Week 8 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

What stood out the most from this week’s reading was the ways in which outside investors can choose to take ownership in your company. There are many more ways that you can seek capital investments than I thought existed. 

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

A small section of the reading that was confusing to me was the author’s explanation of accounts receivables loans and the stark difference between notification and non-notification plans.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

A question that I would like to ask to the author is this, what specific groups or entities do the micro-lenders support? I want to know this because in our current day it is essentially impossible to find a loan without some form of interest. 

Also, a second question that I would like to ask to author is if he believes that it is worth it to sacrifice total control over starting capital when there are alternate ways in which you can achieve this.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

Yes, one point where I lean towards disagreeing with the author is the myth that venture capital firms want to take over decision making power of your firm. When venture capital firms invest in you company, they automatically have saying in the decisions of your venture. Having the say over your companies finances and investments is what most entrepreneurs are looking for when launching their company. 

The Twenty Percent

1) Find a business owner and talk to them about their customers. 

I interviewed the owner of a local pizza chain in my home town called Fine Folk Pizza. I wrote down the transcript of our conversation, but he did not feel comfortable video recording due to how new their restaurant is. Here is how the conversation went.

Who do you think your target customers are?

We see our customers as local people who want to try a small town, fresh pizza joint that gives the selection that large chain pizza cannot offer. 

What are your customers' unmet needs?

We want to provide the best possible customer service by moving the pizza from dough to their table in under 10 minutes. We also want to ensure that their needs for refills and cleaned tables are met exceedingly well. Most customers complain about poor service, so we want to give the best service to them that we possibly can. 

Where do you find your customers? 

Most of our customers are residents out east of I-75 that live in the Gateway, Lehigh Acres, and Fiddlesticks area!

What are your customer's demographics? 

Ages 16-40, excited, adventurous, pizza-lovers!

What kinds of media do your customers consume?

Primarily Facebook and Television News.  

2) Next, go and talk to 3 'target customers' -- using the demographics/psychographics the entrepreneur described. 

3) Reflect. Does the entrepreneur adequately understand their customers' problems? Where are the differences? Why might these differences exist. 

I would say that the owner certainly understood the needs of the customers. What he said is the biggest need was a common thread between the three customers that I interviewed. I think that this is because the owner was a consumer not more than a year ago and understood the struggle that most customers face in the restaurant industry. 

Half-way Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

Time management is surely one of the most important skills that I used to stay on top of this class. I would schedule out 20-30 minutes each day to do one to two assignments. This idea kept me ahead, rather than behind when completing this class.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

The week that we had the first elevator pitch due was a significantly harder week for me than the rest. I had exams and other papers due this week, and honestly, the amount of effort that I wanted to put into the assignment was just not possible. In response to this, I simply did not complete the assignment and I received a 0. I considered dropping the course because of the amount of sheer work that it takes to stay on top of everything, but then I realized that this course reflects the real world of running your own business. We will not always have easy weeks, we will surely not always have someone giving us deadlines on when things need to be done by. We need to develop the habits now of staying proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to getting things done.  

3) Three tips.

1. Stay on top of your assignments. Create reminders in your calendar for when things are due. 

2. Put the time into actually interviewing people that you do NOT know. You will find so much more value in the experience of going up to a stranger and asking to interview them. Asking your friends is too easy and will not cause you to grow outside of your comfort zone. 

3. Create your blog in sight of future employers using this as a resource in potentially hiring you. The truth of the matter is your blog will be available to the public, just like your Facebook and Google Plus accounts are. Use this to your advantage and make it good. 

Free Money

• Where will you go?
• I decided to confront some of the people in my apartment building as they were leaving for class or work. 
• What kind of people will you approach?
• Any girls or guys that leave their building.
• What will you say to get the conversation started?
• "Excuse me, I know that you're probably very busy."
• What is your plan for the conversation?
• Simply give them the dollar after telling them that I want them to buy something nicer than they normally would today with the money. 
• Out of five attempts, how many dollar bills do you think you will be able to give away.
• 5/5
• After this exercise, I felt good giving someone the money and hopefully making their day 
  better than normal. It was easier than approaching someone about interviewing them, but harder to come up with a reason for why I am speaking to them.I was able to give away the 5 dollar bills on the first try for each one. I think this was the case because of the genuine reason I gave at giving them the dollar. I was not creepy or strange as I handed them the money. 

Week 7 Reading

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I am surprised that the idea of non-demographic marketing is not taught more often in classes. I did not expect to read such a well written article on why it is so important and why regular demographics just simply are not cutting it nowadays.  

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I am truly a bit confused about how non-demographic marketing has lost its shine. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

I would ask the author, Daniel, about which non-demographic identifiers are most efficient and why. Knowing this information would help me during my time marketing my own products. 

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I cannot say that I disagreed with anything that the author discussed. 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch, and What did you change, based on the feedback?

Unfortunately, I missed the deadline on submitting my elevator pitch #1, so I was not able to receive any feedback, but I used the other assignments to gauge the changes that I needed to make with my product in order to tweak it to the needs of my target audience.

Interviewing Customers No. 3

I asked a few basic questions about:
1) what their favorite non-negotiable smoothie flavors were.
2) What style of restaurant they prefer.
3) How often they eat on campus.

Most important information learned:
What I learned from these interviews were the most important flavors that I would need to include in the smoothie cafe, the ideal way for some students to eat at college, and where students like to eat.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) Me. Well I am someone who is a team builder, teachable, someone who can rally the troops, a strong public speaker, and a servant leader. I have experience in banking, sales, team leader/manager roles, and the restaurant business. I aspire to do many things; becoming a pilot, working in human resources for a world leading technology company, and start/lead an organization. The business idea that I have of creating a healthy and mindful smoothie restaurant that places an emphasis on customer loyalty and student study areas would play a large roll in my life as I love college life and smoothies. 

2) What are you offering to customers? My smoothie cafe, called The Smoothie Pit, is an innovative, 24 hour smoothie joint that gives students the opportunity to get away from the library or their dorm to study in a personalized way, drink healthy smoothies that use ingredients that support healthy brain recovery and immune health, and also an affordable price and rewards system that encourages customer loyalty. The personalized study areas would include hammock racks for students to hang their Enos or personal hammocks or relaxin the ones provided. We would also have "Study Hours" where inside music would be turned down and prices will be reduced to encourage students to come out and study. We would also bring extracurricular study companies to host their study sessions at our location in the study rooms to even further centralize study to our location. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Our main audience will be high school and college students. Our location will cater to the everyday smoothie enthusiasts during the day, but especially cater to the needs of college students during after class hours when most will be studying.  

4) Why do they care? Many students struggle to study within libraries because of the amount of friends they see there. Getting off campus to study would help students to be more productive with their time. College students are also at a pivotal time in their eating habits. Gaining the ability to know what they are putting in their bodies and having the ability to spend about the same as at another smoothie cafe for a healthier option is why we exist. 

5) What are your core competencies? Healthier ingredient, better study areas, personalized and customizable seating areas, rewarding loyalty programs, ideal walking distance locations, comparable prices. 

I truly do believe that all of my ideas and core beliefs of business line up with what students want. I am a current college student with many of the problems that I am trying to fix above. 

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1) This chapter talked about the Pathways to Entrepreneurial Ventures as a way to start your business and prepare for what may occur on your adventure as an entrepreneur. This chapter discussed how you can get their and the steps to take to improve the flow of your business. What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

2) I thought the reading was a little confusing at times because I did not understand some of the ideas behind family in the business. 

3) If I could ask the author any questions i would ask how they discovered the trend between family life and a successful business. 

4) I agreed with everything the author talked about. I think the author has good points and was very helpful with explaining everything in great detail. I think that keeping a healthy life outside of the workplace is a key in making the most of your time while in the office.