lisa Chaney.  About the entrepreneur What surprised me the most about Coco Chanel was her past. When she was growing up she faced a lot of dark moments and it was not an easy childhood.  What I admired the most was how hard she worked to achieve success and how she was not afraid to be bold, innovative or take risks.  What I liked the least was her bad habits like her multiple affairs and her substance abuse.  Coco Chanel did encounter failure, she received lots of rejections but she persisted until she found her way and found success.  I think that Coco Chanel's perseverance was her greatest competency. She was able to overcome a lot of adversity and embrace success.  I feel like the book explained a lot about her professional life but there were many gaps in her personal life. For example, I don't feel like I had good insight to a close relationship she had with someone. The two questions I would ask her would be Do you think that yo...

The second half of the spring semester and the summer term have been especially hard for me academically. I have found it hard to remain motivated and stay on track with my classes. I feel like I have failed this past semester.  1. I was taking STA 4321 during summer A for my statistics specialization. This class is hard because it is a lot of material covered in one lecture and it is hard to catch up if you miss a few. The style my professor was using to teach was not easy for me to retain the content. I had wanted to get a grade between an A-B+. The first test was really hard for me. I struggle with test anxiety and my head block during exams so for the first exam I was struggling a lot with anxiety and ended up getting a bad grade. After this exam I changed my study methods for the second test. I grasped the material a little better but still did not get the grade I hoped for. I adjusted my methods for the third test and I got the score I was aiming for. At the end of the semest...

Opportunity: Being a full-time student, growing up with working parents and being surrounded by busy people made me realized that there is an opportunity to help busy people out. Running errands is an essential part of people's lives but it is also an activity that takes up a lot of time. Many people also find errand running tedious and stressful. The opportunity lies with people that have busy schedules, cannot run errands themselves or dislike running errands. These people need a way for errands to be run for them to relieve their strain on their time or stress that is associated with running errands. This opportunity would be quite big as many people would rather have their errands done for them than do it themselves. Currently people hire delivery services but most of the time these services are specific to food related establishments.   Innovation: In order to exploit this opportunity, there would be a service that would run errands for people that do not have time to run erra...

Resources in my venture My network is pretty substantial V: this is valuable because having a good network helps you by giving you new or more opportunities. R: it is hard to grow your network but is very important for the growth of the company I: others can have a large network but it isn't necessarily the same as mine N: everyone has their own network The service doesn't exist yet V: this is valuable because it is a good opportunity that no one has exploited yet and can attract investors.  R: no one has this service I: this will be the first model of this service N: there are similar services that could be similar and be used as a substitute Costumer Service V: it is valuable because if costumers are satisfied with the attention to them they will probably return R: many companies have costumer service but having great costumer service sets companies apart I: costumer service experience is unique to a specific company N: it is non substitutable Service Quality V: by giving a g...

Click on the icon to view the video! For the last elevator pitch I got really positive feedback. My peers commented how I had a clear voice and explained my idea clearly. One of the comments suggested that I spoke louder, so this time I recorded a sample before hand to test the volume of my voice, to make sure I was speaking louder than last time. 

How Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams 1. In general the book talks about the "road to success". The author talks about goals/systems, risk taking and how to know yourself and do what you enjoy and are good at. Adams is the creator of the Dilbert cartoons, however before this huge success he had different jobs and experienced failure. The book focuses on how you have to create systems to develop habits instead of just setting a goal. The book also highlights the importance of knowing yourself and what you are good at and enjoy in order to know where to venture. You should take risks in something you know well, you would excel in, an area you are skilled in, etc.  2. I connected with this book because when coming up with ideas I choose areas that interest me, and that I know well. I also think that this book is important because rather than just setting goals, you have to create a system that you will use regularly to achieve more than just the set goal. ...

The three people I interviewed asked me to keep their full names and company name private due to their confidentiality contracts. I have included as much as I can without disclosing their personal or company identities.  Cecilia 1. Cecilia owns many different businesses in Guatemala, one being a very successful local food delivery service that works like UberEats. She started her career by working in distinct family businesses and then she ventured off and brought different business ideas to life, some worked and some didn't.  2. Cecelia would fill the domain slot because she owns a company that provides a service that is similar to the one I want to provide. Although there is no business that currently provides the service I came up with Cecelia's company provides a service that works similar to the one I would provide.  3. I contacted Cecilia because she is a distant relative and was willing to talk to me.  4. Cecilia has always stayed in touch with my family, so t...

Click on the icon to get to the video! The feedback that was most useful was the ones that identified why my pitch was strong. What made my first one strong was the clear, concise and the ideas were well explained. I added a few extra things that explained the service and why costumers want it and would continue using it.

Me: I am a senior at UF, finishing up my degree in Business Administration. I would like to start this business idea once I graduate. I have had several internships where I have had to think about how to improve the costumer experience or meet their needs. I work well at solving problems and am very perseverant.  What am I offering to costumers: I am offering a service that would help people with busy schedules complete their list of weekly errands without sparing hours out of their day to do them. I would offer a service with exceptional costumer service and rewards returning costumers. This service would offered quality service at a great price.  Why they care: Costumers would care about this service because they can get their errands done without having to do it themselves. They would be able to use the time that they usually spend running errands on other activities. These costumers are people that work long weeks, university students, old people that cannot drive. The cos...

Avatar Description: Name: Olivia Age: 22 Occupation: Electrical Engineer City of Residence: Houston, Tx Bio: Hi my name is Olivia. I just graduated from college and started working as an electrical engineer. I just moved to Texas. I am originally from Portland. The transition has been hard as I work extra hours to make more money because I need a new car. I have a cute puppy named Dixie. I have enjoyed exploring the different restaurants in Houston and making new friends. However, I don't have too much time to run errands during the week due to my social life and my work life. I used to rely on my mom to help me run errands during the week,  Things in common: We are both the same age, I am about to graduate. We both live in cities away from our parents and don't have too much extra time to spend on things like running errands. I don't think this is a coincidence because most people my age have a busy life and usually prioritize work/school and our social life. 

* I have had trouble uploading the recordings onto sound cloud so I have included the transcripts of each interview What makes my human capital unique I speak 3 different languages fluently (Spanish, English and Italian) I have lived in Guatemala for most of my life and in Gainesville since I started UF. I learned how to adapt to very different cultures.  I work hard, I put in 100% into every project I work on, no matter how big or small it is.  I am always eager to learn, I am willing to learn something new to become better or turn in a better project.  I work with people well. I work with people but don't walk over them to get ahead, I think that it is important to achieve success without achieving it at the expense of someone else.  Interviews Ana: Ana was my supervisor at my internship last summer Maria is a really hard worker, every project she was assigned to she would deliver something beyond what was asked of her. She was valuable because of this because she ...

Interview 1 - Martha is a marketing executive at a telecom company. She is usually having individual companies run different errands for her. She finds out about these services through her friends that have already used it.  She doesn't have too many alternatives because for delivery only a few delivery services exist and they do not offer the option for ordering from multiple places. She care more about convenience and good costumer service for her to use the service again. She likes the idea that she can order online from places to avoid the queue on the costumer service call line.  Interview 2 - Diego is a software programming intern, he lives alone and has a busy schedule. He usually doesn't use delivery services because the businesses on the app are mostly limited to food/grocery items. What is most important when evaluating whether or not to use a service is if the type delivery worth the service fee.  He does not like the hassle of going to stores to buy stuff so h...

Tenaciousness is a competency: Behaviors that I use to keep up I draft out one assignment each day (Mon, Tues, Wed) and on Thursday I polish them and publish them on the blog. I watch the lecture videos at the beginning of the week I complete the cupcakes and peer reviews on Sundays I also read the feedback to improve my assignments each week Tenaciousness is also an attitude: There have been a few assignments that just seem tedious to me and I think about not doing them. because I can loose a few points and still get a good grade (mostly on the interview assignments). What pulled me through is that I like to give my classes all that I have got and I should not think about the assignments like just a few points. I have been developing this attitude for a few years through work and my academics because in the real world the work you do isn't worth "just a few points".  Three tips: Make up a schedule to keep up with your assignments (they can pile up) Read the feed back you...

The book I read for this assignment was Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc While reading about Ray Kroc: What surprised me the much while reading this book was the beginning of Kroc's career. He did not finish high school, never went to college. His early jobs were selling paper cups and occasionally played piano at some venues. While working for the paper cup company he became a great salesman and eventually created a great network that lead him to discovering the McDonald brothers. What I most admired about Ray Kroc is how hard he worked, how he fought for what he wanted and deserved. I also admire the way he inspired other people to be entrepreneurs like him.    What I admired the least about Ray Kroc was that in the pursuit for success in his career, he did not prioritize his family. He and his wife, Ethel, constantly fought due to his commitment to his career but not enough to his wife or his daughter. I believe that a successful career is important but...

Segment: The segment that I chose to focus on for this assignment was the busy working people. I chose this segment because in the Interviews I did I noticed that they were the ones most excited about the idea and are the people that would spend more on this service.  Interviews: I started all the interviews with the same question"what are your thoughts about errands" and then asked other questions depending on individual answers.  Joseph: Joseph runs his own company and is a single father. His wife passed many years ago but she was the one that would do all the errands for him. He has a hard time keeping up with his two jobs, running the business and being a father, so errand running is difficult to do. He says that he would pay more than what he pays for food and grocery deliveries as long as he can get everything done in one order. By having a service to run errands for him he would have a weight lifted off his shoulder and instead of running errands he could spend more ti...

YOU I am a student at the University of Florida pursuing a degree in Business Administration. I have had several internships to help me narrow down what I want to do in my professional career. In my last internship I was given the change to work on a project where I was able to identify products that were not worth producing any further, products that could be developed further and "star" products. With this project I was able to identify problems and solutions for the company. It gave me the opportunity to look at the facts and use them to improve some aspect for the business.  I am really good at identifying problems and finding ways to solve them. I am also really good at working with teams and on my own. Eventually I would like to be CEO of a company or starting and running my own company. If I would pursue this idea I see myself running the company and leading a great team.  WHAT ARE YOU OFFERING TO YOUR COSTUMERS? Currently many people use third party delivery platforms...

Hi, this is my elevator pitch for the opportunity I chose. Click on the button below to go to the video! Video Transcript: Hi, I have a question for all of you. Who here has struggled to make time in your busy schedule to run errands? That’s what I thought. Well, I have come up with a solution to solve this problem. The solution is a service that you can hire out someone to run errands for you, all you have to do is fill out a service request with all the errands you need done, provide a delivery address and a payment method and voila your errands are done and your busy schedule is uninterrupted. You can get anything done, anything from getting groceries, sending flowers to your mother, buying school supplies for your kid and getting food for your pet all in one order. I know what you might be thinking, I can just order from third party application or from the company directly. Why would you want to place multiple orders when you can have a one stop deal, how great is that. Plus this s...

Interviews Joseph: In his interview, Joseph said that he believed that the service would be a good idea but he would not use it personally or in the office. He said that he would not use it personally because he has a flexible schedule where he can modify his hours at work and when he has to run errand he lives and works close to a big shopping complex so it is not too time consuming. He would not use it at the office because the office has hired messengers and assistance that run important company errands.  Charles: Charles says that he would not use it because he is a retired person and he enjoys running errands. Charles described errands as part of his routine. He also says that he is very particular about what he buys and how he does his errands and believes that a service would not get the errands done in a way that he would be satisfied enough to pay the service fee. Mirna: Mirna is a stay-at-home mother and does part-time consulting. She said that she would not pay for a ser...

The opportunity: The problem that I have identified is that many people do not have too much time in their busy day to go out and run errands.  The solution: The solution that I propose to solve this problem is to create a service run through a call line, application and website. The service will provide people to hire the company in order to have their errands run by one of the employees at the company. People will be able to call the costumer service line (for those who do not know how to use the website or the app) to coordinate errands that they do not wan to run. If they want to use the app or the website they will be able to fill out a service request form in which they will detail they errands that they need to be done and where they need to deliver items to if necessary. In the website they will be able to pay with a credit card or pay in cash when their order is delivered. In the app and website they will be able to chat with the driver and also see the progress of the ord...

 The opportunity: Starting a company that runs different errands for people. For many people running errands is a time consuming activity that they have to fit into their busy work schedules. They  need an alternative that will allow them to get the errand done without taking a lot of time out of the day to errand running. The Who-What-Why Who: People that want to get an errand done but cannot What: They are not able to dedicate time to run errands  Why: They have too busy of a schedule to run errands Testing the Who-What-Why Testing the Who The target demographic is intended to be busy working people. The demographic could be extended to older people that do not drive anymore or to anyone that does not have time to or want to run errands. Testing the What Not everyone in the who will want to pay another person to ru the errand. Another boundary could include the fact that people would not pay for a service to run a sensitive errand like taking money out of a bank account...

Opportunities From Economic Trends Local Markets Close: Source: https://elperiodico.com.gt/inversion/2020/05/28/cierre-de-mercados-aumenta-demanda-y-sube-precios/ Why? As local markets close because people do not want to congregate in markets, many vendors can benefit. There is an opportunity here because the demand for the products sold at markets is still the same but people can't buy at the market anymore, vendors can find new methods of selling their products. Some have started selling directly to customers at higher prices, others have created delivery routes to sell their products.  Who? The costumer that would benefit from this opportunity would be all those who depended on markets to purchase different food products. Since markets are no longer open, they need a new way to purchase their product. Difficulty This opportunity is not too difficult to exploit. Many producers have started selling through alternative channels. It would not be too difficult because they could...

Article 1 : Trasladan a 20 pacientes con coronavirus al hospital de Antigua Guatemala ante colapso del San Juan de Dios https://www.prensalibre.com/guatemala/comunitario/trasladan-a-20-pacientes-con-coronavirus-al-hospital-de-antigua-guatemala-ante-colapso-del-san-juan-de-dios-breaking/ A description of the story: The article describe how one of the largest public hospital in Guatemala City ,  San Juan de Dios , collapsed due to the over-saturation of COVID-19 patients. Staff at the hospital commented that they received a higher number of COVI-19 cases than they expected, causing shortages in beds, staff and medical equipment to properly assist patients. due to the collapse of the hospital they had to send 20 patients to a hospital in Antigua Guatemala, a nearby city. The public health sector is looking for alternative solutions to accommodate the rising number of patients arriving at hospitals for treatment but are over-saturated.  A description of the problem  The ...

●       Belief: Due to the COVID-19 new problems due to restrictions implemented by the Guatemalan government many peoples' day-to-day lives have been altered significantly. One of the biggest restrictions being that senior citizens cannot leave their houses unless it is for a medical reason. This regulation has limited most of this group's activities like going to run errands. ●       Behind the belief: ○       What is the unmet need? Senior Citizens cannot leave their house to run their usual errands, like grocery shopping, going to the convenience store or other businesses. They have to rely on family members or many different delivery services that offer a limited selection. Those delivery services also take a long time and sometimes are so saturated that the service is not available for same day delivery. Most of the delivery services only have online ordering platforms that most senior citizens do not know ...