The Twenty Percent

For the 80/20 assignment, I decided to go to one of the horse farms in the Ocala area and talk to the owner.  The horse industry is very broad and covers a wide range from horses to hay.

The target audience for the farm I picked included other local farms and individuals.  This farm also markets nationally.  The demographics varied greatly as well.  For horses, wealthier people were more appealing, as horses can be expensive and are an investment (or a luxury item depending on the person). For hay they were mainly targeting other farms.

The marketing strategy for this farm revolved around horse shows, the internet, and word of mouth.

The customer’s needs for horses revolved around good investments.  The horses are used for breeding a lot of times, and customers want a good stock in order to turn a profit on their investment.  For hay, the customers are looking for the best deal possible.

I managed to get one interview with the owner of another farm. I was not able to record this interview because they did not want to be recorded.  I asked about what needs they had when looking for horses to invest in.  It was just as the entrepreneur thought it was, they wanted to make a profit on their investment.  This person was looking to make money from breeding, and was willing to pay a premium if he thought it was possible.  I found this is a very tricky business with a lot of risk from conducting this interview.  However, this particular customer had seen a lot of success when dealing with the other farm.

The need for quality hay was high.  This farm looked at price as a big determiner, but also the quality of the hay.  I thought that hay was hay, but apparently not.  They really liked the Alfalfa hay, and hay that was not wet.  The alfalfa is good for the horses, and rain can cause the hay to mold. 

I asked how he could find opportunities on horses and hay, and he replied “the internet.”  They look for deals on hay, but do use known good sources.  His loyalty to his provider was strong, because he knew the quality was good.  For horses, it depended upon what he was looking for, and if he was in the market to breed or not.

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? 

The biggest surprise came from the “Deal Killers” section of the reading.  “Vulnerability of the Founder” deal killer was a little bit of a surprise when talking about venture capitalist examining a business plan.  I understand why the overdependence of the founder would be undesirable, however I would think there would be a lot of dependence on the entrepreneur when a business is starting up in most cases.

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

Figure 8.2 was a little confusing.  I understood what the chart represented, but the numbers were hard to follow.

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

1. With the internet becoming more and more popular to do business, will the social lending success rate rise from 10 percent?  This seems like a low number when compared to how many people are on-line, and how many businesses are now on-line.

2. With more pension institutions becoming sources of capital, will this make finding a VC harder?  I think they would definitely want risk to be at an absolute minimum because of the danger of losing pensions.   

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

I think the author was spot on with this chapter.  When raising capital there are a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs to find funding.  I personally liked “The Art of Doing More with Less!”  This was something that was drilled into me from my experience in the Marine Corps.  We always had to make due with less, which took some imagination to get things done.

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? 

Tenacity comes from within or having the attitude of not giving up.  I think a big part of this is self-discipline!  I have seen a lot of people overcome adversity simply by having self-discipline and a good attitude towards what the individual is doing in order to complete tasks.  I have definitely put self-discipline to work to keep up with 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?

There have been a couple of times where I have missed assignments because I am overwhelmed with other classes, work, and family life.  These have been the hardest times in this class because I want to make the highest grade possible and when I fail at an assignment, I take it hard.  To get through a time like this, I think about all the other people that have been successful in this class before me, and about all the people that will be successful in this class after me.  If they can do it, so can I!

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. Time management is a must in this class.  There are so many assignments due, you have to keep up.

2. Develop a can do attitude about all of the assignments, and use that to work ahead if possible.

3. Have fun!  A lot of the assignments are fun, and will help foster skills that can be used long after this class is through.

Free Money

Giving Away Free Money

·        Where will you go?  I spend a majority of my time at the VA hospital in Gainesville, so I will be conducting this exercise there.  There are people constantly in the VA every day for different reasons coming and going.  I will approach people outside, and near the smoking areas.

·        What kind of people will you approach?  Most of the people going to the VA are veterans.  This will be easy for me to talk to them because I am a veteran as well.  I will not target veterans specifically, but anyone I encounter.

·        What will you say to get the conversation started? I served three years in the Marine Corps as a recruiter, so I will use a technique that is solid.  I will walk up to people and ask “Hi, what is your name?”   This is the easiest way to start a conversation with someone you do not know.

·        What is your plan for the conversation? My plan for the conversations will be to tell them I just want to give them a dollar and see if the person will be willing to accept it or not.  If not, I will employ some tactics I learned as a recruiter to find out why.

·        Out of five attempts, how many dollar bills do you think you will be able to give away.   I think I will be able to give away all five.  This is because  I know veterans, and I also know people like money, even if it is only a dollar. 

·        Second, be sure you record these encounters. It might help to bring along a friend, but your blog post needs to feature at least 2 recordings of your interactions with people. In the blog post, provide the video recordings and describe your results overall. What are your reflections on this exercise? Was giving away a dollar easier or harder than you imagined? Were your predictions correct or incorrect? If they were incorrect, why? What assumptions did you make about the people you planned to talk to, which were wrong?

Because I was on VA property, I was not allowed to record the encounters.  I did meet five people in the areas I described above.  Here is a list, and the outcome:

1.     John:  John is a veteran I caught going to smoke.  I walked up to him and asked his name, which he said was John.  I asked him if he wanted a dollar, and he said what for?  I said for whatever you want, I am conducting a survey on money because of an argument and wanted to know if people would accept a dollar.  He looked at me puzzled, but said “sure.” I gave him a dollar. 

2.     Pam:  Pam was walking behind the VA when I stopped her.  I told her the same exact thing as John, and she too accepted a dollar.

3.     George:  When talking to George, he was waiting on a shuttle to go to his vehicle.  He also had no problem taking the dollar.

4.     Donnie:  Donnie was an older gentleman, and was a little more apprehensive.  He was very skeptical of why I wanted to give him a dollar, even after telling him this was to win an argument, he still wasn’t sold.  So I told him I had already talked to three other people who all graciously accepted, and then he too accepted the dollar.

5.     Louie.  Louie was a younger person working there on a construction project.  After giving him my sales pitch of taking a dollar, he did. 

·        The results were just as I thought, it is very easy to get someone to accept a dollar.  I think this would have been harder if the dollar amount would have been more.

Week 7 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? 

This week’s reading surprise was on the part describing CMO’s, and the mistakes they make. Specifically, how they don’t know, or do not think about which of their company’s strategic decisions are affected by the decisions they make.

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

The first part of the reading on segmentation was a little confusing, and I had to read it a couple of times.  When the author wrote about traits dealing with non-demographics, I would have thought that would be a huge consideration in determining strategies.

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

1. How much difference is there in people’s purchasing habits based on demographics, and non-demographics?

2. In the section asking “Will this segmentation make sense to senior management?” Wouldn’t senior management want solid numbers to back up decisions?

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

I think the article could have been written better, but the concepts are definitely sound and easy to understand.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

This week's readings were very interesting.  I have been liking the text for the class so far, but this week was good to go too.


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?
This reading really made sense to me.  I thought it made sense and I really had a good understanding.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am currently a Human Resources Specialist with a long background in the Marine Corps in vehicle maintenance.  I am also a great cook who loves to cook “Low Country Boils.”  The later ties into my business concept of cooking food at festivals around the state.  The local festivals are a great place to serve seafood as there is an almost captive audience.


2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).


The needs of my target customers arise from attending festivals.  Festivals limit customer’s choices of where they can eat.  This also tends to make the choices expensive.  My business model is to limit my menu to one item, “Low Country Boil” (this is shrimp, corn, sausage, and potatoes all boiled together) and charge a lower price for quality food.


3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?


My customers are people attending local festivals.  These people are in the mood to come out and spend money on local and small businesses.  They are also a captive audience, meaning there are limited places for someone to eat.  Some people even go to festivals just for the food.


4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.


People will care because they want great food at a reasonable price. People are tired of their choices serving food at a premium prices.


5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

 

I have experience in the restaurant business, and I am a good cook.  I also know how to make the product very well in large quantities.  I also have the management abilities I learned with my extensive time in the Marine Corps.

 

I think that these elements do mesh well with a few exceptions.  My current position in HR is very demanding.  This takes a lot of my time and does not allow me to focus on putting a business together.  This is especially true while I am a student. Other than my lack of time, all of the other elements are a good match.

 

Week 5 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?

 

The biggest surprise to me was in the “Why New Ventures Fail” section.  The fact that Poor timing contributed to failure in 40% of cases studied.  I knew that this is a contributor, but I did not think it would be the main contributor.

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

The Failure Prediction Model was a little tricky and I had to read it twice, but it eventually made sense.

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

a. Would the reason New Ventures Failed be different if the firms were not high-tech?

b. I do not have a second question.

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

I think the author was right on.  The chapter was very clear, and the topics were easy to understand.