30A

This semester, and specifically this course, has taught me a lot about myself. I found that I am able to be creative, and that being an entrepreneur is a possibility in my future. I have discovered that all great businesses do fail, and that it takes a lot of work to become successful. After coming up with my idea, I decided that I would make it work one day, and try as hard as I can to never fail.

29A - Venture Concept No.2

This was my initial blog post for Venture Concept number 1:

""Millie and Willie Cafe"

My venture concept solves a problem that people always think about, but never act upon. If you have a dog, you will know what I mean. Often times, I struggle to bring my dog places because she is not a "service dog" or anything like that. However, I honestly want to bring my dog places in order to socialize her, and to let her enjoy life just as much as I do. I can not do that in our current coffee shops/food providers. With my idea, I would like to provide dog owners with the ability to provide their pets with an enjoyable time while they do as well. This would cause a problem though: the FDA does not allow pets to be indoors where companies serve hot food. This would be avoided with my idea, as I would separate the food/beverage side from the pet friendly side. People would be able to grab their coffee/snack in room 1 while they hang out in room 2 with their puppies/other animals. Millie and Willie cafe would allow people to both, to do things they have never imagined possible. People would be able to bring their pets in, and hang out, study, converse, or socialize with others while having their dogs run and do the same things in the same building. This is a great way to socialize a nervous pet, or to bring a puppy around others so they grow up friendly. It is also great for those that are unsure of owning a pet - they are able to enter the pet section, see their behaviors, and evaluate whether or not they are ready for a dog. Essentially, this idea only provides positives, not negatives. This business will soar in urban areas where dogs are fairly common, with a culture that people want to bring their pets everywhere. We would also host events like adoption events, private birthday parties, and other such things. This is a great business idea with even better opportunity in the changing, more pet-friendly, United States.  The forces in this environment are that people want to bring their pets around more."

After reading the feedback that I saw, I did not see the need to change anything. Many of the people who commented wished me the best of luck and thought that the idea was flawless. Yes, there may be errors or other logistical items to consider, but overall this idea appears to be pretty solid and I am sticking to it!

28A Your Exit Strategy

I personally do not think that with my business, I would have an exit strategy. Starting my business would come as a "retirement" for me after my few years in investment banking. I plan to start this business to provide myself with sustainable cash flow, while also enjoying myself by being around dogs and serving clients. I would plan to start with one location, and probably expand it to about 5-10. After I hit that mark, I would most likely keep the business at a mature level. When I retire, I would plan to give my business to my children, or sell to an outside buyer.

I selected this particular strategy because this business would be my passion. I could not think of a better way to spend my days than owning a dog cafe, serving animals and people. I want to be able to provide pets and people with a great, hybrid location where both parties can enjoy themselves in a safe, comfortable environment. Exiting early to gain a profit does not seem like a decision that would be in my best interest.

I think that the idea of an exit strategy was something that helped me come to this idea. When considering a good business idea, I thought of this. And, I thought that I wanted to something a bit slower than my investment banking job that I will have out of college. With the amount of capital I will have after working for a few years, I thought that this would be a safe investment that would provide to be successful in areas that I am interested in living in.

27A Reading Reflection No. 3

I read Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky. He  is a NYU professor that focuses on internet research and the effects on the population.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The author discusses cognitive surplus. This concept exhibits how the extra time that people have leads to the increased sharing online and productivity. As people increase the quality of their work-life balance, they go to the internet with their extra time, leading to an increase in content creation. Shirky explains the four types of sharing (communal, personal, public, civil) with a multitude of examples. Below are the following examples of communal and personal:

Communal - buying and selling furniture on an online marketplace that is local to the specific area.

Personal - displaying personal content, ex pictures of oneself, on social media.

Shirky describes that public and civil are two very important themes. Examples of these are:

Public - when people go on Reddit and create content for other people to read and interact with

Civil - crowdfunding resources to provide supplies for a Christmas toy drive.

Shirky spends a lot of time focusing on benefits that civil sharing provides to society as a whole. The main theme of this book is that cognitive surplus is powerful, in that it continues to impact a number of different things as cognitive surplus increases. However, people should spend more time outside or exercising cognitive surplus and less time on the couch to contribute to a continuously improving society 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

Cognitive surplus relates to this course because of the new issues companies should be aware of when starting. They should have awareness to environmental, societal, and governmental impacts. In order to survive in today's business environment, profit alone will not keep the company afloat - one needs to understand the public and civic impacts. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

If I were to make a new exercise for the class, I would have them write a blog post about what their societal impacts would be of their business. It is essential for entrepreneurs to think about this before they start their business. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

Everyone always talks about how bad social media and the internet is for society. I thought that it was very surprising how Shirky thought the opposite. Who knew that someone would prove that it could actually improve life? I like that I can put screen time towards improving my career.

26A - Celebrating Failure

Every semester has its ups and downs. Typically, I see myself conduct one huge failure per semester, whether it be a forgotten assignment, missed deadline, or problems with my students as a TA. This semester, I have had a few failures in my courses. For some reason, I keep forgetting to submit my CAPSIM assignments for International Business, and I have been failing to submit some of my assignments for this course. I usually do not forget assignments, but I keep failing to take the time to do the cupcakes and end up taking the grade hit on them. I have learned a great amount about myself this semester, and how effected I am by my incapability to complete assignments on time. I learned that I am not the type of person to do things late, and that I need to get myself back together and start being more productive. Going forward, I am making an effort to be proactive about my studies, and to make sure my work is turned in on time. 

Failure is a lack of success. However, even though failure is embarrassing, and awful, it is a great way to learn. When you fail, you can learn what you did wrong and how to do it better next time. I think it is better to completely fail on something, and do it better next time, then to do it kind of right and then just be average. In any business, things will go wrong, and the owners will fail at least once. The only thing you can do is just move forward and learn from these failures.

24A. Your venture concept number 1

"Millie and Willie Cafe"

My venture concept solves a problem that people always think about, but never act upon. If you have a dog, you will know what I mean. Often times, I struggle to bring my dog places because she is not a "service dog" or anything like that. However, I honestly want to bring my dog places in order to socialize her, and to let her enjoy life just as much as I do. I can not do that in our current coffee shops/food providers. With my idea, I would like to provide dog owners with the ability to provide their pets with an enjoyable time while they do as well. This would cause a problem though: the FDA does not allow pets to be indoors where companies serve hot food. This would be avoided with my idea, as I would separate the food/beverage side from the pet friendly side. People would be able to grab their coffee/snack in room 1 while they hang out in room 2 with their puppies/other animals. Millie and Willie cafe would allow people to both, to do things they have never imagined possible. People would be able to bring their pets in, and hang out, study, converse, or socialize with others while having their dogs run and do the same things in the same building. This is a great way to socialize a nervous pet, or to bring a puppy around others so they grow up friendly. It is also great for those that are unsure of owning a pet - they are able to enter the pet section, see their behaviors, and evaluate whether or not they are ready for a dog. Essentially, this idea only provides positives, not negatives. This business will soar in urban areas where dogs are fairly common, with a culture that people want to bring their pets everywhere. We would also host events like adoption events, private birthday parties, and other such things. This is a great business idea with even better opportunity in the changing, more pet-friendly, United States.  The forces in this environment are that people want to bring their pets around more.

23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

I think that my business will provide a great amount of "staying power". My business model is one that few have thought of previously, and that almost no one has actually executed. There are quite a few resources that it provides that many companies do not, and they include:
- The ability to bring dogs indoors without question
- The ability to connect with friends while pets are around/available
- The ability to purchase pet retail products while enjoying food and beverages
- The ability to provide pets with a welcoming environment without a leash
- The ability to ensure my dog will enjoy an afternoon coffee session as much as I do
- The ability to make friends with new dog owners
- The ability to study while my pet socializes with others in a safe environment
- The ability to remain indoors, with my pet unleashed, in harsh weather conditions
- The ability to enjoy coffee and a snack whether or not I am a dog owner
- The ability to do homework in a calm setting while pets are enjoying themselves

VRIN
Valuable: People will be able to value time with their pets while also enjoying time spent studying, socializing, or doing other things
Rare: Not many places allow people to bring pets indoors while also enjoying hot foods and beverages
Imitable: Many people will not be able to recreate this because of the legalities included
Non-Substitutable - Places like Starbucks are not allowed to bring pets indoors because they serve hot food, and require all pets to be service animals. I think that this business model will allow everyone to bring their pet in.

My top resource is how rare it is. Not many people can create this business, but those who do will see it to be successful. It is important because you need to engage the customer in whatever they do, and allowing pets to come offers a special satisfaction that is rarely heard of.