28A- Your Exit Strategy

1. When it comes to my business and my exit strategy it all depends on the market. If the market crashes like it did in 08 people will not want to spend extra money on solar energy so I would sell in 5 years. But my ideal exit strategy would be to one day leave my business to my kids. I think that the economy is moving in the right direction and that there is an opportunity to make a lot of money. If I invest that money right then I believe that my exit strategy can come to life and I can hand the business down to my children one day. 
2. The reason why I chose this particular business strategy is because I think it would be awesome to teach my kids about a certain field or niche and have them become experts in it and continue to help the world by assisting people with renewable energy.
3. Yes I believe it has influenced me. I believe that my personal beliefs made me lean to this exit strategy. 

27A- Reading Reflection No.3

• For my final reading I chose to read Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan. The main theme for this book is how you as the business owner can expand your business. The main ways that he talked about doing this was through social media or online tools such as podcast, webpages, and social networks (Facebook twitter). Once you choose an online tool he explains how to make yours differentiate from others. 
• The way that this book connected with me and my learning for this class was by enhancing your online marketing. I know most business today have a facebook, webpage, etc. But what I really liked about the book was how he went into detail explaining how to differentiate yourself from other people online which is what I really want to do. 
• After reading this book I would have the class find a local business in town look at their social networks and suggest what they could do to improve them. For example take a local restaurant in town and maybe have them post each day a picture of the special for the night. Thus causing more marketing and having people comment on their post. 
• The biggest aha moment for me was learning that I could actually track how well my business is doing  compared to other business in the same field as me online. I thought that was pretty cool and great tool to have. I would highly recommend this book. 

26A- Celebrating Failure

• I failed in this class one time because I read the instructions wrong for an assignment. It was the pitch two video. Instead of applying the feedback from the first video, I thought we were supposed to make a video talking about what we can do better next time on our pitch based on the comments we received. 
• What I learned from this was to take my time and make sure to read the instructions clearly and if I have any questions about an assignment to ask them. 
• My personal belief on failure is that you must experience it to be successful. This class has just solidified my belief when it comes to failure. We as entrepreneurs will most likely experience some kind of failure. It just depends on how we react to failure. Yes I will continue to make risk just now I have more tools to make better judgements on the risk from this class. 

25A- What's Next?

Existing Market- After conducting my interviews I was able to get some constructive criticism as far as my opportunity goes. The people had some good ideas for me as far as my business goes. One idea would be going with one brand of solar panels and maybe having them endorse me in a way or have them refer me when people call about buying solar panels. This will help me bring in more business and build good relations my community. One of the people I interviewed also stated that I would need understand more of the permits that have to be pulled to actually install the solar panel wiring. So I will have to get certified in that or anyone else I have working for me be certified in it.

New Market- After conducting my interviews some people who would be interested in my business once it got big enough would be potentially contracting with the University of Florida or Santa Fe. They both have solar energy on campus. These solar panels need maintenance from time to time and also they could want to expand and maybe use my business to do that.

I knew about UF and Santa Fe having solar panels I just did not know the course I would have to take to make it to where my business would be the one to work on them or install them.

24A- Venture Concept No.1

• The Opportunity at hand would be the ever changing minds of everyday Americans and their views of the environment and how to help with saving it. As the concept of renewable energy continues to be pushed on the public their mindset will change and look at other options for energy such as solar panels. As of right now most people do not know how affordable it really is. By approaching more people and being able to explain to them the benefits too solar energy and the price of it more people should be willing too invest into it. Currently there is a federal grant which you can get if your house income is more than a 100,000 a year. This grant will save you 10,000 dollars. Thus making the demographic for this product middle to upper middle class families who own a home. But learning about information like the grant helps people who do not know but if they did would most likely transfer to solar panels. Currently people are paying for their energy to energy companies who use non renewable resources that hurt our environment. This is a huge opportunity for the solar energy if people start to catch on with the grant and realize how much money they can save and also what kind of impact they can have the environment then I believe people will switch over. It is just going to take time but hopefully will catch on soon. 
• The Innovation I will be selling solar panels based on the watts that they will provide to power their house. If I have to buy the solar panels to install on the customers house then I will charge a rate of $1.35 per watt for instillation. If the customer already has the solar panels bought and just need them installed then I will charge a $1 per watt for instillation. These will be competitive prices. What will differ me from other companies with similar prices will be ethical workers with up front honesty and quality work. 
• The Venture concept will make people want to use my company to install their solar panels on their house because we will be a reputable company. Such as always being up front and honest with prices and making sure to do quality work that looks professional. People will also want to go with my company because I have the same beliefs in them that doing this job will help out our environment in the long run. Our motto will be saving you money and our environment one panel at a time. This will help separate me from my competition. To get my business going and staying up with the market will be making sure that the people who are involved with my company have the same mission and also same idea as my company. My company will have a facebook page and also be able to find us on google with contact information and reviews from our customers. 

My most important resource will be inside people who are already in the industry who I can turn too for advice and help me as I start my company. The next product that I would like to make would be selling solar panel phone charges such as ones you can use at the beach.  In five years I want to have a well established team that has great credibility when it comes to installing solar panels and getting our message out there too the public about solar energy. In ten years I would like to take a step back from the solar energy. Maybe have someone else run the day to day operations while I look for a new opportunity. This venture plan goes along with advice I have received from my peers. 

23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Capability: Communication skills

• valuable- being able to communicate well with potential customers
• rare- I would not say it is rare but not common
• imitable- yes you can learn to better communicate 
• non-substitutable- no substitute 

Capability: Time management skills

• valuable- need this to be an entrepreneur
• rare- yes when being your own boss
• imitable- yes you can learn 
• non-substitutable- no substitute

Capability: Organizational skills

• valuable- yes very valuable because you are your own boss
• rare- depending on the level of organization can be
• imitable- yes you can learn 
• non-substitutable- no substitute

Financial Capital: setting money aside for start up

• valuable- you need money to start company so yes
• rare- to an extent not everyone is good with money
• imitable- you can learn 
• non-substitutable- no substitute 

Social Capital: friend that sells solar panels

• valuable- very valuable already have an inside man 
• rare- yes good to have contacts
• imitable- you can meet people but hard to make good relationships
• non-substitutable- no substitute 

Capability: Creativity 

• valuable- needed to stay ahead of growing industry
• rare- yes helps differ from other companies
• imitable- no you are either creative or not 
• non-substitutable- you can hire someone that is creative

Human Capital:  friends that want to work

• valuable- definitely need good workers for company
• rare- always hard to find good workers
• imitable- you can hire other people just gotta be hard workers
• non-substitutable- no substitute for friends

Capability: Priority management

• valuable- yes need to be able to distinguish between priority of task at hand
• rare- sometimes it is hard to make the hard decisions for a company
• imitable- yes you can hire someone to help with it just gonna cost more money
• non-substitutable- yes you can hire someone

Social Capital: Teachers at UF in the renewable energy sector

• valuable- very valuable because you know more about product
• rare- Can be not everyone knows teacher in this field
• imitable- Someone else could also ask the teachers for help
• non-substitutable- there could be someone who is knowledgeable in field and not be teacher

Capability: Integrity

• valuable- customers want to work with honest people
• rare- some people can be shady so yes honest work is rare
• imitable- there are other honest people out there
• non-substitutable- there are other honest business owners

After conducting the VRIN analysis I came to the conclusion that my social capital was my most valuable knowing people in the right places can be extremely helpful. I can reach out to these people and hopefully give me an edge over my competitors. 

22A- Elevator Pitch No.3

Sorry about the last video I thought we were supposed to talk about the comments that we received on our first elevator pitch.
Here is my 3rd and hopefully final elevator pitch on solar panels https://youtu.be/38ZJEaon6iQ

21A- Reading Reflection No.2

I choose to read The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki.

• The main theme for the book was about feeding the "content monster". According to the book there are two ways of doing this. One by content creation and the other by content curation. Both of these play huge roles in feeding the content monster. In the art of social media you must feed the social media monster if you want to stay relevant or be successful. The book pretty much explains to the reader how to share content and what kind of content to share based on your consumer. 
• I liked the book I thought it is definitely something someone should learn about if they want to be successful in this new social media world. Everyone uses social media well at least the people that would be buying my product would definitely be using it. 
• The exercise I would have the class do after reading the book were to go online to one of their social media accounts and feed the content monster three different times and tell the class what they fed the content monster and why. 
• My aha moment would have been when the author was talking about sharing content that it must have a connection to whatever it is you are sharing because if you are just sharing stuff people will get bored with it and stop following you. 

20A- Growing your social capital

Industry

• I went to Lowes because they sell solar panels where I met a guy named Josh and we ended up talking a lot about solar panels and the industry and how far they have come in the last few years. Josh mainly focuses on selling solar panels there. He would be considered the expert at the store on solar panels. 
• They would be the domain expert because they know a lot about the product or service of solar panels.
• I just went to Lowes and went to the solar panel section in the store saw him there and then started talking to him about solar panels such as different kinds and what not. 
• The favor they did for me was just explain more about the industry such as the best kinds of panels and where you really start to save money.
• Hopefully by knowing him I now have a contact on where to buy solar panels in bulk.

Market

• I met a guy named Andrew who works for Solar Investments Inc. He helps people compare prices between diy solar panel projects and paying someone to install everything. Works for a solar company in Australia. 
• The market expert because he is up to date with all market prices and how these prices make homeowners react tp buying solar. 
• I found a website of his and on the website he had his linkedin so I mesaged him on that and told him my story and asked a few questions pertaining to the assignment. 
• They clarified some grey areas I had about the market and hopefully one day do business with him everything works out. 
• Its one more person I can turn too for advice.

Supplier

• I went online and contacted wholesale solar. I spoke to a lady name Cindy about the company and what sorts of discounts they may offer if buying in bulk or if they contractor discounts. 
• They would be the supplier part. Since they sale in wholesale. 
• I found their website online and found contact information on the website and just called the number. 
• She was able to give me pricing for some general solar panels based on the amount of kilowatt a house would usually use. The return would be me buying solar panels from their company to install.
• I now have someone to call and order solar panels from for a reasonable price. 

After working on this assignment I found it very useful because I focused on my opportunity and was able to get more information on the opportunity that I see. I plan now to reach out to more people and get more information hopefully.

19A- Idea Napkin No.2

1. My name is Clayton Patton I am a junior here at the University of Florida working on my bachelors in Food and Resource Economics. I plan to graduate next spring. Some talents that I believe that I have include performing well under high amounts of pressure or stress. Some skills and experience that I have come from my time in the Army. An example of this would be when I built a runway in Latvia and we had no rock for compaction so we tore down and old building and used it instead. I pride myself on motivating all types of people to work and accomplish the task at hand. With this comes good communication skills which I also have. If I were to start this business then it would definitely take up most of my time and keep me from farthing my school. I hope it would grow and give me direction for my career.
2. I am offering customers clean energy for their house that will one day pay itself off by installing solar panels to their house. The solar panels in a sense wouldn't be different from what else is out there. There aren't a lot of solar panel companies producing solar panels. It comes down to selling them at a reasonable price when compared to other companies price. 
3. The demographics that I plan to sell to is government buildings and upper to middle class families that can afford the solar panels. These people will want to buy because of the investment opportunity and wanting to help the environment. When it comes to the government  I mean getting the contract to supply the solar panels to government buildings or maintain the solar panels on government buildings. Solar panels require maintenance so if you get a contract with the government you know for the length of that contract you will be well off. 
4. The reason why they would care is because they care about the environment just like people pay extra for organic food people will pay extra for "organic" energy such as solar panels hopefully.
5. Some core competencies that I will have will be professionalism that sets us apart such as always being on time for instillation, making sure that the area of installation is properly cleaned up and that the customer is always treated with respect.

After redoing my idea napkin I believe for the most part that these elements fit together. I hope that I was able to better explain it the second time around. If I had something out of place it would have been the government aspect of the idea napkin. I hope I better explained it this time. 

Two main points that I took away from the comments that I read was more examples such as explaining the government contracts and me working under stressful situations. The other main point I took out of it was being more specific. 

18A- Create a Customer Avatar

Here is the avatar that I came up with for my customer. My customer is a middle aged man who enjoys playing golf on the weekends. They tend to drive an economically efficient car. Most likely white car. Some tv shows that they enjoy come on HGTV. Yes they have 1 to 2 children. No adopted children. They enjoy crime mystery books and as far as politicians go they go with whoever cares more about the environment. They are in their mid to upper 40's. They feel like they are still in their 30's. I feel like I have a common interest in same politicians that care for the environment. No I do not think  it is a coincidence. We both care about the environment so it makes sense.

17A- Elevator Pitch No.2

Here is my video hope you enjoy!
https://youtu.be/qXhoK0Nzn0s