Assignment 29A - Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:

• Every year, students at the University of Florida and Santa Fe College deal with housing problems in two forms: (1) their lease ends before the summer term lets up (2) they can’t find suitable short-term leases.
• This described problem is mostly a problem for those that take internships during the school year, do not stay in Gainesville for the summer, are international students or graduates. That being said, every UF and Santa Fe student is likely to fall into of these categories at some point in their career as a student. 
• The nature of the need arises from the fact that students typically do not need a lease for the entire year, but that is often the only thing that is offered. That means that students are forced to sign a year-long lease to ensure adequate housing at the cost of later having to pay for vacant months. 
• The force that allow this to occur is lack of other options. For instance, most people only live in the dorm their first year of college. Upon finding off-campus housing, you are required to sign a year-long lease where you’ll be assured that you can find a sublet whenever you need. But the reality is that when summer rolls along, everyone is trying to get rid of their apartment and will severely underprice you. Personally, I lived at the Courtyards and couldn’t sublet my apartment because people in the Standard whose rent is typically $700+ were offering their rooms for $250. 
• In addition to the force that allows this to happen, about 78% of undergraduate students nationwide live off-campus. This means that there is a huge window of opportunity. 
• Currently, there is no satisfactory resolution. There are very few places that offer flexible leases and they come at the cost of comfort or location. For instance, some places that ride will allow you to lease on a semester-basis are a forty-minute bus to school or of dormitory nature, but those options lack optimal location and comfort respectively. 
• This window of opportunity is likely to be open for a while due to the force that allows this problem to arise in the first place: a lack of other options. 

Innovation:

• My innovation is to create a service that pairs UF Housing with off-campus housing communities in order to provide students with the option of flexible leases.
• For students, this makes finding housing easier as well as allows you to choose a flexible lease option. How this would work is that the student would apply to the off-campus community of their choice through the UF housing portal and on the application, they would select the flexible lease option and specify the dates that they will need the lease for. This adds a one-time fee of $250 that you will pay at the beginning of your lease. The fee can then go towards UF funds to find a substitute lessee for whatever time remaining in your lease. 
• For the University, on the other hand, this expands their customer base. Not only will all students now be using their housing portal, but they will be getting an extra fee every time someone doesn’t need a full year lease. Additionally, UF is better equipped to find sublets than an individual person is. For instance, there are many people who might need a sublease but may not come across your ad for your sublease. They are likely, however, to contact the school about any availability. 

Venture Concept:

• Students will use my service if they know that they need a flexible lease. My service is better than the current housing process, where the students pays to sublet your apartment only if they successfully find a sublet; that means that if they can’t find the sublet, then they have to pay the full rent for the remaining months of their lease. Under my service, the student will not be liable for finding a sublet.
• I do not think that ‘switch’ can be used here as there are not other options. If UF offers flexible leases and a student needs one, I do not see why they would not start using the service. Additionally, there are no other competitors. 
• Price Points: The pricing of my service is critical. If I price too expensively, it would not reduce the financial burden on students and many are likely to just assume responsibility for the rent. That means that they will never use my service. Currently, I am planning to price around the price point of the sublet fee that many apartments use. 
• Distribution: I will distribute flyers throughout UF campus about the availability of flexible leases. I am hoping that this will then spread by word of mouth. 
• Customer Service: Since the housing will reflect on UF, I think it is important for our customer service to be friendly and caring. 
• Location: Gainesville, FL. If my service proves to be successful, then I can expand to other universities/college towns. 
• Packaging: N/A
• Employees: I think the employees would remain the same as now. UF will have its housing representatives and the off-campus communities will have their housing staff. The only types of employees that I have to add are marketing and administrative. 
• The marketing staff’s job will be to get the awareness for the service. This might be a team of 5-10 people. 
• The administrative staff will work with UF housing and off-campus housing to work out logistics. This might be a smaller team of 3-5 people who know the ins and outs of partnerships such as this one. 

Unfair Advantage: I have connections with many off-campus housing complexes as well as UF housing representatives that will make it hard for people to copy my idea. Even if they wanted to, it would take them a while to develop the credibility I have with such institutions.

What’s Next: I want to relieve the financial burden that the housing problem in Gainesville puts on students. As a college student, we have other expenses to worry about.

For me: I am a huge planner. Being able to get rid of tiny nuisances along the way would personally benefit me, but in this case, it would benefit thousands of my peers. If this venture is successful, I would go on to create other services/products that will continue to rid people of tiny nuisances like this one.

Feedback:

• Well thought-out, structured, and professional
• Direct 
• Easy to comprehend 
• Including different perspectives was a smart choice 

How I’ll adapt: 

• There wasn’t any negative feedback for me to improve on, so that’s a good sign!
• Personally, the way that I think I can improve this is to figure out the pricing. Being able to stay in an affordable range will most likely be the selling point of my venture.

Picture: UF Housing Portal

Assignment 30A - Final Reflection

• What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?
• What stuck out to me as the most formative experience is the books that I read for the second and third reflection. I get stressed very often and at certain points in the semester, I found myself in a rut. Reading “Mindset: The Psychology of Success” and “How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big” helped put things into perspective for me. Going forward, I think I am going to read similar books. 
• An experience that I’ll remember years later is the feedback on my points. While I welcome and appreciate constructive criticism, it still makes me anxious and I tend to remember it forever. 
• The most joyous experience was hearing what my closest friends had to say about me. It was encouraging and neat to see how people perceive me to be like. 
• I am most proud of myself for never missing an assignment. This semester got hectic at times and being able to finish strong makes me proud. 
• At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset? 
• I see myself as more of an entrepreneur than I used to. Before taking this class, I strongly believed that I would never create a business because I am not a risk taker. However, after taking this class and seeing how easy it is to identify venture opportunities, I could see myself wanting to pursue an idea. That being said, I think that I would have to be really passionate about the idea to move forward it. For instance, while the housing issue is something that bothers me, I am not passionate enough about it to move forward with it. 
• What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset? 

• One recommendation to students who are going to journey down this path in the future is to come in with an open mindset. Even if you are taking this class for an easy elective, be open to the idea of entrepreneurship…you might change your mind about it! 
• To perform their best in this course, I’d advise them to plan, plan, plan! Some assignments in this class are longer than others so look ahead. What took you an hour last week might take you three hours this week. Post-it notes, agendas, etc. can help plan and ultimately will help you make yourself a better entrepreneur.

Assignment 28A - Your Exit Strategy

1. Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?
• My ultimate plan with Flexilease is to get it up and running with a decent profit margin. Depending on the difficulty as well as the extent to which students and their parents rate the service, I would like to expand to other college towns; this is because my ultimate goal was to make the housing process easier for students. After that, I ultimately hope to be selling it. The return does not matter to me. 
2. Why have you selected this particular exit strategy? 
• The entire reason for this venture is to make student lives’ easier; it was not for personal gain. Therefore, I would stay with the venture if I felt like I was continually making an impact. When the impact isn’t there anymore, I would want someone to take over and just maintain what I have created. 
3. How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources? 
• I think my exit strategy has strongly influenced the pricing aspect of my decision. I want to make my service profitable for off-campus housing communities and UF so that I can hand off the service to them; this caused me to not think of what kind of return I would want for myself. Furthermore, the reason for my exit strategy is dependent upon the reason I identified the opportunity in the first place. For instance, once I make housing easier for everyone (considering the hassles I faced myself), I intend on bowing out. As for resources, it is hard to say whether my exit strategy influenced them because my venture is a service not a product. Therefore, the most valuable resources remain the two parties that are left in the venture after I leave.

Assignment 27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

“Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck

1. What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme of the book is that differences in mindset is correlated to success. For instance, Dweck argues that those with a fixed mindset, or a mindset where one believes that their abilities are fixed, are less likely to experience success with parenting, business, school or relationships.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• Some of the concepts in the books overlap with topics that we are learning in ENT3003. One of the major things that I saw overlap was the concept that our skills and abilities can be developed. For instance, there was multiple assignments in this class that repeat. It is because our ideas and ourselves are constantly developing, so it is important to develop our entrepreneurial idea accordingly. 
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• This book delves into the impact that a fixed mindset versus a growth can have on different aspects of life. If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would ask everyone to determine situations in which they have a fixed mindset and situations in which they have a growth mindset. Once they identify areas in which they have the two mindsets, I would ask them to define why they believed they had each mindset. 
• For example, reading this book made me realize that while I possess a growth mindset in things such as sports and business, I do not possess a growth mindset when it comes to relationships; instead, I possess a fixed mindset that manifests itself as extreme emotion and the ultimate failure of many relationships. 
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• My biggest ‘aha’ moment when reading this book was both a surprise and old news. I used to see a therapist with whom I worked on cognitive therapy with. Each week, we would take all the discouraging thoughts that I had and reframe them into positive thoughts until positive thoughts are what naturally came to mind/what I really believed. While it was a process, I found it crazy that it is that easy to change a whole mindset. This book further reemphasizes the importance of cognitive therapy; Dweck argues that once people notice that they have a fixed mindset, they are likely to actively change that mindset. If that is the case, why isn’t cognitive therapy more popular than it is? I think it should be.

Assignment 26A - Celebrating Failure

1. Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.
• Accounting. So for those of you who didn’t know, I am an Accounting major. I am in the last stretch of impossibly hard classes and had major anxiety going into it because of poor performance in the prerequisites. I prepared heavily for the first exam that fell the day after my 21st birthday (I had family fly in from Seattle and didn’t celebrate because I was studying) and ended up with a failing grade. 
• I figured I had three more exams, so put in all my effort again for the next exam to get even a worse score (and I had felt more prepared for it than the first one). At this point, I was starting to spiral because I had a lot riding on passing this semester. For instance, I have changed my major 4 times before finding one that I could actually see myself doing AND I have an internship lined up for next summer which is contingent on passing the classes I am enrolled in right now. 
• I am not easily discouraged, but what do you do when your best is not enough? 
2. Tell us what you learned from it. 
•  Interestingly enough, the turning point for me this semester was when I accidentally started crying during office hours. I went to see my accounting professor about how I could change my study habits to maybe improve my grade, and when we could come up with nothing to help me, tears involuntarily welled in my eyes. It was the following conversation with him that gave me perspective. What is the worst thing that could happen if I failed? What is the worst thing that would happen if I had to change my plans? 
• It was that conversation that gave me the insight that I needed. I learned that not every plan goes accordingly and that’s okay. 
3. Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago? 
• I think that failure is inevitable. My way of handling failure is to plan for the worst case scenario. If you knew me at all, you would know that not only do I have a plan A, but a plan B through Z. I also have been told that the best thing to do is “fail hard, fail fast.” That is something I keep in mind every day. It is best to fail now and learn from mistakes/experiences because we are young and have less to lose. That being said, it is a learning process and I am no pro at handling failure.
• This class has changed my perspective on failure in the sense that it taught me how to minimize risk, if I had to risk something. For instance, if I decide to follow through on my venture, it taught me that increasing my social capital will ensure that I won’t make the same mistakes that other entrepreneurs do.

Assignment 25A - What's Next?

What I Think Is Next:
I think that the next step for Flexilease is to work on the timing of leases in addition to its flexible nature. For instance, I know that my apartment complex started leasing for the academic year of 2020-2021 in September 2019 and that ends up frustrating many students. If I can get UF and off-campus housing partnered for flexible leases, my next step would be to work on when people can actually apply for leases. My proposed solution would be to stagger the release of housing. That means that instead of making all housing available in September, allow those who want to renew do so in Fall semester and then have new people sign on in Spring semester. This would give people adequate time to figure out their plans for the next year.

Existing Market Interviews:

1. The interviewee agreed that this was a good next step. She said that even with the possibility of flexible leases, it’s hard to estimate for what semesters you’ll need a lease so early into the year. She also mentioned that for her personally, she doesn’t know when she will graduate (Fall or Spring of the following year), so that makes it hard to decide housing.
2. This interviewee suggested that instead of changing the time to get housing, that I should see if you can sign for housing and get out of it later. I mentioned that currently a lot of housing communities do this so it would not be that advantageous of an idea to pursue. 
3. This interviewee said that looking into the timing of a lease was a natural next step for me to pursue. He said that having to sign a lease so early places a lot of stress on her, particularly this semester. He mentioned that he was looking to intern in the following Fall semester but had to sign a lease anyway because it rolled out so early. 

Reflection:
After listening to what these individuals had to say, I think that this would be a natural progression of my service. In addition to flexible leases, it would be nice to push out housing applications a few months in order to let students decide what they were doing the following year.

From what I understood, the interviewees had the same opinions as me about the situation and agreed that this would help them out. For instance, interviewee three mentioned that while he does not know if he will be interning next Fall yet, he would know by Spring. Therefore later housing application dates would greatly help him.

New market:
A market I have not thought about until now is students who prefer to live in houses as opposed to apartments. While it is true that most students live in apartments in Gainesville, there are students who prefer houses because they have pets, or a family, or are PhD students. My previous interviews have consisted of people who intended on living in an apartment since that is a popular choice, but it might be worthwhile to see what those who prefer houses say. That being said, houses tend to be city property so I do not know how I would appeal to these students. Perhaps they’d consider townhouses?

New Market Interviews: 

1. This interviewee said that the only reason they prefer houses to apartments is because they are cheaper than most student apartment complexes.
2. This interviewee said that they liked to live in a house so that their dog has space to run around outside and such of the like. They said that while flexible leases would be ideal, they would not be willing to move out of a house to an apartment. 

Reflection:
These interviews confirmed some of the thoughts that I already had. For instance, I was pretty positive that those who prefer to live in a house are unlikely to want to switch to an apartment and these interviews confirmed that. Additionally, neither interview suggested any ideas as to how I could enter this ‘new’ market.

After these interviews, I might have to conclude that students that prefer living in houses might not be in my market segment. Because of city ordinances, it is not possible to expand my idea to houses.

Assignment 24A - Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

• Every year, students at the University of Florida and Santa Fe College deal with housing problems in two forms: (1) their lease ends before the summer term lets up (2) they can’t find suitable short-term leases.
• This described problem is mostly a problem for those that take internships during the school year, do not stay in Gainesville for the summer, are international students or graduates. That being said, every UF and Santa Fe student is likely to fall into of these categories at some point in their career as a student. 
• The nature of the need arises from the fact that students typically do not need a lease for the entire year, but that is often the only thing that is offered. That means that students are forced to sign a year-long lease to ensure adequate housing at the cost of later having to pay for vacant months. 
• The force that allow this to occur is lack of other options. For instance, most people only live in the dorm their first year of college. Upon finding off-campus housing, you are required to sign a year-long lease where you’ll be assured that you can find a sublet whenever you need. But the reality is that when summer rolls along, everyone is trying to get rid of their apartment and will severely underprice you. Personally, I lived at the Courtyards and couldn’t sublet my apartment because people in the Standard whose rent is typically $700+ were offering their rooms for $250. 
• In addition to the force that allows this to happen, about 78% of undergraduate students nationwide live off-campus. This means that there is a huge window of opportunity. 
• Currently, there is no satisfactory resolution. There are very few places that offer flexible leases and they come at the cost of comfort or location. For instance, some places that ride will allow you to lease on a semester-basis are a forty-minute bus to school or of dormitory nature, but those options lack optimal location and comfort respectively. 
• This window of opportunity is likely to be open for a while due to the force that allows this problem to arise in the first place: a lack of other options. 

Innovation:

• My innovation is to create a service that pairs UF Housing with off-campus housing communities in order to provide students with the option of flexible leases.
• For students, this makes finding housing easier as well as allows you to choose a flexible lease option. How this would work is that the student would apply to the off-campus community of their choice through the UF housing portal and on the application, they would select the flexible lease option and specify the dates that they will need the lease for. This adds a one-time fee of $250 that you will pay at the beginning of your lease. The fee can then go towards UF funds to find a substitute lessee for whatever time remaining in your lease. 
• For the University, on the other hand, this expands their customer base. Not only will all students now be using their housing portal, but they will be getting an extra fee every time someone doesn’t need a full year lease. Additionally, UF is better equipped to find sublets than an individual person is. For instance, there are many people who might need a sublease but may not come across your ad for your sublease. They are likely, however, to contact the school about any availability. 

Venture Concept:

• Students will use my service if they know that they need a flexible lease. My service is better than the current housing process, where the students pays to sublet your apartment only if they successfully find a sublet; that means that if they can’t find the sublet, then they have to pay the full rent for the remaining months of their lease. Under my service, the student will not be liable for finding a sublet.
• I do not think that ‘switch’ can be used here as there are not other options. If UF offers flexible leases and a student needs one, I do not see why they would not start using the service. Additionally, there are no other competitors. 
• Price Points: The pricing of my service is critical. If I price too expensively, it would not reduce the financial burden on students and many are likely to just assume responsibility for the rent. That means that they will never use my service. Currently, I am planning to price around the price point of the sublet fee that many apartments use. 
• Distribution: I will distribute flyers throughout UF campus about the availability of flexible leases. I am hoping that this will then spread by word of mouth. 
• Customer Service: Since the housing will reflect on UF, I think it is important for our customer service to be friendly and caring. 
• Location: Gainesville, FL. If my service proves to be successful, then I can expand to other universities/college towns. 
• Packaging: N/A 
• Employees: I think the employees would remain the same as now. UF will have its housing representatives and the off-campus communities will have their housing staff. The only types of employees that I have to add are marketing and administrative. 
• The marketing staff’s job will be to get the awareness for the service. This might be a team of 5-10 people. 
• The administrative staff will work with UF housing and off-campus housing to work out logistics. This might be a smaller team of 3-5 people who know the ins and outs of partnerships such as this one. 

Unfair Advantage: I have connections with many off-campus housing complexes as well as UF housing representatives that will make it hard for people to copy my idea. Even if they wanted to, it would take them a while to develop the credibility I have with such institutions.

What’s Next: I want to relieve the financial burden that the housing problem in Gainesville puts on students. As a college student, we have other expenses to worry about.

For me: I am a huge planner. Being able to get rid of tiny nuisances along the way would personally benefit me, but in this case, it would benefit thousands of my peers. If this venture is successful, I would go on to create other services/products that will continue to rid people of tiny nuisances like this one.