Final Reflection

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?

The most memorable experience for me was completing the elevator pitches throughout the semester. I saw each pitch progressively getting a little bit polished, a little more convincing, a little more successful. This is a skill that I can not only use in my future career, but in any case where I am trying to persuade someone of something. Because of this, it is an experience that has real life application and resulted in being the assignment that I enjoyed the most. 

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?

I'm not quite sure see myself as an entrepreneur yet just because I have not actually began any sort of venture, however, I feel like I certainly do have more of an entrepreneurial mindset after having completed this course. That consists of identifying a need in a specific market, making a plan for how you will go about obtaining the necessary resources and providing that need, moving forward with your plan and lastly, learning from your mistakes and failures. Those are skills that have certainly developed more maturely as I have progressed throughout this course. 

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?

I would certainly recommend keeping up with an agenda for this course because there are so many assignments and setting each assignment due date at least two days earlier than the actual due date. I have lost many points in this course to simply forgetting to do the assignment on time. Had I done this, even when I forgot, I would have had two days of "insurance" to still do the assignment in. I would also make sure to take advantage of every extra credit opportunity possible. Every point means a lot in a class only worth 100 points.  Doing the assignments alone will foster that entrepreneurial mindset that they're looking for. Every time you miss an assignment, you will feel out of the loop when you comment on someone's post for an assignment that you have not completed. You will have a hard time relating. 

Week 15 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
     I knew microfinance loans were small, but I did not realize that they were that small. That was probably the thing that surprised me the most. How he started up the business did not seem out of the ordinary though. 

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

     Actually there weren't any parts of the reading that were particularly confusing to me. It was very well written and cohesive.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

     I would ask 1. Working in the microfinance industry, isn't it a huge risk to be lending to people with such a small amount of money? and 2. What happens when they are not able to pay you back?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

     I do not really know much of anything about the microfinance industry so I don't have enough knowledge on the topic to form my own opinion. There wasn't anything in the article that I was truly skeptic about or stuck out as "wrong" to me.

Venture Concept No. 2

Between the Idea Napkin assignments and the three Elevator Pitches we gave, this is the most realistic and thought out venture I have. This venture is essentially a third-party delivery service for restaurants that do not currently deliver, but want to. In Gainesville, the closest thing we have to this is 352 Delivery or DoorStep Delivery. It will differ, however, in that our service will be free to the end consumer, being the customers of the restaurants we would deliver for. I will get more into how this will all work later. Below, I'll describe three things: The opportunity available, the innovation involved and the venture concept itself.

The Opportunity

There is a trade-off to using a third-party deliver service. Not all restaurants deliver. For those that do not delivery, a third-party delivery service provides that option for that restaurant's customers. Although, this allows the end-consumer to be able to get their food delivered when they otherwise could not, it is also expensive. Doorstep Delivery, for example, will charge at least a $4 delivery fee onto every order with a $10 minimum, That is the trade-off. This prevents many people from using these third-party delivery services. The opportunity here involves removing the trade-off entirely so that it is a win-win situation for the customer. If a business can do that, they could potentially do really well. The consumers for such an idea would be anyone within a certain radius of the delivery service office (i,e. a 4 mile radius). Anyone further than that would be out of our delivery range. When it comes to the businesses, any restaurant that does not currently delivery, but would like to or would benefit from doing so would be our direct customers, allowing us to serve the unmet needs of these restaurants and the undermet needs of the end-consumers of the food.

The Innovation

What I would be offering is a free delivery service to the end-consumers. This would attract them to order from us. Although our expenses would be a bit higher than that of Doorstep Delivery or any of our other competitors, our sales would also be higher because of such a large incentive. Assuming that the right marketing is done, we should be able to attract the customers of other delivery services to order from us instead. Aside from that, we would make money by charging the actual restaurants commission for each order. That is the same way that the other delivery services make money. It is usually in the realm of ~25%. We could match the percentage of the our competition to flip some of these restaurants to use our delivery service in place of theirs to build ourselves quickly and allow the restaurants to see how fast their business can grow with us instead. When it comes to speaking with restaurants who do not currently utilize a third party delivery service, we can start a bit higher than that at around 30% and go down from there if necessary.

The Venture

The original problem which gave rise to an opportunity was the trade-off that I previously mentioned. Although the consumer can get their food delivered from restaurants that do not have delivery services, the customer must also pay a larger price for that food. A free delivery service would create a win-win situation for the end-customer, giving them an incentive to order more food. Not only will they be able to order their food for delivery, but they will be able to do so free of charge. This gives us a large competitive edge over competing third-party delivery services while pleasing the end-consumer. At the same time, we will also be providing restaurants that do not have a delivery service the ability to deliver their food and for approximately the same cost as our competitors.

The best way to go about doing this would be to set up an office for the delivery drivers near the center of town, or wherever we think most of our business would come from. For example, if this were to be opened in Gainesville, it would be smart to open somewhere near Butler Plaza so that we are near UF's campus while also being close to the highway for quick access to Newberry rd. This office would serve as a place for the drivers to come back to and as an office for us to process orders, handle customer calls, etc. The orders would primarily be made online, but could also be placed over the phone. In terms of advertising, hotels (for people who are not familiar with the area and want food delivered), dorms and off-campus housing would be the main focuses. We would also have a car sign for each driver so that people see our name and logo as the car passes by.

Essentially an order would be placed, either on-line or over the phone. When the order is placed, the order would be faxed immediately to the restaurant by someone in our office. The driver would immediately be sent out to pick up the food and deliver it to the customer. A couple minutes after the fax is sent, one of our employees would call the restaurant to ensure that the fax went through. This way, by the time that the driver gets to the restaurant, the food would be ready, allowing for quicker delivery. At the end of every month, we would send each restaurant a check with an invoice showing all of the orders we took for them and the totals of the orders. We would keep 25-30% of it, depending on what the agreement is with that restaurant and give them the rest.

Our Unfair Advantage

Our biggest advantage over our competitors is by far the free delivery aspect of our concept. That is what will drive our customers to order through us over anyone else. It would also serve as a huge marketing tool, especially with the lower and middle class who really pay attention to prices. The higher class folks may just pay attention to who can deliver the quickest, but it could also be an incentive for any of them who search good deals.

The Next Product

For any businesses that do not want to pay the 25-30% commission, we can also provide pick-up ordering online. That is, if a restaurant does not have the ability to take orders in advance online for carryout, we can give them the ability to do so. It would work in a similar fashion in that we would receive the order and fax it to the restaurant to make. The customer would then come by to pick it up at their specified time. We would take 5-10% of those orders as opposed to 25-30%.

The Next Move for Me

If this takes off, the next move for me would be to find another city to open a delivery service in; one that either does not have one or one that has too few delivery services relative to its population. The idea would be to keep opening these delivery services and make a franchise out of it.

Feedback from My First Venture Concept

I originally said that I would match my competitors' prices for ~25%/order in commission for the first 6 months and, after building report with the business, to raise that slightly to 28-30% to cover more of our delivery costs. One person was reasonably concerned that most businesses would not be too happy about that switch in higher pricing. I changed that here. Instead, I would match the price my competitors give to restaurants who they already work with in an effort to flip them to working with us and remain at that same price, unless if my competitors' price goes up as well. I would also offer an initially higher price to restaurants who do not currently use a third-party delivery service because I would not be forced to match anyone then. That was the only constructive criticism I received. 

Elevator Pitch No. 4

I happen to be a pre-dental student so my pitch had to do with recruiting for a pre-dental honor society that I am a part of. On my last pitch, the feedback I received was very good, except I did not dress appropriately for the pitch. I think wearing scrubs, like I did in the video is far more appropriate. That was really the only thing I changed because that was the only thing really mentioned in my previous feedback.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

1. I completed the initial interview, but did not post the assignment in time, so I don't remember what exactly I asked the entrepreneur to reflect on.

2. I called the same entrepreneur back who owns a donut shop in Tallahassee called Donut Kingdom and I asked them the following questions. I could not record this since they are so far away.

- What would you say is your primary market?
Mostly college students. We're located right in between FSU and FAMU so most of our business comes from them.

- In what ways do you market to this group?
We use apps such as "Hooked" and "Pocket Points" to offer coupons through mobile applications in an inexpensive manner. We also offer a third party free deliver service and post frequently on social media.

- What is your goal? Or your mission statement rather?
We want to be able to provide quality donuts and ensure that every one of our customers walks out of the door satisfied with their visit.

3. I would certainly say that I have progressed throughout the semester. I am far more comfortable speaking about entrepreneurship in general and have learned a great deal about it. Most importantly, I've learned that entrepreneurship involves an incredible amount of failure before ever being able to see a hint of success. Some people see more failure than others and the best entrepreneurs are the ones who can manage to minimize those failures and deal with their failures as learning experiences as opposed to hits to their self-esteem.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I took financial accounting a year ago and saw much of this material there. As a result, most of this actually ended up being a review for me. In that class, we focused on different ratios utilized to look at the health of a business and its future potential. This included things like Return on Investment (ROI) and the ratio of assets to liabilities that the company holds. Although Kuratko didn't talk about either of those, he did mention something very similar which was the price/earning ratio (P/E). That did not come as a surprise, but it was different.

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

It was pretty straight forward and I honestly did not find anything confusing about the reading. It was very objective, stating many facts which left little room for opinions and discussion.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

What is the best way to determine how health a business is in terms of its liabilities? And what method could one use to evaluate intangible goods that a company possess, such as trademarks, research that has been done, recipes, etc.? 

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I don't disagree with anything. As aforementioned, Kuratko was very objective and didn't state many opinions to disagree with in the first place.

Celebrating Failure

One instance of failure for me was at work. Although I am a business management major, I am also a pre-dental student. Because of this, this past summer I became a certified dental assistant and began working at a practice here in Gainesville part-time. One of my responsibilities was to take impressions, or molds, of peoples' teeth. When I first started, I was absolutely awful at it. I had to retake the impressions multiple times on the same patient because I could not get it right. Usually, if I could not get it right within the first two tries, I let another dental assistant do it. After having taken nearly 15 bad impressions back to back to back, it became a little demoralizing, especially because all of the other dental assistants could take them properly and I was the only one who couldn't.

I watched another dental assistant do it a few times before trying again and asked for tips. After having done this, I realized what I had been doing wrong the entire time and gave it another go on the next patient that needed impressions. The impressions came out perfectly. And yes I was quite proud of myself. Not only did it come out right on that patient, but I also got it right on the next four patients.

I suppose the lesson I could take away from this is to make sure to learn whatever I can from those people who have more experience or knowledge than I do. Had I consulted one of the other dental assistants sooner, I may not have taken 15 bad impressions. That number may have been cut down to just five or six.I was a bit hesitant to ask, though, because I was a bit embarrassed that taking impressions was a skill that everyone else in my office had perfected, except for me. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't do it properly.

In general, everyone hates failure, myself included, and when you fail over and over again, especially at the same task, you start to lose confidence in yourself. When you fail at completing a task, it should not be taken that way; rather you should examine what exactly went wrong in your attempt and try to correct it. That is the only way that you can FINALLY be successful. Taking good impressions was an example of that for me.

I hate to be a downer, but honestly, I don't think this class has changed the way that I view failure. The view I stated in the paragraph above is the view I came into the class with and it is the same view that I still hold. This class did make me think consciously about failure and the way that I handle it, and forced me to put it in words, giving me a more clear view of the perspective that I have. It is not that my perspective has changed, but it has just been made more clear to me, if that makes sense. 

My Exit Strategy

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?

My exit strategy all depends on the success of my venture. Obviously, we would all like our own capital venture to be very successful, but that is certainly not always how things turn out. Assuming that it is not that successful, I would sell it within the next five years; however, if it takes off, I would keep it, allowing it to produce residual monthly income for me until I retire. At that point, I would sell it for a large sum of money that could be used for my retirement, or even for buying assets that my future family members to use.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

If it is not very successful, I would want to sell it to gain as much money as I can back to invest elsewhere to make better use of my money. If it is successful, I would want to keep it so that I have a steady source of income to support myself and my family for as long as possible until I retire. At that point, I could sell it so that I no longer have to work, can afford to retire and have a way to invest in anything else in the event that I elect to do so.

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?

To be honest, going into a new venture, leaving it is not something that I would think about. The whole point of a venture is to create financial stability for yourself, unless if it is purposely something short term. An exit strategy could be used as a backup plan in case things do not go the way that you want it to, but I would be so focused on ensuring the venture's success that I really don't think my exit strategy would influence my decisions going into the venture.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1. Much of this material we covered in the principles of management course so, to be honest, none of this material comes as a surprise to me. It is mostly about strategic, or company wide, planning set by top management.

2. As mentioned above, none of the reading was really new to me, but rather a review of material I've seen before. Nothing was confusing especially because it was all pretty straightforward coming from the textbook.

3. I would ask the author two questions: how possible is it to be a successful firm without a strategic plan? And secondly, is there a general process that a firm can take to formulate their strategic goals?

4. Like I said in question #2, the reading was pretty straightforward. It was very objective and included very little opinionated material, making it not-so-open to interpretation. As a result, I agree with everything that the author said. 

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1. Nothing in particular came as a surprise to me because much of what Pisano was saying about needing a proper business strategy that fits your company for innovation was actually presented to us already in the Management course. Strategy, being a company effort, almost like a culture built within the business, is set by top management and implemented every employee in every department.

2. As I mentioned above, nothing was particularly surprising or confusing to me just because I have previously seen this material.

3. Although the strategy for every company is going to differ from the next, what are some general characteristics that would likely make up a good business strategy for innovation? If not characteristics, what goals should the strategy meet to be considered a "successful" business plan?

4. I don't want to say that I disagreed anywhere with Pisano because I genuinely agreed with everything he said. There wasn't a part of the reading where I doubted him. Everything made logical sense, at least to me, and he backed his statements up with more logic.

Amazon Whisperer

My venture included a third party delivery service for restaurants in which I would offer the actual customers of the restaurants free delivery. The way that I would make money would by charging the restaurant 25-30% of the order. My competitors, like GoWaiter or DoorStep Delivery for example, do the same thing except they do not offer free delivery, making them more expensive on the consumer and less attractive overall.

My Current Revenue Driver is made up of the percent commission I would take from each order. 

The next service I could provide is online ordering for pick-up in addition to just delivery. I would take a smaller fee for that, perhaps 8-10%, for each order that comes through our website. We would essentially be offering a way for a restaurant to take online orders that does not currently do so. It would be convenient for the restaurants' customers and provide a potentially new form of income of the restaurant itself.

This new service would not increase customer switching costs, but, as aforementioned, would be convenient in case they wanted to actually stop by the restaurant as opposed to getting their food delivered, increasing customer loyalty. There is already a switching cost for the end-consumer because, by using another third-party delivery service, they would have to pay delivery fees, which they do not have to with my service. 

Since this is a service I am providing as opposed to a tangible product, you can't find this anywhere on amazon. As far as reviews go for similar services, one of the biggest things is the time that it takes for the delivery to get there. The driver would need to leave our office, assuming that we had one, drive to the restaurant, pick the food up, and then drive to the customers' place. As a result, that would be something that we would need to stress to our drivers and employees in general. The food needs to get to the customer as quickly as possible. 

Even if a restaurant already had a delivery service, but no way for their consumers to order online, or if a restaurant simply did not want to deliver for whatever reason, we could still offer them this pick-up option. This is also another option for a restaurant that does not want to pay the 25-30% per order for delivery. This would still allow for the customers to view the restaurant more favorably by giving them an option to order online while potentially generating more sales for the restaurant. 

My Unfair Advantage

My venture included a third party delivery service for restaurants in which I would offer the actual customers of the restaurants free delivery. The way that I would make money would by charging the restaurant 25-30% of the order. My competitors, like GoWaiter or DoorStep Delivery for example, do the same thing except they do not offer free delivery, making them more expensive on the consumer and less attractive overall. The following are the advantages I have over my competitors:

1. Social Capital - I have a close friend in Tallahassee, Fl who owns a food delivery service and is doing well, someone who I know would be willing to help me in the event that I wanted to open my own delivery service elsewhere or even join hands with him in business.
V- Very valuable. One of the most valuable, potentially, in the start of this business venture.
R - Very rare. Not many owners of third party delivery services out there that would be willing to help you.
I - Very hard to copy because this is rare.
N - Could substitute by knowing someone who already works for such a business, but they wouldn't be nearly as knowledgeable as the owner

2. Experience in the food industry - I worked at a donut shop for two years and we actually used a third party food delivery service so I know what it is like from both the business' perspectives and the delivery services' perspective.
V - Experience is needed in whatever you do to be successful so this is valuable.
R - Not rare. In fact, this is pretty common.
I - Easy to copy.
N - No problem substituting.

3. Financial Capital - Thankfully, I have very good credit which means that, more than likely, I can access most any form of capital if need be.
V - Very Valuable. One of the most valuable because I may not be able to start the business to begin with without this.
R - Not common
I - Not easy to copy.
N - You can substitute this either with an investor who has access to capital, or with a co-signer.

4. Persuasiveness - This one might come off as a bit cheesy, but sales is a huge part of this. Obviously, the only way for me to make money would be for the restaurants to make money as well, so I have to have them on board. Being able to convince them to work together with this food delivery service is something that I would need to be successful.
V - Not too valuable because you can hire others to do this part for you.
R - Not easy to come by
I - Yes, you can copy this.
N - You can hire professional staff that are already experienced so you can substitute for this.

5. Marketing - I have taken multiple marketing courses and have undergone marketing ventures for several businesses in Tallahassee, mostly restaurants, as a way to make money. I have proven results that have come directly as a result of my work.
V - Like #4, you can hire someone to do this part for you.
R - Easy to find.
I - Yes, you can copy this.
N - You can hire professional staff that are already experienced so you can substitute for this.

6. Free Delivery - This is what will attract the consumers to begin with and will serve as a big push for our sales.
V - VERY valuable.
R - Very few similar services in the country do this. Rare.
I - Yes, you can copy this.
N - You can really substitute this with anything.

7. Professionalism - Uniforms, Sales staff and communication.
V - Very valuable to any business, wherever you go.
R - Not rare.
I - Can be copied.
N - You can't really substitute this with anything, but it is easy to attain.

8. Culture of friendliness - Always being positive and happy towards the customers to make them feel warm and welcome.
V - Also valuable to any business no matter where you go
R - Not rare
I - Can be copied.
N - You can't really substitute this with anything, but it is easy to attain.

9. Online ordering for convenience with a user friendly interface
V - Valuable now that this is the direction most delivery ordering is headed.
R - Not rare. Found all over.
I - Can be copied.
N - The only real potential replacement would be by using an app to order.

10. Fast Delivery - This makes the service far more attractive to the consumer.
V - Valuable, although it is not the most important thing.
R - Not rare.
I - Can be copied.
N - Not replaceable with anything when it comes to delivery.

I think my biggest advantage would have to be the fact that the delivery is free. That is going to be what drives people to use this service as opposed to any other. It will also be a way to convince restaurants to utilize us as opposed to our competitors because we are cheaper and more convenient for them, giving them an incentive to order more.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
     There actually wasn't anything in particular that stood out to me. I have already taken the financial accounting course required for business majors and found that this chapter was simply a basic review of the first part of that course, explaining the different financial statements, how to put them together and the purpose that each of them serve.

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

     Like I mentioned in the first question, this chapter was just a very basic review of financial accounting so it is all material that I have seen before, making it all very clear. Thankfully there wasn't anything that confused me. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

- When determining whether or not a company would be a safe investment, is there one particular financial statement that a person should pay attention to? Or should they really be looking at all four of them?

- In the event that a company wants to present itself as a profitable company to attract investors, they would lower the amount of things that are "Expensed" and count more towards revenues. They would do the opposite if they want to save money on taxes. How reliable is the income statement in terms of accuracy and showing the true picture

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I agree with everything that was said in the reading. It was very objective, limiting how open it was to interpretation. He stated many facts, but did not offer opinions or subjective ideas. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

This was my third elevator pitch and it was one that I actually delivered to a group of pre-dental students (I'm pre-dental). This is a re-recording of it that I made. I am a member of Delta Delta Sigma which is pre-dental honor society that is new to campus and I was out recruiting for them. I was trying to convince them to apply to our organization in an effort to both replace those members who will graduate in the Spring and expand our overall organization. I tried to focus more on the benefits and amenities of being a member of our organization than anything else.

Based on the feedback I received on my last pitch, I did not go into enough detail about the benefits of the organization so that is what I changed here. I agreed with the people who gave me feedback on that point. I went into a bit more detail about the benefits here as opposed to simply listing them off without any explanation. I didn't receive any feedback that I disagreed with though, which is a good thing of course!

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1. There wasn't anything in particular that surprised me in this reading. I'm currently taking the Principles of Marketing course and much of the information that was presented in this reading we've already seen in there. This section simply had a large emphasis on attaining feedback from consumers to alter things for the better and help target a specific market.

2. There wasn't anything in particular that I found confusing from this reading. As aforementioned, I've already seen this marketing material from the Principles of Marketing course.

3. If you had to pick one form of marketing for a restaurant, what would you pick and why? Also, what is a good return on investment for a marketing campaign in terms of the costs?

4. I'm in 100% agreement with everything that the author said. Everything made sense to me and nothing was confusing or vague. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am currently a 3rd year pre-dental student with a major in Business Management. Needless to say, I aspire to become a dentist; however, I'd like to own and manage my own practice, which is where the business management comes in. Obviously, I could not open a dental practice at the moment because I lack the skill set to. I had a different idea. It is one that would require an incredible amount of dedication and time, but that is typically how opening a business goes!

2. The service I would be offering is a third party delivery service for many different restaurants that do not actually deliver; however, to beat out the competition like Doorstep Delivery or Go Waiter, I would be offering free delivery. The large delivery fee usually tagged onto the price by these delivery service is a huge reason why they are not as popular as they could be. The way that these companies make money, is by taking a percentage of the order that is being delivered (25-30% for example). Our free delivery service and convenience would beat that of the competition and would serve as a huge incentive to try our service instead. We would simply charge the restaurant slightly more (~5%) to cover the cost of delivery. This way, we can help the restaurants by hitting new markets that they could not previously reach and increase their sales due to this new delivery service capability.

3. This service would be offered to the customers of the restaurants that do not deliver. Take Bagels and Noodles as an example.

4. As aforementioned, customers of these restaurants would have a huge incentive to order from us because, instead of actually going to the restaurant, they can order from their homes or work and have the food conveniently delivered to them for free.

5. The difference between my competitors and I is my pricing. Every other company charges $2-4 for their delivery whereas mine will be free.

I think this is an idea that has a ton of potential. Most students  do not use these third party delivery services because it makes the food more expensive. In a college town like Gainesville, it would thrive. The market does not just stop at students, though. It can easily reach everyone within a 2-3 mile radius, including families. Aside from that, there is no other delivery service that gives free delivery. From the restaurants' point of view, they would be able to access markets that they previously were not able to, not to mention their name would be included in all of our advertising, giving them, essentially, a free marketing campaign. As a result, I would say that the elements of my business plan fit quite well.

When it comes to the feedback I received last time, it was entirely about the percentage that I would take from the restaurant (25-30%). In my Idea Napkin No. 1 post, I was not clear when explaining how I would make money. I simply stated that I would take a percentage from the order that is being delivered without mentioning that other companies do the same thing. It made it sound like I would be the only one doing this and that, for example, Doorstep Delivery did not do this.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

1. There actually wasn't anything that surprised me throughout the reading because I had already been exposed to almost all of the material in previous coursework, making this a very straightforward reading assignment. It was also easy to read because of the way that the author explained everything in depth. 

2. As I stated above, the reading was pretty straightforward. There wasn't anything that I found particularly confusing.

3. When it came to the figures presented regarding informal risk, do those statistics apply to everyone? I would also ask why exactly the term "Angels" is used when referring to investors. 

4. There wasn't anything that I disagreed about in the reading. For the most part, it simply presented factual information as opposed to trying to sway my opinion. 

Half-way Reflection

1. When it comes to the behaviors that I have had to use to keep up with this course, the biggest one by far is responsibility. Although there are no quizes or exams, this class has around 100 assignments spaced out over the course of the semester, which breaks down to almost an assignment per day. I have never had a class like this before so it was a learning curve for me. I had to check canvas on a daily basis to make sure that there wasn't an assignment that was due because I missed quite a few when the class first began. I also had to get use to the assignments being due at 9pm as opposed to midnight. Most of my classes will  make their assignments due at midnight so this was different and threw me off a little bit at first.

2. So far, I have not actually gotten to the point of feeling like "giving up". This class is very different in its nature, but still very straightforward. The assignments are not difficult, although they can sometimes be a bit time consuming. As long as you can be responsible and keep up with your assignments, you will never experience that "giving up" feeling.

3. One thing that I do now to make sure that I do not miss any assignments is to make sure that I write down all of my due dates in a smaller planner that I carry around. When I set the due date, I write the date two days in ahead of when it is actually due. For example, if something is due on a Friday, I would set the due date for that assignment on a Wednesday to make sure that I get it done in a timely manner.

Another thing that would help is to watch the lectures the day that they are made available to you. Once you get behind, it is hard to catch up and watch many lectures at once because you have to set a large amount of time to the side for that. This is something that helped me keep up with the course as well.

Lastly, accept the fact that this class is going to force you to do things that are out of your comfort zone. You will need to walk up to random people and explain to them what your goal is on a fairly regular basis as a result of this class. Your grade literally depends on it. It teaches you how to effectively and professionally present yourself to others which is a vital skill for every entrepreneur.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1. His entire idea of essentially categorizing people based on their shopping patterns as opposed to demographics stood out to me. I does not seem like a feasible thing to do. Although it may have a good yield, in terms of its results, it just seems far more difficult and costly to do to monitor individuals based on what they buy instead of a few keys factors like age, sex and economic status. The only way that I would see it potentially working is if customers have an "account" of some sort set up to track everything they buy when they buy it. Even then, however, that would mean customizing marketing techniques for every individual person. It seems very time consuming and would raise marketing expenses significantly.

2. One part that was confusing to me is how exactly a business how go about customizing advertisements to each individual. It seems too difficult to go through.

3. I would ask the author two questions: 1. Could this custom advertising be feasible for small businesses? And 2. If you could track shopping trends, wouldn't it be a good idea to include both demographics and shopping patterns instead of just shopping patterns?

4. I disagree when it comes to using shopping patterns in place of demographics. As I explained in my response to the first part, it would be very costly in comparison to tracking demographics. Secondly, demographics tells marketers the stage of life a person is in, what the general interests and trends are in that generation and the things that the majority of the population of that demographic are going through. For example, at this point, most of the baby boomers are going through retirement which tells marketers a lot about what they would be interested, or uninterested, in buying.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

This is my second elevator pitch and it was one that I actually gave to a group of pre-dental students (Im pre-dental). Of course, I rerecorded it, but said the same things. I am a member of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) and went to a meeting of pre-dental students to try recruiting them to our organization. In order to do that, they have to pay for a membership, which is $95 between national and local dues. I did not mention that in the elevator pitch, however, because I did not want them to lose interest. I focused far more heavily on the benefits that they would receive out of a membership with us instead.

Based on the feedback I received after my first elevator pitch, I seemed a little stiff and utilized few hand motions so I tried to incorporate a bit more hand motions and lighten up some to come off as a more comfortable and confident person. Overall, I thought that the feedback I received last time was pretty spot on and helped me to improve this time around. Although I know I still have some work to do, it is certainly an improvement from the first time.

Customer Interviews No. 3

My business idea has to do with a free third-party delivery service. Most delivery services, like Doorstep Delivery for example, charge a $3.99 delivery fee which serves as a barrier to many customers. The way that this company would make money is by charging the businesses a slightly higher fee to use our services than the other companies. Typically, these delivery services will charge the restaurants 20-30% of the order total. This idea would likely charge them a fee upwards of 30%, but would give customers, including those who are not currently customers of these restaurants, an incentive to order from them, serving as both sales and advertisement. Below are the customer interviews I took. Unfortunately, my phone died during the last interview so I will find someone tomorrow to interview and upload it to this post afterwards.

I learned that using this technique of handing all of the interviewees the same piece of paper with the business idea written on it was a better way to go about conducting the actual interviews. Because they were all exposed to the same idea using the same verbiage on the paper, it made the interviews a little more standardized. It also showed me that this is an idea that may actually have some sort of potential. If I was not a student right now, it is a business idea that could be well worth persuing.There wasn't anything in particular about the interviews that surprised me though. 

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1. The thing that stuck out the most to me was the way that these five forces are generalized to all businesses and industries. Although they can be applied most everywhere, I'm sure there are businesses out there where one or two of these forces do not apply.

2. It was a very straight forward reading. I was already exposed to Porter's five forces in the Management course so it was a little review.

3. If I could ask the author two questions, they would be 1. What sparked your interest to write this article on Porter's five forces? And do you think these five forces can be generalized to all business?

4. I don't think the author was wrong about anything. They were simply summarizing what Porter said about business.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I am currently a 3rd year pre-dental student with a major in Business Management. Needless to say, I aspire to become a dentist; however, I'd like to own and manage my own practice, which is where the business management comes in. Obviously, I could not open a dental practice at the moment because I lack the skill set to. I had a different idea. It is one that would require an incredible amount of dedication and time, but that is typically how opening a business goes!

2. The service I would be offering is a third party delivery service for many different restaurants that do not actually deliver; however, to beat out the competition like Doorstep Delivery or Go Waiter, I would be offering free delivery. The large delivery fee usually tagged onto the price by these delivery service is a huge reason why they are not as popular as they could be. The way that this company would make money, is by taking a percentage of the order that is being delivered (25-30% for example). Our free delivery service and convenience would beat that of the competition and would serve as a huge incentive to try our service instead.

3. This service would be offered to the customers of the restaurants that do not deliver. Take Bagels and Noodles as an example.

4. As aforementioned, customers of these restaurants would have a huge incentive to order from us because, instead of actually going to the restaurant, they can order from their homes or work and have the food conveniently delivered to them for free.

5. The difference between my competitors and I is my pricing. Every other company charges ~$3.99 for their delivery whereas mine will be free.

I think this is an idea that has a ton of potential. Most students  do not use these third party delivery services because it makes the food at least $4 more expensive. In a college town like Gainesville, it would thrive. The market does not just stop at students, though. It can easily reach everyone within a 2-3 mile radius, including families. Aside from that, there is no other delivery service that gives free delivery. From the restaurants' point of view, they would be able to access markets that they previously were not able to, not to mention their name would be included in all of our advertising, giving them, essentially, a free marketing campaign. 

Elevator Pitch No.1

This was an actual Elevator pitch that I gave to a recruiter during Heavener Career Week. The company that I was pitching to was Heartland Dental. Because I'm a pre-dental student, this was a company that I was actually interested in working for over the summer. I let the recruiter know that I was going to record what I say for the sake of an assignment and he declined to be in the video. I actually ended up getting an interview for a summer internship with them and they later extended an offer to me, which I accepted. The opportunity here stemmed from Heartland Dental needing employees for this upcoming summer, as they were shorthanded in staff. The solution was to attend Heavener Career Week to recruit students for those summer positions, like me.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

1. The thing that stood out to me the most was the stress placed on intrapreneurship and how it can transform a business primarily in terms of innovation. Higher management personnel are certainly not the only people who can strive for positive change, although that is typically what happens. Others can pitch ideas and implement them as well, especially in areas where there is room for improvement or issues that need to be resolved.

2. There was not anything in particular that I found to be confusing. It was a pretty straightforward reading.

3. If I could ask the author two questions, I would ask:
    - In your opinion, what is the best system that you can use to reward intrapreneurship and why? (i.e. Commission, a bonus, promotion, etc)
    - How would you go about motivating low skill employees, like cashiers, to think with an intrapreneur's mindset?

4. There wasn't anything that I disagreed with either. As I mentioned before, it was a pretty straightforward reading. 

Customer Interviews No. 1

I currently live at The Courtyards which is known more for its proximity to campus and not so much for luxury. The apartments come furnished, but the provided furniture isn't the best in terms of both quality and cosmetics. The furniture is a little older and should probably be replaced. I saw this as a potential opportunity for The Courtyards. It's a problem that they should probably solve and, although it would be expensive to buy new furniture for all of its apartments, it would also be worth their while considering they could charge people a little more per month for that upgrade.

As a result, I asked five random residents at The Courtyards, none of which I know personally, what their thoughts were on the issue and if they would be willing to pay a little extra every month, assuming that they were provided new and better quality furniture. If so, how much extra? My phone was actually stolen two days ago so I do not have a camera to record the interviews with. Instead,  I wrote down their responses below.

Interviewee #1: It doesn't really bother me much that the furniture is old, although it would certainly be nice if The Courtyards actually replaced the current furniture in our apartment.

Interviewee #2: The furniture in our apartment actually seems fairly new to me and I like it. But, to be fair, our apartment used to be the model apartment two years ago so we lucked out and I know that other apartments didn't get so lucky with their furniture.

Interviewee #3: I would LOVE new furniture! Ours is really old and crappy and has a bunch of stains all over. I've asked the leasing office for new furniture before, but they just told me that they can't guarantee anything and, of course, nothing ended up happening.

Interviewee #4: I don't spend much time in my apartment so I don't really mind it, but it looks nice when friends come over if the furniture looked decent. Other than that though, I don't really care too much.

Interviewee #5: This is my third year at The Courtyards and I've heard people complain about the furniture before and I agree with them. It isn't the best. I chose The Courtyards because of how close it is to campus, definitely not for the actual apartments. They need to upgrade.

I asked each one of them if they would be willing to pay a little bit extra per month for newer furniture and how much extra. All of them except interviewee #4 said yes with responses ranging from $15-30 more per month. Interviewee #2, who happened to have newer furniture specified that if he had older furniture, he would "certainly" pay a little more to have newer furniture, saying that it's important to them and how they apartment looks. Overall, this opportunity seems like one that would be worth while for the Courtyards to look into.

The interviews themselves went fine. I'm very comfortable speaking with people, even people like this who I do not know. This definitely made it easier to get my ideas across and made the questioning a little more clear and smooth.

Top 5 World Problems

Problems

Here are the top five world problems in order from biggest problem (#1) to smallest (#5):

1. Poverty  - This is #1 because poverty is the cause of a long chain of other world problems such as lack of food or shelter, malnutrition, crime, drug abuse, and even depression.

2. War - This has historically been a consistent issue no matter what time period a person lives in. I ranked this after poverty because war is often a result of widespread poverty in a country. The outburst of civil wars across the Middle East, like in Libya, Egypt and Syria had, in large part, to do with the corrupt way that government was spending money instead of allocating its resources towards the country itself and its people, causing economic downturn.

3. Obesity - This has recently become a very big problem world wide, especially in more westernized countries. According to FranchiseHelp.com, the fast food industry has grown from $6 billion in 1970 to $160 billion this past year with an 8.6% annual growth rate. I placed this under war because obviously people being mass murdered is worse that gaining some weight. You can lose the weight, but you cannot bring people back to life.

4. Depression - Over 70% of people are likely to experience depression at some point and when it happens, it is important that people are able to get out of it instead of getting stuck there. It happens in every culture  and age group and because so many people go through it, it's something that we need a solution to. It's under Obesity because obesity has more direct effects on a person's health and life expectancy. It's also harder to lose a large amount of weight, which has both a physical and psychological aspect, than it is to get out of most forms of depression which is just psychological.

5. Climate Change - Historically, the climate has always been changing; however, it's changing a lot faster now that it ever has before as a result of the enormous amounts of greenhouse gasses humans add to the atmosphere on an daily basis. I placed this last because, although it is still a huge world issue, it affects people the least directly.


Solutions

This list ranks the solutions to each of the five problems above from most viable solution (#1) to least viable solution (#5):

1. Depression - Get people help! Over 80% of those who fall to depression never receive help to improve. Often times, what can relieve a person of this awful condition is a lifestyle change or a series of small changes. For example, changes in diet, more exercise or even a change in perception.

2. Obesity - This is the same idea as depression. We need to get people help. As opposed to just helping people on a psychological basis, we also need to help people physically. I placed this solution after depression because we have to help people change in two ways, physically and psychologically, instead of just one. Fixing obesity at a society level requires changing social views on health, which I think has already started to an extent.

3. War -  It has to come to an end at some point. The solutions vary drastically depending on the issue at hand. Whether it be that the two sides of the conflict are tired of fighting or they simply come to some sort of agreement, there is always a solution that comes out eventually. This is something that is much harder to prevent than, for example, gaining weight, but is still feasible.

4. Climate Change - This requires effort on behalf of the entire world's population to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pollution in the soil, less use of plastics, etc. There is no one solution to this. Rather it's an effort to contribute as many smaller solutions as possible.

5. Poverty - This will always be around. Realistically speaking, money will never be allocated evenly. Human nature has a large amount to do with that. We all want what is best for us. Some poeple choose not to share their wealth while others choose not to make any by not working or using their wealth irresponsibly. I don't really see a viable solution to this problem. Although there are ways to help alleviate poverty in certain areas by doing things like creating jobs, there will still always be a lower, middle and higher class in terms of wealth. 

Week 3 Reading Reflection

1. One thing that I did not expect, but makes sense to me, is that many entrepreneurs use their businesses as a way to deal with loneliness and coping with people problems. It is something that I had never previously thought about. I suppose having something like a business that can ALWAYS keep you occupied can allow a person to forget about their social issues and focus more on themselves and trying to be as successful as possible.

2. The table about the typology of entrepreneurship styles was a little bit confusing to me at first but was clarified with the reading. Even then, it still took me a bit to really understand what was going on in the table.

3. If I could ask the author two questions, I would ask:

- Being an entrepreneur means that you will have to deal with failure time and time again; but what if you have to deal with failure on a very regular basis? At one point do you call it quits and move on to do something else?

- If an entrepreneur does not have a Type A personality, to what extent will this affect their successes? And will these effects be positive or negative?

4. To be honest, there wasn't anything that the author said that I disagreed with. It was a pretty straight forward reading . All of the characteristics that the author described in an entrepreneur seemed to fit well and the reasons for why some people elect to become an entrepreneur made sense. 

Identifying Local Opportunities

As I flipped through various local newspaper articles, I found a few problems described that present potential opportunities for an entrepreneur:

1. "Is it OK to discipline employees"
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/money/2016/01/23/ok-discipline-employees/79056678/

This article describes the struggle faced by mangers when they must stand up to employees who do not meet their expectations or goals. A vast number of managers simply do not like to deal with it. It involves hurting a person's feelings and, as a result of not taking action, employees figure it is okay to be disobedient, at least to some degree. The article describes a couple of steps to go about disciplining an employee with letting them go being a last resort.

2. "Private schools to hire educators, coaches and support staff"
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2016/01/20/private-schools-hire-educators-coaches-support-staff/79077

This article serves as an advertisement for an event at a Tallahassee private school. The event is a career fair in which almost a dozen schools are participating in in an effort to find the best teachers and staff members for their schools. Many are in need to replace teachers temporarily teaching courses that they are not 100% qualified to teach. Others would like to start offering new classes, but need to find teachers for.

3. "Mayor's Challenge - 10-week fitness program begins in Tarpon Springs"
http://www.tbnweekly.com/pubs/tarpon_springs_beacon/content_articles/012116_tsb-01.txt

In Tarpon Springs, the mayor holds an annual fitness challenge in which residents can enroll to participate in. At the end of the challenge, there is a 5K race that most of them elect to run in. There is a large range of people who join this challenge from old to young, muscular to overweight. Throughout this 10-week period, the mayor holds fitness related and sporting events to encourage participation and enthusiasm. The issue here is that the mayor wants more people to join. Last year 250 people in the Tampa Bay area enrolled, 80 of which went to the 5K. This year, he is looking to expand on that number.

4. "FAFSA Nights scheduled for area schools"
http://www.tbnweekly.com/pinellas_county_schools/content_articles/010616_sch-01.txt

High school students often express anxiety when it comes to paying for college and it is a large factor in determining where they ultimately go. As a result, high schools in the area have created nights for students and their families to sit down as a large group, answer any questions and fill out their FAFSA applications to reap as many financial benefits as possible.

5. "Starkey seeks mentors for students"
http://www.tbnweekly.com/pinellas_county_schools/content_articles/012116_sch-04.txt

Starkey Elementary School is looking for volunteers to serve as mentors for their students. Their goal is to build the interpersonal skills of the students while allowing them to feel comfortable with someone who they look up to and provide them with encouragement, guidance and support. There are 35 students signed up for the mentor program which serves as a great way for people to provide community service. They currently do not have enough volunteers for all the students. This article serves as an ad for this opportunity. 

Bug List

We all have pet peeves and things that bug us. Here's a list of 20 things that bug me:
1. People who speed past you on the highway when you are already speeding.
    Reason: The person is usually impatient or in a hurry.
2. When my Wi-Fi at home randomly goes out.
    Reason: Too many people connected at the same time or an issue from the service provider themselves.
3. When people talk in a classroom setting as the professor is giving their lecture
    Reason: For the most part, they're sitting with their friends and they are getting bored of the lecture.
4. When I'm driving and someone cuts me off as they turn when I have the right of way.
    Reason: They do not want to wait for all of the cars behind me to pass.
5. When I play a team sport like basketball or soccer and someone hogs the ball each time they get it, even though their teammates can help them tremendously
    Reason: They are not very good at working in teams and prefer to hold the ball.
6. When someone makes a racist or prejudice comment about a group of people based on a non-representative sub-population of that group.
    Reason: Little interaction with that group of people. Bases perception of group on what they have heard from others.
7. Seeing people expect an unproportionately large amount of goods/services for an employee of a business while paying very little, like at a restaurant.
    Reason: They are cheap and do not want to pay for anything.
8. When people have a bad habit of consistently pointing out the negative things around them and do recognize the positive aspects of those things.
    Reason: More pessimistic perception of the world
9. When people are tardy to an appointment, whether it be with a friend or doctor. I think it's very disrespectful.
    Reason: Varies
10. Waking up to random spot of acne on my face.
    Reason: Also varies from my diet, to sleep, to how often I washed my face day before, etc
11. I really don't like it when someone consistently boasts about things.
    Reason: They want to impress others.
12. When printers do not connect properly to your laptop
    Reason: Technical issue with the actual printer
13. When people bash their parents in front of their friends.
    Reason: Not very thankful people
14. When someone at work is on their phone while I am talking to them as a customer
    Reason: Uninterested in their job
15. Receiving too many marketing emails from the same business
    Reason: I bought something from them and provided my email.
16. When someone passes by me with an unpleasant body odor
    Reason: Did not shower or use deodorant
17. People who frequently post exposing pictures of themselves on social media
    Reason: Trying to impress others
18. I am a bouncer and it bugs me when people give me a fake ID and they keep denying that it's a fake, even after I caught them.
    Reason: They think they will get into trouble if they admit they're wrong.
19. I hate when an advertisement is almost as long or even longer than a video online.
    Reason: It's how the website makes money
20. I hate how enormous many effective iphone cases are.
    Reason: iPhones break very easily.

Overall, this was actually a pretty difficult list to come up with. It definitely took me longer than I thought it would because I do not actively search for the things that bug me. The first few were easy to come up with whereas the last few took me a while to think of. 

Introduction

My name is Abraham Khalil and I am a 3rd year undergraduate student at UF from Tallahassee, FL. Although I'm a business management major, I am also a pre-dental student. I chose business management in hopes that it will help me run my own dental practice in the future. As of now, I am most interested in orthodontics as a specialty.

Here are some other random fun facts about me:
- My family owns a donut shop in Tallahassee called Donut Kingdom.
- I'm the eldest of four.
- I hate everything about Florida State athletics.
- DJ Khaled is my second cousin.
- I think I'm going to be diabetic within the next couple of years based on how many donuts I consume.

My Entrepreneurship Story

Entrepreneurship is something that has always run in my family. My parents own a donut shop called Donut Kingdom in Tallahassee, FL and before opening that, they owned a couple of convenience stores. I have an uncle who owns 180+ MetroPCS stores across the US and one of my dad's cousins who owns clothing stores. I have other relatives who own different businesses overseas in the middle east, but I probably couldn't pronounce the names of them anyways. Needless to say, I've grown up around people who aspire to think and act upon the mentality of an entrepreneur.

 



As a result, I've always been interested in business ownership and growth. My biggest interest is the business world is probably marketing. It takes a ton creativity and becomes a large factor in the "growth" aspect of business, especially when first getting a business established. I'm currently taking a business course here at UF and I already love it. Although I am a business management major, I am also a pre-dental student. My end goal is to own and manage my own practice. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this semester and hope that my love for business only grows further.

My Recitation of The Entrepreneur's Mantra

Test Post

This is just a test post to make sure that the blog is working properly.