Customer Interviews No. 3

1. The questions I intended on asking were specifically related to studying, disadvantages found in studying, and the location/significance of the library. I intend to ask students at the college level, preferably those I have never even seen before and do not know personally.

2. The interviews are linked down below. I was only able to get 4 total this time.

3. I learned that once again I still do not like interviewing people out of the blue and recording them on video. It's just not something I am used to, even after doing this three times. I also learned that you need to have a balance of general and specific in your questions so people being interviewed know what the topic is about and still have space to speak their mind on it. What surprised me the most was that the vast majority of people I interviewed said yes when I asked the first time to interview them. I only received one no and one person being a no-show in these three assignments. For change, I want to be able to better plan my interviews ahead of time like I did with the first two so I don't fall short of the instructions. Due to going home for the weekend, I did not have time and people to interview on these particular questions and topic.

Videos:
https://youtu.be/wLSQfInjaqE

https://youtu.be/Lu5haQZCcRI

https://youtu.be/trLvLGLD6P4

https://youtu.be/lfm0aAhxTPY

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1. My biggest surprise was how short the overall article was. I was expecting something as long as the book chapters. Also, I was surprised over how the significance/strength of the factors could alter the playing field of businesses in general. If one factor is stronger than the one, it can lead to both good and bad forms of progress.

2. I admit to being confused when the article said "how to use the forces to understand complements".  I don't know what complements are in this particular case, and how they serve a purpose to the overall function of a business and competing businesses in general.

3. What led you to make such a model? There had to be some inspiration and/or motivation that led him to go through making the Five Competitive Forces in the first place. Also, is there a possibility that there could be other factors, unknown, that have an impact, or even a greater impact, than the traditional five mentioned? I think we still need to questions subjects like this so not only do we get more out of it and understand it better, but we also can possibly lead ourselves to discovering something new.

4. At this point, I don't necessarily find anything that I disagree with the author on in this article. While I do think there is the possibility of there being more factors involved that may not have been mentioned, I did not disagree with anything in the article at this point.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I am a college student pursuing a major in English and a minor in Innovation. These two degrees strengthen my natural talents in writing and literature while also helping nurture my entrepreneurial side. My talents are heavily stemmed from writing and reading/analyzing in general. My skills again involve writing, writing under a deadline, pursuing research and sources for articles, and experience in committing to a long-term cause. With my business, I see it as a way to help me grow in my leadership skills and capabilities of managing a business well.

2. To my customers, I offer them free/rentable chargers. College students in general study in multiple places, and the library is a hotspot. However, there are only so many places for a student to charge their studying devices. With a system that rents out chargers or offers wireless chargers that can charge computers and phones, my customers will have greater access to their overall studying, which in turn will increase their success in college.

3. My demographic will college students. Basically anyone who is enrolled in a college is given accessibility in being able to obtain a charger or wireless charger for their own personal studying while at the library. Students studying at the library are concerned more about being able to put their time to good use to earn good grades and not be frustrated over lack of plugs because other students reached these areas for themselves first. All my customers have in common their desire to study, and study well.

4. When it comes to effective studying, my customers will of course want nothing but the best product to help them achieve this. How can they study well if they don't even have enough battery life for their laptops? My product will be a simple solution for a large problem that affects students in varying forms as they study for their exams. With my product and overall service, my customers will worry about one less thing and can devote their time to earning good grades.

5. What sets me apart from everyone else is that I have gone through the same dilemma. I have studied multiple times at the library, and at one point I needed to leave early because there were no plugs for my charger, limiting my time and access to study. I know how this dilemma feels for other students. What I have that nobody else has is patience, and a lot of it. Building a business from the ground up requires delayed gratification and going step by step through the setting up of a business in order to succeed well in entrepreneurship.

I believe in general that my five points coincide with each other well. They all involve the problem at hand and the various factors involving it, as well as the possible solution to said problem. Maybe with 3 I can specify my demographic even more, like aim for college students that belong to other factors such as long study hours and more intensive classes/majors to study for. My product and service is a simple solution to a common problem that can be easily fixed, and these 5 points further specify what I can attempt to do.