Cason's Blog

Opportunity: The opportunity I found has to do with students and faculty at the University of Florida who like coffee but do not have the time to go to a store to wait in line for their coffee. These people have busy schedules and like to have a convenient option available for them when they need things. This is why I am starting a portable coffee bike. I will be able to meet customers in places like Turlington saving them time and cutting down on wait times with a flavored, premade coffee product. My customers are people who value quality coffee and their time equally causing them to seek a higher degree of efficiency in their schedules. Waiting for coffee in a 20-minute line at Starbucks isn't always an option for people on campus. The nature of this need is that there is a lack of convenient coffee options on campus. In our increasingly convenience-driven society, students and faculty are searching for ways to fill their coffee addictions in a more efficient manner. Because t...

This semester for me has been really fun! The most formative experience was by far the development of this plan. I have been able to walk through a business concept in ways I hadn't imagined prior. Planning my exit strategy and learning what the customers want most and valuable tools that I would've thought to do much later in the process than I have learned here. I was forced to walk around and talk with people and learn the habits of UF's many coffee lovers. The interviews are what I will remember the most because they have been unlike any assignment I have been given at UF up to this point. I am proud of myself for stepping out to talk with people. I believe I see myself with entrepreneurial qualities and characteristics, however, I don't see myself as an entrepreneur. It is hard to explain but it seems as if I am wired in a different way. Over the course of this class, I have made much progress in this development and will continue developing this mindset which I...

Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan 1) In this book, Brian Halligan and co-author Dharmesh Shah talk about a new revolution of marketing. Away with traditional marketing techniques and in with new, internet marketing tips/tricks is the main theme of the book. In a world where "outbound marketing" is becoming less and less effective on consumers, companies must adapt to get ahead of the curve by developing effective "inbound marketing" strategies, i.e. utilizing SEO, social media, PPC ads, and blogs to increase market exposure. 2) I chose to read this book because Professor Pryor mentioned that is was one of the top two books on the list. I was hesitant because it is from 2010, however, I realized when reading it that Pryor learned a lot from its content. This book talks about how to market your company and gain exposure with are the next steps to take with the plan we have for our respective companies. Halligan's instructions on creating blogs have helped m...

My Exit Strategy My exit strategy for my business is simple: I want to run and establish my company for seven years before selling out. I believe that in seven years my company will have expanded to 5 coffee bikes functioning at full capacity at different places on campus every day. In the breaks (when students are on break), I believe we will have a high demand for our services throughout the Gainesville community. When the opportunity has been exploited, I will sell out, potentially to family. I would like to step out of the business at this time because I believe that college campuses will no longer be used like they are right now .  Online schooling has the potential to really hurt on-campus businesses as the future of high education is online. Also, it is demanding work with an opportunity ceiling that is reachable in those seven years. I have chosen this strategy because I believe that new ideas must be brought into to a company in order for it to maintain success. I wil...

1) This semester I was interviewing for Gators of Tomorrow (G.O.T.), a leadership program for the top 25 Freshmen at UF, when I failed big time. I had made it to the last stage of interviews and with much preparation, I felt beyond ready. I had planned what I was going to say and which ideas I would propose when they asked what needed to change on campus. However, during the interview, the President of G.O.T. put a weird spin on the question; no worries, right? I changed my entire answer away from what I had planned to say and it was a flop. I ended up not being accepted into the program due to this on-the-spot failure to stick to my plan. 2) However, I took a very positive life-lesson away from this. Be prepared and then stick to your preparation no matter what comes your way. It is likely that things in life will turn out differently than you anticipated, however, don't walk away from your plan. 3) Failure is brutal; I find it so hard to wrap my mind about the positive benefi...

My Unfair Advantages My Passion Valuable: Yes, new businesses need this. Rare: No, there are millions and millions of passionate people. Inimitable: No, passion is developed by experiences and cultivation. Non-sustainable: No, one can prevent burning out through careful care and consideration. My Work Experience  Valuable: Yes, I won't be stepping in clueless. Rare: No and Yes-on this campus, yes, overall, no. Inimitable: Yes, my work experience in my life is unique and special.  Non-sustainable: These are experiences crucial to being successful in this industry. My Adaptability Valuable: Yes, life is always changing and I must be willing to adapt to change. Rare: No, everyone during this COVID-19 pandemic is developing this trait. Inimitable: No, everyone can develop this trait if they work at it. Non-sustainable: It is learnable which means the trait can be adopted/become second nature. My Strong Work Ethic Valuable: Yes, you won't succeed without t...

Existing Market Step 1: The next step for my business is to build a system that each of my coffee bikes can follow. This system will be one that optimizes our routines to let us speed up our lines and decrease wait times. This will allow us to branch out beyond simply selling coffee, opening coffee bikes for malls and other markets. This system will keep our quality and service consistent across our many future platforms. Step 2: This part of the assignment got cut; because of this, I haven't interviewed any customers in my market about the potential next steps of my coffee business. Step 3: First, I need to get operational. This means getting my license to sell on the UF campus and getting my coffee bike ready to sell. I will also need to come to terms with the Ellianos corporation to determine how I can make my coffee product. Once I have my product, my bike, and my license, I will be operational. When I start selling, I will be out of the estimations and into the real wo...

Opportunity: The opportunity I found has to do with students and faculty at the University of Florida who like coffee but do not have the time to go to a store to wait in line for their coffee. These people have busy schedules and like to have a convenient option available for them when they need things. This is why I am starting a portable coffee bike. I will be able to meet customers in places like Turlington saving them time and cutting down on wait times with a flavored, premade coffee product. My customers are people who value quality coffee and their time equally causing them to seek a higher degree of efficiency in their schedules. Waiting for coffee in a 20-minute line at Starbucks isn't always an option for people on campus. The nature of this need is that there is a lack of convenient coffee options on campus. In our increasingly convenience-driven society, students and faculty are searching for ways to fill their coffee addictions in a more efficient manner. Because t...

Here is my third elevator pitch for my coffee bike in ENT3003: Reflection:   Reading through the feedback on my previous elevator pitch was quite interesting. The reason for this is that it was all positive. I didn't receive any modification suggestions so I sent my video to Professor Pryor. Pryor helped me with focusing on why my coffee bike will have a shorter wait time (if any). Learning what I didn't talk about in my pitch that I needed to mention in the next pitch was super beneficial to me. This was the reason why this pitch turned out better than the previous two in my opinion. Based on this feedback,  I focused my time on showing why my coffee bike would have far smaller wait times than my competitors, stores like Starbucks. This was something I hadn't touched on in previous elevator pitches. Another thing I sought to focus on was practical information. For example, where I would make the coffee for my stand and that my coffee products will be pre-made and ...

The book I chose to read for this reading assignment is: "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? In this book, Scott Adams talks about the keys to being successful. He talks about how to live in such a way that opportunity is right around the corner. The main point that Adams' argues is that "goals are for losers, strategies are for winners". He says that finding sustained success in life involves you putting the right processes in place in your life to put you in the right position to get "lucky". 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? One point that Adams' hammers home is that we must be unafraid to fail. When we fail, we can learn many vital things. In this process of "failing forward", we set ourselves up for success down the road. The author says that we must put ourselves i...

Part 1: For the first person, someone who is a domain expert in the coffee industry, I reached out to the owner of a small coffee shop, Mrs. Annie's Coffee, that I have known for years to learn more about the industry from someone who is knowledgeable. She told me about how the coffee industry is handling COVID-19 and how it is effecting her setup. Mrs. Annie told me that she has seen the market continue to expand as people love coffee "more than anything". Part 2: For the second person, someone who is an expert in the coffee industry, I reached out to Micah Zuber, a coffee connoisseur and long time business observer in the coffee realm establishing contact through a mutual connection. He told me about how the typical consumer in the coffee market was more focused than ever on trends and trendiness rather than simple espressos and cappuccinos. The younger market is basing their purchases more on product appearance now than ever before. Part 3: For the third person,...

Napkin Draft #2 Me: I am a first-year Management major from Lake City, Florida. I am passionate about helping in our community and about music. I have had several great work experiences in the past 5 years enhancing my communication, customer service, and leadership skills. I am  currently  an employee at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. I want to take the next step in my business and life journey by starting up a coffee bike on the University of Florida campus that will expand into a multi-bike, multi-campus operation within several years. The beginning stages of this would be difficult because of the time and effort required to make this idea a reality. What am I offering to customers? I am offering the UF on-campus population a convenient and easily accessible solution to getting quality coffee in between classes or meetings. By offering customers a solution that brings them both time and place utility, I tap into multiple needs with one idea. The iced coffee cooler that ...

Here is my second elevator pitch for my coffee bike in ENT3003: Elevator Pitch No. 2 Reflection:   Reading through the feedback on my previous elevator pitch was quite interesting. The most helpful feedback I received was when someone pointed out that I focused entirely on my idea and did not touch on what that business idea would look like. Where would I make the coffee for my stand? What would I sell? I didn't include this information in my pitch. What surprised me the most is when people said I had prepared and practiced well when, in fact, I had made up the whole pitch during the recording. I didn't think any of the feedback I received was silly, however, some of the ideas given to me by my peers were very simple suggestions. I needed help regarding my messaging from a pro; this is why I sent my video to Professor Pryor. In addition to my peers' help, Pryor helped me with how long I should focus on my hook and what to do less of next time I recorded my pitch. L...

This week, I took some time to think about my business and what my stereotypical customers might look like. In this assignment, I am going to describe, in detail, my prototypical customer: My customer avatar would be a generation Z individual of any gender. Because they are college students, they will likely be from 17-25 years old, without children, living away from their parents and their homes. These individuals will be on-campus students with traditional classes (vs. online). They will likely be those who want to succeed in college, not just attending for the party life that comes with college. Most of my customers will drink coffee because they like the taste of it and the cool feel it gives them to be a part of a cultural "coffee-loving" trend of students. Playing into this stereotype a little more, they will likely drive sporty little bright-colored cars. They will prefer short waits and decent quality as well as cheap prices. My customers will enjoy doing schoolwork...

Five Things That Make Me Different: Here are several things that distinguish me from other people around me. I am someone who embraces uniqueness. Many people seem to want to be just like everyone else. This includes comparing our success in the world to what others around us have accomplished. I believe this is deceiving because every single person is different; it also leads to insecurities and anxiety. What others accomplish might not be what I should accomplish. I have been nurtured in an entrepreneurial environment. Like I shared in assignment 3A, my father is a successful entrepreneur. Growing up learning about how to manage a company and grow a business is invaluable learning that not many people are able to obtain at a young age. My father has taught me many things about what it means to be a leader, businessman, and a risk-taker. This is something very special that I am beginning to value more throughout the course of this class. I'm independent: I make decisio...

My Segment: "People who are interested in purchasing coffee" For this assignment, I interviewed three people who I did not interview last time to begin to understand my potential client's "buyer behavior process" in a deeper way.  What I found in my interviews is that when people find a list of alternatives to solve a need they have, they base their eventual decision on one or two things. One of the students I interviewed said that he narrows down his options by price. The other students I interviewed said they narrow down their options based on the perceived quality of that item and things like other customers' reviews. Using these measuring sticks, they compare their options to each other and select the best choice for their needs. Thus, I found that there is more than simply one factor to my customer segment when they choose where to buy coffee, among other things, from. Because the main portion of my target audience is college students, I expected ...

Halfway Course Reflection 1) What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?   The main thing I have focused on is not starting each of the assignments too late in the week. I opted to not work ahead yet I made sure to start each week's assignments early in the week they were assigned. By doing this, I enabled myself to get all the interviews I needed to and write well-thought-out blog posts for each assignment. This is a behavior that I have worked hard to develop this semester because I realize how important it is. 2) Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this? During the week of assignments 11A and 12A, I had one of the busiest weeks of my entire life. Because UF Student Government elections were taking place, I was help...

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 1) About Steve Jobs: What surprised you the most? I was surprised by his charisma. For some reason, I always had thought of him as an inventor who was quiet and composed. I was wrong on these things as he was a crazy sales/ marking guru who had a personality quite unique from anyone I have ever studied. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admire Jobs' ability to get the most out of others. Although he pushed them hard and was often mean, he pushed people to do things they didn't believe were possible. He created an atmosphere where impossible wasn't a reality and his employees could do anything.  What about the entrepreneur did you  least  admire? Although he did many amazing things in his life, I dislike the way he treated his family. He abandoned his first daughter Lisa and was distant from his other daughters. He put himself wholly into his work which cost him the time to put into his family.    D...

Looking Into the Early Stages of Buyer Behavior: For this assignment, I chose individuals from the UF population that seek place utility when searching for coffee as the segment to focus on. This is one of the main segments I seek to target in this business. During my interviews this week, I learned that "individuals seeking place utility when looking for coffee" is a larger segment than I had anticipated. The first student I talked with began to explain to me that his need awareness for coffee starts as soon as he wakes up. This second-year student told me that his brain immediately knows that he needs coffee each day, making this step of the process simple. Next, I talked with a fourth-year student who also said he needed coffee to get him out of bed each morning. In other words, he knows early each morning of this pressing need and relies on coffee, thus raising the level of awareness about his own need. The third person I talked to was a first-year student that realiz...

Me: I am a first-year Management major from Lake City, Florida. I am passionate about helping in our community and about music. I have had several great work experiences in the past 5 years enhancing my communication, customer service, and leadership skills. I am  currently  an employee at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. I want to take the next step in my business and life journey by starting up a coffee bike on the University of Florida campus that will expand into a multi-bike, multi-campus operation within several years. The beginning stages of this would be difficult because of the time and effort required to make this idea a reality. What am I offering to customers? I am offering the UF on-campus population a convenient and easily accessible solution to getting quality coffee in between classes or meetings. By offering customers a solution that brings them both time and place utility, I tap into multiple needs with one idea. The iced coffee cooler that I will offer at m...

Cason's Elevator Pitch #1 (Sorry if it appears sideways!)

This week I went out to find people who should be able to use my potential business but would not need to. Here's what I found. Who? My original "who" centered around people who are part of the UF population and also like coffee. The problem was that there  are people "unable to get a quick and easily accessible, non-bitter tasting coffee drink on campus due to there only being one portable coffee stand, the Starbucks Bike." This problem affects many people in the UF population.  However , after this round of interviews with potential clients, I found that some of my "who," although they have this problem, have found their solution in making their own coffee at home. By already getting their convenient coffee through a different method, they don't need my potential business. This moves them outside of the boundary. What? There are many reasons why people drink coffee. Through this process, I have realized that there is a major difference bet...

" Students and faculty who enjoy coffee at the University of Florida are unable to get a quick and easily accessible, non-bitter tasting coffee drink on campus due to there only being one portable coffee stand, the Starbucks Bike." This was the problem I described in my assignment 7A blog post. In this post, I will be describing a solution to this problem: The solution comes down to creating additional easily accessible, portable coffee options on campus to satisfy the wants of coffee lovers who are unable to get all they're seeking due to the shortcomings of our current option, the Starbucks Bike. My goal is to rival the Starbucks Bike and capitalize on its shortcomings. I would like to obtain a license from the university to start my own version of the "Starbucks Bike" with a different company, Elliano's Coffee Company based out of Lake City, Florida. Instead of serving a bitter-tasting product like Starbucks' Nitro Cold Brew, we would serv...