9/03/2021

The concepts of stake and stakeholder from your perspective as an individual

A stake is an interest or share in an undertaking(Bucholtz and Carroll, p.63). It can be an interest that when a person will be affected by a decision, a legal right, or ownership of a property or an asset. For instance, suppose a government decides to raise the minimum wage. The laborers and the business will all be affected. So, they pay very close attention to this policy. In this case, the stake is the minimum wage policy that will affect those people's legal rights and ownership of their salaries.


A stakeholder is a person who has this interest or share. This interest may include a legal right, a moral right, or a concern for what they consider ethical or fair. Recall the example of the minimum wage policy, the laborers and the business will all be affected. The laborers will receive more on their paychecks and the business owners will have to pay more for their daily operations.


I planed to buy a new car last year. I was browsing many official websites of car brands and then I found a policy that benefits electric car owners such as zero tax and lower cost of charging. It is a stake like consumer rights when you buy goods and services or a policy that influences your decision. Obviously, it did impact my decision on the buying behavior. Due to this policy, I prefer an electric car rather than a fossil one. In this case, the stakeholders are car manufacturers, the main stakeholders in the electricity industry, newly started business owners, salespeople, people who care about climate change, the charging spots builders, fossil fuel providers, people who work for traditional oil companies, and more.



References

Bucholtz, A. K. and Carroll, A. B. 2012. Business and Society, Ethics and Stakeholder Management. 8th edition. South-Western. Cengage Learning. Latest edition

8/10/2021

Consider a business idea that you could imagine starting up in your local area


Previously on Parity Oat Milk

Oat milk is a kind of plant-based milk derived from whole oat grains. For people who have lactose intolerance or an allergy to cow milk, it is a good option. It also has relatively low environmental impacts due to its comparatively low land and water needs for production. Unfortunately, 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. 


However, I think it should be an affordable product and cheaper than it was. I want to start up a company with a mission to bring much cheaper and also high-quality oat milk for the people in Taiwan. Everyone should have the freedom to choose oat milk for their favor or health rather than be limited by their living conditions or income. 


What Sources of Funding Might Be Available?


i. The government

In Taiwan, some government departments provide startup loans with relatively lower interest rates. However, it often needs tons of paperwork.


ii. Finacial Institutions

Many banks in Taiwan also provide startup loans for entrepreneurs. They are very similar to what the government departments are doing, but they often require less paperwork and higher efficiency. However, they often charge more on the interest. 


iii. Venture Capitals

Good venture capitals often look at the bigger picture. They tend to grow with startup companies to maximize the profits rather than fixed monthly payments of interest. However, they may require some shares of your company to gain further profits in the future.


Approximately How Much Money Is Needed?

Sums up the plants, the raw materials, the marketing team, the administration, customer services, and the loyalty program, approximately more than three hundred million dollars(NT$) is needed in the beginning. After the plant starts to manufacture, wages, raw materials, electricity, taxes, ads, and inventory are all regular payments. So, we also need at least ten million dollars(NT$) per month to ensure the company can operate smoothly. 


Why Choose that particular source?

I think, as a startup company, I tend to choose venture capitals as my major source since they focus more on the business idea rather than just investigate your previous credibility and your solvency. 


How To Convince The Potential Funders To Invest?


Create an elevator pitch will help and I have created one before. 

Example:

"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?"

8/06/2021

Core concept learn on entrepreneurship

By sharing what I learned on this blog, I grow more than I expected. I am thrill to say that we are all better than we were, together. The task of perfecting my life moves forward. It moves forward because of you. While each of us will pursue our individual dream, we are always the members of the UoPeople family. And also, while our road to success has been hard, while our journal has been long, we should pick ourselves up and believe in our heart, the best is yet to come. The night is darkest just before the dawn, we need faith to believe the dawn will come eventually.

The concept that has made the biggest impact on me from this course is we usually think that entrepreneurship refers to the concept of developing and managing a business venture to gain profit by taking several risks. However, in this course, we focused more on the discovery on the solutions. For example, most people think of running a business is to open a store to sell something. However, how do we know that our product is what the customers needs? And, even though it is clearly a huge demand, how to ensure your solution is the best? So, to reverse that we can stop it while we are discovering the needs. 

8/01/2021

Think of a product or service that you use regularly and describe what it is. Consider if you were an entrepreneur just starting up your own business to develop and sell that product. How would you go about developing a team to help you? What kinds of people would you select to be on your team, and why? How would you meet these people and convince them to join your team? How would you motivate this team to continue to dedicate time or resources into your business venture?

 UberEat

Similar to DoorDash in the US. In Taiwan, UberEats is an online food ordering and delivery platform launched by Uber in 2014. Users can read menus, reviews, and ratings, order, and pay for food from participating restaurants using an application on the iOS or Android platforms, or through laptops. 


How To Developing Such A Team?

As a platform operator, the major objective is to connect the people who are willing to make money by delivering food or groceries with restaurants and merchants. The main service is to provide a stable and reliable platform for those people, merchants and also satisfy the demands for food, groceries, and necessities delivery. I think and form the team based on the different positions, the customer, the merchants, and the platform. My idea is to understand the needs first, and then to build a team that can satisfy these needs best. So, I started with the needs.


For The Customers(Orderers), they need an efficient app to get their food and product delivery, familiar payment methods to pay for their purchases, enough merchants for them to choose from, a loyalty program for them to regularly open the app, and a channel for them to share reviews and feedback.


For The Merchants and Restaurants, they need to reach as many customers as possible, fair profits from selling their products when they joining the membership, handle the payments, and handle the issues and complaints.


For The Future New Customers, I have to do some branding and advertisements to get more attention and a greater brand image. This is very important for the company to grow even bigger. 


Now, consider each need below has to be satisfied to build the team.

i. An efficient app

ii. Payments 

iii. Enough merchants

iv. A loyalty program

v. A channel for the reviews and feedback

vi. To reach as many customers as possible

vii. Fair profits from selling their products

viii. Payments, and 

ix. Handle the issues and complaints


What Kinds of People Would I Select To Be in The Team?

Now, recall the needs that have to be satisfied. 

i. An efficient app needs professional programmers to create it. 

ii. The payments should be handled by financial institution partners, an accountant, and an assistant.

iii. For enough merchants, I need to hire some salespeople to help and promote merchants to join and design a website for new entrants.

iv. A loyalty program needs to be set by a marketing professional or a manager. And, the manager also manages the salespeople to get the best result.

v. A channel for the reviews and feedback. Build a channel in the app need the same professionals that build the app. However, to analyze the data for the growth of the company, I need data scientists to do their best.

vi. To reach as many customers as possible, I have to pay for the ads, and also we already hired a marketing professional or a manager to do that.

vii. Fair profits from selling their products. I think the marketing professionals or the managers can make a strategy for that with the help of some data scientists.

viii. Payments, Partnering with FinTech companies such as LINE Pay, Apple Pay, VISA, MasterCard, or AmericanExpress is a crucial step for the company to get the returns for the services. 

ix. To handle the issues and complaints, I need some specialists to do customer service since greater user experience means higher satisfaction.


How To Interview Them?

I think I tend to prefer honest and frank candidates to join my team. I believe that honest candidates tend to strive hard and work with dedication and also try hard to improve their skills, talents, and capabilities while working in a new work environment. In addition, it is useless to select only base on the skills I need. I need a greater mindset to do all these jobs. All the people in my team should be honest, willing to cooperate, trust each other, help others, and also be able to get things done within their expertise. I believe without integrity, there can be no trust, and it is a timebomb for your company to fail. Therefore, in all interviews after checking their expertise, I design some questions to test their honesty and integrity. For example, "Was there any situation where you had to admit your mistakes to your good friends or coworkers?", "How do you describe yourself?", "What was the most difficult thing that you had to tackle in your professional life?", "Have you ever felt like you are not qualified for a job assigned to you?" Furthermore, I think the answer should be as detail as possible. Greater detail of an event means you are ACTUALLY went through it rather than just made it.


Now, How To Convince Them To Join?

The core concept is to make them think they belong to the excellent team and they can actually get the returns they deserve for their hard works and accomplishments. Therefore, I will share more income with them rather than just pay them the same wages. I tend to tell them that "You can make as much as you want if you deserve that." and "You guys are my coworkers and partners, not my employees." 


To Motivate The Team

Usually, if we work for a fixed paycheck, we tend to put as little effort as possible to do the job because if the paycheck is the same, the efforts saved are like a reward. However, my plan is to put them on the same boat and share the benefits and profits with them, treat them as my shareholders. And, yes, I think I will give them shares of my company for extra efforts. For example, I plan to award each one in the team appropriate shares of the company which will pay each year if they are still in the team. If I pay you $100,000 per year, you just $$100,000 effort to this team. But if I pay you $50,000 in cash plus 10,000 shares of the company, you are much more likely to turn the 10,000 shares into $1,000,000. The truth is you are a winner once you achieve it and the company, the whole team are also winners.



Reference

Reddy, C., By, Chitra Reddy12 years of Experience within the International BPO/ Operations and Recruitment Areas. Extensive experience in Complete Recruitment Life Cycle - Sourcing, Reddy, C., & 12 years of Experience within the International BPO/ Operations and Recruitment Areas. Extensive experience in Complete Recruitment Life Cycle - Sourcing. (2019, December 26). Best Integrity, Ethics and Honesty Interview Questions. WiseStep. https://content.wisestep.com/interview-questions-assess-honesty/. 

We all deserve the freedom of choosing plant-based products

 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 what to drink. 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.


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."

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/. 

7/21/2021

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. 

7/12/2021

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. 

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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. 

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