Week 8 Reading Reflection

I was surprised that some entrepreneurs invest up to one hundred thousand dollars in their own company.  That is a crazy amount of money and I'm not sure where an entrepreneur would have that much money to start up a business.

I was a little confused at what equity financing was.  I wasn't sure if equity financing was when the owner sold portions of his/her company to the bank to get out of debt or if the owner was exchanging stock is his own company for stock in another company.

A couple questions I would want to ask the author would be "With respect to money, is it a better idea to create your own company or invest your money in to another person's company?"  It seems like there are tons of costs to take into account when you are starting up a company and you may not profit for some time while on the other hand, I could just invest in another company and begin making profits right away.  My other question would be "What is the best way to pay off debt to the bank?"  I'm not sure if it would be better to pay off the bank monthly with interest included or just sacrifice one of my possessions to the bank in order to pay off the debt.

I don't really agree with the author that you would need 500K to 3 million dollars from an "angel" to pay for an up and coming business.  I believe that companies can make it through years of hard work and do not need "lucky money" from anybody.

Halfway Reflection

1) I have kept myself very organized so that I know when all of my assignments are due.  I have also been proactive in going out and taking the video recordings that are required for this course.  Also, I have been communicating with other classmates so that I make sure that I am meeting all of the requirements for the assignments for the class.

2) One moment that I felt like giving up was when I had two exams in one day and I still had to do two assignments for this class.  I pulled through by just staying diligent with my work.  This helped my complete the assignments.  I feel like I have developed somewhat of a more tenacious attitude over the past two months.  There is no specific experience that helped me develop this tenacious attitude, but the amount of assignments that have been given kind of force you to become more tenacious because you have to keep up with all of it and not get behind.

3) Three tips I would give to students taking this class next semester would be to do your work earlier than the due date, make sure you take your videos before the weekend because it is harder to find people to interview on the weekend, and stay organized so that you do not forget when your assignments are due.

 

Free Money

I will stand right outside of my house, which is near midtown, and start giving away the dollar bills.  I will try to approach males that are college students.  To get the conversation started all I am going to do is simply ask them how their day is going.  My plan for the conversation is to tell the person that somebody had given me a dollar today and I just wanted to pay it forward.  I think that I can successfully give away 5 out of 5 dollar bills.

To be honest, I didn't really think that this exercise had anything to do with this class but I didn't seem to have any issues completing it.  Giving away a dollar was easier than I imagined because I originally thought that people would think it was a weird thing to do.  My predictions were correct.  I made the assumption that people wouldn't want to talk to me and I would really have to sell my idea, but I really didn't have an issue giving away the dollar bills to any of the people I talked to.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

The feedback that I got back from Elevator Pitch No. 1 was that my product was a great idea and that my pitch was very good.  I didn't get any "silly" feedback from anybody.
I didn't really change much about my pitch because everybody seemed to think that it was pretty good.  The only thing I really changed was some of the wording in my pitch.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

I was surprised that substitutes, items that are bought used rather than new, were such a big problem for corporations.  I thought that through the advancement in the technology of the company's product, the company would easily be able to sell their new products to their new customers.

I was a little confused when the author said that advanced technology is not enough to attract customers to the company's product.  I thought that the more advanced the technology, the more attractive the product would be to customers.  When I see a commercial on TV about a product that is "futuristic" per say, I want to buy that product more than I would want to buy a product that is on the same technological level as everybody else.

I would want to ask the author "Is it necessary for every company to have a lobbyist to communicate and help change policies in government?"  I'm just curious if paying a lobbyist to get policies changed in the area of the product is always necessary no matter what field the product is in.

I would also want to ask the author "What is the best method of stimulating interest in the company's new products and making them more attractive then the company's much cheaper substitutes?"  It seems that substitutes are a big problem for larger companies nowadays.  I was just curious how a company can get its customers to buy their new products when there are so many of it's old products out in the market that are already very functional.

I don't agree with the author that if the item is perishable, it's cost is going to decrease.  Fruits and vegetables are some of the most perishable products in the market but they are still relatively expensive versus other products in the grocery store.  I don't think that an item being perishable will affect the price at all.

Interviewing Customers No. 3

The questions that I am going to ask my customers are "What problems did you have the last time you went to the library?", " Do you think that my product could help solve some of those problems?", and "Could you see my product being implemented in college libraries around the country?"

I learned that many UF students have the same problems while they are at the library.  Most of these students go to Marston to study and have issues finding an open table near a power outlet.  I was surprised that the customers all liked my idea and didn't seem to find any problems with it.  I expect that my idea will get a little more attention and might even become reality as a result of these interviews.

Idea Napkin No. 1

My name is Jonathan Kigel.  Some of my talents are that am I am good at playing sports and that I am very good at playing video games.  Some of my skills are that I am very good at talking to people, I am pretty good at thinking outside of the box, and I am good at thinking on feet.  I have worked in several different professional environments such as hospitals and research labs with teachers and graduate students.  Some of my aspirations are that I hope to be a successful business man by selling a product that is feasible and useful to my customers.  I can see this business becoming my priority in life which means that I will have to put a lot of time into it.  I hope that it will thrive and flourish.

My product is called the Magnetable.  You would literally just place your phone or laptop on a table and the table would begin to charge these items immediately without any chargers. 

My customers would primarily be students at various universities around the country.  These Magnetables would be placed in libraries so that students would not have any trouble finding an open outlet or have to return home early because they forgot one of their chargers.

Customers would pay money to use my product because it would save them a lot of time and energy.  Time is everything nowadays and customers do not want to waste it for no reason.  My customers would be very happy because of the convenience of my product.

I am extremely personable and friendly which makes me very easy to talk to.  I do not press my ideas in your face and pressure you like some business man.  I earn people’s trust and then I convince them why they should believe in me and my product.

I think that all five elements fit together for my product.  It is a very good idea and could definitely be put into use in the real world.  I am very good at selling my idea to others and my product would be very useful so I would expect it to sell itself without me even talking that much.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

One thing that surprised me in the chapter was that competitors were not one of the bigger external problems experienced by entrepreneurs.  I would think that many entrepreneurs have issues selling their products because somebody else is selling the same thing.  Those two companies would end up splitting the profits from the product and both businesses might be at risk of being low on money.

It was a little confusing to me when I was trying to distinguish the difference between cash flow in a company and having adequate capitol.  Both of those were described as internal problems experienced by entrepreneurs, but they both sound so similar.

In order to make the company more efficient, should a new entrepreneur hire a manager with experience to run the company or just run the company by himself/herself?  I'm not sure if I have the managing skills to take on the whole load of the company by myself so I'm not sure if it would be a better idea to hire somebody with experience to help me manage the company.

How much time should be put into developing a product vs. actually selling a product?  I'm not sure if it would be a better idea to sell the product that you already have and then using some of those products into product development or if it is a better idea to make a product that is the best that it can possibly be and then start selling it to the public.

I don't feel that the author was right about the location of the entrepreneur being one of the biggest external problems that the entrepreneur faces.  I think that most entrepreneurs figure out what their idea is by seeing a market for it and most of the time the market is right around the area that they live. Location seems like it could be a problem but I don't think that it is one of the biggest problems that an entrepreneur has to face.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Students go through struggles everyday when they go to the libraries on UF campus.  They forgot their chargers to their laptops and phones at home or just can't find an outlet. Well I have the solution ladies and gentlemen.  My company's name is Kigel and Kigel Incorporated and we have just invented the Magnetable.  The Magnetable is designed to charge all of your electronics without the use of a charger or outlet.  All you would have to do is place your electronic device (phone, lap top, etc.) on the Magnetable and they would start charging within seconds.
Here's my pitch: