30A

Final Reflection

Although this is the end of our journey together in ENT 3003, you now have a set of experiences that you can use to better navigate the future. My hope is that each of you have, to one extent or another, developed an entrepreneurial mindset. That you keep a sharp eye out for problems, and you're willing to offer a solution.

For this final reflection, I'd like you to do a few things:

1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

Once you have written your post, please include a picture (for illustration!).

The most formative experience to me was my elevator pitch. I could actually see how I sound talking to other people and what people think when I pitch my idea of owning my own facility to them. This has allowed me to extremely improve on that way that I relay the reason that I am doing this and being able to describe what actually drives me. I think my most joyous experience was creating my social avatar. This was fun doing it on the computer and really thinking about the type of people that I expect to target. I am proud of completing the venture concept assignment. I felt that this was the most beneficial thing for me because it allowed me to map out everything about my company. Although it said two pages, I just kept writing and kept writing because I was so passionate about my company.

I see myself as an entrepreneur because no matter who I talk to, I am still always trying to sell myself. I use my experiences and the people that I know to enhance and grow the opportunities that I have for myself. I have been developing an entrepreneurial mindset by becoming extremely invested with the people that I talk to. I have actively been searching and seeking out people to talk about my future goals and how certain people were able to achieve them.

I would advise students who are coming down this journey to put as much effort in as possible. This can seem like an easy class but it can be extremely challenging and beneficial for you if you put in the time. If you have a goal that you really want to accomplish such as a business or service that you want to offer then be extremely dedicated to all the opportunities that we have in this class. If you do not have any intentions to be an entrepreneur, I advise you to still soak in all the information because you never know what can change you. The skills of an entrepreneur can also follow you to multiple places of your life. You will always need to build your capital and show that you are an asset for the company that you work for. You will need social skills to be able to interact with different people. Come into this class extremely open and eager to learn. Come with no prior knowledge and just listen to everything that is given to you.

29A

Venture Concept No. 2

As part of ENT 3003, you are required to write a short (2-page, single spaced) description of a concept for a new venture. This write-up guide describes what you should cover in your write-up, and in so doing, it also presents a recommended outline for you to follow.

The three major elements of your write-up are the (1) opportunity, (2) innovation, and (3) venture concept. You should begin your write-up with detailed descriptions of each of these elements.

Opportunity. An opportunity may be defined as a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs. When you describe the opportunity you have identified, you need to be sure to describe both (1) who has the need (i.e., who are the potential customers?) and (2) the nature of the need. Other questions you should address in this section:



• • What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?

• • How is this market defined geographically and demographically?

• • How are customers currently satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use now?

• • How big is this opportunity?

• • How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?

When I first came up with an idea for a sports facility, I thought about a place to offer students, mainly high school students, a place to get off the streets and stay out of the negative influences and troubles from being on the street. My potential customers were less-fortunate minority individuals who are struggling to stay out of trouble or have a need to grow themselves personally and/or professionally.



This market will start out in the Tampa, FL area and target all students who qualify as minority students. This facility will have high school students that range from the age of 14-18 years old. Currently, these students do not have a positive way to stay out of trouble and are not surrounded by the correct influences. These students do not know the threats of the situations that they are dealing with and how it could end their future immediately.


Innovation. An innovation may be defined as a new or creative service, product, or process that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs. The service, product, or process you develop in this class may be radically innovative or it may be incrementally innovative. In this section, I would like to you discuss your innovation in moderate detail. Explain what it is, what it does, and how it works. You should also describe how you will make money – in other words, what, exactly, are you selling and for how much? For instance, if I was starting a business to teach people how to play the piano, I would be selling an hour of my time for $50.



The service that I plan on offering are academic tutoring, study sessions, career development, and personal development. I am offering the ability for minority students who are in need of staying out of trouble or need a room for growth. With this business, I will be giving the services to high school students.



I will be trying to receive some funding from the government through grants and scholarships for my students. The need for funding will be determined through the government in the same way that they have college students complete a FASFA every year.



Publix is a company that is for profit but they also receive private funding through fundraisers and the community. I think that this would be the best route to take for my company. I say this because although I am offering this facility to minority students who cannot afford to be able to come, I think that is also important to realize that I can use some of the funding that I make from profit and pour it back into this problem. If I can pour back this into the company without hitting such a huge loss and still being able to survive then private funding might be my only need for an opportunity.



Publix has been extremely successful when it has come to initiating private funding and receiving huge sponsors for the initiatives that they are putting forward. I think it is just important that you be extremely honest and transparent with people so that they know the reason/cause that they are donating for.


Venture Concept. A venture concept may be defined as the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this section, describe how your innovation will solve or address the opportunity you identified. You also want to explain why customers will buy your innovation. In describing the concept, you also want to be sure to cover issues such as:

• • What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch?

• • Who are the competitors? What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?

• • What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

• • How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?



I have not seen many products that have focused specifically on emerging yourself in the teenagers’ culture and matching them up with people have gone through the same struggles. I will use my relationships and connections with ex-professionals and college athletes to allow them to see someone who has been in the same situation.



The Boys and Girls Club and other privately-owned recreational programs are my main competitors. Their weaknesses are the fact that they rely only on the funding that they fundraise instead of outsourcing a lot of the funding. They have a good strength with their brand recognition to lure in parents to bring their kids to the program.



I would have somewhere around 20-30 employees that specialize in many different roles. I want to bring people in that have a passion for each service that I have to offer. Since this a sports facility I want to bring in possibly P.E. coaches or old high school coaches who were around this area that are able to understand the stresses that the students go through.



2) Provide a summary of the feedback you received from your previous venture concept description. You certainly want to include the student feedback, but you may also include the feedback you received from others during the "What's Next" exercise. You want to summarize all of the feedback, but be sure to place an emphasis on what people recommended you change about your idea. (In other words, don't just describe the positive feedback.)

When it came to feedback, I had to look hard into whether I wanted this company to be for profit or nonprofit. I also was given the idea that I should look into Publix and see how they use private funding to still reach some of the optimum levels of growth that they want to receive.

3) Describe how you changed your venture concept, based on what you learned from the feedback.

My venture concept was changed because I decided that I was going to target a profit company but bring in private funding to help to subsidize the loss of funds due to the minority teenagers that I am helping. I have come to realize that not all people can afford this facility but that does not mean that all people cannot benefit from it.

27 A

Reading Reflection No.3

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

The general theme of this book is how two completely different mindsets can travel you down two different paths. You have a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. The fixed mindset can limit you at certain things to only see the goals that are achievable and obtainable right in front of you. Whereas, the growth mindset challenges you to expand out of your comfort zone and obtain things that you don’t usually think of and step out of your comfort zone in order to be successful. Growth mindsets have the ability for you to have endless potential and to never sell yourself short.

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

I think that this goes along with being an entrepreneur because you do not have a set path of how you will be successful in something you create. Different paths and different opportunities may open up for you. You will experience failure, but this should not leave only the fixed mindset upon yourself. You should have a growth mindset to think about how your failures can turn into your successes and how you can deter from the path that you thought you had, and still be successful.

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

I would have students write down and think about times where they felt that they only had one goal and once it was stopped, they gave up. I would have them identify how this fixed mindset hindered their growth and allow them to talk about the difference with this same experience in a growth mindset.

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?

I didn’t expect for this book to talk about different genres of ways that you can use this growth and fixed mindset whether in sports, the workplace, and etc.

28A

My Exit Strategy

That's a fast exit!

All good things come to an end. Eventually, the entrepreneur exists the venture she or he created. Although exit comes at the end of the entrepreneurship process, its implications can be seen throughout. Exit can influence how you identify opportunities, develop products or services, and manage and grow the firm. In this exercise, I would like you to reflect on your own exit strategy.

Here's what you should do and write up for your post:

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?


I intend to start my business up long down the road. I need to find the right financial resources to be able to help with the funding and the aid of this program before I can start this facility. I plan to keep the business in the family and pass it down to my children. The reason for this is because people who are close to your dream and goals, are the people who are going to cherish the same mindset that you have. Nobody else will treat my business with as much care as my own family because they will never want to let me down and they will have been around it their whole life.


2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I think that it's important to realize how much your family and close friends around you value the things that you do. My children will have grown up around this business so they will already know the daily operations, problems, and plans that we will have for this business. They will be able to jump right in with the same passion that I have because they will understand that this is a family company.


3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

I think that my ability to pass it down to my children has allowed many opportunities for growth. With this exit strategy, I can focus on receiving the aid and not being the focal point of all operations but we will also be able to expand the longer the company is around.

26A

Celebrating Failure

In this exercise, bare your soul.



1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?


I think I speak for many people but the failure that I had was taking Business Finance. I came into the summer semester extremely confident that I would do great in this class despise what everyone else said about it. I came in with an open mind and just tackled this class head-on. Unfortunately this class kicked me back harder than I kicked it and I ended up having to withdrawal from the class. I was stressed, I was frustrated about every aspect of this class. I never had felt like a class was hard to me and I always had majority A’s and some B’s sprinkled in here and there.

Taking this class allowed me to learn that everything in life isn’t easy. I realized that I can’t get frustrated just because some people are better than me at certain things. I saw some people at UF pass this class with easy A’s and B’s and ended up becoming very down on myself. I did not want to go to class anymore and I felt that this school thing wasn’t for me. I ended up enrolling in the class again this semester and I am still at the cusp of failing this class. The class has gone much better than the first time but it has still been a challenge for me.

When it comes to failure, this class has allowed me to look at things through a different lens. I have seen many people who have been hit with many challenges far more important than my finance class. I have come to understand that failure is just a part of a process and it is a way of life. Without failure, you will never grow and you will never have the fire lit under you to actually succeed. This semester has still been hard with finance but the thought of failure is no longer in sight for me. I have changed my mindset to change my normal routines of doing things in order to succeed in this class.

24A

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

  

As part of ENT 3003, you are required to write a short (2-page, single spaced) description of a concept for a new venture. This write-up guide describes what you should cover in your write-up, and in so doing, it also presents a recommended outline for you to follow.

The three major elements of your write-up are the (1) opportunity, (2) innovation, and (3) venture concept. You should begin your write-up with detailed descriptions of each of these elements.

Opportunity. An opportunity may be defined as a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs. When you describe the opportunity you have identified, you need to be sure to describe both (1) who has the need (i.e., who are the potential customers?) and (2) the nature of the need. Other questions you should address in this section:



• • What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?

• • How is this market defined geographically and demographically?

• • How are customers currently satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use now?

• • How big is this opportunity?

• • How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?

When I first came up with an idea for a sports facility, I thought about a place to offer students, mainly high school students, a place to get off the streets and stay out of the negative influences and troubles from being on the street. My potential customers were less-fortunate minority individuals who are struggling to stay out of trouble or have a need to grow themselves personally and/or professionally.



This market will start out in the Tampa, FL area and target all students who qualify as minority students. This facility will have high school students that range from the age of 14-18 years old. Currently, these students do not have a positive way to stay out of trouble and are not surrounded by the correct influences. These students do not know the threats of the situations that they are dealing with and how it could end their future immediately.


Innovation. An innovation may be defined as a new or creative service, product, or process that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs. The service, product, or process you develop in this class may be radically innovative or it may be incrementally innovative. In this section, I would like to you discuss your innovation in moderate detail. Explain what it is, what it does, and how it works. You should also describe how you will make money – in other words, what, exactly, are you selling and for how much? For instance, if I was starting a business to teach people how to play the piano, I would be selling an hour of my time for $50.



The service that I plan on offering are academic tutoring, study sessions, career development, and personal development. I am offering the ability for minority students who are in need of staying out of trouble or need a room for growth. With this business, I will be giving the services to high school students.



I will be trying to receive some funding from the government through grants and scholarships for my students. The need for funding will be determined through the government in the same way that they have college students complete a FASFA every year.
Venture Concept. A venture concept may be defined as the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this section, describe how your innovation will solve or address the opportunity you identified. You also want to explain why customers will buy your innovation. In describing the concept, you also want to be sure to cover issues such as:

• • What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch?

• • Who are the competitors? What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?

• • What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

• • How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?



I have not seen many products that have focused specifically on emerging yourself in the teenagers’ culture and matching them up with people have gone through the same struggles. I will use my relationships and connections with ex-professionals and college athletes to allow them to see someone who has been in the same situation.



The Boys and Girls Club and other privately-owned recreational programs are my main competitors. Their weaknesses are the fact that they rely only on the funding that they fundraise instead of outsourcing a lot of the funding. They have a good strength with their brand recognition to lure in parents to bring their kids to the program.



I would have somewhere around 20-30 employees that specialize in many different roles. I want to bring people in that have a passion for each service that I have to offer. Since this a sports facility I want to bring in possibly P.E. coaches or old high school coaches who were around this area that are able to understand the stresses that the students go through.

25A

25A – What’s Next?

We've been talking about growth. Growth in new markets, growth in existing markets. For this experience exercise, you'll need to set a course for growth for your business and develop plans for how you will grow in both a new market as well as in the market you have already identified.

What you need to do. Again, you'll need to hit the pavement and talk to potential customers. This time, you'll be armed with your "venture concept" description. Break your post into two pieces:
• Existing Market
• New Market

Existing Market.

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.
I think that I can offer more services for people that do not have a membership such as renting out the facility for basketball, softball, baseball, and football tournaments.

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next.
1st – You should be bringing in people with certified experience that can teach these students the skills that they need to be successful. A good way is to have times where students are required to choose a couple of professional topics to be engaged in such as table setting in a professional setting.

2nd – You need to branch and expand out to other locations instead of just one. We need to find a target market to address the situation of everybody.

3rd - When this becomes successful ,brand yourself into an academy so that you are responsible for curriculum as well.


Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.
New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market?

Step 4: Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on.




I think instead of just targeting individual consumers, I should start targeting other businesses as well. Not only can I use this to target people for different travel basketball tournaments, but I also could use this to enhance the other side of the facility. This facility is not only a sports facility but also a place to grow yourself personally. I think that we have many professionals that are also struggling in these key areas of how to lead, how to be professional, and how to problem solve.

I can create value for people in this market by offering less fortunate students the tools to be successful. I also found out when interviewing people that I need to focus on an ability to reach people who are fortunate but just are not given these type of skills either. Just because you have money, doesn't mean that you are receiving the correct resources to be successful.


This new market definitely feels like an area that I can attack but it is long-term after actually opening and starting the facility. The idea of an academy always came to mind but that is not the first step of the process that I want to take. I think that I have a lot more foundation building to actually reach this point.

23A

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

The purpose of this exercise is to figure out what actually makes your venture special! What will be the resources that keep competitors from copying what you do and serving your customers better?

Here's what you need to do.

· Generate a list of all of the resources in your venture (produce a list of at least 10 resources that you already possess). This can include your human capital, social capital, financial capital, and capabilities. You may also discuss the organizational culture you intend to create (but, obviously, it's not a resource that you have, now.)

· Conduct a "VRIN" analysis for each resource. That is, describe, for each resource, how it is valuable, rare, inimitable (how hard it is to copy by others), and non-substitutable (are there other resources that can provide the same benefits?).

· Remember, not ALL resources will measure up well. That's OK. You just need one.

· After conducting the VRIN analysis, determine what your top resource is. Explain why it's more important to your venture than all of the other resources.

1. Relationships with Division 1, NBA, and NFL Athletes
Valuable – This is extremely valuable for these students to hear from people who they respect and were in their place.

Rare – Extremely rare to have this opportunity to have people that I know that have played overseas or in professional sports in some way.

Inimitable – Other people can have people that they know that also have this connection but it is not as common.

Non-substitutable – I don’t think many other resources will have an effect on individuals who are trying to play sports In college.

2. Leadership
Valuable – Extremely valuable to have a leadership mentality and be able to lead a group of people to a common goal.

Rare – This is not rare but for some people they just do not know how to lead others.

Inimitable – Depending on the way that you lead an organization it could be hard to copy. Leadership styles are within the person.

Non-substitutable – Money can bring success but at some point you have to someone who brings in the correct organizational culture to keep it running.

3. Tacit Knowledge and Skills
Valuable – Extremely valuable

Rare – Rare in select individuals.

Inimitable – No, this is difficult to transfer to another person.

Non- substitutable – No substitute.

4. Formal Education
Valuable – Extremely valuable for a place that is trying to teach and help they learn.

Rare – Rare in sports facilities because a majority of the staff are high schoolers.

Inimitable – Easy to emulate.

Non- substitutable – No substitute.

5. Physical Ability in Sports
Valuable – Not as valuable from a management level perspective but for staff yes it is.

Rare – Not rare

Inimitable – Easy to emulate.

Non- substitutable – Can be substituted with an ability to be able to coach the kids.

6. Knowledge of Sports
Valuable – Very valuable for a sports facility.

Rare – Not rare.

Inimitable – Easy to copy.

Non- substitutable – This can be substituted by other staff who are knowledgeable of sports.

7. Knowledge of Academics
Valuable – Extremely valuable to have.

Rare – No this is not rare.

Inimitable – Easy to copy.

Non- substitutable – This can be substituted by other staff who are educated.

8. Determination and Drive
Valuable – No doubt you need to have a determined person.

Rare – No, if this is a dream or an opportunity that people feel extremely important then they will have this.

Inimitable – This is easy to copy by others.

Non- substitutable – Yes, you can use your staff to substitute this drive and determination.

9. Welcoming environment and team culture.
Valuable – Yes, this causes people to stay within your company.

Rare – Environments that are not dry and cut-throat allow people to enjoy their work and be relaxed.

Inimitable – The people in your culture cannot be copied.

Non- substitutable – The culture can try to be substituted for a different one.

10. The ability for open ideas and to listen.
Valuable – Yes, people want to be heard.

Rare – Rare with leaders who have a vision and only want to get there.

Inimitable – Not hard to copy.

Non- substitutable – Cannot substitute.



My top resource is the ability to have friends who not only have their education but also have or are playing some type of professional basketball. I have many friends that play division 1 basketball in the NCAA. I also have many friends who play NCAA football and have the ability to give them a call to come and speak and be an influence on these kids at this sports facility.

22

Elevator Pitch No. 3

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly or amazing and inciteful. 

I think the feedback that surprised me the most was to make sure that I am receiving useful feedback and that it wasn't just random noise that I was getting from people that I know just becuase they wanted to support what I was doing.

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

I felt that this pitch was definitely memorized and that I felt more comfortable when talking to the camera. This pitch after the third time came off as extremely easy compared to the first time that I stood behind the camera to give my pitch to the audience.

21A

Reading Reflection No. 2

In this exercise, I'd like you to select a book from the second half of the Official ENT 3003 Reading List and report on it. This part of the list focuses on books that cover, generally, entrepreneurship, business, and learning. I'd like you to address the following in your post:

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

The theme of this book was how to treat your social media like a business and how you can use this to gain attention to show off your personal brand. The writer uses this to explain how social media has been the center of attention for many lives and how you can use this broad audience to take advantage of any business or idea that you may want to promote.

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

I think this directly affects entrepreneurship and what we have talked about in the class because it talks about how to market and promote your personal brand. We have always talked about the ability to connect and build your customer growth will positively help your business and that's exactly the idea that the book draws.

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

In class, I would pick an exercise to analyze a random person’s social media. I would have everyone partner up and look at ways that the social media of a certain individual can hinder the perception or ability of that person to succeed and grow. This book gives you tips to help you use your social media in a positive manner and how you should treat it like a business. I would show how everybody is watching you at all stages of your life and how you could fix things that you might not notice are wrong and inappropriate from your view.

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?

I think the biggest surprise from this book was identifying to me how people actually mess up with trying to promote themselves on social media. This goes all the way back to your profile picture which draws the attention of the readers and maps out the person that they want to follow. I also was surprised on the topic of making sure not only that you present relevant content, which I knew, but that you also present content that is relevant that your audience wants. You should not post entirely and then hope that your audience likes the content but instead post for a target market that you know will benefit from the information that you are giving.

20A

20A- Growing Your Social Capital

Entrepreneurs can reap profound benefits from their social capital. If you know how social capital works, then you can build it!

This is a 'networking' experience -- but unlike other 'networking' opportunities you may have had in the past, I'm going to set very clear parameters on this experience. This will help you focus your efforts on achieving exactly what you need for this experience; moreover, you can set parameters on any future networking experience, to get the most out of it.

Here's what I want you to do for this exercise: establish contact with three new people, who will be valuable to helping you pursue your business idea. But I have some additional parameters:


Domain Expert:
My business plan is to open a sports facility to minority students to help them receive the development and guidance that they need to get working or to college. I ended up talking to an advisor that specialized in Sports Management. He helps people fulfill and seek the job opportunities that they want in terms of sports while also picking their brain about what they want to get out of a job. I was able to pick his brain and find out how hard it is to actually receive grants for a business like this. I was able to understand and realize that I will always need to be out looking for additional funding while not being able to be a part of the daily operations of the business like I want to. I found out about this person when I was asking him about future career opportunities and he began to ask me what my passion was. I definitely was able to use this opportunity to meet and get a deeper glimpse of the industry and how hard it is to enter and stay actively engaged.

Expert on my market:
The person that I had an opportunity to talk with actually owns a facility that is similar to the one that I want. This individual is my best friend’s dad and he actually runs a facility that mentors and teaches kids through basketball how to become a man. He also has future ideas of opening up an academy under the same name of this facility to help to teach and build the professional skills of his players. I have always had an open line of communication with Chris because he has always been around me since I was in the 3rd grade. He has always been here for my friends and has always showed interest in helping out in anyway possible. I was able to be able to pick his brain on the potential downsides and challenges that he has faced with growing a facility and program like the one that he currently has. 

Supplier:
I do not have many supplies when it comes to my industry. The only supplier I can think of that would be able to identify the need for these students are parents and schools. I decided to get the best of both worlds by interviewing and a school teacher from a low-income school where the minority population is actually the majority. My mom used to work in the school system so I was able to reach out to the lines of communication that she currently has to see how they feel about my idea. I was able to confirm that these students would need to have some help with financial aid to be able to subsidize the cost of attending this facility. I was also able to understand that I need to have public figures that will allow me to promote my product to increase the attendance of my facility. This interview went well and I was also able to get a supporter onboard. She told me to let her know when this idea was put into action and she would love to help me to enhance the brand of my company.


Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

I have always had an ability to be able to reach out to people. I think that it has enabled me to be remain calm and remain comfortable in future networking events. I was able to get an honest evaluation of the people who actually want to see me succeed.

19A Idea Napkin 2

Idea Napkin No. 2

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?

Like I said in my last idea napkin, my name is Cameron Padgett and I am a junior majoring in Business Management. I have always had a passion for helping people feel and identify what their purpose is in life. I am very skilled with critical thinking around this idea, communication, and teamwork. I see this business as an ability to fulfill my passion of helping others and making a difference by making an everyday routing of helping high school students get to college.



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 recreation center that is that creates a safe outlet for teenagers to not only have fun through entertainment but also learn through academic help, career/professional development, leadership, and personal growth. I want to allow these students an opportunity to relax and still be kids by having the entertainment of video games and sports while still also offering an educational aspect to this recreational facility. This educational aspect will teach these students hard skills so that they can be proficient in things such as coding, public speaking, Microsoft office, and adobe.



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?

I am offering this service to minority teenagers who have a need to stay out of trouble or just some type of growth. These individuals will come from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, and statuses to obtain this service. The thing that they all have in common is that they are all minorities’ teenagers. Therefore they all have some opportunity and drive to beat the odds that are put up against them.



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. 

These individuals care because not only do they want to have a sense of achievement but their families also want them to have a sense of achievement. We have helped them to understand that the way that they were comfortable with living, just wasn’t good enough. These individuals will help you receive funding from the government through means of grants and/or scholarships.



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

I think we provide a safe environment to the youth and are here to get to know and create a personal relationship. I have the ability to impact others who are at risk and it is not just about money or any type of profit. I have implemented a “Stay and Play” method which will allow me to stay open during the pivotal times that these students get in to trouble. I will be open longer on the weekends and make sure that during holidays when students have nothing to do, I will be open. My company has a basic need for helping others and adjusting our times based on when we see the most threat for trouble in the area.



In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

For the "feedback memo" -- please summarize at least two main points that you took away from the feedback you received. Also, please describe how you incorporated the feedback into this idea napkin. 
I actually do believe all these elements fit together. I think that this business concept is extremely strong because it does not make the recreational facility one dimensional. We are driven to higher the right staff that have some interest in working with higher education and people who are just like them who they can relate to.

During my feedback, I was able to justify which type of facility I was actually trying to give. I was asked whether this facility was like a Boys and Girls Club or was it more like a recreation center. I think that the Boys and Girls Club was limited to only the people who are students that attend their and that is not how I wanted to close it off as. Also, I was able to get a good sense and think about how the difficulties may arise with working as a not-for-profit social venture and determining how I will make a salary and a living but not strictly making this a revenue bus for me.

17- Elevator Pitch 2

Elevator Pitch No. 2

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly, what feedback you thought was most useful and insightful. 

I had feedback from my peers outside of this class and it was important to know that I can strengthen this pitch if I added more statistics. I didn't feel that I had any silly feedback, I think it is always important to listen and try to implement the feedback that you are given. If you try to implement and it does not feel comfortable to you then you don't have to do it.

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

I definitely made sure that I was more fluent and comfortable with the information that I was displaying to my viewers. I think I also used the facts that were given to me to be able to give something for the readers to grasp.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

What kind of hobbies does your customer have? What kind of car do they tend to drive? (What color is it?) What TV shows do they watch? Do they have children? Are any of them adopted? What are their favorite books, and who are their favorite politicians? How old are they? How old do they feel? And so on. The richer the detail, the better.
My customers love to just be around each other and appreciate one another’s company. They play video games like any other typical teenager, but they also love sports as well. They tend to drive all types of cars but the people that I see in my neighborhood tend to have more used cars than new cars. Some of the teenagers do have children but most of them are not adopted. Some live with a grandparent but still see their mother or father every now and then. These individuals age between the ages of 13-18 years old. They tend to try to have a slick mouth and act older than the age that they actually are. After you have created this customer avatar, I'd like you to answer this final set of questions: What do you have in common with the customer avatar? If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?

After you have created this customer avatar, I'd like you to answer this final set of questions: What do you have in common with the customer avatar? If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?
My customer and I both share the same minority group and image. We both have gone through many struggles and are not expected by society to succeed. This Is not a coincidence that my avatar has the same skin color as me. The opportunity that I saw was because of things that I experienced in life. I was able to overcome these obstacles because I am one of few who did have parents that graduated from college while others are not.

16A

16A - What's Your Secret Sauce?

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different? Write this up in a detailed list.

1. The ability to have others depend on me. If it comes a time that someone needs me to talk to, I am always that open ear that will hear what they have to say but also give them critical feedback on what they don’t want to hear. While knowing I have others that depend on me, I always keep my end of the stick when it comes to anything in the classroom or workplace that needs to be completed. 
2. I have the drive and determination to succeed at everything that I do. I don’t allow challenges to deter me and prevent me from completing the goal that I want to accomplish. If I have set my mind on something, I almost always put my head down and just keep pushing until I get a result that I want. 
3. I keep my emotions inside and do not wear any emotions on my sleeve. When I need to show others my positive attitude then I can do that, but when I am competing, or I am struggling, I am able to keep my emotions within myself. 
4. I am extremely intelligent and gifted in my academics, so I have the ability to be extremely successful on my own while also being able to help others. 
5. I do not leave anyone who is struggling behind. I push them to their potential and help them to reach a level they never knew or believed that they could achieve.

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. Ask them what they think makes you different -- remember, focus on your knowledge, skills, abilities, emotions -- in other words, your human capital. Try to stay away from discussing your other types of capital (such as who you know). Record each interview. In your post, please post each interview, as well as a two-three sentence summary of each interview, explaining what your key takeaways are. There is no time limit on these recordings. As long as you cover the information asked for above, that's all you need to do. 

Interview 1

Interview 2

Interview 3

Interview 4

Interview 5

3) Reflect on the differences. How do you see yourself, and how do others see you? Are there differences in how you assess yourself compared to others? What do you think causes these differences? Do you think your interviewees are correct about you? Finally, going back to your list from part 1, would you make any corrections to the list? How?

Others see me as an extremey hard worker who is passionate about everything that I do. One of my interviewers said that I have the determination to succeed at everything that I do. Another person said that I keep my emotions inside and I only bring them out when I have to. The differences that I had was the ability to others to depend on me. Everything else was extremely spot on. I think that the interviewees are defintely correct about me and I would not change this list.