Work Now, Play Later

1)   Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance What surprised you the most? Personally, I had no idea that Elon came from South Africa at the age of 17 years old. Moreover, he had exceptionally limited money and could barely feed himself. From there, he worked odd jobs in Canada and eventually signed up to go to school in Ontario, later switching to University of Pennsylvania. After reading this portion, I undeniably have more respect for Elon Musk as an individual and entrepreneur.  What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I would say I admire Elon's creativity and drive for greatness. Personally, I currently work for Boeing on the Starliner spacecraft for the NASA Commercial Crew Program - the program in which SpaceX is also contracted.  What about the entrepreneur did you  least  admire? His empathy for his employees I believe is severely lacking, from an outsider perspective. ...

1)  Tenaciousness is a competency.  Behaviors that I have undeniably used as well as developed in order to keep up with the requirements of the course are time-management, communication, and dedication. Since assignments are due at noon on either Friday or Monday afternoons, you have to manage your time effectively - especially depending on the assignment. Several assignments, if not the majority so far, have required conducting interviews. This is a time commitment that you must plan for ahead of time, you cannot just open up the assignment the night before for the first time. Moreover, communication is an essential tool and skill within the class - both written and verbal. Written communication is important when completing our posts as well as commenting on the posts of other individuals - if they cannot understand your idea from how you communicated, they cannot give you any valuable feedback. Verbal communication is exceptionally important when conducting interviews, ...

1) The segment I believe exists in my venture's market is the coffee segment.  2) Three identified people who fit my segment, all of which I interviewed.  Student and Customer at Starbucks at Library West #1 Student and Customer at Starbucks at Library West #2 Student and Customer at Starbucks at Library West 3  3) Beginning with Need Awareness Every individual stated that they normally are aware of this need when either standing in a long and slow line at Starbucks or when they order the same routine drink because they don't enjoy anything else. Additionally, two of them added that the specific time of day that they become aware of this particular need is in-between class periods on weekday mornings. This is when they have seen the longest wait at Starbucks consistently and added that "it's much shorter at Library West than Marston." 4) Moving to Information Search  5) Report of Findings of my Research  All of the identified people who fit...

1) Who I am.  I'm a third-year Marketing student here at the University of Florida. Moreover, I'm a military child who currently resides in Washington state but grew up overseas in Japan. I would say my talents encompass marketing data and analytics, photography, videography, graphic design, website development, and communications.  I've had various experiences both personally and professionally that would enable me to succeed in this endeavor. Professionally, I've had several jobs before and during my collegiate career. My first job was as a Sales and Marketing Associate at a local printing shop. Proceeding this, I had an Consulting and Accounting internship with another local company. My next and current two jobs are as a Co-Instructor for the Introduction to Business course (GEB2015) and a Career and Peer Mentor (CAP) for Business Career Services. Lastly, I have been working for Boeing as a Branding and Communications Intern for the past ten months.  As a rath...

This is my elevator pitch video for franchising a Whidbey Coffee on campus at the University of Florida. I also did not utilize a web-cam recording - I was standing in business attire, but my camera would not stay up right at a father distance. Moreover, due to the size of the video, it would not upload directly to Blogger. Therefore, please follow the YouTube link below. I hope you enjoy! https://youtu.be/xpg-O9mQI6U Elevator Pitch Script:  "Are you a student or faculty member at the University of Florida? Do you enjoy coffee? Where do you purchase it? Well the only place to purchase it on campus, Starbucks. On the University of Florida campus we have over 7  Starbucks across campus.  Are you tired of the same coffee selection and high costs? Limited to no seating availability?  Well wait no longer, because I am preparing to open a Whidbey Coffee franchise on campus! Whidbey Coffee is a well-known franchise within the Pacific Nor...

My Opportunity:  The opportunity that I have identified is  franchising a Whidbey Coffee shop, a well-known coffee company within the Pacific Northwest.  I believe this is a major opportunity to expand the variety and coffee prices available on campus for University of Florida students and faculty. Whidbey Coffee also includes specialty drinks, such as "Frozen Mochas" that are far beyond any products within Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks stores.  I decided to interview five more people outside of Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks facilities - which should encompass some individuals with the unmet need I have identified, but, for whatever reason, may not.  My previous who, what, and why from the previous activity are:  The who:  Coffee drinkers, University of Florida faculty, University of Florida students, Gainesville residents.  The what:  The University of Florida has sub-par and limited coffee selection.  The only coff...

1. My Opportunity  The opportunity that I have identified is  franchising a Whidbey Coffee shop, a well-known coffee company within the Pacific Northwest.  I believe this is a major opportunity to expand the variety and coffee prices available on campus for University of Florida students and faculty. Whidbey Coffee also includes specialty drinks, such as "Frozen Mochas" that are far beyond any products within Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks stores.  2. Identified Opportunity  The who:  Coffee drinkers, University of Florida faculty, University of Florida students, Gainesville residents.  The what:  The University of Florida has sub-par and limited coffee selection.  The only coffee on campus is Starbucks. The why:  This could be due to a contract with Starbucks and the University of Florida.  3. Opportunity Hypothesis  Testing the who: I believe everyone in my current 'who' shares ...

Opportunity #1- related to economic trends:  "Though he’ll never admit it, Trump is riding economic trends he inherited" A. Where did I find this opportunity?  On the  Washington Post website, which can be found at:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/04/though-hell-never-admit-it-trumps-riding-economic-trends-he-inherited/ B. What leads me to believe that this information suggests an opportunity might exist?  The article  initially  suggests that Donald Trump will leverage the economic trends of the lowest jobless rate in 50 years and the longest expansion on record as a " tail-wind" for his re-election campaign. In this article as well as many others, since he was  elected  and named President of the United States, have stated that he's "not riding favorable trends that predated him" but he claims "that the  economy  was awful  until  he saved it". Hence, the "Make America Great Again" marketi...

The Second-Most Important Part of Entrepreneurship... (1) Selected Opportunity:  The solution to the sub-par and limited coffee items at the University of Florida problem, which I have identified in the preceding exercises, would be a new coffee shop with specialty coffees such as "Frozen Mochas." (2) Product/Service:  I believe the best coffee shop to open to optimize success would be by franchising a Whidbey Coffee shop, a well-known coffee company within the Pacific Northwest.  I believe this is a major opportunity to expand the variety and coffee prices available on campus for University of Florida students and faculty.   Right now, people are walking off campus to Dunkin' Donuts and much farther for small-to-medium businesses with overpriced cover to meet this need now.