Maria Pivaral-ENT3003

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.