Venture Concept No. 2

Metropolis

When looking for an idea for a venture concept, I decided to pursue something that I myself found frustrating about not having in Gainesville – a nice mall. I knew that I was not satisfied with Oaks Mall, and have had many conversations with friends that are in agreement, so that’s what led me to my venture concept – a new mall for the city of Gainesville that is chockfull of high-end dining options, designer-brand shops, an IMAX movie theater, clubs and bars, and other forms of leisure and entertainment. Me being from South Florida, I’m used to malls being a haven for people to go and have fun, not just for shopping (although shopping can indeed be a good time). I believe that Metropolis, Gainesville’s newest and best mall attraction, will fill a need for consumers, be a boon to the economy, and will even be a place that non-residents will be willing to drive to from far away. The opportunity is ripe.

Opportunity

I knew that this was a problem for Gainesville, but I needed to validate my opinions. I interviewed plenty of people, including friends, family, neighbors, and random people throughout the city. The interviews not only helped me complete assignments for the class, they also provided me with a wealth of valuable information from potential consumers. I learned two things throughout this process – Gainesville citizens are in agreement that the one and only mall in the city is incredibly lackluster – and they’re also willing to drive two hours out of their way just to get their shopping done. It is baffling that no one has been willing to step up to the plate to fill this need. Gainesville is growing, and the Butler Plaza developments are proof of that. However, even those plaza developments won’t rival what Metropolis has to offer. There’s nothing in Gainesville that offers high-end shops and entertainment and leisure options. Demographically, this market is largely made up of college students, which include both professional and undergraduate students. There’s also an incredibly diverse population here. Citizens and residents of Gainesville are fulfilling their needs by driving hours out of their way to larger cities to do their shopping and find entertainment options. In my interviews, some people admitted to driving to cities like Jacksonville, Orlando, and Saint Augustine, and they’re incredibly loyal to those cities, but it’s only because of a lack of credible options in their backyards.

Innovation

Metropolis will have luxurious dining options, designer-brand shops, an IMAX movie theater, a Dave and Busters, a bowling/laser tag arena, and much more. There will also be an array of nightlife options, which was a request by popular demand in my interviews. There will be high-end bars and a nightclub on the premises. There will also be a parking garage to assist with traffic congestion. We’ve also decided to implement a car-cleaning service that will wash the cars of patrons while they do their shopping. There will be valet parking and electric-car charging areas, as well. While customers using all of the aforementioned services might appear to be my customers, they aren’t actually mine. My customers are the tenants of Metropolis that pay me rent in order to have space in the area. I charge rental fees to stores and brands that wish to be a part of the exclusive club of Metropolis. I needed to do research to figure out exactly how much I would charge my potential tenants – I settled on roughly $275 per square foot for space, which will apply to rental kiosks, as well. Other revenue streams will include marketing/advertising opportunities – this will include sponsorships, posters, floor decals, free-standing scrollers, cars in the mall, and promotional giveaways. There will also be weekend events, which will include brand-promos, art shows, holiday events, movie-watching events, and courtyard concerts.

Venture Concept

            My venture concept will solve and address this opportunity in Gainesville because there is no parallel for it. Gainesville lacks adequate mall options, which is why Metropolis will thrive here. The citizens of Gainesville badly need it, and the potential tenants should be excited about the opportunity that Gainesville is calling for. This market is not saturated at all either. People will flock to Metropolis because there simply aren’t many options that the people of Gainesville have. Again, people are literally driving out of their way to get their shopping done – vendors and advertisers can be confident in knowing that people won’t have to do that anymore once Metropolis is in town. The biggest competitor for Metropolis is Oaks Mall, and their primary weakness is pretty much everything – they have an uninspiring shopping and dining list, and it hasn’t gotten much better. When people go to a mall, they should be going for the ambiance and experience, and Oaks Mall does not give people any of that. In terms of staffing, this will require a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and a sales team to start. The rest of the staffing is unknown at this time.

Minor Elements

            Metropolis’ primary unfair advantage is the barren market that it will set foot in. There are no competitive options, and even if someone does try and establish a new mall, it will be hard to emulate what Metropolis is seeking to accomplish. Eventually, our business model will expand into online marketing and ecommerce opportunities. There will be an online delivery service that people can take advantage of – if you don’t have time to do your shopping in person, you can buy something from one of our stores online, and a courier will deliver it to you within the hour (for a nominal fee, of course). I’m looking to stick around for a long time – I want to see Metropolis flourish before I move on to another project.

Feedback

            In terms of feedback, while I received incredibly nice comments, I didn’t receive anything that could have enabled me to change much of anything for this venture concept, as only two people actually gave me feedback. One thing that stood out was someone saying that the new development of the Butler Plaza is an indicator that competition might be on its way – and I agree. This actually inspired me to lower my rental fees, which was a big change from my first post. While I initially only wanted to charge $300 per square foot, I now think $275 per square foot is in Metropolis’s best interest. Charging less money for rent will hopefully attract plenty of stores and restaurants to make us more competitive in this space.

 

Final Reflection

After reading through my blog from this semester, I’ve definitely had fun moments and dreadful moments. I’ve had a lot of fun in this class and putting together my venture. However, there were extremely challenging moments and assignments, and I really believe it’s because of the nature of my venture concept. As you’re all aware, I decided to do a new mall for Gainesville. I figured out very quickly that I bit off far more than I could chew.

The most formative experience for me was the “Tweaking the Innovation” assignment. I remember I had to reach out to Professor Pryor for assistance and guidance on this assignment because I had no idea what to do. I had to actually come up with revenue streams for a mall, and aside from tenants paying me rent, I really had to think outside of the box for revenue ideas. Once I put it all together, it not only became my most formative experience, it also because my most enjoyable. I was extremely satisfied with the way the assignment turned out, and I thank Professor Pryor for boosting my confidence with his guidance. My most proud moment of the semester was every single time I interviewed someone for an assignment. I don’t necessarily have the confidence to go up to people to ask them random questions for a class, but I was able to muster enough up to do it. It was an extremely fulfilling experience.

I definitely see myself as an entrepreneur now, or at least having that mindset. As mentioned before, I really had to think outside of the box for this venture concept, and I often found myself solving real-world issues that an entrepreneur would have to face outside of this classroom. I believe that the exercises and independence that this class granted us have moved me closer to developing that mindset that entrepreneurs need. This class requires critical thinking and discipline – much like an entrepreneur would require to face the challenges in any and all projects that they undertake.

To the students going down this path in the future, I strongly recommend that they remain focused, and don’t worry about your evolving business concept. When I first sat down to brainstorm some venture-concept ideas, I really struggled to come up with something, and I often found myself settling on something only to change my mind. I now see that those inner battles as a good thing. It’s alright to change your mind – just settle on something that you know will make you money and make you happy. For this course, I would recommend students embrace their challenges as entrepreneurs. Push yourself to limits, and don’t just pick an easy venture concept just to get yourself through the class and get college credit. To foster that mindset, actually see yourself as an entrepreneur, not just as a student.

Reading Reflection No. 3

1.     What was the general theme of argument of the book?

For this assignment, I decided to read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. The book is essentially about mindset, and how passion, while inherently a good thing, is basically all BS, which I thought was interesting. Scott Adams uses his life experiences and trial and error to create this narrative that we can mostly make our own luck. Even though Adams’s failures included bad luck, among other things, he took those experiences and harnessed them to create success for himself. It was a wildly entertaining book because the tone that he takes is one that definitely resonates within young people.

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

The book connected and enhanced what I’m learning in this class because Adams himself has entrepreneurial experience. In the section where he talks about how passion is bullshit, he talks about how he invested in a restaurant, and his passion was sky-high when he did it. However, the business later failed, and his passion turned into frustration, so it then disappeared. He basically concluded that passion doesn’t cause success, rather than success causes passion. It’s an interesting anecdote because entrepreneurs typically start projects with passion, and that’s kind of where I got my idea for my venture concept at the beginning of the semester.

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

If I designed an exercise for this class, I would ask the class to write a meditation guide (individually). Adams wrote that he and a friend wrote a beginner’s guide to meditation, and that he meditated for years, which came with a lot of benefits. When they advertised it, they learned a great deal about advertising, marketing and product development. I think that would be a very valuable exercise for people in this class because meditation is a good thing, and marketing and advertising experience is invaluable.

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?

I was definitely surprised to see his take on passion. The whole reason why I decided to go back to school to get my Master’s degree is solely because of my passion for sports. I’m a sport management graduate student, and my mantra is when you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. I was definitely surprised to see him say that passion is completely bullshit, especially considering he “still wins big.”