Week 15 Reading Reflection

1. I thought this article was awesome.  It is nice to see a company be successful with the right Morales and ideals.  Helping out the less fortunate and poor shows the type of people that run this company and who they are.

2.  I wasn't really confused by much.  I just liked the whole article and how it showed some of the hard times of being in the poorer country and the differences that this country might have rather than than others.

3. My questions to the writer would be Why you started this business. Where did the passion for helping other come from.  Did you know as a kid you wanted to help others.  I would also touch on the fact of When did you know that you wanted to start a business to help others rather than another profession that helps others like a doctor.

4. I did not disagree with anything, just a cool last weeks reading.

Final Reflection

1. This semester has been something. Looking back on my many blog post, I would have to say now, the high and fun moments had to be interviewing customers.  At the moment, I dd not really get the satisfaction I am getting now from this assignment.  I think that happens with a lot of things in life.  But looking back on it, the experience I got, and even some of the reactions I got in interviews are great memories and will enhance my experience going forward.  I am much more confident now interviewing people. I would say another high is definitely interviewing the entrepreneur at the end of the semester.  At the beginning, I was like a young, unacknowledged student who didn't know much.  I asked broad questions and did not gain much from the interview.  But by the end of the semester in the last interview with the entrepreneur, I had experienced a lot of what entrepreneurs experience. I had targeted customers, pitched my idea, and planned for the future.  This knowledge showed in my last interview, and I think it was really cool. However, there were some dull moments to look back on.  I missed quite a bit of assignments.  some that I wish I would've done for the experience, but at the same times,  had many other school obligations that needed to be done first.

2. This one is easy, Like I said before, Interviewing customers was an experience Iwill never forget and will use that experience later on in life.  I learned as the semester went on, that people arent as scay as you would think.  Just confidently approach them and present yourself in a professional way, and ask the questions you want to ask to get the information needed to succeed.

3. I think we all moved forward in an entrepreneur mindset.  The assignments given forced us to. From finding what opportunities there are, choosing one that you can relate to, pitching it to investors, interviewing customers, perfecting and finalizing the product/service, and planning for the future all combined to create an entrepreneur mindset for us all.

4 I would advise students in the future to not think of this as a class.  Do not think of it as assignments you have to do, and I have to do this for a grade.  Grades are important and definitely get the A in the class, however, looking back on this class, I do wish I would taken in some of the experience and had fun with it more.  That is what I would advise future students.  The experience in this class is like no other class you will take.  The assignments are sometimes fun and sometimes dull but both types give you some kind of taste of what entrepreneurs go into.  Embrace that experience and have fun.

week 14 reading reflection

1.This weeks reading actually took a step back for me.  I found myself getting distracted a lot and was not overall satisfied or intrigued by this chapter.  I think in large part this had to do that to was confusing and was not as relative to me as the past few weeks chapters.  However, I did find the whole innovation correlation to success and how different companies use it section to be interesting an surprising at some points.

2.  I was confused by a lot of this chapter. In particular the tables.  The tables seemed to confuse me more than help as they continually had confusing labels and no direction.  Along with that, I didnt have much to relate to this chapter.

3.  I would ask Kuratko to expand on innovation and companies who dont plan to innovate in the future.  Does it always end up costing them? Are there examples of companies who tried to stop innovation and succeeded.

4.  I didnt disagree with anything I was just not all interested and very confused throughout these chapters.

Google Gold

1. To pursue SEO, I created titles and labels to allow my blogs to extend their possibilities of being noticed in the average google search.  These were the main tools.  Also, in many of my blogs, I included pictures from google that could help increase the posts presence in google searches as well.

2. As the semester went on, the titles and labels were the main sources of key words.  The titles got more specific as the semester went on which helped the presence of my blog. Also,  I began to add pictures and videos to the blog, and I connected my log to my YouTube channel.

3. Unfortunately for the most part, I dd not utilize my social media platforms to their full potential to gain exposure.  I have many firends, however, who have used primarily Facebook and Twitter to creat posts about their blogs and link the blog to their about me section of their profile.  For me, I did link the blog to my YouTube channel which created more views in my  posts.  However, I have learned that in the future, Facebook and Twitter have seemed to be the top two social media platforms for advertising this kind of blog.

4. The most activity I saw was on my "Interviewing Customers No 1."  The main reason this was the most trafficked in my opinion was the link from my YouTube Channel combined with the number of videos, specific title and as always the label.

5. When I searched for keywords for my blog, I not only didn't show up on page 1, but I also dd not show up on the first few pages  checked on Google search.  With my last name Smiley, I thought it would be clever to use Smiley in my blog name.  However, the main part of my name "Smile" is widely used in many different names of blogs.  This created too much competition and not a unique google known name that would land me on the first page.

Very Short Interview Part 2

1. I would say that looking back on the first interview, there is already so much that I have learned without realizing it.  Of course the most notable is putting myself out there and interviewing customers and finding my targets.  However, I have realized from the interview that through all the criticisms, elevator pitches, interviews, and venture concepts, I have learned how to budget for a big project/entrepreneurship like this, plan ahead for possible failures, learn the market, and much more. In the first interview, the entrepreneur, Scott Smiley, harped on the fact that he wished he knew how much start up cost really would be and he explained this would be a major thing to learn about in this class  Now, we have not specifically had an assignment about it, but through the comments from fellow students and interviewees, I have learned what start up cost I am forgetting about, don't need, and essential.

2. questions

•  When you finally decided to branch off and start your own firm, what was most essential to do before opening the new firm? How did you and your partners decide on a partnership instead of a LLC?
• So far in this class, I have had to go out and conduct interviews to find out how the community would respond to my product, and to see what potential customers I would have.  What did you do at the start of the business to engage with potential customers and bring in business.  Any specific type of advertising or target market?
• When the firm began to take shape, what was the difference in bringing in new clients than in the beginning? Different kind of advertising? Harder or Easier
• How did you and do you still plan for possible problems in the future? 
• Looking back from where you started to where you are know, is it anywhere to where you envisioned the firm going? Where would you like to see the firm go in the future?

3. This interview went a lot differently than the first interview.  First off, the interview lasted a lot longer, and I was able to see what directions his answers were going and relate in a small way to the theoretical directions I could to my company.  I also believe the question types were different  In the beginning, it was more about trying to figure out what exactly makes and entrepreneur what challenges they face.  The questions were broad.  In this case, the questions were more specific, and they focused on different time periods of the business. My dad, the entrepreneur, definitely recognized a difference as well, noting that this interview seemed more natural and informational than the first one where it seemed too broad.  

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1.  What surprised me the most was how specific it can get when valuating another business another business.  It seems like an extremely lengthy process sometimes but I can understand why when possible investments might be made or competition is being analyzed.\

2. I wasn't necessary confused by anything in this chapter, however, there were a lot of tables that did not seem to help out a lot in understanding the chapter.

3. Have you ever had experience or witnessed where the valuation side of a business is done poorly.  Where did they go wrong and why.  What ended up being the final result.

4. I have no problems with this chapter.

Celebrating Failure

1. This past semester I have failed at a few things, some bigger than others, but one that I have continually failed to do was follow up on not procrastinating on my schoolwork, particularly in this class.  I always seem to be rushed to finish these assignments because I wait until the last minute like I am doing right now with this assignment as I am watching the Masters on Sunday Night.  Each time after I rush to get the assignment done, I tell myself afterwards that I need to plan to work ahead but I have failed each time.

2. Failing can be caused by a lot of different distractions.  Competition, other priorities, laziness etc.  Unfortunately for this assignment, most of the cause of the failing was the laziness.  However, some other classes have contributed to having to put off certain assignments.  This is definitely something I need to learn and prioritize.

3. This is an awesome question.  I used to play the game of failure, baseball.  In this sport, you are considered a great when you fail 70% of the time.  With all of this failure, you need ot learn how to persevere through the failure and learn from it.  There are a few options when faced with failure.  1. quit because you dont think you can push through it.  2. ignore the failure as not important. 3. take the failure and analyze why and how to learn from it.  In this class, we discuss entrepreneurship where, like baseball, failure is all around us in every stage of the process.  We constantly have to find out the failures of the industry, products, and our own ideas to create the perfect product and target the perfect demographic.  I would definitely say that the assignments in this class have made me more willing to take the risk because I am more confident in the risks I am taking.  I have gone out and interviewed customers and entrepreneurs.  I have analyzed the market to choose my best target and how.  I have created an idea and improved it from criticism from others. This class has improved a lot of different skills

My Exit Strategy

1 This is probably one of the harder questions of this course for me.  When I originally thought of this idea, My plan would be to sell it after five to ten years.  However, the main reason for doing this would be to focus on becoming a lawyer and law school which I have begun to start thinking about.  I would really have to think hard about exiting and selling, especially if the business is going well and I am enjoying the role I am playing in the business.  I think as of right now at this beginning stage of the company, I still plan to exit by selling the company in the next five to ten years, However, I would say that this plan is fairly flexible and it would be cool see what this company could grow into.

2. As stated above, the main reason I am choosing this route for an exit is mainly in order to go to law school and end up becoming a lawyer.

3. I think that this exit strategy has influenced where I have looked for my opportunity.  I looked for this opportunity in the students of Gainesville.  That being said, this strategy focuses on college kids and campuses.  I guess in my head, I thought of this as just a five or so year deal where a couple years after graduation, 'I sell the business and try to go to law school to one day open up my own law firm.

week 12 reading reflection

1. I may have not been surprised by it, but I definitely found it interesting to read about how important preparing for the future can be for entrepreneurs.  It was funny seeing the possible failures that can occur for an entrepreneur when they are unprepared.  This highlights how important preparation is from meetings, to future outcomes, to possible unexpected disasters.

2. The confusing part to me was when Kuratko explained how companies will forgo strategic planning in order to save money on different aspects of the company.  Strategic planning was exemplified as a key to success for an entrepreneur.  Knowing this, why would entrepreneurs see it as such a small replaceable part of the business.

3.  My biggest question I would ask Kuratko is to expand on the situations where skipping the strategic planning may be more beneficial than actually spending the time and money to perform strategic planning.  Are some cases more needing of strategic planning and why are they.

4.  I had no problems or issues with disagreeing in this chapter.

Amazon Whisperer

• Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 
• The ways this that Smiley's Delivery Service will make money is by the service fee we would charge for the delivering of the department store products to the customers.  The service charge will be a percentage of the final cost. 
• Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?
• After getting the delivery service started, I do not believe we should extend into the food business.  I believe there is too much competition in Gainesville for that installation.  However, I do believe we could begin to get groceries from grocery stores and get the list that people need and go get there gorcerie and delivery it to them within the hour to two hours. 
• Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?
• This next thing will extend our service to another basic need that people need.  Grocery shopping is just as much of a hassle as department store shopping for people without cars or time.  This service extension would help our name continue to grow while offering more services.
• Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.
• Amazon itself is a similar product.  It is a service that delivers items at a good price.  They are even beginning to use droin deliveries.
•   
• What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?
• Amazon prime members love the service and prices of Amazon.  With the drones, Amazon is beginning to be able to have same day deliveries.  This gives people time utility, place utility, and price utility.  
• Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 
• What I think the biggest change we would need is an interface change on the website.  I have been told that sometimes, bigger items like televisions can be hard to choose from just by a picture.  Maybe videos of them woukld help give a better display of how the televisions compare to each other.  
• Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.
• The new service extension to groceries will give the business a wider span of customers and more consistent customers.  On average, people go to the grocery store once a week while department stores are more irregular.

Week 11 Reading reflection

1. What I liked most about the reading this week was the take on innovation.  Innovation is an interesting concept as I believe we all try and innovate every day.  We come up with ideas of things that would make projects, jobs, or life easier.  It is interesting to find out that there is a process and strategy behind innovation.  From the thought process to the implementation process.  That is really cool to think about as we come across ideas throughout the day and finding out how we come to those ideas.

2/3 Nothing really confused me. Everything was pretty much straight forward.  However, I would like Karatko to expand on how certain innovations do not align with the business strategy. What causes this to fail?

4.  I thought this chapter was easy to read and understand and I did not disagree or have a problem with anything.

Week 10 Reading reflection

1. I loved this Reading this week.  I was not necessarily surprised by much.  It was mostly how math and accounting is involved in entrepreneurship which is interesting to me because I have always loved math and enjoyed what I have learned so far in my finance and accounting courses.

2. Nothing really confused me either in this reading.  Most of the stuff covered in this chapter had to do with accounting and math which I have learned a lot of already.  It was cool to see how it was used in the business entrepreneurship setting.

3. One big question I would ask Kuratko would be if the accounting courses he took helped him significantly in running a business, and what are the major challenges for people who never went to school and took these courses.  What kind of problems do some of these people face and how do they overcome those problems?

4.  I did not disagree with anything in this chapter.

My Secret Sauce

1.  What I would say sets me apart from others is my work ethic, care, personal skills, humbleness, and attitude.  Since I was a kid, whenever I had a passion for something, I made it my gal to become the best at that particular thing.  Even if I do not end up being the best, it is about putting in the effort to try and succeed.  Work ethic is definitely related to passion for me however.  I tend to work a lot harder at the stuff I am passionate about, and that usually sets me apart from competition.  As for caring, I usually think of others in every situation I am put in.  That does not necessarily mean I always put other before myself, but it means I am willing to look at other perspectives in situations and take those perspectives into consideration when making a decision or in an argument.  My personal skills are highlighted when faced with meeting new people. I am comfortable making new connections and finding out similarities I have with new people.  I also like to think of myself as being humble, despite what that sentence sounds like.  In fact, sometimes writing a paragraph like this is hard because  never like to talk about if  am good at this or that.  I let my try to work my hardest and whatever I accomplish can represent my skill level.  If the responses are good then keep at it, if they are bad, know you tried your hardest and figure out how to change the direction of your work.  Being humble is staying true to yourself and to others.  You do not need to brag when your work and accomplishments show who you are. My attitude is similarly related to my work ethic.  I tend to have a positive never give up attitude.  This positive energy can help others in a team setting feed off of the energy to increase morale and overall efficiency.  In my mind, nobody accomplishes anything by being negative.  When something goes wrong, acknowledge it, and figure out ways to fix it rather than dwell on it.

2.

The main takeaway from this interview is my work ethic.  Ashtin highlighted throughout the interview that my work ethic sets me apart in each knowledge, skills, and emotional section.

The main takeaway fro this was the emotional standpoint.  Bruce pointed out how I can wear my heart on my sleeve and am not afraid to express my emotions.  This can definitely be good when working with other employees as bottling up emotions can lead to bad work environments.

Ryan is definitely one of my best and longest friendships.  The main takeaway I got from this interview is his emphasis on my effort to learn.  You can always learn more even in a manager position, and being able to be willing to learn is a big quality.  Also, a big one is keeping my emotions under control.

What I mainly took away from Lane's interview that was different from the rest was his emphases on my ability to talk to new people and connect with them.  Finding the connection with another person can lead to new business and clients.

This interview was a little bit harder to hear but it was definitely interesting as I got a perspective form three different people in one interview.  I think the thing that stood out the most was my competitive nature  This competitive nature is similar to work ethic as previously mentioned in other interviews, however, it can help not only work the hardest but have an emphases of being the best as an individual and as a team.  

3. For the most part, my friends assessment of myself were similar to my assessment.  Work ethic was a reoccurring theme that was said about me.  However, like I said, I believe that it goes hand in hand with passion.  Think about jobs in the future, when you are more passionate about something, your positive energy is more which causes you to be excited to get things done and learn more.  Something that I would definitely add to #1 that was mentioned in the interviews was my ability to connect with people.  This is especially important in the business environment as making connections with people and people skills on general help lead to new clients, negotiations, and deals.  I thought Bruce's takeaway of wearing my heart on my sleeve mixed with Ryan and Ashtin's takeaway of thinking of others when making decisions definitely helps in the business environment.  When wearing your heart on your sleeve, you have to take into consideration the other persons emotions as well as you express yours. This consideration can help you say what you need to say without coming off as degrading or mean to the other person.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1. What came as the biggest surprise to me is how Kuratko believed the best way to collect data was.  he says that marketers should collect secondary data first rather than primary data.  This got me thinking about when I research data even for this class, and it was not until then that I realized how true it was.  I used data from other sources thhat have already been there to get ideas of what my potential business might do before I started doing interviews to collect data about my own business.

2. The most confusing part of this weeks reading probably came from many of the comparisons like the quantitative and qualitative research for one.  I understand the definitions alone but wouldve like to have examples of each type of research to further differentiate the two.

3.  I would ask Kuratko what his experience marketing was like.  What marketing strategy yielded the most success for him, and why he thinks that is?

4. I did not disagree with anything really from this chapter.  It was kind of cool to read about since a ot of the material I learned briefly about in my marketing class last semester.

Idea napkin no. 2

1. As I stated in the first idea napkin, I am Brandon Smiley. I have worked in business jobs such as banking at Capital City Bank for a summer, and I got to learn a lot about the operations of a bank and the process of approving loans.  Along with that, I learned how employee client relationships are formed and kept.  I personally love make a impact on other people's lives, and to see that impact take shape.  This is why I would think the this delivery service idea would be so awesome.  The idea would allow people to go about their plans uninterrupted.

2. I am offering a delivery service for department stores like Home Depot, Walmart, and Best Buy in Gainesville, Florida.  As of right now, the only local delivery services that deliver unmet needs within an hour or two are food delivery services like Gainesville2Go or Doorstop Delivery.  Smiley's Delivery will extend these services to electronics, furniture, household items, and crafts.

3. In my last idea napkin, I talked about how this service can be used by both students and working adults for time convenience.  However, being based out of Gainesville, I have realized that the main focus should be on students. Gainesville's population is about 127,500.  There are about 75,000 students at the University of Florida and Sante Fe colleges alone.  That is over half of the Gainesville population which makes students the dominate target.  Also, many students may not have the luxury of having a car, which would make them perfect candidates for this delivery service.  

4. Customers will pay for this delivery service for multiple reasons.  First off and most imprtantly, customers will pay for the ime convenience.  This delivery service allows for people to get more things done throughout the day and not have to deal with traffic or department store crowds.  The service allows people to allocate time towards jobs rather than shopping.  Another reason is that people can tend to be lazy.  This service allows people to give into their laziness every once in a while.  If someone does not want to take the time to drive across town and would rather watch tv, this service allows them this option.  The last reason is stated in #3 as well.  For people without cars, this service allows them the chance to still get their supplies from these department stores without needing a friend to drive them around or paying for a taxi.

5. What sets Smiley's Delivery apart fro everyone else is the product of delivery.  All the other delivery services in Gainesville focus on food deliveries.  Our delivery service focuses on appliances.



I believer that all of these five elements work together to make a great start up idea.  I think if this were to become an actual service, their still needs to be more interviewing, trial runs, and research to see how successful the service can really be.  I received a lot of feedback from previous idea napkins and interviews.  From these I have adjusted some of my ideas and even known competitors.  I have extended the delivery service to crafts for those who are busy crafting arts for clubs, work, etc.  I have also taken account to the fact that Amazon could be a big competitor with their drone delivery service.  However, I believe we would still have competitive advantages over these drone delivery services. Our delivery service would be able to delivery much bigger an bulkier items and well as have a more speedy delivery process. Another possible red flag that was brought up was with these bulkier items, should their be a weight limit in the delivery process or an item limit.  Even big SUVs and trucks can only hold so much.  We would allocate cars to smaller deliveries and SUVs/trucks to bigger, bulkier deliveries.  In these bulkier deliveries, I believe that a weight/size limit must be enforced to ensure the order can be delivered.

half way reflection

1.  The behaviors I have learned so far to to stay determined and confident.  With the many assignments throughout the weeks.  The confidence stems from the individual assingments which require you to extend your boundaries, and put yourself out there to interview strangers.  As the weeks have gone by, i can honesty say that it has definitely become easier to ask people for an interview.

2.  There have been on  many occasions where I forgot about an assignment or didn't want to do it.  One assignment in particular I was on the fence about doing was the interviewing customers no 1.  This assignment scared me cause I didn't want to go up to random people to interview them about my product. Also, I didn't really know what product I really wanted to do yet.  However, I realized that its not worth not getting the experience and fully devoting your time towards the class.  This helped me push through, find the questions I wanted to ask, and put myself out there to find potential customer.

3. The three tips I would give another student would definitely be to stay on top of the assignments and make your own calendar.  Working ahead in this class helps as sometimes the day an assignment is due, you have other class obligations that take away time to finish this assignment.  I also advise to take the assignments seriously and actually follow all the directions.  The interviewing customers was scary at first but looking back at it, it was a cool experience that I am glad I did.  And finally, I would say to accept advice and constructive criticism.  This class is built to help improve your entrepreneurship skills.  Not everyone is perfect and we all have something we could improve on.  With constructive criticism, we can pinpoint our weaknesses and try our best to improve them.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1. This weeks reading was really interesting. The main focus was on segmentation and this is what interests me. I never really knew how deep segmentation really goes in products.  I have only really known the basic definition of segmentation-grouping similar items or target into segments. I never really thought of all of the tangibles that go into deciding what how many segments and why.

2/3.This chapter really didn't have anything very confusing to me. Everything was described thoroughly and  enjoyed the reading.  I would like ask the author about his experiences in his own entrepreneurship on segmentation, or his observations of segmentation.  Is there a specific system to get the basics segmentation, and how do different business do different things to create different segments than their competition?

4,  I had nothing wrong with this chapter.  It was a good read and I probably learned the most and enjoyed this weeks reading the most

Week 6 Reading reflection

1. The most surprising and interesting thing i saw during this weeks reading was the profitability chart.  I was surprised to see that soft drinks are second in profitability behind security brokers and dealers.  I was specifically surprised soft drinks had higher profitability than pharmaceuticals.  I just imagined with the need of pharmaceuticals and the prices that it would be higher than soft drinks.

2. I wouldn't say that anything was necessarily confusing, but I would've liked more explanation on the 5 forces that shape competition industry chart as well as the return on investment chart. I just did not know exactly what company they were talking about and what the 5 forces chart meant.

3. I would ask the author to go over the charts again and just explain them in more detail especially the 5 forces chart.

4. Nothing i disagreed with just wanted more explanation on the charts.  Was interesting the view of competition and substitutes and how much prices are affected by the competitors compliments and substitutes in the economy.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I am Brandon Smiley from Tallahassee, Florida. Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved math.   was always the weird one who would actually get excited in elementary school when we had to solve word problems.  I have had experience in the business world working as an intern at Capital City Bank's Trust in Tallahassee, Florida.  There I was able to oversee loan applications and meet with clients and potential clients to learn the ins and outs of not just how a bank operates, but a business as well.  I see this business idea shaping into an extension to what Gainesville2Go offers but is missing.  Instead of focusing on food deliveries, I want to focus on merchandise deliveries.  This strategy allows the business to have numerous opportunities with little competition as we would be the only company to provide this service in Gainesville.

2.  We are offering a delivery service to customers just like Gainesville2Go, Doorstop delivery, and 2 Dollar Delivery.  However, our company will focus the deliveries on merchandise instead of food.  All the competition in this field delivers food, and merchandise has slipped through he cracks.  It is time for merchandise deliveries to catch up with the times.

3.  In Gainesville, there is a large student population with the University of Florida and Sante Fe Colleges in the area.  With this a large part of our targets will be students, as students often have busy schedules and can not always make trips to department stores to buy merchandise for their apartments, cars, etc. Also, many students have come to college without vehicles.  This causes students to be unable to make the trip to department stores without asking a friend or paying for a cab.  This service will allow students to skip this step and not have to always annoy their friends. Even with the large student population, we would also use our second target market to target the working class individuals.   These are the ones that can really afford to buy merchandise frequently.  These individuals are just as busy as students, as they have job obligations, family obligations, and household obligations to take care of on a daily basis.  With all of these obligations, this service will allow these individuals to continue working on one obligation while getting the supplies to help another obligation.

4. Customers will pay for this service for the convenience luxury it supplies to the customer.  From my interviews, the main benefit customers receive from delivery services like Gainesville2Go and Doorstop Deliver is the convenience.  When people have busy days or lazy days, they do not have the time or do not feel like making a trip to go shopping for their needed supplies.  Sometimes, people have way of getting to these stores to get these supplies.  This service allows people to get more done with their day, focus on what they want to focus on, avoid shopping crows, and avoid traffic.  All of these benefits stem from convenience which leads to less stress for customers.

5. Although their are other companies that use a similar service and create the same benefit to customers, these companies focus solely food delivery services.  As of now, there are not delivery services for merchandise stores that will get to you within an hour.  This particular service sets us apart from the other delivery services as we deliver an entirely different product line.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

1.Nothing necessarily surprised me in this chapter, however, I was interested on the the facing fears section of the chapter.  This section makes you think about your own fears about leading anything in life, from a business to a sports team, and finding ways to overcome those fears to reach your ultimate goals.

2. The most confusing thing for me in this chapter would be the tables again this chapter. Each chapter there isnt much explanation of the tables which causes more confusion than convenience.

3.  One of the most interesting parts of the chapter was when it discussed the views of eBay and Entrepreneurship.  I would love to discuss the authors views himself of eBay.  EBay is a site every kid grows up knowing about because they know they can sell some of their items on it and make money.  It is definitely like a start up Entrepreneur marketplace, as you are basically running your own tiny business with each transaction.

4.  Nothing i disagree about but would like to definitely see more explanation about tables.

Interviewing Customers No 2

1.  Last week I went around town and interviewed potential customers about the opportunity about stress related to traffic.  What  learned from these interviews and research is that although there is a problem with traffic and the stress that comes from traffic, the business opportunities that stem from this problem are slim and require a lot of research and development cost.  This week, I decided to go off a completely new opportunity.  This opportunity stems from delivery services for department stores like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

2. Last time, I only interviewed students.  Now this can be effective because Gainesville's population is dominated by students, but this time, I am interviewing both students and working individuals to figure out what demographic this opportunity should target.

3.  Even though  changed my opportunity and the question's content were different, I also changed the style of questions I asked.  The first set of interviews, all my questions were yes or no questions and I did not get a full understanding of how the customers felt about the opportunity.  This time, I asked a mixture of yes and no questions and more in depth questions.  This allowed me to understand more about the customers instead of assuming.

5.  I learned that there is definitely an opportunity for this problem.  People think of services like Gainesville2Go and Doorstop Delivery as a convenience luxury. This luxury helps when people are busy and have other jobs they need to get done beforehand.  Extending this service to department stores allows people to conveniently get their jobs done as well as get the merchandise they need for the day.

6.  The advice i would give future students for interviewing customers is to practice your questions, be confident in yourself, and relax.  It is scary to put yourself out their and interview random people, but once you start, it gets a lot easier, and people are not as mean and scary as you think.

Interviewing Customers No. 1

1.  For the opportunity, I chose to go with the stress that is caused from traffic.

2.  Unfortunately, Anybody that lives in an city, no matter the size, is forced to face traffic on a daily basis.

3.  Now That I have interviewed 5 different people, I realize how much traffic is disrupting peoples everyday lives and leading to added stress and possible accidents

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4.  It was an interesting experienc to interview people about this opportunity.  You have to learn to get past the nerves and put yourself out there.  The feedback you receive is worth it in the end.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise for me was the myths of innovation, especially the myth that people love new things.  I understand where the author gets this, but I have always seen people liking new gadgets that can perform unique tasks.

2. There was not much confusion in this chapter, but I did not quite understand the Critical Thinking Process Chart.  The author didn't really describe it in much detail which made it seem out of place.  However, the chart is interesting and I would love to get further explanation on what each box means and how they are all connected to each other.

3.  If I had to ask the author a question, I would love to have him explain the myths of innovation in further detail.  I found this part of the chapter to be the most interesting and would love to really have an in depth conversation about why these myths exist and see the authors experience in innovation.

4. The chapter as a whole was good and I don't really disagree with anything, But I would like to know more on certain parts of the chapter, especially about the Critical Thinking Process Chart.

Top 5 World Problems

1. Poverty has become a huge problem worldwide

2. On a different note, terrorism has been a huge problem worldwide.  With ISIS in full throttle, nations have to begin to fear and start preparing for potential attacks. 

3. Gun Control has been a huge issue specifically in the United States.  With all of the mass shootings over the past 10-15 years, people are starting to question whether or not people should be able to buy guns anymore.

4. Sexual abuse for both men and women has become a big problem worldwide and especially on college campuses.  Stories are on the news daily of a girl getting beaten at a bar or raped after a night at the bars.  A fix would be to enforce more education about manners, self-defense, and sexual encounters. 

5. Laziness has become a huge problem nationwide. 

  

I chose these problems in order because of how bad poverty has gotten worldwide.  In the United States alone is 15% and 12.7% worldwide wide.  In the United States, the problem does not stop there. The current presidential debate is discussing different solutions to help the wealth inequality.  Solutions must be made to fix the poverty problem and increase the working middle class. The other problems listed under it have great significance as well.  The terrorist group ISIS has to be contained soon before their terrorism expands and leads to wars.  Gun Control and sexual abuse need to be control especially in the United States.  And finally, laziness is something I have just realized as a problem in the United States specifically.  Hard work leads to success, can’t expect to be given everything. 

1. I think that people should still be able to buy guns, but the process should be harder, especially for the powerful guns.  Tests should be taken just like a hunting license. 

2. A fix for sexual abuse would be to enforce more education about manners, self-defense, and sexual encounters

3. The way the problem with traffic worldwide can be fixed is not always creating a 9-5 work schedule.  And also to create lights that analyze traffic and help speed traffic up.

4. The ISIS Terrorist group is a hard fix because there are many different viewpoints.  I would think if we join together with other victims and stop their expansion and limit their resources, the terrorist group would be finished.

5. Find similar resources that can be used to achieve the same effect could fix the decline in natural resources problem

Of the solutions I came up with, I thought that my solution for gun control is the best solution.  I believe in the 2^nd Amendment and what it stands for.  I believe in having the right to defend yourself against the possible evils in the world.  However, I do believe it has become too easy to obtain guns, especially the high powered guns.  With more tests, people can get more knowledge of their firearms and the purposes behind the firearms.  These tests can also lead to red flags in certain people who may have psychotic problems.  Unfortunately, there is always going to be the problem of bad guys find ways to obtain weapons to do bad things. However, with more regulations, these bad things might be decreased.  

identifying local opportunities

1. "It could Cause Trouble in the wrong hands" (http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A92F0168E1C648?p=AWNB) (http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/01/22/nearly-50000-in-bull-semen-stolen-from-turlock-truck/)

• This is kind of a weird story that I found from a blog on the Miami Herald.  After doing more research on CBS.com, I found that there was $50,000 worth of bull semen that was stolen from a truck.  This is a big deal because bulls have the best genetics and it would not be good if it is in the wrong hands. However, in this case, the theifs probably did not even know what they were stealing, but its worth $50,000.
•  The problem with this is for the farmers who have to make a living off of breading.  With the creme of the crop being stolen from them, and so much of it being stolen from the, it hurts the business for the farmers.  

2. "Researchers Seek to End Dump Stink" ( http://bi.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/essentials/article/GALE%7CA135522765/4e9fc5a5e254b348d6e6f879c60fc32c?u=gain40375)

• This article describes how researchers have found that using beer bottles to hold smaller garbage items can help disguise the smell.  The researchers say other waste materials can be used as well to help block the smell.  
• The problem that is being addressed here is the smell that is generated from the accumulation of waste and garbage.  This affects the community and pollutes the air.  Using bottles to block the smell is useful but doesn't that take about from recycling.  There might be different way to achieve the same goal.

3. "Toxic Algae ID'd in Taylor" (http://bi.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/essentials/article/GALE%7CA135522766/636f6d74c7587997883879352e9a7057?u=gain40375)

• Toxi algae, also known as red tide, was found in samples form Taylor County, Florida.  Thousands of fish were killed over the past month in these waters.  It is unsure if the cause of the deaths was the red tide, but researchers are coming to that conclusion
• The problem that is discussed in this article is red tide.  When you go to the beach and it smells like dumpster water, it probably is red tide.  This can kill marine life which affects fishing, and the marine lifestyles.  

4. "Solution to Guardianship Crisis? Advocates Say Cap Fees, Regulate" (http://bi.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/essentials/article/GALE%7CA440977303/99d4d46f23cd9d5da20fb3c05df46f05?u=gain40375)

• This article is very interesting because my grandparents have fallen victim to fraudulent scams over the phone and online.  Today, it seems like this is even more of a growing problem.  As technology expands, the security it comes with decreases.  This article discusses that some solutions that may decrease the amount of fraudulent behavior may be to put a cap on fees, give seniors a bill of rights to protect them, and allow the state to have control over bad users.
• The problem here is the fraudulent behavior online and over the phone and the amount the behavior has gotten out of control recently.  The main target is senior citizens and young college kids as they may not "know any better."

5. "West Palm taking on crime, homelessness; City also pushing neighborhood projects, mayor says"(http://bi.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/essentials/article/GALE%7CA440903260/793081ba3115ffa887955924701f9075?u=gain40375)

• Crime, homelessness and homelessness has become a huge problem in the West Palm area and has started to bring the its reputation down.  The mayor made a 20 minute speech on how she plans to beat the violence before it happens, create organizations to help the poverty and homeless, and create jobs through community and neighborhood projects. 
• Crime and poverty has become a huge problem not just in West Palm but in the United States in general.  The upcoming presidential election has major focuses on the poverty line and the increase in crime, specifically on police brutality.  

Very Short Interview No 1

I chose to interview my dad, Scott Smiley.  Scott Smiley is a lawyer in Tallahassee Florida.  After working for a big law firm for about three years, Scott decided to start his own lawfirm with some of his peers from law school.  He has since then been rewarded best law firm in Tallahassee multiple times and been able to join the International Association of Defense Council (IADC).  Here is the questions and answers from the interview:

1.As an entrepreneur what were some of the struggles you faced early on?

One of the biggest struggles is finding clients and covering overhead costs.  Everything front rent to secretary salaries need to be paid off before you can get paid.  N the beginning, my partners and I only had a few clients that carried over from precious jobs.  This required us to advertise ourselves and find new clients to bring in business for the firm.  With the overhead costs and the amount of clients we had.  The partners did not even take in salaries until a few months into the business.  The biggest thing to remember from starting a business is always to cover the overhead before thinking of your salary. 

2.What do you wish you would have learned before starting your own law firm

Coordinating the advertising like yellow pages.  There was a lull in name recognition at the start of the business.  Also, knowing which clients would go with us, but they wouldn’t commit to us or the old firm.  You can’t really fix that, but when you can’t necessarily expect to bring a lot of clients over. Clients like to see you succeed on your own before they take the risk of switching.  Lastly, always have more expenses than you plan for.  There are so many expenses that go into your bottom line that you do not even expect.  Now that I have worked for a long time, I see how much expenses there really are.  Budgeting with a bigger plus or minus swings. Sometimes an expense you thought would be $500 ends up being $700.  At the start of a business when you are bringing in as much revenue, $200 is a big change and you need those bigger plus minus swing budgeting to help cover possible overages. 

3.Expectations I should have in an Entrepreneurship class?

Getting a solid understanding of startup cost. Get an idea of how to do it and a good grasp of planning and implementing start up across the board, not just what you are going to do but the budgeting of what you are going to do.  Say you are going to sell sandwiches, ads insurance, and salaries are needed to be thought of in the planning process.

4.What does being an Entrepreneur mean to you

It means whether on your own or not, its coming up with a plan or goal and implementing your plan.  When you see your plans and dreams come to fruition that’s entrepreneurship. From the start up idea to moving towards profit.  Ideas alone do not do it.  Ideas with implementation that makes the business.  The theory is forming a company you are in charge of. 

5.Was “being your own boss” the main reason starting your own firm?

It was definitely a reason.  I wanted to be n control of my future and my goals.  However, you learn that in reality Are you ever really your own boss? 

This interview was interesting because it really got me to fully understand how my dad has gotten to where he is today.  I grew up knowing that my dad started his own law firm, however, I was too young to remember some of the struggles he went through when starting up his own law firm.  I thought it was interesting how much emphases he put on budgeting, and how you dont really know how many expenses you have until you start up.  I hope to learn even more about entrepreneurship and startup business from him in the future

World's Biggest Problems

Traffic is always a problem n practically every city, especially the major cities around the world. People have to plan out an hour just to drive 10-20 miles.  The way this is fixed is not always creating a 9-5 work schedule.  And also to create lights that analyze traffic and help speed traffic up.

Manners are another problem worldwide.  There are many people out there who are well mannered and treat others with respect, however, many others forget that a simple thank you after a good deed goes a long way. 

Another problem is Wi Fi.  Wi Fi in congested areas becomes weak.  During sporting events, concerts, and other volume crowd events, Wi Fi takes forever to get online and is practically useless.  Fix? Put more towers up for service.

Similar to the last problem, the amount of cellular services have increased with each one controlling specific areas of the United States.  I have Verizon.  In the south, Verizon works perfectly and almost always has a signal.  Up north, there are less people who have Verizon which means less stores and less cell towers which causes me to lose service frequently. This is vice versa for other cellular services.  Fix? Only have a few cellular services and have them throughout the country/world

On a different note, terrorism has been a huge problem worldwide.  With ISIS in full throttle, nations have to begin to fear and start preparing for potential attacks.  Fix? This is a hard fix because there are many different viewpoints.  I would think if we join together with other victims and stop their expansion and limit their resources, the terrorist group would be finished.

Gun Control has been a huge issue specifically in the United States.  With all of the mass shootings over the past 10-15 years, people are starting to question whether or not people should be able to buy guns anymore. I think that people should still be able to buy guns, but the process should be harder, especially for the powerful guns.  Tests should be taken just like a hunting license. 

Sexual abuse for both men and women has become a big problem worldwide and especially on college campuses.  Stories are on the news daily of a girl getting beaten at a bar or raped after a night at the bars.  A fix would be to enforce more education about manners, self-defense, and sexual encounters. 

Limited Resources are becoming a huge problem worldwide.  Places like California is running short of fresh water.  Oil has been a huge problem as people are always needing gas.  Fix? Find similar resources that can be used to achieve the same effect.

Poverty has become a huge problem worldwide.  Fix? Establish programs to help aid the poverty.

Laziness has become a huge problem nationwide.  People expect things to be given to them, and are afraid of hard work.  

Week 2 Reading Reflection

11.     The biggest surprise was by far the myths of entrepreneurs.  A lot of these myths I thought were true, and I even though these myths were some of the challenges that Entrepreneurs faced.  Especially “Entrepreneurship will give me back complete control over my schedule,” I thought this was especially true because you would be your own boss. 

22.       The Entrepreneurship Revolution was the most confusing to me because I never saw Entrepreneurship as changing or revolutionizing.  I understand that it has to adapt to the changing business environments, but I always thought the foundation of Entrepreneurship was the same.  Find unmet needs, and fix them.

33.       One of the questions I would love to ask the author is what his Entrepreneur experience is. Did he start his own business or firm?  What kind of firm was it, and what were the specific difficulties he faced at the beginning.  It would also ask him to explain the Entrepreneurship Revolution, because I still see Entrepreneurship’s foundation to be the same no matter what the business circumstances are. 

4       

    4.  The main point the author made that disagreed on was that everyone can be taught entrepreneurship. I think to an extent this is true, but, people have to find their passion in life, or else he or she will not care about what they are doing.  Someone who loves sports will probably not succeed starting his own Tec company because he doesn’t have the same passion for it as he does to sports.  

Bug List

Drinks getting warm in a cup and ice melting

Why?    The drink does not taste as good

Sweat getting mixed with the shirt to cause B.O.

Why? The sweat shows through the shirt and doesn’t smell good

Line for Relish after the Bars close on the weekends

Why? After drinking, you may want something to eat but the line would take half an hour to get food

The loss of signal when splitting HDMI

Why? Because you have to choose which TV gets HD unless you get a completely separate cable box

Getting uncomfortably warm in bed

Why? It is harder to sleep when you are cold

Setting up and taking down a tailgate for an event

Why? When you get to the tailgate site, the last thing you want to do is set up or take it down

Fire Alarms that go off during thunder storms when there isn’t a fire

Why? They go off in the middle of the night when people are sleeping.

The headphones cant fit into the headphone dock when the life-proof is on the iPhone

Why? Have to take off the life-proof or use their separate piece that screws in to listen to music

Headphones when one of the earbuds stops working

Why? It gives me a headache only hearing out of one ear

People who Chew loudly

Why? It is distracting and annoying.

People who do not have manners. When you bump someone say excuse me or sorry.  If a car allows you to walk across the street, wave.

Why? It isn’t that hard to have the common courtesy of giving others respect

When the printer and the computer do not connect

Why? This always seems to happen when you are printing something you need for that day

Traffic during rush hour in Gainesville specifically.  The population is not big enough to cause traffic that’s is just as bad if not worse that bigger cities.

Why? At 5 oclock, it take me 30 minutes to an hour to drive 3 miles

The length of time it takes to wash clothes

Why? If I wanted to wear something that day, I have to plan to wash it a couple hours before I wear it

The inability to dry some clothes without them shrinking.

Why? It is easier and quicker to dry clothes in the drier, and it helps get wrinkles out

When you eat soup you have to wait to let it cool down before eating it,

Why? I saw a Rules Of Engagement episode where they made a spoon that was insulated to cool the soup down before it reaches the mouth

People who click clicking pens constantly in class

Why? It is distracting and too repetitive, like chewing loudly

Reading because I am a slow reader

Why? I feel like with the technology we have, there could be a device that could take the information n the book and feed it straight to your brain

Internet Problems, and The unreliable WiFi on campus

Why? When doing a proctor U Exam or any other important assignment, the WiFi is not reliable an could cut in and out causing you to lose connection

Headphones that get tangles up.

Why? I don’t even understand how I can lay headphones on the ground and come back later to get them and they are tangles in a million ways.

This assignment was challenging, but it was a lot of fun.  I thought about devices that bug me as well as things that occur in everyday life that bug me.  This thought process interests me because it shows how an entrepreneur finds different ways to improve unmet needs.  The first way to solving a problem is realizing there is a problem. 

My Entrepreneurship Story

My Entrepreneurship Story stays within the family.  My dad, Scott Smiley, is a family law attorney in Tallahassee, Florida.  After getting his law degree from Florida State University, he began working for a big law firm for a few years  before partnering up with two former friends from law school to start their own law firm.  My dad explained how starting your own firm takes confidence, strength, and leadership.  Just like starting any other business, you need the confidence that you have what it takes, the strength to persevere the struggles, and the leadership to guide others to help grow the business or firm.  He explained the importance of connections with former clients and how those connections help jump-start the business.  Once the business starts to get going, the feeling that you created this whole new business is so satisfying and shows that hard work pays off.  This story is what inspires me to start my own law firm someday.  I am excited for ENT 3003 because of the entrepreneur mindset is instills in its students.  I have never really understood Entrepreneurship and the mindset it requires.

Introduction

I am Brandon Smiley and I am currently a junior Finance Major at the University of Florida. I am from Tallahassee, Florida and grew up loving sports (mainly football, baseball, and basketball).  I chose the right school obviously.  My family is basically all rivals when it comes to sports.  We have 3 Florida fans, 4 Florida State Fans, 2 Clemson Fans, 3 Miami Fans, and 1 Duke fan.  Saturdays got pretty hectic.  I plan on attending law school after I get my finance degree, and I plan to eventually open my own law firm.  I am excited to learn more about the Entrepreneur mindset and have a great semester.

Entrepreneurs Mantra week 2

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