I chose to do my final reading reflection on "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" by Peter Drucker. The theme of the story lies on 3 main points that the other wants to get across. The practice of entrepreneurship and innovation, and strategies on how to market a successful innovation. In the practice of innovation section the author talks about how small business or "me too" restaurant business are not considered entrepreneurship. He then goes on to explain that entrepreneurship is when a person systematically searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. he then goes on to give 7 different examples of innovative opportunity. In the second section of the book the author pretty much explains the do and don'ts of entrepreneurship and how to practice and perform correctly. And the third section on entrepreneurial status pretty much speaks for itself. Drucker lists examples of how you can attack the appropriate target market and how you can go about improving the market and blow your competitors away.
The way this book connected with me and this class is the way the author picks a particular market. I chose a market for this class that was in need of innovation which is why it turned about to be successful. He constantly mentions picking markets that are in serious need of change and thats why I thought my venture would be successful. I didn't reinvent anything at all, I just thought of what people my age need (To save money) and paired that with resources that I already had so that I wouldn't have to invest much and worry about losing money.
If I had to design an assignment for this class after reading this book it would be something along the lines of reinventing a existing market that needs serious improvement. I know some people kind of already did this for their venture but I saw a lot of people who completely came up with something new which is fine because thats what this class is about. I would ask the students to pick a market that isn't doing so well and ask him how they would improve it or make it better.
The thing that caught me by surprise was the section in which Drucker talked about small businesses not being considered entrepreneurship. My uncle who is very successful and owns a small business is one hundred percent and entrepreneur in my eyes. I understand where the author was coming from with his comparisons to McDonalds and other major businesses but I don't necessarily agree with him on his overall belief.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
28A- Your Exit Strategy
Ahh yes the exit strategy. I actually thought about this the first day we decided to go through with our venture because I knew our time and opportunity were limited. Unfortunately, the spring 2019 comes to a conclusion so will this particular business venture. I've learned some pretty insightful things over the course of this class that has helped me manage my private business. Of that, the most important attribute was my way of going about things. I was able to help other people save money, while making some extra coin for myself. I think that certain things that I have learned as an entrepreneur who is, currently running his first business, will most certainly help me excel at a higher level and throughout the business world my whole life.
The reason for my strategy is simple. From the beginning I knew that this was going to be a part time gig... But who cares! I got to experience running my own business, make legitimate money, all while pleasing others. It can get much better than that. So, for the time being this has been a very influential and advantageous gig for all of us, but the fact still remains that when I graduate this business will no longer exist.
I think that since I knew going into this I help back on some things or in other words "didn't go all out." Yeah that is something I look forward to doing in the future but this just wasn't the right job to do that. But don't get it it twisted, this was very helpful and fun for me do and is most certainly not meaningless. I learned all sorts of things and got a taste of the real world a little bit. All in all, I think the format of this semester long assignment was terrific and I hope that the continues to be a requirement for other up and coming entrepreneurs.
The reason for my strategy is simple. From the beginning I knew that this was going to be a part time gig... But who cares! I got to experience running my own business, make legitimate money, all while pleasing others. It can get much better than that. So, for the time being this has been a very influential and advantageous gig for all of us, but the fact still remains that when I graduate this business will no longer exist.
I think that since I knew going into this I help back on some things or in other words "didn't go all out." Yeah that is something I look forward to doing in the future but this just wasn't the right job to do that. But don't get it it twisted, this was very helpful and fun for me do and is most certainly not meaningless. I learned all sorts of things and got a taste of the real world a little bit. All in all, I think the format of this semester long assignment was terrific and I hope that the continues to be a requirement for other up and coming entrepreneurs.
Monday, November 27, 2017
26-A Celebrating failure
In the beginning of the year I set a goal for myself health-wise. I started out eating good and working out everyday and was on path to obtaining my goal. Once things settled in and the football games started back up as well as the fraternity I'm in things spiraled out of control. I let my social life take over and my goal is now even further away than it was when I set it back in August. There was a certain physique and overall wellness I set out to reach by Christmas break and now unfortunately I have to admit that instead or progressing I regressed.
Im not surprised at all by my lack of results. If I wanted to reach my goal bad enough I would've but I guess I'm just not at the point in my life. I recognize what I need to do to get there and it involves series life changes. Im back to my original regime and and hoping this time around I stick with the plan. This just shows not only that if you don't take your goal seriously that theres a good chance you won't reach it, but that if you aren't willing to sacrifice certain things in order to gain others you probably won't go anywhere in live. Whether its school, work, or fitness, you have to be willing to adapt and commit to the things necessary to get the task done.
It does suck. My friends will give me shit and tell me how tired they are of hearing me tell them that I'm going to make this change, or reach this goal, and then doing nothing but regressing. Embarrassing, but you should really do it for yourself and thats what I think my problem is. Im more worried about impressing others while I should be trying to impress myself. When that becomes the reasoning behind my goal is the day I really make a difference.
This class has really changed my look on failure in the sense that a lot of my idols failed a lot. Especially as a baseball player growing, failure was the very common in the game. Now as I grow older and my idols become a little more realistic in terms of personal obtainability I see that they failed many times as well in order to reach the levelness of what seems to be superiority in my eyes. If you're not willing to fail then you're not going to succeed. Thats what I'll sum up my perspective of failure in this class with.
Friday, November 17, 2017
25-A
This assignment is kind of tough for me and my current venture because it is very limited. For my time being (1 more year) here in Gainesville I came up with this temporary parking lot venture for this class to make some extra cash. Our lot is pretty much full now and theres nothing else to really do to further this venture. So when I talked to three of my customers they all pretty much told me the same thing. If I really wanted to take this serious I could invest in possible making more room so that I could sell more spots but I wouldn't really make a difference and I don't think our landlord would approve. So, unfortunately for me when my time here at UF is done so will my venture. It'd be pretty sweet if I ended up making a lot of money in this kind of business somewhere else but I just don't see it happening. With my first job already lined up it seems highly unlikely that I would take a turn in that direction but anything could happen,
As for my second venture, while its not a completely different market it definitely targets people of all age as opposed to a very specific focus group like my last venture. Earlier in the year for one of our assignments I hinted at the idea of possibly making gator t-shirts that would have funny captions or sayings that would poke at opposing teams while remaining appropriate. Me and my buddy know some people that could embroider the t-shirts for us for very cheap and make them very profitable. He also told us how much money you could make by selling them in bulk. The shirts would cost roughly $4 a piece per 100 and you could easily sell them for $15 each. We already did a little trial run with gamed polos earlier in the year but they were too expensive which made them more difficult to sell.
I spoke to friends and family and they both told me that my success with these shirts pretty much depends on how funny they are and how good the design is. There's so many people here in Gainesville that make and sell t-shirts which is why we need to make sure we differentiate them from the others. Yeah the design is a huge part but what I and the people who I interviewed agreed that what really matters is the slogan on the shirt. I myself am a victim like many others who have bought a shitty shirt that had something funny either written or depicted on it. People love humor, so I figured why not making something that allows them to support their school while stabbing at their opponents at the same time.
All in all i'm really surprised at the success we've had from our first venture and I hope it carries over into the next. As this semester wraps up me and my buddies are content with our profits and look to expand when we get back from break. Its nice having an income from pretty much doing nothing, but If this shirt gig takes off I'm thinking our profits could triple what we're making right now come spring time. Only time will tell, but thing is for sure and that is that this business is addicting and it drives you to improve especially once you start to make more than you spend.
As for my second venture, while its not a completely different market it definitely targets people of all age as opposed to a very specific focus group like my last venture. Earlier in the year for one of our assignments I hinted at the idea of possibly making gator t-shirts that would have funny captions or sayings that would poke at opposing teams while remaining appropriate. Me and my buddy know some people that could embroider the t-shirts for us for very cheap and make them very profitable. He also told us how much money you could make by selling them in bulk. The shirts would cost roughly $4 a piece per 100 and you could easily sell them for $15 each. We already did a little trial run with gamed polos earlier in the year but they were too expensive which made them more difficult to sell.
I spoke to friends and family and they both told me that my success with these shirts pretty much depends on how funny they are and how good the design is. There's so many people here in Gainesville that make and sell t-shirts which is why we need to make sure we differentiate them from the others. Yeah the design is a huge part but what I and the people who I interviewed agreed that what really matters is the slogan on the shirt. I myself am a victim like many others who have bought a shitty shirt that had something funny either written or depicted on it. People love humor, so I figured why not making something that allows them to support their school while stabbing at their opponents at the same time.
All in all i'm really surprised at the success we've had from our first venture and I hope it carries over into the next. As this semester wraps up me and my buddies are content with our profits and look to expand when we get back from break. Its nice having an income from pretty much doing nothing, but If this shirt gig takes off I'm thinking our profits could triple what we're making right now come spring time. Only time will tell, but thing is for sure and that is that this business is addicting and it drives you to improve especially once you start to make more than you spend.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
23A- Your ventures unfair advantage
1.) Social Capital- I myself know every single one of our customers and they'll be able to vouch for me and help me expand
Valuable- I think this is valuable, its always nice to know your customers.
Rare- Yes very rare! No not many people can say that they know all of their customers even though its a small amount.
Inimitable- This can be imitated
Non substitutable- people will always need this.
2.)Relationships with other entrepreneurs- My dads best friend is an extremely successful civil engineer and does really well in real estate.
Valuable- I consider this extremely valuable and Im very lucky to have a family friend who can help me with business venture
Rare- Yes, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a good friend who is this successful who can help and mentor you.
Non-Substitutible- No, most people don't share this resource.
3.) Human Capital- I consider myself a resource for my venture. I'm a businessman who has acquired a lot of of useful knowledge over the past couple years here at UF and plan on using everything I've learned to become very successful.
valuable- Definitely the most valuable of all of these.
Rare- No, other people do the same thing every day.
Inimitable- yes this can be imitated and does every day.
Non-substitutable- People use this resource every day.
4.) Social capital- My fraternity helps me expand this by announcing and advertising this option to friends and other brothers.
Valuable- Yes this is the reason for most of my customers.
Rare- no
Inimitable- yes people can imitate this.
Non-substitutable- people in our fraternity do this all the time for various reasons and ventures.
5.) Cost efficiency- No other Gainesville parking options in the area can compete with our prices.
Valuable- This is what we base our success on.
Rare- The most rare
Inimitable- Yes this can be imitated
Non-Substitutable- People will prefer this over others.
6.) Land- We have a good amount of land and its close to campus.
Valuable- This is the most valuable resource we have.
Rare- More rare than all 5 pieces of exodia
Inimitable- Few can imitate
Non-Substitutable- People need this.
7.) Social Contact- We know a landscaping business here that helped cleared more room for cars on our lot.
Valuable- moderately, it just helped us add a few more cars and look professional
Rare- Not rare at all
Inimitable- YES
Non-Substitutable- Not necessary, but helpful.
8.) Relatable- My focus is group is college kids and being a college myself we can relate which is why the price is what it is.
Valuable- Yes, in fact more people in the community need to do stuff like this.
Rare- Nope
Inimitable- Yes
Non-Substituble- People should want this service and should consider doing something similar themselves.
9.) Publicity- Now that we have numbers, these people along with brothers an friends will help us expand so that we always have a full lot and maximize profits.
Valuable- Yes, we want to make the most possible and help the most people possible
Rare- yes, it can be hard to expand on this here in Gainesville because people are always coming up with alternatives
Non-Substituble- People will listen to friends and come to our place over others.
10.) Negotiable- We do negotiate prices depending on how long you plan to rent a spot.
Valuable- It can be to the customer if they wanna save even more money.
Rare- Not at all.
Non-substistuable- People will always try to bargain so heres their chance.
Valuable- I think this is valuable, its always nice to know your customers.
Rare- Yes very rare! No not many people can say that they know all of their customers even though its a small amount.
Inimitable- This can be imitated
Non substitutable- people will always need this.
2.)Relationships with other entrepreneurs- My dads best friend is an extremely successful civil engineer and does really well in real estate.
Valuable- I consider this extremely valuable and Im very lucky to have a family friend who can help me with business venture
Rare- Yes, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a good friend who is this successful who can help and mentor you.
Non-Substitutible- No, most people don't share this resource.
3.) Human Capital- I consider myself a resource for my venture. I'm a businessman who has acquired a lot of of useful knowledge over the past couple years here at UF and plan on using everything I've learned to become very successful.
valuable- Definitely the most valuable of all of these.
Rare- No, other people do the same thing every day.
Inimitable- yes this can be imitated and does every day.
Non-substitutable- People use this resource every day.
4.) Social capital- My fraternity helps me expand this by announcing and advertising this option to friends and other brothers.
Valuable- Yes this is the reason for most of my customers.
Rare- no
Inimitable- yes people can imitate this.
Non-substitutable- people in our fraternity do this all the time for various reasons and ventures.
5.) Cost efficiency- No other Gainesville parking options in the area can compete with our prices.
Valuable- This is what we base our success on.
Rare- The most rare
Inimitable- Yes this can be imitated
Non-Substitutable- People will prefer this over others.
6.) Land- We have a good amount of land and its close to campus.
Valuable- This is the most valuable resource we have.
Rare- More rare than all 5 pieces of exodia
Inimitable- Few can imitate
Non-Substitutable- People need this.
7.) Social Contact- We know a landscaping business here that helped cleared more room for cars on our lot.
Valuable- moderately, it just helped us add a few more cars and look professional
Rare- Not rare at all
Inimitable- YES
Non-Substitutable- Not necessary, but helpful.
8.) Relatable- My focus is group is college kids and being a college myself we can relate which is why the price is what it is.
Valuable- Yes, in fact more people in the community need to do stuff like this.
Rare- Nope
Inimitable- Yes
Non-Substituble- People should want this service and should consider doing something similar themselves.
9.) Publicity- Now that we have numbers, these people along with brothers an friends will help us expand so that we always have a full lot and maximize profits.
Valuable- Yes, we want to make the most possible and help the most people possible
Rare- yes, it can be hard to expand on this here in Gainesville because people are always coming up with alternatives
Non-Substituble- People will listen to friends and come to our place over others.
10.) Negotiable- We do negotiate prices depending on how long you plan to rent a spot.
Valuable- It can be to the customer if they wanna save even more money.
Rare- Not at all.
Non-substistuable- People will always try to bargain so heres their chance.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
21A - Reading Reflection No. 2
I decided to do my second reading reflection on the book "Inbound Marketing", written by Brain Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. Inbound Marketing was pretty much a tool guide for marketing strategies and marketing wisdom. Throughout there book there are hundreds of ideas, tools and tips that the reader can apply to their business now or in the future.
What really connected the dots between this books and ENT 3003 was the section called "Watching your competition." It basically talked about how your competition is everything and you always need to stay one step ahead in order to establish your dominance in any industry. The reason my little parking lot gig has been working here in Gainesville is because my competitors won't lower their price to mine. Sure they have a lot more space for cars and they are definitely making a lot more than I am. But It took a ridiculously short amount of time for me to fill up my lot because the customers just couldn't say no to such a low price.
If I had to design an exercise for this class it would probably be something along the lines of talking to your competitors. I think its so important that we recognize who our competitors are and that we should constantly be one or more steps ahead of them. Maybe one of the interviews could be us asking our competitors how they would adapt if we were a serious threat as far as competition goes, to their industry. Im sure their are many tactics you could learn from talking to someone who has to make those decisions for a major company.
I think the thing that surprised me the most from reading the book was how was easy the author made everything sounds. For marketing strategies to business ideas he made it seem like everything was so easy and that anyone could be a millionaire. He rarely talked about how much hard work would needed to be put in for a business to be successful, he just constantly talked about how the entire workforce has changed drastically over the years and offers insight and tips on how to adjust to them and profit from todays social trends.
What really connected the dots between this books and ENT 3003 was the section called "Watching your competition." It basically talked about how your competition is everything and you always need to stay one step ahead in order to establish your dominance in any industry. The reason my little parking lot gig has been working here in Gainesville is because my competitors won't lower their price to mine. Sure they have a lot more space for cars and they are definitely making a lot more than I am. But It took a ridiculously short amount of time for me to fill up my lot because the customers just couldn't say no to such a low price.
If I had to design an exercise for this class it would probably be something along the lines of talking to your competitors. I think its so important that we recognize who our competitors are and that we should constantly be one or more steps ahead of them. Maybe one of the interviews could be us asking our competitors how they would adapt if we were a serious threat as far as competition goes, to their industry. Im sure their are many tactics you could learn from talking to someone who has to make those decisions for a major company.
I think the thing that surprised me the most from reading the book was how was easy the author made everything sounds. For marketing strategies to business ideas he made it seem like everything was so easy and that anyone could be a millionaire. He rarely talked about how much hard work would needed to be put in for a business to be successful, he just constantly talked about how the entire workforce has changed drastically over the years and offers insight and tips on how to adjust to them and profit from todays social trends.
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