1. The biggest surprise to me in the reading was what SKS did and how they were able to help extremely poor people make some money. The story about Saryamma going from making $2 a week to having multiple buffalo and owning acres of land and getting her husband out of servitude just from a small loan is absolutely amazing.
2. I was slightly confused as to how the author was able to find the capital to sustain giving unsecured loans to poor people. Surely, many of them might not pay on time or at all and you have to take some losses.
3. The first question I have for the author is, "How do you plan on cutting your loan officer training time down to one month?" I ask this because training takes time and people learn at different speeds. The second question I have for the author is, "Do you plan on expanding outside of India?" I ask this because the company is successful there and it would be great to help other poor people in other countries.
4. There was nothing in the article that I disagreed with. I think what the author is doing is a wonderful thing and I wish them the best of luck and great growth in their business.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Final Reflection
1. It took me awhile to get into the hang of things with this class and the earlier weeks of my blog paid for it. Also, I did not do a lot of the interviewing of strangers or video taping people. I am pretty busy and sometimes I couldn't find time to do it or I did not want to do it. Towards the end of the semester I made more time for the class and my blog.
2. The most formative experience from this class was the first video I had to record of the Entrepreneur's Mantra. It was a new way for me to start a class and I enjoyed it. The part that will stick with me for years to come is the entire process of starting our own venture. Even though it isn't a real venture just all the assignments that we did to make it feel real will have a lasting impact on me. My most joyous part of the class was being able to put myself as the founder on my resume. It seems more likely that it could happen to actually see it on my resume. My experience that I am most proud of is that I didn't give up even after a rocky start. It helped me know that I do have some determination left!
3. I do not see myself as an entrepreneur.....yet. I definitely see the possibility of becoming one. This class has helped me progress towards becoming an entrepreneur immensely. I am much closer to becoming an entrepreneur than I was at the beginning of this course and I am thankful to have gotten a sense of accomplishment from this class.
4. A couple of recommendations I would give to future students is to do as many of the assignments as you can even if you don't want to and stick to your schedule that you make at the beginning of the class! To perform your best in this class you have to give it 100%. If you do the work you will get the grade you want and deserve. A go getter mindset is the best one to have in my opinion. Set a goal for yourself at the beginning of the course and go get that goal!
2. The most formative experience from this class was the first video I had to record of the Entrepreneur's Mantra. It was a new way for me to start a class and I enjoyed it. The part that will stick with me for years to come is the entire process of starting our own venture. Even though it isn't a real venture just all the assignments that we did to make it feel real will have a lasting impact on me. My most joyous part of the class was being able to put myself as the founder on my resume. It seems more likely that it could happen to actually see it on my resume. My experience that I am most proud of is that I didn't give up even after a rocky start. It helped me know that I do have some determination left!
3. I do not see myself as an entrepreneur.....yet. I definitely see the possibility of becoming one. This class has helped me progress towards becoming an entrepreneur immensely. I am much closer to becoming an entrepreneur than I was at the beginning of this course and I am thankful to have gotten a sense of accomplishment from this class.
4. A couple of recommendations I would give to future students is to do as many of the assignments as you can even if you don't want to and stick to your schedule that you make at the beginning of the class! To perform your best in this class you have to give it 100%. If you do the work you will get the grade you want and deserve. A go getter mindset is the best one to have in my opinion. Set a goal for yourself at the beginning of the course and go get that goal!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Venture Concept No. 2
Opportunity
My business concept is a mobile laundry service that picks up your dirty clothes, takes them to be cleaned and folded at the brick and mortar location, and then delivered back to the customer's house. The group of customers that my business concept is targeting is college students and single parents. Both college students and single parents have a need for a business like this so they can have one less thing to take care of in their busy lives. Most college students spend their time in class, studying, or doing extra curricular activist boost their resume. Having a trusted laundry service to handle their dirty clothes would give them one less thing to take care of. Single parents have even more to deal with than college kids. They have to work and provide for a child all on their own. Having a affordable laundry service to handle their laundry chore would give them peace of mind and more time to spend with their child. Currently, my business will only be working in the Gainesville and surround communities areas so geographically it is relatively small but the demographics of the customers are limitless. Customers satisfy their current laundry needs by either A) Doing their laundry at their residence or B) Taking their clothes to a laundromat to do their laundry. Both options take a lot of time and effort and my business concept would cut back on both. I believe customers would gladly give up their laundry duties and have someone else do it for them if it was affordable so I don't believe they are very loyal to their laundry chore. The opportunity is as big as I make it. The more the business expands the greater potential for customers. I believe the opportunity will always be there for a mobile laundry service because people are always trying to find easier ways to do things in life.
Innovation
Like I stated previously, my business concept is a laundry service that comes to your house or apartment and picks up your dirty laundry. Once the laundry is picked up it is taken back to a warehouse where it is then washed, dried, and folded. Once your load or loads of laundry is complete it will be delivered back to your house. If you wish to have the laundry delivered at a specific time, then that is done to the best of our ability. Most loads of laundry will be completed within a few short hours. There would be two different fees involved in a laundry service. The first fee would be for the actual laundry. I would charge $0.75 per pound of laundry. This fee will cover the washing, drying, folding, and maintenance of the machines. The next fee would be a mileage fee for pick up and delivery. The fee would be $0.50 per mile one way. For example, if you had 10 pounds of laundry and you lived 5 miles away from the warehouse your total charge would be $10, $7.50 for the laundry and $2.50 for the picking up and delivering.
Venture Concept
I think customers will be willing to switch from doing their own laundry at home or at the laundromat because it is very affordable and it allows them to do something else with their time instead of doing laundry. The only competitors that I know of are laundromat services that wash, dry, and fold clothes for you. I used to take my clothes to a laundromat that did these services for you and it was $0.80 per pound so my laundry service would not only do it for less per pound but also pick up and deliver your clothes to your residence. My low price points and convenience play major roles in my business. Being the most affordable and the most convenient will be key for my business to be successful. To start out the business, I would have 5 employees. I would have 2 drivers and 3 warehouse workers not including myself. I would like all 5 employees to be cross trained to perform every task in the company so drivers could help with the actual laundry and warehouse workers could make deliveries if necessary.
My competitive advantage over other companies is my prices. I will be provide better service than other companies at a lower price. This will help me get a strong consumer base to branch out from. More people will be willing to try out my business if it costs less than the competitors and they will be willing to stay if I provide exceptional service. I also think I will be a big competitive advantage over other companies because I know I am a hard worker and I believe in myself.
My most important resource will be myself. I will make sure I hire trustworthy, hard working employees who embrace my vision. Also, I will be able to do every aspect of the job and will train all employees to make sure everything is done correctly. I am a firm believer in leading by doing instead of leading by telling. In my experiences in life, I am more willing to work for someone if they are doing just as much work or more than they are asking me to do than if they are doing nothing and asking me to do everything. After I get the laundry service up and running I would like to expand it to dry cleaning for business professionals and doing heavier items such as sheets, comforters, and blankets. After successful launch, I would expand my business to surrounding major cities like Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. All three of these cities have an abundance of my target demographic and would be a good stepping stone to making this a state-wide and potentially nationwide company.
Feedback
The feedback I received was very positive. All the students liked my idea and would at least consider using my business in the future. The one piece of feedback that I received that made me make changes to my venture concept was what would be my competitive advantage over other companies who offered the same services.
I changed my venture concept by adding a paragraph about what competitive advantages I would have over companies. This was the only feedback I could respond to because everyone else loved my idea!
My business concept is a mobile laundry service that picks up your dirty clothes, takes them to be cleaned and folded at the brick and mortar location, and then delivered back to the customer's house. The group of customers that my business concept is targeting is college students and single parents. Both college students and single parents have a need for a business like this so they can have one less thing to take care of in their busy lives. Most college students spend their time in class, studying, or doing extra curricular activist boost their resume. Having a trusted laundry service to handle their dirty clothes would give them one less thing to take care of. Single parents have even more to deal with than college kids. They have to work and provide for a child all on their own. Having a affordable laundry service to handle their laundry chore would give them peace of mind and more time to spend with their child. Currently, my business will only be working in the Gainesville and surround communities areas so geographically it is relatively small but the demographics of the customers are limitless. Customers satisfy their current laundry needs by either A) Doing their laundry at their residence or B) Taking their clothes to a laundromat to do their laundry. Both options take a lot of time and effort and my business concept would cut back on both. I believe customers would gladly give up their laundry duties and have someone else do it for them if it was affordable so I don't believe they are very loyal to their laundry chore. The opportunity is as big as I make it. The more the business expands the greater potential for customers. I believe the opportunity will always be there for a mobile laundry service because people are always trying to find easier ways to do things in life.
Innovation
Like I stated previously, my business concept is a laundry service that comes to your house or apartment and picks up your dirty laundry. Once the laundry is picked up it is taken back to a warehouse where it is then washed, dried, and folded. Once your load or loads of laundry is complete it will be delivered back to your house. If you wish to have the laundry delivered at a specific time, then that is done to the best of our ability. Most loads of laundry will be completed within a few short hours. There would be two different fees involved in a laundry service. The first fee would be for the actual laundry. I would charge $0.75 per pound of laundry. This fee will cover the washing, drying, folding, and maintenance of the machines. The next fee would be a mileage fee for pick up and delivery. The fee would be $0.50 per mile one way. For example, if you had 10 pounds of laundry and you lived 5 miles away from the warehouse your total charge would be $10, $7.50 for the laundry and $2.50 for the picking up and delivering.
Venture Concept
I think customers will be willing to switch from doing their own laundry at home or at the laundromat because it is very affordable and it allows them to do something else with their time instead of doing laundry. The only competitors that I know of are laundromat services that wash, dry, and fold clothes for you. I used to take my clothes to a laundromat that did these services for you and it was $0.80 per pound so my laundry service would not only do it for less per pound but also pick up and deliver your clothes to your residence. My low price points and convenience play major roles in my business. Being the most affordable and the most convenient will be key for my business to be successful. To start out the business, I would have 5 employees. I would have 2 drivers and 3 warehouse workers not including myself. I would like all 5 employees to be cross trained to perform every task in the company so drivers could help with the actual laundry and warehouse workers could make deliveries if necessary.
My competitive advantage over other companies is my prices. I will be provide better service than other companies at a lower price. This will help me get a strong consumer base to branch out from. More people will be willing to try out my business if it costs less than the competitors and they will be willing to stay if I provide exceptional service. I also think I will be a big competitive advantage over other companies because I know I am a hard worker and I believe in myself.
My most important resource will be myself. I will make sure I hire trustworthy, hard working employees who embrace my vision. Also, I will be able to do every aspect of the job and will train all employees to make sure everything is done correctly. I am a firm believer in leading by doing instead of leading by telling. In my experiences in life, I am more willing to work for someone if they are doing just as much work or more than they are asking me to do than if they are doing nothing and asking me to do everything. After I get the laundry service up and running I would like to expand it to dry cleaning for business professionals and doing heavier items such as sheets, comforters, and blankets. After successful launch, I would expand my business to surrounding major cities like Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. All three of these cities have an abundance of my target demographic and would be a good stepping stone to making this a state-wide and potentially nationwide company.
Feedback
The feedback I received was very positive. All the students liked my idea and would at least consider using my business in the future. The one piece of feedback that I received that made me make changes to my venture concept was what would be my competitive advantage over other companies who offered the same services.
I changed my venture concept by adding a paragraph about what competitive advantages I would have over companies. This was the only feedback I could respond to because everyone else loved my idea!
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Week 14 Reading Reflection
1. The part of the reading that was most interesting to me was the amount of decisions that go into doing things ethically right as a small business owner. It can be difficult to make the ethically correct decisions when they could potentially lose you money. I liked the quote from Chilon, "That a merchant does better to take a loss than make a dishonest profit."
2. A part of the reading that was confusing to me was the conceptualizing the corporate entrepreneurship strategy. The model was what was most confusing to me. There was a lot of intricate parts and it was hard to follow. Reading the paragraph cleared it up somewhat but I was still a bit confused.
3. The first question I would like to ask the author is, "Can a large corporation sustain profits without having an entrepreunerial mindset?" and the second question I would like to ask the author is, "Is it more important for a company to be innovative or ethical in the long run?"
4. I had a slight disagreement with the author in the paragraph about organizational boundaries in chapter 3. I understand that employees should think about more than just their part in the organization but I also think that some employees could end up spending too much time thinking about things that don't necessarily concern them. I think people should worry about themselves and their areas of work before they start worrying about others.
2. A part of the reading that was confusing to me was the conceptualizing the corporate entrepreneurship strategy. The model was what was most confusing to me. There was a lot of intricate parts and it was hard to follow. Reading the paragraph cleared it up somewhat but I was still a bit confused.
3. The first question I would like to ask the author is, "Can a large corporation sustain profits without having an entrepreunerial mindset?" and the second question I would like to ask the author is, "Is it more important for a company to be innovative or ethical in the long run?"
4. I had a slight disagreement with the author in the paragraph about organizational boundaries in chapter 3. I understand that employees should think about more than just their part in the organization but I also think that some employees could end up spending too much time thinking about things that don't necessarily concern them. I think people should worry about themselves and their areas of work before they start worrying about others.
Google Gold
1. My biggest strategy for search engine optimization was to post as many things on my blog as I could. The more blogpost, the easier it would be to find my blog on Google. One activity that I used was keyword placement.
2. Some of my key words work "entrepreneur" "consumer" and "profits" I chose these words as key words because I thought they would be used throughout the semester and they all described what was important to my business venture idea. My keywords did not change throughout the semester.
3. At the beginning of the semester I would put my blogposts on my social media sites to see if any of my friends would be interested in what I was doing in class. My posts were generally ignored by my social media friends so I stopped posting my blogposts.
4. My most viral post was my "exit strategy" post. I had a total of 8 views which was 2 more than any other post. I do not know why this post was my most viral. I did not expect this post to be the most viewed post that I had.
5. No, my blog post did not make the first page for my key words. My keywords are fairly popular so there are many other pages that showed up before mine. Although, my blog did show up on the first page when I searched my name. Half way through the semester it did not so thats pretty cool!
2. Some of my key words work "entrepreneur" "consumer" and "profits" I chose these words as key words because I thought they would be used throughout the semester and they all described what was important to my business venture idea. My keywords did not change throughout the semester.
3. At the beginning of the semester I would put my blogposts on my social media sites to see if any of my friends would be interested in what I was doing in class. My posts were generally ignored by my social media friends so I stopped posting my blogposts.
4. My most viral post was my "exit strategy" post. I had a total of 8 views which was 2 more than any other post. I do not know why this post was my most viral. I did not expect this post to be the most viewed post that I had.
5. No, my blog post did not make the first page for my key words. My keywords are fairly popular so there are many other pages that showed up before mine. Although, my blog did show up on the first page when I searched my name. Half way through the semester it did not so thats pretty cool!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Very Short Interview With Entrepreneur Part 2
In my first interview, which I did not post due to time differences while on vacation, I interviewed my step father. He started his own Acupuncture practice. He no longer runs a practice and doesn't have his license anymore due to his age but I thought he would be a good person to ask about entrepreneurship since he has been there and done that. The questions I asked him during the first interview were:
Q: Why did you choose the medical field, specifically acupuncture?
A: I chose the medical field because I enjoy helping people. The reason I chose acupuncture was it is a natural way of helping someone, potentially healing someone. Acupuncture isn't just used to treat someone with a sickness or an injury but it can also help people quit smoking or relieve stress.
Q: Why did you stop practicing acupuncture?
A: I stopped practicing acupuncture because the VA stopped covering acupuncture as a medical expense. Most of my patience were veterans and without them as patience it was not financially smart to continue to have my business open.
Q: What was the most difficult thing about starting your practice?
A: At first it was finding a location to have my practice at but once I found the right location it was getting along with my business partner. We did not see eye to eye on many things and eventually I had to leave and start my practice on my own at another location. Most of my patiences followed me to my new location so the second time starting up wasn't nearly as difficult.
My first impression of the initial interview was there are so many obstacles to start a business and keep it running. It was discouraging knowing that your business could shut down because of something you couldn't control yourself.
For my second interview I was unable to record my step father due to distance.
Q: Have you ever considered obtaining your Acupuncture license again and restarting your company?
A: Yes I have considered it but I doubt it will ever happen. As you know, I am getting a little up there in age and I don't want to spend the time or the effort it takes to start it back up. Although, I do miss my practice I am still able to use acupuncture on your mom and brother so in a sense I never really stopped. I just stopped getting paid for it.
Q: When you first started you business, how successful was the business plan you drew up and what speed bumps did you hit along the way?
A: I had a lot of help from your mother starting my business. She had the capital which made it much easier to start. When you are starting something new, especially a business there are always unsuspecting things that come up. The biggest for me was the falling out I had with my partner, who I was sharing an office with. This made it difficult in the beginning but I overcame it and was better for it.
Q: How financially successful was your business?
A: Wow, getting right to it? Before we moved from down south I was definitely making more money because of the amount of people that lived in the area. Once we moved here, having the office out of our home was a tax break and helped lower our mortgage payment every month so that almost made up for the lack of business I was receiving. Your mom or I was never putting money back into the business so I would say it was definitely successful until the end.
Since I knew the entrepreneur fairly well I was confident during my first interview but not about what to ask because I didn't have a good sense of entrepreneurship. After my second interview, I felt much more prepared and thought I had better questions to ask due to my newfound knowledge of entrepreneurship. My step father believed that I had made steps towards becoming an entrepreneur since my first interview but I still had a long way to go.
Q: Why did you choose the medical field, specifically acupuncture?
A: I chose the medical field because I enjoy helping people. The reason I chose acupuncture was it is a natural way of helping someone, potentially healing someone. Acupuncture isn't just used to treat someone with a sickness or an injury but it can also help people quit smoking or relieve stress.
Q: Why did you stop practicing acupuncture?
A: I stopped practicing acupuncture because the VA stopped covering acupuncture as a medical expense. Most of my patience were veterans and without them as patience it was not financially smart to continue to have my business open.
Q: What was the most difficult thing about starting your practice?
A: At first it was finding a location to have my practice at but once I found the right location it was getting along with my business partner. We did not see eye to eye on many things and eventually I had to leave and start my practice on my own at another location. Most of my patiences followed me to my new location so the second time starting up wasn't nearly as difficult.
My first impression of the initial interview was there are so many obstacles to start a business and keep it running. It was discouraging knowing that your business could shut down because of something you couldn't control yourself.
For my second interview I was unable to record my step father due to distance.
Q: Have you ever considered obtaining your Acupuncture license again and restarting your company?
A: Yes I have considered it but I doubt it will ever happen. As you know, I am getting a little up there in age and I don't want to spend the time or the effort it takes to start it back up. Although, I do miss my practice I am still able to use acupuncture on your mom and brother so in a sense I never really stopped. I just stopped getting paid for it.
Q: When you first started you business, how successful was the business plan you drew up and what speed bumps did you hit along the way?
A: I had a lot of help from your mother starting my business. She had the capital which made it much easier to start. When you are starting something new, especially a business there are always unsuspecting things that come up. The biggest for me was the falling out I had with my partner, who I was sharing an office with. This made it difficult in the beginning but I overcame it and was better for it.
Q: How financially successful was your business?
A: Wow, getting right to it? Before we moved from down south I was definitely making more money because of the amount of people that lived in the area. Once we moved here, having the office out of our home was a tax break and helped lower our mortgage payment every month so that almost made up for the lack of business I was receiving. Your mom or I was never putting money back into the business so I would say it was definitely successful until the end.
Since I knew the entrepreneur fairly well I was confident during my first interview but not about what to ask because I didn't have a good sense of entrepreneurship. After my second interview, I felt much more prepared and thought I had better questions to ask due to my newfound knowledge of entrepreneurship. My step father believed that I had made steps towards becoming an entrepreneur since my first interview but I still had a long way to go.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Week 13 Reading Reflection
1. The biggest surprise in the reading for me was the depth of analyzing a business. It goes more in depth than just the monetary assets and liabilities but also considers the employees when analyzing a business. I thought it would have been more cut and dry and easy to determine.
2. The part of the reading that confused me was that there wasn't a formula or a by the book way to determine the value of a business. The value of a business considers opinions that can differ from each person, therefore, the value will be more for some people and less for others. I thought a business would be x amount of dollars to everyone.
3. The first question I would like to ask the author is, "When selling your own business that you have invested a lot of time and money into, how can you determine the actual price of the business without having your emotional attachment to the business affect what you thing the business is worth?" The second question I would like to ask the author is, "What do you consider the most important part of the valuation process?"
4. One thing that I disagree with the author on is the use of Wikipedia.com. The definition the author uses to start the chapter is from Wikipedia.com. I do not think anything from that website should be used in a textbook. We are told as students to not use wikipedia as a source when writing a paper because anyone can edit the pages.
2. The part of the reading that confused me was that there wasn't a formula or a by the book way to determine the value of a business. The value of a business considers opinions that can differ from each person, therefore, the value will be more for some people and less for others. I thought a business would be x amount of dollars to everyone.
3. The first question I would like to ask the author is, "When selling your own business that you have invested a lot of time and money into, how can you determine the actual price of the business without having your emotional attachment to the business affect what you thing the business is worth?" The second question I would like to ask the author is, "What do you consider the most important part of the valuation process?"
4. One thing that I disagree with the author on is the use of Wikipedia.com. The definition the author uses to start the chapter is from Wikipedia.com. I do not think anything from that website should be used in a textbook. We are told as students to not use wikipedia as a source when writing a paper because anyone can edit the pages.
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