In the movie “Joy,” Joy used her innovative abilities to create a new design for a mop and her Entrepreneurial abilities to bring it to market. The mop is an innovation and not an invention because she did not create something new but instead improved an idea for something that's already been created. The idea is entrepreneurial because Joy saw a niche in the market for mops, so she threw a new and improved product into the market that the customer would value because it made moping easier; However, bringing value to her product wasn't easy, it required a lot of trial and error.
What’s interesting about Joy’s product is how fast she was able to create her prher product, but how long it took to bring the product to market and create value for her producher product. Her struggles illustrate the struggles entrepreneurs go through when trying to bring a product to market. The entrepreneur or innovator might think it's the greatest product on planet earth, but if your target market doesn’t think so, It’s worthless. I also thought it was interesting how much the process of selling a product has changed. Back then it was all TV commercials and ads in the paper, now it’s all social media. Joy''s product couldn’t have come at a better time, Everyone in America watched their television with a a very limited number of number of channels giving you access to a huge portion of the U.S that had no choice but to watch your ad when it was on TV. I enjoyed when Joy''s friend called to give her confidence while she was frozen on stage because it was like a ripple effect after that first sale. People just kept influencing each other to buy Joy''s mops. She was the perfect actor to sell her mop and was able to relate to her target market perfectly.
Joy had a difficult time with society at the start of her entrepreneurial journey. She learned very quickly that it’s much harder to sell a product than just getting it on TV. In class, we’ve been talking about the value of money and where prices come from. We’ve learned the customer has to value the product your selling more than possessing the money they would use to buy it, and in Joy's case at the beginning of her journey her customers simply just didn't value her mop. I’ve also learned other people's perception of your product is the most important sales tactic. Once you have one person on board they sell your product to multiple other customers without trying. The value one of your customers has for your product can spread throughout your target market with individuals influencing each other to buy the product. In class, we’ve been talking about the value of money and where prices come from. We’ve learned the customer has to value the product your selling more than possessing the money they would use to buy it, and in Joy's case at the beginning of her journey her customers simply just didn't value her mop. I’ve also learned other people's perception of your product is the most important sales tactic. Once you have one person on board they sell your product to multiple other customers without trying. The value one of your customers has for your product can spread throughout your target market with individuals influencing each other to buy the product. The first time her product went on air was a disaster, not one mop was sold because of the salesman, and her target audience could care less about her product. This is how she found out the customer controls the value of the product. Fortunately, she was given another opportunity to sell her product on TV on her own and was successful; however, her success did not last long. Not Long after her sister became jealous and went behind her back paying Joy's suppliers for unmarked and damaged goods. Once her supplier realized the value of her product he tried to steal her patient. Joy skillfully blackmailed him out of it, defeating her last major hardship before success. She was underestimated as a businesswoman by her peers leading to disrespectful and undermining actions from the people she trust. The type of entrepreneurship and innovation Joy shows in the movie affects society by introducing a new way to mop and a businesswoman who was not the norm back then. Society can be very stubborn when it comes to new ideas, and that is why Joy had so much trouble bringing her new and improved mop to market. She suffered through backlash from her family and wasn’t shown respect when meeting business owners. After being rejected by multiple business owners including K-mart she took her product to the K-mart parking lot and attempted to sell it there. K-mart had the police remove her from their parking lot and apprehend the product she had with her. This is a great example of how Joy interacted with society, she wasn't exactly welcome with open arms. Going back to when her supplier tried to steal the rights to her patent she was the one who was prosecuted with no one to protect her. Throughout her life she had to protect herself she had no one on her side except her grandma, ex-husband, and best friend. These individuals supported Joy and helped her the best that they could, but when it came down to it they were powerless. Throughout the movie Joy definitely had a feeling the world was against her which is understandable considering what she went through but eventually chasing her dreams paid off and she proved to herself she was capable of accomplishing anything she wanted to accomplish. At the end of the movie, the direction of respect switches around, and top businessmen like Niel Walker had to wait in line to have a meeting with Joy and not the other way around. Her style of entrepreneurship had a huge impact on society not just because of the product she brought to market but also because of her story. She became responsible for hundreds of record-setting patents and started investing in other people and their products similar to hers giving people going through similar hardships a chance to be successful. She turned the tables giving the underdog a chance to succeed.
Joy’s entrepreneurial journey is inspirational. It truly captures the entrepreneurial experience to its most extreme. She is truly a self-made movie and just shows no matter your background anyone has the capabilities to be successful. Joy's story is the perfect example of the saying “life’s not fair,” but with the right amount of grit she shows anything is possible.
