Your 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?

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

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?

The exit strategy I plan on making is to sell the business off in the next five years. I want to somewhat specialize in getting businesses off the ground and then selling them to people so they can be successful with it. It requires a lot of hard work, but leads to a happy life. I selected this exit strategy because I believe it will allow me to get the business off the ground and then move on to other things after making a little bit of money. I think my exit strategy is influenced by the fact that I will be making connections, so while I am helping students get jobs, I can be looking for an opportunity for myself. My exit strategy also allows me to use this business as a stepping stone. It helps me find new opportunities and be the most successful I can be.        

Final Reflection

The most formative experience I have had this semester was when I was reaching out to different people to grow my social capital. It allowed me to create connections, two of which I still contact regularly. I do now see myself as an entrepreneur. I have developed the mindset where I am constantly looking for opportunities. Everything I notice that bothers my now I try and think up a useful solution that other people would want to use. I think I am now very close to becoming an entrepreneur and have been able to develop what it means to be an entrepreneur. I would recommend students to put their all into this class. The more you put into the class, the more you will get out of it. I would recommend checking the assignments well ahead of time and making sure you plan your schedule accordingly. Some of the assignments can be difficult. I would recommend using a planner to allot time for yourself and you will excel in this class.     

Celebrating Failure

In this past semester I have had a lot of wins, but many more losses. One failure I remember in particular was when I was working on my tower project in my Design 4 class. For this project, I wanted to make a 48 in. tower that was basically upside down. By this, I mean that the top was the widest part and the bottom was just one metal rod that pushed into the ground. I tried many different times playing with how the rod goes into the ground, how deep the rod has to go, and how I could support the tower without it falling over. Eventually, I was able to devise a "ground" that could support the tower so it would not fall over. However, it was not perfect. Just last week, the tower fell over and broke so I have to fix it a little, but that was only because it was accidentally knocked over. The tower itself was completely supported by its base. I learned a lot from this project. I learned that making an upside down tower is actually a possibility, and I learned how I can do it, if i ever want to do it again in the future. I think failure is amazing. You almost always fail before you succeed. I take failure as a learning experience. The more times that I fail, the more opportunities I will have to better myself in the future and not make the same mistake again. I believe that as long as someone is learning from their failures, it is not a failure. Instead, failure turns more into a lesson and benefits people more than succeeding would. I think I am more likely to take a risk more than I was a few months ago. This class has taught me that failure is good and can help an idea develop and eventually be successful.     

Reading Reflection No. 3

For this exercise I decided to read the autobiography Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Croc. The thing that surprised me the most about his story was that, at first, he was not making any money at all. He was actually in debt! The thing I least admired about Mr. Croc was the way he undermined the MCDonald's brothers and took over the franchise. The thing I most admired about Mr. Croc was his determination and his ability to seize an opportunity when he sees one. Mr. Croc did encounter failure when he was selling paper cups and milkshake machines. He was making barley any money and just getting by. What he did about this was seize an opportunity he discovered with McDonald's. I noticed that  Mr. Croc was very skilled in identifying opportunities and selling people on items. This is important because he had to sell this business idea to middle class people who were looking to make an investment. I did not completely understand why he was not making money while selling McDonald's, so I did some research and found out that he was not making any money at first because he did not own the rights to the McDonald's franchise and was growing it for the McDonald's brothers. I also discovered that the way he ended up making money was by buying the land the McDonald's would be built upon and collecting rent. If I could ask Mr. Croc two questions I would ask him "What are your goals for the future now that you are so successful?" and "What is your best tip for making sales?" These two questions would help me understand how to sell people my product and how to prepare for the future. I think Mr. Croc praised hard work heavily. He was always working, so much so that it tore his first marriage apart. I do share the opinion that hard work is valuable, but one must put their family above all else and if a hard work ethic is destroying ones family, then he/she must reconsider what is important to them.   

What's Next

Existing Market
1) Whats next for my venture is establishing connections. I will use my current connections to make even more connections. On top of this, I will make connections with potential customers and start gaining trust with them.
2)The first two people I interviewed I interviewed together. Their names are Parker and Danny. They became friends their freshman year and are currently living together. I explained to them my venture and asked them if they would use the service and both of them responded yes. Danny responded with less enthusiasm than Parker. I asked them what I should do next and Parker said to start a place where people can come for help if they need it. Also, he said to make sure to establish as many connections as possible, both with customers and businesses looking to hire. Danny agreed with all of that and he said to advertise on campus with flyers. It will help get the world out to seniors needing help. Parker said that the customers would want reliably. They want to start their careers and if I can actually help them with that they would recommend it to anyone. Danny said almost the same thing. He just added that customers would want personable people. 
The third person I interviewed is named Cole. Cole is graduating this semester. After explaining my business idea to him, I asked if he would use it and he said no only because he is in the same field as his dad and is getting a job with the same company as his dad. He said what I should do next is get the word out. Talk to people and explain what I'm doing and he is sure many people will use it. He said customers would want someone they can trust and rely on to help them start their career.
3) What makes the most sense for my venture in the future is network, start the business, and advertise. I will continue meeting people and using the connections I already have to network and gain more connections. This is simply done by going out of your comfort zone and asking others for help. On top of this, you want to help the other people so you can instill trust. The second part, which is beginning the business, I will do by letting people know I am always available. I will help them with whatever they need, at any time any day. This establishes trust with the customers and allows the business to begin. After starting the business, I will then advertise. This will draw attention to me and allow me to get more customers.

New Market
1) A radial market I can target is the elderly. The elderly still want jobs, and sometimes struggle to find them.
2) This will be able to create value because it will allow my company to expand connections. The older the person, more than likely, the more people they have met. So, helping these older people get jobs will help me gain connections.
3) The two people I interviewed were my grandparents on my dad's side. One is named Nancy and the other Evelio. They gave similar answers because they have been married so long and almost think the same way. They said it will allow me to meet lots of older people who are deep in their career fields. They think for me to be successful in getting the elderly jobs I would have to market towards jobs such as Publix. Most of the time the elderly want jobs to just entertain themselves in retirement and receive a little bit of extra spending money.
4) This new market is very interesting, I think it is a possibility, but not my focus as of right now. This market allows for a huge customer basis and what I found most surprising was that the elderly could even use this market. I did not really think of it until today, but everyone needs a job. I assumed I could at least help a few, but after having the interviews, I realized that lots of people would want to use it. This new market is not as attractive as the old, but it can be pursued in the future.           

Your Ventures Unfair Advantage

1) Willingness to help others- I love helping other people and my willingness to help others sets me apart. I can use this to help others get jobs and start their careers straight out of college.
2) Ability to talk to people - I love talking to people and making connections. My business is helping people get connections in their respective field.
3) Family members - My family has many people in it that own their own businesses and have lots of connections. This will allow me to network with my family and hopefully find someone that will help someone else get started with their career.
4) Friendliness - I am friendly person who instills trust in most people I talk to. Because of this, people will trust me to help them network and find jobs.     
5) Hard worker - I put all my effort into everything I do. I work hard for everyone to help them out. This helps me because my hard work and determination will help me help the customers.
6) Leadership - I am a natural leader and people follow me. I lead by example and people trust me and follow. This will help me because I will be able to lead people to start their careers and lead a team of advisors.
7) Communication - I am able to communicate my ideas and thoughts to people. This helps me because I will be able to better connect with my customers.
8) Punctual - I am always on time to everything, most of the time early. This allows me to earn my customer's respect by keeping my word.
9) Good listener - I always try and listen to everyone intently. I want to get to know everyone as well as possible. This helps me because I will better be able to know the customer so I can then, hopefully, find them a job with people like the customer. 4
10) Empathy - I am decently good at feeling people's emotions and putting myself in their shoes. This is why I want to help people as much as I do. Because of this, I will be able to put my self in the customers shoes so I can help them start their career. 

My strongest attribute is willingness to help others. This is more important than the others because the others almost come from this one. This is my strongest characteristic and anyone that meets me for the first time notices that i have a passion just to help others. 

Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry. This would be someone who's engaged in the same type of business activity as you would like to be. They may own the same kind of company that you would like to own, or they may be a technical expert who knows a lot about the kind of product or service that you would like to produce.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry. 

What constitutes 'contact'? Social capital exists in the "potential goodwill" that exists between two people. For you to establish "potential goodwill" for this exercise, you need to have obtained feedback from each of these people on your business idea so far. For instance, this could include meeting with them to show your elevator pitch or your idea napkin. 

One last catch: The three people you add to your social capital cannot have participated in any other exercise you have completed as part of this course. 

How to write up this post. Break up your post into three parts, one for each person. For each person, describe:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

1) Patrick DeJong is an advisor at University of Florida. He works with students of all ages to guide them through the process of college and hopefully lead them to a successful career. He is the domain expert of my industry because he has worked with my target audience for years. I found this person in the advising office of UF. He was the advisor for the college of Design, Construction, and Planning. I contacted him by setting an appointment with him and seeing him face to face. I talked to Mr. Dejong just as an interview. I explained to him the assignment and he was more than happy to help! Interviewing Mr. Dejong helped me because he has been working with my customer for a long time and knows their wants and needs.        

2) Lenae Price is the Nonprofit Divisions Lead, Head Trainer, and Coach for Cork Communications. Cork Communications works with college seniors and graduates to teach soft skills like communication, storytelling, and building relationships to people who know the fine details of their field, but not the best way to express their ideas or get their point across. She is related to a close friend of mine, and after a handful of interactions I became interested in her work. I received her number through my friend and we scheduled a long phone interview. Mrs. Price explained to me the best ways to reach out to people in this target age group and how to identify the ones that will best benefit from my services. In exchange, Mrs. Price and I worked out a deal to basically combine lists, since we can benefit our customers in different ways that will further their careers. If I help college graduates get jobs, I will refer them to Mrs. Price to receive better soft skills to improve their ability to complete their new job. On the other hand, she will refer her customers to me if they are still in the job-finding process.

3) Mike Garland is the COO of FanFirst. FanFirst is launching a sports lifestyle social media app and is currently looking for representation on college campuses. Mr. Garland is targeting college students so he can get the word out about the new app. He is my important supplier because he already offers college students opportunities and gives them chances to network with other people in the sports industry. I found this person because he reached out to my fraternity because he was looking for help on college campuses. I emailed Mr. Garland after he first emailed my fraternity. I talked to him for a while about how he networks, and in return, I will be working on campus as a representative of FanFirst. This person enhances my ability to exploit an opportunity because he adds to the people I know and will be a great person to network with.