24A - Venture Concept No. 1

·      Opportunity

o   My product is a tutoring service for higher-level courses. This does not include general education, introductory classes for the University. The tutoring will be specifically for students at the University of Florida who have entered into their major-focused classes. As students start to enter into the major classes, there are fewer resources for them, yet the material is much harder. My tutoring service aims to solve this problem.

o   I think that the curriculum here at the University of Florida is changing more and more and it is getting more difficult. As we admit more highly qualified students and our ranking increases (Top 10 Public University!) our professors expect more from us. Because of this, exams will be made harder as they think we can handle more. Harder exams and harder classes are creating this opportunity.

o   The market is defined as students at the University of Florida, typically second semester sophomores through seniors.

o   From interviews that I have conducted, it seems that customers are satisfying this need by visiting their TAs and professor’s office hours. Several people have complained that professors are not always available for questions, and office hours aren’t held every day. Therefore, it seems they are not very loyal to this current method.

o   This is a big opportunity because students always want to succeed in their classes in order to get jobs and enter the workforce.

o   The window of opportunity will, I think, always be open. As long as students are attending university, there will always be the need for tutoring and additional help.

·      Innovation:

o   My tutoring service will give you all the tools you will need to succeed in your higher-level courses. The courses we will offer are specifically geared towards your harder classes; the classes which your potential employers will be looking at specifically to see if you understand the concepts and if you have the skills they are looking for when hiring applicants. We also want to teach you appropriate study habits and help organize your schedule.

o   My tutoring service will come with three different options for you to choose from. You can buy a monthly subscription for group tutoring services at $50 a month, you can buy a package with hourly rates for one-on-one tutoring at $70 an hour, or you can choose to buy helpful study materials that contain important lecture notes that you can study with on your own at $20 per package.

·      Venture Concept:

o   Students will buy a subscription for my tutoring service because they will see that there aren’t other services that offer tutoring for upper-level classes in the Gainesville area.

o   I don’t think customers will switch to my product because there isn’t another tutoring service near UF that does what I want to do. Sure, there are some that teach the Chemistry and Calculus classes, but none offer high-level courses.

o   The competitors are other tutoring services. Their weakness is the fact that they don’t offer that many classes.

o   I think that price point will play a big role just because I am dealing with students who are already paying a lot in tuition and fees, and I have to price fairly so they will use my service.

o   I would hire as many tutors as I could, probably over 50 to begin with, and preferably people that have taken the classes at UF so they know the professors and know the curriculum. The roles in the venture would be the tutors, the marketing staff to get the word out, the advertising staff, and a front-of-house group to answer questions about the venture.

·      My “secret sauce” is the fact that I am a student at UF myself and I know the struggles that students face. I have heard about the hardest professors and know about the tricks on certain exams. This allows me to help other students taking the course to succeed.

·      If this venture sees success, I could potentially expand to other universities and offer this type of tutoring service in different locations. For now, I am most familiar with UF’s curriculum so I want to stick here and then grow if there is potential.

·      Hopefully, this business will allow me to learn and grow as an entrepreneur. Maybe in 5 years, I will have sold and moved on to another venture. This venture serves as a learning experience to whatever I do next in my life.

23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.     I am a student at the University of Florida and I have similar struggles that other students have

·      Valuable- it’s valuable because I can relate to other students in the struggles with classes

·      Rare- I think it’s pretty rare to have a tutoring service created by a current student at that particular university

·      Inimitable- I suppose other students could create their own tutoring service so it could be imitated

·      Non-substitutable- I don’t think this could be substituted because this is what makes my tutoring service unique

2.     My mother is also an entrepreneur

·      Valuable- this is extremely valuable because I could have someone help guide me

·      Rare- this is relatively rare I suppose—I don’t know many people with entrepreneur parents

·      Inimitable- nobody would help me the way my mother would so this cannot be imitated

·      Non-substitutable- I don’t think another mentor would help me in the same way as my mother so this cannot be substituted

3.     My connections at UF—the clubs and organizations that I’m involved in could get involved or help spread the word

·      Valuable- any type of publicity would be valuable

·      Rare- this isn’t rare because people always ask their friends for help

·      Inimitable- other people could do this too, they just have to ask their friends for help and use their connections to their advantage

·      Non-substitutable- the connections that I’ve made with people cannot be substituted

4.     The proximity to other successful tutoring services

·      Valuable- this is valuable because I could potentially ask people with successful business models for tips

·      Rare- I don’t think this is rare because there is always competition around

·      Inimitable- this could be copied

·      Non-substitutable- this could be substituted with different mentorship  

5.     The leadership positions I currently hold

·      Valuable- being in charge of several organizations has taught me valuable skills that I can apply to being in charge of a business

·      Rare- this isn’t rare because there are plenty of people at UF that hold leadership positions in their clubs

·      Inimitable- this can be imitated because other people can hold leadership positions

·      Non-substitutable- I don’t think that the experience of being a leader can be substituted

6.     I have experience tutoring students

·      Valuable- this will be valuable because I know what works and what doesn’t

·      Rare- I don’t think this is that rare because there are people that tutor for volunteering or just to make extra money on the side

·      Inimitable- this can be copied because there is always a need for tutoring

·      Non-substitutable- this type of experience cannot be substituted

7.     My willingness to ask for help when I need it

·      Valuable- this is valuable because it is important to ask for advice when you’re in a rut

·      Rare- I don’t think this is rare—there are definitely people that ask for help when they need to

·      Inimitable- this is a skill that can be imitated by other people

·      Non-substitutable- you can’t substitute something like this

8.     My ability to adapt if things don’t work

·      Valuable- this is valuable because it is important to accept your mistakes and make adjustments

·      Rare- this is relatively rare because sometimes people are afraid to change things

·      Inimitable- this can be copied if people accept what they are doing wrong and are willing to change their approach

·      Non-substitutable- you cannot substitute a skill like this

9.     I see a genuine need for this product

·      Valuable- this is important because if there is no need, then why would you waste time creating the business?

·      Rare- I don’t think this is rare because usually people create things that they see people have a need for

·      Inimitable- this is copied because people create businesses when there is a need for them

·      Non-substitutable- you can’t substitute this, because if there’s no need the product will not succeed

10.  My passion

·      Valuable- this is valuable because if you don’t believe in your business it will never succeed

·      Rare- this isn’t rare because a lot of people are passionate about what they do

·      Inimitable- you cannot imitate passion you just have to have it

·      Non-substitutable- you cannot substitute passion for anything else, you just have to have it

I think my first resource is most important because if I want to open a tutoring service at UF, I will know what the classes are like and that helps me determine different approaches and ways to help students in their classes. My experience with the professors and the classes gives me a big heads up other the other competition.