28 A

I would expect to exit this business within the next five years. I don’t know that I would be selling it to anyone for a large return but rather trusting someone else to run it as I pursue a career in sports which is my true passion. I have chosen this exit strategy because it will give me enough time to really get the business rolling but allow me to move on to my real love of sports. I believe this strategy has helped me make my decisions throughout the semester. I never wanted to create something that I could do forever because of my dream to work for a sports team. It has helped me see this as an immediate opportunity and once the idea is in place I will no longer be needed. 

26A Celebrating failure

This past semester I failed a few times with my focus and time management. I often times find myself telling others that I love to learn but I’m not built for school. I love to learn on my own and work on my own schedule. Sometimes I work ahead and other times I procrastinate. A few times this semester I would start an assignment and forget that I didn’t finish it. Most notably for myself was just before Thanksgiving. I was excited for break so I lit up a cigar on my back porch with the intent of taking a quiz and celebrating the near end of the semester. My computer couldn’t connect to the internet while I was outside. After finishing my cigar and turning my attention to cooking dinner I never got back to my quiz.

I learned again what I have learned many times, and that is that my mind races too much for me to remember everything. The crazy part is I can do many things at one time but not if schoolwork is one.

Failure is very hard at times and depending on the situation can be very embarrassing. I, like everyone else has failed many times in my life on both small things like a quiz and big things like being cut from my college baseball team. What I have learned is that small or big they are the same. When it is all done and you have fail you must make a decision to keep grinding to improve your situation or give up. When making this decision the big picture is most important. I had to make the choice to give up on my baseball playing career because I already beat the odds at my size for even making it to a college team. I had to look at the big picture and I decided to find success elsewhere in my life. I have learned that often times you learn more from failure than you do success. With my personality I only take calculated risks in my life.

25 A Whats Next ( Student Experience Services)

In the existing market I decided to interview three of my coworkers who find themselves in similar situations as myself. These are people that have been interviewed before and are believers in my concept. When refreshing them about my service idea they all seem to be thinking the same way. I told them that my goal was to implement this program at the University of Florida and they all said that my next step is to start this program all over the country.

Much like my interviewees I see this being a program that is nationwide. Universities and colleges all over the country have students in this situation. The issue that would arise is that the University of Florida would most likely have a much better chance of creating partnerships than some smaller colleges. Also many of the larger universities have a large network already that can be accessible for this idea.

With that said this program would find the most success at the larger universities that already have a pre-existing network to tap into. What makes the most sense to me is not trying to scale too quickly. I believe it will be easier to learn from mistakes if they are only made in one place rather than hundreds. Reaching out to other large Florida universities would come next then spreading throughout the country.

Because of the nature of this service it is difficult to find a radically different market. The next market to reach out to would be high schools. Many high school students are trying to find what they want to do as they grow older but don’t have many opportunities to try it.

I interviewed to high school students to find out their feeling about this market. I actually ended up interviewing them twice. My reason for this was that the interviewees are busy students, one a cheerleader and the other a football player. At first they had a little bit of interest but realized that their busy schedules wouldn’t work with the idea so I adjusted it. I made the adjustment to make this a summer program and they were much more interested.

Prior to this assignment I had already eliminated high school students as a market. I did so because some of the feedback from fellow students. They were right. But with the adaptations I made I believe they are a market that can benefit from this service. I was very surprised that the two students were willing to give up their summer for an internship program with no money.

I think that the main reason this can be successful in high school is because it is reward based. The reward for this to the student is they receive community service hours that can be beneficial to getting into college when the time comes. Finding the most success in high schools is still a work in progress but does have potential to be another market for the service.

24A Venture Concept 1

This idea came to me as a senior student that needs to secure an internship in order to graduate. Although this is very common it can be difficult to attain one that is meaningful. It is also uncommon to get paid for these internships. As a Sport Management major my opportunities for internships fluctuate depending on the semester because different sport seasons are taking place. It became apparent to me that this was going to be a stressful process and I wanted to find out if others were in the same situation.

Opportunity: Through many interviews and seeing many friends go through the same issue I realized this was an opportunity throughout the college community. I found many senior who are in a scholastic program that requires the student to independently find an internship, and I have also found students who have limited choices of internships. Since internships can help springboard someone into their career path it is important that they have choices and opportunities that will push them in that direction. The market for this opportunity is incredibly large and replenishes itself every year. Since most students are doing this independently of the university there is no loyalties in which we would have to compete.

Innovation: The way this service is designed to work is to create partnerships between the universities and outside businesses to plug in feeder programs to these businesses. These internships that are supported by the partnerships will have and application process much like scholarships do. The idea is that these partnerships will create a more effective and efficient way to get students the experience they need while also thrusting them into the workforce. Unlike most products and services, this is no created to be monetized. We are not selling this service but rather finding a way to benefit all parties.

Venture Concept: This service will help eliminate some of the stress of finding and internship for college students. Since we are a new concept we will only need to help students realize that we are more efficient than them doing this own their own. We do not have to get them to switch from something else. Although we do not have a product to package we will need to educate students on our system. In teaching the students about how our partnerships are beneficial to them they will want to use our service.

The secret sauce of this venture is that I want this to benefit the students. We will be hard to copy because I don’t want this to become a service that causes students to reach deeper in their pockets to finish school but rather use the partnerships between university and business to benefit everybody.

The next step for this service is to expand into high schools in a similar concept but yet still different. What I mean by that is that many students in high school are unsure of their future major, and with this our program will help them narrow it down and gain experience. Rather than getting paid they will receive community service hours while gaining the experience which will also help with when applying for colleges.

For myself I honestly don’t know if I see myself as an entrepreneur. I would love to get this program off the ground so it can help students all over the country. After that I hope to work for either a baseball or football team. I one day would love to be a coach or GM.

22 A

https://youtu.be/Gk6iFjkV-8U

I really am enthusiastic about this, hopefully the mono-tonality doesn't throw every body off. Than you for the continuous feedback.

23A

Demand

V: Yes, there is a large number of college students that need this program.

R: Yes, as of now there aren’t any similar services that I know of.

I: Maybe, this seems like it will be a first to market idea and could possibly be imitated

N: Yes, there aren’t any programs that can replace this right now.

Large Target Market

V: Yes, there is a large market of internship eligible seniors throughout the country.

R: No, this market would be large to anyone with a similar product.

I: No, the market and its size is not singular to our product

N: Yes, The market will always be made of those in need of internships.

Target Market Consistency

V: Yes, The market is always there which allows the product to keep working.

R: Yes, most products have a life cycle but I feel like this service is always relevant

I: Yes, I don’t know of any markets that always stay consistent and always have consumers

N: Yes, it will be very hard for any other product or service to have the same consistency

 Growing Target Market

V: Yes, there are always students in need and with expansion to juniors in college as well the market will double.

R: Yes, most services don’t have the ability to have a growing market

I: Maybe, some products can expand to reach out and expand their market

N: Maybe, This doesn’t seem like a resource that can be substituted.

For the People Attitude

V: Yes, this service is based on giving students something they need for little to no cost.

R: Yes, most products and service are made for profit but this is not.

I: Maybe, this type of attitude can be imitated but is not usually.

N: Yes, I don’t believe there is another resource that can replace this attitude with similar effects

Passion

V: Yes, all successful ideas require passion to drive them forward

R: No, passion for a product or service is very common

I: No, it is easy for somebody else to show passion in the same way that I do.

N: Maybe, I believe that passion can be much underrated.

Large Network Through Universities

V: Yes, the large networks that universities have are perfect for this idea.

R: Yes, most product ideas don’t have a built in network to use

I: No, although a great resource anyone appealing to colleges would also have those networks

N: Yes, networks can be built but it is better to have one already in place.

Free Advertising

V: Yes, eliminates a huge expense

R: Yes, this product has free advertising because it becomes a school program only for students at that university so there isn’t any advertising costs.

I: Yes, most if not all products require marketing and ads to create interest.

N: Yes, no other resources can provide free advertising

No Production Cost

V: Yes, this is a service and not a product so there is no money being spent in production

R: No, most services don’t require production of anything

I: No, anyone trying to create a similar service will avoid production costs as well

N: Yes, no other resource would help eliminate production cost

Me

V: Yes, I believe that I can make this a successful idea better than anyone else

R: Yes, there may be others like me but there is only one me

I: Maybe, I don’t think that I can be imitated but maybe.

N: Maybe, Someone similar to me that thinks like me may bring value like myself

I want to create a second to none internship experience in which graduate hopefuls can be paid for meaningful field work. I want to rid of the idea of working for just the experience alone. I also want this internship program to allow for more opportunities by building partnerships between universities and outside companies.

I believe that this idea has many great resources and some that aren’t so great. I believe the strongest is the for the people attitude I carry. I believe with a service like this it is most important and after a VRIN analysis it seems to be true.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

Innovation and Entrepreneurship 

Peter Drucker

1) The theme of this book was very similar to the theme of this class. It was all about what entrepreneurship, innovation and what each of those things are. The book was written in 1985 but many of the principles still apply today. This book also speaks to implementing successful entrepreneurial strategies.

2) This book connected on almost every level to ENT 3003 except maybe even a little more in depth. A main topic in this book that related to our class was that entrepreneurship is not a trait but rather finding a problem, and creating a solution that changes the problem to an opportunity. This hits ENT 3003 on the head. We have spent our entire semester so far taking those steps as they apply to our own problem. A couple other things mentioned in the book that made me immediately this of our course was little things like innovation needing to be simple and focused and that you cannot fix too many things at once.

3) I struggled with this question because the book is so similar to our course, and our assignments have been so well planned that it is hard to see what was missing. One thing I found interesting in the book is the mention of small business not being entrepreneurship. A group of assignments I would create for the beginning of the semester are ones that would involve creating a small business. The reason for this is because being wrong is a great way to learn. Being a great entrepreneur is much different than just creating a business and it seems important to me to be able to know and feel the difference because it involves different levels of thinking.

4) One thing that was a real ‘aha’ moment for me was the view on innovation. Most importantly that innovation needs to be for the present rather than the future. Of course if it is successful it can leak into the future but that is not the purpose. This really got me thinking because you cannot predict the future. Also you cannot fix a problem before it occurs. I found it fascinating mostly because it is just so true. I watch the TV show Shark Tank all the time and see people get turned away because they are trying to sell the idea of the “future” but there is too many unknown factors. Now I see why more often those who have a solution to a current issue are more successful in the tank.

20 A It's Who You Know

Although I love this class and this assignment I wanted to use this networking opportunity as a way to benefit what I see as my actual future. I want to work in baseball and become a scout. In this industry just like many others it is about who you know rather than what you know. Hopefully this is acceptable.

1) Brian Parker, national cross checking scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has been in the scouting department of multiple organizations for over 15 years and is considered and expert in the field. For this assignment this is my domain expert. At my current job I am responsible for nearly 200 children. Out of those 200 there are two twin girls who happen to be Brian’s Daughters. The nature of our exchanges when it comes to baseball are very helpful. He has agreed to be a mentor to me through my baseball experiences. It is always great to have a person that is well known as a mentor. Not only can he share priceless knowledge with me but can also vouch for me when looking for a job.

2) Todd Silverman, Batting practice pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, former scout, former high school baseball coach, hitting instructor, and former college baseball player. Todd is my market expert. I have known Todd for many years. Growing up many of my friends received hitting lessons from him and he also was one of my coaches in high school. I chose him because he has been around the game for many years but in many different roles. I believe he represents the market well because he has seen it as a fan, a player, and a coach at many levels. Coach Todd has always been helpful to me as an aspiring scout. He has spread knowledge to me both as a player-coach relationship as well as a business relationship. He is important in my network because he is involved with the team I hope to work for and he also has a great reputation throughout the baseball world.

3) Kenny Reid, Baseball coach for over 20 years, and former collegiate baseball player. Kenny coaches baseball teams with players aged 14, 16, and 18. I chose him as the market supplier for this assignment. The reason for this is because he coaches the ages of players which I would be scouting. He sees players develop over the years and help supply college and professional baseball with prospects. He and other coaches like him are important in my market because they have great insight on the game and firsthand experience with the players that I hope to scout one day.

Recently I have been attacking the idea of networking but I have not really targeted it like I had to for this assignment. With this I have realized that having people in your network from different aspects of the market is very helpful.