14A - Halfway Reflection

14A - Halfway Reflection
Tenacity & Paying it Forward


The biggest behavior I have used to keep up with this course is time management. Time management is one of the biggest things I have struggled with my whole life because I don't particularly enjoy doing schoolwork. For most of my life, school has came easy to me. I view this as both a blessing and a curse because I haven't had to put in as much effort as others to do well, but now it is more difficult because I do not have good study habits established yet. Over the course of my freshman year, the development of better time management skills has allowed me to do much better in my classes and to keep on track of assignments, especially in this class.

One of the biggest moments in time I felt like giving up was earlier on in the semester. I was in my hometown for a wedding and I completely forgot that there were three assignments due in the class. I can still remember the feeling of my heart dropping when I realized I forgot to complete them. I was so frustrated and wanted to give up, but I decided to push through and try extra hard in order to make sure I can still get a desirable grade. I have learned from this mistake and I now always keep up with my assignments in this class as much as possible.

The first tip I would give next semester's student in order to create a tenacious mindset is to create a checklist in your notes each week of what you will accomplish each day. I recently started doing this during this semester and it has definitely helped me keep track of my assignments better. It also makes me feel more accomplished when I see all of the things I have completed, and it makes me want to keep working hard. The second tip I have is to reward yourself for working hard and completing all of your assignments and studying. College can be tough, and it's important to stop every once in a while and be proud of what you have accomplished. Lastly, be sure to still focus in on this class even though it may not seem as difficult. I often found myself being so caught up in studying for my other exams that I forget to do my work for this class until the last minute. It is important to prioritize your tasks while still making sure to take care of the littler things.

13A Reading Reflection #1

13A - Reading Reflection #1

For this exercise, I decided to read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance. The thing that surprised me most was that Musk dropped out of Stanford. This surprised me because he prides himself on hard work and determination, so it's weird to think of him quitting. The thing about Elon Musk that I admire most is his tenacity towards each project he embarks on. He is someone who I have been interested in long before this blog post, and I try to keep up with what he is doing. My family owns a Tesla and supports most of his projects, and I look forward to everything else he attempts to accomplish. I appreciate how Musk is able to push the boundaries to new levels that nobody else has been able to before. However, the thing that I least admire about him is that sometimes he does not know when to stop. Musk will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, which can be a good and bad thing. One of the biggest ways he faced adversity in his life was when he was younger, because he would get bullied a lot. However, I think he definitely pushed through and showed everyone who is boss since he is now a billionaire. 

I believe that Elon Musk is one of the smartest men in the world, and that he will most definitely go down in history for all he is doing. He thinks outside of the box and focuses on what is going to be happening 10 years from now instead of focusing on the present.

I did not believe there was much that was confusing about this reading, however the one thing I did not understand is why Musk decided to step down from PayPal. He had a really good gig going and then just stopped pursuing it. However, it is hard to question his judgement on that decision when you see how far he has come since then. 

1. How do you divide up the time to spend on each of your companies and how do you know when to move on to the next project?

2. Since you are in charge of so many different projects and are constantly working, how much sleep do you get at night?

I think that Elon Musk's middle name is hard work. Tenacity and determination is what he values most about himself and what he values about his employees as well. He refuses to give up on what he believes in, even when the people he cares about most tell him that he can't accomplish it. I feel like I have this mindset to an extent, however, I am still not to the point in my life where I do not doubt myself anymore. 

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Assignment 12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior #1

Segment: Demographics (Age) - All of the students I interviewed were between the ages of 18-22 and in the undergraduate years in college. I chose this segment because these are the people who would most likely want to utilize a Panera location on campus.

Interviews:

1. Brooke - 21 years old, senior year

• Brooke tends to stray away from eating food whenever she is on campus because most of it is fast food and things she doesn't like to eat. Because she lives in an apartment, she tends to cook her own food or use UberEats to deliver food to her apartment. Whenever she does go to campus restaurants, she will only go to Subway or Starbucks because those are the only two that have healthy options and/or coffee.
• She would be extremely interested in a Panera on campus because she likes to drive to the one on Archer, but often gets annoyed because it is so out of her way. She tends to eat at a restaurant about 4-5 times a week and stated that if there was a Panera, she would go there at least once a week. She also said that she gets annoyed because whenever she is sick she has to go to Publix to get soup and having a Panera would make it much easier to get soup delivered.

2. Peyton - 19 years old, freshman year

• Lives at Rawlings Hall and has to eat on campus on the weekends because she does not have meals available for her at her sorority. Because of the limited amount of healthy food options on campus, she typically goes to Publix every weekend and will cook her own food in order to stay healthy. Sometimes this is inconvenient for her and it takes her a long time when she would rather have a quick meal. 
• If she does opt in to eating on campus, it would be 2-3 times a week. She would love to see a Panera on campus because it has all types of food and there are many healthy options. She also likes to try new coffee places and would love to get coffee from Panera instead of Starbucks.

3. Jolie - 18 years old, freshman year

• Jolie lives at Broward Hall and has a meal plan at the dining hall. She finds herself spending a lot more of her flex dollars and regular money at other locations on and off campus because not all of the dining hall food is adequate enough. She has Subway at least twice a week because it is one of the only healthy dining options. Because she does not have a car, she can only go so far off campus for places to get coffee and study. She gets annoyed at how busy the Starbucks locations get. 
• Jolie finds herself eating food outside of the dining hall 5-7 times a week. If there was a Panera, she said she would love to go there all of the time for the food and for a place to study. At her home in Long Island, she would often go to Panera to study when she was in high school.

Findings from Research: 

All three of the girls I interviewed would be interested in putting a Panera location on the University of Florida campus. The girls complained that there are not a lot of healthy food places on campus, so this would be somewhere they could go to a lot. The girls also stated that putting a Panera on campus would allow for UberEats and other delivery services to reach their apartments.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I think that the segment of undergraduate students is going to be who is the most excited about this business opportunity. Although not every student will use the Panera, I believe that most will think it is an excellent restaurant to put on campus. Panera is a one-stop shop for any type of comfort food, coffee, study dates, etc. Adding this restaurant on campus will surely be a plus in the long run. 

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

Assignment 11A - Idea Napkin No. 1
Piecing It All Together

1. You. My name is Natalie Robinson and I am a first-year Business Management major. I love being kind to people and working hard on important things in my life. I hate letting others down and I am a perfectionist which is why I strive to take on leadership roles. I am currently the Activity Points Chairman in my sorority, and I love this position because it allows me to set a good example for other women in the sorority while simultaneously making closer connections with different individuals. My aspirations in life are to become very successful and make a positive impact on others lives. If I were to own my own Panera location and introduce it to campus, I see myself promoting it and focusing on word-of-mouth marketing. Since I love working hard, I would devote all of my free time to making my business the best it could be.

2. What are you offering to customers? I am offering the chance to have more food options on campus by removing one of the current food options and having a Panera take its place. Panera is an excellent restaurant that offers coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. It has many healthy options and even has soups for when a student or faculty members falls ill. It is also an excellent place to study become of its homey and quiet environment.

3. Who are you offering it to? I am offering this product to anyone and everyone including University of Florida students, University of Florida faculty, Gainesville residents, etc. Everyone needs a place to eat and a place to study, and Panera is the perfect place to do both. This is for people who do not have the resources to drive 10 minutes to go get foods that aren't on campus.

4. Why do they care? People care about this product because Panera is one of the most popular places to eat nationwide. The University of Florida has a limited amount of food options on campus, with many of those options being overpriced or unhealthy. Panera is a healthy alternative to any of the restaurants on campus, and it even has soup for whenever people are sick! Panera is also an excellent place to study because of the calming environment and endless coffee options to choose from.

5. What are your core competencies? Panera may seem like any other restaurant, but it is actually the only restaurant that offers coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Panera is the only place on campus that would offer comfort food whenever you get sick. It is also the only place that is very good for studying but also has all types of food, which allows students to study there as long as they need. Because the library and Starbucks are always busy, Panera will allow for a less busy atmosphere so it is easy for students to focus.


I think many aspects of my business concept are good, however my weakest part may be my core competencies. Although Panera is an extremely popular comfort food restaurant, some people may not be as passionate about putting one on campus. I think that if we are able to get a Panera on campus then people would pick eating there over the other restaurants, but I think the challenge would be finding a place to get rid of in order to make room for Panera. However, I do think that I could do a good job advertising my idea because I am good at marketing and I think I am a pretty convincing person. I think that I could do things such as tabling in Turlington and getting people to sign a petition in order to increase the awareness of the need of a Panera on campus, which would help me get more people to push to make this business concept a reality.

10A - Elevator Pitch #1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BAgmcLOQ1WaVp7hqs72uqVlqOrWAWSBF/view?usp=sharing

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

My Opportunity:

The opportunity I have identified is expanding Panera Bread onto the University of Florida campus. Panera Bread is one of the most well-known franchises across America due to its wide variety of food and drink. UF has a limited amount of chain restaurant options on campus, and Panera would be one that could really assist in bringing in more revenue for the school. Panera Bread is perfect for anyone, whether they are in the mood for coffee, comfort food, or a sweet treat. 

The Who: University of Florida students, University of Florida faculty, Gainesville residents

The What: The University of Florida does not have enough chain restaurants on campus. Panera bread is an extremely popular fast-food that could bring in more revenue because it has coffee, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Why: Possibly due to a contract with Starbucks or other companies. Panera could also be against being located on college campuses.

Interview #1: Female Student at Opus Coffee Shop 

Conclusion: 

This student loves to get coffee and sit down somewhere while studying, however Starbucks is typically too rambunctious for her. She said this makes her try to venture to different coffee shops that are more "low-key" where she is able to focus more. However, this causes her to miss out on the food aspect that Starbucks has to offer. She said that if there were a Panera Bread on campus, she would always study there because it would be a quieter environment with excellent food and coffee. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.

Interview #2: Female Student at Pod Market Subway

Conclusion:

This student has a meal plan with a sorority, so she is forced to buy her own food on weekends or whenever she is not satisfied with the meals being served at her house. Since she lives on campus and does not have a car, she has a very limited selection of food to pick from. She said that she gets Subway every weekend and sometimes twice a weekend because of the limited choices of food options on campus. She also stated that since Subway is open later in the night it is easy to go to when she has a midnight craving. When asking this student how she would feel about a Panera on campus, she said she would be eager to eat there because it would give her some diversity in her meal choices. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.

Interview #3: Female Student at Reitz Union

Conclusion: This student has a meal plan with UF and often gets bored with her choices on campus. Whenever she goes to the Reitz Union, the only two places she finds appetizing are Starbucks and Wendy's. She admitted to refusing to try some of the other restaurants simply because they are not chain restaurants. When asked how she would feel about a Panera being put on campus, she said she would be ecstatic and would want to eat there everyday. She also stated that it would be nice because there is not a lot of food on campus that is good to eat when you are sick, so it would be nice to have a Panera to go to in order to get some soup. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity.

Interview #4: Male Student Living Off-Campus

Conclusion: This student lives driving distance from campus and states that the local Panera is the same distance as campus from him. Panera also offers rapid delivery to his apartment, so there would be no need for him to ever utilize the on-campus location. This student was outside the boundary of the opportunity.

Interview #5: Male Student at Library West

Conclusion: This student loves to study at Library West but often gets sick of how long the line is at Starbucks. He, among many others, often resorts to getting UberEats delivered to the library when he knows he will be studying for a long period of time. He says that Panera would be a perfect place to put near campus because he could order coffee, breakfast, lunch, or dinner from there, depending on what time of day he is at the library. This student was inside the boundary of the opportunity. 

Findings Summary:

This exercise has helped me organize my findings and made me realize even further the lack of variety on campus. However, businesses such as Starbucks and Subway will be extremely hard to beat out due to the fact that they have been on campus for much longer. It will be difficult to find a spot to put the Panera on campus, but one of the student I interviewed pointed out how many of the restaurants in the Reitz Union are not a franchise, so this could be a good location. I also think it is important because with the constant population growth for UF, there needs to be more locations to study. 

8A - Solving the Problem

7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

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6A - Identifying Opportunities in Trends

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