Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity

Who has the need? What is the nature of the need?

For my business concept, the customers that have the need for my services would be customers with businesses that are not doing as well in spreading awareness about their services. More specifically, my company would deal with small-business owners, usually within college towns like Gainesville that are trying to spread awareness and to draw crowds into their businesses. This would apply to not only restaurants and small food stores, but to entertainment hubs such as bars and small clubs within college areas that just need more help getting business in their direction. Customers are currently satisfying this need through promotions teams for clubs and entertainment establishments, however for the food locations, usually local advertisement is what is drawing in customers.

Innovation

For this business idea that I have had throughout the semester, I wanted to create a public relations company, possibly named Inspiration PR, that would be able to assist these small businesses in spreading awareness through promotional campaigns and really getting the public involved and engaged in their cause. What it would do is find out the specific problems that are leading to the failures and highlight what is already currently successful. Once this is determined, some qualitative and quantitative research would be conducted to help figure out what the customer’s customers want from the business. These research methods are of little to no cost because surveys can be conducted online for free and if focus groups are held, the major cost would involve incentives for the participants. After the research is conducted and the problems are identified, we would work to find a specific programming plan that, once put into play, would be evaluated to see how affective it was for the client. Essentially where the money comes in would be actually conducting the programming necessary for the campaign to take place. For example, if we wanted to implement a social media campaign or to shoot a video, the client would essentially pay us for these things to get accomplished at a better quality and for a larger audience.

Venture Concept

Essentially, my public relations company would help spread awareness of these small businesses and establishments in ways that will attract more customers and get the name of the company out. It would also help to establish not only brand awareness but also trust between the customers and our clients. They want to go to places that are trusted and well known, usually through word of mouth. Through utilization of our services, we can help these companies get ten steps ahead. It would be rather hard to probably try and get customers to come because for small businesses to spend money on things they may not feel is necessary would be an issue. However, these businesses trying to tackle these things on their own actually end up costing more money than they probably expected.

• ·      A few things that I believe will make my venture more unique is the fact that I have traveled and lived in different places, therefore I have had experience with all different types of people and have seen what appeals to them. This also allows me to bring in multiple influences that can give me ideas toward campaigns for clients.
• ·      The next opportunity that I would want to tackle with my venture would probably be to broaden my services to not only small businesses but to medium or larger ones. More opportunities however would essentially include more staffing if this were the case.
• ·      In five years with this venture, I hope to see myself successful and possibly with multiple PR facilities throughout college areas. Over the next decade, I would like to see this venture grow into a company similar to Ogilvy, a force that is not to be messed with J

The Amazon Whisperer

Since my service is more so of a business-to-business, the revenue makers for my business is essentially my campaign services for customers. Also, I gain revenue through the research I conduct for the clients. There aren't many other ones that I see since my business does not have any products. I feel like if my business were to offer a product, it would be a book that would essentially showcase the basics of how Public Relations work since there aren't many actual physical products that PR companies offer. This would be essential to my business if customers wanted to know more about the foundations of PR if they are skeptical. The product I found on Amazon was a book named "Planning and Managing Public Relations."

http://www.amazon.com/Planning-Managing-Public-Relations-Campaigns/dp/0749468734/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459122155&sr=8-2&keywords=pr+campaign+book

This product on Amazon actually had no reviews yet, which I thought was weird. What I would change would just be the design of the book, it would not be as dense and it would have more information in regards to the PR process. This would be great for our business because since there aren't many products that can be made available.

My Unfair Advantage

My top 10 resources
1) Bilingual: While there are many people who speak more than one language this day in age, it is something that is valuable because it allows me to communicate with others in a different language. However, this is not something that is rare or inimitable.
2) Seeking a degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida: This is something that is valuable, somewhat rare, inimitable and non-substitutable. I say this because UF has one of the best programs when it comes to public relations and the training and  classes I have taken here places me at an advantage. Considering I also attended UCF and saw the program that the school offers, I can say that I am at an advantage with the training I received from UF.
3) Internship experience: This is something that is valuable but not so much rare or inimitable. I have interned with a performing arts non-profit organization and I know some of the things necessary to keep the appeal within the community for these things.
4) Living abroad and in different cities:  I feel like having this cultural experience is valuable because I have had experience around varieties of people therefore I have a pretty great sense of how many people think and act. Living abroad in Italy, as well as being from New York City, there is a lot of experience seen with different cultures and personalities.
5)My age: As a millennial, this is valuable to my Public relations service is pretty valuable because I know what people of my age category are looking for in regards to entertainment and it would help me better service my clients.
6) Potential location: I think something else that is valuable to my business of a public relations campaign would be the potential location. Most public relations locations are usually located in big cities and mine would be located in a college town because my target clientele are small businesses in college towns.
7) Technical skills: I have experience with Microsoft Office and with Adobe creative cloud, which is valuable and puts me at an advantage because there are not many who have this kind of experience unless it is in a field in which they are pursuing. Also, surprisingly, there are public relations professionals that do not have this experience.
8) Photo/Video experience: I have had experience with Photoshop as well as with editing and producing videos not only for class but for personal use. This gives me an advantage because it can also help me with my clients in helping with promotional material.
9) Research skills: I have experience with conducting research through classes in my major that
10) Outside organizations/networks: Being an ambassador for my college, as well as a member of a business fraternity and a sorority, my networks have definitely increased and opened up which has put me at an advantage.

My best advantage, even though after completing this list I feel like my idea is terrible, would be the fact that I have had experience in multiple living situations. This is the most important because I believe that having this experience with living in multiple states, cities and even another country, I have a great idea of how different people think and have also experienced nightlife. So I have seen how many different people like to have fun and this would assist me best when it comes to assisting clients with their businesses.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

Something that I found interesting about this chapter was the breakdown of each plan and statement. For example, the section on the income statement is broken down into five major sections and they are all explained. This, for me, made it easier to understand how they flow together and the several components that need to be part of each statement.
Something that confused me in this chapter was the section on break-even analysis and the section on the operating budget. The reason this was so confusing to me was because the formulas incorporated in those sections made me nervous. Math was never my subject so when I initially read the sections, I was confused in remembering what variable stood for what and how it tied into the sections. After rereading the section, I was able to somewhat better understand it, however it did leave me rather confused still.
One question I have is: Would the entrepreneur create these financial plans on their own or would they have assistance? Seeing all of these elaborate plans and layouts for budgets makes me wonder if the entrepreneur has a financial team member or is the entrepreneur doing all of the budgeting themselves?
I did not find anything wrong with the chapter considering the fact that I did not know much about financial preparation for entrepreneurial endeavors. Being a public relations major, I do not get much exposure to financial aspects of things or deal much with numbers. Reading this chapter was much of new information therefore there isn't anything that I would change.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

When looking back on the feedback I received from my last elevator pitch, the feedback did get a bit more constructive. I received plenty positive feedback in regards to my communication skills as far as how I speak and present myself. The constructive feedback that I received was still in regards to specifics about my business and what I can offer. So, for this elevator pitch, I tried my best to provide more details within the sixty seconds allotted to me for this pitch. I maintained the same pace and communication style since it was something that was favored by many. But this time, I decided to try and spend more time on details rather than a leading introduction.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

One thing that I was surprised to read about was the section on social media marketing mainly because I did not expect to come across this section in the chapter. Social media marketing is something that I know a good deal about due to the fact that I am a public relations major, and social media is key to our field. I also enjoyed the control versus contribution differences between social media marketing and traditional marketing because it shows how social media marketing influences audiences to become more engaged rather than controlling the content seen by the audience.
One thing that I am confused about is the concept of guerrilla marketing. I am not really confused about it, I just wanted to know more about it. For example, what is a good example of this tactic in use within the business world? Which would also be one of the questions that I would ask. The section on guerrilla marketing was informational as to how the plan works, however maybe an example case study would've given me more clarity. One more question I would ask would be directed toward the concepts involved in pricing within the social media age. The differentiations of the models are a tad confusing. The main thing that I would change about this chapter would only be to add more examples to the chapter so that way I can see how the information would be applied in actual scenarios.

Idea Napkin No 2.

Me... Again :) 
My name is Breyenne Flynch, but I most often just go by the name Brey. My skills include great time management, organizational skills, great communication and I am a self-starter when it comes to completion of tasks. My experience includes over two years of retail and customer service experience, therefore I know what it takes in order to heighten the overall customer experience. I also have over a year of supervisory experience, therefore giving me necessary skills to lead a large team of people in high stress situations. My aspirations, as far as with this business venture and in my own personal goals, I would one day like to own my own public relations firm that will be able to help clients meet their organizational goals or help them in times of crisis. I see this playing a huge role in my life because this is something that I care about, something that I can see myself doing long term and it aligns with the skills that I currently possess and will continue to grow. 


What can I offer to customers?
With my business, Inspiration PR, I am offering customers a chance to reach out for the help they need for their businesses to grow and maintain their businesses. We want to help businesses, whether they are in a crisis or just want good publicity, get and keep their flow of customers through means they may not be able to access themselves. Inspiration PR is a great way for businesses to have high quality campaigns for their needs at a cost that is beyond affordable. We would provide campaigns that target key problems that companies face such as awareness, creating and maintaining relationships with not only consumers but with other businesses, as well as protect the image and vision that companies believe in while still being successful.  


Who am I offering to?
Considering my concept for a business is a PR firm, my consumer target audience is more toward small business owners or small firms that would need promotional/campaign help for crises or to spread awareness about their businesses. This would not be on an individual basis because it would allocate many resources and not be nearly as successful with maintaining relationships. 


Why do they care?
I feel like customers would use my services if they are in a place where they cannot advertise their businesses, are facing some sort of crisis that may affect business or just want to spread awareness about services. This would help build their customer base up to a substantial point and I feel like businesses that have no where else to turn could want to use this service. 


My core competencies?
What sets me apart from other PR firms would be that Inspiration PR is targeted more toward small businesses and firms compared to other agencies being more specialized in specific industries and for larger businesses due to receiving more money. The goal of my company is not necessarily to get the most income, but to provide quality service for a reasonable price. 

When I look at this "idea napkin" again,  I still feel that there are some components that I can work on. I also feel like I still question the direction that I would want to take with the business. However I feel like with more input, I can develop my idea more.



Feedback Memo

From the first Idea napkin, there were some things that I took away from the feedback. One thing that I did see was confusion with my "Inspiration PR" term. This was an idea for a name of the company, not necessarily a selling point. Another thing I noticed was having more specifics with what I was offering. This time around, I added more specifics to what I have to offer as a public relations firm. Also, I noticed that many comments pointed toward my passion for public relations and related fields, so I decided to keep that passion evident within this idea napkin. Another comment was becoming more specialized, and I'm not sure if this means more specialized within a specific field of businesses, therefore I would like more clarity on that before I make any changes.  Lastly, one big thing I noticed from the feedback was how supportive others were of the idea, which gave me more confidence in what I was creating. When I went through this idea napkin, I was less worried about the negativity and more accepting of comments that criticized the work because I knew it would only make the concept better!