30A – Final Reflection

What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? 

I think the most formative experience this semester has been quarantine and the way the whole world reacted to the pandemic and also the racial issues going on during this time as well. 

The experience that you'll remember years later? 

One experience during this semester I'll remember years later is being stuck at home for weeks/months on end, particularly because I enjoyed being home. 

What was your most joyous experience? 

My most joyous experience this semester was probably my parents getting remarried. 

What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

I am proud of getting through this semesters classes. As time goes on, school is more and more of a struggle because I hate school. I love learning, I just hate having to learn stuff that doesn't apply to anything and also have to memorize it and regurgitate it for an exam. I cannot wait to never have to take another class again, although I will say I enjoyed this class as it did actually apply to my life. 

At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? 

I saw myself as an entrepreneur long before this class and it was nice to be able to apply my mindset to a course here at UF. 

Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

Because of the mentorship program I am in, I have very much already developed an entrepreneurial mindset, as I am surrounded by successful business people all the time, but this class definitely helped me see different aspects of business which I appreciate. 

What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? 

I would recommend taking advantage of opportunities to meet people who are successful business owners and seek mentorship from people who have what you want in business, relationships, health, spiritual life, and finances, as those are the main areas of life. 

What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? 

Work ahead. 

What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

Get around people who already have the mindset they want to adopt. Mindset is more so "caught" than it is taught. 

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

1.

Opportunity

The forces creating opportunity in this environment are all the athletes speaking up about their abuse situations during there athletic careers. Verbal abuse has been present in sports for a very long time, however, many athletes are speaking up about it now more than they ever have. Geographically, there is no specific group of people that this will target. Demographically, there is no specific group either since what I’m offering will range from young children, to older experienced adults. My audience will typically be low-middle class, on up. Some coaches are satisfying there need with general self education, however, many of them aren’t satisfying this need at all because they don’t know of any resources. I believe that this opportunity is huge, yes to make great profits, but more importantly to make a huge impact. I believe this window of opportunity will be open forever, because there will always be ways to improve personally and be better for our athletes. 

Innovation

In the gymnastics community, and athletic community in general, there is a huge need for coaches to better learn how to communicate with their athletes so they can bring the best out of them without being abusive or psychologically manipulative. What I am creating is going to be on online resource targeted mainly toward coaches, but I will also have content for the athletes and parents of athletes as well. 

Coaches content:

What I will be providing for coaches are recorded interviews, podcasts, articles, curriculums, and a book to access that all educate coaches on how to coach more effectively. These will cover a variety of topics like how to help an athlete overcome a mental block, how to use positive reinforcement vs. negative reinforcement, never wanting more for an athlete than they want for themselves, etc.. I will have many different guest speakers and experts to offer their knowledge when it comes to the psychology behind the sport. 

Athletes content:

This will mostly be interviews for the athletes to watch with guest speakers who are athletes they most likely look up to, speaking about different topics. Some of these topics will cover how to deal with injuries, how to deal with burnout, how to overcome mental blacks, etc..

Parents content:

This content directed toward the parent will be all about how to best look after their athlete. This content will be articles, interviews, and podcast covering topics like how to best be supportive of their athlete, how to be involved but not overly involved in their child’s sport, etc..

To have access to my resource, there will be a $20 monthly subscription fee that will include standard content like podcasts, and interviews, but additional fees for the book and curriculums. 

Venture Concept 

This opportunity will help alleviate some of the issues going on on the sports world related to verbal abuse. I don’t think my customers will really be switching from anything, but more so starting something new. The main competitor is a guy named Nick Ruddock who does something very similar to what I want to do, however, he is based in the UK and does most of his work there, and I don’t think that is a weakness of his, but it is more so an opportunity for me to have more opportunity in the US. I will not be limited to the US, though. Since my business will be online I will not have to worry about packaging and things of that nature. Given that my start up costs will be very minimal, I plan to create content for a year in advance before releasing any, and then from that point start releasing the content and continue creating more.

My most important resource will be my experiences and other experiences to pull from. For the next venture, I would branch off to start hosting seminars and gymnastics camps. 

In five years I want this to have 2000+ subscribers and by the 10 year mark I want to be hosting seminars for coaches and clinics as well. As an entrepreneur, I want to continue creating and adding value to people. I want my business to make so much profit that I don’t have to base my decisions off of how much it costs. I want to make all of my decisions based on my values and goals, not my checkbook.

2.

The only constructive feedback I received was about how creating content for a year before releasing any could be very costly if I don't plan on making any money in the first year. Given the nature of what I'm creating, I don't see that being a problem because my startup costs are going to be very low, and I have plenty of capital to pull from. 

3.

Given that feedback I did add in a part saying that my startup costs will be low, and that'll be very doable for me to do. 

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The book talked about our cognitive systems and how those function in our decision making. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book brought awareness for me to the different ways people fail to think effectively in their decision making process or when it comes to retaining information in general. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would include and exercise that tests the students on their thinking process and see if they're a "fast" thinker or a "slow thinker. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

One part that stood out to me was a quote, "A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth". I didn't really have any expectations going into the book, but it definitely brought some truth to light for me. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

As I go through my journey I will have a team of people who are directly and indirectly involved in my business. I don’t want to keep my business in the family because the point of my business is not only to make a profit, but to truly impact the sports world. So unless my future kids have the same passions and purpose as I do, I will not be keeping the business in the family. Through the years I will be growing my business, and as I get older I will be identifying who’s hands my business belongs in to continue taking it to the next level and impacting people. Now for those who think it’s wrong to not keep it in the family, this business is not going to be my only business venture, and I will have plenty to pass down to my future kids. So, I do plan to work the business for some decades, and then eventually hand it off to someone who I believe is committed to continuing the journey. 

I selected this exit strategy because I don’t want this to die when I die. I want someone to take it over who is capable of continuing on the legacy I will create. 

My exit strategy has not had any influence on any of my plans, mostly because for some reason I have thought very little about an exit strategy. However, it didn’t take me any time to know exactly how I will exit down the line. 

26A – Celebrating Failure

This assignment was a little more tricky for me, not because I don't make mistakes (I make tons of mistakes), but over the last few months, I haven't really done a whole lot other than work and school. I did make a mistake when I went to work and forgot I needed to be there 30 minutes early for a private lesson. The really dumb part was that I put it in my calendar to get to work at the time I was supposed to, but when I looked in my calendar a few days later, I thought I made a mistake when I put in my work schedule and forgot about the lesson I had. That was a really dumb mistake considering I had even put it in my calendar, but it was what it was. Crap happens.

I learned to trust myself with what I'm putting in my own calendar, because I am working on becoming a less forgetful person.

Failure isn't bad, I don't even like to call it failure. To me, failure only occurs when you make a mistake and don't learn from it. A great book for someone struggling with failure is Sometime You Win, Sometimes You Learn by John Maxwell. The foundation of success is failure, and I've heard successful people say that if you're not willing to go through the failures, then you don't deserve success.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

The forces creating opportunity in this environment are all the athletes speaking up about their abuse situations during there athletic careers. Verbal abuse has been present in sports for a very long time, however, many athletes are speaking up about it now more than they ever have. Geographically, there is no specific group of people that this will target. Demographically, there is no specific group either since what I’m offering will range from young children, to older experienced adults. My audience will typically be low-middle class, on up. Some coaches are satisfying there need with general self education, however, many of them aren’t satisfying this need at all because they don’t know of any resources. I believe that this opportunity is huge, yes to make great profits, but more importantly to make a huge impact. I believe this window of opportunity will be open forever, because there will always be ways to improve personally and be better for our athletes. 

Innovation

In the gymnastics community, and athletic community in general, there is a huge need for coaches to better learn how to communicate with their athletes so they can bring the best out of them without being abusive or psychologically manipulative. What I am creating is going to be on online resource targeted mainly toward coaches, but I will also have content for the athletes and parents of athletes as well. 

Coaches content:

What I will be providing for coaches are recorded interviews, podcasts, articles, curriculums, and a book to access that all educate coaches on how to coach more effectively. These will cover a variety of topics like how to help an athlete overcome a mental block, how to use positive reinforcement vs. negative reinforcement, never wanting more for an athlete than they want for themselves, etc.. I will have many different guest speakers and experts to offer their knowledge when it comes to the psychology behind the sport. 

Athletes content:

This will mostly be interviews for the athletes to watch with guest speakers who are athletes they most likely look up to, speaking about different topics. Some of these topics will cover how to deal with injuries, how to deal with burnout, how to overcome mental blacks, etc..

Parents content:

This content directed toward the parent will be all about how to best look after their athlete. This content will be articles, interviews, and podcast covering topics like how to best be supportive of their athlete, how to be involved but not overly involved in their child’s sport, etc..

To have access to my resource, there will be a $20 monthly subscription fee that will include standard content like podcasts, and interviews, but additional fees for the book and curriculums. 

Venture Concept 

This opportunity will help alleviate some of the issues going on on the sports world related to verbal abuse. I don’t think my customers will really be switching from anything, but more so starting something new. The main competitor is a guy named Nick Ruddock who does something very similar to what I want to do, however, he is based in the UK and does most of his work there, and I don’t think that is a weakness of his, but it is more so an opportunity for me to have more opportunity in the US. I will not be limited to the US, though. Since my business will be online I will not have to worry about packaging and things of that nature. I plan to create content for a year in advance before releasing any, and then from that point start releasing the content and continue creating more 

My most important resource will be my experiences and other experiences to pull from. For the next venture, I would branch off to start hosting seminars and gymnastics camps. 

In five years I want this to have 2000+ subscribers and by the 10 year mark I want to be hosting seminars for coaches and clinics as well. As an entrepreneur, I want to continue creating and adding value to people. I want my business to make so much profit that I don’t have to base my decisions off of how much it costs. I want to make all of my decisions based on my values and goals, not my checkbook.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

10 Resources:

1) Financial capital
This is valuable obviously because I will need money to start up. It isn't rare or inimitable, and is only substitutable by credit.
2) Lots of connections
This is valuable because to succeed in anything you need to have other people in your network. This isn't rare or inimitable. There is no substitute for this.
3) Coaching experience
This is valuable because I need experience to know what I'm talking about. This isn't rare, but is inimitable because it can't be copied  There really is no substitute for this.
4) Experience as an athlete
this is valuable because I have first hand experience dealing with different coaches as the athlete, and so I know what it feels like from the athletes point of view. This isn't rare, but is inimitable because it can't be copied. There really is no substitute for this.
5) Others experiences to pull from
This is valuable because everyone has different experiences, and to learn about others experiences will be crucial. This isn't rare or inimitable. There really is no substitute for this.
6) Access to technology to start up
This is valuable because I will have an online business. This isn't rare or inimitable. There really is no substitute for this.
7) Knowledge on the subject
This is valuable for obvious reasons. This may be somewhat rare and inimitable. There really is no substitute for this.
8) Relationships with people who will be customers
This is valuable because people who like what I'm offering will refer it to others. I don't think this is rare, but maybe somewhat inimitable. The substitute of this would be going out and finding other customers.
9) Credit
This is valuable for if I ever need to fall back on credit if my money runs out. This isn't rare or inimitable. And this is substitutable by cash.
10) Thousands of coaches and gymnasts out there with a need
This is valuable because you need customers to succeed. This isn't rare or inimitable. This is not substitutable.

I want to have a team culture that is all about integrity, loyalty, and constant progression. Those will be the main core values and our culture will be one that is rare. I want my teams culture to exude love and passion so that we are able to add value to as many people as possible.


I think the most important resource I have is experience. I did talk about 3 different experiences, but overall I think that's going to be the most valuable because my experiences are unique and those experiences is what I'll pull from to relate to and educate my future customers.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

Mindset by Carol Dweck

1) This book talks bout the growth mindset verses the fixed mindset, and how having a specific mindset may be initially programmed into out minds growing up, we have the choice to change it once we've been brought aware of it. 

2) This book opens up dimensions as far as possibilities go. She taught that even though you may not have a certain ability, with the growth mindset you are able to work past that and grow in that area. That's vital to business. To have a growth mindset is to be able to be creative, and creativity is important in what we do. 

3) For an exercise, I would maybe take a set of questions from the book and ask others what their answers are to those questions. for example, "true or false: I am born with a certain level of intelligence and that cannot be changed."

4) There wasn't really anything in this book that gave me an aha moment, probably because I'm more of a growth minded person, but I think the biggest thing was learning how many people keep themselves in a box simply because of their beliefs about themselves, people, and their capabilities. 

20A – Growing Your Social Capital Submit Assignment

1) Anna Genrich

2) Domain expert. Anna is a coach and is very knowledgeable about the industry. 

3) I found her on Instagram and contacted her there. 

4) She simply gave me feedback on my business idea. 

5) She offers knowledge, as she has been a coach for much longer than I have. 

1) Justin Laury

2) Market expert. This person is a market expert because he is in a similar field and is very successful in his business. 

3) Justin is one of my old coaches, so I didn't have to go searching for him. 

4) He have me feedback on my idea and we may potentially work together to bring it to life. It will then be profitable for both of us. 

5) Having Justin in my network is vital, as he has every connection in the book when it comes to the gymnastics world. He also already has a platform he is open to helping me expose myself through. 

1) Nick Ruddock

2) Supplier. Nick Rudduck almost does exactly what I want to do, but he is based in the UK. He too is very successful in his business as it seems. 

3) A friend recommended that I check him out after telling her about my business idea, and I reached out to him on Instagram. 

4) He too simply gave me feedback on my idea, no exchanging needed.  

5) Having him in my network will be a huge asset if he is willing to work with/ collaborate with me later down the line. 

This was different from other networking I've done in the past because it was all over the phone, not in person. This exercise doesn't really change how I will network in the future. 

Elevator Pitch Practice! (Part 2!)

I didn't receive any feedback from my previous pitch to change or fix anything, but I did get some feedback saying that what I'm offering is needed and that the subscription idea was a good idea. 

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

My name is Vanasia Bradley, I work part time, study full time, and make progress in my personal growth and entrepreneurial journeys in my non-productive time. My most obvious talent thus far in my life has been my athletic ability in gymnastics, however, I am more than just the “really good gymnast”. I now coach, and outside of gymnastics I have a few professional skills, but more importantly I do have really good interpersonal skills, thanks to introverted intuition, a mom who’s a psychologist, and mentors who are experts in communication. I had a lot of experience being an athlete and so far I have just a few years of coaching experience, and I consider myself still very new to coaching since I have so much to learn. My aspirations include marriage, family, financial freedom, traveling, and as it relates to this course, impacting the coaching and sports realm by creating a resource for coaches to learn not how to teach the skills, but how to coach the athlete. My experience as a high level athlete taught me that being dedicated to a sport for 15 years was never about what I got from it, but who I became through it, and I have my old coaches to thank for that perspective. 
What I will be offering to customers is a resource for coaching to have access to, that will provide personal and professional development materials to learn from so they can effectively and constructively (not destructively) coach their athletes. These materials will be in the form over curriculums, videos, and books. Eventually I see this scaling to a point where we host online and in-person seminars, and provide 1 on 1 coaching to coaches who are looking to grow. 
These products and services would be offered to coaches of any sport who are looking to grow personally and professionally. Something all my customers have in common is a passion to grow, for whatever purpose. Some coaches may want to improve to be better professionally, and others may want to improve so they can effect their athletes in a more positive way. Whatever the reason may be, they would all have a desire to become a better version of themselves. 
Customers would pay for my product/service, because like I mentioned before, they want to become better. Maybe some of them have encountered different athletes that they just couldn’t figure out how to coach in a way that they needed to be coached, and therefore could not help them improve. Maybe some of them have a reputation that’s not so positive because they have at times become verbally abusive toward their athletes without even realizing it. Or maybe some of them think they’re doing a great job and just want to know more about how they can be a better coach for their athletes. Some people are simply obsessed with growth, personally or professionally. There are a lot of coaches out there that want more guidance, and for whatever that reason is, I want to create a resource for them, because we as coaches are deprived of good, easily accessible information specifically geared toward communication skills between coach and athlete. 
What sets me apart from everyone else is my personal experience as an athlete and my drive to make an impact in this very specific area. I have experienced first hand how a coach can be very well-intentioned, but really just not know how to constructively channel their passion, drive, and will for their and my own success. I am very passionate about this particular subject, and I am willing to do the research, and connect with the right people to be able to have access to more people and information that most people may not be willing or able to seek after. I am willing to spend all the time necessary putting together a product/service that can impact thousands of people and bring value to their lives. And all of these things I believe set me apart from anyone else. There aren’t a whole lot of people who say they want to coach coaches, so I think I am tapping into an almost untouched territory as well. 
I believe all these elements do fit well together, and I do know that what I want to create is going to be a work in progress, and will not be something I can start up right after this course is over. Between who I am, my experience, what I’m passionate about, the work I’m willing to do, what I want to provide, and the people I want to provide it to, there are direct relations. 
_______________________________________________________________________________________
I did receive feedback saying I should omit the "I have very few professional skills" I had included int he first paragraph, and so I did.
And the other feedback I got was just positive feedback and encouragement (which I really appreciate :) ).

18A – Create a Customer Avatar Submit Assignment

My typical customer will be a coach. Generally we wear athletic clothing since a lot of us grew up wearing it. Because most of us don’t get paid too much, we tend to drive pretty basic cars, Nissans, Chevys, Fords. For those of us who coach at the college level or pro, we drive more expensive cars. Many of us do have families for those of us who are in our 30’s and older. Most of us are between the ages of 20 and 50. Since we work with kids, we tend to feel younger than we are. Most of us are intensely passionate about our sport and our athletes since most of us were athletes of the sport we coach. Most of us are in pretty decent shape and very athletic looking, but we come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. I have almost all of these things in common with my avatar, because I am one of them, so it is not a coincidence. I'm intentionally creating something that I want and don't have because I know that there are others out there who want it too. Here I’ve included a picture of one of my old coaches who taught me everything I know about the sport of gymnastics, and me right beside him. This picture was taken at the 2014 P&G Championships. 

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2 Submit Assignment

Coaches that are looking for personal and professional development help are all looking for quality, and that is the most important piece from what I gathered from my interviews. Price is a factor as well because coaches on average don’t make much money, so I will ned to keep that in mind. 

The alternatives to what I will be offering is a going to school for sports psychology, being involved in a different program with the same objective, or, self-educating though books/other means. 

My product will be online, so they will have to buy online, and since what I’m offering will be subscription based, there won’t be finance options. Going to school, however, is financeable..obviously. but insanely more expensive that my program. All my interviewees said they’d rather buy a $20 monthly subscription to a program that will directly teach them what they want to know about developing personally and professionally than go to college, pay thousands of dollars, and have to go through a bunch of prerequisite classes that have nothing to do with what they actually want to learn, to hopefully learn something of value. 

The general census was that if they can take something from it to apply to their lives/careers, it was a good purchase. If not, then it was a bad purchase. 

Coaches are going to gauge whether this is something they really need, and then they will do research to find what is out there and while they are looking for good price value, they are looking for great quality just as much. Obviously, if they’re learning something, they’ll keep buying, if not, they’ll cancel their subscription. 

14A – Halfway Reflection Submit Assignment

1) A behavior that I have developed to keep up with the requirements of this course is looking at the assignments ahead of time so I am mentally prepared for what the assignments will require me to do. 

2) I’ve definitely had many moments during this course where I wanted to give up and not do certain assignments, but what pulled me through was the incentive to lose as few point as possible for the sake of my grade in this course. Plus a couple of the assignments are actually helpful in developing my business plans. So, the fact that ill actually be able to take something away from this class is great. I honestly cant say that about any other college class I’ve take in the past. 

3) Three tips I would have is first, work ahead. Second, keep in mind the big picture. This class can actually help you create some financial dignity. Third, really read people’s feedback. This can actually help you. 

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1 Submit Assignment

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight 

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

What surprised me was different aspects like how originally, Nike wasn’t called Nike, it was called Blue Ribbon. Also, many of of obstacles they faced putting things into action, like they’re struggle with shipping and keeping up with demand. 

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I most admired his childlike belief in his dream and his relentless loyalty to his dream. 

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

There really wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about him. He was comical throughout the book and I just have a lot of respect for him and what he was able to create through his mentality and willingness to work. 

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

This entrepreneur encountered a lot of adversity and failure, and I loved his attitude about it. He talked about how knowing when to give up and start something different wasn’t a bad thing, and knowing when something doesn’t work to make changes is vital to your entrepreneurial journey. When he came up against obstacles he simply figured it out one way or another. He utilized his team and was a solution seeker.  

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

The biggest competencies he exhibited was his knowledge about shoes, and his vision for what he wanted to create. I think the vision was the most important part, because from this vision came his desire and willingness to create. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

When he spoke on his relationships with his family members, what confused me was the way close relationships were back then. I had to remember that the time he was speaking of was a completely different time, and there were different standards and norms. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

I would ask him how he was able to effectively deal with negative people, and if he ever doubted being able to bring his vision to life. I would ask these things because I’m fully aware that the entrepreneur journey is a rollercoaster, and I would love to get his mindset on how he navigated hard times. 

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

His opinion on hard work was probably that it kinda sucked at times, abut was necessary to bring the dream to life. I would fully agree with that. 

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

These interview were very simple for me given the nature of the area I’ll be working in. To give a brief overview of my interviews, my customers find the most need during the moments they are having a hard time communicating with their athlete in high frustration moments. The coaches said that during these times they usually just stay to themselves and hope things are better the next day, or ask another coach how they would’ve handled the situation. None of my interviewees said anything about looking up information online, but mores just asking a more experienced coach for advice, and this is because they don’t know of any valuable information on the internet for this specific issue. I learned that since most coaches are probably not looking online for help, but looking to other people for help, I will need to be able to market my product/service in a way that coaches will find it or hear about it, especially if they’re doing none or very little internet search.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

My name is Vanasia Bradley, I work part time, study full time, and make progress in my personal growth and entrepreneurial journeys in my non-productive time. My most obvious talent thus far in my life has been my athletic ability in gymnastics, however, I am more than just the “really good gymnast”. I now coach, and outside of gymnastics I have very few (if any) professional skills, but I do have really good interpersonal skills, thanks to introverted intuition, a mom who’s a psychologist, and mentors who are experts in communication. I had a lot of experience being an athlete and so far I have just a few years of coaching experience, and I consider myself still very new to coaching since I have so much to learn. My aspirations include marriage, family, financial freedom, traveling, and as it relates to this course, impacting the coaching and sports realm by creating a resource for coaches to learn not how to teach the skills, but how to coach the athlete. My experience as a high level athlete taught me that being dedicated to a sport for 15 years was never about what I got from it, but who I became through it, and I have my old coaches to thank for that perspective. 

What I will be offering to customers is a resource for coaching to have access to, that will provide personal and professional development materials to learn from so they can effectively and constructively (not destructively) coach their athletes. These materials will be in the form over curriculums, videos, and books. Eventually I see this scaling to a point where we host online and in-person seminars, and provide 1 on 1 coaching to coaches who are looking to grow. 

These products and services would be offered to coaches of any sport who are looking to grow personally and professionally. Something all my customers have in common is a passion to grow, for whatever purpose. Some coaches may want to improve to be better professionally, and others may want to improve so they can effect their athletes in a more positive way. Whatever the reason may be, they would all have a desire to become a better version of themselves. 

Customers would pay for my product/service, because like I mentioned before, they want to become better. Maybe some of them have encountered different athletes that they just couldn’t figure out how to coach in a way that they needed to be coached, and therefore could not help them improve. Maybe some of them have a reputation that’s not so positive because they have at times become verbally abusive toward their athletes without even realizing it. Or maybe some of them think they’re doing a great job and just want to know more about how they can be a better coach for their athletes. Some people are simply obsessed with growth, personally or professionally. There are a lot of coaches out there that want more guidance, and for whatever that reason is, I want to create a resource for them, because we as coaches are deprived of good, easily accessible information specifically geared toward communication skills between coach and athlete. 

What sets me apart from everyone else is my personal experience as an athlete and my drive to make an impact in this very specific area. I have experienced first hand how a coach can be very well-intentioned, but really just not know how to constructively channel their passion, drive, and will for their and my own success. I am very passionate about this particular subject, and I am willing to do the research, and connect with the right people to be able to have access to more people and information that most people may not be willing or able to seek after. I am willing to spend all the time necessary putting together a product/service that can impact thousands of people and bring value to their lives. And all of these things I believe set me apart from anyone else. There aren’t a whole lot of people who say they want to coach coaches, so I think I am tapping into an almost untouched territory as well. 

I believe all these elements do fit well together, and I do know that what I want to create is going to be a work in progress, and will not be something I can start up right after this course is over. Between who I am, my experience, what I’m passionate about, the work I’m willing to do, what I want to provide, and the people I want to provide it to, there are direct relations. 

10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1 Submit Assignment

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2 Submit Assignment

Given that my product/service is geared toward a very specific group of people (coaches), it was not difficult to know who is and who is not subject to the content I will be providing. In my interviews I found that people who are or are not potential customers has nothing to do with any kind of demographic, but everything to do with whether or not the person wants to improve professionally. 

Who: There are people who fall outside of the opportunity, and those people really would do those who do not wish to learn more about effective coaching. 

What: The products and services I will be providing is not for coaches who want to learn how to coach skills in their sport. My opportunity is not to teach a sport, but rather how to coach the athlete. 

Why: I personally think all coaches could benefit from what I’ll be providing, regardless of experience or achievements. However, the need for someone inside the boundary is going to be different in that they have a desire to improve, whereas the need for someone outside the boundary does not have this desire. 

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: coaches who want to improve.	Who is Not: people who are not coaches and coaches who are not looking to improve.
What the Need Is: to learn how to coach athletes more effectively.	What the Need Is Not: not to learn how to teach athletic skills.
Why the Need Exists: there are very limited resources for coaches to educate themselves.	Alternative Explanations: some coaches do not feel they have a need to improve.

8A – Solving The Problem Submit Assignment

The problem I am addressing is the lack of educational materials for sports coaches to tap into to personally develop as an individual and as a coach to be able to coach more effectively and positively. The solution to this problem will be to launch an online platform, or joining another already established business, for me to release video content, curriculums, books (potentially), and eventually provide services that would entail traveling to sports academies and holding seminars for coaches to attend. I have an old coach who started a very successful online platform selling video content teaching gymnastics skills, and after talking to him about it, I plan on potentially going into business with him as he was looking for other content to add to his website that could really add more value to his subscribers and impact people in a more meaningful way. After some time, I see this becoming a well known resource for coaches to revolutionize the way they teach their athletes.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1) Opportunity to provide an educational resource for coaches to learn effective coaching skills through online materials and eventually services like hosting coaching seminars and personalized coaching for coaches. 

2) The Who: Coaches

The What: Educational resource for coaches

The Why: Personal skill development resources are lacking in the athletic coaching realm. 

3) Testing the who: Originally my aim was explicitly for coaches of athletes. My experience as an athlete having different coaches and many experiences has driven me to want to provide a resource of education for coaches who are looking for more out of their careers and want to become the best coach they can. I would be providing educational material to help these coaches learn constructive coaching mechanisms. An idea that was introduced to me during an interview was that my educational resources don’t have to be restricted to coaches of athletes, but my resource could be helpful to those also who are in the life coaching/mentoring professions, or anyone who considers themselves any kind of coach. While I think that is a great idea, I’m not sure I want to go that broad since I don’t know much about other coaching professions outside of the athletic world, and while I still plan on gearing my content toward coaches who coach athletes, my resources will be available to anyone who wants access to them. 

Testing the what: The only boundaries I and the people I interviewed see within this need, are the boundaries that people put on themselves. The materials I will provide can be helpful to any coach, not matter their level. Some college and professional level coaches may not become customers just because they may not feel the need to improve, but there will be some who still do. 

Testing the why: Different people’s “why” for wanting a product/service like this vary slightly. The underlying reason for wanting this resource is for professional and personal development. Through my interviews I find out that some coaches want to become better coaches so they can help produce more socially intelligent people through athletics because they already have a really good grasp on how to effectively teach athletic skills. Others want a resource like this so they can effectively coach athletes to become more competitive because they know how to coach skills but they have a hard time with the psychological aspect of athletics. And other coaches want a combination of both. My original idea was to impact for the reason of helping athletes become the best versions of themselves, not not a high level athlete, but whatever the reason people would want to utilize my resource, it can be extremely beneficial. 

What I don’t know about this opportunity before is that it could appeal to a much wider variety of people, not just coaches of athletes, but coaches of other fields as well. 

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends Submit Assignment

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends Submit Assignment

1) Online business is becoming even more popular now. An educational platform to help people understand their options in online business, how to start one, how to market one, and how to become profitable, I think would be very helpful for some of those wanting to take more control of their finances. After this economic crisis recently, I think there will be a boom in entrepreneurs because people my age are learning for the first time that there is little, if any security in a job. The customer for a resource like this could be anyone, but I would expect it to be mostly adults in their late teens or twenties. I don't think this opportunity would be too difficult to exploit, because people are going to be actively looking for opportunities and looking at what their options are. This knowledge came from just general knowledge about our world's current situation.
2) Economic changes recently with everyone staying home has caused a major decline in CO2 emissions. A lot of people are seeing this and are recognizing the impact on staying home, instead of driving everywhere all the time, and many jobs are going o be allowing their employees to continue working from home. an opportunity here I could see is to affair a personal assistant type of offering, similar to something like instacart, but more personable where someone can do more than just buy your groceries but also take care of other responsibilities for you while you work at home. This idea came from two articles: one a read about the recent global warming changes, and another I read about the job market changing. This might be difficult to exploit because I'm not sure how high the demand would be right now which most people not looking to spend too much money, and also because after people work at home all day, they might want to get out of the house and do things themselves. The customer in this situation would be any adult, probably mostly ones who are now working from home.
3) Obviously regulatory changes have occurred where in some places we are required to wear masks or wash our hands before entering the building. An opportunity here could be to manufacture masks, especially kids sizes. Many people are still needing them and can't get access to them. Anyone who leaves the house is a customer for this. This opportunity might be difficult to exploit because so many other people have already started selling masks, but it might not be too difficult because people are still experiencing having to wait multiple weeks or months for their masks to come in. This information came through just general knowledge about our world's current situation.
4) With schools being closed and us not knowing when they will re-open, there are a lot of parents in need of schooling services. There may be parents who enjoy their kids being home, but don't want to teach them school material. An opportunity here would be to start an online schooling curriculum where kids interact with heir teacher online and have their school supplies mailed to them, or have virtual school supplies. I think this would be a very difficult opportunity to exploit because I'm not sure how high the demand would be, and because there are already other schooling curriculums out there for parents to choose from. The customer would be parents of children who either don't work or work from home. I came up with this idea just from an article I read for our 5A assignment.

5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

Credit Score Drop? How to Diagnose Why, and What to Do Next

https://www.gainesville.com/ZZ/business/20200522/credit-score-drop-how-to-diagnose-why-and-what-to-do-next

This article talks about how to figure out why your credit score dropped and what step you can take to fix the problem. It goes into specifics on what issues people may come across and specifically how to work toward a solution. The need I found within this article is services that can do all of this for you. Someone could start a business having to do with dealing with the credit companies to fix their problems for them instead of the individual having to do all the leg work. People with poor credit or unknown reasons for a dropped credit score have this problem.  

Inside a changing industry: Animal Rescues 

https://www.alligator.org/covid-19/inside-a-changing-industry-animal-rescues/article_8f6140b0-a145-11ea-ba91-13710dee21c6.html 

This article talks about the issues of adopting and fostering in Gainesville during quarantine time. Shelters are having a hard time getting funding from outside sources because of the lack of activity, and while fostering rates are up, adoption rates are not. So there is clearly an unmet need for these animal shelters. 

Homeless encampment broken up by Florida Department of Corrections 

https://www.alligator.org/covid-19/homeless-encampment-broken-up-by-florida-department-of-corrections/article_7418e4a4-9a3b-11ea-8cff-af89eda6a2e5.html 

This article speaks on the lack of protection for homeless people. Recently in Gainesville over 50 homeless people were forced to vacate an area because it was about to be bulldozed, and there was nothing the homeless people could do about their temporary home there. Homeless people have an unmet need for shelter, that maybe this could be solved through a nonprofit organization. 

Student mothers struggle to find balance in quarantine 

https://www.alligator.org/covid-19/student-mothers-struggle-to-find-balance-in-quarantine/article_b30276bc-92e3-11ea-8850-b772b0d2b2f1.html 

This article talks about how student mothers during this time in quarantine are having a hard time juggling schoolwork and giving their child enough attention since childcare centers are closed. It talks about multiple different mothers and their experiences. 

UF faculty juggle motherhood and work during quarantine 

https://www.alligator.org/covid-19/uf/uf-faculty-juggle-motherhood-and-work-during-quarantine/article_211440b8-92ee-11ea-a663-e342c4bcd816.html 

This article talks about a lot of sillier concepts to student mothers having a hard time juggling college and motherhood. The only difference here is college professors too are having a hard time juggling work and motherhood.