Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1)      Access to an MLS system. This is valuable because it provides access to real estate prices. It is rare because not everyone has access to it, and you must pay to use it. It is very hard to copy by others and while there are other ways of getting this information an MLS system is the best way.

2)      Market Experience. This is valuable because it provides the basis for the business and service I am trying to provide. While it is not rare and substitutable, it is still very valuable which outweighs the others.

3)      Real Estate experience. This is valuable because it is required to be successful in the real estate market. While it is not rare and can be copied it is not very substitutable. This value provides an edge and knowledge over those that are uneducated in real estate.

4)      Networks. This is extremely valuable and can be rare. This is hard to copy by others and there are few benefits that can make up for a strong network. This is an extremely valuable resource to have since there are many advantages to having a big social and business network.

5)      Formal Education. This is very valuable because it provides knowledge that can’t be obtained elsewhere. It is also rare, inimitable and non-substitutable.

6)      Real Estate License. This is very valuable because it allows one to buy/sell real estate as an agent and access to a MLS system. It is somewhat rare but not that hard to copy as anyone that is 18 can get one. This is a very non-substitutable resource because there any not many other licenses that allow you to do this.

7)      Building Experience. This is very valuable but not rare or hard to copy. But it is very hard to substitute. This value greatly enhances my ability to be successful in my venture idea since it is predicated around building and selling and a knowledge in building.

8)      Business Experience. This is valuable because it provides knowledge with the business side of my venture. However, it is not hard to copy, rare, but it is hard to substitute for something equally as important.

9)      Business Contacts. This is very valuable because I have owners of companies, I can contact that will provide me information or be able to advise me on work. This is not a necessarily rare or hard to copy resource however there is not good substitute for it.

10)   Perseverance. This is probably one of the most valuable attributes to have in entrepreneurship. This is a trait that other people can have but they don’t necessarily possess ion their own. There are not many other things that substitutes true perseverance.

I believe that my top resource is my network that I have. Between business owners, entrepreneurs, and business professionals I have a full circle of resources that can provide me with information at every stage of my business venture and is the key to being successful.

Reading Reflection

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, Chris Anderson

The overall theme of this book, without a doubt, is this is what the future has in store. Throughout the book the text is always looking forward and into the future of what manufacturing has coming to it. While this point could be seen as an argument, I believe that he backs up his point and assert it as a fact rather than an argument. I think that this book connected very well with what we are ENT 3003. The author is an entrepreneur himself, as well as having a background in the Economist Magazine, giving him a strong knowlege in the area. This book also details the ways that the author believes the way that the future will look in regard to manufacturing and the way that the nature of production is changing. The exercise I would create for the class is a paper/study based on how manufacturing has changed since the start of industrial revolution as well as a roughly 10-year forecast into the future of what we think manufacturing will look like in the near future. What I took away the most is how through devices like 3D printers the traditional sense of manufacturing can be replaced. While not on a massive scale, but for many products this idea is highly successful and profitable. By reading this book I learned about the changing trends in the production of goods and realize that where there are being produced is changing as well as the costs associated with them.

Growing your social capital

Domain Expert:

Eddie Garton, Vice President of Construction for Arthur Rutenberg Homes. Eddie has extensive experience in residential building construction as well as several years in commercial construction. Additionally, he is familiar with the process, from beginning to end, on building construction including permitting, estimating, budgeting, managing construction as well as interacting with customers. I found this person by working with him for three years. This person provided me with information on how to start the building process as well as requirements I would potentially need to start a company like I have in mind. By including this person in my network, it will provide me a resource for information as well as networking in the area since Eddie works with many subcontractors and owners of construction companies.

Market Expert:

Debbie Shagnea, real estate agent for Watson Realty Corp. Debbie is a very experienced real estate agent and has been practicing for over 20 years. She consistently sells a large volume of real estate annually and has the #1 real estate agent/team in Florida six times in the past 10 years. I found this person from working with her in Jacksonville to sell a couple houses. Debbie was able to provide me insight on how the real estate market work and any required certifications I might need in order to sell real estate after building it. She also gave me advice on selling real estate and how to target a specific audience. This person is a great network because she has a very extensive reach in the real estate market, loads of experience and knows many other realtors in many areas that would provide a very large customer base.

Supplier:

Jason from One Stop Kitchens and Bath. Jason is the head salesman for one stop which supplies cabinetry for new construction as well as remodels. This person fills the spot because he has an insight on the logistics of supplying a complicated item like cabinetry. I found this person by working with him over the past 2 years while I was working in residential construction. What he did for me was provide detail on how the whole process works on his end as a supplier/installer and how they typically do business with building companies as well as requirements for what they need to build they products. By talking to this person, he can help me network to other suppliers that will be able to provide me with additional product I will need that go into my final product.

This experience has showed me that networking opportunities are huge. They are extremely important to growing a business as well as simply finding information that can help determine if an idea I feasible. This interaction did differ from other networking experiences because instead of representing a company I was working for, it was my own idea I was working for so it made me more inclined to talk to people as well as ask more in-depth questions in order to figure out information for my idea.

Idea Napkin #2

I am a senior in the construction management program at UF. I’ve worked in the residential construction field for the past three summers as well as commercial for a year. Through this I have gained extensive knowledge about the homebuilding and real estate process both on the construction side and the financial side. I have experience with estimating, budgeting, and managing subcontractors to get custom residential homes built and planned for construction. In addition to this I have worked in the construction industry for the past five summers, teaching me how to build many things myself. I aspire to one start my own construction company or a development company. I want to start working for a company to learn the ropes and gain knowledge in the industry and then eventually start my own business or enter into business with someone else. I see this business playing a huge role in my life, using it as something to gain capital and assets to turn into future investments.

What I am offering to customer is a product, in the form of physical real estate and places of residence, as well as the service of a real estate company. By building, developing and selling housing/real estate this will provide for the influx of population moving to developing areas or relocating within the state.

My target audience is individuals or young families that are looking to relocate to developing areas in cities. By building apartment and multi-family housing in developing areas this will attract people that are moving into these areas due to the location of this housing. The people that I am targeting will be younger people that still like to out and do things on Fridays and the weekends. Additionally, they will probably be a young family with younger kids. They will most likely be moving within the state, possibly relocating for work or wanting to move to an area where there is a lot to do.

Customers would care because since my company would be acting as the developer, builder and the real estate agency, we would be able to sell at much lower prices than other developments without sacrificing quality or location. By doing so, customers would be provided housing in a desirable location without having to spend additional money to live in such location.

What sets me apart from everyone else is that I have the experience as well as the formal education to make a company like this successful. Given my work experience in the construction industry as well as the real estate market I believe this would provide me with some of the tools that would be required to start up this business. BY operating in a geographically desirable area there would be a large customer base willing to move into the area.

I believe these elements fit well together for my business idea. I think what elements I combine together create a successful business idea and will have the right target audience to make this idea successful. One point that I incorporated into my second napkin idea was that I described my target customer more specifically, as well as I changed what this typical customer looked like. The second thing I incorporated was I made my business idea clearer. From when I started the first napkin idea to now, I have a clearer vision of what I believe my opportunity is.

Customer Avatar

My idea of my customer “avatar” is a mid-30s male with a wife and maybe a young kid or two. This person has recently gotten a new job and is required to move for work, or simply wants to be closer to where things are “happening”. My ideal customer wants to live in the city and be near developing areas or areas with lots of things to do. This customer is one who likes to go out with friends on Friday and Saturday nights after a long week of work. While they work an office job, they are holding a higher-level position, possibly a manager or minor executive position. They enjoy things like golf, playing sports they used to play in high school, seeing live music and exercising. They probably drive a small SUV or sedan. They use it for things like taking their kids to school or sports, picking up groceries, driving to work and taking the occasional vacation elsewhere in Florida. I imagine this type of customer not reading a whole lot, but if they do it would be a nonfiction novel or perhaps a biography. While they are older, they have still adapted to use of technology and rely on things such as cell phones, tv, online media, and the internet over things like newspapers and magazines. Additionally, this customer avatar acts younger than they actually are and still enjoys being active and doing things on the weekends over spending it at home. While I expect the avatar to come from many different backgrounds, being located in Florida, they will most likely be a mix of right and left political backgrounds given that Florida is roughly 50/50 between republican and democrat registered voters. Additionally, by being in the city this will probably increase the odds of more left-leaning customers.  With this information, it can be used to market to different customers in different ways.

I think that what my custom avatar and I would have in common is they understand the value of money yet they’re also willing to pay for quality. I think this plays a huge part since the concept of my idea revolves around being a developer and real estate agency, allowing us to solely control quality and price to be able to make it work for what is selling in the market. I don’t believe this is a coincidence because I believe that people that can create a great value will ultimately seek out said value or will recognize it when it is marketed to them. As far as the specific things this customer does, I don’t think I would have a whole lot in common. While I prefer not to live in cites, I can see the appeal to my typical customer. By providing a place to live in an attractive area to my target audience I will be able to connect with them by understanding them, even if our hobbies and activities don’t align.

Whats your secret sauce

What I think that sets me apart from other people are many things. One of the biggest attributes that sets me apart from other is that I am willing to work harder and longer than anyone else. Because of this I am able to outwork other people and set myself apart. Second, what also plays into this is my drive. I don’t give up on things that I want. My drive is what keeps me going and allows me to show that I am different from an average worker. Third is my combination of common sense and book smarts. I’ve always done very well in school, but I also have much experience in the real world, not only from what we are taught out of books. This allows me to avoid the disadvantage of only having book knowledge, which is helpful, but in the real world it is all about experience. Some of the most successful people I’ve ever met have little, if any, formal education. Fourth, I’m very stubborn. While this may not immediately sound like a positive trait, where it comes to play is when people tell me something can’t be done. I usually don’t take that very well and it convinces me to try harder to prove that it can be done. Fifth, I’m very good at connecting with people. While my overall communication skills can still use some work, in a business or personal setting I’m very good at connecting with people which allows me to develop relationships very quickly. From doing interviews with my roommates and close friends I have discovered that the way my friends see me is fairly similar to how I see myself. I am very straight up and honest with my close friends, so I’m not surprised that this was the case. I think what causes the biggest differences between my perception and my friends is mostly just the way I act on a regular basis aside from when I’ actually relaxing and hanging out once I’m done with schoolwork and other things. I wouldn’t make any corrections to my list. My friends know me extremely well and I can be myself around them more than anyone else, so I’m not surprised that their perceptions of me lined up with my own. These group of friends I have surrounded myself with over the past six months have become so of the people I’m closest with and are people I can always be myself around.

Figuring Out Buyer behavior Pt 2

When customers pick from a set of alternatives, the factors of price, quality and style all play a factor. However, with my specific segment that geographic location is also a big factor since my idea has to do with the real estate/development market. Generally, in this market a combination of factors comes into play when customers make decisions. With my idea, price, quality and location are probably the biggest factors that play into making decisions. With my segment of real estate, the start of the transaction typically begins online with the customer looking at potential real estate online. Once finding property that the customer is interested in, they would then proceed to contact the real estate company that is selling the property. From here they can go between meeting in the real estate company’s office or meeting at the site of the property being sold. In this market typically everything is a financed purchase, although paying cash in full is a negotiation strategy used often. What typically matters most to customers in their determination of “rightness” is finding a place that they can call home and are happy living in that also works well for their family. What ultimately plays into determining if their purchase was a good idea is how satisfied they are overall with the combination of factors that play into their property they purchased. Through price, quality, location and style, the combination of these factors and how the customer feels about each one will go to determine how satisfied they are as well as their experience of working with the real estate company. From this new round of interviews, I have found that all three people I interviewed agree with what I have previously stated. With something as big of a purchase as real estate, all three people I interviewed agreed that many factors play into making a big purchase like this. While location, style, price and quality are all determining factors for purchasing property, I heard two of the interviewees note that there are many other factors that can apply to each customer depending on their experience in buying real estate. From interviews, I have learned that there are many factors that go into the real estate purchasing process and can be difficult for people to buy if they’re not being pushed to buy. Post-purchase however, the customer’s decision can leave them extremely satisfied since buying real estate is such a big purchase. Additionally if the customer has a good experience with one real estate company they are highly likely to work with them again should they decide to buy a new home or apartment.