Entprentice Reflecion

Going into the Entprentice I really had no idea what to expect.  I had never taken an entrepreneurship class before and I've had very little practical experience being an entrepreneur.  However, I knew that I wanted to get people involved and excited about the venture and that I wanted to make money.  I figured if the venture was bringing in a lot of revenue than it had to be going well.  It seemed like a pretty simple plan to execute.  However, after a few short weeks carrying out the Entprentice, I soon learned that my pre-conceived idea on how to execute a new venture was far more difficult than I ever anticipated or imagined.

When my team met as a group for the first time to discuss various venture ideas it was clear from the beginning that we were way over our head and not prepared.  We all showed up to the meeting without any individual brainstorming.  I think it would have been very helpful if we all had spent some time beforehand coming up with five or so ideas so that we could have presented them to each other and built around those rather than spending the time collectively thinking.  Unfortunately, we did not take the advice from lecture where Professor Wry explained the difference between generating ideas as a group, nominal group, or as a hybrid.  We generated ideas as a group which not only lowered our quantity of ideas but its also lowered the quality of our ideas.  While I'm not definitively saying that if we had used the hybrid model we would have came up with a record setting venture, but it is definitely possible that if we had utilized the hybrid model we could have came up with a much stronger one.

We initially discussed many different service based ideas such as coffee delivery or grocery delivery type ventures but opted out because we thought that they would require too much work and demand through out the semester.  It wasn't that we weren't willing to put in the hours and hard work but we didn't think the reward would be worth it in such a short time.  Someone in our group suggested how throughout the semester they are always using different websites to buy school/household items such as textbooks or kitchen appliances.  From that, we then came up with the idea of a centralized network for penn students where they can buy and sell everyday goods on an easy to use website.  To implement this idea we planned to have some of our more technical savvy friends build the website for us.  We believed that after the creation of the website, which we thought would be the relatively easy part of the venture, the hard part would be to get the word out to as many people as we could.  In order to start brining in revenue, people needed to know about our venture, Penn MarketPlace.

 During the beginning stages of the implementation of Penn Market Place our biggest challenge turned out to to be the creation of the website, something we thought would be quite easy.  We originally planed to have a friend create the website during the first week of the Entprentice but due to various other commitments she was delayed and didn't finish until the end of the second week.  This created multiple problems.  First, it really hurt our group's dynamic and functionality because we were all so worried we wouldn't be able to meet certain deadlines and have a working product.  At first we spent way too much time complaining to one another rather than finding a solution to this problem.  Second, not only did it delay us in starting to bring in revenue but also hurt our ad campaign.  It's tough to advertise when you have no working model to show off.  As a result, after realizing there was no point in getting upset over something we had no control over, we decided to use this "downtime" to start testing our hypothesis.  We believed that Penn students would prefer to buy and sell household items, clothing, and furniture on a Penn-centralized website. We used the Learn Method of Build, Measure, Learn with services such as QuickMVP to see how many people would be interested in signing up for our venture. We also sent out emails to different listservs to see if we could generate interest. By the time the website was finally finished we have gathered enough data in the interim to know that people were excited by our idea.  

Throughout the latter stages of the implementation of Penn MarketPlace we faced difficulty in attracting users. Based on our surveys, people were interested but they weren't actually going to the website and using it. We knew we needed to do a better job of attracting attention. We tried to do this in a few ways: first, we uploaded a lot more pictures to our Facebook page. We thought the more colorful and lively the images were the more people would be drawn to it, just like Pinterest. And second, we decided to do some hardcore and aggressive guerrilla marketing. We went around to all the different GSR's in Huntsman and taped to the whiteboards our logo and website information. In addition, we passed out hundreds of flyers to students on Locust Walk, sometimes even forcing them into hands of uninterested students. While at times the guerrilla marketing was certainly awkward and uncomfortable, I fervently think it was a necessary and crucial step to getting the word out to students. Furthermore, while we certainly had our fair share of difficulties during the implementation, one thing that was a surprise and went particularly well was being featured on Under the Button. Although it wasn't the most positive press, bad press is still press, and shortly after the article was published not only did our number of Facebook likes increase but so did our website's activity.

Looking back on this exercise, if I were to have another go at it I would definitely have chosen a more service oriented venture. While on the surface a service venture didn't seem practical at the inception of this project it actually was much more pragmatic than I originally thought. One of the biggest problems with Penn MarketPlace and being the "middleman" was the very small profit margins. We only got to keep a small percent of the total sale, which in hindsight is practically nothing. On low priced items such as used textbooks we pocketed no substantial amount of money. If we had decided to undertake a venture like a coffee delivery service our profit margins would have been much higher. We would have charged a delivery fee and a markup percentage. I also think a service oriented venture would have worked much better in the middle of the semester rather than our website. We were trying to get students to buy and sell household goods. A lot of these transactions start at the beginning of the school year when everyone is moving into their dorms and apartments. Students are not going to want to buy a microwave in the middle of February, they already have one.

Through this exercise I learned the importance of persistence and risk taking as an entrepreneur and in entrepreneurship. Even in a few short weeks, it became apparent how difficult new ventures are. Students and the general population have a million different things going on in their lives everyday. I quickly learned that in order to get people interested and excited about your venture you have to be persistent in your approach. Sending out a few emails and a couple Facebook notifications will not draw the attention that you want. The most effective marketing tool that I used was guerrilla marketing. When I got into people's faces and really told them about the idea and handed them a flyer, they became genuinely interested. I found that taking some risks and putting yourself in new and uncomfortable territories can be very effective.  

In particular, during the course of this exercise I discovered through risk taking that one of my greatest strengths as an entrepreneur is the business development side of it. It became very apparent that only half of the battle is the actual idea generation while the other side to a new venture is the business and marketing side. I think I became much better throughout the duration of the project at getting people to go to the website and becoming interested in our business. No matter how great or brilliant the idea is, the venture will only succeed if people buy into it. As an entrepreneur I believe that I have begun to develop the skills to help make this possible.

One of the most difficult things about this venture is being able to make a good margin off the checklist.  In order to effectively do this I will need the suppliers of all the items to provide them at a relatively low price.  On the surface this may not seem like a smart idea to them but I think after some persuasion this can be done.  The biggest reason that I think suppliers would be willing to provide items at a relatively low cost is because of the convenience of my website to end users.  If there is a website that centralizes the entire move in process and easily allows incoming freshmen to choose through a variety of brands, these companies will want their products on the website.  Users are much more likely to choose certain brands and items on the simplified website rather than shopping online at ten different websites looking for certain items.

On the other hand in order for me to make a decent margin I won't have to charge extremely high markups.  I think if the website does well and companies see thats its attracting customers, they will provide these items at a low enough cost where I only need to mark it up slightly.  By providing not only low to medium range prices but also the convenience factor this venture has ability to attract lots of customers and get companies highly involved and motivated to participate.  

After writing my last post, I began to think more about the segment and how many freshmen actually use websites that provide move in checklists to help break down and plan their move.  Because this type of information is not readily available on the internet, I decided to utilize my teammates and sent out a survey to my team's email listserv.  On the survey I inquired upon four different multiple choice questions:
             1.  Yes, I used an online checklist to plan my college move
             2.  No, I did not use an online checklist to plan my college move
             3.  I used a checklist to plan my college move but it was not online
             4.  I did not use any checklists to plan my  college move

In the end over 40 people responded to my survey with 48% answering that they used an online checklist to plan their college move and 24% saying they used a checklist that wasn't online.  These numbers definitely confirmed my hypothesis that the demand for move in checklists are there.  They make the entire process much easier.

I believe that in order for this type of website to succeed it has to have a very simple interface and be very user friendly.  It would be incredibly easy for new entrants to come in and copy this idea.  In order to stand out from competitors, the website would have to be the easiest to use.  Customers don't want to have to use difficult and complex websites that are confusing to navigate.  Simplicity is key.  Being able to create a website that provides easy access to checklists and different brands of items all while having a simplistic interface has the ability to really stand apart from competitors.

Although after doing quite a bit of research, there don't seem to be any websites or companies that combine both buying necessary college items and moving them into dorm rooms, the greatest competitor for my new venture is when Universities partner with companies like Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I can certainly speak to this firsthand.  When I was an incoming freshmen, knowing that UPenn partnered with BBB, I felt more comfortable buying my items from them and believed that not only was I getting a very good bang for my buck but that I was also getting all the items that I would need.  New college students may feel uncomfortable buying specific dorm room items that UPenn does not partner with.   

In addition, there are also countless "college check list sites" that provide students with necessary information and items that they will need for their first year.  While these sites are quite useful, my venture intends to not only provide this option but also the option to directly buy items from various websites in the check list.  For example, if you know that you need a microwave, instead of just checking it off the list, there will be the option to directly buy it as well from all different companies.  

The biggest competitor with moving the items into dorm room's would be the actual universities. UPenn and many schools across the country offer complimentary move-in services.  It's tough to compete with this when it's free.  However, this service only works when you have the ability to drive everything to school.  For many international students and students coming from across the country this is not feasible.  The option to have everything already moved into your room will make their entire move in experience much easier.  In addition, while this industry would be used more when the economy is doing well, with so many affluent kids coming to UPenn every year it has the ability to be more or less recession proof.   

Simplifying College Move Ins

Moving into a college dorm room as a freshman can be extremely stressful and challenging.  There are countless moving parts and variables that need to be executed to perfection in order to make it go smoothly.  Specifically, incoming freshmen often worry about making sure they have all the essential items for their dorm rooms.  One potential way to help simplify this process would be a website that allows users to choose specific items they want to purchase for their new room.  For example, important items like microwaves, bedding, towels, etc would all have a drop down menu and users could search through different brands and companies and select the one that they like the most.  In addition, once all items are selected and purchased, there would be an option that would allow users to either ship the items directly to their dorm room or another option that allowed customers to have their items moved and set up in their dorm room before they arrived on campus.

Currently, there are no central interfaces that allow new college students to shop and search for all dorm room paraphernalia.  While schools often partner with companies like Bed Bath and Beyond, this only provides some of the crucial items that college students need.  A website that allows students to shop for everything through one platform will make it much easier and more efficient.  Not only will students have more options but they will also have less stress knowing that they won't forget anything.

Although this website would be useful for any type of student, specifically, I see it mostly targeting foreign students and students who live across the country.  Incoming freshmen who live close to school won't need the service as much but for those who live in other countries or five hours away it would be quite useful to have all your items either on campus or already setup in your room.  Making a trip from another country is probably already stressful enough, and those students (usually very affluent ones) have the means and want to simplify the entire move in process.

With so many students coming from all over the world, I think there would be a very high demand for a website like this.  Realistically, it would not be too difficult to make and with the right advertising and marketing it certainly has the ability to take off and make money.