Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.


This has been a very challenging class in regards to keeping up with all of the assignments that are thrown at you.  They are not difficult, but the volume is very high.  I thought the "Very Short Interview" exercises stand out the most as the experience I enjoyed.  I did not like having to video the other assignments.  I missed a few assignments, and that has caused moments of drudgery!


2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?


The most formative was "Growing Your Social Capital." The formative aspect was locating and interviewing the people.  I understood the concept, but it was difficult to execute.
 
3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?


I better understand what it means to have an entrepreneurial mindset.  I know I have the drive, determination, and will to pursue the venture I have been working on this semester, "The Shrimp Tent."  This class has helped me better understand how to actually make this venture work.


4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?


The best thing a person can do to be successful at this course is to front load the assignments.  Getting ahead, and staying ahead in this course would make it much more enjoyable, and easier.  When you miss your first deadline, it will foster that mindset.  However, the trick is not to miss a deadline, so future students need to come in with a "can do" attitude, a willingness to work, and to have fun.

Week 15 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 was a pretty interesting read.  I was surprised that this industry is taken on.  The shear volume of the Microfinance industry is huge.  It has to be in order to make a profit.  This is a great idea, and I am glad it is being taken on to better people's lives.


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


What is confusing to me is how clerics made getting a loan from SKS.  I am confused on how these types of people are in a position to affect the lives of so many people. 


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


What is the profit margin exactly?  This seems like a huge endeavor with many moving parts that sap efficiency and cause cost increases.


How hard would it be to set up internationally outside of India?  The market for this is very huge!


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


I thought the author was on point with what they are offering.  There is a definite need that has been discovered, and SKS is tapping in on it.  I thought the article explained this concept, and the future of the company very well.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

Below is my final elevator pitch.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:

What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?

The forces haven’t changed; the opportunity is a captive audience at festivals.  Festivals have very high prices for food, so a vender that is will to offer a decent meal at a decent price will have a great volume of business.

How is this market defined geographically and demographically?

The market is defined by customers at festivals looking for good food.  These people are a captive audience, and have limited choices.

How are customers currently satisfying this need?  And how loyal are they to whatever they use now? 

The customers are currently paying ridiculous prices to eat.  Granted the food can be great, but it is still overpriced.

How big is this opportunity?

This opportunity is not the biggest in the world, but it will suffice for my goals at present.  My goal is to keep my job and work this on the weekends or more.

How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?

The window is open in the festival season.  That is basically all year except when it gets cold out. 

Innovation. An innovation may be defined as a new or creative service, product, or process that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs. The service, product, or process you develop in this class may be radically innovative or it may be incrementally innovative. In this section, I would like to you discuss your innovation in moderate detail. Explain what it is, what it does, and how it works. You should also describe how you will make money

In my earlier post, I talked about competitors, pricing and the business.  My competitors are other venders in festivals.   My business idea is to provide great food at a low price at festivals in order to draw in a large volume of transactions.  This will serve the needs of the customer who want to eat, but do not want to mortgage their house to pay for it.

My food is great, it consists of shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes, and crab legs.  This is very easy to prepare, and is always good.  It is very cost effective, and can make a profit of each plate.

Venture Concept. A venture concept may be defined as the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this section, describe how your innovation will solve or address the opportunity you identified. You also want to explain why customers will buy your innovation. In describing the concept, you also want to be sure to cover issues such as:

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch?

My customers are people attending festivals.  Most people go to festivals on an adventure.  It comes down to marketing at the festival, and serving great food at a great price.

What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

Packaging has got to be conducive to someone eating on the go. That will be a factor. The price point has got to make a profit, but has got to be low enough to beat out competitors.

How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?

For the first opening, I would have myself and a friend start at a festival with plenty of prior planning going into cooking supplies, food, and time and equipment.  It would simply be myself with a helper.

The three minor elements

I also want you to cover three final elements in your description. Your treatment of these questions can be relatively short. Please focus most of your time on the opportunity, innovation, concept descriptions above.

First, describe what you think your most important resource will be. You might call this your venture’s “secret sauce” or “unfair advantage.” Besides your actual innovative product, service, or process, what will you have that will make it hard for competitors to copy your success?

My most important resource will be me.  I will be able to devote the time and money in order to get this off the ground.  Once it is running, training and management skills will have to be top notch in the people I hire.

Second, what’s next for the venture? Describe either the next opportunity you want to tackle with your current innovation, or describe the next new product, service, or process that may be aimed at your existing customers.

The next opportunity will be to franchise my business out to other aspiring entrepreneurs.  That will help me succeed, while helping someone else succeed.

Third, what’s next for you? Assuming you launched, where do you want to be in five years with this venture? Where do you want to be, as an entrepreneur, in the next decade, and how does this first venture help you achieve your vision?

In five years, I hope to be doing this venture full time.  I hope to have been able to franchise out to other people while at the same time operating in more than one location myself.

Week 14 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 part of the reading on 3M’s philosophy on business.  The way projects are handled, and the toleration of failure because it takes failure to bring out success.

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

“Sustaining a Corporate Entrepreneurship Strategy” was a lot to take in and I had to read it a second time.  I get the theory and practice that is involved, but it was a busy figure (3.4).

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

1. Do you think that NAFTA should be recalled as it is hurting our trade abilities and thus making it harder for entrepreneurs?

2. I liked the story on “Hot Dogs, Ex-Convicts, and Social Enterprise,” do you think that venture would have worked in a different location?

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

I thought his outlook on NAFTA was not correct. That is something that I think hurts small business owners by allowing trade to be off balanced.

Google Gold

Almost 40 blog posts ago, you started ENT 3003 and created a web log for this class. Since then, you've crafted a blog around a business concept, honing your keyword use, linking to other blogs, and perhaps even using your broader social media network to enhance your blog's exposure.

Showing up in that first page of Google results is make-or-break for many an entrepreneur, especially in this day and age. For this exercise, please reflect back on your efforts to promote your blog. Please include the following:

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimization (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

When writing my blog post, I was keeping in lines with the rules of the assignment, but also utilizing some key words to try give my blog a boost in the results of searches.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

My idea is to cook shrimp at festivals, so I used things like “Shrimp boil” and “Shrimp Tent” to try and boost my status.  I did not change nor refine as these undoubtedly describe the business.

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What were your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

I would share some of my blog posts on google, and on Facebook to try to get more exposure.  I would get some feedback from my Facebook posts, and everyone thought my idea is a great one and want to know when I will start.

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

I have to say I did not have a viral post. That would be nice if it was in a positive light.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

I did not come close to making it to the first page of google and do not know where I ended up.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

For this exercise, I would like you to revisit that first conversation you had with an entrepreneur. In that initial interview, you asked an entrepreneur three questions. Now, revisit this interview and think about the questions you asked and the answers they provided you. From where you stand now, what is your impression of that initial interview?


In my first interview, I got the person's take on what an entrepreneur is, what I should learn from this class, and skills she wishes she would have been taught.  Her idea of an entrepreneur is someone who uses creativity to be successful.  I think this is true to a certain extent. Creativity is one aspect, but after being in this class I know it takes so much more. Ethics is the subject she wanted me to learn about.  Ethics plays a part in all aspects of business.  She wish she had known more about the financial aspect of business.


Second, visit the entrepreneur again. Record the interview if possible. The three questions you ask this time are entirely up to you. Let your experiences in this course drive what questions you ask -- and that will be very different for each of you! 


I visited the entrepreneur for another meeting last night.  I had three questions to ask based on my first interview, and what we have learned in this class.  Here are the questions and responses;


1. Besides creativity, what would be the most important skill to hone for starting a new venture? 
The most important skill I think would be useful is having a good work ethic.  It takes a lot of time to build a business and it generates a lot of pressure.  You have to be able to push through tough times, and keep coming back.


2. We talked about ethics last time as something that should be learned. Ethics is a huge part of business, how has your ethics affected your business?


Ethics has played a big role in the horse industry.  Everything with breeding is scrutinized and having a good ethical background helps minimize that.  It plays into the reputation of the business which equates to better sales.


3. Entrepreneurship is very demanding, what helped you keep your drive up to become successful in the horse industry?  One thing that is great about working in the horse industry are the horses.  They all have their own personalities and make it worth while.


Third, after the interview, try to gather some sense of how far you have come in this class. In your post, discuss your comfort level in talking about entrepreneurship in this interview now, compared to three months ago. Did the entrepreneur convey a sense that they thought you had progressed in your journey?


It has become easier to talk about entrepreneurship this time because I know a tremendous amount more on the subject.  Because of my background as a recruiter, I have never had trouble talking to people but it does get easier the more you understand the topic.
She was very interested about the class and what I had learned so far.  She thought the class was spot on for what we needed to know to focus on succeeding.

Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

I have failed a few times in this class by not getting an assignment completed in the allotted time.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  

I learned that the assignments in this class are not difficult to accomplish, therefore there is no reason to miss one.  This failure has caused me to look at time management, and self-discipline to complete assignments.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were four months ago? 

I was in the Marine Corps for quite a time.  Failure was never an option! However, on the rare occasion it happened (depending on the situation), failure was looked at as a learning opportunity.  In fact, there is a section of the Marine Corps that studies failures and publishes “Lessons Learned” so the failures are not repeated. This class has not changed my perspective on failure.

Week 13 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?

I enjoyed reading about Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon.  This didn’t surprise me, but the story of how he made Amazon successful is awesome.

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

The fatal visions in strategic planning section had to be read twice.  It is hard to fathom how these mistakes could be made.

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

This was a pretty straight forward reading and I do not have questions about this chapter.

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 good to go on this chapter.  My experiences have helped me understand this chapter dealing with SWOT analysis, and shifting from entrepreneur to manager.

Week 12 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 section on “The Value of Strategic Planning” was surprising on how important this is even to a small startup.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.  Nothing really confused me in this week’s reading selection.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why? I do not have any questions on this week’s reading. The chapter was really well versed, and explained strategic planning very well.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How? I did not disagree on anything for this week’s reading selection.