30A Final Reflection

1) There were a lot of things that I had to think about after reading through all of my posts from this semester. The first thing that came to mind was the true reflection work that I had to put in. I felt like this class helped me truly think about and recognize my best and worst strengths and weaknesses, and helped me mold those characteristics into an idea that could help me become a successful entrepreneur. Another interesting thing I noticed was the staple of failure that was present throughout this course, and these assignments. The consistent notion, that everyone fails, but it is what people do as a result of that failure that truly makes them a more or less successful human being.

2) The experience that I am most proud of, and the exercise that I am most proud of, would have to be my business plan, and my venture concept. The fact that I was able to stick to a concrete idea, and continue to build on it, and gain confidence with it, was truly amazing to me. I researched day and night on my topic, why it should work, why there is opportunity and need there, and when it came time to put all those ideas together into one cohesive venture concept, I found that I succeeded and put together a solid piece of work. I feel that at the beginning of the semester, if we were to do the same assignment at the start, that mine would have been mediocre at best, that I would not have been happy with the product I produced, but as I worked through assignments that prepared me for the venture concept, I feel that I delivered a great idea.

3) I do see myself as more of an entrepreneur, after taking this class. The reason is that I now find myself reading up on more scholarly and academic articles and papers, and looking for different trends and opportunities that are starting to pop up throughout our society. I am continually amazed and obsessed with some of the new ideas and inventions that are consistently coming to market, and I am more ready and willing to chase after the different needs and opportunities that are presenting themselves.

4) What I recommend to students taking this course in the future, is to take it seriously, and do all the exercises to the best of the ability. The reason being is because each exercise comes with a lesson, and can help you build skills to become a better entrepreneur, a better business person, and a better human being. The class builds real life skills, and can help you build a vision and a path for your future, but only if you are willing to work and take the class seriously.

29A Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity 
Those who have the need for my opportunity include people, families, companies, and government agencies that reside in cities in the southern portion of the United States. More specifically these people and corporations reside in areas that are at risk of devastation, that comes as a result of hurricanes and flooding. The reason an opportunity exists here is because of the fact that hurricanes and flooding are continuing to become increasingly powerful, and are occurring more and more frequently. There is also the fact that there are no increased protections provided to cities and devastated areas, that will help offer further protection from future hurricanes and floods. The market is defined in the southern area of the U.S. where hurricanes and flooding occur most frequently, and the opportunity will be sought out by by businessmen and women, government agencies, and families that are looking to purchase further protection for their homes and businesses. Right now, people affected by such natural disasters are simply rebuilding their homes, businesses, and cities in the same exact way they were constructed before any major storms or disasters affected their way of life. It is this exact reason why I feel like there is an opportunity out there, and when people were presented that opportunity, they should be very willing to take advantage of it. That is why I don't think that people in this area will remain loyal to those companies that assist in the relief effort for a profit. I feel like this opportunity is fairly large, considering the fact that floods and hurricanes are occurring more frequently and have the power to affect a vast majority of the southern region of the United States. That is a lot of need for business. Finally, I really only think that this opportunity will remain open for a year or two, because I feel that as these natural disasters continue to occur, people will continue to try and find new way to protect their homes and livelihoods from said storms.

Innovation 
I believe that my innovation is a moderate one, but very necessary nonetheless. I am creating a company that will build parklands in cities that have been affected, or could be affected by hurricanes and flooding. The reason I have targeted this opportunity, is because parklands can soak up excess water and moisture that comes with hurricanes and flooding, and there is little to no parkland area in cities, which is why cities can be at risk of a lot of destruction when it comes to these natural disasters. I would install parkland areas throughout the city, both large and small, because the more parkland and greenland area present, the more protected the city would be. As a result of size differences, there would also be price differences. For example, I would charge $3.75 per square foot of parkland built, so the bigger the park, the more expensive the price. That being said, tearing up and removing gravel, when necessary, would add more cost to the project. To remove concrete would come at an extra cost of $3.50 per square foot.

Venture Concept
Customers will buy my product and service, because it will add extra protections for their families, homes, businesses, cities, and all around way of life, in case of a natural disaster. The added parkland area that I plan to build in cities will soak up some of the excess water and moisture that comes with flooding and hurricanes. All the excess water is simply too much for simple storm drains, and without the presence of parklands, that excess water just continues to build up in city streets and destroy blocks, homes, and businesses. Because my product and service offers added protection, I feel like customers in areas that could be affected would be very interested in my product, and would not have much of a problem leaving other businesses for mine. As of right now, my competitors are basic construction companies, who do help with the rebuilding effort, but who's weakness is the fact that they do not offer the added protections that come with doing business with my firm. I also feel like I offer very genuine prices, and am looking to offer a strong customer service sector to my business, so that clients see just how important they are, and show just how much their business means to me. That is why customer service will be one of the bigger aspects of my firm, right alongside the hiring of construction crews and workers. I also feel the need to add a partner to my organization, as well as a various number of accountants, to make sure that my business is running smoothly and soundly.

3 Minor Elements 
What will make it difficult for competitors to company what my business offers, will be my business plan. My firm will take any form of business, and develop any size of parkland area, ranging from as small as a simple square foot, to as big as thousand upon thousands of square feet. My duty to my clients will outlast that of any competing company, as there will be no relief effort to small.

I would like to expand my venture either to the non-profit areas of the relief effort, in order to help build more goodwill, which will help generate more profit in the future for my country, or help those affected by natural disasters around the world. Natural disasters are becoming more and more prevalent all over the world, so I don't see a reason why my firm couldn't go global.

Finally, I simply see this business as being what is next for me. If I could make this business work, and help this business grow, I do not see myself leaving it. The reasons behind that are the fact that I would be doing a lot of good and helping a lot of people, as well as the fact that this business could provide a lot of income for my future, whether it is starting a family and having something to pass down to my kids, or simply living a comfortable, happy life. I see this business as my future.

28A Exit Strategy

I would prefer to turn my business into a family run business. I think that it would be great to run a successful business, and be able to retire and turn that business over to my children, and their children. I would obviously have to have confidence that my successors could run the business successfully, and use similar business practices, but I would like to keep the business in the family.

The reason I have selected this strategy is because I myself have always wanted to work in a family business. I am incredibly close with my family, and I would have loved to work with my dad or mom, but never got the chance, because they each chose different career paths. I just feel that it would be great for my children to have the chance to work with a loved one, while at the same time following in my footsteps. I also feel that having my children step in and lead a hopefully successful business can help my kids succeed, and help them pave the way for a great life for them and their future families.

I think this strategy has had a big influence on the opportunities I have looked to pursue. For example, I am looking to pursue an opportunity that helps protect people and families from hurricanes and flooding. I was also interested in branching out and doing a lot of non-profit work. I feel like the fact that I am in a business that is interested in helping families, both for profit and non-profit, and that is what really motivated me to try and make this business and family style business.

Reading Reflection No. 3

The book I chose to read for the final reading reflection was Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight, the creator of Nike. What surprised me most about Knight really just how creative he was. While many people automatically assume that the founder of a huge shoe company is creative, I don't think that they have ever heard about some of his ideas, especially some of the ones that were mentioned in the book. For example, Knight went out of his way to build shoes out of crazy material other than leather, the craziest of which was made out of fish scales. The ability to market and create a product like that is truly unbelievable to me. What I admire most about Knight, was his ability to take risks, even at such a young age. Knight came out of college and was ready to follow his dream, and create an incredibly successful company. What I least admired about Knight, were the business practices his company has used, not all of which were presented in the reading. Knight and Nike have been accused of questionable business practices such as the use of sweatshops for quite sometime, and it was tough to read about the successes and trials that Knight encountered, while also knowing that some, or most resulted from the unethical labor of the less fortunate. Knight did encounter adversity and failure, but was able to battle through it and continue to succeed. For example, in the early days of Nike, Knight imported shoes from a Japanese shoe companies, who later tried to breach their contract with Knight and become a lone distributor in the United States. Knight entered a sort of war with the Japanese company, until he was able to finally fight off the company, called Onitsuka, and keep Nike afloat.

The biggest competencies that Knight exhibited was confidence, and the ability to take risks. Although he started off on his own, with practically no capital, he saw an open market in the form of running and athletic footwear. He left a promising career behind to chase this need and this opportunity, and thanks the confidence that he had in himself, and in others, as well as his willingness to take calculated risks, helped him to succeed and achieve his goals.

One part of the story that was confusing to me was the fact that Nike didn't start out as Nike. In fact, the term and name Nike was even mentioned until around 200 pages into the book. I found it odd that he wrote this book about his rise, and the rise of Nike, while at the same time repeatedly referring to his company as Blue Ribbon Sports.

Knight's opinion on hard work was to work until the job he had to do was finished. For example, as a kid he tabulated sports scores for a local newspaper during the nightshift, and didn't leave until the job was done. After that, he proceeded to run home, roughly seven miles. There was also the fact that it took a significant time to get the business off the ground. For example, the first 300 pairs of shoes took over a year to be delivered. That being said, the time crunch didn't prevent Knight from continuing to work.

26A Celebrating Failure

One area that I have consistently failed in this semester has been trying to acquire an internship. I have continued to apply to position after position, in area after area, and time and time again I have gotten the same ending. I have continued to be left empty handed, and told that the company has chosen to move in a direction other than my own. My failure in this process has occurred in different stages at different companies. Some companies have chosen to break the news almost immediately, while other companies didn't reply until days, sometimes even weeks, after I have even done an in person interview.

While failure is very difficult to face and handle, it can be very reflective. I have found that reflecting on your failures can help you better yourself in the future. You can take advantage of the shortcomings you experienced, by working hard and reflecting, so that you make less mistakes, and become a better person. I normally just shrug failure off and try to focus on something else, and then go back and reflect later. I've found that for me, it is easier to handle failure when I don't think about it, until I am truly ready to accept it and work on it. This class has changed my perspective on failure because I have found that even some of the richest, most successful, most well respected people in the world failed all the time, and continue to fail all the time. It makes it easier to handle failure when you realized that everyone fails, including the world's best and brightest. Finally, I would say that I am much more likely to take risks than I was a few months ago. While I may do a significant amount of research beforehand, I am still a lot more willing to take risks than I was.

25A What's Next?

Existing Market 
For the existing market that I am looking to target, I am simply looking to provide the service of building parklands in cities and towns in the southern region of the United States, with the possibility of potentially expanding into more standard construction services. I found three new potential customers for my service and explained to them my venture concept. I then asked each of them what I should be doing that I haven't already begun to plan. The first interviewee stated that he thought that if I thought I would be interested in potentially expanding into more standard construction services, then I have to start planning that right now. He thought that it would be wise for me to plan as much into the future as possible, so that I could be ready for any situation for when and if that time finally came. The second interviewee stated the same thing. He said that it was all about organization and planning, and that the more organized I am about the possible paths of my business, the more likely it was for my business to succeed, expand, and then continue to succeed. Finally, the last interviewee said that she thought it would be wise for me to think about ways for my business and service to further differentiate itself from that of other businesses. She also said that she thought it was wise to look for someone to hire to help run the business, who had more of a background in construction, otherwise I could be behind the curve when it came to the hands on parts of the business. Next, when I asked each potential customer about what they thought about my ideas of what different customers would want. Each of them answered in a very similar way. They all thought that there was definitely room for opportunity in my existing market, and that there were people that would definitely be interested in my service, but that if I were looking to expand, that it would take a lot of work, and they aren't sure that people would be willing to hire me for standard construction work as opposed to companies that they have previously worked with before.

One big path for my business has to be going about hiring the right people. As I stated in my venture concept, I thought it would be wise to hire accountants, engineers, architects, and construction crews. That being said, I think it would also be wise to take into account the feedback that I got, and have an associate that has more of a construction background help run the business. They could really help with more of the hands on construction aspects of the business.

Then, there is also the possible path of expansion. I am not quite set on that path yet, and I think that no matter where my business and service takes me, I should research what the steps are to expanding into more standard construction services are and research how costly that expansion could be. That being said, I also think that it would be wise to focus on the current service that I am looking to provide, that way I can look to ensure that the parkland service can be as successful as possible.

New Market
One market that I would like to look to reach out to is more of a charitable market, whether that be providing relief and rebuilding efforts, and parklands services to poorer areas here in the home country, or in a poorer country around the world. I think that it would be wise to offer these services at a reduced price, but it is also important to make sure that these price changes would not cost the business to lose money. I think that I could create value in this market by providing a service to those that truly need it, especially after a natural disaster like a hurricane or flood, to help the less fortunate rebuild their homes, and provide a parkland service to help prevent further destruction that could occur in future storms. After interviewing two people from this new market, they provided me with some very valuable information. The first person said that he thought that there was definitely always a need for some charitable service, especially after a natural disaster. That being said, he also said that a lot of relief funds come with the territory, and that some people can't afford to pay for the service at all, so it may be wise for me to research some pricing information. The next person said that she thought that there could never be too many charitable contributions especially when it comes to hurricane and flood relief, and that she thought that doing that kind of work could lead to a lot of goodwill creation, and more business in my profit generating services.

What I learned about this market is that there can never be too much charitable relief. One of the big takeaways that I got from research and interviews was information about pricing when it came to this type of business. I didn't think about the fact that after a disaster, some people simply would not be able to afford a costly service, no matter just how costly or cheap that service could be. If I were interested in targeting this service, then I would have to know exactly what price I were to charge, if I were to charge anything at all.

One big confirmation that I had after this process, was the idea of goodwill. There is no denying that goodwill and charitable contributions can present a business in a better light, and that those contributions can lead to more business. I feel like that is a big reason to expand into the non-profit sector of the construction business. By creating goodwill, I create an image that my company cares about society, the less fortunate, and the client in general. This market, however, does not appear to be as attractive as my current market focus, because I am looking to create and build a profitable business. I do not think that I would pivot the main focus of my business to the non-profit sector.

24A Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity
I feel that there is a lot of opportunity for my parkland service business. My potential target customers would be state and city governments, most likely located in the southern region of the United States, as well as business and home owners located either in cities, or in areas relatively close to a city. As for the need that my potential clients and customers are looking for, I would say that the biggest one would have to be is the safety of things such as their homes, businesses, families, and friends. An unmet need would also be the protection of people's livelihoods. When flooding and hurricanes hit, they have the power to completely change people's lives, for the worst. My service would help meet those needs by offering additional protection in the event of future hurricanes and flooding. There is increasing opportunity in this business, because as science and economic trends have shown, there is an increasing frequency of natural disasters, and more specifically, an increasing frequency of hurricanes and flooding. The market for my business is aimed at cities and towns located in the southern region of the United States, and would be targeted at those who live in those same cities and towns. I feel that customers are not loyal to the services that they use now, because those services, ones that rebuild areas after they have been devastated by natural disasters, because the rebuilding and relief effort takes no further action to help provide any additional protections against future hurricanes and flooding. That is why I feel that customer needs in this market are currently not being satisfied. I do believe that this is a fairly large opportunity because of the power that these natural disasters have over our society and way of life, especially considering the fact that these natural disasters are occurring more and more frequently. Finally, I believe that this opportunity will be open for longer than a year, but that the longer businesses wait to take advantage of this opportunity, the more likely it will be that there are already firms present in the market, and looking to take advantage of this opportunity.
Innovation
I feel that my service is fairly innovative. The reason being is that to a certain extent, I am providing a construction service, which clearly already exists, but I would be building parklands in cites and areas that are mostly without any greenland. The way I would charge a price would come with how many square feet or how many acres the parklands were built at. Obviously, the larger the park, the more expensive the project would be. After doing research on the pricing based on the creation of other parks, I determined that it would be wisest to charge a price of $3.75 for each square foot of parkland area. That being said, if it was necessary to rip up any gravel or concrete, there would be an additional fee. Our cost to remove concrete would come at a price of $3.50 for every square foot taken out.
Venture Concept
My concept, of implementing more parkland areas in cities and towns that lack greenland would do a great job of solving the need and opportunity of protecting cities, homes, and people from the dangers of hurricanes and flooding. The reason my service solves this problem is because cities where this implementation is necessary would be mostly made of concrete, while lacking parklands. Because of the amount of concrete, excess water that comes with hurricanes and flooding overflows streets and buildings, thus causing a lot of destruction. With the implementation of more parklands in these areas, the parks are able to soak up the extra moisture that comes with the hurricanes and flooding, and thus provide additional protection against said natural disasters. Customers will want to switch to my service because it provides the additional protection against future hurricanes and flooding that a standard construction company and relief effort has been unable to provide. I feel like that additional protection will encourage clients, such as businesses and governments, to target my service opposed to the services provided by other businesses. My competitors as of right now are basic construction companies, however my advantage over them is that my business targets the implementation of parks for additional protection, whereas competing companies simply rebuild in the exact same way as before, without offering any additional assurances. I also feel that the fact that my business will be located in the south helps my business vastly, considering the fact that the vast majority of hurricanes and flooding occur in the southern region of the U.S. Finally, my business will be organized in the following way. I would run operations, as well as hire around five accountants in order to verify price as well as maintain financial and accounting records. I would also hire chief architects to head up each project, and provide them with a team of ten to twelve construction workers to work on each project, as well as engineers to clear the removal of any concrete necessary for park implementation.
Three Minor Elements
My unfair advantage in this business would have to be my business plan. My company would be willing to build parks that range from as big as feasibly possible, to as small as a single square foot. The company would also handle any steps from concrete removal to park implementation. The fact that my company covers all bases of this process and will work on projects that range from as small as possible to as large as possible will help my company and service distance itself from other companies and other services.

I think the next step for my venture would be for me to expand the business to regular construction services. I feel like if I can gain control of the specific market that I am targeting, and build great connections and relations with clients and suppliers, then my company and service can succeed when it comes to expanding into more typical forms of construction.

In five years, if my company succeeds, my service succeeds, and my expansion succeeds, then I would like to try my hat in other business ventures. I feel like it would be a great challenge after what could possibly be a lot of success, to work on other entrepreneurial ventures.