Does the entrepreneur adequately understand their customers' problems? Where are the differences? Why might these differences exist. For the most part my entrepreneur does understand their customers problems because the only thing she sells is T-shirt and she is aware that people want other things. She also knows how to market on social media which is where the her customers come from. The difference between the two might exist because she knows her product and the others do not
1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?
I have heard of social lending clubs before but thought they were a joke. When reading that they raised $500 million dollars in the past 5 years makes me want to look into their platform.
2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I don't understand how social lending is so popular when only 10% of the ventures get funded.
3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
Why do people use it if the success rate is not that high?
How do you pay back the money to social lending companies? Is there one person who gives the money or is it a few people who give the money?
4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
Considering that this is not my sector of business I have nothing that I think the author is wrong about. I don't have another opinion because everything I've read here has been everything I've ever read. Some info is all together new for me therefore I had no prior knowledge and can not dispute the contents of this article
1)Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the
behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of
this course?
I had to remember to use (not develop because I already had
them) my planning skills and time management skills to make sure I kept up with
the due dates on all assignments. I also had to develop a no fear attitude to
be able to walk up to people and do interviews because they were videoed.
2)Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk
about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you
through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past
two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?
When I first started the class I was so unorganized! I was
missing assignments, I hadn’t brought my book and as a result I had an F in the
class. I don’t make F’s I am usually an A student. At first I thought I just
needed to drop the class and start over when I had more time. I later changed
my thinking and just realized that we make time for the things that are
important to us so no matter if I stopped now and started later I would have to
still schedule out my time. I looked over my grade, calculated what I had
missed, calculated extra credit, and realized that if I don’t miss another
assignment, I can still make an A! I made that promise to myself and I have
been doing just that.
3)Three tips. What are three tips you would
offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support
tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset’?
-Don’t take the fact that assignments are only
worth 1 or 2 points as a way to not push forward and do your assignments.
Missing too many of these assignments will put you in a position to fall behind
on your work
-Learn to have a no fear attitude! Walking up to
people and asking them to be on camera can be scaring but it only last for 30
seconds. Its ok to get a No
-Take in all of the lessons and exercises. The exercises
that we are doing are growing you in the areas of entrepreneurship
What kind of people will you approach? Just random people waiting to be seated
What will you say to get the conversation started? Hi, can I give you a dollar
What is your plan for the conversation? I'm really just going to walk up and say, hey here is a dollar and see what they say. I think it will be funny
Out of five attempts, how many dollar bills do you think you will be able to give away. I think I can give away all 5....I'm very convincing!
What are your reflections on this exercise?
It was funny! People just wanted to know why I wanted to give them a dollar
Was giving away a dollar easier or harder than you imagined?
Yes! I was so scared to walk up to people and give them money but it was still fun
Were your predictions correct or incorrect?
If they were incorrect, why?
Yes they were. It took me less than a minute to give the dollar away
What assumptions did you make about the people you planned to talk to, which were wrong?
I was worried that because they were at a bar that they would feel annoyed! They didn't, they were really receptive of what I was trying to do and thought it was funny too
1)What was the biggest surprise for you in the
reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different
from your expectations?
There really isn’t one thing that stuck out to me, I loved
the entire article. Being a person that is already in business, whenever you
see an article on marketing your ears perk up because you want to know how you
can get more exposure to your business. I do like the idea of not only looking
at age, race, and gender as your basis for who you market it.
2)Identify at least one part of the reading that
was confusing to you.
I pretty much get this entire article except for its relevance.
If for 40 years this has been going on, it has not hurt the people doing it, why
change it? I could see if it wasn’t working but it has been so I am confused as
to why we have to change anything
3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what
would you ask? Why?
A. you say that we should not base our marketing strategy on
age, gender, and race alone but on the values of a person. Why wouldn’t it be
based on age and values because as we get older our values change?
B. Why do not feel that race should be a huge factor in the
marketing idea? There are different things that are important to different
people based on where they come from. This shapes their minds therefore
wouldn’t we need to evaluate that?
4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about?
Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I think that the article was great but the big companies he
mentioned in the article are doing fine in their marketing strategies considering
that they are still big companies. What he is proposing may be a better idea
but it is not needed if things are working.
A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.
What stood out to me most from my feedback was the fact that people off camera were trying to really help me figure out how to do it! They loved the idea and thought that there should really be something out here just like it.
What did you change, based on the feedback?
I didn't change anything because I got no negative feedback. It was like people were waiting for the camera to go off to drill me about how I thought of it and what it would take too get started. The topic brought about lots of conversation of the idea and other things in the world.
1)What was the biggest surprise for you in the
reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different
from your expectations?
The thing that stood out to me the most was the substitute thing.
I thought that he was going to talk about competitors as the substitute for another
company but instead it was based on different ways to accomplish the same thing
a better way. I actually like the way he made this look
2)Identify at least one part of the reading that
was confusing to you.
The idea that the salient force is not always the obvious.
The word salient means most noticeable or important. I guess I don’t get why
that force wouldn’t be obvious.
3)If you were able to ask two questions to the
author, what would you ask? Why?
-Is there a formula to determine what the best route to take
in business i? Being that there is so much information here, it would be better
if there was some sort of way to make the decision process easier.
-In order to better see the Salient force what should I do? This
part of the article was very confusing to me and I know that a lot went into
the article therefore me getting the understanding from him would be easier
4)Was there anything you think the author was
wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
No I think that the article was
well written that all points were covered. It was tons of information and a lot
to digest in one sitting but other than that it was a good article.
1.My name is Bridgett and I am VERY good at
anything concerning problem solving and sells. I think the two go hand in hand
because you usually sell to people who need to satisfy a problem! In the
business world it is said to need at least 6 sources of income to live a
comfortable life. My aspiration for this product is because I realize that
cable bills are just too high. Also Cable is not my passion it, business is so
it will still be a big part of my overall wellbeing.
2.I am offering my customers to only pay for a
series of shows they watch for $12.99 a show. If they want the whole channel it
will be $15.99 per channel. This keeps down cable bills that are really too
high for the amount of television most people watch.
3.I want to target working class adults ages 23 to
45. The reason why is because this group works, pays their own bills, and doesn’t
really have time for television. They understand why paying a cable bill for
300 plus channels is CRAZY!
4.In this day and time EVERYONE wants to save
money! No wants to throw it away and if you are only watching television for 2
hours a week, paying $100 plus a month is not smart ( yet most of us do it ). I
am not taking anything from them with my business. They don’t have to resort to
not watching TV at all, just paying for what you watch.
5.There are other services out there like Hulu, Net
flicks, and Amazon is on the rise. What makes me different is, you don’t have
to wait for the show or the series to air, you can watch it as it comes on as
if you had cable! Nobody else has that
I think the 5 elements go very well together. It makes your
idea stronger because it forces you to look at what it is you are trying to
accomplish. It makes you question just about every part of it to see if what
you are doing is really going to work and if it is needed.
I believe that paying for 300 channels on cable is dumb! You
may only watch 2 to 3 channels at most. If people were able to buy just the
channels they watch or the series of a show they watch, it would make more
sense. I would charge $12.99 per series and $15.99 per station.
2)Fine tune the "who."
a.The people I wanted to talk to were working Americans
between 24 and 35 because these people mostly like have jobs and live on their
own therefore the cost of cable directly affects them.
3)Tweaking your interview questions.
a.Do you work
b.What do you do when you get off of work
c.How much television do you watch
d.How many channels on cable do you have
e.How much is your cable bill
f.For the channels/ time you watch television, do
you think that your monthly cable bill is worth it?
g.If you could pay to watch just a channel or a
show series at the time that it airs for 12.99 would you do it?
4)Go talk to customers!
a.I talked to 5 working Americans ages 21 to 35
who either had cable or didn’t
5)Tell us what you learned about the opportunity
a.I learned that NO ONE is happy with the price of
cable and that everybody said they would do it
6)Tell us what you learned about interviewing
customers.
a.You have to always be ready for the answer to
not be what you expected it to be. If you try to just go by a script it won’t
seem natural
Advise for new Students: STAY ON TOP OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS
1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?
Considering that I work with Start Ups daily I try and tell my customers that building a brand ( not just starting a company) means to set yourself apart to where paying YOUR price does not bother a customer because you offer something no other competitor offers. The phrase in the book, "Pricing becomes less of a problem when the customer sees the product as superior to its competitors." Proves my point perfectly
2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
profile analysis because it said it was a tool yet I don't see how to use it
3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
The author says that the initial investment is usually too low, what about people who think that the initial investment is too high? Do you recommend they try and find what they need for cheaper.
In the profitability equation you have the denominator I terms of the year. What if one wanted to evaluate the progress in months? How would they go about doing so?
4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
In the business world time is Calu aged differently. For example an over night success takes about 10 years when I read the following statement: "No product is instantaneously profitable, nor does its success endure indefinitely." I wondered if they really meant instantaneous or business instantaneous. A product being business instantaneous is VERY possible depending on the demand from the public
I think that most Americans waist money on cable. If you are a busy American you barely ever have time to watch television.
Out of the 300 channels you have, you may only watch 2 of them and they may last about an hour
That means that for $100 you are only using your television for 8 hours a month! That is not worth $100.
I came up with a business where you only have to rent the shows you watch for the full season! They are available when they come on as they would be with cable! The price is only $14.95 per show and you actually get to keep them stored on your devise for 6 months.
