A simple business plan for cheaper oat milk in Taiwan

 We all deserve the freedom of choosing plant-based products.

Oat milk is a kind of plant-based milk derived from whole oat grains by extracting the plant material with water. Oat milk has a creamy texture and oatmeal-like flavor. Oat milk may be consumed to replace dairy milk in vegan diets, or in cases of medical conditions where dairy is incompatible, such as lactose intolerance or an allergy to cow milk. Compared to dairy milk and other vegan milk products, oat milk has relatively low environmental impacts due to its comparatively low land and water needs for production.

However, it is just too expensive compare to dairy milk. In Taiwan, you can buy a bottle of 936ml dairy milk for NT$90. But, it costs you at least NT$189 to buy a 936ml oat milk which is almost twice as much since they are imported from western countries. This is just insane. Therefore, the mission here is to bring much cheaper and but still high-quality oat milk for the people in Taiwan to fill the need of oat milk lovers, vegans, and any other people who want to switch their diets to plant-based. A plant-based should not be a right only for the few. I believe everyone should have the freedom to choose oat milk for their favor or health rather than be limited by their living conditions or income. 

Therefore, the mission of the company is to make much more affordable and high-quality oat milk to make profits. And by sourcing its raw materials from the local suppliers and manufacture locally, I believe the product should be much cheaper than imported oat milk. 

The Needs Should Be Satisfied

We all deserve the freedom of choosing oat milk. High-quality oat milk should also have an affordable price tag. Without the budget constraint, you can choose to drink more oat milk. 

Differentiation

i. The price

Obviously, the products are much cheaper than the competitors. 

ii. The quality

Sacrifice the quality for lower prices? No, it is not what I want and also not what the customers want. By local sourcing, reducing the delivery cost, and manufacture locally, I believe it can be much cheaper than it was without sacrificing any little quality.

iii. Disintermediation, Directly sell to customers online

To save more costs and offer affordable prices, sell products directly to customers from the factories. Many foreign companies cooperate with distributors, dealers, or retailers in Taiwan to sell their products. However, this is one of the major issues why their products are always so expensive. 

In the future, I believe that as I launch this much cheaper product. The competitors may have two choices, trying to reduce the prices or keep the higher prices to spend more on branding and advertisement. Either way does not seem like a long-term strategy. However, they can also build their factories in Taiwan and take advantage of their brand image to sell their products. That increases the opportunities for the local workers and with more and more competitors join this race, I believe will eventually achieve the mission, "We all deserve the freedom of choosing plant-based products." 

The Business Plan

Who is the customer?

The major customer of the products initially will be those who make their purchasing decisions mostly depend on the prices. Then, spread to everyone who loves plant-based drinks, oat milk lovers, especially those who want to buy oat milk but give up due to the high prices. Anyone who likes the taste of oat milk. Oat milk may be consumed to replace dairy milk in vegan diets, or in cases of medical conditions where dairy is incompatible, such as lactose intolerance or an allergy to cow milk. In addition, compared to dairy milk and other vegan milk products, oat milk has relatively low environmental impacts. So, it is also a great choice for environment protectors.

How does the customer make decisions about buying this product or service?

The objective here is to bring cheaper but still high-quality oat milk for those potential customers. Similar to Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, creating the first automobile that middle-class Americans could afford, he converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into an accessible conveyance that profoundly impacted the landscape of the 20th century. If they are already oat milk lovers, they will love it if they don't have strong branding myths. 

To what degree is the product or service a compelling purchase for the customer?

Except for specific brands lovers, are there any reasons you will buy the same products with higher prices? I believe the answer is obviously a NO. Even though some customers may already have their brand preference, they still can be potential customers in the future. Therefore, apply some marketing strategies and branding, we can do better than just sell to those who are just being attracted by cheaper prices.

How will the product or service be priced?

To achieve the mission of the company, the price will be the same as dairy milk in Taiwan. Otherwise, it would make no sense to sell this product since there are already many brands there. 

How will the product reach all the identified customer segments?

Ages & All Genders: Official website, Regular chain stores

1 - 16 years old, mostly their parents buy the products for them. So, it will be the same as how to reach the age 17 - 80 years old or older. But for those who are over 50 years old, may not be familiar with electronic gadgets, some physical stores are needed. Regular chain stores are considered to open nearby some aging areas. 

Income: Official website and Social media

In the beginning, the cheaper oat milk products are made for those who give up oat milk due to the prices. Sell online is acceptable for those people. 

Education: Official website and Social media

People with higher education may tend to drink healthier. Lower-educated people are also getting the chance to drink oat milk because of the company. Both of them can be reached by the official website. 

Geographically: Official website, Social media, and Regular chain stores

The official website and social media can reach those who do their search for oat milk on Google, frequently looking for anything new on social media, or living in rural areas. Regular chain stores can reach those who live in the urban but desire to have plant-based diets. Since there are much more people live in the urban areas, regular chain stores will gain more attention by shop signs and trademarks standing around the cities.

How much does it cost to acquire a customer?

Advertising costs

In 2021, the average cost per click (CPC) in Facebook ads across all industries is $1.72. Operating a regular chain store costs NT$50,000 to rent on average, but it can reach approximately over 100,000 people in Taipei. So, it is NT$0.5 per person.

Cost of the marketing team

The average cost of hiring a marketing team in Taiwan is around NT$350,000 per month(NT$35,000 each and multiply by 10)

Cost of the sales team

The average cost of hiring a sales team in Taiwan is around NT$330,000 per month(NT$33,000 each and multiply by 10)

Production costs

We need 100g of oat, 1,000L of water, the electricity, the machine, and the workers. It costs approximately NT$40 to produce 1000L of oat milk. With the production of 1,500L per day, the timing cost of each 1 L oat milk is 57.6 seconds.

Inventory upkeep

Oat milk is an extended shelf-life milk. It takes over 10 months to expire. The production should fill the needs within 8 months. 

How much does it cost to produce and deliver the product or service?

It costs approximately 57.6 seconds, NT$40 to produce each 1000L oat milk, and it costs NT$100 to ship each 6000L. 

How much does it cost to support a customer?

Customer support is an investment, not a cost and it also depends on how many of those customers need support. I think my support team will be both online and in the chain stores. Clerks in each store will cost NT$32,000 per month. An online specialist will cost NT$28,000 per month.

How easy is it to retain a customer?

It’s cheaper to get current customers to make a repeat purchase than it is to find new customers. I will launch a loyalty program to retain as many customers as possible. 

The subscription plans: The OatKing, OatDuke, and OatKnight

OatKing(NT$199 per month)

Free delivery(No limits), up to 40% off per month.

OatDuke(NT$129 per month)

Free delivery(No limits), up to 20% off per month.

OatKnight(NT$99 per month)

Free delivery(2 times per month), up to 10% off per month.

The “elevator pitch” in 60 seconds

Hi, I'm Bruce. CEO and founder of TZUYI HUANG'S Group. Honor to meet you here. I am seeking an opportunity to launch cheaper oat milk products to fill the needs of affordable oat milk. Almost every oat milk lover, vegans, or in cases of medical conditions such as lactose intolerance or an allergy to cow milk has one feeling in common. Oat milk is just too expensive. So, what we do is to produce a cheaper oat milk product without lowering the quality. There is a huge potential waiting for us. My company is already on the way to disrupt. So, my question is, will you join us? 

Consider the different types of team members who would be essential in developing a new business or entrepreneurial venture. What skills and talents do you feel would need to be included?

 Like A Chess, Each Moves Counts, Each Pieces Counts

A great team builder and leader should actively contribute to a group in order to complete allocated tasks, meet the goals and achieve the overall objectives. Members of the team must understand their common objective is to achieve organizational success together and share the responsibilities all along the journey. Like a chess game, different pieces on the board contribute their special functions. The player is like a leader or a team builder trying to win the game by "managing" those pieces. But, don't get me wrong. I do not mean that they are just "pieces". Instead, they are all necessary partners and members of a team. Everyone has their unique gifts and also not everyone has worked hard and learned the same techniques in the past. So, each member's movement(talents) is unique. For a knight, it may move two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically. Now, consider you want to win the game, all you need is wise on each step until you actually win. 

AI, A Necessary Supporter

Understanding the different types of team members on your team can help you work together as a team much better. That's why teamwork makes the dream work. When we try to build a team for developing a new business or entrepreneurial venture, it is necessary to find your right members(your pieces on the board). I know we all want one king and 15 queens. However, that's not going to happen. If you get one king and 15 queens, no one wants to play with you when they don't get the same pieces. Back to the topic, I think if the member all get the same talents like all of them are queens, it is very hard to manage and communicate with them. And ultimately, it is very likely to fail since they all know the same things and cannot support each other while beaten by the common disadvantages. Therefore, we need an AI specialist to truly help us do things objectively and make more comprehensive decisions. Machines can make their decisions based only on data instead of emotion. 

Why?

Think about a situation, when a team needs to achieve an objective, they have to think and trying to understand it, work out a plan, execute it, and check it to get the best result. In each step, we all tend to choose things we have already familiar with. For example, in the forming stage, we may choose the people we like not need, and even though we choose what we need, how can you know you actually need them? AI(Artificial Intelligence) can support each step we move. Although it is not absolutely correct, it still gains our confidence and reduces the mistakes we possibly make.

Additional Skills and Talents Would Need To Be Included

It would be wise to have at least one data scientist in your team. Data scientists are big data wranglers, gathering and analyzing large sets of data. A data scientist’s role combines computer science, statistics, and mathematics. They analyze and process to create actionable plans for a team.

Reference

Adler, F. (2020, July 6). Understanding team member types for a high performance team. Actioned. https://www.actioned.com/team-performance-types-team-members/. 

What is a Data Scientist? Master's in Data Science. (n.d.). https://www.mastersindatascience.org/careers/data-scientist/. 

Consider A Product That I Enjoy Using, How would I begin to research the market to sell this product in my area? What steps should I take?

 A Product That I Enjoy Using

Tesla Model 3, Model X, and the Roadster.

Brief Introduction of The Product

Model 3 is a fully electric car, it is a zero-emission moving option and if you charge overnight at home, you can wake up to a full battery every morning. Searching for a gas station has become history. Even during a long way journey, the Tesla charging network is easy to plug in along the way and helps you to go everywhere. In addition, safety is the most important part of the overall Model 3 design. For maximum strength, the metal structure is a combination of aluminum and steel. Moreover, in a roof-crush test, Model 3 resisted 4 times its own mass with an all-glass roof. It comes with the option of dual-motor all-wheel drive to accelerate from 0-60 mph* in as little as 3.1 seconds and lowered suspension for total control, in all weather conditions. The popular feature Autopilot's advanced safety is designed to assist you with the most burdensome parts of driving.

i. Identifying The Targets (Understand Who I Am Selling To and Who Need This Product?)

An entrepreneur is someone who sees a need and takes on the financial risk to start a business to fill that need. So, the first step should be the discovery of the needs. However, does the ideal customer exist? What if they do exist, but it turns out that they don’t want to buy my product? Therefore, I must be flexible and willing to change my strategy for both the customer and my products. A great question like, does it reduce costs? It has been answered by FORD MOTORS, to provide affordable cars, and almost everyone needs a car. Further questions such as improve efficiency? add more value? or does it is the technology we need? all help while we trying to sell a product. Moreover, like an elevator pitch, you have to describe the benefits of your product to potential users within a few minutes. 

This Model 3 is designed for anyone who is over the legal driving age and needs a car to move around cities or anywhere on the road. It is a great choice for those who can afford a $40,000 car and love to drive an all-electric car. It is a clear trend that all car owners need a zero-emission option for their future since people are trying to switch fossil fuel to clean energy. Therefore, the co-founder Elon Musk came up with the solution to fill that need. 

ii. Conduct The Market Research

Market research is the systematic collection, analysis, and reporting of data about the market and its preferences, opinions, and trends. Therefore, it is helpful to hire a professional firm for this kind of service. To conduct those research, "Think with Google"(https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com) is a good way to start but some steps are necessary. Of course, I have to determine the purpose of my study first, the reason why I think selling this product to where I want to sell is a good idea. 

For selling Tesla Model 3, Model X, and the Roadster in Taiwan, I have to conduct a study for this purpose. And the next step is to collect as much data as I would with an external purpose. When looking at the electric vehicle industry’s outlook in Taiwan, I found it has very high growth potential because there are still very few electric cars in Taiwan but they need a better moving option to achieve their zero-emission goal. 

The Major Issues and The Opportunities

For now, Tesla or other electric cars are too expensive for people within a $20,000 ~ $25,000 budget constraint. And for most people who want to try, they are likely to change their mind while it is too hard to find a place to get their cars charged.

The Target Customers

*Age: Legal driving age. In Taiwan, all drivers must have a valid driver's license and the minimum age to drive a car is over 18 years old.

*Income: According to the average salary survey(https://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/taiwan), In Taiwan, the average income is NT$1,186,222 per year. So, for most people in Taiwan who need a car, $30,000 to $35,000 is a little bit higher than their budget constraints, but it's still reasonable.

*Gender: All genders should have the freedom to own their lovely cars.

*Location: For cities in Taiwan such as Taipei, Taichung, or Kaohsiung, the families still need a car to move around, even though the MRT systems are very convenient in these cities since you don't have to wait in lines or be trapped in a schedule, or carry heavy loads during your journey.

*Marital or family status: Married people may tend to buy a Model X if they have kids, so its design should satisfy those needs.

However, as the business grows, the potential customers may evolve or change. Revisit the targets market from time to time to ensure they are satisfied as usual. And, most importantly, keeping the steady flow of data coming in to help while making decisions about the next steps. 

iii. HOW To Reach The Customers and To Satisfy Them

Now, I know what to sell and who to sell, the next question is HOW to reach them, to satisfy them, and build a good connection with them. I think not only I must create the products they need but also I have to give them through the way they like the most. You can buy the same insurance contract from a broker, a salesperson, or directly online, but I believe the feeling is different. 

Although some of the options are through a distributor or hiring salespeople, I think I will choose to let the customers order only on the official website. Website is the easiest and most widely accessed form of marketing. This is pretty similar to Apple. Physical stores for showing the actual cars and direct contact to the customers rather them bothering the customers with many intermediaries. In addition, by direct sale, I can collect the data I need without any third parties, and it helps me to get real-time feedback.

iv. Pricing

How much money should Tesla charge for its cars? I always think a successful pricing strategy should be a win-win solution. The customers love the products and also feel comfortable buying them. Consider the major issues I mentioned earlier. For now, Tesla or other electric cars are too expensive for people within a $20,000 ~ $25,000 budget constraint. Therefore, Tesla should build a more affordable model for those customers. To those who already have the ability to buy a car for more than $30,000 or already own a $30,000 car, they are the major customers right now. Not only do we have to build a worthy product but also the product must be affordable for its lovers. After all, the car is supposed to satisfy the customers. That means if the cost of manufacture the product exceeds the price that your customers will pay for it, you will have to rework it, or it will be a bad idea even though it is excellent.

v. Advertising and promotions

Advertising is bringing a product to the attention of potential and current customers. Promotions keep the product in the customer’s mind and help stimulate demand for the product. Some reward programs even improve the customers' loyalty. By operating social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, product reviews can spread all over the world. 

vi. Checks and Introspection

Once identified the market, understand the range of potential customers, how to reach them, and how to sell to them, it’s time to check if the plans are realistic or not.

vii. Compare The Competition

Overall, competition is a good thing. It forces business owners to perform at a high level, but still, everyone wants to beat the competition. To further analyze the market, make a list of all the possible competitors is necessary. By now, the major competitors are Volkswagen Group, General Motors, and other new startups from China. 

SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, it is a technique for assessing these four aspects of a business.

The Strengths

As an early developer of electric cars, Tesla's development in battery and performance is better than other electric car manufacturers. Gigafactory can also be built very quickly compare to its competitors since Tesla has been a sophisticated Gigafactory builder for a long time. 

Weaknesses

All electric cars have a common weakness, not enough charging stations. Some quality concerns about Tesla's products. Big brands such as Volkswagen Group and General Motors, have begun to take some shares in the market based on the brand images they have already built for decades.

Opportunities

When you think of a smartphone, you probably think of iPhone first. When you think of an electric car, Tesla is also the most likely brand that first comes to your mind. Pioneering the market has made Tesla as the gamer changer.

Threats

Many new competitors from China have the ability to manufacture cheaper electric cars. Although they may not be as great as Tesla's products by now, they can learn from Tesla.

For more resources, the iDE website(https://www.ideglobal.org) can help with the development in those poor countries to discover even more markets.

Reference

Model 3. Tesla. (n.d.). https://www.tesla.com/model3. 

Taiwan: Average Salary Survey 2021. Salary. (n.d.). https://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/taiwan. 

WIKIBOOKS. (2020, June 13). Getting Started as an Entrepreneur. Wikibooks, open books for an open world. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Getting_Started_as_an_Entrepreneur. 

Think of an idea for a product or service that you think you might be able to sell in your area. Create a general marketing plan and complete some basic market research. Include information about who your customer is, how you attract their attention, and how to determine the pricing of your product or service.

 SpaceX Starlink, a high-speed, low latency broadband internet. Users can expect to see data speeds up to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations. 

The Marketing Plan for Starlink

The Market Situation by Now

• Starlink is high-speed, low latency broadband internet powered by satellites which means the clients do not have to switch their data plan during their visits to different countries or re-sign an agreement for local service providers. By now, people are still dealing with their local carriers or switch SIMs to get their services.

• The market size is obviously huge. Almost everyone on earth needs this. And Starlink aims to provide everyone on the planet better services rather than stuck by carriers within their countries and purchase expensive SIM cards to get their data plan in other countries.

• Everyone can easily order the service online and activate it through its app.

• Starlink is ideally suited for areas of the globe where connectivity has typically been a challenge since it is unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure.

• Now, rival companies such as Viasat Inc, OneWeb Global Ltd, and Hughes Network Systems are challenging Starlink's space race.

The Threats

i. By now, regular transnational travelers are relatively fewer. So, one of the major benefits of Starlink may not so sure to be a need for everyone as they already have the local carriers. 

ii. Launching rockets to the space is not a cheap business. It can be a barrier for competitors to fail and also can be a reason for bankruptcy. 

Opportunities

i. With more and more people need faster and stable connections to the internet, Starlink may be the ideal choice for them. Traveling around the globe without switching any data plan or additional charges by service providers.

ii. Ahough rival companies such as Viasat Inc, OneWeb Global Ltd, and Hughes Network Systems are challenging Starlink's space race, they do not actually have the ability to launch their own rockets and set up satellites.

iii. For poor countries that are lack infrastructure, Starlink is ideally suited for them since it is unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure.

iv. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved SpaceX's plan to deploy Starlink satellites at a lower earth orbit than planned to provide high-speed broadband internet services to people who currently lack access.

Marketing Objectives

Starlink wants to bring everyone on this planet a reliable, easy to set up, and affordable internet. In Taiwan, most internet coverage is in big cities. Starlink can make the coverage even better. In Taiwan, there are goals for the objectives initially, to get at least 10% of the population to know the better service and its background, offer the earlier registers a free trial for 3 months, collect the trial data to improve the user experience to achieve over 90% of over 9 ranked feedback(ranks from 1 to 10), and share the positive experience on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. 

I. To get at least 10% of the population to know the better service and its background.

10% of the population in Taiwan is 23 million people. So, at least 23 million people know the service is the goal. 

II. Offer the earlier registers a free trial for 3 months

The reason for that is to stimulate the trial. In the beginning, it is similar to change their carriers for most people. So, this is to make sure they don't be afraid of making that change.

III. Collect the trial data to improve the user experience to achieve over 90% of over 9 ranked feedback(ranks from 1 to 10)

After all, we need to know what the customers are actually thinking. And, during the improvement and by good reactions, the brand loyalty also built along the way.

IV. Share the positive experience on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit

On those social media platforms, the user data is more clear and be analyzed more effectively.

Implementation

I. To get at least 23 million people to know the better service and its background. According to the statistical data, there are 11.62% of the population is around 15-24 years old and 45.51% is 25-54 years old, it is over 13 million people when sums up the two ranges. And, this range is the most active smartphone users. 

So, advertise on social media to get enough viewers and open accounts on those social media to interact with these users. Post the job offers in Taiwan and hire a team in Taiwan to do that.

II. Offer the earlier registers a free trial for 3 months. The reason for that is to stimulate the trial. In the beginning, it is similar to change their carriers for most people. So, this is to make sure they don't be afraid of making that change.

While advertising and post the service, make sure the clear free trial message is included. After that, make sure they are less willing to leave your service. Therefore, the second step is to offer an attractive plan for them. Currently, in Taiwan, a NT$499 monthly bill is acceptable for most people. For frequent travelers, NT$1,299 to NT$1,599 is very attractive. So, set up the plan A(NT$499) and plan B(NT$1,299 to NT$1,599) for them to choose.

III. Collect the trial data to improve the user experience to achieve over 90% of over 9 ranked feedback(ranks from 1 to 10). After all, we need to know what the customers are actually thinking. And, during the improvement and by good reactions, the brand loyalty also built along the way.

Collect the crucial data after the free trials such as why they don't like it. The questions should be done under simple options like the price is too high? the connection is not so stable? the speed is not high enough?

Budgets 

According to Facebook advertising costs, on average, $0.97 per click and $7.19 per 1000 impressions. The budget is up to $47,000,000 when successfully reached half of the 13 million people.

Hire a team to do the market, the analysis, and client services need to offer 30 full-time jobs with a $1,500 monthly pay each. So, that's $540,000 per year.

Overall, it is $47,540,000 in the first year. And $540,000 in the following years. 

Reference

Taiwan People 2020, CIA World Factbook. (n.d.). https://theodora.com/wfbcurrent/taiwan/taiwan_people.html. 

The social entrepreneurial ventures that is detailed on the Skoll Foundation website. If you were to develop an organization designed to meet that need, who would you first need to involve?

 Introduction

To support ventures on their entrepreneurial journey and create an enabling local and global ecosystem for ventures to flourish. There is a growing consensus that it is time to use the tools of enterprise and business to solve global social and environmental challenges. Social ventures have been an exciting new development, the innovation allied to rising impact capital to support them, and a new entrant is emerging within the rooted venture.

A Rooted Venture, A Typical Social Venture, What Are The Differences?

Giving investors confidence their investment will yield impact. Rooted ventures take deep insights from academic research such as the need for affordable diagnostics in low-income countries. The key lies not in the business model but in the understanding of the problem and the solution. A typical rooted venture typically emerges out of years or even decades of research into a particular area. Rooted ventures will not be limited to only one subject. The best social ventures will directly or indirectly blend both, a technically brilliant intervention needs to be rooted in an understanding of a real problem and collaborative engagement with those who experience the problem in order to be effective. In addition, the rooted ventures will be part of a much wider toolkit of ways to harness the power of enterprise to generate new and impactful solutions and ally some of our brightest minds and a desire for research to improve our world and focus them on some of the toughest challenges from poverty to education to health. (Blues, Rooted Ventures: The rise of social ventures rooted in research 2021).

The Name of The Organization or Program

Social Science and Humanities Ventures at Oxford University Innovation and Founder and Director of the Aspect Research Commercialisation Accelerator.

Impact Investing

Impact investing refers to investments made into organizations and funds with the intention to generate beneficial or environmental impact alongside a financial return. It provides capital to address social or environmental issues.

What Service did They Provide That Benefits A Particular Group or Community?

An innovative group of professors and researchers are seeking to do something new. They impact investors remain frustrated due to the lack of investment-ready social ventures and to leverage the immense power and potential within a university ecosystem and create long-term, scalable and sustainable impact beyond publishing journals and education since they see a new generation of researchers that are open to entrepreneurship and venture building as a way to express their work. 

The SOPHIA tools from the University of Oxford are built upon decades of econometric and International Development research. It combines technological innovation and expert guidance. The platform includes a robust digital survey and data analysis tools to better understand the needs of your workers.

A Program To Benefit and Designed To Meet The Need

There is a gap that persists between the demand for investable social ventures and the supply of ventures that have the capability when solving global challenges.(Blues, 2021) Today, we have to use the tools of enterprise and business to solve global social and environmental challenges. A technically brilliant intervention needs to be rooted in an understanding of a real problem and collaborative engagement with those who experience the problem in order to be effective. Sprinkling the knowledge, tools, connections, inspiration, community, and early-stage investment to nurture these innovation professors and researchers(Blues, Rooted Ventures: The rise of social ventures rooted in research 2021).

What Would Be The First Five Steps in The Process? 

Step i. Identify The Goal and Vision

The most effective strategy is to keep an eye on the goal, to identify the purpose of the decision by asking what exactly is the problem that needs to be solved? And why does it need to be solved? 

Step ii. Gather Information Possible Options

It is best to gather necessary information that is directly related to the problem. This step will help everyone to better understand what needs to be done in solving the problem and generating ideas for a possible solution. 

Step iii. Evaluate the Consequences

This step will help you determine how the decisions will impact and forecast what is likely to be the results of the decision such as how will it affect the future?

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Step iv. Make The Necessary Decisions

Now the goal has been identified, all necessary information has been gathered, and the team has weighed the consequences, it is time to make a choice and actually execute the project. 

‍

Step vi. Evaluate Your Decision

Once the final decision has been made and putting into action, it is necessary to evaluate and ensure that it works. This step is essential because some possible changes may necessary along the way due to new information sought.

Reference

Blues, C. (2021, January 19). Rooted Ventures: The rise of social ventures rooted in research. Skoll Centre Blog. https://skollcentreblog.org/article/rooted-ventures-the-rise-of-social-ventures-rooted-in-research#/. 

Wikipedia (Ed.). (2021, July 1). Impact investing. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_investing. 

If you were to assist your own community in developing ways to encourage entrepreneurship, how would you accomplish this?

 Introduction

How to assist our own community in developing ways to encourage entrepreneurship and how to accomplish them? Different people have different dreams and advantages. For communities in different cultures, different developing ways to encourage entrepreneurship are necessary. There are many ways to encourage entrepreneurship in Taiwan. We can start with common ones such as how we deal with mistakes, how to raise capital, or through government leadership and private sectors. Most importantly, to create an entrepreneurial culture for long-term benefits.

As technology changes with the world around us, many jobs may become obsolete in the next 20 to 30 years. Along with these tech and societal developments, starting a company and becoming an entrepreneur has become a lot more accessible and a lot more accepted. A strong town needs strong local businesses. Local businesses provide jobs and opportunities for wealth creation. Lots of towns would like to attract more entrepreneurs and grow their small business communities. 

Implement Summary

Financial, Policies, and The Government

Start with the government's role, there are so many policy instruments that can be used to encourage entrepreneurship since policy instruments are the tools for overcoming problems and achieving objectives. Oftentimes, when we think of starting a new business, the financial risk and the costs are the first nightmares that stop our progress in the first place. For example, buying or renting lands or renovating a building for a new business can be extremely costly in Taiwan. It is helpful if banks, community development corporations, and other community development financial institutions are all in a position to offer demanded loans. If the policymakers lower the barriers to entry for small business owners, more opportunities will be created since walkability is crucial to small business success. However, while reducing the obstacles, we still have to filter those liars and frauds and award integrity ones. 

Infrastructures

Just like enough nutrition consumption keeps you alive and maintains normal physiological functions, strong infrastructures support all kinds of businesses to operate smoothly. For example, Help facilitate walkable business districts. In walkable neighborhoods with shops and restaurants, passersby are far more likely to frequent multiple businesses than if they were just driving to a specific store in an auto-oriented area. Electricity, energy, internet connection, clean water, and human resources are all essential parts to build a successful business. Put more effort into building a strong infrastructures system is a must. During the pandemic of COVID-19, I think the biological industry such as vaccines, is also a kind of infrastructure since it is a matter of life or death. 

Simplify The Regulations

Just like the math questions we tried to solve in high school, all we wanted is a simple answer. For starting new businesses, too complicated processes will hit innovation hard and break the worms while they trying to grow. Therefore, be sure to make the startup's process simple. Instead of annoying entrepreneurs, governments should let them focus on their creations, rather than keep them too busy with those chores. So, cut out any superfluous steps if possible. 

Toolkits and Resources

Recently, in WWDC 2021, Apple announced greater toolkits for app developers. Why did they do this? Of course, Apple knows it is effective if developers get excellent tools on their hands. Quite the same, entrepreneurs can do better if they also have great tools and enough resources on hand. Therefore, providing businesses with resources to take their business to the next level is a proven way to strengthen the local economy.  

Education System

Entrepreneurship education promotes innovative talents, which are an important driving force for future development. However, most of the current research and discussion in Taiwan focuses on the construction of teaching staff in the entrepreneurial education ecosystem. A whole new education system can drive innovation and development that can further improve the research on entrepreneurship education. From knowledge learning to skills improvement, entrepreneurship education includes general ability development and improvement of professional ability. Entrepreneurial competence, which is important for success, mainly refers to the ability to identify opportunities and develop the necessary resources and capital, in addition to technical, financial, and legal knowledge.

Social Connections

Almost everyone has aspirations to be successful in life and to make it big one day, but the approach may differ from person to person. Nevertheless, ultimately people resort to becoming an entrepreneur. I suggest that the activation or use of social networks is primarily done in the establishment phase. Provide a platform to help them build their social networks, relationships, and human resources.

Reference

Quednau, R. (2019, July 23). How to Encourage Entrepreneurship in Your Town. Strong Towns. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/4/19/how-to-encourage-entrepreneurship-in-your-town. 

What skills, traits or characteristics of entrepreneurs do you think would be the most important to have?

 What skills, traits or characteristics of entrepreneurs do you think would be the most important to have? 

I think there are no single skills, traits, or characteristics of entrepreneurs that would be the most important because as an entrepreneur, these factors are like multiple gears to move a big machine. A car does not move without fuel, tires, gearbox, a wheel, and an engine, etc. However, it still moves without a USB charger. So, here I think some core factors are necessary for becoming a successful entrepreneur and there are also some unnecessary factors just to improve the overall chances to succeed. You cannot sell a new car without an engine, but to sell a beautiful and functional car is much easier. 

In my opinion, there are four core elements of entrepreneurs, discovery, knowledge, action, and courage. Discovery means you can discover and find something new, something people need, or something that needs to be improved. knowledge gives you the power to build it or know how to find the resources for it. Action is the actual progress of the overall objective. Without taking any actions, all things are just dreams. Finally, courage keeps you going as far as you can without obstructing by fears. 

A Successful Entrepreneur, Elon Musk

The Background

Elon Reeve Musk is a famous entrepreneur, the founder, and CEO at SpaceX and Tesla. In 2021, Musk is considered one of the richest people in the world. However, money does not grow on trees, and his success was not always sunny days. Musk displayed an early talent for computers and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he created a video game and sold it to a computer magazine. In 1988, after obtaining a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa and seeking the greater economic opportunities available in the United States. After he received bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics in 1997, he enrolled in graduate school in physics at Stanford University in California, but he left after only two days because he felt that the Internet had much more potential to change society than work in physics. 

PayPal

In 2000, Musk founded an online financial services company, PayPal and eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. PayPal is a way to pay online and for businesses to accept payments from you. It's is an online financial service that allows you to pay for products and services using a secure internet account. It wasn't commonly accepted at the time it was announced because we already have so many banks and credit cards. But, PayPal makes the processes much easier internationally. You can transfer the money to one of your assigned bank accounts or cards. Instead of totally rely on banks, I think Elon Musk was trying to make things easier and quicker. He discovered the need for convenience, the need for simplifying the processes, and fill it using his skills.

Tesla

Another innovation was electric vehicles. Musk had long been interested in the opportunities of electric cars, and in 2004 he became one of the major funders of Tesla. In 2012, Tesla introduced the Model S sedan, which was acclaimed by automotive critics for its performance and design. The company won further praise for its Model X SUV in 2015. A less-expensive vehicle, The Model 3, went into production in 2017. All these things happened during the gasoline cars dominated period and in a world surrounded by gasoline stations. Leading the world jumping into a whole new chapter of clean-energy cars.

So, What Special Characteristics or Traits He Has?

According to the BluePointe Capital Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Award, they take a closer look at Elon Musk, and their award is based on the five traits. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion for innovation, positive energy, strategic direction, and integrity.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Entrepreneurial spirit means capacity for personal growth, perseverance, not afraid of overcoming obstacles, and learning from unexpected experiences. Elon Musk has had many failures in the course of his career, ranging from mechanical failures of Tesla cars to rockets crashing of SpaceX, and even almost went bankrupt.

Positive Energy

It is obvious that almost all of Musk's employees, co-workers, customers, and investors feel energized being around him. That is his positive energy. A positive outlook and optimism for a better future can actually stimulus innovation.

Passion for Innovation

When he created the first electric car, the market and even the whole car industry are laughing at him. However, the situation has reversed now. Pioneers a new approach or technology means a lot of challenges and passion is essential mental for you to keep going. 

Strategic Direction

Just like setting a SMART goal, creates and turns vision into business realities is inevitable. So, he must build a great team committed to the common goals.

Integrity

Unlike most politicians, entrepreneurs lead by example and a strong sense of personal values. Elon Musk has the potential to influence by contributing better products to the world that improves it in a new and different way and creates a social impact.

To Remain Successful

As we know that Elon Musk has had many failures in the course of his career, ranging from mechanical failures of Tesla cars to rockets crashing of SpaceX, and even almost went bankrupt. But he did not give up and even get stronger after those failures. Although the earlier series of Tesla Model S and Roadster did not gain much attention, the later series such as Model X, Model Y, and the newest Roadster 2020 reverse all the bad news against him. Therefore, to remain successful, you must keep innovation and constantly learn from mistakes.

Reference

Braverman, L. (2019, November 12). 5 Leadership Qualities of Elon Musk that We Admire. BluePointe Capital Management. https://www.bluepointecapital.com/blog/2019/11/11/5-leadership-qualities-of-elon-musk-that-we-admire. 

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2021, June 24). Elon Musk. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elon-Musk. 

Take this opportunity to reflect upon yourself, your career and family goals, and whether or not you believe you would make a successful entrepreneur, and share these insights.

 When I was in my 20s, I have multiple dreams such as to become a scientist, a psychologist, a successful investor, or a businessman. However, I have done none of them. As I filled my mind with failure, I was trying to figure out why. Most of the time, we have been taught to pursue our dreams, even though the dream is almost impossible to achieve such as to live forever or die without pain. Then, I reflect on myself to find the components that I should work harder on them. And, thanks to this course, step by step, I am on my way to my goal. 

SMART Goals

Before I even set a goal or an objective, I learned these goals and objectives must be following the SMART rules.((the Mind Tools Content Team, SMART Goals: – How to Make Your Goals Achievable) It is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting. According to the rules, to make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. By reading such an article, I realized that sometimes I failed in the beginning since the plan or the dream is not SMART. This helps me gain some chances to succeed. For example, if I try to open a new coffee shop, I will more likely to operate it well under a SMART plan. A detailed plan like buy or rent the land, new brand, great locations, hire what kind of employees, and how to train them is greater than just get the money and just open it. 

Risk Tolerance

However, there are other essential traits for an entrepreneur such as more willing to take risks that other people are not. Remember that entrepreneurs are those who see a need and take the risk to fill that need. While most people see a need and struggling to take action, entrepreneurs may have already working on the solutions. This is the key point for me. To work on any solutions, you need specific abilities or skills. Therefore, I have to work harder on it for any future opportunities. In addition, I think risk tolerance is one thing that keeps you positive and motivated to move forward without pushing back by failures or mistakes. Also, are you resilient enough to pick yourself up quickly, is a great question to examine yourself. After all, not everything is always heading the right way as you think it should be.

Learn from Mistakes and Don't Complain

More than that, there are many characteristics I have to learn, such as lives in the future, learn from mistakes, don't complain, constantly learning, quits bad habits, and take action. To build a successful business empire, I must always live in the future to discover future opportunities and trends rather than frequently miss the old days. Learn from mistakes is also an essential characteristic to become an entrepreneur. Why do we fall? So, we can pick ourselves up. If we always afraid of making mistakes or easily beats by them, it can be hard to step forward. Just like COVID-19 vaccines, it is built for our body to learn how to fight with them. In addition, another crucial factor is Do Not complain. Complain does not help when you have made a mistake. Instead, think of it as a great learning opportunity does help you to stand up from fall. The night is darkest just before the dawn, but you must have faith to keep waiting.

Optimistic and Problem-solving

After those critical thinkings and reflections, I started to examine my personal characteristics such as values and beliefs to gain a deeper understanding of whether I have the right mindset that's typical of successful entrepreneurs or not. However, I failed at the first one. I was not always an optimistic thinker. So, it was easier for me to trap myself in negative thinkings rather than positive ones. Moreover, it connects to problem-solving skills. You cannot solve any problems unless you believe you can.

Teamwork, Relationships, and Leadership

We cannot do everything all by ourselves. As a successful entrepreneur, you'll have to work closely with your partners. So, building great relationships with your team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and investors gives you even more advantages along the journey. Let's be honest and modest. Many people are more gifted in their expertise than you and me. However, the next question is, can I lead and motivate them to follow me and deliver my vision? Leadership, that's also an essential topic I have to learn. Be an excellent leader and to communicate well to sell your vision of the future to investors, potential clients, and team members.

Rules and Regulations

As an entrepreneur, I should be able to navigate the rules and regulations that apply in the country I am working in. I think if I choose to learn more about a particular venture, I don't want to risk my future projects by violating the rights of another entrepreneur or organization. So, know the rules, cultures, laws, and regulations is a Must.

In conclusion, I think my disadvantages are not enough risk-tolerance, complain too much, not always optimistic, lack of problem-solving and teamwork experience, don't know enough rules and regulations, and does not learn enough communicating skills and languages. However, my advantages are I can set SMART goals, learn from past mistakes, constantly learning, and keep quitting bad habits. Therefore, I am trying to make a plan for reducing those cons. Apply the SMART goals to achieve all the reducing objectives.

Reference

the Mind Tools Content Team By the Mind Tools Content Team, Team, the M. T. C., wrote, B. T., & wrote, D. (n.d.). SMART Goals: – How to Make Your Goals Achievable. Time Management Training From MindTools.com. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm. 

Shandrow, K. L. (2015, April 7). What Type of Entrepreneur Are You? (Infographic). Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244811. 

Social Entrepreneurs, What Makes Dina Abdel Wahab A Hero?

Read further about social entrepreneurs at the following website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/06/24/DI2005062401071.html

Why you believe this person has been highlighted as a “hero"?

Introduction

Dina Abdel Wahab is pioneering school-based integration of special-needs and normal children, a first important step toward achieving society-wide integration. It was the first important step toward achieving society-wide integration in Egypt. She believes that the preschool period offers an especially promising opportunity to change attitudes and it flagging the way for broader reforms of the society.(World People's Blog, 2006)

By 2016, at least two million Egyptians are disabled or have special needs and half of these are children. Only about 1% of the children and adults received services from the government. Abdel Wahab focused on excellence in learning for all children and try to develop a stimulating environment for children to learn and play together. Also, the teachers and parents learn to see special needs in a far more tolerant light.(World People's Blog, 2006) Abdel-Wahab was trying to expand her idea to preschools throughout the Middle East. With the cooperation of parents and supporters, they were able to influence politicians to make better policies to contribute to the education system. 

So, What Makes Dina Abdel Wahab A Hero?

We all know that social entrepreneurs make difference through business. They want to help solve some of the world’s problems. And, business ventures can make money and improve the world at the same time. A traditional entrepreneur sees an opportunity to make money by fulfilling a consumer or business need whereas a social entrepreneur sees an additional opportunity to improve quality of life by fulfilling a social need.

Dina Abdel Wahab began crusading for access to preschool services for all children in Egypt after the birth of her son Ali, who has Down syndrome. Social entrepreneur Dina Abdel Wahab adopting a mission to create and sustain social value and formed an integrative education model for special needs children into mainstream education in Egypt. Most importantly, she acting boldly without being limited by the resources currently in hand.

How This Work Contributes Toward The Importance of Entrepreneurship for The Global Economy?

Dina Abdel Wahab is the founder and Managing Director of the Egyptian Child Care Corporation. Dina Abdel Wahab started the schools in Egypt for the nation's often-neglected children with disabilities. I think there is one thing I really admire is that she not only find the need and fill it but also improved the world and made the world a better place. For special children to learn from normal children and also to learn compassion, acceptance, and helpfulness. Through a better education system, the world gain more positive strength to grow more social and traditional entrepreneurs. More excellent entrepreneurs help the world fix more issues and positively change the world. 

Reference

World People's Blog. World People's Blog " Blog Archive " Dina Abdel Wahab – Egypt. (n.d.). http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/362. 

Consider a business idea that you know about that has failed. Take some time to research information about this business, why do you think it failed? What mistakes do you think the entrepreneur made when developing this business?

 Introduction

It took hundreds of millions of years for dinosaurs to evolve, but it takes only a few years for HTC. In 2008, HTC and Google jointly launched the HTC Dream, the world's first Android phone. In the next two years, HTC continued to launch new smartphones. As a pioneer, leading the global smartphone market and competing with iPhone. However, In 2011, Samsung, another major smartphone maker, regrouped, and HTC lost its leading position in Android. Moreover, afterward, challenges from China, Lenovo and ZTE’s cost-effective phones appeared on the market, and HTC’s market share continues to decline. At the same time, iPhone sales remained unaffected and continued to rise. 

In 2014, after the bad experience from One X to New One, HTC pinned its hopes on HTC One M8. It was an upgraded version of the HTC One. While continuing the integrated all-metal body, it sharpens the heavy and tough design of the HTC One to be smoother and more rounded to fit the grip. The durable body highlights HTC’s excellent industrial design and the effort has finally paid off. The M8 has made HTC profitable again. In HTC's 2014 second-quarter earnings report, HTC turned losses into profits, with a profit of US$92 million. In addition, the $2.2 billion in sales is almost equal to HTC's sales for the entire year last year. 

However, In 2015, Xiaomi's low-priced phones swept the market, and HTC fell into a tough battle. In 2016, more brands, the Oppo and Vivo ultra-high cost-effective models squeezed the market and of course, it gives HTC the fatal blow. In the meantime, iPhone sales continued to hit new highs. In the past few years of trend integration and sudden changes, HTC has failed from where it was at its most brilliant. All this seems to be a dream, a dream that has experienced rise, glory, loss, decline, rebirth, and death. 

Honey at that time, poison at this time. Many elements that once made HTC thrived, became the stumbling blocks for HTC's progress later on. In 2013, HTC even spent $1 billion in marketing and invited Iron Man actor Robert Downey, Jr. to represented its products. But, it is not only HTC that has failed, but also Nokia, Motorola, LG, and other manufacturers.

So, Why Did It Fail?

i. HTC focused too much on hardware research and development has never put its effort into cloud services, software, and mobile games. HTC’s innovation did not fill the need of consumers while its competitor, Apple, has developed its operating systems, hardware, and services to a whole new level such as the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, iOS, Mac OS, and iPad OS. Apple's WWDC is always talking about apps, content, and services. After all, HTC did not follow up on the trend and lack of the understanding of what consumers actually need. Excellent products are just the foundation. They are only one part of the whole service. User experience and the content, and the services must be equally excellent and coordinated to have a long-term victory. 

ii. The Teamwork

In 2010, HTC hired many former managers from Sony and Microsoft. Their abilities were not good enough to lead this company to reverse the situation. Teamwork has become an omnipresent phenomenon all over the world. Companies have transitioned to teamwork as a vehicle to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, and productivity.

Reference

Millward, S. (2015, September 2). Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem. https://www.techinasia.com/htc-rise-and-fall-infographic.