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? 

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was that I am identified as an entrepreneurial successor. I was shocked to find out that there is a term for my interesting role in the business world. 

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

One part that was confusing to me was the exit strategy because I was not sure what way was best in performing this process of exiting a business.

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

1. How can you avoid the problems with hiring family members? I would like to know if there is way to make family members work. 

2.Should there be an entrepreneurial and managerial successors in a business? Is both necessary for a successful business? 

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 think that the author is wrong about any of the information presented.

Final Reflection

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

Over the course of this semester I have experienced more highs than lows fortunately. The highs were the weeks were I had enough time to complete the tasks and I was able to declare my points to the fullest. The lows was when I was not able to complete all the tasks and had to accept the reduction of points. Overall, this course was a great learning experience with well taught lessons. 

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

 The most formative experience for me was the interviewing strangers task. I felt that this was a difficult task to complete because I was not familiar with interviewing random people that I did not know. At first it was strange and at times awkward, however the more I attempted the easier and smoother the process went. I will remember the time where I offered a dollar bill to someone and the person looked at the dollar in disguise and denied the bill. The most joyous experience was interviewing a local entrepreneur and learning some priceless lessons on business through his experiences. I am most proud of completing all the interviewing tasks because I was skeptical and uncomfortable with this task at first.  

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

Yes, I have seen a tremendous improvement in my entrepreneurial mindset through out this course. I can truly call myself an entrepreneur with the developed skill set to accomplish any venture I pursue. These assignments and tasks have assisted me with the development of my skills. The best skill I developed was a tenacious attitude. 

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

One recommendation for incoming students is to organize your schedule and manage your time wisely. The time management is the biggest concern because some of the course's assignments require you to do an extensive process at times. The organization of the incoming students schedule is vital to keep everything is order and have the assignments mapped out weekly. 

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:
Who has the need? 
People that want to change their lives have the need to make a transition in their lifestyle behavior to 
reap the satisfaction of being healthy and fit.

·      
      What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity? There is a big trend in effect in our society that promotes physically fit individuals because in this era of time we admire the individuals that achieve this image.

·        How is this market defined geographically and demographically? The fitness industry is a universal industry that targets all genders and races, because we all have human body that could be improved to personal preferences.

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

Customers are going to the gyms and purchasing workout plans, but the loyalty is questionable. I know a few people that start a workout routine and quit after the first week, if they even complete the first week. 

·         How big is this opportunity?

The fitness industry is one of the top industries in today’s market, so the potential is vastly greater then most industries. 

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

This window of opportunity will be open for 

Innovation. 

Brand Name: ALPHA (BREED) / I AM ALPHA

Motto: Strength. Power. Dominance.

Media: Facebook, App (Lifestyle) & Instagram

Our Vision: Our vision for our customers is to transform their life in a way that they feel an overall difference in their mood and self -image. 

Components: 1) Training 2) Nutrition 3) Gear/technology 4) Sports & Goods 5) Magazine 6) Alpha Support

Membership: 

-       Amount: I have not decided a proper amount to charge yet.

-       3-month membership at a time.

-       Specials for referring a friend

-       Levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold

-       Free custom shirt with customizing options depending on membership level.

Training:

·      Workouts for the three body types. (Tone/lean, hybrids, bulk (alpha dog))

·      Strength & Power routines

·      Endurance routines 

·      Hybrids routines (both intensities of endurance and power at play)

·      Cardio routines: Scheduled runs, stadiums, sprints/jog

·      Flexibility: Routine stretches for pre and post workouts. (Modifies to workout)

·      Personal training: for exclusive members at fee.

Nutrition: 

·      Recipes and customize, creative meals: (cut weight, maintain, Muscle-building meals (feasts))

·      Diversity with foods from all cultures, teaching the art of cooking.

·      Levels of energy intake.

·      Meals will be categorized by the amount of time it takes to complete. 

·      Shopping lists & tips: that are customized to achieve personal goals. (Varies on allowance/organic foods)

·      Video tutorials: giving step-by-step instructions (in hopes to gave free supplies from seasoning company or anything that we could get for free.)

·      One/one nutrition cooking training: for exclusive members. 

·      Supplements: protein or creatine

Gear:

·      Performance gear: comes with membership/ universal clothing 

-       Shirts/tank tops: designed with dominance and power.

The graphics will have a message that signifies alpha. 

-       Animal Icons: Lion, Great White, Grizzly Bear, Eagle, Patriotic with customization of facial/spirit animal graphic tee. (Jocelisse)

-       Pants/Shorts: performance gear similar to the athletic cut used by Nike.

-       Hats/Beanies

-       Shaker Bottles

-       Rubber/Steel Wrist Bands

-       Alpha Tag (dog tag)

Venture Concept. 

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

I think my customers will switch to my product because I will have a logically supported workout routine along with a nutrition plan. Also, the participants will see the results of these plans and have an idea on how long the process of transformation will take based off of the level of membership.

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

There are a lot of fitness competitors that have a vast amount of products and services out on the market, but I believe that their nutrition plans do not customize to their customers’ preference. 

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

Customer support and experience is a vital part in my business concepts because the brand will reflect the thoughts and results from my customers. 

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

I would open up my own gym with fitness classes held inside and I would hire personal trainers to assist my customers in workouts. The personal trainers will be the best in the area with the proper certifications. 

The three minor elements

First, describe what you think your most important resource will be. You might call this your venture’s “secret sauce” or “unfair advantage.” Besides your actual innovative product, service, or process, what will you have that will make it hard for competitors to copy your success?

My most important resource will be my social capital. This will help promote my business by having athletes and popular faces advertise my service. The competitors will have a hard to copying the way I deliver my services through one on one interaction with the customer and customizing nutrition plans to each customer’s preference.

Second, what’s next for the venture? Describe either the next opportunity you want to tackle with your current innovation, or describe the next new product, service, or process that may be aimed at your existing customers. 

The Quada will be my next venture I pursue. This product will promote proper water consumption through out the day with a fashionable water jug. This jug can also be used for exercise and hydration. 

Third, what’s next for you? Assuming you launched, where do you want to be in five years with this venture? Where do you want to be, as an entrepreneur, in the next decade, and how does this first venture help you achieve your vision? 

I am finishing writing this business concept and making additions to it every time I research on new exercises and nutritional foods. In five years, I want to own my own gym and food company that services my customers and the general population. In ten years, I want to be wealthy and growing in other industries of interest. This will result in my becoming apart of the top 5% of the population that is wealthy.  

Summary of feedback:

I receive positive feedback from my venture concept. Although, I was given one recommendation from a student that thinks that the key is tailoring the food and exercise to your clients specifically. I am planning on implementing this idea to my venture concept. In hopes to improve the quality of service I will provide to my customers.

Week 14 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?
The biggest surprise for me in this reading was the extensive process that comes along with business valuations. 

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
One part of the reading that was confusing the business valuation part. I have a need for a deeper understanding in this subject.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
1. How can I avoid allowing emotional bias from affecting my business valuation? I would like to know how to prevent this bias, so I can be sensible when pricing my business.
2. Which method should I use for my business valuation? I want to know this information because I want to use the most efficient method.

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 think the author was wrong about anything.

Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimiation (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

I usually just go to Google and search keywords that relates to my interests. It is a simple process that has recently enhanced in voice recognition, so this is my newest strategy when researching for things.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?
My keywords for my business concept would be my first and last name. I selected those key words because they relate most to my product and service. I did not change any words, but I did implement the blog as a keyword further on in the semester.

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?
I have not yet used social media to enhance my SEO efforts yet, because I am still in the works of fully developing my product. I believe that social media can improve the product's exposure and marketing in general is improved. 

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?
The post that was most viewed was the "What's Next" assignment. I think it was most viewed because the title captivates the audience's interest and it was an interesting assignment too. 

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to? 

I did make it to the first page on Google when I typed in my keywords to my blogger. 

Very Short Interview, Part 2

Q: What is your impression of that initial interview?

My impression of the initial interview was a sense of general questions been asked that was more personal at first then a professional business interview. This may be cause I think it is important to get the full story behind each venture and the entreneurship who started it. I thought that there were some key points mentioned in the interview. The first interview was a detailed interview of the entrepreneur as a person then converts to his venture start up.

Interview Questions

1. What personal traits do you obtain that makes you an entrepreneur?

2. How do you perceive failure?

3. What makes you different from other businesses like yours?

Reflection:

The second interview was short in time since there was only three questions. So for me to get the most out of this interview I formulated three precise questions for the entrepreneur to answer. I found the interview to be easier than last time since I was familiar with the process from the practice I receive throughout this course. The entrepreneur asked how I was doing with the course and mentioned that my interview went smoother than last time.

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? 

The biggest surprise that I came across in this chapter was that strategic planning is a key component in the success of any business venture.

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

One part of the chapter's reading that was confusing was the part that was on the lack of strategic planning. 

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

1. How should I manage my schedule in order to make proper time to strategic planning? I want to have enough time to have time to plan out my strategy for my ventures.

2. How can I attain the knowledge for proper strategic planning? I want to know this so I can obtain the knowledge to properly strategize my ventures.

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

I did not think the author was wrong about any of the information presented in the chapter's information.