Venture Concept No 1

Opportunity: Beauty To Go has an opportunity with pretty much every person in society. We are offering a mobile salon business that comes to you for all of your beauty needs. Who wouldn’t want to salon to come to them? But more specifically, our target audience will be the elderly, parents, and college students. Most elderly and college students do not have transportation, so our services will make things a lot more convenient for our clients and save them money. Parents will especially benefit from our services because they will not have to bring their children to a salon where things can get hectic. Salons are always have great opportunities because everyone needs a haircut, plus women always need waxing, nails, makeup, etc. We are just adding a huge convenience factor to our company - we come to you!

            Cars are so expensive these days that most college students cannot afford their own ride. The elderly start losing their motor skills and are not able to operate a vehicle anymore, so most do not have their own transportation. Parents usually have busy schedules and crazy lives, so it makes it hard to make time to get to a salon. All of these are forces in our environment that are providing us with this opportunity. There are elderly, colleges, and parents everywhere in the world, so we have a market everywhere. There should be no shortage of clients. We have no defined geographic market because we can service people everywhere. Any race, age, ethnicity, religion, etc.

            As a woman myself, I know that women usually find a hairdresser and nail artist that they like and stick with them for a long time. I have been going to my hairstylist for ten years. People nowadays satisfy their needs by going to the salon because they have no other option. I am confident that we will be able to form a loyal customer base once we get established. People will love how convenient we are and want to keep coming back for more. This opportunity is colossal! We have such a huge client base that its unending. We may have a target audience, but we really offer to anyone. This window of opportunity will continue to be open, until somebody else comes up with this idea. That’s why Beauty To Go needs to be the first one to it. We need to get the ball rolling before this window of opportunity closes.

Innovation: Beauty To Go’s innovation will be a mobile salon located inside of a van. Our vans will be fully equipped for all house calls. Our services will include haircuts, hair dying, hair styling, manicures, pedicures, acrylic nail application, gel nail polish application, airbrush makeup application, mineral makeup application, and eyebrow waxing. Our prices will be the same as other salons. We will be able to keep our prices low by saving money on a lease. We will have portable manicure and pedicure chairs, as well as portable hair chairs where clients can sit to get their hair done. We will still accept tips. There will be no travelling fee, as we will be saving money on a lease. But our artists will still have to pay a fee to keep their spot on our team, just as they would if they worked at a regular salon. We will charge per service, not by hour. Our services with also include complementary drinks and short massages.

Venture Concept: Our innovation will help to provide everyone’s beauty needs and come to them. This will solve problems for the elderly and college students who usually do not have their own transportation. It will also solve problems for parents, who do not want to hassle with bringing their children into a hectic salon. We can bring our services to them, where they are comfortable in their own homes. Most customers will buy our services because of their convenience. Beauty To Go makes everyone’s lives easier and saves a lot of time.  Everyone that I have spoken with has said that they would love a salon that came to them. Convenience is very important to others. We will also be providing clients with ALL of their beauty needs, so they do not have to go from place to place to get their nails done there and their hair done there, etc. I do not think it will be hard to get people to switch to our services, mainly because of the convenience we provide.

            Our competitors are other salons, but they aren’t really much competition because they aren’t mobile. Any salon can cut your hair or do your nails, but not any salon brings all of that to you. That is what makes us different. Our only weakness at this point is that nobody knows us. So that may make people hesitant to trust us and try us out. People normally go to somewhere that they are referred to. So we just have to get our name known and then we should get clients in with no problem. Our customer experience and business location really defines our business concept. What makes us so great is we don’t have a business location – it’s located in your home! We also aim to make our customers comfortable and happy with our services so that we leave them completely satisfied with everything. We want them to feel beautiful when we’re done with them. Our business would start out small with only one artist per specialty that we provide. There would only be one hair artist, one nail artist, and one makeup artist. This way we can get on our feet and get our client base and give everyone a taste of what we’re all about.

Our most important resource is our mobility. We can go where ever we want and where ever we are needed. This way we are always where the market is. This is something that others salons don’t have and will be hard to copy. The next opportunity that we would like to tackle is a new and unique brand of beauty products that we will use at our appointments and sell to clients. This will add to our uniqueness and generate more revenue for the company. In five years, I see Beauty To Go having many locations all over the U.S. with more than ten working vans in every city we are in. I want to keep increasing our vans so that we can service more clients. In the next decade, I see myself as the boss overseeing the company. I would have different people in charge of each location. I want to be able to pass the power down to someone else, so that I can continue my work in nursing. This venture will give me the groundwork to learn what it takes to run a company and be a great leader. 

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1. I was surprised by how much businesses emphasize their goals and strategies. I just thought that they boast about these things, but they actually include that in every aspect of their companies. It was very interesting to learn how much they devote themselves to their goal.
2. The section about trade-offs was confusing for me to understand. I did not completely understand it.
3. How does business model innovation relate to technology based innovation? Also, which form of innovation do you think is the most successful?
4. I did not disagree with anything in the reading. I think that it was pretty straight forward and easy to understand and agree with.

Amazon Whisperer

• Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

Servicing all your common beauty needs such as hair dressing, nails, and waxing. We also make money through our mobility feature and being able to travel to wherever the best business is. We are also saving money on paying a lease, so we are making extra money that way. Beauty To Go also makes money by being able to go where the market is.

• Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

I think the next best thing for us is to offer a unique line of our own hair care, nails, and makeup products. This way we are able to generate more revenue by using and selling our own products.

• Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

Our "next" thing will definitely foster a lot of customer loyalty. Our clients will want to keep coming back for our products and our service. We will also make money by only using our own products and by selling them to our clients. Our own products will definitely add to our uniqueness factor. They will only be able to get our products from us and that will encourage them to keep coming back to us. It will also improve their experience with us because we will have the best hair care products and everything else you can think of!

• Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

Here we can a combo pack of Nexxus Salon hair care shampoo and conditioner. It is specifically Color Assure, which products colored hair from fading and discoloring. This is something similar to what we would be selling at Beauty To Go. It is salon care quality and protects colored hair, which we will be dealing with a lot because hair dying is one of our services. I also would like to do combo packs like this to help keep prices low and get our clients to buy more for their money.

• What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

For the most part, this product has mainly positive reviews. Several different people said that it is the best shampoo and conditioner that they have ever used. They also said that it makes your hair smell amazing. But the few that did not like the product said that it was not good for people with thin hair because it weighs it down a lot and makes it look flat.

• Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 

I would make the product applicable for all different types of hair, instead of just for colored hair. I would also lighten the consistency so that it isn't such a heavy product and washes out easily.

• Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

I think that all of our clients would appreciate a unique and awesome new formula for hair care especially. It will set us apart from our competition. It will also drive revenue and bring back loyal customers.

My Unfair Advantage

1. Our mobility: Beauty To Go's mobility is what sets us apart from other salons. We go where our client's need us. Also, we can go to wherever the market is. We can travel from state to state, go to different events, and find where we can get business. The mobility of my company is going to keep us in business.
2. Convenience factor: Going where our client's need us is incredibly convenient for everyone. There won't be any more hassles with bringing your children to a salon or finding a ride or anything like that because we come to you! The convenience of our services is a huge unique factor in our business.
3. No lease:  A large portion of salon's incomes go towards renting out their location. We will be saving the money we would spend on a lease since we are mobile. All we will have to pay for is gas and insurance for our van- which is much cheaper than renting out a place. With this savings, we will be able to do a lot more with our business.
4. Low prices: The savings from a lease is going to enable us to keep our prices just as low as any regular salon. So customers don't have to worry about our services being too expensive. We will be able to provide the same services as others, while also coming to you!!
5. Top notch artists: A lot of salons will just hire anybody who comes in with a license. Our employees will be high quality, experienced, and the best of the best. This is going to set us above other salons. Our clients will know that they are getting the best quality of service when they come to us.
6. Range of services: Many salons only do a varied amount of beauty services, such as only hair or only nails. Beauty To Go is going to provide a large range of basic beauty needs- anywhere from nails to make up to hair to waxing. We are going to do it all! That way our clients can call on us for anything they may need.
7. Our target audience: We are targeting EVERYONE for business. There isn't one person that we aren't trying to service! Man, woman, young, old. You name it, we're here for you. This is going to expand our client base and help add to our uniqueness. Come one, come all!
8.  Safety: Our customer's are going to feel comfortable and safe with allowing us to come to their homes because all of our employees will have thorough background checks and extensive references to ensure they are experienced and good people. We will make sure that our customers are happy and satisfied with us.
9. Wine: Who doesn't love wine?! Beauty To Go will provide and full panel of reds and whites, so our customer's can have a good selection. The wine will help add to our relaxation vibe that we will hope to bring to every home. This is something that have no seen in other salons.
10. Our changeability: The fact that we offer so many different services gives us the freedom to keep changing. We can add services, get rid of some stuff that doesn't work, etc. The changeability of Beauty To Go is going to give a lot of leg room to expand and develop into the company that we want to be without losing clients.

I think our top resource is our mobility. This is something that no salon has, particularly in the Gainesville area. Our mobility is what is going to draw in people and get us a great client base. With this resource, we will be able to go where we are needed, whether that be locally or from state to state. That's the beauty of mobility- we can pack up our stuff and go where the business is! This way we can keep busy and bring in the profit, while also getting to bring our services to clients all around the states. This will also help us with networking. The more people we know, the more business we are going to get. The mobility is definitely going to be what really sets us apart from everywhere else and get us the business that we need.  

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1. Knowing when to walk away was surprising to me. It makes sense, I was just surprised. That point where you know you need to stop is difficult to see but very important. You must stop before you go to far. I never thought of it that way.
2. The proforma statements were confusing to me. I don't really understand their concept or the beneficial factors.
3.  How can I understand financing activities and operating cash flows without knowing economic jargon? Is there a range to be in in the cash flow budget?
4. I didn't think that the author was wrong about anything, as I don't have any experience or knowledge in this area. Therefore, I have nothing to disagree with. I think the author did an awesome job of explaining things.

Growing My Social Capital

1. Domain Expert- I spoke with Wendy Pham for this section of the assignment. Wendy has owned many different salons in Jacksonville, FL over the last ten years, ranging from in her little apartment to full scale salon space with up to ten employees. So she has much experience in the salon business. A family friend of mine suggested her, so I contacted her over the phone. I did my elevator pitch and she really liked it! Her only suggestion was to maybe slim down on all of our provided services, as this may make things a little complicated when preparing for our appointments. She also said to maybe charge a mandatory traveling fee to pay for gas. Her expertise was very helpful and I promised to come and get my nails done soon. I know that I can call her and ask her anything from now on.
2. Market Expert- I think spoke with Pam, who has much experience in the food truck business over the past 10 years in Jacksonville, FL. Food trucks are mobile and move around all of the time, which is very similar to my mobile salon. A mutual friend connected us through email and she was really helpful. I gave her my elevator pitch and she had pretty much all positive things to say. She suggested that in addition to doing house calls, we also set up at festivals and rallies around town. This would probably get us a lot of additional business. Pam also confirmed that gas won't cost nearly as much as a lease. So her expertise was extremely helpful and I now have more confidence in Beauty To Go.
3. Supplier Expert- Lastly, I went to Victoria Nail and Beauty Supply and spoke with the manager, Jessica. It is one of the largest nail and beauty supply stores in Jacksonville right now. Jessica was pretty helpful. She suggested buying everything online, as it saves you the time and gas of coming all the way out there. She also suggested buying in bulk because it will save me money. Jessica was helpful in informing me on how the buying process would go and around how much everything would cost. This gave me a good idea in my head of how things would go. 

Reflect- This networking exercise was very different, in my opinion. I actually had to actively look for salon experts and try to get them to listen and give me advice. It was actually pretty hard. A lot of people didn't answer or didn't want to help. But it helped me to kind of figure out a way to approach people with the topic and ease into it. All of these networking assignments are making me much more confident in talking to others and getting advice along the way.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1. I felt that this reading was very straightforward and easy to understand, so I don't think that there was much surprising or confusing. The main thing that surprised me was how long a business plan could be. I've wrote a ten page paper before and I thought that was the end of the world, but 50 pages?! That just seemed a little much to me. But I've also never wrote a business plan before, so I guess can't relate.
2. I was confused when reading about environmental insight and the section about living in fear of being preempted in the market.
3. What is the difference between marking segmentation and complexity? I felt that this was not clarified very well in the reading. Also, how would an entrepreneur go about writing a business plan without much knowledge on what goes into making a business? 
4. There wasn't anything in this chapter that I disagreed with. I don't know much about marketing as is, so I don't really have any knowledge that I could use to disagree with the author. They made everything easy to read and understand.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am a 20 year old female. I get my nails and hair done religiously. I'm not personally good at doing hair and nails- that's why I go to the salon. But I do know how much of a hassle it is to always make sure I have time to make it to the salon and a way to get there. That's why I think the mobile salon would be a great idea. As a Nursing major, I don't plan on being one of the stylist for my business since I have no expertise in the beauty field. But I would oversee all of the everyday operations and continually expanding the business. I see it spreading and going to many different states. It would be more of a side business for me, not taking up a lot of my time, as I plan on being a full time nurse practitioner. My associates will be background checked and trustworthy people so our customer's will be comfortable with us coming to their homes. 
2. The service Beauty To Go would be providing are a range of beauty needs that come to you. Some of the beauty needs would be hairdressing, nails, professional makeup, waxing, and many more. More specifically, this would include hair dying, hair cutting, hair styling, manicures, pedicures, brazillian waxes, eyebrow waxing, airbrush makeup application, etc. Instead of the customers having to drive to the salon, we would come to them in our fully equipped vans. This is going to be very convenient for mothers, students without transportation, and the elderly. All they have to do is schedule an appointment by through a quick phone call and we'll be there! I decided against an app because not all people have smart phones, so I figured phone calls would be easier and more convenient. 
3. We are offering our services to everyone- men and women! But our target audience will be mothers, students, and the elderly. All have a hard time getting to the salon. Students and the elderly usually don't have transportation, so the mobile salon will be very convenient for them. Mothers have a lot on their plates and it is a hassle to bring children into a salon, especially young children. So the mobile salon will be convenient for them because their children will be comfortable and entertained at home. We will be able to keep our prices low at Beauty To Go by saving on the expense of a lease, so our prices will be the same as any other salon. We will be convenient and cheap.
4. Beauty To Go would be incredibly convenient for all and that's why I think they will care. People will pay to have services be brought to them. That's why food deliveries, online shopping, and grocery deliveries are so profitable. Beauty needs are important to everyone and sometimes we just don't have enough time to go to the mall and get our nails done or go across town to see our hair stylist. Not only will it be convenient, but it will also be cheap! There's nothing better! My business will eradicate so many hassles and struggles when it comes to beauty care. I think it is a great innovation that many people, especially women, will appreciate.   
5. I am a woman, so I know what women want. I know all of the little details that will draw women in. Wine will set us apart from other salons. We will always be fully equipped with wine for all of our appointments. And who doesn't love some wine and gossip while getting their nails and hair done? We will also have top notch stylists and artists that other salons won't have. Not to mention, we're coming to your house. Plus our cheap prices! What's better than that? 

I think that all five elements fit together really well. I also believe that my business plan is really strong and has the possibility to be very successful. The only aspect that I think is a little weak is what sets us apart from everyone else and what do we have that nobody else does. I'm still contemplating on what those aspects could be while keeping our services affordable. I think the wine and awesome stylists are great for what sets us apart, but I do think they are a little weak. We need something more to really set us apart. I'm working on figuring that out.

1. I never thought about how customer's would feel about safety, but after getting feedback, I realized that would be a huge issue.
2. After getting the feedback, I learned that customer's would be wanting to know how our prices would compare to other salons, so I included that info in this one. 
3. The feedback also brought it to my attention that I needed to figure out how customers would contact us and I decided on phone call appointments only because not everyone has a smart phone. Plus phone appointments are clearer and less likely to generate mistakes. 
4. I realized that men would also enjoy our services, so I included them in our target audience this time around to broaden our customer base.
5. I decided to include eyebrow waxing because that is a huge beauty need for men and women. 

I incorporated each of these points that I got from my feedback into my idea napkin. They are spread out throughout the questions.