Rachel's Principles of Entrepreneurship

Final Reflection      After reading my all my posts back from this class, one memory that sticks out to me is doing all the interviews for my assignments. These were great opportunities to get extra help when it came to my service and building it. I took all the comments to heart and made improvements to my service accordingly. The main thing I will take away from this class is being able to build my own product and company from scratch. I didn't think that I would have an experience like this but I am very happy to say that I did it. This was a once in a lifetime experience that I would definitely recommend to anyone that is interested.     This class tested me and my entrepreneur capabilities but it is safe to say that I do see myself as an entrepreneur. Making my product was so much fun and I loved every minute of it. It made me think about my future and what I see my self 5 or 10 years from now. Having a business could potentially be on that list and I think I am very capable o

  Opportunity : Giving students a chance to earn better grades by adding on extra study tools for them for their own advantage. There isn't any changes in the environment that is creating this opportunity. My target market is students from the grades Kindergarten to College. There is no age limit to my service but the main age range is 6 years old to 25 years old. Now, customers are currently satisfying this need by studying for themselves and gaining access to outside resources when need be. I think customers are loyal to what they are using now because they think there is nothing else better for them. I plan to change that with by service I am putting in place. This opportunity is big because I am giving students who need more help than others a chance to excel in school and develop the grades they need to feel good about going to school. The window will be open for as long as children are going to school. They will be the leading people in these next generations to come so they

The exit strategy I am thinking about doing is wanting to stay with my company and product for as long as I can. I love to help encouraging students to be the best they can possibly be and I think my product does that. I think after making multiple products that do with Study Buddies and do equally as well, that's when I would start considering my options and figure out what I really want to do. For a product like this, it is something that can stay around for a very long time.  I decided to keep my exit strategy in the open because you never know what could fully happen to a company. The future is unpredictable. So when it comes a time were my product has finally met its mark, that when I'll fully dive into a thought out exit strategy and give my product what it deserves.  This exit strategy has definitely made me think about how well my product is actually going to do if I decide to go through with Study Buddies. Growth is important to a company so if my product isn't doi

The overall theme of this book is evolution. I gained that kind of perspective because it seemed like Anderson was giving us the new and improved ways that went with people making things. That meant that we have come a long way since the actual industrial revolution and we as people are using new ways to grow as an country and as the whole world.  This book connected to this class by showing me how important entrepreneurship really is. It is not just businessmen/women making new companies and products, it is a field that makes the world grow bigger and have better means to it. Everything we own was just a little idea at some point and eventually someone took the opportunity to make it into something bigger.  An exercise that came to mind when reading this book is cause and effect. What I mean by that is identifying causes and effects for this "new" revolution and explaining how it differs from the industrial revolution that we learned about when we were kids. It could put mor

Celebrating Failure     Last semester included a big milestone in my life. Not only completing my first year as being a sport management major, but also leaving my teenage years and going on to my twenties. This is the time that I will really become an adult and learn the struggles of adulthood year by year. With that being said, I know that there will be a lot of failures on this journey through my twenties and also the beginning of my adulthood.      Nevertheless, I found out real quick what my first failure of my twenties would be real quick. It had nothing to do with school, it was more rather my personal life. This failure was not being able to keep one friendship that was important to me. We were both going through some personal stuff of our own so that is what ultimately brought us together. Unfortunately, it was too much for the other person and gradually the friendship was crumbling apart to the point where we couldn't even be in the same room as each other. So before I le

Existing Market : I think what's next for my venture is reaching the international market and seeing if I have any potential internationally.  After interviewing three people, they all had the same basis of what they wanted next for this product. Even though my program is online, they want it to be transcribed in person and have places that they can go and meet with a person one-on-one who is employed with the company. When I asked them about going internationally, they thought was a good idea but in their eyes it was going big too fast. They think I should worry about building a reputation in the U.S before I move on to something internationally.  After listening to m interviews, I think the best for my company ans Study Buddies is to grow as much as I can in the national market. I will look into finding places that could be designed as "headquarters" for students to come wither their parents (if needed) to sit down and have meetings about the students progress or to get

    Opportunity : Giving students a chance to earn better grades by adding on extra study tools for them for their own advantage. There isn't any changes in the environment that is creating this opportunity. My target market is students from the grades Kindergarten to College. There is no age limit to my service but the main age range is 6 years old to 25 years old. Now, customers are currently satisfying this need by studying for themselves and gaining access to outside resources when need be. I think customers are loyal to what they are using now because they think there is nothing else better for them. I plan to change that with by service I am putting in place. This opportunity is big because I am giving students who need more help than others a chance to excel in school and develop the grades they need to feel good about going to school. The window will be open for as long as children are going to school. They will be the leading people in these next generations to come so the

What Makes Me Special? Teachers ( V - Teachers are very valuable because they are the initial giver of information to the students; R - I don't think teachers in general are rare but finding the perfect teacher is rare in my eyes; I - Teachers have their own individuality and have different teaching styles so I think it would be hard for others to copy them; N - There are other resources that do the same thing as teachers)  Textbooks ( V - Textbooks hold value because they are supplementary help to students that are learning certain material; R - Textbooks can be found anywhere so I don't think they are rare at all; I - I think it could be easy to copy from textbooks because there are so many out there; N - There are a lot of other resources that could be used with a textbook or in place of one) Online Resources ( V - Since the Internet has become a big part in people's lives, online resources can be very valuable; R - I think there is online resources for anything so they

Mindset of Success The original theme of the book is the psychology of success and how to achieve it.  This book connected with what I'm learning because I think it gives me more insight on the topics that are talked about. Not everything is just words and numbers on paper, it runs deeper than that. having the right mindset is always important when making a new product and starting a business.  I think the exercise I would design for this class would be something along the lines of brainstorming different topics. Brainstorming is a great way to get your brain working and to look deeper into topics. Reaching just the surface is not enough for something like entrepreneurship. I learned that psychology is something that is very prominent in thins industry. There is a lot of instances that requires you to dig deeper and realize what you really want with your business or yourself as an entrepreneur.   

Growing my Social Capital Study Edge program in Gainesville, FL. They are a tool used by a lot of college students to help them study and gain good grades as a result for it. This is mostly used when students have exams coming up and want to have an extra security blanket when it comes to studying.   The slot they are filling is the domain expert. I found them because I see a lot of my classmates using them and when I would ask about extra studying tools, they would always recommend Study Edge. I have used them once before so that is the only exchange we've had. I was fairly pleased with the service and how much extra help it actually was.  If I were to include them in my network it would be beneficial because they could give me insight on how to go forward with my business because they are under the same category. They could tell me the ins and outs of running a business like this.     Smokin' Notes program in Gainesville, FL. This is another popular study tool that people acc

Idea Napkin #2 I am a student at UF looking to see if I have any potential to be an entrepreneur. I'm still in the workforce so I have experiences with how to handle customers and feedback from my higher ups. I am very goal-oriented so making up this product for the class made that part of me fired up. I think if this business were to take off, it would take over most of my life in the best way possible. I would always want to find bigger and better ways to make myself and the business better.  I am offering customers extra work they would have to do at their fingertips. Usually, students would have to go out of their way to find the right study materials so they make sure they pass exams. With my product, it eliminates all of that so they spend less time looking and more time studying.  My study program is open to all students all ages from kindergarten to university students. All of the users will mainly be students getting their studies done but parents will also have access to

Create a Customer Avatar     If I were to explain my customer avatar in one sentence it would be "a honors high school student that likes to have fun outside of school". This customer loves to do a lot of  things that don't include having you're head in the textbooks. She's smart so she makes sure school is first and then once that is done, she is able to have fun and do some of her hobbies. Those hobbies include shopping, playing sports, hanging out with friends, listening to different types of music and reading new books. Since they are excelling in school, her parents rewarded her with a brand new car when she got her license. This car would be something along the lines of a Honda Civic or a Ford Focus. These are cars with great gas mileage and also have a sleek look to them. They are great first cars so that's why her parents chose between the two. Even though my customer is a honors student, the had to work hard to get where she is at. She had great study

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Part 2     With my demographic, I interviewed three college students this time instead of just regular high school students. With my service, I think that college students would be the ones that would be wanting this service the most.  When interviewing them they all thought the same thing, if the quality of the service does not match the pricing then it is not worth it to actually have the product. With studying services, there is a lot already offered and catered to college students. To break that part of the market I would have to grab the college student's attention for my product to do well. When asking the students this, they thought that my product had that sense of uniqueness and has the potential to break through this demographic.      My segment is mostly going to end up buying my service online. It is an online service so there will be no way to get anything in-person at a store or a library of some sort. With that in mind my segment will most

Halfway Reflection  Some behaviors that I've picked up while taking this class is looking more in-depth in businesses. Learning about entrepreneurship has opened new doors for me and has me looking more into businesses that I know to learn even more about everything. Relating back to the class, I've gained the habit to try to be on top of my assignments. With that, I've been setting reminders to make sure I get these assignments done on time. Setting those reminders has been helping me with my procrastination because I tend to fall into a big hole where all I do is procrastinate. With three assignments a week, that is not a good habit to have. Staying on top of assignments has helped me focus more on the material and actually learn from this class.   I've felt like giving up in this class only once and that was when we started doing interviews for some of the assignments. I wasn't taking my "product" seriously so I didn't see the purpose of going out o

Steve Jobs     Reading about Steve Jobs was very interesting. He was one of the biggest entrepreneurs gaining all his success from starting the infamous Apple company. This company made waves in the technology world and made all the other technology companies want to follow after them. Steve Jobs was a pioneer in entrepreneurship and I think he is someone to look up too if you want to start a business.   

Figuring out Buyer Behavior Part 1 1.  Segment: Demographic  For the interviews I chose to talk to three high school students that are all wanting to find study materials needed to excel in their classes. Since they all had the same unmet need I continued on with the interviews. I asked them why they had the need and all of them collectively wanted to do better in school and try to make studying better for them. Most of the time for students, getting the good grades isn't the problem, knowing how to study is the issue. I hope that my potential service makes students want to study better and get in the hang of it.  From conducting these interviews, I learned that well-rounded students have similar needs when it comes to studying and good grades. They don't want to lose their standing in class ranks and want to try to be the best of the best. I think this service will help them do exactly that.  With this information, I will make sure I fix my service to have an adapting nature t

Idea Napkin #1  I am a college student currently going towards her goal in life. I think one of my main talents is having leadership. I played team sports my whole life and I naturally learned how to become a leader through the experience. I think with learning that skill it made it easier to take on certain tasks in my life. It has taught me to take lead when there is no apparent boss or "ruler" so there can be some direction whether it can be in a group project or in a work environment. I think this skill can lead into my business life because it can cause me to break through my shell and strive to be the best business owner. Having leadership in business is a way to make things easier in the environment and meetings can run a lot smoother.  I am offering customers a way to earn better grades with less of the hassle. For students that aren't in college (elementary, middle, and high school), study materials can be a hassle to acquire because of the lack of programs or se

Testing the Hypothesis pt. 2     For the interviews I conducted, I picked people that could be closely related to the general student but don't have the same need that the student would have. 1. The first interview I conducted was with a parent that has an excelling high school student. They fall outside of this boundary because they don't have the need of wanting their child to do better or needing to study more. They think their child is doing more than enough and getting good grades as the result of that. The need here for this parent is more along the lines of hunger, the hunger of wanting their child to keep doing better in school and to not fail. I think the need for the parent has been there ever since their child started going to school. As for the student, the need only comes occasionally when they want to raise a grade they aren't happy with or to past time by studying.    Inside the Boundary   Outside the Boundary  Students needing extra help   Parents of the stu

Solving the Problem     After looking back at all the opportunities I found, the only one that seemed perfect to me was figuring out a service to help students study efficiently and produce good grades as an result. This kind of opportunity would mostly cater to struggling students that need extra help and want to steadily increase their grades. This service can also be used by model students who want to get an extra push to turn that B into an A or an A minus to an A plus.      When I was thinking of this service, I wanted to make it accessible to all ages from Pre-K to College. There will be different sections across the format to fit the specific grade and class that student is in to insure they are learning the right material that is designed for them. As for the information going on the service, there will be databases from every school in the United States with every state and their core curriculum. This means all the user will have to do is search for their school and grade to s

Local Opportunities     1. Title : Rebuilding America: Tourism took a hit. Here are 10 things to do for a Brevard staycation         Link to Article : https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/05/28/rebuilding-america-travel-florida-vacation-staycation/5200302002/  In this article, it explains the struggles of going on vacations during the coronavirus pandemic. Since all of the theme parks are closed as well as other tourist destinations until further notice, families have to keep themselves occupied with other things they can find during quarantine and being able to social distance. This article has just what we need with giving us 10 things to do in Brevard County. These things range from going fishing to visiting our wonderful space attractions in Cape Canaveral.          The Problem: Not being able to go a real vacation during quarantine and needing to find other options in Brevard County         Who?: Residents living in Brevard County     2. Title:  Sally Scalera: Short on spa

Forming an Opportunity Belief Opportunity:  One thing that I firmly believe is that everyone should try their best to excel in school, doesn't matter if you are first starting out in kindergarten or finishing your last year of college. The unmet need here is getting good grades with students being the one who has the need. Usually this need comes from having a failing grade and needing to raise their grade. Also this need can come from a average A/B student wanting to make that final jump to be a straight A student.  Iteration:  The first person that comes to mind when I think of this opportunity is my sister. She is currently a high school student and going to college at the same time. That means she needs all of the pushing she can get to make sure her grades are up to par constantly. She has always been an excelling student throughout her school career so this need in her eyes comes from getting straight As in her college classes since those are more important to her. She just s

The Rainbow Loom Bracelets When I think of entrepreneurship in my childhood only one thing comes to mind, and that is the brand Rainbow Loom and the bracelets that you were able to make. Around middle school everyone had a little business going with these bracelets, especially the ones that were good making the bracelets. Seeing everyone having their own business with this inspired me to start making my own bracelets and I tried selling them to my closest friends to see how well I would do. I didn't really add to my business that I had and stopped after I left middle school because I was focusing more on school and my sports. It was a fun experience and I really enjoyed spending time making the bracelets for everyone. Lastly, I enrolled in Principles or Entrepreneurship because I wanted to gain more knowledge on running a business and how to design products around businesses. A lot of people I know have already jump started on a business themselves or already have a business fully

Bug List My brand new car not wanting to start when I'm running late for work.  Why? Something could be wrong with the battery or starter. Dorm roommates being loud when I'm trying to study for a final exam. Why? They could be hanging out with friends or watching TV in the living area. Anyone who leaves their mess behind when they leave to go do something else (could be leaving dishes, school materials, any kind of task). Why? Could be in a rush or thinking someone else is going to pick it up for them When I'm working a lunch rush at my job and customers get mad because they haven't gotten their food yet. Why? There could be a lack of communication between me and the customer or the customer is being impatient. When it isn't busy at a certain restaurant and it takes abnormally long for my food to come out. Why? The people in the kitchen could be having issues. Terrible cell service when I need to make an important call.  Why? Bad weather or construction could be hap

    Just a test post for staring up my blog!