Final Reflection Weeks 15

1) Read through your blog 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.

This class had many assignments and they all produced different emotions and feeling. Not to lie a lot of them got on my nerves, but many also contained a helpful lesson I will probably utilize in my life. I think the biggest benefit was making you sit down and come up with an actual venture, in so much that it showed you that you are capable of realizing a problem and finding a solution to that problem.

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?

I think having to go out and interview customers is an experience that made me step out of my comfort zone and is the type of lesson that will stick with me for my life. I think the most formative experience though is that of just having to identify problems and solve them. Whether it was identify the world's biggest problems and coming up with solutions or trying to create a venture concept from a problem in your own life, it is a valuable skill to know you are capable of doing just that.

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

Why I not be a full fledged entrepreneur just yet, I think this class has opened my eyes as to how entrepreneurs view the world. Entrepreneurs don't just view the world as is, they look for problems and opportunities, and when they find those problems or opportunities they try to capitalize off them.  

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?

The biggest piece of advice i could give to someone who is going to take this class in the future is to not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, in fact you'll have to multiple times so just get used to it. I also let them know that failure is just a part of life, so I'd get used to that too.

Week 15 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise that I had about this week's reading was the whole concept of micro-financing. i was unaware that such large companies handled financing for such large impoverished areas of the world and actually turn a profit on such a wide and diverse market of small loans.

Nothing really confused me about this reading, but I was amazed how quickly the author was able to expand his business by utilizing mostly villagers with little to no experience as his loan officers, and how he was able to expand to so many villages with different and unique cultures and still find success.

Two questions:
- Is religious law a problem that you run into often working in this region of the world, or are they more isolated incidents?
- Is it easy to switch your business from a non-for-profit to a for-profit model or do people lose faith in what you are trying to do?

I did not disagree with anything from this week's reading.

 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

The thing that surprised me most about this week's reading was the concept of social entrepreneurs. I had never heard of any specific kind of entrepreneur, especially that of a social entrepreneur. I found it an interesting concept because most of the time you think of entrepreneurs as people out to make money and not people out to solve social problems.

The one thing that confused me about this chapter's reading was the concept of the ethics of caring. I didn't quite understand the exact differences between between the ethics of caring and normal ethical behavior.

Two questions:
- What are some of the key elements of the ethics of caring?
- What are some of the main industries that social entrepreneurs are involved in?

I did not disagree with anything from this week's reading.

Google Gold Week 14

The easiest strategy for search engine optimization is to narrow down the key words identified with the industry you are trying to establish, so that when they are searched it is your website that is found. I did this with my blog posts, I used key words to make my posts more easily accessible.

For my posts I made sure to include my first and last name in each post. I also made sure that each post also contained the course code, ENT 3003.

Using youtube to post my videos onto my blog made it easy for viewers to find other videos that I have posted. Other than that I don't really utilize any other forms of social media in my personal life so I did not use them for my blog.

My most viewed post was identifying local opportunities. I think this post was the most viewed because It contained many key words that would relate to big headlines of major news outlets.

I did not make it to the front page but I believe that if I tailored my key words better to certain assignments that I could make it to the front page.

Very Short Interview, Part 2 Week 14

Looking back on my initial interview I can find a wealth of helpful information that helped me make the most out of this class. It made me aware that there was going to be many times throughout this class where I was going to fail. It also made me aware that I needed to learn to look at the world in a different way, that I need to see where their was opportunity to exploit.

How important is it to realize and understand your customer base?
- "I think it is one of the most important parts to creating a successful business, especially when it comes to the hospitality industry where a restaurant or nightclub thrives when it is tailored to a certain group of people. It is also an industry where you must constantly must update your business to meet the needs and wants of your customers."

Are there times when you need to step outside of your comfort zone?
- "Stepping out of your comfort zone is what being an entrepreneur is all about. Most anyone can get a job in an office and have a simply routine of going to work at 9 and leaving to go home at 5, but being an entrepreneur is all about putting it all on the line. Your going to have to work outside of your comfort zone and work with people you may not enjoy working with, but if you want to achieve your dreams you going to have to deal with all of it."

What are your views on failure?
-"Failure is inevitable when you are an entrepreneur. The most important thing is that you learn from these failures and use them to be better prepared for the future."

I think I was much more comfortable talking about entrepreneurship this time around. I felt like I knew the characteristics that make up a successful entrepreneur and that the answers I received resonated much more with me this time around.  

Celebrating Failure Week 13

For this last semester I have been living abroad in Rome. I came over here with no knowledge of how to speak the language, which has proved to make living my life in Italy all that much harder. From ordering food at a restaurant, to trying to ask for directions, there has been many a time where I have made a fool of myself trying to communicate.

The biggest thing I've learned from my time abroad is you can't let seeming dumb stop you from going a trying things. It is a large world and there is so much to go see, sometimes you have to go out with your four foreign words you know and try to make the best. You may seem dumb sometimes and you may even get lost in a random city but it's all helps you learn and it is all part of the experience.

Failure isn't fun for anyone. No wants to feel like they are inadequate at doing something, but it is necessary to make ourselves better and learn new things. When I fail at something I get made at myself for not knowing the correct way to do it, once you learn what you did wrong it always makes feel stupid I didn't know that in the first place. I think this class was designed to take people out of their comfort zone and set people up for failure, which is a valuable skill because it makes people less afraid to just out and try new things.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

One of the biggest surprises about this week's reading for me was the various different methods you can use to determine the value of a company. I didn't realize there were so many ways to come up with a company's value and the fact that different methods are more efficient for certain types of businesses.

I didn't think anything was confusing about this week's reading.

Two questions..
Should you have your company valued on a regular basis or just when there is a need for it?
What valuation method is most commonly used?

I did not disagree with anything from the reading this week.

My Exit Strategy Week 13

1) If I do end up owning a restaurant in my life I would love to continue to run it until I have children who can choose to take it over, though it is rare that restaurants these days survive for that long, it would take a lot of updating to remain relevant.

2)I have selected this particular exit strategy because my parents have owned restaurants my entire life, it was my first job, and now my brother runs it for my parents. Since I have had so many good times within their restaurants I would like to be able to provide those sort of experiences for my children.

3) I suppose my exit strategy has influenced me in so much that I would like to own my restaurant solely without any partners, so that I would be able to pass it on to my kids.

Reading Reflection Week 12

There were many things I found interesting about this week's reading, but one that stood out in particular was the lack of necessity a strategic plan is for a small business. While described the benefits it has towards la gear corporations, I felt a strategic plan would benefit any type of business.

I also found it confusing that out of 220 companies studied only about 40 percent had an actual plan set for their business concept. It's hard to understand how a business can expect to succeed and grow with out a laid out plan for their future.

Two questions I'd ask:
Why do so many business start without a strategic plan?
At what point does a business start to think about making a strategic plan?

I did not disagree with anything from this week's reading.