Reading Reflection - Week 15

Reading Reflection

For each reading reflection post, I ask you to address the following areas:

1)      What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I’ve never heard of Microfinancing before and to learn that these type of financing options are available to those who otherwise would not have this option available is a great idea. I like how it is setup to be like a community bank for these communities, that they can go these institutions and know they can seek out help and not be taken advantage of.

2)      Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I did not find anything confusing about this article. Found it to be interesting and very informative.

3)      If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Are these types of business regulated like other financial institutions? Will Microfinancing business increase in the coming years?

4)      Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How? 

I don’t think the author got anything wrong. They provided good examples to tell the story.

Final Reflection

This class has been very interesting because it is setup differently from all of the other classes I have taken. It makes you think differently, takes you out of your comfort zone so that you can get the most out of the course.

There are many assignments that stand out to me that gave me an experience that I had not gone through before. Having to recite the entrepreneur’s mantra to help you focus on what the goal is. Looking for opportunities by creating solutions to everyday problems was another assignment that stood out to me. I never thought that opportunities could exist in unexpected places.

Creating a business strategy and venture concept are assignments that also stood out and help me visualize myself as an entrepreneur. Having to think about what I want out of the venture, working out how it will be run and ways I can make it successful and continue to expand it and make it grow all help me develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

The advice I would give to students coming into this course would be to stick with it, make it their own and ask questions. The TA’s and the professor for this course have always been there to answer questions. You will see that they send out emails and announcements several times a week. If you were ever interested in starting your own business or had ideas about making an existing product or service better or coming up with an idea of your own this course guides you through the process and makes this a reality for you. I would say enjoy yourself and take things as they come.

Venture Concept No. 2

This is my second venture concept for my app idea and from the feedback I received from my previous concept and my exit strategy post I haven’t made any major changes to the current concept. My goal still continues to grow my venture, make it successful, profitable for as long as I can and then sale it and look to new ventures to try and start.

Creating an Opportunity from a Popular Product

A majority of the population has some type of mobile device and with the increase popularity of these products also comes all kinds of apps and services for their devices. As popular as these devices are not everyone has the time, knowledge or patience to manage them. So they turn to shortcuts like the ones below:

• apps they that help them manage and control data usage

• maintenance and performance issues

•    security

So there is a market out there for new ways for consumers to maintain their mobile device. As new upgrades or new mobile devices enter the market there will always be some opportunity to add a service or product that the consumer may want or need.

Innovation is Key

Consumers love to save time and money. So I’ve introduced a way for them to not only control how and when the data should be used also be able to check on maintenance and performance on their device all in one simple and easy to use application. My product is all about maintenance and manageability of mobile devices speed, functionality and date usage. Mobile device owners can make these kinds of adjustments, changes and look this information up on their own, but why should they have to dig through their settings, look up data usage when all of it can be done in one application. Not all consumers are tech savvy when it comes to a mobile device which is why my apps come in handy, the ease of which they can manage their devices with just one tap and one app.

There are different ways my app will generate revenue:

1.      a generic version for $1.99-2.99 or free price and then have the option to do an in-app purchase to the full version

2.      opportunities for purchasing upgrades as the app abilities and features increase

3.      sell banner ad space that will be displayed in my app

Venture Concept

Not all applications are created equal and there is an abundance of performance/management based applications for consumer to choose from. My application will stand out from the rest because I will be offering an all in one easy to use and understand product. With font and images that distinguish what each thing does within the application; making it extremely user friendly.

This will be a small start up with 3 employees including myself, who will help develop, expand, and manage the application. We will have an app developer, graphics and marketing, and I will run the business side/strategies.

Three Minor Elements:

·         Most important resource would be human capital

·         Expanding the product to include other performance base functions not just for mobile devices but other computing products

• This startup would be a first step launch to be coming independent in a way have not been before as my own boss calling all of the shots. If this takes off and becomes successful I see myself moving forward and developing other start ups in other areas other than technical, possibly in real estate.

Feedback

Some of the feedback I received was:

1.  Consider collaborating with another vendor/competitor with different aspects of my app to make it more marketable 
2.  Look at price ranges and the cost of upgrading existing versions of the app to new versions.