30A

This class was a lot of fun and I learned a lot of valuable information that I can use later in life. I like that we learned about creating ideas and then going back to them over and over again to perfect them since no idea is perfect the first time around. I often found things the second time around that I didn't think of the first time and it helped to make my ideas stringer.

I feel like I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset, but this class helped to solidify that and make it stronger. I now have a great set of information on how to hone in on my ideas to make them really great and have a bigger chance of succeeding.

As for future students, I would say to definitely plan your time accordingly and don't wait until the last minute to do assignments. There were a lot of assignments that took planning and needed to be done days ahead of time, like interviewing people. You will definitely succeed in this class if you plan ahead and use your time wisely. 

29A

My venture concept is to create an app where people can go on and search for businesses, brands and stores that carry green products and environmentally friendly products. In todays society, more and more people are starting to get involved in the green movement and care about the environment and how they are impacting the environment. By creating an app like this, people are able to easily see where they can shop for environmentally friendly products and what brands support the green movement.

This idea is an unmet opportunity because there are no apps that currently offer a selection of environmentally friendly brands and products that you can search like you would a normal Google search. More and more brands are popping up that are environmentally friendly and have the idea of the green movement in mind when creating their products. However, many Americans would never know of these start up brands or the specialty products they offer if they did not do extensive Google research on them. This app would help consumers save time and effort into finding the products that they are looking for and finding the brands that they are looking to support.

This app will tell them exactly what stores around their location sell the products that they are looking for that are environmentally friendly, as well as the cost of the products and if any stores in the surrounding area to their location offer that product for a cheaper price. If there's anything that we know about consumers it's that consumers love a good price, they love convenience and more and more people are becoming involved in the green movement.

This app will also be able to search for different brands and tell consumers whether or not these brands are impacting the environment in a positive or a negative way. It can show the consumer all of the different items that are environmentally friendly that are produced by that brand, as well as what the brand's carbon footprint looks like.

The feedback I had gotten from my original venture concept was all positive, so I think I'm on the right track with my idea. It would definitely be interesting to see what would happen if I were to really pursue this idea!


photo credit: OptinMonster

27A

The book I chose to read was The Art of Social Media, Power Tips of Power Users by Guy Kawasaki.

1. The books main theme is all about embracing our advancing technology and social media and using it as a tool to help you succeed. Many people view social media as a distraction, but Kawasaki disagrees and says that it can be used to your benefit.

2. This book helped me understand all of the different uses of social media, besides just connecting with friends. Social media can be used to keep in touch, but to also brand your business, grow your business and figure out the wants of your customers.

3. I think a good exercise for this class that has to do with this book would be to create two different social media profiles, one using promotion methods and one not to see the difference in their performance. This would allow us to see exactly how social media impacts your business.

4. The biggest "AHA" moment for me was when Kawasaki spoke about how to be successful, you need to act like a sports player trying to go pro. This made a lot of sense because if you're trying to do your best and make an impression, you'll succeed.

28A

I think my exit strategy for this business venture would be to grow it and then merge with a larger corporation. I think this would be the best path for my business since I wouldn't want to run it forever, and by merging with a larger corporation I would get a bigger payout in the end. I think this would influence my decisions in the fact that I would want to market myself to those corporations as well as my audience. I would want them to see that my company is successful and would be very beneficial for them to merge with.

26A

This semester, I was taking a class that dealt with a lot of IT and computer work. It was really challenging stuff that I had never had to do before, like coding and learning the back end of how computers work. On one of our tests, I thought I did well, but I ended up failing the test. I've never really failed a college class test before so I was pretty upset. I learned, however, that it's not the end of the world and that there are always other opportunities to bring your grade back up and do better.

I think a lot of us are afraid of failing. We see it as if we're meant to do something or be good at something, we should be able to do it perfectly the first time around. But what people don't realize is that failure is what makes us better at the things we're trying to do. We wouldn't have any success if we never failed. I, personally take failure pretty hard. I'm very hard on myself and it takes a few days to work through those emotions and realize that everything is still going to be ok. I think that this class has helped me see that.

25a

Existing market:
In terms of growing within the existing market that we have for our business venture, it would make sense to partner with environmentally friendly brands and stores such as Whole Foods, Seventh Generation or the honest company and partner with them to help support our app. These stores and brands are already well known throughout the community as being environmentally friendly and part of the green movement. By partnering with them and having them support our app it could help generate more growth early on for our venture.

New market:
Our app is more geared towards a more affluent community since eco-friendly products and green products on notoriously a little bit more expensive than your standard products. So to merge into a new market I would try and target the poorer communities or the people who don't have as much money to spend on those eco-friendly products. In order to do this, we would create a section in our app that would be specifically for environmentally friendly products and eco-friendly products that are more affordable and easily accessible.

By speaking with people with in that market, I learned that even the people who do not necessarily have the money to buy the organic eco-friendly products still want to help the environment and make a positive impact on the environment. So this means that adding a section for affordable eco-friendly products that are cheaper than some of the other eco-friendly products out there would be a great idea. I think this new market would do very well with our business venture because majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and don't necessarily have extra disposable income to spend on higher end organic products.

24a

My venture concept is to create an app where people can go on and search for businesses, brands and stores that carry green products and environmentally friendly products. In todays society, more and more people are starting to get involved in the green movement and care about the environment and how they are impacting the environment. By creating an app like this, people are able to easily see where they can shop for environmentally friendly products and what brands support the green movement.

This idea is an unmet opportunity because there are no apps that currently offer a selection of environmentally friendly brands and products that you can search like you would a normal Google search. More and more brands are popping up that are environmentally friendly and have the idea of the green movement in mind when creating their products. However, many Americans would never know of these start up brands or the specialty products they offer if they did not do extensive Google research on them. This app would help consumers save time and effort into finding the products that they are looking for and finding the brands that they are looking to support.

This app will tell them exactly what stores around their location sell the products that they are looking for that are environmentally friendly, as well as the cost of the products and if any stores in the surrounding area to their location offer that product for a cheaper price. If there's anything that we know about consumers it's that consumers love a good price, they love convenience and more and more people are becoming involved in the green movement.

This app will also be able to search for different brands and tell consumers whether or not these brands are impacting the environment in a positive or a negative way. It can show the consumer all of the different items that are environmentally friendly that are produced by that brand, as well as what the brand's carbon footprint looks like.

23a

Some of the resources in my venture include:
1. Social capital (knowing people in the industry)
V- social capital is very valuable in a business venture because it's good to know other people in the industry that can help you out when you need it.
R- this resources isn't necessarily "rare" as many different companies know people in the industry.
I- this is something you can't really "copy", but other businesses can definitely find people in the industry to connect with.
N- there is no other resource that can take the place of knowing people in the industry.

2. Financial capital (financing to get the venture started)
V- this is extremely valuable since almost all business ventures need financing to get started.
R- this isn't rare, unless you're a student or someone just starting out that may not have funding.
I- this also isn't something that people can copy.
N- there's not really any other resource that can replace this, as all businesses need funding.


3. I have the quality of perseverance
V- I would say this is valuable when starting out because it may not work out the first time, or it may take a while to gain traction and you need to be patient with the process.
R- I would say this is a little rare because most people want instantaneous results.
I- people can't really "copy" this.
N- there's not really any other resource that can replace this.


4. Educational capital (knowledge of the industry)
V- This is valuable because it'll make starting and succeeding in your business venture easier.
R- This isn't very rare because many people can gain knowledge of their industry.
I- this also isn't something that people can copy.
N- knowledge of the industry is irreplaceable.


5. Human capital (people I can recruit as employees)
V- this isn't really a necessity, since some startups are done solo or with a very small group of people.
R- this also isn't very rare, as it's easy to recruit people.
I-this also isn't something that people can copy.
N- since human capital isn't really necessary (at least at first) it could probably be replaced with other resources.


6. Emotional resources (a great support system)
V- this is valuable for when you're first starting out, because it can be very stressful.
R- this is somewhat rare because not everyone has a good support system.
I-this also isn't something that people can copy.
N- I would say nothing can replace a good support system.

After reviewing all of these, I would say that financial capital is the most important since you need money to get started, and not everyone has the money needed to get started.

21A reading reflection

The book that I chose to read was How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The theme of this book was that even if you fail in life or don't succeed right away, you're still able to "win big". It's all about how all of our failures in life are what lead to our successes later in life. Without failing, we wouldn't be able to succeed.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

The book is all about looking at life and failure in a different perspective, and looking at failures as something that helps us rather than hinders us. I think with ENT3003, it also teaches us about going about things a different way and using all of our experiences to our advantage in order to succeed. Both the book and our class teach us that there is no one way to succeed in life.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on the book, I would tell the students to pick a time in their life when they felt like they failed, like not getting into the college they want or losing a big game, and tell how that failure led to success later on.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

The biggest "aha" moment in the book for me was when Adams talked about selfishness being a good thing and being able to help lead to your success. Obviously not all selfishness is good, but the kind where you put yourself first and make yourself a priority. That was a big surprise for me.