Reading Reflection No. 2

1. The general theme of this book was describing how failure and mediocrity can actually contribute a lot more to success than people may think. It also discusses how to increase what you get done throughout each day. The book states that one of the most important tricks for maximizing your productivity involves matching your mental state to the task.

2. I think the book connected with me because I am always pushing myself way too hard to work hard and be successful, and sometimes when things don’t go my way, I feel like a disappointment, a failure, and I am crushed. Therefore, reading about how failing can lead to success in a way I hadn’t thought of before, it was really helpful to hear. I think this applies to what we’re learning in this class as it encourages you to “think outside of the box”, and this opinion is definitely an out there idea, and a perspective that I wouldn’t usually take on when I fail at something.

3. I would design an exercise that asks students to list a moment in which they epically failed at something that they worked hard for or on/something that they weren’t expecting to not go their way. Then, I would have them examine what good actually ended up coming out of that failure, and how it ended up contributing to a future success or taught a valuable lesson.

4. I think what I learned that surprised me the most was the goal vs. systems idea. The book states that there is a difference between a goal, or a long term achievement you’re striving towards, and a system, something you do every day that makes steps towards that goal. While having goals has always been a way to motivate me to work hard, the book shares that goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous pre-success failure. That really hit me. One should have a system, like exercising every day, as opposed to a goal, like losing 20 pounds. In a system, at least you are making positive changes in an aspect of life that you wish to alter. So, even if you don’t reach the goal, you don’t feel like you’ve failed. 

Growing Your Social Capital

1.  This person is the owner/manager of a marina in South Florida. Therefore, they know a lot about the ocean and the boat traffic that comes through. They also operate a small bait and tackle shop in the marina, and would most likely carry the type of product that I’m trying to sell.

2.  They are the domain expert in my industry.

3. I found this person by looking online. I have family in South Florida that live near the beach and knew of a marina that was very large and well established. I contacted them over email.

4. They were happy to answer my questions for no return favor. They are a supportive member of the marine community and therefore weren’t expecting any favors to be done.

5. Having this person in my network will give me the opportunity to present my product to the exact market that I’m looking for.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. This person is a supplier of silicone and rubber products.

2. They are the important supplier to my industry.

3. I found them by google searching people who mass distribute silicone materials to businesses that need them to manufacture their products.

4. They were also willing to answer my questions without expecting any favors in return.

5. Including this person in my network would be a great way to obtain the silicone materials I’d need to make my product.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. This person is the head of PR of a company who sells caged metal rings to put around boat propellers (the most popular option on the market currently).

2. They are the expert in my market.

3. I found this person by google searching, and emailing the contact I found on their website.

4. They expected nothing in return.

5. This person was able to give me helpful info into what its like to sell a product in this market and what it would most likely be like to enter it as a new competitor with a new product.

Idea Napkin Part 2

1. I am a college student currently studying marine biology, a recent change from where I previously wanted to become a vet. I have an ungodly amount of compassion and love for animals and therefore think it will serve me well in the field I want to go into. I am also extremely funny (at least, I think so) and I think that helps me a lot to make connections with those who can help me reach my goal, as I can be seen as more relatable. I think my business concept kind of reflects what I want to do and my love for all things animal related (it’s literally a product to help preserve marine species) and I think working in the field of marine biology, the perfect field for this product, would be an amazing platform to market and sell it.

2. I am offering to customers a product that will have little to no impact on their boating experiences while helping to save close-to or already endangered species from being put in harm’s way. 

3. I’m offering this product to the boating community, and/or anybody who participates in activities that exist out on the water. All of my customers have in common that they make an impact on the aquatic world that they exploit for these activities.

4. I would hope that those who use the water for their own personal gain would care a little about the species that live underneath, therefore, they would want to take measures to make sure they aren’t harming the aquatic ecosystem. It would most likely give them more peace of mind.

5. I think what I have that sets me apart is an idea that isn’t technology-based. It seems like the majority of innovations these days have something to do surrounding computers or tech, and that always creates a large gap and learning curve for those who may not use the product because they do not understand this. My product is just a tangible, non-digital thing that everyone can understand how to use.

I think these elements fit together in the sense that there isn’t a better field to go into, other than marketing, where I could reach the community of animal lovers. Those who care about the wellbeing of aquatic animals would then be able to spread the word to people who boat and do other water-related activities, and could come at it from an angle of compassion.

Creating a Customer Avatar

For my product that puts a protective cover over boat propellers, I imagined the "typical customer" as not the boaters who would be using them, necessarily...but the boaters' spouses. Mostly because the women of the family are historically more sympathetic to environmental causes (from my research, not just making an assumption), I would like to think that they would be the one to see the product and buy it for their family boat. Therefore, here's "the boater's wife" customer avatar:

I assume this boater's wife, probably named something like Amy, saw the pamphlet for my product in the bag of merch her husband brought home from the latest boater's convention. She saw the booklet and thought "this propeller cover would save the manatees!". So, she went online and bought it. 

Amy is in her early 30's, and probably has two little kids of her own who have grown up fishing and swimming with their family. They go to her in-laws' lake house every Summer to jetski, waterski, and bounce on those water trampoline contraptions. Now, she can tell them that while they're having fun on the water, they are helping to preserve nature's most beautiful species, and hopefully her kids will grow up being well-rounded environmental activists, all thanks to my product.

The car she drives is a high-mileage economy SUV, and her husband's car is a boat.

I think I have in common with Amy that we both care (at least topically) about the environment and therefore felt propelled to do something about it that was also extremely easy to do and required minimum effort. Being we are using the water environment for our own personal benefit, it makes sense that we take the precautions that are presented to us to protect the species that thrive in the water.