Half-way Reaction

Hello,

If I were to tell the students of next semester's entrepreneurs I'd remind them never to underestimate anything. Don't underestimate anything from the importance of this class or it's assignments or even your ability to get things done and reach your goals. I know that my biggest challenge was staying on top of my assignments and to be honest, I very well know how much it sucks to be losing points because they really are petty points to be losing and so for the next semester I want to let everyone know to stay on top of their work and their projects. Even though this was my biggest challenge I did have really good things come out of this course so far that are displayed through my tenacity to get things done and improve on my weakness. Some simple skills that can help you to be tenacious when taking this class also starts with something as simple as checking your week's assignments every Sunday that way you can plan for the rest of your week which is the second step. Stay productive, every time you want to go on a netflix binge at the middle of the week use netflix as a reward. Watch one episode for every 1 or 2 assignments you can get done ahead of time. I personally like to approach work like that sometimes in order to give my head some space to relax and breathe while also progressively getting work done and being productive. Another skill (which I guess isn't really considered a skill) is letting my roommates know about the things that I need to get done in order for one of them to be my accountability partner throughout the week to help me stay on top of anything and everything. From dance practice three times a week to other courses' homework and a social life, accountability partners are like checklists out loud and it has proven itself to be a very effective technique. Taking initiative and starting my work ahead of time, asking my roommates to be my accountability partners or just pre-screening for future responsibilities I need to attend to are all ways that I describe the tenacious attitude and mindset.

 

Week 8 Reading reflection

     This chapter wasn't particularly my favorite as it discussed topics such as debt and equity, being that I'm a sociology major my knowledge of anything concerning finances is pretty limited even from my own personal life. The thing that stood out to me the most about this chapter was the mention of investments as a very important part of any business venture, start up and growth. It surprised me how essential of a role investments play in any business' function but also how its a precursor to debt investments. Debt investments are those investments that essentially have a lot of interest attached to them as they are paid off little by little. The most surprising part was how interest could essentially either make you or break you as a company. The one thing I was a little confused on was the mention of the different banking types pertaining to the theocratic countries. I did agree with the way in which Islamic banking functions works a lot better with sustaining a business project. I don't disagree with anything the author said, I would ask the author if there's any kind of charts that would help to display the differences in present day starting from the past 10 years to see the difference in effective banking comparing theocratic banking countries and their counterparts? I would also ask if the author believes if at any point would the world ever have a banking system that exists without borrowing money?

Free Money

Before:

Hey Everyone!

For this assignment I decided to go to Broward's basement where there is almost always an abundance of people working or hanging out. I expect the kind of people I will be approaching to be mostly students that will be busy on their phones or computers. To get the conversation started I will definitely greet the person and say something like "Hey there, how have you been today?" or just anything simple. I want to make sure to control for my interpersonal communication to be warm and welcoming in order for the person not to feel like I'm invading in on their personal space or even rudely interrupting. My plan for the rest of the conversation is to take an approach where I make my reason for giving the dollar to be because I simply wish to brighten their day (hence why I ask how it's been going so far). Out of 5 dollars, I really do think I'll be able to give all of them away because honestly, who wouldn't want free money?

Two Attempts: 

After:

Reflection- So after I did the assignment I will say something I noticed was that many times I noticed that my high energy in presenting the dollar to a person automatically made the person express an energy that was a lot more introverted than my own. I do feel that part of that reason was because I had a friend accompanying me to film the response therefore it made them feel intimidated or even possibly pranked. I understand that maybe they were a bit more shy or defensive because they felt like the point of what I was doing was to play a prank but also the simple fact that I'm kind of just walking in on their space could make a person feel a bit uncomfortable. Two of the 5 people I approached did shut me out despite my "warm" and "welcoming" introduction and approach towards them. Giving the dollar actually turned out to be a little harder than I thought just because people feel skeptical about my intentions but some people such as the second video above genuinely believed I meant well and kindly accepted the dollar. The only assumptions I made that were wrong are visible in the first video where I approached two girls that seemed like they would accept my dollar but they turned out to be the ones that shut me out the most (not taking it personal though). Overall it was quite the interesting experience!

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? 
      
          The most surprising thing for me was the concept of the importance of nondemographic segmentation over demographic information because it's a magnification of people's values and preferences over the traditional basic biographical info. The preference of analyzing this information was not enforced however until 1964 who emphasized nondemographic segmentation as a stronger predictor of markets. It also surprised me that even that type of information eventually was no longer as useful as it once was and is now used primarily for advertising. As a sociology/psychology double-major however, the thing that I appreciated he most and was very different from what I expected was the spin it took by incorporating psychology through "psychographic profiling".

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
        
          One part that was partially confusing to me was the mention of psychographic types. I think had I fully understood it I would've been a lot more intrigued by it. I thought it was really cool that psychographic types existed at all I was just confused as to how each type interacted with the market as a predictor of purchase behavior.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
        
         I would ask the author to clarify about segmentation and their strengths and how some differ. I would ask to about how does one really identify a segmentation as something unique to a company and its identity versus which market is at it's optimum to invest in. I would also ask is there any kind of segmentation that combines both nondemographic and demographic info? 

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
   
          I do not disagree with anything the author said. I do wish the author would have gone in more depth about the gravity of decision and maybe incorporated it into how it could apply in other aspects of life and if so how?

 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Hello again,

This is my second attempt at my elevator pitch. What surprised me the most about me feedback was how positive and encouraging it was to have various fellow bloggers validate the idea as a good one as well as my public speaking skills. I don't feel that any of my feedback was outright wrong or silly at all, I do feel that I didn't get enough constructive criticism however. I think that as an entrepreneur I need people to be a lot more critical of what I do in order to never remain complacent and always want to improve. Only one person gave me the criticism of working on the flow of my speaking and I hope in this video I was able to improve on that. I know it wasn't perfect but I definitely did try to change the flow and get straight to the critical points of the product.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

        This week's reading was very heavy on economics. Due to this, I had difficulty with understanding various topics such as the concept of exploiting and the ways in which companies use it to benefit from. Also, I was a little confused over the discussion about the SWOT analyses and how it really functions for a company. I was really surprised to read a little bit more on patents and I think something that really stuck out to me was how even something like patents have expiration dates. It only emphasized the grander life metaphor about how everything has an ending (even if that isn't exactly relevant in this case) but still it really surprised me because it added on to the already risky job of being an entrepreneur. The most interesting thing to me about this reading however was the mention of the five factors that truly move a person toward success. There isn't anything I disagreed on in this reading because again it's hard for me to understand economics therefore I don't feel like I have enough knowledge to even question the author's credibility. If there's anything I could ask the author it would be about the five factors towards success and ask what would be the hardest one to really master? Also I would ask about economics and how much he feels a person really needs to know about it to really be able to succeed or if that isn't exactly a limiting factor.

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 a sociology major hoping to be able to incorporate both forensics and fashion design into my professional life. I feel I'm a talented writer, dancer and I do think I have really good interpersonal skills that help when it comes to working on a team. My aspirations aside for the previously mentioned goal is to write a book and travel all over the world. Most of all, I just want to be the best person I can possibly be (as corny as that may sound) I find it very true when they say "don't just be a success, be of value" and that is definitely something I want to live by. I see business playing a role in these aspirations as helping me develop the comfort of taking risks and starting from nothing to something similar to any entrepreneurial journey. For this business specifically I see it playing a role in my life as it leads to is a realistic need and a good opportunity for further exploration.
 
 
2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I am offering a service that will aide in the difficult times of extreme weather conditions by meeting the needs of those who need to be able to still uphold specific daily routines such as grabbing your mail even in a blizzard. 


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?

There are two distinctly relevant customer type needs that my product meets. The first being that of the elderly who are bedridden or potentially injured. These clients can be found across the entire nation making it a consistent and dependable market. The other market which incorporates the variable of season is that of those living in places that experience extreme weather conditions specifically in the winter. This market would primarily be based in the North East. 
 
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. 

Costumers will believe its valuable not only because it'll meet and unmet need but it the way in which the product is integrated into the home is retrofittable not only being a solution to your problem but also by raising your home value. Therefore, the costumers will be benefiting from this product both directly and indirectly. 

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

What sets me apart from everyone is my easy adaptability as I am a third culture child who was raised living an overseas life moving from country to country since the age of 9. Another thing that sets me apart skill-wise is that I speak three languages. Lastly and more importantly, I'm really passionate about social harmony and constantly questioning epistemological roots of knowledge. As a sociology major and someone who cares deeply about the well-being of the individual (as much emotional, mental and physical) I care very much about helping others.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

     What interested me the most about this week's reading was how the content was very much about the financial perspective of an entrepreneur's journey. One thing that stood out to me the most was the mention of a patent. All my life I had heard about patent's but I never understood what they were or what it meant. This surprised me seeing as I didn't know patents were absolutely crucial in any business idea as it confirms authenticity, authority and license to an idea and product.
      Something I was really confused about was the jargon used seeing as I don't have sufficient background knowledge when talking about businesses and finances. I didn't understand the concept the talk about the different corporations.
     I don't in any way disagree with what the author said seeing as my lack of knowledge on such topics makes it hard for me not to see everything the author is saying as true. If there were any questions I'd ask the author it would be about what are some of the biggest red flags when one is on their first year with a new-venture start up? What are some skills to ensure optimum product performance and quality beginning with the administrative efforts of a company that ensure it's moving smoothly?

Elevator Pitch No.1

Hello again,
My company is called "LOGISTECH" and here's a pitch on a problem and a perfect solution for it. A brief description about the product is that it's a delivery system for mail. The identified problem came from thinking about how annoying must it be to have to get the mail if you're living in places with the extreme weather the North East is experiencing right now? The solution to that is a retrofittable pneumatic transport system which sends your mail from your mailbox to your home with just the flip of a switch! Click play to check it out!