Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

In the three interviews, I conducted, all three people being interviewed had relatively the same answers for all the questions. When asked about deciding between a product and its alternatives, two said that they typically choose the cheapest alternative. The one other person said, "It depends on the product, cheaper is not always better." When asked about where they buy, the answers seemed to favor online shopping over in person. They all described how the internet is quicker, easier, and more cost-efficient. If the item is useful and long-lasting the purchase is looked at as a "right purchase." This segment seems to care most about price rather than quality. I think this is because most college students do not have much money. They try to find the cheapest products that will suffice their needs.

14A – Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

Time management is a key reason why I am able to keep up with the requirements for this course. I manage my days so that I always have some time to go on Canvas and look at the daily assignments and complete them. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

There have been a couple of scenarios in which I had almost given up. They typically were when the assignment was difficult or long. I think that I have most definitely developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months. The homework assignments played the biggest roles in developing my tenacious attitude.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?!

1. Check Canvas daily

2. Read emails and announcements from the professor.

3. Research topics that don't come easily to you.

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

The thing that surprised me the most about Steve Jobs was how he spoke about his coworkers and friends. A majority of the conversations that discussed Steve Job's peers included destructive and negative remarks.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire Steve Job's work ethic the most. Jobs came from nothing and worked his way to operating one of the biggest companies on the planet. This is a feat everyone strives to achieve one day.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

The thing I did not admire about Jobs was his ability to balance work and family. Jobs was described as someone who would regularly give up time with his family in order to progress his growing company.

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Steve Jobs encountered adversity and a slight form of failure when he dropped out of college. Leaving halfway through your schooling to embark on an extreme business venture is very risky, however, in the end, it worked out for Jobs.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Steve Jobs exhibited numerous competencies including hard work-ethic, brainstorming, group-think, etc. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The most confusing part of Steve Job's life was how he was able to win over so many people to work with him while lacking social persuasion abilities.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

Did you ever think that your company would be where it is at today?

What would you do over?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

Honestly, I feel as if Jobs struggles in the social aspect of a workplace (relationships between coworkers etc). Meaning, Job's opinion of hard work would be in building relationships.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

1) Pick a segment. In class, we have discussed how you might intuit the existence of segments that might exist in your venture's market. For this exercise, you must pick one segment.  

People with cars that get bad fuel mileage.

2) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. These interviews, if conducted properly, should take about 10-15 minutes. Any less, and you won't be able to obtain adequate information. 

Interviewed-

Joey

Beck

Ryan

3) Begin with need awareness. In earlier exercises, you have identified an unmet need and developed a solution. If the person you are talking to does not have the same unmet, then you need to move on. You may not include this as one of your three interviews. If the person you are talking to does have the problem, then you're on the right track! For need awareness, we need to figure out at what times, situations, places, contexts, etc., their need becomes the most salient. The questions you ask should be related to determining exactly when, how, and where their need awareness occurs. 

All three of the people I interviewed, own cars with subpar miles per gallon (mpg). This means that they run out of gas quicker than others with better mpg. Their need for a mobile refueling company, like the one I suggest, is higher than most due to them having to refuel more. They spend more time at gas stations than others. They notice this need when their cars get low on fuel.

4) Move to information search. When the person you are interviewing becomes aware of their need, what is the very first thing they do to find a solution to their problem? What sources of information do they look for? When they search in Google, what are their search terms? Do they talk to friends and family.

All of the people I interviewed answered in relatively the same manner. When asked about how they proceed after they become aware of their need, all three said that they stop at the nearest gas station. There is little to no search needed. 

5) Report the findings of your research. Simply summarize what you learned in the interviews.

I learned that the idea of a mobile gas station has some grounding. A lot of people agree on the fact that stopping at gas stations is time-consuming. I realized that people with lower mpg cars are more likely to use the service mentioned, due to the fact that they are refueling more than others.

6) Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of need awareness and information search? 

This segment made me realize that certain people will need this more than others. People who use more gas than others are more likely to want this service because they spend more time pumping gas.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is Chase Hodgson, I am a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in Business Administration. I am a student with great time management, organization, and work ethic. I aspire to be a business owner. This business would play a huge role in my life. It would be my main focus.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I am offering a service that eliminates the need for gas stations. The service allows you to request our company to come to refill your gas tank via an app. This means you can be at work, at home, or even asleep. No more wasting time at the gas station.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

Anyone who owns a motor vehicle or regularly has to go to a gas station to refuel. People who have to fill their own gas and waste time.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its value to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

They care because everyone knows how annoying having to stop and get a fuel can be. This service will save users much of their wasted time at gas stations.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

What sets us apart from everyone else is that we are mobile. We come to you, rather than you coming to us.

I think that all of these five elements fit together well. They all have the same goal in mind. They are weak statements, however, they all do relate in one way or another.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

After Conducting five addition interviews about my opportunity, these are the answers I have come up with:

Who: Are there certain people or certain businesses that, although they share a lot in common with the others in your opportunity, nevertheless fall outside the boundary? Why?

There is a multitude of businesses that share a lot in common with my opportunity but fall outside the boundary. Any gas station based company (7-11, Mobil, Speedway, Wawa, etc) has similarities with the majority of my opportunity, however, they all fall out of the category due to their stationary, nonmobile nature. 

What: At what point does the need you identified differ from another need? (Is thirst the same as hunger? Or is the desire to appear fashionable the same as the desire to be loved by others?)

This need differs from other needs because it is acting upon two opportunities at once. It not only focuses in on the gas selling industry it also focuses on the time-saving/delivery service opportunity.

Why: Is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary?

Yes, people outside the boundary are those who have no need for gasoline. This would include people without cars, or own electric vehicles. 

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In- Anyone that owns a gas powered vehicle.	Who is Not- Those who don't own a car
What the Need Is- Obtaining Gas without spending time pumping gas.	What the Need Is Not- They have no need for a mobile gas station.
Why the Need Exists- People are busy and don't always have time to stop for gas.	Alternative Explanations- They don't need to buy gas.

10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1.
Sometimes when you get food delivered to you, it is cold by the time it arrives.

2.

The who: Anyone who orders food online or uses delivery services.

The what: The food you order is not always hot and fresh when it arrives.

The why: All delivery drivers are not equipped with heating/warming devices to keep food hot.

3.

Yes, there are numerous other people who have this same need. 

Testing what:  

When you use food delivery services, your food is not always going to be cold. It all depends on how many stops the driver has to make before you, or how long it takes to drive to your location

Testing the why: I feel like this need is very widespread and an agreed on need. Most people who have used delivery services have probably experienced cold food before. To my knowledge, most people want their food still hot/warm when it arrives.

4) In Part 1, you must interview five people. These interviews must be long enough for you to get the information you need. In these interviews, you want to ask questions that try to capture the variation in the whos, whats, and whys, and your objective is to test the boundaries of your opportunity hypothesis. 

After interviewing 5 different people, it seems like my potential opportunity has a lot of support. Every single person that I interviewed told me about previous experiences with food delivery services and how their food has been cold upon arrival. All five of the people I interviewed, agreed that there should be a food heating system required for every driver.

5) Include your write-up of each step in your assignment. For step 4, please summarize what you find. Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before? 

When I first thought about this opportunity, my mind was mainly focused on the heating issues while in transportation. However, after interviewing numerous people about delivery issues, there seems to be an additional issue with delivery services, which is receiving the wrong food/order.