30A – Final Reflection

1- It is been a journey of the learning experience reading my blog made me realized that I overcome several challenges. I remember that I was totally uncomfortable doing certain assignments such as the ones that included interviews. I am a shy person and it is hard for me to speak with people that I don't know, but I am glad this assignment helped me to go out of my comfort zone. I feel more confident when it comes to talking to others which is really important in my future career since I will be communicating with patients and other professionals. Moreover, I did 3 elevator pitch which let me practice for future presentations. I had to practice a lot but at the end of the day it turned out good.

2- I think the most formative experience was the elevator pitch videos because is not something that we commonly do. I think this helps me to prepare for future presentations it helped to practice the speed of my voice, body language, and movement of the hand and to memorized scripts. I feel totally proud that I accomplish to record these videos and that I improved every time that I recorded them. In addition, I feel extremely proud that I got to develop a bussiness idea that I have been thinking to demonstrate my baking skills, and that it might be a bussiness that can help my family to get an extra income and to start a new life.

3- I think that I have developed an entrepreneurial mindset because lately, I see opportunities for the creation of a product or service because I see that people have a necessity of them. Before taking this class my mind did not work that way. Moreover, I think that my mind is more open and I am always asking for feedback because I want to hear different points of view. Even if people don't say anything at the moment I ask what they think. When I cook something I ask my parents and sisters to give me their opinion on flavor, presentation, texture to know what I can improve to make it better.

4- If I had the opportunity to advise future students I will tell them that to be successful in this class they need to develop organization and time management skills because there is a lot to do. I will tell them to have an open mind at the time receiving feedback and use them to improve and see things from a different perspective and provide constructive feedback to others because is a huge help to know if you are doing this right or what you need to improve. In addition, work on a bussiness idea that you feel passion for because it will make your journey easier since you will have to stick to this idea till the end of the semester. Moreover, video lecture are important I recommend watching them and taking notes because cupcake questions come directly from these lectures.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

The opportunity that I have been trying to develop is to open an online bakery where I am going to sell good quality homemade baked goods products. The quality of my products will be extremely good since they won't be frozen or preserve products and the products will be similar to the ones we can find in a regular retail store. In addition, I will be offering delivery services when customers place their orders we will deliver their product to their location, so they won't have to go anywhere. My potential customers are the ones that enjoy homemade and fresh baked goods products, but they do not have the skills or time to bake them. In previous interviews, I have identified that my target audience is families with children around the age of 2-16 years old. However, this can be very variable because young couples or college students have shown interest in my products too.

The need for my products is to address the lack of good quality baked goods products. Usually, the products that people buy in common retail stores are frozen and preserved and they lack freshness and the flavor is not what people ate looking for.  My product will solve these needs because it will deliver the freshness and the homemade flavor that people are looking for. My products will be offered in Orlando, Fl area and they can be for people that enjoy eating sweet overs the weekend, snake or maybe for people that want to organize special events.

I have mentioned before that a lot of people I interviewed they are loyal to big bakeries and that is one of my weakness as a small business. However, the reality is that many of these retail bakeries that are recognized by a lot of people do not deliver that homemade flavor people are looking for. My products will be recognized by flavor and freshness and with the delivery service, it will be something that will be appealing to a lot of people. 

Innovation

Many people may think that my idea does not have any innovation, but the reality is that the innovation is in the recipes that I have been developing throughout the years and this is what makes my product different from others. This journey has not been easy because baking is a lot about try and failure and I have to say that I have a lot of failures developing my recipes, but I was able to successfully creating the recipes for different products such as brownies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies and different kind of bread.  

One of my favorite thing to bake are cookies I actually consider myself a cookies monster because cookies are the best dessert ever especially if they are homemade. I have to say that this is one of the recipes that was hard to create and modify. I bake different kinds of cookies such as birthday cake cookies, sprinkle cookies, cinnamon cookies, lemon cookies, salted caramel cookies, and my favorite want chocolate chips cookies. All these cookies are chewy in the inside and crunchy on the outside. Each cookies weight 120 g and they are going to sell 2.25$ each cookie or dozen cookies for 25$. My brownies are characterized to be extra fudge and top with homemade Nutella each brownie will cost 2 $. 

My cakes are characterized because the texture is fluffy and moist. Also, I offer a different kind of flavor and all cakes have a frosting. Customers can buy a slide of cake for 2.50$ or you can buy all cake the price will vary in how big the customer wants the cake. Cupcakes are also fluffy and moist with frosting on the top. The size of the cupcakes are regular and the prices of the cupcakes vary between 1.25-3 $ depending on the flavor and toppings of the cupcake. A dozen cupcakes can vary between 8-15$ depending on the flavor of the cupcakes. 

In addition, I am thinking of creating a loyalty reward program where people that buy my products will get reward points every time they buy one of my products. They can use this points to get futures discounts or gifts depending on the amount of point they have. This would help me to raise and build my community and it will help me to have loyal customers.

Venture Concept

The recipes that I created in the past will help me to bake good quality homemade products and this will be useful for people that are looking for fresh products with a good flavor. Moreover, the delivery service is something that is appealing to a lot of people since they do not have to go anywhere. The hard part to make customers switch will be the big competition that is in this field because sometimes people prefer to buy in some store that they already know even if the products are not what they want. After intervening a lot of people I realized that one of my biggest competition is Publix bakery because apparently is one of the best retail stores when it comes to baked products. However, these products are not as fresh or have the same flavor as homemade products. Moreover, the majority of these products are frozen and have a lot of additives to preserve the products. This gives me an advantage because my products do deliver good flavor, texture, and freshness. The products that I baked are not frozen and they don't contain additives. The prices are pretty much the same, so people will get a better product for the same price.

At the beginning of this bussiness, we would be a team of 5 people. Two people are going to in charge of the cakes, cupcakes and cake decoration. 1 person is going to take care of social media, website, taking the orders of the customers, and the delivery services. The other 2 will be in charge of baking the other products. This will be at the beginning, but I have to say that I would like to expand my business and I may need more employees by that time. I would like to have a bigger kitchen and more equipment such as ovens and hand mixers to have better handling of the products especially when I have to manage large quantities of products.

The three minor elements

The most important resource for my business the recipes that I have created over the years and the experience that my team and I have in the baking field.

The next opportunity that I would like to tackle with my current idea will be to have a physical location where I can have a bigger kitchen to bake large quantities of different products.

For me, it will be a dream to have this venue. I would like to create more recipes, but these products will be healthy options for people with diabetes or maybe some kind of allergies. 

Feedback and Changes

The feedback I received in my last post it was pretty positive. People mentioned that they have a better picture of my bakery and the products that I would be selling. They said that the breakdown of my prices was good. In addition, one of the comments was about creating loyal customers and building a good relationship with customers. I think this is true because I talked about the hard competition that I have with other recognized bakeries such as Publix bakery and build loyal customers will help me to grow and create a loyal community. This comment made me include a reward loyal program in the innovation section where I explained that customers will get points every time that they buy one of my products. Depending on the number of points they have they will get discounts or free products in the future. This will help me to create a community and increase loyalty. In addition, I talked about in the future a would like to have a bigger kitchen with more equipment where I can handle bigger quantities of baked products. This would help me to participate in bigger events or sell my products to other venues such as minimarkets. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1- I think my bussiness can stay in the market for more than 5 years because I sell products that people constantly consume. I think for a large return I will sell my bussiness in the next 10-15years because it takes time to build a good reputation and I would like to enjoy my dream a little more time than just 5 years. I don't think I will retire any time soon I would like to expand the business and maintain for future family members that are moving from Venezuela. This would help them to start a new life here and a way to gain money from a solid bakery.

2- The main reason of this exit strategy is because I am thinking about the future of my family. I still have some family in Venezuela and they are thinking of moving here to look for a better future just like my family and I did. If I keep the bakery more time I can build a good reputation and build an audience, so when they take the bakery it would be easier for them. Moreover, I would like to be involved in the business more time because this will give me a different experience.

3- I think this decision would potentially influence my family to accelerate their decision of coming to the United States to change their life. I think they will be more enthusiastic and motivated to start a new life doing something that they know how to do and the like it. I think that the fact that I know my family is planning to come here has influenced me to take this decision because I would like to help them. I know that starting over again is not easy and this will make their journey a little bit easier. Moreover, as I mention before baking is an activity that my all family enjoy and we are all good at it. The fact that they can be in this bussiness in the future I know they knowledge it will be a good resource for the bakery because the quality of the products will be maintained or even it can improve.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Carol Dweck

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of the book is the mindset. The book discusses how different kinds of mindset can affect our decision or the way that we do things in different moments of our life.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I think this book connects with the class because we have discussed how we have to receive comments from others and go out of our comfort zone to succeed with our ideas. The mindset is important in this case because if you do not have the proper mindset you would not accept feedback, and may think that people are against you or do not like your idea. Moreover, when you are starting a bussiness a growth mindset is necessary because at the beginning may not be easy and the process might be a little slow. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I will encourage an exercise where students have to develop a mindset ( growth/open) and make decisions with this mindset in any current situation that is currently happening in their life and see how was the process and results. After that make cooperation on how this mindset helped or no in the decision of decision making compared with other mindsets that they had in the past. 

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?

I think all book was ¨ aha¨ moment to me because a week ago my mom was telling me about mindset settings and a lot of what she said I could be related to the book. I have to say that lately, I am have not been in a good place mentally because of the anxiety of what is coming next in my future and all situation that we are currently facing. After talking to my mom I have been trying to improve my mindset and this book help me to realize that if I wanted to improve my move I have to change my mindset. It is amazing to see how your mind can help you to change your vision about something that is going on in your life, and you can apply this in a decision, bussiness, school, and other aspects.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1- Something that I have been trying to do during the summer semester and I failed was to workout at least 5 times per week. I started this goal around may but I have to say that I failed. I was able to workout somedays, but I was never constant. Some days I felt good and had free time to work out, but other days I was super busy and tired and I did not work out.

2- Something that I learned during this time is that I need to improve my time management skill and have a good balance between school and my personal life. I have to say that I got frustrated every time that I felt too tired and overwhelmed to workout because it was something that I wanted to do for me, but I put all my attention to my classes and at the end of the day did not have any energy for it. Therefore, I learned that I need to organize my time not just for my responsibilities, but also for my personal interest.

3- I think that failure is something that frustrates us and let me feel that I am not enough for the goal that I have set. However, failure helps me to realize that if I change something and do it differently it may give me a different result. This class has taught me that to be successful you have to go out of your comfort zone and take risks. Risk can be something that you want to do but you are afraid of it because of failure, or it can be something you do not feel comfortable with because you don't know how to do it. The reality is that sometimes those risks can help you to succeed or fail, and this is why people are afraid of them because no one wants to fail. However, failure can help you to change your perspective and the way we do things, and this will help us to succeed and avoid making the same mistakes in the future. I feel that I am more willing to go out of my comfort zone because I know if I don't do this I will not grow as a person or improve in my goals.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

I think that for my existing market what I would have to work on is to create new recipes for people that have certain health conditions such as any food allergy, intolerance, diabetes, or any other. I have tried to bake different healthy recipes, but I have not been able to get the results that I want. Therefore, I will work on it and hopefully offer these products in my bakery.

The three customers I interviewed were interested in my idea and they definitely would buy my products and use the delivery service. Also, they say they like the fact that the products were not frozen or have any additives in them. Moreover, they gave me some ideas.

Some of them mentioned that they love the delivery service and that they would totally use it, but they mentioned that it would be a good idea to have a spot to a location where they can pick up the order.

Moreover, they mentioned I could create a reward system to increase the loyalty of my customers and other customers will also be interested and buy my products. I have seen these reward programs in big clothes stores or in smoothies venues. I think is a great idea and it will help me to maintain my customers.

I love the idea to have a reward program form customers I did not think of this before and is a good strategy to bring more customers and to keep my current customers. After reaching the maximum points the customers will get a reward. I have not seen this in any of the big bakeries that I know.

New Market

I am currently targeting families with children's but this can vary to college students or young adults. Thinking about what another market I can target that is completely opposite is selling my product to big retail stores or to minimarkets.

My venue would add value to these stores because I will be selling them high-quality products with amazing flavor and freshness. This would increase their quality and customers that are looking for these products will buy more in their facilities. My business offers a variety of baked products and their presentation is appealing to the public. Moreover, the reward program can be implanted in the stores that I sell my products and customer will attend their stores because they get rewards.

I interviewed 2 people that are bakers and sell their products to other stores. They like my concept because they work with the same principles. They explained to me how is the process works with other stores. They mentioned they have been successful with minimarkets because they have believed in their products and customers seem to like it a lot. They bring their products to their stores 3-4 times per week. They have mentioned that working with big bakeries( Publix bakery) is almost impossible because they are loyal to their own brand and it is the cheapest option for them. Moreover, they mentioned is important to know how to manage lar quantities of products because usually, they order big amounts of different products.

This new market looks appealing to me because it will be a great way to expose my product to a larger audience. Moreover, it will be a new challenge for me because I have never sell my product to another big venue, so it will help me to gain experience to work with others and it would let me work with large amount of products. I already knew how the process was because a good friend of my mom sells her products to minimarkets in Miami. It did not surprise me that recognized bakeries such as Publix or Walmart won't be open to selling other products than their own products since is something that is their own brand and it is cheaper to produce those products that buying from other suppliers.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

The opportunity that I have identified is to create good quality homemade baked goods and sell them at an affordable price. Moreover, these products are going to be delivered and in this way, customers do not have to go anywhere. The potential customer to consume my product are people that are looking for homemade flavor, but they do not have knowledge, skills, or time to make these products. Based on the previews assignment the majority of the audience that I will target are families with children around the age of 2-16-year-old, but even this is the main target the audience can vary since young couples or students are interested too. The need for my product address the lack of good quality baked goods, usually, people buy baked products in retail stores and these products do not deliver the homemade flavor that people are looking for, or maybe the products are not as fresh as they promise to be. Therefore, my product will solve this need since they would have homemade flavor and freshness, non of my product will be frozen or preserved. The product can be for the family to enjoy a sweet over the weekend, snacks, or even take it to an especial event. I am offering my product and the delivery services in the area of Orlando, Fl.

Even that a lot of people are loyal to big recognized bakeries such as public bakery people are looking for better-baked products and this is the opportunity to make my product shine. Moreover, due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, people are avoiding going out, so our delivery is convenient in this situation. This opportunity will be always open for people that want to consume fresh homemade baked goods, or if they need to take any baked goods to an especial event.

Innovation

Many people may think that my idea does not have any innovation, but the reality is that the innovation is in the recipes that I have been developing throughout the years and this is what makes my product different from others. This journey has not been easy because baking is a lot about try and failure and I have to say that I have a lot of failures developing my recipes, but I was able to successfully creating the recipes for different products such as brownies, cakes, cupcakes, cookies and different kind of bread.  

One of my favorite thing to bake are cookies I actually consider myself a cookies monster because cookies are the best dessert ever especially if they are homemade. I have to say that this is one of the recipes that was hard to create and modify. I bake different kinds of cookies such as birthday cake cookies, sprinkle cookies, cinnamon cookies, lemon cookies, salted caramel cookies, and my favorite want chocolate chips cookies. All these cookies are chewy in the inside and crunchy on the outside. Each cookies weight 120 g and they are going to sell 2.25$ each cookie or dozen cookies for 25$. My brownies are characterized to be extra fudge and top with homemade Nutella each brownie will cost 2 $. 

My cakes are characterized because the texture is fluffy and moist. Also, I offer a different kind of flavor and all cakes have a frosting. Customers can buy a slide of cake for 2.50$ or you can buy all cake the price will vary in how big the customer wants the cake. Cupcakes are also fluffy and moist with frosting on the top. The size of the cupcakes are regular and the prices of the cupcakes vary between 1.25-3 $ depending on the flavor and toppings of the cupcake. A dozen cupcakes can vary between 8-15$ depending on the flavor of the cupcakes. 

Venture Concept

The recipes that I created in the past will help me to bake good quality homemade products and this will be useful for people that are looking for fresh products with a good flavor. Moreover, the delivery service is something that is appealing to a lot of people since they do not have to go anywhere. The hard part to make customers switch will be the big competition that is in this field because sometimes people prefer to buy in some store that they already know even if the products are not what they want. After intervening a lot of people I realized that one of my biggest competition is Publix bakery because apparently is one of the best retail stores when it comes to baked products. However, these products are not as fresh or have the same flavor as homemade products. Moreover, the majority of these products are frozen and have a lot of additives to preserve the products. This gives me an advantage because my products do deliver good flavor, texture, and freshness. The products that I baked are not frozen and they don't contain additives. The prices are pretty much the same, so people will get a better product for the same price.

At the beginning of this bussiness, we would be a team of 5 people. Two people are going to in charge of the cakes, cupcakes and cake decoration. 1 person is going to take care of social media, website, taking the orders of the customers, and the delivery services. The other 2 will be in charge of baking the other products.

The three minor elements

The most important resource for my business the recipes that I have created over the years and the experience that my team and I have in the baking field.

The next opportunity that I would like to tackle with my current idea will be to have a physical location where I can have a bigger kitchen to bake large quantities of different products.

For me, it will be a dream to have this venue. I would like to create more recipes, but these products will be healthy options for people with diabetes or maybe some kind of allergies. 

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Human Capital

V: Very valuable to create and make the product or service that the bussiness is providing

R: I do not think is rare. People with different skills are found every day we just need to find the individuals that possess the skills that are needed in the bussiness.

I: I don't think is something that can be initiate because it might, but with some work, human capital can be built in a short time.

N:   In my perspective, without human capital, a business can not be successful without the necessary skills and different points of view are hard to improve a business. 

Social Capital

V: Valuable to make business growth and to get any advice that can help to improve the product or service.

R: It is not rare but it may take some time to build a social network

I:  this depends on how much people are willing to connect with others to create a networking, but if there is the interest a strong network can build.

N: I don't think that is mandatory to have a social network, but the truth is this can help to grow and expand the business. Moreover, a strong network can bring opportunities in the future.

Financial Capital

V:  I think is valuable at the beginning because to start a bussiness is necessary to have some financial capital. It does not have to be a tremendous amount, but this capital is valuable to start the idea.

R:  I do not think is rare since to start is always necessary to have some kind of financial backup.

I:   This depends on how you get this capital. For some people may take some time to get the money and for others may be easier. This capital can be either personal savings or maybe any kind of loan from a bank.

N:  I think that there is no substitution for financial capital because is something that is necessary to start the business and without it will be hard to build the idea.

Creativity

V:  Extremely valuable because to be creative with the product or services that you provide will make you different from others.

R:  It is not rare, but it might be harder to find rather the other things in the list

I:   I don´t think is inimitable, every bussiness has to be constantly creating new strategies to differ from others. Some people might be easy to be creative, but others might be harder to find creativity.

N:  There might be some services that do not need creativity because the work just the way they are. However, when it comes to product creation is necessary because people are always looking for something different and efficient.

Experience in the Field

V:  Valuable because the fact of having knowledge and skill in the field of your bussiness can give you an advantage and opportunity to grow quickly.

R:  Sometimes is rare to find a good quality product in the field of bakery, and this is due to the lack of experience and skill in the field.

I:   No because to gain experience you have to be involved in the field, and not everybody has adequate training.

N:   A good delivery of products or services improves with the experience of the field. Without good skills and knowledge of the field, the product can turn out unsuccessful.

Customer Services experience

V:  This is something valuable because every business should be able to manage the way they treat their customers. It is important to know how to interact and be polite with the audience.

R:  I do not think this is rare the majority of business train their employees to have a good interaction with the customers.

I:   Yes I think this is something that every business try to have because customer like to treat good and if they do not receive a good customer service they won't recommend the product or service. 

N:   Customer service is necessary to succeed, as I mention before if customers do not feel well treated they won't buy your product or service.

Social Media Experience

V:  This is something valuable because customers are constantly looking at social media. It is a good way to interact with the audience and to do marketing strategies. 

R:  This is not rare because the majority of businesses are using social media to promote their products and services.

I:   Yes it is since as I mention many businesses are using these tools and take advantage of then, but some people use it wrong and might not be taking the benefits of it.

N:  Even that this can be a great tool it is not extremely necessary to be successful. It can be useful for marketing but it is not the only way to promote the product.

Open-mind

V:  This is extremely valuable in order to receive feedback from other entrepreneurs and customers.

R:  I do not think is something rare in entrepreneurs should be able to handle different points of view.

I:   No, this depends on the amount of flexibility that each individual has.

N:  Open mind is something that would let the business grow. Entrepreneurs with an open mind let them listen to others and get good advice.

Determination

V:  This is valuable because this will help to maintain the attention to create and deliver good products and maintain the business in good shape.

R:  I think determination is rare because when people do not get a result quickly the loss of their determination and start to not be constant in their business.

I:   Yes the majority of people have a strong determination at the beginning of their vision, but the tricky part is to maintain the same determination.

N:  It is almost impossible to maintain a bussiness without determination because without it the purpose of the product or service can be lost.

Sale Experience

V:  This is something valuable because in every field there is competition, but having experience in sales can help to approach the customers

R:   Some places train their employees but others don't do this.  This is something that depends is the person has work in the past with sales.

I:   No, I think every company has its own sales strategy because not everybody sells the same product or service. Moreover, it can be something that makes a difference.

N:  There are some companies that have been successful without a sale experience, but the reality is that is something that can be helpful to grow quickly.

Top Advantage

I will say my top advantage is the experience in the bakery field. This is something that makes the difference between the products that I create and other products that are commonly found in retail stores or other bakeries.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

The Pitch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9HBwOVVk80

 A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch

The feedback that I got in my last pitch was positive actually it was mentioned that I improved in the flow of my message and they like the grab attention at the beginning of the video.

What did you change, based on the feedback?

Something that I change was open more the windows so I could get more natural lighting. This helped me to improve the lighting in my pitch. Moreover, I felt more comfortable in front of the camera. I feel I spoke more slowly than my other two pitches because I have my pitch memorized.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

The art of social Media: Power Tips for Power users

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The focus of this book is to give the best advice to brands to promote or do the best marketing strategies through social media. The book can help you to develop a good image of your bussiness on different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and many others.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

In this class, I have been creating a bussiness that I want it to be online this book helped me with advice on how to grow in social media. Moreover, in the book the author talks a lot about the audience, and in this class, we have discussed the importance of knowing your audience, how to approach them. This book helps to enhance the interaction with the target audience through the internet or social media.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

The exercise that I will create is to work on a new image for the business that you are working on. If you have any old image try to get some feedback or look for any mistake to make it better and connect better with your target audience. The visual aspect is important because is one of the first things that people think. Moreover, I will add to the exercise to add captions or descriptions in every image that they post that they can interact with their customers. 

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?

I learn about other platforms that can be used to promote a brand. Moreover, in the book the author mentioned some software that can help to boost the platform that you are using to show your bussiness. This software will elevate the engagement or the productivity of your social media. I have to say this book was extremely useful to me because my plan is to show my bussiness online. Today is extremely important to know how to manage social media properly since people are paying more attention to them, and it is an easy way to interact with them.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Iris

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Iris is a Venezuelan Baker who owns her little online bakery in Venezuela named ¨Ita´s Brownie¨. She has a lot of experience in the bakery field, especially with chocolate desserts. She manages her bussiness the same way I want to do mine bakery, she receives online and when the baked goods are ready the products are delivered to people or they can be picked up.

2) Iris is a domain expert in the industry since she has the same kind of bussiness that I want to own and she has been doing for around 5-6 years now. I consider that she has a lot of experience in the bakery industry and she delivers good products.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I know her a long time ago because she is a friend of the family. I actually got to taste her products because when she started her business I was living in Venezuela.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

When I was in Venezuela she teaches me some basic and important steps at the time to bake certain things. She always gives me tips to create good products. Moreover, when I was in Venezuela I helped her when she needed extra help I learned a lot from her, and I had the opportunity to learn from someone that already had experience in the field.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Including her in my network would be a huge advantage because I can reach out for any advance regarding any recipe or any advance to improve a recipe. Moreover, because she has a lot of years of experience I can ask her how to interact with the customers and how she improves the business. 

Owner of Sugary times bakery

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Sugar times bakery is an online bakery that is located in Orlando, Fl. They have been in the market for around 2 years now. This bakery is own by a Venezuelan family they move here several years ago and started this bussiness in Orlando 2 years ago. They make different baking products but they specialize in cakes and cake decoration.

2) I consider them to be market experts because they sell their products to my target audience and they have similar products. They already 2 years in the market and they have been successful with their products. They sell a lot to people that are paying events such as birthday in the Orlando area.

3)  I found them searching on Instagram and I contact them through Instagram and make them some questions.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

I asked them if I could talk to them because I was planning to start a bakery bussiness they were extremely kind and guide me through their history and how they manage their bussiness and their audience.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Since they already have experience in the market I can ask them for any advice if I have any problem or to solve a situation. Moreover, if they do not offer a product they can recommend my services. 

Elizabeth and Jose

1) Who they are and what their background is.

They are a couple that dedicates to create different Venezuelan baked goods. They are more toward the salty side than the sweet sides. Their specialty is baking bread and different salty Venezuelan bread and they sell these products to little retail stores in Miami, Fl. They work with large quantities

2) I am setting them as suppliers because they supply little markets in Miami with baked goods. They work with large quantities every week, so they have experience working with other companies. 

3)  Elizabeth went to college with my mom and they know each other since them. We have always been in touch and I have visited them in Miami a couple times. I called them and we spoke about their experience producing baked goods in Large amounts and selling them to other retail stores.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

Even that I have experience baking salty goods or bread it is not my main strength in the baking field. They taught me some tips at the time of baking bread. Moreover, they gave me advice on how to promote my products.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Including them in my network will give me the opportunity to ask them for any advice on how to manage with large quantities of products because maybe in the future I would be able to work with large events. Moreover, if any day I have a large event they can come and help me with the production of the baked goods since they have a lot of experience.

Final Reflection

All of these entrepreneurs are from different places and have different experiences. The opportunity of having them in my networking will give me the opportunity to get to know more people in the bussiness from different locations and with different experiences. Learning from other entrepreneurs can help me to avoid any silly mistake, I can learn how to interact with clients and how to make good marketing to my products. I have done some networking in the past and it was small in-person events. However, due to the pandemic, I did not see anyone in person everything was online.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

You: My name is Valeria Perez Sarabia and I am 26 years old finishing my Dietetic major at the University of Florida.  I have been a flamenco dancer since I was 4 years old. Dance helped me to gain discipline and to be organized with my time. One of my biggest hobbies is cooking and baking. I have been baking for a long time now, and I have developed recipes with my family to create high-quality baked products. A lot of people in my family bake so is a family hobby that we love to do and share.  If I were to start a business it will be a bakery and it will be a huge accomplishment for us because we have been thinking about this and working on recipes to always deliver a good product. As a family, we love to bake, and we can generate money doing something that you love.

What are you offering to customers? : My plan is to create a bakery where I can offer different baked products such as different kinds of bread, cookies, brownies, cakes, and many others. Customers will order their desire products online through social media or websites, and we will take care of the order and provide delivery service (in the Orlando area). Also, I will like to incorporate new healthy recipes that I am trying to develop, so I can offer for people with intolerances and allergies.

Who are you offering it to?: I am offering this to people that love fresh homemade baked products, but these people do not have baking skills or they do not have the time to bake what they want. In addition, I am offering this to people that live in Orlando, Florida. This product is special for families since parents like to have snacks or sweets for their children.

Why do they care?  These customers care because they are looking for good quality homemade baked products. Usually, the products found at regular retail stores are frozen and they lack flavor. The products that I will be offering will be around the same price that is found in the retail store. The products that I will offer will not be frozen or preserved which is something that customers are looking for.

What are your core competencies? My core competencies are the baking skills that I have developed throughout my life. Moreover, the recipes that my family and I have created deliver high quality homemade baked goods which are something that people are looking for. We have experience in this field and have helped my aunt who has her own bakery in Venezuela.

Evaluation: I do think that these elements fit together. The ability to create and bake baked goods can help me to be successful with this idea. Baking skills are a key element to and it would help the business work. The weaker side of my business will be the competition of other big bakeries. Publix bakery is one well known by a lot of people, and it can be my main competition. Therefore, I have to make sure to have good marketing in my products.

Feedback memo:  The feedback that I got in my last post was pretty positive and a lot of people agreed that the fact that I had knowledge in the field of nutrition and baking would help me to develop good quality products. One of the feedback mentioned that I could incorporate some healthy options on the menu. In general, I focused on my baking skills and the quality of the products that I can create.

18A-Create a Customer Avatar

My customer avatar is basically a family with children (Families around 4-5 people). The parents of these families are both hard workers but they love to spent time with their children. Their children are around the ages of 2-10 years old.  Their favorite activities are watched Disney movies, have small family dinners and children tv channels, and play outside. They love to have cookies for snacks and they love to have different desserts at homes such as vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. They usually use delivery services (amazon prime, instead, food delivery) to avoid going to the store with the little ones and because the parents prefer to spend that time with their kids. The range of age of the adults will be between 30-50 and children's age range will be 2-10 years old.

What do you have in common with the customer avatar?

I feel identified with the family because I am close to my family. I grew up with my parents and 2 sisters we love spent time together and we are Disney fans, so we watched all the movies together. My sisters and I love cookies and learned how to bake them was even more fun. I do not think is a coincidence because usually, customers buy in places where they can feel identified, so maybe at the time of creating this idea I was thinking in families especially because this would be a family business.

17a- Elevator Pitch No.2

The pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNTkcIO2jII&t=17s

A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.

In my feedback from my last pitch, I was impressed that in general, all comments mentioned that they felt the passion that I have for this idea and how important is for me. People mentioned they liked queue questions at the beginning because that engaged people to pay attention. This means that I had energy delivering my message and that's how I am supposed to do it every time.


What did you change, based on the feedback?

In the last pitch, I said my name so based on the feedback I did not mention it this time.

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

1. Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique

Good Communicator:  Since I was little I have always been told that I am a good listener and this has helped me to develop communication skills. I always listen to a concern or inquietude and try to give my opinion in a polite way that can easy to understand.

Open mind: I always try to hear others because those comments can help me to grow in different aspects. I try not to get a negative comment too personally instead I try to look at what I can do to improve or what I am doing wrong.

Brave:  I think I am a brave person because I am always open to take different challenges and risks. When I was 21 years old I took the decision to leave my University in Venezuela and start a new career in the USA. It has not been easy at all and it took a lot of courage to make that decision, but 4 years later I am almost done with my dietetic degree.

Determined:  If I decided to start or reach a goal I am always looking for solutions or paths to archive what I want. I have had moments where I want to quit, but my determination to reach the end of a goal is always bigger. Maybe it takes me more time than I thought, but I always finish.

Incorruptible:  I have been raised with strong values from my parents which I really appreciate because I consider that thanks to that I am a good person. These values are so important to me that I would not break because I would be betraying myself. 

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. 

Interview#1

https://soundcloud.com/valeria-eugenia-perez-sarabia/valentina

My sister knows me well she mentioned almost all the skills that I consider that describe me. She considers that knowledge in nutrition is complete and that I have very good skills at the time of cooking and baking.

Interview#2

https://soundcloud.com/valeria-eugenia-perez-sarabia/veronica-interview

This was my little sister and I could see that she pretty much thinks that I am an empathetic person who likes to share and help people. Moreover, she mentioned my passion for dancing which makes me think that I love what I do and I have discipline.

Interview#3

https://soundcloud.com/valeria-eugenia-perez-sarabia/fernanda-interview

My cousin described me as a persistent person and that I like to help people. She mentioned that I am organized at the time of performing a task which is something that I had not noticed.

Interview#4

https://soundcloud.com/valeria-eugenia-perez-sarabia/interview4

I think that my friend knows me well and in all these years of friendship, she has always told me that talking to me is like therapy because  I pay attention to what she is saying. I can see that she noticed my determination to finish my goals.

Interview#5

https://soundcloud.com/valeria-eugenia-perez-sarabia/maria

In this interview, the main focus was on my values and how I have used them. I think to me it is really important to notice my values because this let know people the kind of person that I am. also, I learn that people see that I trust what I am doing at the time to do something.

After the interviews, I don't think that there is to much difference between what I think and what my family thinks. They talk a lot about what I like to help and I care about others, and that I am determined and passionate about my goals. I think these interviews are totally correct and I would not change anything of the list that I wrote. I think that both things together work well and describes my abilities and skills.