30A- Final Reflection

• For me what sticks out as the most formative experience would have to be all the interviews that were taken through the course of this semester. This kind of assignment was done multiple times for different assignments posted on the blogs and it was one of the first assignments as well. It gave us real insight and feedback regarding the businesses we each started up.
• My most joyous experience would have to be the good comments of each of my blog posts that not only provide feedback but also positive commentary that tells me that my venture idea was a good one. This gave me the drive to continue working and thinking on what my business idea is today and how it has evolved from just an opportunity I saw in the world.
• The experience I am most proud of myself for accomplishing I guess would have to be this whole class in general because while the assignments weren't hard in general there was so many assignments and sometimes they conflicted with my other class work that I had for other classes. Not to mention that most of these assignments were long and many assignments also required interviews or in general finding someone to speak with. So after all that with this being the final reflection I can safely say I am proud of this accomplishment.
• Even after everything that I did this semester I don't feel as if I am an entrepreneur mainly because I feel that I need to have a couple more years of experience since this was only a semester long class I feel that no one can can really call themselves an entrepreneur since it was only a semester long. Even though I don't consider myself an entrepreneur I do feel as if I moved closer to developing an entrepreneur mindset because of the experiences I had this semester and with creating a business from an opportunity available. I also think that I am moving closer to the entrepreneur mindset because I feel I can spot an opportunity more easily than I could before.
• A recommendation I would give to future students going down the path of entrepreneurship is that when first beginning a business or creating a product, make sure that the opportunity that revolves around it is something you can really get excited for or at the very least tolerate other wise you'll be stuck with something you'll be bored with and not enjoy doing. To do well in this course I recommend that you get head starts on the homework so that you'll have less due the following week and to take notes on the video course to help with the quizzes (cupcakes as they're called in this class). And lastly, to foster your mindset I recommend that you look into the world and you find something you are interested in and see if there is an opportunity that can be taken from it. I wish you good luck on this course (you're going to need it).

29A- Venture Concept No.2

• Opportunity:
• In the Gainesville area there has been an increase of homeless people. The most likely cause of this increase is that people are being laid off from work or end up losing it in some other way. The homeless being the potential customers of my business, usually have no where to go and end up living on the streets or in some back corner alley.
• It was calculated that in the homeless population in the Alachua County started to around 603 in 2007, then went to 1218 in 2012, after that lowered to 870 in 2015, until finally going down to 819 in 2017. Now while it has been shown above that the homeless population went slowly down, but not before rising up in 2012 by about three times the value of the population in 2007. You may also notice that while the population in 2015 and 2017 is less than the population in 2012 it is still higher than the population in 2007. Even though like I said earlier the homeless population may have gone done in the recent years its still bigger than it was back in 2007 and for all we know it could possibly rise up once again like it did in 2012, if nothing is done soon then we could be looking at a homeless population close to the population of UF students or a medium sized village.
• How the homeless people are satisfying this need is by going to nearby homeless shelters or begging strangers for money. Since every person is different it really depends on the person on how loyal they are with doing what they currently doing on dealing with homelessness. There are some people who would prefer not to go around asking random people for money where most of the time they'll be turned down and as for the homeless shelters there might be some people who would prefer it since it is in sense a traditional way with dealing with homelessness.
• The forces that allow this opportunity to exist would have to be certain factors that occur in companies or workplaces that result in people being laid off from work. With it comes the possibility of people who did lose their jobs not being able to find a new one and becoming unable to pay their bills. It could also result from poorly made financial choices or other factors on the person's part.
• Regarding on how long this window of opportunity will stay open, I think the answer will be for as long as there is homeless people and there are ways to end up homeless such as previously mentioned losing jobs or poor financial choices, this opportunity will exist.
• Innovation:
• What I thought of for this innovation was making two services that were specifically made to help homeless people find a job and return to a normal everyday life. The first service will be one that helps the homeless find nearby jobs that fits their capabilities and skill set. The second one gives them temporary living space until they are able to afford their own.
• In terms of how I will make money from this that later on, once the business stabilizes I will plan on creating a loan type system that once the people I helped have steady lives and steady finances they will be expected to pay that money back. But then again as I said before this will be when the business stabilizes but before that it would mainly be a charity type business starting out, but it could stay like that and could just make some money by partnering up with major companies.
• Different people earn different amounts in their salary, so there isn't a fixed price just yet for the use of my services because there are some people who could end working at some big company compared to people who get a job as a coffee server or a janitor.
• Venture concept:
• Have the knowledge that homeless people have a reliance towards homeless shelters it is understandable that it would be difficult to adjust to a new possible way of living. It still hasn't been decided whether or not the two services will have a loan system implemented or will it be a charity type cause and money will be made y being partnered with big companies.
• I don't see the possibility of a competitor, seeing as these two programs were created to help the homeless and if they are then if they would be willing to help then I would be all for it. But if a competitor would appear it would have to be a business that provides similar services but at lower prices, meaning lower reimbursements to pay back if the loan system was implemented. Which in my opinion is a weakness because that would mean they are earning less money and lower prices doesn't always equal the best quality but on the other hand more people would go to that service more thus getting more money than originally thought.
• The support and experiences of customers would help define my business concept by giving their feedback on the services that are offered to the homeless and could help get more difficult and stubborn homeless people to come on board and take advantage of the services and help get their lives on track.
• I would organize a business to support the ongoing production of my service by creating one that is efficient and simple enough to understand by any person no matter their intelligence. To begin, I would hire maybe eight to twelve employees since its just starting up, one with some help will be in charge of the housing service and another will be in charge of the job locating service and while the rest will be divided between the two groups if there is any.
• Unfair Advantage:
• In my opinion hat my unfair advantage is that other competitors (if there are any) won't have is that my business will be adaptable to change and thus can only get better for the sake of the customers. And since adaptability is more of a way of doing something it is not so easily able to be copied so there won't any need to worry about competitors.
• What's Next:
• I probably would like to expand my services to other parts of Florida and then slowly to other countries in the US, until finally it reaches other countries. As a little side project I would like to add a section where a real life and former homeless person or group of people tell their story on how with these service helped their life for the better and that perhaps these stories could end up becoming printed as a book to sell with the possibility to make even more money.
• Whats next for you:
• As I said before I plan on expanding my services worldwide but as for myself I probably will continue to run my business for a couple more years and then retire from it and have someone else run while I am not there. Next I'll take a look at the world and see if there is anything opportunity out there that I could make a solution out of it.
• Feedback:
• Partner up with big companies: could make money if partnered with a big company that funds my business.
• Make the services a charity type business: loan type business could come with risks and there could be problems with the paying back part involving different people.
• More informative: added more information to this post to make it more clear.
• Spread the service to other countries: start out in Gainesville and slowly go towards other parts of the US and then to other countries.
• How I'll change my venture concept based on the feedback:
• Reading over the feedback I'll choose certain factors that could benefit my business and then implement it.
• I'll go back and view my past interviews and see if any of the feedback is relevant towards improving my business.
• I'll probably try to find a company that is willing to partner up with my business.
• I may need to find more than one company to partner up with if I am in a different country. 

28A- 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?
• What I plan to do for my exit strategy is that if my business helping homeless people does well enough I probably stick around long enough that I have enough money set aside for myself and that is enough to support me as well. I also planned to make my business well known in the world for the work that is done and after all that is done I will probably pass the ownership of my business to one of my longest standing employees that have the skills to keep these services running.
2. Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?
• I chose this strategy because after years of working on something and making it known across the world there just comes a time where you need to let go and pass it on to someone else. And its only natural that when you finish something you've been doing for a while that you start something new until the day comes that you finish that as well. Depending on how long I take to work on business and then exit it I would like to also work on opportunities that are out there in the world waiting to be solved.
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?
• I think my exit strategy has influenced how I will identify an opportunity because knowing that one day I will leave my business to pursue another makes me more observant of the world around me and finding an opportunity will be much more easier compared to the first time. It also makes me look towards the future more often and makes me wonder the next move I will take and how I will do things for my next venture such as getting resources I will need to start my new venture, but I think that for this concern, one of my connections that I will obtain in the future or ones that I might have could recommend someone to help out with getting resources. So to conclude I think that my exit strategy will help me get more observant in finding the next opportunity to pursue. 

27A- Reading Reflection No.3

1. What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme of Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online by Brian Halligan, is with the way of shopping changing nowadays, you as the entrepreneur have to adapt to the changes and find new ways to sell your product to customers in new ways such as the internet, social media, or visual content. Also in this book it mentioned that visitors to your content are slowly pulled into your business by starting out as visitors, then leads, and finally paying customers by getting them to return often to your website, blog, or social media.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• In my opinion this book connects to what I have been learning in ENT 3003 in the sense of creating ways to get our customer to go from just a person visiting to a full fledged customer who is willing to pay money for our product and/or service. Also this book mentions the use of blogs, which its says can "help establish your company as a thought leader in your market". An since for practically all of the homework assignments (not counting the Cupcakes) have all been done using the blogs we created, so having this experience on using blogs could be beneficial for creating a blog regarding our company that shows great content for it.
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book I read, I would have to make an assignment where a student creates either a second blog or a website that is filled with content on their business. By content I mean things like who is the target market, what is your business and its name, how will you create income, feedback from interviewed people, and opinions on their business from other people. Since students have experience with creating a blog, this could be simple enough to do and I would consider making it a final assignment since everyone would already have all the information gathered at this point.
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• My biggest surprise or 'aha' moment in the book would have to be when nearing the end of the book that head of businesses were keeping tabs on the competitors. Now for me when it comes to learning what your competitors does or one ups your business you usually hear it from the news in some form or another like television, the internet, or newspapers. But the way they mention it sounds a bit stalker like with some added paranoia on your part. So basically, I now know that if I ever start a business with the potential of having competitors that I will need to be weary that they won't cause upstarts that could prove to be a problem for my business.

26A- Celebrating Failure

1. Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.
• It was during a time quite recent actually, where I had three exams that were so close to each other that it made studying for them like torture. One exam was on Wednesday, the second on Friday, and a third exam on the following Monday. So at the most I had two days to study for each exam and put that together with the homework for this class and my other classes it was not a good time. So I tried different ways to study and the ways were from the different ways I used for the past exams but none of them really helped me with studying. So in the end I didn't do so well on none of the exams because of the limited amount of time I had to study at the same time as doing the homework I had for my other classes.
2. Tells us what you learned from it.
• What I leaned from this failure is go to the syllabus of your classes and know what days you will have exam and study in advance. I also learned that if I am low on time and I know in the back of my mind that there is a high probability that I won't pass that exam just drop all the studying for that class and get to studying for the exam that is at a later yet close date, because one day of studying can make all the more difference. Also studying ahead of time can prevent frustration and an overload of information that you can't handle in such a short amount of time.
3. Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?
• My thoughts on failure is that its annoying and frustrating and there might be times where you want to punch something or in this case the very thing you failed at which isn't exactly something easy to do since most failure are inanimate objects or something you can't feel such as grades or exams scores. For me I handle failure by first being annoyed and angry, then a couple minutes have passed and I realize there isn't much I can do its all in the past so the only thing I can do is look towards the future and just go through my day as usual. in regards on how this class has changed my perspective on failure by making me feel more at ease since failure is something that happens a lot more often in starting up a business or creating a new product. It's probably thanks to this class that I am willing to take risk now compared to months ago because failure doesn't bother me as me much.

25A- What's Next?

Existing Markets

• What I think is next:
• In terms of what's next for my product and services in my ventures, after the homeless situation is stable or lowered in Gainesville I was thinking of expanding these services to other parts of Florida. What I mean is that I'll go to the next city in Florida that is also suffering from homelessness and to offer my services to help lower it, because I know Gainesville is not the only place in the world that is dealing with it's citizens becoming so poor to the point of being homeless and the same could be said about Florida as well. Somewhere in the world homelessness is a reality for many people, so slowly I plan on expanding my services world wide to deal with this problem.
• Interviews:
• For interviewee #1 I spoke of what my business does and what I plan on doing next in my venture and I asked them what I should do be doing that I wasn't planning on doing, and they suggested I should offer this service to poor people because if they don't receive help soon they'll just end homeless as well, so better to stop the problem before it starts. Next I told them I plan on expanding my service to other cities of Florida once the homeless problem is under control and they said I should go for it.
• For interviewee #2 I told them about my business like the first interview and asked them what I should do that I wasn't planning on doing and what she suggested I do is to a volunteer program where people could gain community service hours or just volunteer because they feel like it. I told them about how I wanted to expand my service to other cities of Florida once the population of homeless goes down and they fully support the idea.
• For interviewee #3 like the previous two I told him about my business and got their input on what they think I should do and what he told me is to spread the word on my service to other cities because if I was planning on expanding my service (which I later told them I was) I could use extra financial support when starting these businesses in other locations. Since I told them I was indeed planning on expanding my service they were all for it to happen.

Reflection:
      After listening to the feedback of the three people I interviewed and placing it with my expectations I got a decent idea in the direction on where to go for my business. Each of these people had similar yet different ideas on what it is I should be doing that I wasn't planning to do and they all agreed with my idea of expansion. Meaning I will have support when the time comes to expand the service to other cities.
      In my opinion what makes the most sense in regard to growing my venture is that like the first interviewee said I should also focus on having these services available to poor people to expand the customer type. I feel like this feedback made the most sense since if I can stop people from becoming homeless in the first place I could stop the problem at its roots.

New Market:

• Different Market:
• Since my original target was homeless people the next market I plan on targeting will have to be regular people or rich people and since I can't really get access to anyone in the latter I will have to choose regular people as my new market. And what I mean by regular people is people who can maintain a job and are currently not in a financial situation.
• Value for People in this Market:
• Since I was mainly focusing on a venture for people who don't have much or anything, finding a venture that is of value for everyday people like you and me is something much more difficult. But if I were to create a venture for this I would have to choose something that could better the lives of the market customers.
• Interviews:
• For interviewee #1 I asked them what kind of venture I could create to better the lives of people. The kind of adaptations they gave me for a venture to better someone's life was maybe start with something that could deal with one of the many minor annoyances in the world. 
• The second interviewee suggested that I could better the lives of people by perhaps create something that makes someone living in their home more secure, perhaps something in the line of a new kind of security system or security service.

Reflection:

      After conducting the interviews I've learned that the general market area of regular people and the venture of making life more comfortable to their needs has a very broad perspective. Meaning that there are numerous amounts of opportunities that could be obtained from this venture and I don't know where to begin. My expectations for this venture was that hopefully I could have found something that the people I interviewed had in common which I did not find.

      What surprised me the most was the second interviewee suggestion of a new security service or system, I found this surprising because there are already so may I don't even know where to begin on improving or creating something new. As for this new market I don't find it as appealing as my current market because at the very least the need and opportunity is obvious. While for the market of regular people compared to homeless people have different wants and needs so I'll have to look into this new market more in the future.

24A- Venture Concept No.1

• Opportunity: 
• There seems to be an increase of homeless people (note the homeless people are the potential customers) in Gainesville. Causes to this increase could be the fault of people being laid off from work or losing their job some other way. With these customers becoming homeless they end up losing their home as well (hence the name) and could end up living in the streets.
• In 2017 in Alachua County it was recorded that there was 819 homeless and while that may not seem like a lot compared to the past years with 2015 being 870, the most in 2012 with 1814, and 603 in 2007, like shown in 2012 there is a chance the homeless rate will skyrocket again so something must be done. If nothing is done sooner or later the homeless population be the same as the amount of students here at UF.
• Customers as in the homeless people, are satisfying this need by begging for money and staying at homeless shelters. It really depends on the person on how loyal they are because to some or most people they don't exactly like begging for money and as for the homeless shelter I am not sure about that one, people could stay in that position or improve.
• The forces that allow this opportunity would have to be the factors that cause certain companies to have to let go a number of their employees who most are unable to find a new job and possibly due to some personal factors to that person or family of people's life are a factor as well.
• Regarding on the duration of time that the window of opportunity will be open for I will have to say that as long as there is the chance people make poor financial choices or ending up losing their jobs this opportunity will exist.
• Innovation:
• What I had in my for this innovation is creating two services specifically designed to assist the homeless and help them return to a normal everyday life. One service is to help people have lost their jobs look for new ones that fit their capabilities and background. The other service gives them temporary housing until they earn enough money to afford their own home. 
• I'll make money from this this way, these services will function similar to a loan from a bank once the people that used these services are back on their feet with a steady job and living situation they will be expected to pay back the service with interest and the customer can choose to pay it back in full if available depending on their job or pay it in separate payments until they pay it off. 
• Since different people earn different amounts of payments in their salary I don't have a fixed price for the services because different people stay using it for different amounts of time, so the price depends on the person. I would like to point out that these services while were created to help reduce homelessness if the money doesn't get reimbursed than there won't be these services anymore.
• Venture Concept:
• I know currently homeless people are mainly relying on homeless shelters and it could be difficult for them to accept this change since its not exactly free but I still think they will switch because unlike a homeless shelter, these two services are made to help someone get their life back on track with help instead of doing it by themselves or nothing at all.
• Since these programs were mainly created to help homeless people I don't really see any competitors competing to help the homeless in fact if they are willing they could lend a hand. But if there were to be a competitor it would have to be a business that does similar work but at lower prices, meaning lower reimbursements to pay back. Which in my opinion is a weakness because that would mean they are earning less money and lower prices doesn't always mean good quality.
• Customer support and customer experience would help define my business concept by giving their feedback on the services that are offered to the homeless and could even help convince rather stubborn homeless people to take advantage of the service and help get their life back together.
• I would organize a business to support the ongoing production of my service by creating one that is efficient and simple enough to understand by any kind of homeless person. I think that for starters I would hire maybe five to ten employees since its starting up one will be in charge of the housing service and the another will be in charge of the job locating service and while the rest will be divided between the two groups.
• First: Unfair Advantage:
• What I will have that other competitors won't have is that my business will be adaptable to change and thus can only improve for the sake of the customers. And since adaptability is difficult to copy that will be another thing that won't need to be worried about by competitors but as previously mentioned I really doubt that there will be any to begin with.
• Second: What's next?:
• I haven't really thought that far ahead and I don't know what other opportunity I would want to tackle, but for my existing business if all goes well I would like to add this special section where real life former homeless people tell their story on how using this product turned their life around for the better and that these stories could end up being printed as a book to sell.
• Third: What's next for you?:
• Like I said before I haven't thought that far ahead but as for me I will probably run my business for a while and then have someone run while I am not there. After that I'll take a look at the world and see if there is anything wrong with it and see if I can make an opportunity out of it.