Week 12 Reading Reflection

1) What stood out to me the most in this reading was the lack of strategic planning section. This section really helped me learn about the different ways entrepreneurs think and how that type of thinking limits their ability to strategically plan. Strategically planning is a key factor in starting up a business and business owners must plan for the future in order to keep their business afloat.

2) The Entrepreneurial Strategy Matrix Model was confusing to me from the reading. The concept of low-innovation and high-risk to me makes sense but I do not see why anyone would attempt to have low innovation or would want to invest in that.

3) What is the number 1 cause for lack of strategic planning?

    What can business owners do to successfully strategic plan?

    How can an owner or investors know if a business is growing?

4) The only thing confusing from the reading that I disagree with would be the matrix that I discussed earlier in this post.

Venture Concept No. 1

The opportunity I have found is in regards to the meal plans not only here at the University of Florida, but at all universities, colleges or even high schools who's students are unhappy with the food they are being served. Changes in our society and environment include an increasing standard of living. Many students at prestigious universities are very used to their parents' homemade cooking or eating out at a restaurant. Students want better food and especially for the price they are currently paying. This market is focused mainly on students aged 18-24 who live on college campuses or near college campuses. The need is food and these students want better food than they are being served in the dining halls. The price they pay and the amount of students who pay it show that there will always be students who need or want dining hall food. Along with this, not all students know how to cook for themselves, and might not be able to afford going out to eat everyday. This opportunity is very big because it can be expanded to other universities across the country. This window of opportunity will be available until someone, like myself, recognizes this opportunity and the complaints of students and takes action into creating a better meal plan for students to enjoy.

Currently, the meal plan provided at the University of Florida for 7-day unlimited access is $2235. This is overpriced and definitely not fair for students and parent's of students to be paying because of the many complaints of quality and variety that I have received from interviewing. However, I do not plan on changing this price. The need for a meal plan will always be there, but the quality and variety of the food can be changed. Therefore, I want to make the quality and variety of the food better by gaining strong connections with local producers who can provide the food at a cheaper cost. I plan on expanding this to other universities and schools in order to expand my business idea and possibly may create a buffet style restaurant for non-students to eat at if it is a success. Along with changing the variety and quality of the food, I plan on hiring new staff members in order to fix the complaints that students have had with the service.

Students would be very enticed when offered better quality and variety of food at the same price they are already paying. Given the complaints of the students when interviewing, I have no problem in saying and believing this. Getting the students to switch would not be that hard because it is something that many students need, but getting the university to switch over to my company and idea might be a challenge. The competitors are current food companies who are running the dining halls now, such as fresh food company. Their weakness is that the students they are serving are not satisfied with the quality and variety of the food, and especially for the price they are paying. Distribution of food plays a big part in my business concept, the food would need to be taken care of with refrigeration when transported from farm to dining hall. Customer service will play a part to answer the questions of students or parents and also respond to any complaints or ideas to make my opportunity better. For my product, I will need to employ managers, chefs, servers, distributors and customer service representatives. Managers will be in charge of running the dining hall and checking the food quality, every other job is self explanatory. Only about 150 employees will be needed for all of the jobs offered.

My most important resource would be connections for this venture. Without the connections to farmers and distributors, there is no way possible that my venture will make money and become successful. Having good connections in the food industry will make my business more successful than others'. What's next for my venture is to expand to other schools. This is the easiest way to expand my company if I am successful at stage 1 here at UF. In the next decade I hope to learn from the mistakes I made, provide better quality and variety of food to millions of students across the country and hope to have created a successful business.

Amazon Whisperer

Revenue Drivers: Since my audience is targeting only college students who use a meal plan, the different types of meal plans my company will offer is the only revenue driver I have.

Whats Next: The next product that customers would want that I could think of would be a buffet style restaurant that could have the same food as my on campus locations. Doing this will expand my companies consumer base by reaching out to people of all ages, not just college students.

Amazon: There is no such product as to a buffet restaurant that can be found on Amazon.

I think this product will be good because it allows me to expand to new customers that aren't college students. These customers might enjoy the food and help make the business grow by telling their friends and family about it as well.

Week 15 Reading Reflection

1) The thing that surprised me the most about Akula's article is the story of Saryamma and how she went from being in poverty to a lower middle class citizen by just taking out a $200 loan. With the loan she was able to start her own business of selling milk because she bought a buffalo. This story really illustrates the importance of microfinance companies.

2) The only thing confusing to me was if most people payed back their loans. I know in very poor countries, some people may not have made any money, or just used the money on other things and couldn't repay. I still wonder what happens if that occurs, because Akula never really went in to depth about that.

3) What happens if a person can't repay their loan?
    How much does your company make on one of these cheap loans?

4) I did not find anything I disagreed with in this article.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1) What surprised me most about the reading is when Pisano talks about how new innovations have had little to do with new technology. He emphasized companies like Netflix, Amazon and Uber who have all been very innovative without the need or use of new technology. I never thought about how these companies actually keep growing, and they do that by using innovation rather than having new technology.

2) I was confused on the part where Pisano talks about how innovation doesn't create value. I believe that it does create value because as he talked about the companies I listed above, they all gained value and profit from their respective innovations.

3) What is more effective in creating a business: New technology or new innovations?
    Which company in the past decade has had the most successful innovation?

4) I have to disagree with what Pisano said about innovation not creating value.

My Unfair Advantage

1) Education - having education is valuable in order to understand the business aspects and also have common sense in life. Education today isn't that rare, but having a college education sets me apart from those who do not have one. This resource is inimitable, as some people may not have the drive or money to gain a college education. No other resource can provide the same benefits as an education.
2) Liquid Capital - Having money is always valuable in starting a business. It's not rare to have money to start up a business, but it is rare to have a lot of money. Some people might not have enough money to start up a business so having money makes it inimitable. No other resource can provide the same benefit as money can.
3) Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity networking - networking in any way is useful in order to keep a business going. Having this type of networking is rare, not everyone is involved in it and it gives me an advantage and connections that may be useful. This is very inimitable, only those who are a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha have this networking. This networking can be substitutable sort of.
4) University of Florida networking - This resource is very valuable, many alumni of UF are open to helping other alumni as well. This resource is rare, not everyone has graduated from UF. It is inimitable because UF is a tough school to get into. It is substitutable for other institutions, but not many have the same connections as UF students do.
5) Good credit score - Having a good credit score is valuable because I will be able to take out loans for my business if needed. It is rare to have good credit, some people mess up their credit. It isn't hard to keep good credit so it is not very inimitable. Only having a lot of money can substitute having good credit.
6) Efficient in Microsoft office software - Being able to use programs such as word, powerpoint and excel are very useful in the business world. It is not very rare to be efficient in these things, as many people are. It is not very inimitable and the only thing I can think of that can substitute this is being efficient in a different program that does the same thing.
7) Industry connections - Having connections in the industry is very valuable because I can ask for help if needed. It is very rare to have connections in an industry, not everyone can say that. It is very inimitable to have connections in an industry and it is non-substitutable.
8) Motivation - Having motivation is key to running a successful business. If a person does not have motivation, they will not do well. I'm not quite sure if it is rare or inimitable to have motivation, but it is definitely non-substitutable.
9) Planning ahead skills - Being able to plan ahead for the future is valuable in order to keep a business running. It is rare to be able to see and think ahead about the possibilities of a business, I usually overthink everything that way I know all outcomes possible. It is inimitable to have planning ahead skills and is non-substitutable.
10) Experience - It is extremely valuable to have experience, as it gives a person a starting path into the business world. It is not that rare to have experience and is no inimitable. But nothing can substitute experience.

From this list, I have determined that having an education is the most important resource when starting a business. It is more important because having an education can help lead to other important resources, such as connections and gaining money.

Growing My Social Capital

Domain Expert:
1) Andres Gutierrez is currently an area manager at Chipotle in West Palm Beach and has worked in the food industry as a manager for almost a decade.

2) He fills the domain expert spot because Gutierrez understands how to manage the food industry with his experience. He also knows who to contact in regards to getting local food.

3) I found Gutierrez on LinkedIn and was able to contact him over the social media website.

4) I asked Gutierrez on his role in being a manager and tips on how to be successful in the food industry. He was very helpful in explaining how to properly contact food sources and keep good relations with them. In return, I told him I would keep in contact and try to give him any tips that I have learned.

5) Adding Gutierrez to my network helps me exploit my opportunity because I now have someone to ask question to that is in the same industry as my idea.

Market Expert:
1) Ron Umpleby is a store manager for Publix in Gainesville, Florida

2) I'm not really sure about this spot but I feel Umpleby fills this spot because he is the one managing the food for the store and making sure everything is operating smoothly.

3) I found Umplyby on LinkedIn and contacted him over the social media website.

4) Umpleby gave me tips on purchasing food and how to get the best prices for purchasing food. This will really help in my opportunity, that way I will be able to go through with offering good quality food at the same price. In return, I told him that in the future if my opportunity goes through I will share anything I have learned.

5) Adding Umpleby to my network gives me connection to someone who is well experienced with food at the larger retail level. He is great to connect with in order to gain a better understanding of how purchasing produce works.

Supplier:
1) Jordan Brown is a farmer and the owner of the Family Garden in Gainesville. Brown emphasized in my contact with him in how he believes organic food is much better and is better to prevent cancer.

2) Brown fills the supplier spot because he is an example of someone I could be buying my food from for my opportunity.

3) I found the Brown's company on the Alachua County Farmer's Market website and then sent him an email after finding out his email information.

4) Brown and I talked about the supply market here in Gainesville. He said that the best way to do well in the food industry is buy food in bulk, but make sure you buy the right amount every time so you do not waste any. In return I told him that if my venture goes through, how it goes and the successes and failures of purchasing local food.

5) Having Brown in my contact is very helpful because he is a supplier in my industry. Having a connection and gaining insight on someone from the supplier side of the industry is always helpful in order to have a successful business.

Reflection:
I am not really a big fan of "forced" networking but this exercise really helped me gain a better insight of whether or not this industry is right for me. After networking with three people I now understand the difficulties of the food industry and trying to provide good quality food at the price given. More or less, this activity helped me become stronger in networking by far, which is a good thing to take from this class.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was most surprising and I guess interesting to me from this weeks reading were the balance sheets. I never really understood a balance sheet and was shocked about the amount of different things on them that need to be recorded. It was cool learning and understanding more specifically about them.

2) Everything was very explanatory in this reading but if I were to name one thing confusing to me it would be the capital budgeting. The whole process of capital budgeting just seemed really complicated but if I were to carefully review it I believe I could understand it.

3) 1) What do you think is the most difficult type of budgeting?
    2) What is the preferred payback method?

4) I disagree with Kuratko in his "When Currency Loses Its Global Value" section. He states that "a nations currency is the bedrock on which its wealth is built." I do not think this is the case because I believe a nations government and strength of government is how a nation can continue to grow and become better. While currency may play a role, I disagree with what he has to say.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1)

2) Most people agreed with me in saying that the quality of food and variety of food is bad, so I kept that as my target focus. Some gave me comments saying that I should work on focusing on detail in how I am going to change up the food and variety.

3) Because of the feedback, I have decided to change and go more into detail about how I will change the meal plans. Along with this, I decided to question customers about the food and service they are currently receiving to strengthen my pitch.

My Secret Sauce

1. 1) I believe that I am more motivated than the average person

    2) I always strive for perfection and try to make everything the best as it can be

    3) I am usually always on time

    4) I am outgoing and have good social skills

    5) I am smart

2. 1) My friend Charlie agreed with me in how I am smart. He also said that I am a hard worker and work hard in the gym

     

     2) My friend Nick said that I am a hard worker. He also agreed with my in how I am on time on things.

      3) My friend Gary told me how I am a leader and that I carry myself in a way that people look up to me. He also said I know what I want to get done, which is basically me saying I am motivated.

      4) My friend Trevor agreed with me that I am smart. He also said that I speak well in front of others, similar to what Gary had to say.

     5) My friend Ike said I am motivated, just like I did. He also said I am good looking which was also a plus and helps me be outgoing.

3. Me and my friends seem to have the same idea of each other. Some of my friends gave me an idea of being a leader, and others agreed with me being motivated and smart. One of the people I interviewed said I wasn't on time, but I don't necessarily agree with that. I think the people I interviewed were really on point with what they had to say and I agree with what was said. If I could change anything, I would add leadership to my list.

    

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1) The inhibitors to marketing research and the marketing research questions stood out to me the most in this section of reading. The pages stood out to me more because they seemed very useful in trying to gain research in a market and showed different ways like cost and complexity.

2) I found the 10.3 chart on traditional versus entrepreneurial marketing a little confusing. The chart didn't really explain how the two were different, but instead just had descriptions of each base on orientation, context, etc..

3) What is the difference between conventional marketing and entrepreneurial marketing?

    Which is more effective?

4) I did not find anything that I really disagreed with in this chapter.