ENT 3003 BLOG

1. Throughout the course of this class, we have completed a wide variety of assignments pertaining to all aspects of an entrepreneurship mindset. Looking back on all I have done, it is evident that I was not as sure of myself and my capabilities in the beginning. I was also not as sure in the meaning of entrepreneurship in the first couple assignments. I clearly grew in understanding as well as confidence as the semester progressed. 2. The most formative experience for me was completing the idea napkins. This assignment allowed me to connect my ideas to my core competencies, something I had not thought of as having value previously. This allowed me to expand upon my idea and customize it to be something I was passionate about. I really enjoyed reading the books related to entrepreneurship/business because it is something I had not yet done on my own but wanted to. I feel like I learned extremely valuable concepts in the book I read as well as reading my peers' reflections on the ...

Opportunity: My customers are those who are members/looking to be a member of a given gym. This can potentially be anyone already working out at the gym or anyone looking to improve their lifestyle and begin working out. The unmet need I will be solving is the concept of  gym intimidation. I will do this by offering a service in which members of a given gym will fill out a survey based on preferences, training times, experience levels, etc. and be matched with a partner to workout with. This service will be completely free with the membership of the gym.  I believe the issue of gym intimidation has always been present throughout all commercial clubs. Every person, at some point in their experience with a public gym, has felt some form of intimidation, fear, or insecurity. Through past personal experiences and those received from interviews, oftentimes gyms do not successfully make their members feel welcome and comfortable in their space. Thus, many members will remain in...

1. I intend to stay with my business for several decades and eventually retire. While I could sell the business and generate revenue off of it, it is something I feel passionate about and enjoy spending my time investing in. If possible, I would like to expand the business to multiple locations and continue to improve in various ways. Ultimately, fulfillment will be found in just continuation of the business and possibly passing it down to family members. 2. I have selected this particular exit strategy because again it is something I feel passionate about and would enjoy doing for the rest of my employed life. I would find excitement in continually improving and innovating in the company. 3. I tend to identify opportunities in which would fit my intentions of having this business be under my name and my personal brand permanently. Each new innovation would have to be something that I align with and that fit my goals for the company. Because my main goal was to develop the initial ...

Book:  The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki 1. The general theme of the book was how to develop and grow a social media presence in the form of a business in order to increase revenue and attention. The author, Guy Kawasaki, is the chief evangelist for Apple and is an expert in social media marketing. 2. The book connected and enhanced the concept of using your known resources to grow your business and exploit an opportunity. It revolves around the importance of promotion, and promoting for free using social media. The cost of starting to market to an intended audience is zero. The book also touched on subjects such as self promotion and increasing your social capitol, in which we have spent time in this class discussing in regards to marketing a specific product. 3. If I had to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would prompt all students to design a professional social media account. This account would focus specifically on t...

1. This past semester, I attempted to pledge a business fraternity. I got through the rush process and into the pledging process for a solid four weeks until my academics along with my job was too much in combination with all that was required of me for the frat. The lack of free time took a toll on my mental health, which caused me to step back and reflect on all my involvement. I decided to drop the frat, despite the immense amount of time and effort I had put into the organization. This was not something I wanted to do nor something that was easy. 2. What I learned from this experience was the importance of doing everything you do with excellence and filling your life with opportunities you're passionate about. If there is no passion in what your'e doing, theres less effort and determination. When I evaluated my involvement, I felt as if the business fraternity was not something I felt passionate about. Further, I learned the importance of  prioritizing your mental health ...

Existing Market  Step 1: I think the next step is to expand the service in place in order to increase its awareness to members. I can do this by incorporating personal training packages to those who decide to fill out the survey and be paired with a gym partner. For example, new 'buddies' can receive a free personal training session together. This will encourage personal training packages and increase revenue in the training department of the company.  Step 2:  One interviewee suggested I offer workout guides/programs to give to newly paired gym partners completed through the survey. While this is a valid idea, I would prefer offering a free personal training session that would imply the continuation of buddy training and possible revenue for the company. Another interviewee suggested the same idea as what I had proposed. They agreed in that giving a free personal training session would be beneficial for new partners to gain education and build their new f...

Opportunity: My customers are those who are members/looking to be a member of a given gym. This can potentially be anyone already working out at the gym or anyone looking to improve their lifestyle and begin working out. The unmet need I will be solving is the concept of  gym intimidation. I will do this by offering a service in which members of a given gym will fill out a survey based on preferences, training times, experience levels, etc. and be matched with a partner to workout with. This service will be completely free with the membership of the gym.  I believe the issue of gym intimidation has always been present throughout all commercial clubs. Every person, at some point in their experience with a public gym, has felt some form of intimidation, fear, or insecurity. Through past personal experiences and those received from interviews, oftentimes gyms do not successfully make their members feel welcome and comfortable in their space. Thus, many members will remain...

Resources: Product will be readily available and of use to all members V aluable: Versatile, does not apply to only one group  R are:  Not yet invented I nimitable: Not difficult to copy N on-substitutable: Only resource that can provide these benefits       2. Product would be quick to implement  V aluable: Revenue from product would be generated fast, time to revenue ratio low R are: Not very rare I nimitable: Difficult to copy exactly N on-substitutable: Could be substituted with another method of implementation of the service (i.e. website/virtual form)       3. Little/no cost to produce V aluable: Would not cost company anything/ no major consequences of product R are: It would depend on how you market and produce the product I nimitable: Could be copied in an inexpensive manner N on-substitutable: Cannot be substituted       4. Strong social media presence  V aluable: Would make mar...

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? The book highlights two major mindsets that people possess. The first is the fixed mindset, described as one that accepts predetermined abilities, talents, skills, and aptitudes, whether they have truly been proven or not. The other, called the growth mindset, believes that these traits are not fixed and can be cultivated, learned, and developed through effort and knowledge. Ultimately, your transformation from a fixed to a growth mindset leads to behavioral changes and opportunity in all aspects of life. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?  This book, in my opinion, relates to the aspect of this course that exemplifies the development of an opportunity and the steps needed to create one. I have learned in this class that being successful more so comes from your experiences and connections than your predetermined skills and accomplishments. This book ...

1. You? I am a general business major with a specialization in statistics and an actuarial science minor. I am involved with many organizations on campus as well as working as a certified personal trainer. I aspire to help others improve their mental and physical health through fitness. I also am eager to gain invaluable entrepreneurial skills through taking and completing this course.   I aspire to create a program within a given company that matches gym members with 'buddies' to train with as well as keep as an accountability partner. As a personal trainer and someone with a passion for fitness, I see this business perfectly fitting into my lifestyle and my goals. I want my clients as well as any gym member to feel acclimated and comfortable in a gym setting so they will continue purchasing the membership. 2. What are you offering to customers? I will solve the unmet need of gym intimidation by offering a service in which members of a given gym will fill out a survey bas...

My prototypical customer is most likely your average sedentary working class person. They are someone who works a 9-5 and spends their free time taking their kids to soccer practice, watching CNN, cooking frozen pizzas and going out for drinks with friends on the weekends. They usually bring a peanut butter and jelly to work, if they are even organized enough to bring a lunch that day. Otherwise, it's a Chick-fil-a #7 with a large sweet tea. This person is what you would consider "skinny fat". They don't look "fit" and are not in great cardiovascular health. They have a gym membership but go very intermittently. They will go when the start feeling crappy about their body and then stop once satisfied with the minimal results they achieve. They're uneducated about nutrition and repeat the same cardio machines while watching Chicago Fire on the TV. I see my customer repeating this process over and over, leaving an endless cycle of weight loss and weight...

Interview 1: When she realizes she has the problem, she normally settles with home workouts as they are not intimidating and are more convenient. When walking into a gym environment, comfortability and inclusiveness is the most important factor for her to continue going. She said that price also plays a role in this decision, but it is not as heavily weighted as she prefers to be comfortable. She is more likely to buy in person with conversational persuasion. She will most likely use her personal expenses to fund the decision. She said what matters most on the 'rightness' of the purchase is her feelings toward going to the gym and the removal of the element of fear. She wants the gym to feel like a privilege and somewhere she is excited to go. She believes the purchase would be a bad idea if she did not get matched with a suitable gym partner or was not approached by other employees. Interview 2: When he realizes he has the problem, he puts headphones in and listens to music...

Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson 1. What surprised me the most was the reasoning for the title 'Apple'. Not only does this come from Jobs' satisfaction with apples at the time the name was due, but also the simplicity behind an apple as a symbol. Most importantly, this became the name because Apple comes before Atari in the phone book, as Jobs' previously worked for this company and didn't want his competitor to show up first in the phone book. This reminded me of what we discussed in class about website title importance for Google search results and how that reflects awareness. I admired Jobs' confidence to go against the normal during his time of getting a college education and doing well in school, all while becoming one of the most well-known entrepreneurs to this day. He was extremely determined and was unaffected by his multiple failures. He had a viewpoint on life called a "reality distortion field", in which no matter the challenges, i...

1. I have used the behaviors of consistent reflection and awareness to my everyday life and surroundings in order to understand buyer behavior and the elements of entrepreneurship explained in the course. I have learned to communicate with various types of people relevant to assignments and how to properly interview those people. I have gained critical thinking skills thinking deeper and thinking differently throughout the course of this class. 2. I felt like "giving up" when I was unable to find an opportunity that I felt passionate and confident about at first. I was able to "pull through" this issue by expanding my realm of ideas and writing down all my thoughts, regardless of the relevance. From this, I was able to gather all my thoughts and form an opportunity I felt confident about. I feel like my attitude towards identifying opportunities and understanding the entrepreneurship process has certainly strengthened from this course. I can now better understand ...

Segment:  The segment I chose is those of all ages new to the gym or new to a specific gym membership (3 months or less). I did not confine this to a specific location or gym. Interviews: Person 1 Female, age 49 Need awareness: She experiences this need whenever she enters her new gym alone, which is 90% of the time. She feels intimidated going alone because many people at her gym are experienced and "look really buff". She also mentioned her own confusion with some of the equipment and feels equipped on her own. She would prefer to workout with a partner but cannot find someone who will go with her, as she trains before work early in the morning. She also does not have the financial means to purchase a package with a personal trainer.  Information search: She often will skip certain machines that she is uncertain of how to operate or will finish a workout early if she feels intimidated or if the gym is filled with people. Sometimes, she will skip a workout entirely...