25 What's Next? Total World Domination....

What would be next in terms of products and services for my venture would be making the app more accessible to low income areas in the United States as well as globally, eventually with enough growth of the service. This would be coupled with human interactions as the provider itself would be the focus of any services targeted at low-income areas and poor neighborhoods; at the end of the day, they need medical services and care more than anything. A service that would be targeted at increasing accessibility for these individuals who are struggling to find affordable healthcare would be the goal of my company as well as my future ventures. This was something that was echoed by the three people I interviewed who were already part of my target market; I believe that social work and giving back is something that takes a lot of priority with people my age as more and more millennials are involved in some type of social cause or community service. They also suggested taking it to other countries as well; while I want this business and service to reach global standards, I do not know how feasible this is and how well it will sell. I believe a lot more research would have to be conducted about the market in these countries as I do not think that a digitized platform is what is really needed over actual medical care and increased accessibility to providers. I would however, want to expand to these communities to increase my reach for those who really would benefit the most from such a venture.

The radically different market I chose to talk to is the grown-up, older, parent generation of the millennials that I had originally planned to target. I think the venture concept would be able to create value for these individuals more in terms of streamlining the medical care process; this is the part of the app concerned with conglomerating all medical information, preexisting conditions, important vital, etc and compiling it in a way that gives people a digital signature that would identify them in the ER or the hospital. This way, time would be saved as you check yourself in, and the app might even be set up so that the receptionist could just scan a code on the app on your account to sign you in. All these visits would then be documented as well so that all your medical information will be available to you at the touch of your fingertips. This other generation is almost constantly on the move, whether its taking care of their family or going to work, and whatever time this app saves them would be a plus and a benefit that I believe would help generate popularity. My assumptions seemed to be partially accurate. The individuals I talked to were definitely interested in streamlining the process and saving time, however the concern I heard a lot was the cost and time taken to switch to a new way of doing things. Most people in this generation are not necessarily as tech-savvy as my generation of millennials which would present an issue. However, I believe that with enough advertising and increased ubiquity of the app, they will be forced or pressed to learn, especially if medical providers start switching to the new way of doing things themselves. This market did not originally seem as attractive as the market set on targeting younger individuals.

Venture Concept

   The service I am presenting is an app that combines an information search as well as customer service/on-call support to help individuals reach a diagnosis as well as a decision regarding whether future steps might have to be taken and what steps those are based on the information found through the app. The purpose to save people, especially millennials like me, time, energy, and money. This will increase the efficiency of such a situation as well as improve relations between provider and patient as the patient will not have more information and be able to understand the who, what, when, how, and why of their diagnosis and treatment. The forces in the environment that created this opportunity is the constant demand for services relating to healthcare whether it be related to insurance or other aspects of the relationship between patients and medical providers. Healthcare is a hot topic of conversation and has been for awhile, leading me to think that it will continue to be around for enough time for this venture and subsequent ventures to take off and really garner enough success to make this global.

   I believe that customers would switch to this new product because its purpose is to help them save money and become more aware of what is going into their treatment. It might be hard at first to get them to switch because of credibility factor that I would be fighting, but I think it would just have to be advertised the right way. What would make this issue all but disappear would be to get someone with weight to back my service and throw their credibility behind the venture in order for me to win customers’ trust.  I would reach out to one of my contacts in the medical field to sell it to them first and get them on board. Customer support is a big concept with my service, as that is what I had in mind when I thought of the medical professionals that would be on call to help out individuals who needed a second opinion. I would, of course, make this app affordable with a small monthly fee that people can choose to apply in order be able to access the customer service side of the app, rather than just the information search. A business would most definitely help push the venture; I always think a team is better than just one person trying to push an idea. The business would have a team of computer engineers who would be able to do the actual coding for the app to work, while there would also be a team oriented around thinking of fresh new ways to apply the app as well as new products. Finally there would be a segment of the business just focused on advertising and getting the app known to the target group, as well as getting more and more companies and high-ranking individuals to back the app so it gains more popularity that way as well. The different aspects of the company would come together to achieve the end-goal of making medical aid easier to access for people on a global scale.

   I believe that my venture’s secret sauce or main advantage would be the demand for services that enhance the medical experience in the United States today. The situation, whether it is insurance or whether its just the lack of flow of information between providers and clients, has been a hot concept for a while. I believe that this demand coupled with the skills that I have regarding communication and people will be the thing that sets me and my app apart from the rest. This is something that will make it hard for competitors to copy my success.

In terms of what I see next for the venture, I believe that what I would try to make happen is allowing this service to be something that can be accessed in low-income neighborhoods and impoverished areas. What I have in mind is either setting up tablets or some sort of interface that would allow a wider target set to reach the same services that were meant originally for just millennials. This service would still be coupled with human interaction since actual medical care is what is truly lacking in these areas; this would ensure that the process was not entirely digitized.

   At the end of the day, my goal was really to make medical care more affordable, more efficient, and more accessible for as many people as possible – especially people who would have trouble with it in the first place. I would want this service to have reached a global scale in about 5 years, with the app reaching more people and fulfilling more and more roles in the medical arena, with the goal of making the whole process more streamlined and easier to handle for individuals who need it. The health field is something I am very passionate about, especially because its purpose at its core is to help other people. I know that there is a huge market for this field in regards to services that can aid in treating people and giving them proper, medical care; the possibilities are close to endless and I really want to explore all my options, knowing that this first venture would help set the stage and my credibility for future endeavors.  

23 Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.     Andrew Bustamante: He is a pretty valuable resource, seeing as he is my in when it comes to health related services. Talking to him definitely helped me understand the demand better, and I appreciate the fact that he is willing to follow up with me about the app idea.

2.     Dr. Meera Menon: Another example of social capital, the doctor has given me insight from the other side of the curtain as well, proving to be a valuable resource when it comes to defining what we can and cannot do with the application.

3.     Mrs. Sudha: A great connection, though she has not been able to give my idea enough attention for me to be able to list her as a valuable resource.

4.     People Skills: One of my greatest assets, the way I am able to interact with, understand, and respond to individuals, even if I have just met them, is something that will be put to good use with the app. Though these are soft skills, it seems as though they aren’t as common with people as they should be, making me stand out.

5.     Communication skills: Another form of human capital and soft skills, my communication skills, paired with my people skills will set me apart from the rest. I am able to build off other people’s thoughts, personalities, and ideas and I believe this would help my put together a great team for the purpose of making this service possible.

6.     Parents Willing to Invest: A form of financial capital, the fact that my parents would be willing to fund my app, while amazing, would be better received if it was someone who is not related to me personally. This resource also is not that rare, I feel as though there are a lot of people, students in this class included whose parents would be willing to invest.

7.     Connection to computer engineers: I know enough fellow students at UF, as well as others including my mother, who would be able to put technical effort into making this service a reality. While its great as an idea, I would need people to help implement those ideas and this is where this social capital would come in handy.

8.     Knowledge and passion for health administration: This is what started me on this adventure, and gave me the idea in the first place. Though it started and propelled me, there are plenty of other who share my major so its not that rare or inimitable. However, I’m sure it will only serve to push me further on this journey.

9.     Dedication/Perseverance: I know that once I set my mind to something, I make sure to get it done to the best of my ability, often going as far as involving other people to get multiple perspectives. I know that this is increasingly important in this field, as there is such a large percentage of ideas that get thrown away just because people don’t want to commit to it.

10. Connection to Health Professionals: I have the privilege of being connected to multiple professionals because of how many family friends we have that are in health related services. I feel as though I would be able to talk to anyone I needed to get to, in the different paths of health services whether it be administration or physicians.

I think my top resource would be my “soft skills” My competency when it comes to interacting and communicating with people as I prove myself to be competent will be the number one driving force behind the success of such a service, should I pursue it. Even if I had everything else but did not have this set of abilities, I feel as though I would be nowhere. I know that this is the ability that will  bring everything else together and set things in motion. 

20 Growing Your Social Capital

1.     Individual 1: Andrew Bustamante, Works with Aetna, an American Health care company which sells health insurance plans and services such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans.

2.     Mr. Bustamante serves as the domain expert in this assignment, who knows the ins and outs of what I’m trying to achieve and knows the business really well, having spent a lot of time working with Aetna. 

3.     I met the person through my father, as part of a Public Speaking Event under Toastmasters International. I learned that Mr. Bustamante was an retired CIA Agent who then pursued a career in health care management, which is exactly the field that I want to pursue. I was able to get his email and contacted him to talk about my idea.

4.     After talking to him about the idea, he said that someone else had talked to him about the same concept of making the medical process more efficient, or that there might have been an app already made that does the same thing. He sees the potential in making the waiting room more streamlined as well, and said he would send me more information about the do’s and don’ts in terms of what the hospital is allowed to use and what they aren’t.

5.     This exchange would open the doors for an internship in which I would be able to learn more about the demand in healthcare and the services that customers are willing to pay for.

1.      Individual 2: Dr. Meera Menon, House head surgeon at Brandon Regional Hospital

2.      Dr. Menon is a supplier in the industry, being the more direct form of supplier of medical services.

3.      She is a family friend and I had her personal number.

4.      The favor she did for me was connect me to a woman in management on her team at the Brandon Regional Hospital, that would be able to give me more information. I however, was not able to contact this person yet, having received her information last minute.

5.      This would help me enhance my ability because of the perspective she gave me from the medical suppliers’ s point of view. This helps me understand the other side of things rather than just looking at the customer.

1.      Individual #3: Mrs. Sudha, Works with IT and healthcare services from a medical company that caters to people from their homes.

2.      She fulfills the role of being an expert in this field, being as involved in technology and medical services the way she is.

3.      Another family friend, contacted through email.

4.      I emailed her asking about the possibilities  of such a service and the feasibility when it came to actually producing such an app for patients. She did not get back to me yet, however. I’m hoping to get a perspective of how feasible this is for patients and whether it would actually benefit people in the long run.

5.      I believe this would be on of the most valuable perspectives because she would be able to tell me how accurate my view of the demand is, and how well I am reading customer’s desires for such a product. 

21 Reading Reflection 2

The book that I chose to read for this assignment was Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck.

1.      The general theme of the book was changing your perspective and adopting a growth mindset. Choosing to embrace the challenges and difficulties in a way that helps you enhance your skillset and grow rather than depend on straight out luck or whatever “natural” talent you may have.

2.      This definitely connects with the theme of ENT 3003 in terms of how important possessing the quality of tenacity is. She talks about how the journey is the real reward, and how things not working out the way you planned doesn’t necessarily mean that you lost out.

3.      If I had to design an exercise for this class, I would probably formulate a hypothetical situational question for students and ask them first how they would react before reading the book, and how they would react after reading the book, while implementing the changed perspective that they read about forming. I would ask them to describe the results of both sets of actions and how the growth mindset changed the outcome of the situation. Another possible assignment would be to ask students to reflect on how a professor, parent, judge, or coach helped shape a perspective that spoke of the growth mindset that Dweck focused on, and how the student’s current perspective has been formed by interactions with this chosen individual.

4.      Nothing really surprised me about the philosophy that Carol Dweck promoted but I did appreciate the way she applied her concept of a growth mindset to relationships. It’s always a good reminder when you realize you and others shouldn’t be expected to get along perfectly without any problems, issues, or hiccups whatsoever. She says that “Problems can be a vehicle for developing greater understand and intimacy”. I’ve come to see and experience this with my own relationships over the years, and this is advice that I would give other people as well.