30A – Final Reflection

After reading through my posts from this semester, I realized how far I have come with my entrepreneurial skills.  I think the experience that stood out to me the most was reading the book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.  I feel like this book epitomizes the mindset that every entrepreneur should have because when it comes to being an entrepreneur you are going to fail many times until you perfect your product.  The failures are the most important part as they teach you a lot about yourself as well as what needs to be fixed with your product.  It is crucial that people learn how to learn from mistakes and never give up.  I think after going through the process of designing my opportunity I do see myself as an entrepreneur.  Even though what I did was the easy part of the process, I still believe that I completed every aspect as if I was going to complete this product.  If I had to recommend one thing to future students it would be to give their full effort on these assignments, because if they have enough drive to actually follow through with their product, this class is a very good foundation to start with.  In order to do their best and foster an entrepreneurial mindset, they should develop a product or service that they are passionate about.  I am passionate about football so I chose to develop a football-related service which made it easier for me to focus on the product when doing the assignments.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

1) Football is a sport that is loved by many Americans.  People take pride in their hometown team and cheer them on to Super Bowl victories.  For the players, coaches, and owners, their whole life and career is based on their team’s success on the field.  However, it can be difficult to win based on talent when the referees miss calls or make incorrect calls.  The job of a referee is to create an equal playing field for both teams.  However, referees can make mistakes that can cost teams a shot at a championship, which can cost players and coaches their jobs.  The referees are employees of the NFL and do not represent the teams.  What I have proposed, is a third-party refereeing service that represents the players and coaches when throughout the game.  The big event that gave me the idea for this service was the NFC championship this year.  A missed pass interference call ruined the Saints’ chance at a comeback against the Rams late in the game.  If the Saints had been granted the correct call, there is a high chance that they would have scored.  After the game, the NFL admitted that it was a blatant missed call that actually broke two different rules of the game.  This is a huge opportunity as there is a lot of money in the NFL and football is a game loved across America.  This opportunity will be around as long as the game of football is, which I think will be a long time.  The need is not currently being satisfied, as the referees are not representing the players and coaches.

The service that I will be selling is a third party refereeing service that will be paid for by the teams that are playing.  Each team will have a direct contact to a representative in a booth, and each representative will have direct contact to the on-field referees.  Coaches will be able to tell the representative what calls they are confused or unsure of, and the representative will work to confirm or deny the call.  The representative will have access to everything the referees do, meaning they will have high quality instant replay.  The representatives will be able to discuss calls with referees if they feel a call was incorrect or missed.  Teams will pay for the service by the season, and then each team will pay per playoff game.  Playoff games will be equipped with more staff and technology and therefore will cost more than regular season games.  There will be minimal costs to this business as there is not a product that needs to be created so there are no manufacturing or distribution costs.  Marketing costs will be minimal as well because once the teams have the product, there is not many more customers to sell it to.  I would price the service at around fifty thousand dollars per team per game.  That puts the revenue at a little over twenty five million dollars per regular season.  Teams will pay one hundred thousand dollars per playoff game.  This would make our service very profitable.

Since the only other alternative to officiate games are the actual referees, it will not be hard to get teams and coaches to buy into this service.  There are no other competitors selling a service such as this so our service will be successful once implemented.  There is not really a packaging or distribution strategy as the teams will be approached by representatives of the service in order to purchase it.  The representatives will meet with the teams throughout the week before games as they see fit, and will be in attendance of every game.  I would develop a business that would look into the different aspects of officiating a game.  There will be people dedicated to working with the teams, people dedicated to developing technology to get better insight into the plays that are developing on the field, and people dedicated to working with the NFL to better their referees and work with our service.  The business will be made up of at least two hundred people, as there will be five representatives per each of the thirty two teams.

What my “unfair advantage” is in this case is the fact that once the service is bought by them teams and they are comfortable putting the calls of the game into my service’s hands, there is a very small chance that they will switch to another company.  We will have experts in football as well as quality technology that will make it difficult for teams to want to switch to a new company.  The next opportunity that I would want to tackle is diversifying the service to officiate other levels of football, and even other sports.  Missed or incorrect calls happen in every sport at every level so once the service gains popularity we may look to expand our reach.  Where I want to be in the next five years with this product is having a serious service that is fully equipped with technology and experts in order to approach NFL teams and have them buy our product.  If we can have the service perfected by the time we pitch this idea to the NFL, then we should have no problem persuading them to utilize it throughout their season.

2) I did not receive any feedback on the "Whats Next" assignment or the first "Venture Concept"

3) I added some more detail on what the service would entail, and how I could improve upon it in the future.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make:
The exit strategy that I plan to make is to perfect this refereeing service and run it for decades.  Once it is perfected to my standards and is utilized throughout various sports leagues.  Once this happens, I will sell the company and retire.  Hopefully, I will have made enough money for my family and I to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?
The reason that I selected this particular strategy is so that I can take pride in my company.  If I sell the company early in its life, I will not feel the same pride I would feel if I ride with the company for awhile.  This way I also give myself time during my early retirement in order to spend quality time with my loved ones.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept?
I think my exit strategy has had a positive influence on the decisions that I've made for this concept.  I have put more thought and effort into each stage in order to increase my chances for success.  If I had planned on selling the company early, I would not have to worry about the concept as much as somebody else would be doing most of this work.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Chris Anderson

• What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book was essentially explaining why the 80/20 rule works. Anderson stresses the idea that a lot of niche items can outsell a few big hit items. Niche markets are the new thing because of how many products can be offered online. There is an endless amount of people that can create endless products to meet rare and unusual needs.

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

How this connected with what I've learned is that a big part of entrepreneurship is finding an unmet need that could be fulfilled. Entrepreneurs need to be creative when searching for untapped markets and niche products. It also enhances the ideology that no idea or product is too crazy. Since there is so much opportunity to create and market products through the internet, it creates more opportunities for people to find unique products.

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

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on the book, I would have the students research a company or market where the 80/20 rule actually exists. They should have to research the products that are creating this rule and why it exists. It will be a good opportunity for students to realize the possibilities that small niche markets offer.

• 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?

My biggest 'aha' moment was learning that a lot of random niche goods often outsell a few hit items. With the high price and prevalence of big ticket items such as cars or cell phones, people don't thin about the cheaper products that solve a rare need. People tend to focus on their one big idea, when in reality they would be better off coming up with some cheap and simple niche products.

26A – Celebrating Failure

One time I failed this semester was my first exam in my Intro to Information Systems class.  I didn't take the first exam too seriously, mostly because I had two harder classes to study for around the same time.  I had to take this exam right after my Financial Accounting exam, and only studied for about an hour.  I got a low C on the first exam and was very disappointed.  The material on the exam had to do with the inner workings of computers, which is something I had little prior knowledge of.

What I learned from this was that I need to take even the "easy" classes more seriously.  I also need to learn how to manage my time better so that I am not forced to be studying for three exams at the same time.  I have began putting more effort into this class.  Not only because I want a better grade, but because I do not know as much about this subject and I want to be able to understand it.

Failing absolutely sucks.  Nobody likes to fail or strives for failure.  However, it is very valuable to your success when you fail.  You can learn a lot about yourself and your ability to overcome challenges.  You learn what mistakes you made and how to correct them.  I handle failure with poise, as you can't let it take over your emotions or you will lose confidence in your abilities.  This class has definitely lessened my fear of failure.  In the entrepreneurship world, failure is common and many successes come from a lot of failures.

25A – What’s Next?

What I think Is Next:
I think the next step for my service is developing technology to help both the NFL referees and our own representatives make more accurate calls in less time. 

Interview 1: This interviewee thought that I should develop a course for NFL referees to take in order to enhance their education and experience with refereeing.
Interview 2: This interviewee said that I should focus on developing player and ball tracking technology in order to know exactly what happened during every play.
Interview 3: This interviewee said that I should focus on bettering the current technology that the NFL utilizes.

I think what makes sense for my company in this market is developing new technology.  New technology can be useful to not only our referees and representatives, but it will help with more accurate statistics throughout the game.


What I Think Is Next:
I think the next step for Officiating for the People is to develop a similar refereeing service for other sports.  Calls are missed or incorrect in every sport at every level, so they can utilize my service as well in order to increase the accuracy of calls.

Interview 1: This interviewee thought that I should develop a course for training referees in other sports.
Interview 2: This interviewee said that I should focus on expanding the service into other sports.
Interview 3: This interviewee also said that I should focus my efforts on developing the service to be used by other sports.

I think that expanding into other sports definitely makes the most sense.  When companies are successful in one sector of the market, they expand into other sectors with the hopes of succeeding there as well.  This is what my company will do once we are successful in the NFL.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1; Officiating for The People

Football is a sport that is loved by many Americans.  People take pride in their hometown team and cheer them on to Super Bowl victories.  For the players, coaches, and owners, their whole life and career is based on their team’s success on the field.  However, it can be difficult to win based on talent when the referees miss calls or make incorrect calls.  The job of a referee is to create an equal playing field for both teams.  However, referees can make mistakes that can cost teams a shot at a championship, which can cost players and coaches their jobs.  The referees are employees of the NFL and do not represent the teams.  What I have proposed, is a third-party refereeing service that represents the players and coaches when throughout the game.  The big event that gave me the idea for this service was the NFC championship this year.  A missed pass interference call ruined the Saints’ chance at a comeback against the Rams late in the game.  If the Saints had been granted the correct call, there is a high chance that they would have scored.  After the game, the NFL admitted that it was a blatant missed call that actually broke two different rules of the game.  This is a huge opportunity as there is a lot of money in the NFL and football is a game loved across America.  This opportunity will be around as long as the game of football is, which I think will be a long time.  The need is not currently being satisfied, as the referees are not representing the players and coaches.

The service that I will be selling is a third party refereeing service that will be paid for by the teams that are playing.  Each team will have a direct contact to a representative in a booth, and each representative will have direct contact to the on-field referees.  Coaches will be able to tell the representative what calls they are confused or unsure of, and the representative will work to confirm or deny the call.  The representative will have access to everything the referees do, meaning they will have high quality instant replay.  The representatives will be able to discuss calls with referees if they feel a call was incorrect or missed.  Teams will pay for the service by the season, and then each team will pay per playoff game.  Playoff games will be equipped with more staff and technology and therefore will cost more than regular season games.  There will be minimal costs to this business as there is not a product that needs to be created so there are no manufacturing or distribution costs.  Marketing costs will be minimal as well because once the teams have the product, there is not many more customers to sell it to.  I would price the service at around fifty thousand dollars per team per game.  That puts the revenue at a little over twenty five million dollars per regular season.  Teams will pay one hundred thousand dollars per playoff game.  This would make our service very profitable.

Since the only other alternative to officiate games are the actual referees, it will not be hard to get teams and coaches to buy into this service.  There are no other competitors selling a service such as this so our service will be successful once implemented.  There is not really a packaging or distribution strategy as the teams will be approached by representatives of the service in order to purchase it.  The representatives will meet with the teams throughout the week before games as they see fit, and will be in attendance of every game.  I would develop a business that would look into the different aspects of officiating a game.  There will be people dedicated to working with the teams, people dedicated to developing technology to get better insight into the plays that are developing on the field, and people dedicated to working with the NFL to better their referees and work with our service.  The business will be made up of at least two hundred people, as there will be five representatives per each of the thirty two teams.

What my “unfair advantage” is in this case is the fact that once the service is bought by them teams and they are comfortable putting the calls of the game into my service’s hands, there is a very small chance that they will switch to another company.  We will have experts in football as well as quality technology that will make it difficult for teams to want to switch to a new company.  The next opportunity that I would want to tackle is diversifying the service to officiate other levels of football, and even other sports.  Missed or incorrect calls happen in every sport at every level so once the service gains popularity we may look to expand our reach.  Where I want to be in the next five years with this product is having a serious service that is fully equipped with technology and experts in order to approach NFL teams and have them buy our product.  If we can have the service perfected by the time we pitch this idea to the NFL, then we should have no problem persuading them to utilize it throughout their season.