The Twenty Percent

I decided to talk to the same gentleman who I did my entrepreneur interview with. Mr. Wilburn is the owner of Team Dynamo, a residential real estate team.

1. His target customers are anybody looking to buy or sell a home in the Alachua county area. His demographics are usually couples, age 25 or over and who are ready to buy a home. Since Mr. Wilburn has been in business for close to 15 years, 95% of his clients are referrals from past clients. The customers “problem” is really just not knowing the route to becoming a home owner, or they just want help with the process of buying or selling their home.

2. 3 people that I talked to that are either looking to become home owners, or have bought and sold homes in the past, say they use realtors simply for convenience and helping with the process.

3. While this business is slightly different, since it is a service business, I’d say that Mr. Wilburn does correctly know his customers problems and how to help them. Anyone who has 95% of his clients come from referrals must be doing something right, and he clearly goes above and beyond to help clients with their needs.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

For this weeks reading reflection I read rediscovering market segmentation by Daniel Yankelovich.

1. The biggest surprise in this reading was the idea itself. The idea of non demographic segmentation is fascinating to me. When I think of segmentation or products, I picture the group it will sell to based on age, race, gender, etc. Daniel believed that instead we should use buying patterns, which in a way definitely makes sense.

2. Something that was slightly confusing was the “gravity of decision spectrum.” I just wish they touched on this topic a little more, but I still get the gist of it and that it is the importance consumers place on a product.

3. Two questions I would ask the author is how he came up with this idea of segmentation, and if he had personal success using his new theory of segmentation.

4. There is nothing I think that the author was wrong about or that I can disagree with. I would have to see both of these segmentations in action to figure out which one I think is better to use for different aspects of business.

Free Money

This exercise was tough for me and I will just start by saying I did not get any video recordings. I went to my local mall for this exercise, and each encounter was extremely awkward. Giving away the dollar wasn’t easy, because about half of the people just denied my offer or looked at me weird. I didn’t come up with a genuine reason to give away a dollar, so I just would say “its national free money day” or “it’s for class.” There was no specific person I approached, just anyone who looked over the age of 18 (I didn’t want to be giving money to little kids as this could be taken the wrong way by people). One person I interrupted while they were on the phone and they actually got upset and stormed off. Needless to say, this exercise had to be my least favorite.

Customer Interviews #3

1. The Questions I intend to ask are similar to those before. I just want to make sure that this product pertains to a certain Niche. So instead of seeing if this product is useful, I want to know if they think people will use it over other products. I'll ask the if they think that MentalEdge would be popular among students. Whether or not they themselves would use the product. Finally I'll ask if they have used other products for focus and what they thought about them.

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3. From the interviews, I learned that many people would potentially buy this product. The $35 price range for one months supply may be a little high though, as most said they wouldn't want to pay that much. What made me happy is that most thought that this product could stand out as a Niche product, and not just be another supplement to add to the industry.

Week 6 reading reflection

1. Something that was a big surprise to me was the section about substitute products. You never really think about how much substitute products can limit the cost you can charge for certain goods. When I think of this, I think of generic brands that limit the cost that name brands can charge. When you compare two cereals and they both have the same exact ingredients but one is twice as much, it can cause increased competition.

2. Something that was slightly confusing to me was the chart that showed the forces governing competition in an industry. I just didn’t like how it was laid out, and the three circles surrounding the industry, are those supposed to be like barriers to breaking through?

3. The first question would be about the 3 circles in his chart I explained above. I would also ask about the experience curve as an entry barrier for further elaboration.

4. Honestly there was nothing I could argue with in this article. Michael Porter is an extremely smart Harvard professor and I can agree, or atleast see the logic that he presents in this article

Idea Napkin #1

1. I am Keifer McClain and I am an entrepreneur and I want to help people! I have a background in business, and have done work in real estate and finance. I aspire to create a business to help college age students with focus. If I start this business I see it helping me and other students to increase focus and get better grades.

2. I am offering customers a study aid supplement to help them with focus. I know from experience that many of my friends take prescribed medicine for ADHD but really just use it for studying. I want to create a natural supplement that will increase focus and energy and help students get better grades.

3. My customer demographic is students in general, from high school all the way to grad school. I want to make a natural supplement that will be appropriate for kids and adults.

4. Customers will pay money for this supplement because focusing in today’s society is hard! This supplement will help them be able to sit down and focus on assignments and not spend their time on their cell phones or daydreaming. I want to give people mental clarity to get tasks done and not be groggy or unfocused.

5. I believe what sets this product apart from competition is its quality, and its niche. There are other supplements on the market for energy or focus, but none pertaining to students.

I definitely believe that these five elements fit together and could become a successful product. With the right marketing and quality ingredients I don’t see with this product couldn’t be a best seller, or even a trailblazer for study aid supplements. The only thing that would worry me is the idea of adding to a competitive market, but since there are very limited products sold as study aids, I think 

Elevator Pitch No.1

1. The opportunity I saw was focusing in today’s society for college students. There is a high over diagnosis of ADD and ADHD where college students get prescribed adderall to help them study.
2. The solution I came up with was MentalEdge, a study aid supplement that pertains to college students, with ingredients that increase focus and sharpen attention.