Final Reflection

The experience that sticks out most to me is the "What's Your Secret Sauce?" assignment. It was nice to hear what my closest friends had to say about me and how these characteristics I wouldn't have thought otherwise could be useful in my entrepreneurship.

I believe I do see myself as an entrepreneur one day, even if it is with something else. I don't see myself becoming like the prominent entrepreneurs that we immediately think of, but working on my own schedule is motivation enough to at least try.

My one recommendation would be to ask other people what they think are problems so that they can have inspiration to work with. Even if he or she isn't passionate about that specific problem, maybe he or she can think of a solution. In my experience, and I'm sure many other students', its frustrating trying to figure out a solution for something when it's something you want to solve. Maybe a different perspective can be helpful. To perform best in this course, I'd recommend reading the assignments ahead of time and not taking this course with a heavy course load. To foster the entrepreneurial mindset, I would say to get used to failure and use it to your advantage. Think of it as a process of elimination tool that will only help you get closer to a solution, not further from one.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity: Pet owners who travel and do not want or unable to bring their pets with them need a pet sitter in some form. Either someone to come stay at their house and check on their pet(s) or make reservations at a kennel. Changes in the environment creating this opportunity is that it is an inconvenience to travel with pets for several reasons. Pet owners must pack additional supplies for their pets, pets are often under stress when traveling, and hotels can charge extra for pets. It also limits the pet owners as to how long they can be out of the room, or rental, because they must check on their pet(s) and let them out. If making reservations at a kennel, owners must make a stop on the way home to pick up their pet(s) or decide to pay another night/days’ worth by holding off until the next day. This market is everywhere because it consists of any pet owners that travel or are out of their house for long periods of time that may require someone to check on their pet(s). Customers are satisfying this need by hiring a pet sitter, making reservations at a kennel, traveling with their pet if able to, or asking for help from a friend, neighbor, or relative. This is a big opportunity because of the convenience a pet sitter can provide while also watching the house and taking care of daily house duties (mail, garbage, plants, etc.). The window of opportunity will be never-ending; when someone needs a pet sitter, the opportunity is there. The goal behind this service would be to help decrease the cat population by TNRing (trap-neuter-return).

Innovation: My innovation would be considered a creative service in that I would help a cat get spayed/neutered and vaccinated for every pet sitting job. This would help decrease the local cat population. I would be selling overnight pet sitting and daily visits. Locally, overnight stay would be $50. Neighboring cities in the same county but no more than 30 minutes away would increase up to $75 a night. Local check ins for dogs would include a walk, fresh water, feeding if needed, and playtime for 20 minutes for $20. Cats would include scooped litter, fresh water, feeding if needed, and playtime for 20 minutes for $10 a visit. Neighboring cities would not get daily checks in at this time due to the further locations. If I’m booked for a requested date range, I could offer a discounted price for a certain amount of checks in, depending on the locations.

Venture Concept: I think people (or new customers) will switch to this service because of the convenience it provides. I don’t think it will be hard for them to switch from a kennel because if offered the option of not having to commute their pet to the kennel with their supplies and pick them up when returning. Competitors are kennels and cheaper sitters on sites such as care.com. Their weaknesses are my references and years of experience. My business would have only me to start, and then I would hire my friend who also has experience pet sitting and TNRing.

Feedback: I was recommended to specify the term “TNR” because not everyone is familiar with it. I was also told that it may be tricky to calculate the profit margin, which I agree with. I would consider charging per mile outside of a certain proximity, but I would need to pay attention and track how far away the other locations I sit at occasionally are and compare the difference to how much I profit now locally. I didn’t received feedback on the “What’s Next?” assignment.

What I changed: I specified what “TNR” stood for and considered offering a discounted price for a certain number of visits if I’m booked when someone requests my services.

Your Exit Strategy

1) Assuming I increased my prices and services in pet sitting and hired employees and gained new clients in the next several years, I would likely step away from the business to some degree slowly. I wouldn't do pet sitting myself but would still benefit from profits and continue to help TNR (trap-neuter-release).
2) I would choose this exit strategy because the service itself takes a lot of time. It would require staying over at someone's house while also checking on other people's pets during the day if need be, and TNRing. It would take a lot of time out of my personal life because it isn't a typical 9 to 5 job. If I could step away from pet sitting myself, I could devote more time to helping animals while having other people pet sit.
3) I don't think my exit strategy would influence much if I were still the owner but didn't pet sit myself. There would be times that I wouldn't be available anyway, so current clients would have to book with someone else I work with if need be.

Reading Reflection No. 3

I read Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs by Brian Halligan.

1) The argument of the book is that traditional outbound marketing (advertising, emails, mail, etc.) is becoming less effective, and how to use inbound marketing to gain new customers.
2) In the book, Halligan mentioned that being on the internet puts you near competitors, and in order to stand out to your buyers, you must be unique or "remarkable." This reminded me of many of the assignments that we've done in this class and how we've been asked to describe what makes us different/special and how we can stand out from others.
3) If I had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book, it would be: Create a blog for your entrepreneurship idea. Add in as much information as you can - your name, product/service, prices, mission, etc. Do a Google search using key words for your blog and see if it comes up (you will most likely have to do several). How many times did it take to appear? Which key words did you use? If it didn't, what might you try next for it to appear? This assignment would be based off Chapter 6 and SEO.
4) I was surprised to learn how closely you can watch your competition. Halligan listed many different tools you can use to monitor and compare metrics between yourself and your competitors. Halligan suggested you should "be more paranoid," and track the results continuously. This seems tedious and I hadn't realized that you should zoom in this closely on competitors.

Celebrating Failure

1) I would say I failed by not doing the elevator pitches. Before the first one was due, I didn't believe I'd be able to change much to my idea and speak about it three different times. I assumed if I did it once, then I wouldn't have much to say on the second one, but I didn't do the third one either.
2) I learned that I should've done it anyway to at least get feedback on my speaking skills, lighting, personality, and possibly helpful feedback on my idea.
3) I think failure helps guide us from where we shouldn't be and provides us new opportunities. Emotionally, failure has really bothered me in the past because it's discouraging. Depending on what it is, it may take me awhile to try it again. I would say I'm more likely to take a risk, even if they are small risks.

What’s Next?

Existing Market

1. What I think is next would be being able to provide daily check ins for neighboring cities. Currently, I can’t do that because I work full-time, and I cannot afford to exceed my 30-minute break. At my current rate, it wouldn’t be worth my time and it would cost me more in gas.

2. I interviewed potential customers I was able to connect with through my current customers. Some of the feedback I was given was to be able to devote more time to pets during the day. The reason being is that these pets are used to their retired owners being home all day. I suggested that I should eventually hire employees to help cover dates that I can’t commit to, and they agreed it was a good idea if the pet owner was okay with it.

3. What makes the most sense for my venture would be to get the word out that I’m looking for more clients. I would need to offer my services to new clients. I could do this by carrying business cards and keeping them on me while I walk dogs. But this would take time away from my current repeat clients and some pet owners require their dog be let out more often, which would require me to leave work more than besides my lunch break. This isn’t something realistic for me right now.

To help with this, I could team up with someone, like my friend who has pet sitting experience and is trustworthy. To profit from this, I would need to charge more.

New Market

1. A radically different market for me would have to be people who don't have pets, don't travel, or don't mind leaving their pet(s) home alone.

2. I interviewed my coworker who has two cats but doesn’t have a need for a pet sitter. She does travel annually, but she said she leaves enough food and water out for her cats and puts several litter boxes out. If she is gone for longer periods of time, then her mom checks on the cats. I also interviewed my coworker who likes dogs but does not have a dog. Her daughters play volleyball, so they travel annually for competitions. They all want a dog, and she’s mentioned before that she would ask me to pet sit. She is a single mom, so I know she’d appreciate more affordable pricing. I think an adaptation I could make to my product/service mix would be to offer a bundled price. For example, three visits will be $20 instead of $60 for cats if spread out once a day. I could also offer discounted pricing at my own discretion if I wanted to help someone and I thought they needed it.

3. What I learned about this new market is that some people are okay with leaving their pet(s) at home alone with minimal care. I checked on my coworker’s cats before and offered to do it for free because we are friends. I expect she doesn’t want to pay anyone or ask me to do it because she knows I’m busy or really doesn’t care that they are alone. This market isn’t attractive as my existing market because my existing market is willing to pay what I ask for.

The other market, non-pet owners, is not attractive either; I cannot offer anything to them. If I knew them well, I could convince them that I would pet sit for them if they adopted a pet, so in a way I could turn them into an existing customer one day.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: Pet owners who travel and do not want or unable to bring their pets with them need a pet sitter. Changes in the environment creating this opportunity is that it is an inconvenience to travel with pets for several reasons. Pet owners must pack additional supplies for their pets, pets are often under stress when traveling, and hotels can charge extra for pets. Pets who are under stress may also damage property in the hotel, which can cause the pet owner to lose their deposit or even be charged more. It also limits the pet owners as to how long they can be out of the room, or rental, because they must check on their pet(s) and let them out. This market is everywhere because it consists of any pet owners that travel or are out of their house for long periods of time that may require someone to check on their pet(s). Customers are satisfying this need by hiring a pet sitter, making reservations at a kennel, traveling with their pet if able to, or asking for help from a friend, neighbor, or relative. This is a big opportunity because of the convenience an in house pet sitter can provide while also watching the house and taking care of daily house duties (mail, garbage, plants, etc.). The window of opportunity will be never-ending; when someone needs a pet sitter, the opportunity is there.

Innovation: My innovation would be considered a create service in that I would help a cat get spayed/neutered and vaccinated for every pet sitting job. This would help decrease the local cat population. I would be selling overnight pet sitting and daily visits. Locally, overnight stay would be $50. Neighboring cities in the same county but no more than 30 minutes away would increase up to $75 a night. Local check ins for dogs would include a walk, fresh water, feeding if needed, and playtime for 20 minutes for $20. Cats would include scooped litter, fresh water, feeding if needed, and playtime for 20 minutes for $10 a visit. Neighboring cities would not get daily checks in at this time due to the further locations.

Venture Concept: I think people (or new customers) will switch to this service because of the convenience it provides. I don’t think it will be hard for them to switch from a kennel because if offered the option of not having to commute their pet to the kennel with their supplies and pick them up when returning. Competitors are kennels and cheaper sitters on sites such as care.com. Their weaknesses are my references and years of experience. My business would have only me to start, and then I would hire my friend who also has experience pet sitting and TNRing.

The three minor elements

1.       What I have that will be hard to copy is being able to TNR cats. Kennels cost more money to run than what I will be doing. It will not cost me anything but gas to drive to someone’s house.

2.       The next opportunity I would like to tackle with my venture would be to someday have an animal sanctuary.

3.       For this venture, in the next five years I’d like to be able to work part-time at my current job and make enough pet sitting. In the next decade, maybe not be doing the pet sitting myself, but have multiple employees.