Emily's Blog

Opportunity  Traumatic head injuries are sustained by individuals all around the world, daily. One common reason for this tragedy is the inconvenience and decrease in popularity of the use of helmets. This results in the same number of people riding bicycles, mopeds, skateboards and motorcycles, but less and less of them wearing helmets.  I first noticed this issue in my own college town, Gainesville, Florida.  It had became so common to see students not wearing helmets while operating their vehicles that I hadn't even thought twice about it. The geographic opportunity is sustainable because there will always be students who need to get around campus on a bicycle or scooter. What enforces this further is the fact that there is little to no parking for cars at this University, which forces even more students to have to rely on mopeds or skateboards.  As mentioned above, the " window of opportunity " will be sustained for I believe the next 10- to 20 years. Unle...

The most formative experience for me during this class, was certainly choosing one idea to stick with the entire semester. I had narrowed it down to a couple different entrepreneurial ideas, but eventually the need for head protection that the students at UF would actually wear became the evident choice for me. One of my close friends was involved in a moped accident, and although it was minor, she sustained a concussion due to the fact she was not (and never had) worn her helmet. It is a serious issue here, so designing something that could keep my fellow classmates safe grew to become close to my heart. Th experience I will remember years later, will definitely be the face to face interaction with the manager at New Scooter For Less to ask him questions about the industry. The most joyous experience, may be right now. Not because this is the last assignment but because it is rather rewarding and exciting to see how far my idea has come in just one semester. Often times were not made ...

This time around I decided to read about an entrepreneur that did not correlate to my major or personal-likings at all. In  Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance I read about an ambitious, groundbreaking, sometimes very odd man. I was certainly most surprised by the stories of his upbringing. I had always assumed that he was American born and raised, came from an elite family and went to private schools / Ivy Leagues before making it in big in silicon valley. I couldn't have been further from the truth. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa to an emotionally abusive father and was constantly bullied. To say the least, his early life was hard to read about and IM sure even worse to experience. He moved to Canada alone at the age of 17 and enrolled in a college there before going to Upenn to study economics and physics. From there he moved to the west coast to start of his two start off projects which sold from 22 million and 180 million dol...

1) The exit strategy I plan to make follows along the lines of selling my business in the next 5 years for a large return. I selected this particular strategy because the products I sell in this business are not what I am passionate about. I know that protective gear and bicycles/ scooters would be better fit for someone who really cares deeply about them and enjoys that field of work. I would want to find the right person to trust the business I started to. But I would also be grateful for the return so that I could hopefully start off another entrepreneurial effort after I gain that experience. 

Although I have failed a few times this semester a more prominent failure of mine occurred a couple of years ago and I felt it was more relevant for this topic. My junior year of high school I started working at a smoothie bar in a L.A. fitness. One of my best friends Uncles had owned it at the time so it was an easy job to get. I was a fairly good employee, I always made my customers smile and feel special and I remembered my regular customers orders. I made lots of tips and counted the receipts correctly everytime and cleaned up after myself after every shift. My one flaw. My friends. It was my local neighborhood gym so my friends already had memberships there. My friend Emily, who's Uncle owned the smoothie bar would always let me in the back to hangout with her during her shifts before I started working there so I thought that it was okay. I think deep down I knew that it was not acceptable but I rationalized it by thinking, if she could do it so could I. Forgetting, that I am...

What I think is next:  I think the next step for "Cap your Cap" is to venture out in the realm of B2B rather than solely B2C. I had focused so solely on the need here in Gainesville that I had no thought that if this product succeeds it could be sold in other retailers. These retailers could include local or national bike shops, moped stores, skate shops, and even meg retailers like target or Walmart. Existing Market Interview-  I interview David, a sophomore at UF whose main from of transportation is his bike  I talked to Caitlin, a senior who rides her scooter "practically everywhere."  Lastly I talked to Donald, who is an avid skateboard enthusiast.  Reflection:       This time around when interviewing my interviewees, I got some great ideas on whether or not my product could be sold in other retailers. Based off of their answers, I think it is safe to say that my product could succeed on the shelves of another business. They ...