21A - Reading Reflection No. 2

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

I read the book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. The general theme of the book was to welcome failure and embrace it.

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

Accepting failure plays a huge role into ENT3003 because as Entrepreneurs, we are bound to fail and make mistakes. Learning from those mistakes and accepting failure is very important to be successful in the business world. 

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, I would give different failure scenarios, and we would have to identify the lessons and where we can learn to improve based on the mistakes. Doing so reinforces the message of the book, and connects back to what we learn in class about being an Entrepreneur. 

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?

One of the biggest "aha" moments i had when reading the book was when Adams made the point about how being selfish can be a good thing. Selfishness can involve spending time exercising and taking care of ourselves, spending time with our friends and doing things for ourselves. Adams explains that we need to be in a positive place with ourselves before we can help and focus on the needs of other people. I found this surprising because I had never thought about selfishness like that before. Being selfish always has a negative connotation so I liked how Adams brought up that crucial point about it.

20A - Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry. 
The person I contacted for the expert in my industry was the CEO of United Way of Broward County, which is a nonprofit organization. She is filling the domain expert contact slot because she has been running a nonprofit for years and she knows the ins and outs of the organization. I know the person because I had an internship at United Way this past summer and she knows my grandparents and parents. I helped her with a lot of work over summer so I do not think she would require anything in exchange for helping me. She is a very well connected person in the community so having her in my network could open up many opportunities.

2) One person must be an expert on your market. 

The person I contacted from this area of the market is my parents friend Jen who owns her own psychiatry practice in New York. She would fill the market area of expertise because she understands how to target customers in this area. My parents have been friends with Jen for years and I have met her many times so I got her contact from them. If she did me a favor I would make sure that I did something for her in return since she went out of her way for me. Since Jen has a lot of expertise in this area, having her in my network could be a very big opportunity in the future. 

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. 

Since my service involves psychiatry, our supplier may be someone who supplies medicine to psychiatrists to give to clients. My contact that would be a good supplier to this industry is my dads friend from college that works in pharmaceuticals and has been for over 20 years. I contacted this person through my dad. We have been family friends with his family since before I was born so I do not think I would need to do anything in exchange for a favor. He is very well connected in this industry so having him as a contact could be very beneficial.

For all of the people I contacted for my network, I asked if I could show them my idea napkin to establish potential goodwill.

This experience shapes how I will participate in future networking events because I now realize how important networking is to create a successful business. It's hard to start completely from scratch without having connections that can help you be successful. This experience differed from my networking experiences in the past because I have never taken them very seriously. More recently I am realizing how significant networking is not just for opening a business, but for many other jobs and avenues as well. 

19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. My name is Ava Daly, I am a 2nd year business Management major with a minor in Entrepreneurship. One of my passions is helping others. I have experience planning fundraising events, leading people, and organizing and running meetings. When I was in high school I planned an event to raise money for Marjory Stoneman Douglas and we raised 10,000 dollars. I want to have a profession that is rewarding and centered around helping others, so that's why my business idea is focused around helping students with mental health issues. 

2) What are you offering to customers?  My service serves the unmet need of resources for college students. Adjusting to college life can be difficult for many students and I personally believe there is a lack of resources and support for students who are on their own for the first time. Therefore, my company/nonprofit organization would focus on providing the support necessary for students. More specifically, the organization would have a range of services from one on one appointments with psychologists, group therapy, stress/time management classes. The setback I faced based on my interviews was if we would have sufficient funds to make this organization successful since salaries for psychologists could be expensive. 

3) Who are you offering it to? The customers would all be students usually from ages 17-23. I do not want the focus to just be toward students with mental health issues, but for any struggling student that is going through a difficult time. Therefore, the customer base would all be students. Since everyone going to college has never been on their own before and away from family, I believe they all have similar struggles in college that can be addressed in a positive way.

4) Why do they care? Customers would pay money for my service because mental health is very important to people. Many people I know are struggling with internal issues and they do not know who to turn to for help. College is supposed to be a positive experience so with mental health issue rates increasing I believe students would want this service.  

5) What are your core competencies? There are not many resources for students in Gainesville so we would not have much competition. The one resource we have is Gatorwell, which is very hard to make an appointment with and they would not have as many services as my company would have to offer. What makes us stand out is that we would have many different services for students that no other company would offer. 

I believe that my idea is a practical one that could help a lot of people. However, it might be difficult to make enough profit to keep up with the expenses of the company. Since psychiatrists often receive a high salary, in order to have many psychiatrists on staff could be very expensive to maintain. Moreover, college students on a budget may not want to pay for an extra service when they can receive free help from GatorWell. Therefore, the logistics of the company may be difficult to predict, however if we market the company well enough we may be able to get a high enough customer base to keep the company profitable. Also, since there would not be that much competition in this area, the elements could fit together well and be a success. 

Feedback memo:

The two main points that I took from my feedback was that a potential setback would be getting over the financial issues from the students side. Many students are on a budget and may not want to pay for the higher quality service and just go to GatorWell. Another point that was made was that a service like this is needed in our area because of the lack of resources we have for this type of issue. I implemented my feedback into the evaluation of my service in the logistics of the service fitting together. 

18A - create a customer avatar

The avatar/prototypical customer for my service would be college students. Therefore, my avatar displays a young looking female student, however the prototypical customer would include male students as well.

My customer would be a college student that most likely hangs out with friends in their free time, and focuses on school for a lot of their time as well like most college students. Their hobbies will most likely include spending time with friends, watching movies, and going out. Usually college students do not drive nice cars, or bring cars up to school at all, so they would either have a cheap car, or a scooter. Moreover, my customers would be from ages 17-22 and not have any kids. Most college students are stressed with school and balancing all their extracurriculars, school, and friends. So, my customers would all have similar problems and interests.

I have a lot in common with the customer avatar because I am a college student who struggles with everyday college issues as well. I do not think our similarities are a coincidence because I most likely chose this service as my idea because my friends and I can relate to it. Since I also went through struggles adjusting to college, and I witnessed my friends go through similar issues, I believe that it is only natural that creating a service to help college students adjust to college and manage mental health issues would appeal to me. Therefore, I can relate a lot to my prototypical customer which is why I am so passionate about my idea.

17A - Elevator pitch No. 2

1) The pitch. 

https://youtu.be/-wgz5wRnbjg 

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. 

Most of my feedback was positive which was a very pleasant surprise. Many of the comments I received liked the energy I brought to my elevator pitch so I tried to include that again in this elevator pitch as well. Moreover, I kept the same intro in this elevator pitch because I received positive feedback on my hook. The most useful feedback I received was to include more personal information about myself in the pitch. Before, I never thought to include information about myself in it, but now i can see how telling the audience more about yourself can influence them more to buy your service or product. 

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

One of the critiques I received was to include more about myself in my elevator pitch. Therefore, I tried to also mention how I am a student myself which is why my idea means so much to me. 

16A- What's your Secret Sauce

1. Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique.

• kindness - I am a very caring person and I always try to be nice to everyone and make everyone feel included and cared for. 
• honesty - I am very honest and always give information directly instead of avoiding the problem.
• authenticity - I am a very genuine person, and I have good intentions behind my actions.
• compassion - I love being there for my friends and others and I think I put myself in other people's shoes very well. Also, I am not judgmental 
• organized - I always get my work done on time, usually ahead of time. 

2.  Interview the five people who know you the best.

https://soundcloud.com/user-973304645/nw-3rd-ave

• Kendall is one of my best friends and my roommate so she knows me very well. She talked about how I am good at using technology, and that I go above and beyond for my friends. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-973304645/new-recording-6

• My mom talked about how I always go above and beyond for my friends, and how I have high expectations of others as a result. She also talked about how I am a very hard worker. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-973304645/new-recording-3

• My dad talked about how I am very driven and focused. I accomplish tasks on time and expect others to do the same.

https://soundcloud.com/user-973304645/new-recording

• Katherine is one of my best friends and she said that I am very positive, happy, and an easy going person. Also, she said that I am open minded, but stand up for what I believe in.

https://soundcloud.com/user-973304645/interview5tiffany

• Tiffany is one of my best friends and roommates and she talked about how I am understanding and considerate of others. Also, she talked about how I get along with everyone and am focused in school. Tiffany also mentioned how I am a fast learner.

3) Reflect on the differences

The way I see myself and the way others see me is very similar. I view myself as a genuine hard working person and my friends and family think so as well. I think my interviewees are correct about me since I also believe I possess these qualities. I would not make any corrections to my list. I believe it is accurate in describing who I am, and my interviews just support my views.

15A - Figuring out Buyer Behavior

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. 

For this assignment, I chose the segment of students in college. All of the people I interviewed are people who are in college and are on their own for the first time in their lives. One is a sophomore (female) here at UF, another is a freshman (male) who just got to UF, and the last person is a senior (female) at UF.

3) Begin with alternative evaluation. 

Based on my interviews, I determined that the price is the most important factor for college students especially. I also noticed that the quality is only a major factor for certain individuals. The senior I interviewed did care about price, but she also valued quality as well because she has a job that allows her to afford higher quality items and services However, the others I interviewed are on a tight college budget, so price is an important factor for them, while quality is not always. 

4) How/where do they buy? 

My segment is more likely to buy online in general, but in regards to my services they would have to come in person to receive the services. Also, the people I interviewed almost always use credit cards over cash. Since my service concerns students' mental health, the people I interviewed claimed that coming in person versus online was not an issue. 

5) Post-purchase evaluation. 

The people I interviewed think about how useful a product is. For example, the senior I graduated does not mind spending a little more on clothes or a product if she is going to get good use out of it and wear/use it often All of the people I interviewed determine if they made a good purchase based on its use. If they buy a product that just sits in there room unused then they know they made a bad purchase. 

6) Report the findings. 

All of my findings concluded that the price of a service is a major factor in college students purchasing habits. However, in certain situations such as mental health, students would be more willing to spend the money on themselves if they are going to get good results from the service. In regards to online versus in person shopping, the people I interviewed preferred to shop online for products, but for services they did not mind going into a store. The students I interviewed also stated that their well being is important to them, so although price is an important factor in their usual purchases, they would not mind spending the money on a high quality service. 

7) Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation? 

Based on the information I learned in my interviews, students are willing to spend money on certain services depending on how useful it is to them. However, price is a crucial factor for college students, since a lot of them are on a budget. Therefore, there could possibly be an issue with college students affording the service, but the students I interviewed said that their mental health was important to them, so they would pay for it. Since good mental health is important, people's post purchase evaluation should be positive if they find the service useful to them. 

13A reading reflection no. 1

Andrew Carnegie, David Nasaw

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• I was most surprised that Andrew Carnegie was only 5 feet tall. I found that fact very humorous and surprising. Also, I was surprised that Carnegie was so successful with very little formal education.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I personally admired how Andrew Carnegie was a very successful businessman, yet he still gave back to others. Philanthropy is a passion of mine, so when I read that Carnegie gave away around 350 million dollars to others, I was very impressed. Carnegie's funds opened 2,500 public libraries, since he was a big lover of books. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• I least admired how some people felt that Carnegie became successful at the expense of his employees. His employees were so unhappy to the point that they refused to work and initiated the Homestead Strike of 1892. Even though Carnegie was not there during the strike, he was still responsible for keeping his employees happy.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Carnegie experiences adversity and failure from a very young age. He witnessed his sister and brother dying, and he watched his father struggle and fail repeatedly. Also, Carnegie experienced business failures and had to reinvent the company numerous times. Specifically, his company dealt with labor issues. However, despite his struggles, Carnegie persevered and never gave up on his company and vision and turned it into a great success.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

I noticed that Carnegie always had perseverance and never gave up. Creating a business as successful as Carnegies came with many obstacles. Since Carnegie grew up poor and experienced many hardships during his childhood, I noticed that Carnegie needed perseverance to be a success in America with no formal education. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I was not very confused during the reading but if I had to pick something i would be curious to know more exactly how Carnegie made his company so big and successful. It seems very difficult to attain. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

• If you were to change anything, what would it be? 
• I think that Carnegie may have good advice to avoid many of the hardships he endured when creating his company after looking back on it that could be helpful for a new entrepreneur. 
• How did you make your company such a success and get past the obstacles and keep a positive attitude?
• creating a successful business as big as Carnegie's takes a lot of willpower and patience. Therefore, I would like to hear Carnegie's perspective on how he was able to make his company happen.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think that Carnegie's opinion of hard work was never giving up and powering through any obstacle that was thrown his way. I agree with this opinion because I believe we have to endure hardship to learn how to create something great in the end. 

14A - halfway reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

The behaviors that I have used to keep up with the requirements for this course are hard work and time management. Since there is a lot of work in this class, time management is very important in order to get all of the work done and not miss the deadlines. Since the deadlines are in the middle of the day, I usually get the assignments done ahead of time so I do not miss it. Doing so makes the class way easier to manage. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

Recently during exam week, I had 3 exams to study for while also trying to juggle obligations with the organizations I'm involved in on campus. Therefore, it was very stressful to get everything done and manage my time correctly so I felt like "giving up." However, I reminded myself that it was only temporary and that I would be happier in the end if I tried my best right now. I feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months from this class especially. Being creative and managing my time effectively have definitely helped me develop a more tenacious attitude during this busy time. 

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. I recommend getting the assignments done early in this class to avoid missing the deadlines. 

2. In order to develop a tenacious mindset, I recommend giving 110% on all assignments and trying your best. 

3. I recommend picking an opportunity that you believe in and are passionate about since many of the assignments build off your idea.

12A- Figuring out buyer behavior

Choosing a Segment:
For this assignment, I chose the segment of students in college. All of the people I interviewed are people who are in college and are on their own for the first time in their lives. One is a sophomore (male) here at UF, another is a freshman (female) who just got to UF, and the last person is a junior (female) at UF.

What I learned: 
I learned that the demand for this service is not as high as I thought. Most of the students I interviewed, said that they have dealt with depression in college, but never thought to do anything about it. Therefore, during the interview, they said it was a great idea, but they may not think to get help first. All three of the people I interviewed said that they would have needed this service, especially when they first came to college and were on their own for the first time. All of the people I interviewed agreed that this was a need that should be addressed. The sophomore I interviewed said that he tried to find resources to go to when he was struggling with depression, and when he went to Gatorwell, the wait was over a month to book an appointment. The freshman I interviewed said that she would like to have a service like this, but it would have to be nearby since she does not have a car here. The junior I interviewed said that she was depressed at the beginning of college, but she would go home frequently so it helped a little. However, she said that as classes become harder as the years go on, she finds herself very overwhelmed and sometimes depressed, so a place where she could talk to someone about it or learn how to manage the stress would be helpful. Therefore, there is still potentially an opportunity here based on my interviews and the feedback I received.

Draw conclusions/Need Awareness/Information Search:
Based on what I know about this segment and my interviews, I definitely believe that this business could be successful if it were located near college campuses. From what I learned in my interviews, there is an opportunity here, however students may not always take the necessary steps to get help. Therefore, if the business was located near campuses, and highly encouraged and advertised on campus, then students may be more inclined to come get help. The need awareness I discovered was that the students I interviewed mainly experience mental health issues freshman year. However, it can reoccur and be a prominent issue even in the later years of college. The information search I discovered was that students search for the closest places possible first, since many students do not have transportation. Some of the students I interviewed discussed their issues with family, but one mentioned they were too embarrassed to burden their family with their issues and they wanted to try and deal with it on their own.