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.