Week 15 Reading Reflection

1. What surprised me the most, besides the incredible business of SKS, was the idea of micro-financing with the poor. I have never heard of this idea ever, but it seems like it is having success. With that, it's interesting how well it works with women because they are more likely to reinvest their profits than men. I would have never thought this, but this article backs it up clearly. 
2. The only thing I was confused on was how this company actually made money. I know that people are reinvesting but the initial principle of $1 doesn't seem big enough to actually receive a good return. Maybe I'm mistaken, but their numbers don't seem big enough to make a sizable profit. 
3. If I asked the author 2 questions, it'd be: 1) What is the best way for other companies to "scale up customer loyalty?" I would ask this because although it worked for them in India, if I ever owned a business, I would want to know how to attract and sustain customers by fitting to their needs. I would also ask: 2) What is the future of micro-financing? I would ask this because it seems lucrative now, but I would like to know for possible investment options if this is something that will last long-term.
4. I didn't disagree with anything the author said because I really enjoyed the article and learning about the business. I did find it interesting, though, that he said that they always put their customers over their company even if they lose in the short-term. I question how this helps and hurts in the company in the short and long-term, and wonder if this has had any positive or negative effects on it. 

Final Reflection

1. After looking back through my blog in the past semester, I can definitely see the progress I've made in my business venture and my understanding of entrepreneurship. At the beginning of this class, I was very nervous and wasn't sure of myself in the field of business and entrepreneurship. Now looking back on my assignments, I had to struggle with new and uncomfortable situations such as interviewing customers, entrepreneurs, and experts in my field. It was fun learning about myself with assignments such as my unfair advantage and growing my social capital. 
2. My most formative experience was my last Venture Concept because it really showed me all the moving pieces in a starting business. I put a lot of effort into it, and I believe I got a lot out of it learning the challenging process. I think just the consistent interviewing of strangers will definitely stick with me when I look back on the class. The most joyous experience was finding up my secret sauce and the things that were unique to me. It was a cool reflective assignment and it showed me my potential. The experience I'm most proud of accomplishing was interviewing the local entrepreneur because I really wanted to learn about how local successes and how they transpired. 
3. In the beginning of the class, when you challenged us to become an entrepreneur, I will be honest and say that I doubted that was going to happen. But looking back on the class, I definitely see how I have developed an entrepreneur's mindset. Just from all the assignments we've done, I've learned about the steps it takes to become an entrepreneur. Without this class, I would have never known how to identify the opportunity, contact people in my network, and how to turn my idea into a real business. So now, although I wouldn't necessarily call myself an entrepreneur, I definitely think I have the mindset of an entrepreneur. 
4. If I had to give one piece of advice to students in the future for this class, I would recommend taking this class as seriously as possible. This is one of those classes where the amount of knowledge you learn is based around the effort you put in. Thus, to perform the best, you must stay on top of all the assignments and take all the assignments as serious as possible. If you do these things, you will succeed and learn a lot. To foster this mindset, I would tell them that they need to "buy into" this class, as I will tell them the benefits and how the class will help them. I will try to convince them that the process of this class is for a purpose and that you will foster this mindset if you go through the process properly. 

Venture Concept No. 2

1) Venture Concept Description:

            Opportunity: As my friends and I have walked many times into the libraries on campus, we have found that UF's libraries seem to have a shortage of outlets, and there's a very few selective and popular seats that have access to some. This problem is definitely one that impacts the community because about everyone in our country these days are hooked to their phone, laptop, or tablet. This opportunity I found seemed just to be with college students studying in libraries, but as this class progressed, I now realize that this is an opportunity I could target to travelers through airports. Many people traveling always want to charge numerous devices, especially if they are businessmen who rely on their technology for their success and wealth. It also will attract people who are preparing for a long flight or who have long layovers. This means that my business could target to 2 markets, and I think that this is a big opportunity because right now, there is no way for customers to satisfy this un-met need. Because of this, I don't think the "window of opportunity" will be there much as longer as it's a widely known problem, but I think that I have the most hands-on experience with it.

         

            Innovation: My first part of my business is a phone app that will show every outlet on a multi-floor map for libraries and airports and show if it is open or used with green and red dots, respectively. To do this, each outlet will need to have a sensor that will register with my phone app, which I will need to implement in all current outlets, which I don't know if I will be creating or have it done by another company. To make revenue on this, I will make the app free to attract customers but then use advertisements to make personal revenue. Secondly, I will also make a light-powered, transportable outlet, and I'm still researching the logistics of how this product will be made, but I do know nothing is like this on the market that can hold 2 three-prong chargers just like a normal outlet. Because I don't know exactly how much it will cost to make, I don't know how much I will sell it for, but I can estimate around $10 each. Based on my previous assignment, I found that an innovative change I can make to my company will be to do add logos to these outlets.  These companies will most likely be relating to these travelers such as restaurants in the airports or products that deal with airplanes. For outlets with logos, I will obviously charge a little more probably around $20. 

            Venture Concept: My product (phone app) and service (light-powered, transportable outlet) will solve the un-met need I addressed that students and airport travelers don't know where every outlet it is and there's just a shortage of outlets. These customers will want to buy these because they will be able to locate and stay longer on their computers which will help them make more money or better grades. Right now, I don't really have any competitors because the app is completely new, and the only competitor for the outlets are the portable phone chargers, but those only have USB connection. Thus, I don't think it will be very hard to get customers to switch to my good and service. I think my new market of selling them to airports so they can sell them to travelers, will be very successful, and with the addition of company logos on them, I think that this will elevate my company. Airports and specific airlines will buy these because it would attract more travelers to their airlines if they would sell these additionally to passengers. The weaknesses of my whole company are the questions based around the ability to produce the products such as the sensor and outlets but I won't know that until I start production. My business concept around my app will be simple and appealing. For my outlet, my business concept will rely on affordability and customer service that will be readily available to come fix any sort of problem or question. My business will be built on the idea that my product and service will help you succeed more whether that be in the classroom with students or ability to speak to clients as a businessman in an airport. Because of this new market with airports, I will just have one location in one big city where I will have a factory to produce the outlets and where my employees will work based around my phone app. This will be my only physical location, but then I will have independent contractors who will work regionally for my company and travel to airports and college towns assisting in customer service and selling. 

            Most Important Resource: My most important resource will be my similar age to customers. My age is something that will separate my company from others because I will know exactly what my customers needs are and how those evolve over time.

            Next Step for Venture: My next step will be to really expand in this airport market and to specifically, strategically sell to different airlines in the logos on outlets. I will also want to make my app user-friendlier, but the change I will make is for the advertisements to be built around airplane and traveling deals because those will attract my customers.

            Next Step for Me: If this product is successful, I hope to be a thriving entrepreneur, and I will hope to expand this to all schools nationwide and to expand it to airports as well who succeed around their technology. In the next 10 years, depending on how successful I am, I will probably sell my business and possibly the technology built around the outlets.

2) Summary of Feedback: From my "Venture Concept No. 1," I received mainly positive feedback saying that I did a good job on the assignment giving a good summary on the opportunity and how I was going to capitalize on that. People definitely believed that this is a great opportunity as many people have this problem frequently. On the other hand, I received some solid, constructive criticism. One point said that I should make my app free, and then make money off advertisements, and also received this advice from my "What's Next?" post which confirmed that is what consumers want. Another point was that I should market this idea to buildings being currently constructed as I will be able to sell my product easier and for the ease of implementation on my side. In my "What's Next?" post, I also received similar positive feedback, but I also heard some great points on how to adapt my business. Multiple people said that my "new market" that I established selling to airports would probably be more successful than my "current market," which I didn't realize at first until now, but that using a third-party extension could really extend my business. They said that travelers will be more likely to buy into my business, especially because they will be more wealthy than college students. Also, people liked my new change such as adding logos to these outlets so that companies can advertise their companies on them and I think that this will really be successful in the airports. 

3) Changes based on feedback: Because many people loved my idea of my new market targeting to airports, I added that my business has a new opportunity by adding a new market of travelers and businessman in airports who I can sell my products to. I think that this is where I can actually earn my most revenue, and the feedback I received surprised me on that idea, which is why the main changes to this venture concept revolve around this new market. One change I made based on feedback from multiple assignments was to make my app free and then make money on advertisements. Now with this new market, I expanded my idea of logos because I realized that I can do more than just college mascots. I think I can really make money if I sell them to airports and airlines specifically because they will compete to buy these and advertise their airline and the deals they might be giving out. And with this same idea of advertising on my outlets, I will make a deal with them where they can advertise specific things on my phone app too. For my outlet technology, I am still doing research on the specifics for the creation of it, so I didn't switch anything there. Based on my feedback, I found many places of changes that I could make, and I think this really helped me find ways to make my business more successful. 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1. What surprised me was that Kuratko really identified the problems that arise when making an ethical decision. Usually, when people talk about ethical decisions in business, everyone makes it out to be a simple right or wrong principle. But honestly, sometimes there is a gray area, and I'm glad that the author didn't just brush over that like most people do. It was good to hear what actually happens in the business world and how people solve it. 
2. What confused me the most was the idea about corporate entrepreneurship. The book said that many people are confused as well, and what I gathered is that it's not a person, but more of a mindset I think. It seems as if it's a natural idea for most business to attempt to be innovative, but maybe I'm wrong. 
3. If I were to ask 2 questions, I would ask: 1) What is the best way to set up a business that is run ethically from top to bottom? I would ask this because if I every owned a business, I would want to know how to reflect my good ethics and morals down to every employee. I would also ask: 2) How can businesses promote corporate entrepreneurship within their employees? I would ask this because if I ever owned a business, I would like to know how to promote creativity in my employees so our business can succeed at the highest level. 
4. I didn't necessarily disagree with anything, but I didn't like his point about the ethics of caring and the difference between men and women's management from rules based to people based, respectively. I thought this was slightly stereotypical and sexist as I'm sure practices have been done differently for years. 

Elevator Pitch No. 4

1. The Pitch: 

     

     2.  Reflection on feedback: The feedback from my "Elevator Pitch No. 3" was mainly very positive and helpful with nothing that was outright wrong or silly. Comments consisted of saying that I was very professional, and had confidence and personality. These were very complimentary comments, and it gave me confidence in my pitch. They all thought the content of my pitch was very clear and significant, and they still liked how I kept it short and sweet. I think that's a key part in a pitch because most people want to know the most significant pieces in as short as a time period as possible. The only negative comment was that I should try to "spice it up" and try to act more excited with my business. 

     3.  Changes based on feedback: Between my 2nd and 3rd Elevator Pitch, I made many changes for the better and this was reflected from the positive comments on my "Elevator Pitch No. 3". Based on my feedback on the 3rd pitch, I did not change the material, as everyone seemed to believe that I hit all the criteria. The only thing I changed was trying to sound more dynamic which I did by sounding more enthused and energetic about my idea. I think this was a necessary change because the only way for people to get excited about your business is to actually sound energetic about your business. 

Google Gold

1. Search engine optimization can be defined as "the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine." To pursue SEO, some of the activities I did were things such as titles, keywords, and images that correlated with my posts. Especially for my titles, I really tried to accurately describe what my posts were because when people are on the Internet, they need short, simple buzz words to attract their attention. I also tried to use pictures that related with my posts, but also ones that were interesting and thought-provoking to attract more readers.
2. Because my product was a product (outlet) and a service (phone app), I had to make sure my readers completely understood my business idea. For each posts, my keywords were those that were suggested by the class such as "Elevator Pitch No. 1" or "Google Gold" for this post here. For my business idea, I wanted keywords that would stand out to readers. For my outlet, I used words such as "electrical," "transportable," and "light-powered" because these were simple buzz words that readers would automatically relate to my product. For my app, I used words such as "user-friendly," "visual," and "detailed" because customers main concerns for apps are how easy they work. As the semester progressed, my business idea never really changed, but for keywords, I just tried to use different, but visually popping words to catch my reader's attention and enjoy my product. 
3. For my blogs, the only social media that I used to enhance my SEO efforts was YouTube. On YouTube, I would post all of my videos of interviewing customers and my elevator pitches. I probably could have incorporated more social media applications such as Twitter and Facebook because you can get a lot of marketing done through those engines. On YouTube though, it was very interesting as it taught me how people advertise themselves or companies through the website. It definitely got the word out of my business better because even when I was looking at my videos, similar videos would also pop up on the screen and it would be from other people in our class. This shows, in a way, networking abilities and how you can connect through online social media. I think posting videos on YouTube gives more confidence in customers because it shows that your ideas are out in the public, and you are willing to share them. I think using social media in my blog definitely enhanced the posts, and I made them a important aspect of my posts so they wouldn't get ignored. 
4. My most viral post was Elevator Pitch No. 3, and it also had the most views out of all my videos on YouTube. I think this is because this is my most recent elevator pitch, and it's the best one so far. I think also because elevator pitches are being stressed more so these days that maybe people were watching my video while researching good elevator pitches. I think the keyword of "Elevator Pitch" definitely attracted viewers from all over the place who were trying to improve their own pitches possibly, which helped me out.
5. Based on my keywords, I did not make it on the first page of Google results, and I looked up to page 10, and still could not find it. I'm sure it would take a long time to find my post, but this means I have to be better at choosing keywords. I need to choose keywords for my titles that relate more to my specific business idea and not just overall what the post is about. This was definitely a learning experience because I realized it is hard to market your brand through these common search engines, and I will need to find the most effective way to market my company.  

Very Short Interview, Part 2

1. In our initial interview, we asked: 1) What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? 2) What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course? 3) What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? For the answer to the first question, my entrepreneur answered that it mainly involves risk taking and taking advantages of opportunities. Looking back on this now, I could not agree more because although we haven't invested money into our ideas yet, we had to put ourselves in uncomfortable positions talking with strangers. We also had to find an opportunity which we could base an idea around, which was the central element of this class. Her answer to the second question said that it should not just teach technical skills out of a textbook but finding your passion and advancing that when an opportunity presents itself. I think that this is fitting to this class because I found an opportunity that matched what I was familiar and related with most. Her answer to the third question was that she wishes she was taught more on how to make connections and make relationships with people around you. This definitely was taught in this class which is incredible, as we actually had to make phone calls to people of the industry and their clients, which is very unique.
2. Now back for my second interview, I was able to write down what she said but was still unable to get in an interview. This time I gave her a description of what this class has taught me and a summary of my business concept. I then asked her 3 questions:
• How did you identify the opportunity for your business? In the beginning of my career, fresh out of college, I worked as a public accountant for Ernst & Young. I worked there for 5 years in the healthcare industry, so I was always around this industry and the trends of it. I saw that businesses, but hospitals, specifically, were looking for people do help them with their taxes and other paperwork. I realized that they were tired working with these big accounting firms, but rather were looking for personal relationships so they could better understand the people filing their bills. 
• How did you ultimately turn this opportunity into a business and get it started? Now that I had identified this opportunity, I really saw the potential and wanted to jump on it. This was also good timing as I was getting very bored and frustrated working for this big accounting firm with many people giving me orders. I wanted to work for myself and I saw this was a great opportunity. Because I worked at Ernst & Young for a while, I had made some valuable relationships, and thus I started by company with 2 of my other coworkers. Obviously, this wasn't going to be easy but I trusted them and we all were set on the same goal. Beginning a company is not easy because we had to convince these hospitals to give us their businesses and leave the other companies they've been working with for years. We started in a very small office, and each one of us had to take a loan out just on each computer we were using, if that puts it in perspective. We then essentially had to do "door to door" selling by calling these hospitals one by one demanding business. It wasn't an easy process, but it slowly kept building, and people started to respect us and our customer service, leading to more business. This kept happening and now the rest is history as we file bills and taxes for over 50 hospitals in the state.
• What do you think of my business idea and what's the next step? I think this sounds like a great idea. Although I might not be as plugged into that market as you because your involvement on your college campus, I could see it being a potential opportunity. I think that if you want to get this off the ground, you should really contact people in that field. Before you begin anything, you should get your basis' covered, so talk to as many people as you can about this product and people in that industry. Once you are confident enough, you just have to start grinding and talking to suppliers and customers to get the ball rolling. Working with 2 other people definitely made it easier for me, but many people have been successful doing it on their own. Getting your business off the ground is the toughest mentally as well as for your pocket book as you will be working very hard to get clients. I wish you the best of the luck and remember to always trust your instincts! 
3. Yeah after my interview, I reflected on our conversation, and the entrepreneur definitely was impressed with my knowledge about entrepreneurship just based off this class. During the interview, she would say things like "great question" which made me feel good and I could tell that she was surprised about my in-depth questions and my forthrightness. After our interview, she asked about the specifics of our class, and when I told her about the assignments we had to do, she was very impressed. She thought the ones about interviewing customers and talking to potential suppliers were the most valuable things as those are real life situations. As we talked, I felt as if we were almost on the same level and didn't feel blown away by what she was saying which gave me confidence. I think that I've definitely came a long way in this class in learning about entrepreneurship and how to handle myself in the business world.