Final Reflection

This semester, my most formative experience in this class was the first round of interviews we had to post. Upon seeing the assignment, I was sure I took the wrong class because there was no way I was going to go out there and ask random people walking around campus if I could record them for a class. Finally, as the due date grew near, I got desperate and went out asking people. I was incredibly surprised by how nice everyone was and how easily I could get yeses. This experience allowed me to break out of my shell and grow my interpersonal skills. Years later, I will remember interviewing my parents and friends to figure out what my strengths were. Hearing that I had strengths that I didn't even recognize from my loved ones gave me a lot of confidence about my chances as an entrepreneur in the future. My most joyous experience was googling my blog and keywords and seeing it come up early on the google search results. It was great seeing something that I'd put a ton of work into out there for everyone to see. I'm just proud that I've (almost) made it through the class. I put a ton of work in and learned a lot and it's just nice to see that reflected in a good grade. At the end of this class, I definitely see myself as an entrepreneur ready to make a difference in the world. I think I came in with an entrepreneurial mindset, having already started my own venture. However, this class has allowed me to build my confidence, sharpen existing skills, and gain ones I never thought I could. I definitely think with a more entrepreneurial mindset after going through this class. I'd tell any student going down this journey in the future to keep an open mind and always give a 100% effort, even if the assignment seems pointless. Those assignments will pay off down the road. To perform best in this course, students need to be organized and on top of every assignment. I'd also recommend leaving more than enough time to complete every assignment just in case any obstacles pop up. To foster this mindset and these actions, having a positive attitude is crucial. Staying positive and never giving up through all the assignments and challenges is the best way to be successful in this course and as an entrepreneur.   

Week 15 Reading Reflection

I was very surprised when I initially read about SKS's situation in Nizamabad. Most companies today would rather pay off the thugs and continue making a profit so it was very surprising to see that there are companies out there that are willing to stand up for the little guys. Even after reading, I am still confused as to why microfinance has not been able to gain a greater market penetration. I've seen some mentioning of the challenges faced but nothing laid out in a concrete fashion. I'd ask the author what originally interested him about microfinance and international business. I'd ask this to gain some perspective on what originally ignited his passion. I'd also like to ask him about the current state of his company and what direction he is planning to take it in the future. I want to ask this question because SKS has most likely matured as a business so I'd like to see what steps he sees as vital today. This was a great read and I can find nothing wrong with the ideas of Mr. Akula.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

1.
2. The only major feedback I received was to include a question in my hook to see how it sounded. I included a question but it sounded weird to me, especially because I wasn't talking to anyone. I think I liked my old hook better. I also tried to improve my body language and flow but it still wasn't as good as I would've liked it to be.

Venture Concept No. 2

1. Venture Concept Description:

The opportunity I have identified lies in the field of athletic training. As high school and youth sports become more competitive and crucial to succeeding at higher levels of the game, parents and athletes are looking for ways to gain a competitive advantage over the competition. Especially with college scholarships such a valuable commodity, parents and athletes are looking for the next big thing in athletic training. What they’re looking for is personal attention and advice from the people who have successfully moved on to higher levels of the sport. This market is primarily located in South Jersey. Come demographic factors would be young athletes who have parents with lots of disposable incomes. Currently, these customers are going to your run-of-the-mill explosive training facility or doing one-on-one work with a small personal trainer. I’m looking to combine the positives of both of these services. This opportunity is fairly big for such a small local setting, but I currently do not have the resources or opportunity to make it a multi-million-dollar opportunity or spread this service much further geographically. Realistically, I’d like to be doing business with about 100-200 loyal customers weekly at a profit margin of $5-$10 per session. This window of opportunity will close in the next couple years, as either something better than the current options (like my idea) comes out. Right now, I am not knowingly in any races to put out this service but you never know when a competitor will emerge.

My idea is to for a sport-specific training company that specializes in several sports, including football, lacrosse and soccer. While there are many companies that specialize in training for one sport or for overall athleticism, very few offer training for multiple sports that also includes basic athletic training. While this fact alone sets my company apart, what makes it truly innovative is the trainers. I’m planning on using current college athletes as my trainers. These athletes have the access to the best coaching and conditioning in the country. They have in depth knowledge on training, technique, and the recruiting process. All of these factors, combined with a young age that will allow them to relate to their trainees, set college athletes apart as the best possible trainers. I will be using local sports fields for the training and charging customers $30 for an hour-long session. My trainers will be paid $20 per session and I will profit $10 per session. Overhead is low and I already own all the equipment needed for training. Top athletes will be attracted to working for me because there are very few work opportunities for college kids that allow them to set their own schedule and earn $20 an hour. Any upgrades to equipment will be made as we go along and will come out of my profit.

        

It won’t be hard to get customers to switch to my new service because I offer a superior product at a competitive and relatively low price. Most of my trainers will have name recognition in the local area I am targeting, which will entice kids and parents to try my training service. I may also offer a discount in the first month to develop a customer base. My competitors are larger training services like Velocity and Impact. Their vulnerability is that they only focus on athletic training without doing sport-specific work. This factor is what will allow me to take a sizeable portion of their customers, as athletes are as or more interested in developing skill-wise. These larger companies also charge a higher price, but do have more resources and name-recognition. My price points will be as low as or lower than any other competitors in the area, which will help attract customers. Also, the personal attention trainees will receive and the inside recruiting advice add a lot of value to my final product. I am planning on having about 10 trainers who play various sports to start. Their only jobs will be jointly devising training plans for athletes with myself and then getting on the field and training. I will handle marketing, scheduling, inventory and payroll. Basically, my trainers will be the commodity and I will be performing all business functions around them.

My secret sauce is simply who my trainers are. They are more knowledgeable and recognizable than any other group of trainers in the area and this will attract customers. Currently, I am looking inward to add value to my product in order to attract more customers. I am also in the process of researching the possibility of geographic expansion in order to increase my customer base. Within five years, I’d like to be graduating and in talks to sell this business or pass it down to an employee. I do not see this business as something that will consume the rest of my life. In 10 years, I would like to have created several ideas for companies and by working on developing them. This second venture (I already run a landscaping company) is just another way to get my feet wet and gain experience.                                                                              

2. From my last venture concept post, I received no constructive criticism about my idea, which was disappointing. However, through the "What's Next?" assignment, I've decided to look inwards to improve my product as well as exploring geographic expansion.

3. Since I received no constructive or "negative" feedback from my previous post, there are no changes being made as a result. The changes I'll be exploring are mentioned above.

                               

Week 14 Reading Reflection

I was surprised to see the author claim that informal meetings work best. I find that sometimes meetings are more productive when they are formal and structured. However, I do understand that informal meetings may be best for innovation. I'm a little confused about entrepreneurial activities, how to implement them, and their precise benefits. One question I'd ask is, what is more profitable for a company, one radical innovation or several incremental innovations? I'd ask this in order to know what to focus on. Another thing I'd ask about is the best way to reduce bureaucratic red tape in a company that already has a rigid bureaucracy in place. I'd ask this out of pure curiosity. I didn't think the author was wrong about anything in either chapter.

Google Gold

1) I wanted to maximize SEO throughout this semester. I reasoned that the more exposure I gained, the better chance I'd have to succeed with my business venture. Publicity was what I was striving for. In order to pursue SEO, I included all key words given to me by the assignment and linked my blog in all comments. I also encouraged friends and family to go check out my blog.
2) My keywords were the ones provided to me through these assignments. I didn't add any extra keywords in my titles so there was no strategy in picking them and no change over the semester.
3) The only social media site I promoted my blog on was Blogger itself through comments. This increased my page views slightly but not by a ton. I suspect that by promoting on other social medias, I would have seen a slight increase in page views, but nothing monumental.
4) My most viral post was my "Elevator Pitch No. 2" post, which had 17 page views and 6 comments. This is probably because many comments were required by the assignment and elevator pitches tend to be more interesting than other posts.
5) If I type "Jake Ryan Entrepreneurship" (what I assumed would be my most popular key phrase) in to Google, my blog comes up as the first few search results.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

1. When looking at the questions I asked Mr. Meyer, I can tell I've come a long way and learned a lot over the past few months. My questions were very broad and in retrospect, didn't solicit some of the valuable information that I could've gained from such an experienced entrepreneur. This time around I think I can do much better.

2. The interview was done over the phone so I've transcribed my questions and his answers here:

Q: From your experience, what types of marketing work best in the South Jersey area?
A: We are beginning to see a change in what marketing works in South Jersey. The current trend is swinging towards social media and word of mouth. Therefore we are trying to develop a much larger presence on several social medias.

Q: What books would you recommend reading for an aspiring businessman?
A: I'd start by reading How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This book has helped to me shape who I am as a businessman and person.

Q: What is the most important thing to keep in mind while pitching to a potential customer?
A:Passion. Love what you do and what you are selling. Time and time again I've had customers tell me they went with my business over competitor because they could tell that I love my job and Meyer Capital.

3. I felt exponentially more comfortable talking about entrepreneurship in this interview compared to the last one. I felt like I could finally hold my own when talking specifics and details. This time, the assignment flowed more like a conversation with some back and forth as opposed to last time which was just choppy questions. I didn't really talk to Mr. Meyer about whether he thought I progressed as an entrepreneur or not. However, he did compliment my questions, which I'll take as a good sign.

My Exit Strategy

1) I most likely will try to pass this business down to a younger employee or sibling in the future but would obviously entertain outside offers for my business if they come. I see this business as tough to sell because I currently don't have a lot of physical capital or an idea that can't be copied.

2) I have selected this opportunity for two reasons. The first is what I mentioned before, that I may be hard-pressed to sell it, which leaves me without many options. Second and more importantly, I'd like for this business to become a source of pride for its employees and to make an impact on the surrounding community. I'd like to be able for it to continue succeeding after I am no longer able to run it. That will probably come after I graduate college.

3) My plan to give up the company after I graduate college has led me to focus on formulating strategies to reach my long term goals for the company. While I am not looking to rapidly expand, as that can be risky for a business, I did put some long-term plans in place during the "What's Next?" assignment in order to prepare my company for success after a switch in leadership.

What's Next?

Existing Market

Step 1: I believe the next logical moves for my company would include two steps. In the first, I would expand the amount of sports available. Right now I have trainers for football, soccer, field hockey, and men's and women's lacrosse. I would like to expand into baseball, softball, and basketball. The second step would be expanding geographically. I'd first like to expand my services from South Jersey to all of New Jersey and eventually into the entire tri-state area.

Step 2:

Step 3: 

My interviewees suggested that I get feedback from trainers and customers to focus on improving my current service, that I include recently graduated college players in my trainer hiring pool in order to increase the quantity and quality of my trainers, and that I take over other business to expand. Compounded with my ideas of expanding the sports offered and increasing the geographic location of customers I am targeting, I believe I have several ideas that could increase the success of my business greatly.

The take-over idea is the only one that does not seem at least feasible to me so I won't focus on that. I like the idea of allowing recent graduates into the trainer pool but currently do not have the need for more trainers so I will hold off on that one until I expand. I really like the idea of focusing my attention inward and polling customers and trainers about what I can improve on so that will become part of my plan from now on. I believe that improving my service even more is key to achieving some of my more ambitious goals. I got pretty good feedback of my idea about expanding the amount of sports offered but was also warned that some sports are not as popular in certain areas. Therefore, I will have to do some market research on the areas I am targeting to determine which sports will be the most popular for customers. Finally, my interviewees also thought eventually expanding my market would help my business succeed. However, some warned to be cautious about how quickly I want to expand and to take it slowly.

In conclusion, the only idea I will immediately act on is the self-reflection to improve my service. However, I do plan to enact most of these ideas in the future as my success grows.

New Market

Step 1: I will be targeting a market that almost no athletic training service focuses on. This market is non-athletes. While my company is sport-specific, I still think targeting this market could lead to future success. 

Step 2: Some non-athletes may be looking to get involved with a sport but are too nervous to try out for a team because they have not developed sport-specific skills. This service will allow them to learn at a faster rate from atheletes who know the ins and outs of the game. This service will also have a greater focus on athletic training in order to get non-athletes in playing shape. 

Step 3: I tried out audio recording here.

Step 4: 

What surprised me the most is the non-athletes I interviewed seemed more interested in this service than I thought. They were interested in getting and shape and thought that this business was a great avenue to do so. I assumed that this would have to be a more casual training, focused less on sports and more on getting in shape while having some fun. I also learned that people who hadn't played sports were more interested in one-on-one training and would not like to work out with a group. However, I wonder if they wouldn't mind a group if it was their friends who are at similar athletic levels.

I was surprised that the interviewees reacted as positively to this idea as they did. I thought that non-athletes may not have been this interested in training. Still, this market is not as attractive as my original ones. Atheletes are more interested in and committed to athletic training than non-athletes. Also, this service will be more valuable to athletes, who in turn will be willing to pay more. While I was pleasantly surprised by the responses I received, I should stick with my original target market. 

Week 12 Reading Reflection

I was surprised to learn that a perceived high cost can negatively affect planning. I believed that doing due diligence and working towards long-term success was second to none for a company. I was confused about how companies sacrifice strategy for short term growth. I would have liked a more in-depth example. One question I'd ask the author would be, how do I start developing a systemic plan? I would ask this because it seems like a daunting task. I'd also ask the author for examples of high risk, low innovation companies that have been successful. This question is purely out of curiosity What I disagree with is the author stating that there is only a need for systemic planning when a high degree of uncertainty exists. I believe that systemic planning is crucial no matter what your level of uncertainty is.