Final Reflection

I'm not going to lie, at the start of the semester I was pretty jazzed about this class being blog-based because I love using my technical and creative skills. After putting all of the *many* due dates into my iCal, I started out pretty high strong with my first couple of blog posts. I found the material to be very engaging and interesting and I was determined to never miss an assignment. Then life happened. I found myself doing the assignments last minute because of my 18 credit work load, plus my university involvement and on-campus job. That didn't work out in my favor when there were assignments due that involved videos or interviews with other people. However, overall I did the best I could and now I can spell entrepreneurship without using spellcheck! 

My most joyous experience with this class was realizing I knew an entrepreneur all along! One of our first assignments was to interview an entrepreneur and I was absolutely stumped. I sincerely thought I didn't know anyone who classifies themselves as an entrepreneur. Then, as I was sitting at my desk at work, it hit me. An entrepreneur was sitting not but four feet away from me: my supervisor! I had a wonderful, enriching experience interviewing my supervisor who started his own storytelling video production company and he was more than excited to be the interviewee! 

I don't really see myself as an entrepreneur. I definitely can get into the entrepreneur mindset of cultivating new ideas and figuring out ways to implement them effectively.  However, I can say that I now have a new level of respect for entrepreneurs! Entrepreneurs are creative and intelligent individuals who want to make the world a better place. 

For future students taking this course: BE MINDFUL OF THE DUE DATES AND WHAT EACH ASSIGNMENT ENTAILS. Also, make your blog look really snazzy -- it's not that hard. Have fun, be creative, and make time for this course! It's very beneficial. 

Thank you for a great semester! 

Week 15 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in this week's reading was the part about developing your entrepreneurial creativity. Personally, I consider my creativity to be more technical and crafty. While I love graphic design, video editing, and hand lettering I often have a difficult time thinking of innovative ideas, so I felt at ease to read that there are a other ways to enhance my creative talents as an entrepreneur.

What I found most confusing was the "creative exercise" on page 134. The activity tells you to look at a list of items and to write down every use for the item you could think of. This task proved to be quite the head-scratcher because at first glance the items are all random and quite frankly, useless. However, after taking some time to read through the list and really think about the item's potential uses, the exercise finally made sense.  The activity's purpose was foster creativity in normality. 

I would ask for the author to clarify the four areas of innovation. What are the distinctions, and where do you even start? Are you supposed to know which area you are before you go in, or do you begin innovating and see which area you fit best in?

The part of the reading I disagree with most would be the title for the sub-article "Terrorism Ignites Innovation." Although the article did take a nice twist on how we can make the best out of unfortunate situations, I feel like the title could be less blunt, harsh, and seriously triggering. It's unnecessary and the author could've taken a different approach in explaining this concept. 

Experience Portfolio

Venture Concept No. 2

Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

• My revenue drivers lie in the variety of products I offer. Customers can purchase hand lettered quotes on either canvas (to be hung) or cardstock (to be framed) and both options have customizable color options. The background and font colors can be requested by the customer. 

Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

• I think the next product I should be offering according to what my customers want would be customizable hand lettered art. I should take requests from customers, hand lettering THEIR favorite quotes. 
• I could also offer my hand lettered art on different mediums such as pillows, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and more! 

Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

• By offering 100% customizable hand lettered art prints, customers can fall completely in love with what they are purchasing and feel more connected to it. I would agree it definitely promotes customer loyalty because I would be giving "the people" exactly what they want/request! I would be investing more time into making these new, customizable art prints but they would be well-received by the customers.
• If I offered my hand lettered art on different mediums I would be investing more into my entrepreneurial venture because I would need to outsource my printing/manufacturing. I would need to find a vendor that would take my artwork and print it on t-shirts, coffee, mugs, pillows, etc. This would factor in an extra cost but the variation in products offered could possibly drive in more sales and happy customers. 

Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

• This product features a customized hand-lettered design on a pillow. 
• In the case of my entrepreneurial venture, I would generate hand lettered art prints that would be made onto canvases, card stock, pillows, t-shirts, coffee mugs, and more!
• http://www.amazon.com/Reading-lettered-Decorative-Pillow-Cushion/dp/B019GWHFV4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459125397&sr=8-1&keywords=hand+lettered+canvas

What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

• While this particular listing does not have any customer reviews, after searching related products, most of the reviews were rated three stars or higher. The only negative reviews were about how the product needs to be cared for. People want pillows they can put in the washing machine!

Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 

• I would make the pillow a slip cover so that it can be unzipped and machine washable. 

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

• I think this product would attract a consumer who maybe cannot hang anything up onto the walls of where they live due to certain restrictions given to them by their landlord, if they live in a college residence hall, or they would rather not have art hung onto their walls. This product just offers another form of the hand lettered art to be showcased. 

• Human capital: hand lettering skills
• My hand lettering skills are valuable because they are unique and they are also rare because it is fairly uncommon for individuals to know how to hand letter. For these two reasons my hand lettering skills are also inimitable because quite simply put: hand lettering is hard to copy without some intense and dedicated practice. The only other resource that can provide the same benefits are typography fonts. 
• Social capital: social media following 
• My social media following has accumulated over the past six years and it's become something individuals consider paying for instead of earning it themselves, which makes this fairly valuable. I wouldn't really consider this rare because, like I said, people can earn this with time or simply buy the followers and likes. This can absolutely be copied by others and the option of buying likes and followers can provide the same benefits. 
• Social capital: in real life 
• My real social capital is extremely valuable to be because it justifies my integrity. It would say MY personal social capital in real life is rare because it's unique to me, however, it can be copied by others in their own way. I don't believe any other resource can provide the same benefits as a strong network of people who mutually trust, appreciate, and support each other. 
• Financial capital: job and credit card 
• Having a job and a credit card are very valuable to my venture because it establishes a financial resource. It's not entirely that rare to have a job and a credit card at my age. This is pretty simple to copy, however, the only other way the benefits can be attained are via loans from banks or individuals. 
• Car: to go get supplies 
• Having a car is absolutely valuable to me and my business venture. However, again, it's not all that rare to have a car at my age and it's easily inimitable. The only other way to access the benefits of owning a car is simply just to have access to one. 
• Leadership capital: experience in leading organizationally 
• My experiences that have given me the opportunity to learn how to lead an organization are extremely valuable because they are unique to me. No one else has had the same exact experiences I've had, therefore, this makes this resource very rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable. 
• Human capital: organizational skills 
• Being organized is very crucial in any entrepreneurial venture, which makes my resource valuable. However, it's not rare nor inimitable because being organized sometimes comes natural to people, or in some cases it can be taught, learned, or outsourced to be someone else's responsibility which ultimately also makes it substitutable. 
• Human social capital: knowledge of creating a brand and brand presence in real life and online 
• I've learned these "resources" during my academic studies at the University of Florida, which makes it valuable to me and my entrepreneurial venture, but that does not make it rare nor inimitable because there are hundreds of other students studying the same things as I am. The only other resource that can provide the same benefits is studying the same exact thing at a different educational institution. 
• Human social capital: communication skills 
• In my opinion, my communication skills are valuable, rare, AND inimitable. This may not sound humble, but I'm being fairly honest with this one. I am constantly saddened by how so many individuals lack proper communication skills. I'm not saying my communication skills are perfect, but I am saying I've taken a big interest in making sure they are constantly improving. The only other way to reap the same benefits of great communication skills are to learn and practice how to communicate effectively. 
• Human social capital: passion 
• This resource is without a doubt valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable. My passion is my passion and no one else's. 

After conducting the VRIN analysis, my hand lettering skills are my top resource simply because I personally don't know anyone else who can hand letter like I do. It's often imitated, but never duplicated. Yes, there are individuals out in the world who have their own hand lettering business ventures but I would argue that the market is not saturated with it just yet. I've spent quite a lot of time perfecting my skill and it's the resource I'd say is my most valuable. A close second would be my passion. 

Going for Google Gold

I didn't employ anything special as far as SEO goes for my blog. I took a unique approach and named my blog something witty because I really can't spell entrepreneurship for the life of me.

My key words are "Erica," "Rego," and "Entrepreneurship." I chose them because those are the words most present in my blog. Also, my name is fairly uncommon so there's no confusion with another Erica Rego's Entrepreneurship blog.

I did not employ social media with my blog. My social media is strictly professional and reflective of my personality and brand. Not that entrepreneurship isn't part of my brand, I just know what my "following" wants to see from my social media outlets and it's definitely not this.

My most viral post was My Entrepreneurship Story: The Erica Bow. I believe it got the most traffic because it included real pictures of my product and it was one of my longer, more detailed posts.

Yes I did make it as the first listing on Google when you search my keywords! 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise I found in the reading is how effective marketing is based on the three key elements of marketing philosophy, market segmentation, and consumer behavior. According to the textbook, a new venture must integrate all three elements when developing its marketing concept and its approach to the market.

I was confused to read that competitive edge factors should be noted because many services are known to be competitive to each other.

Two questions I would ask the author:

• What is the true difference between marketing in entrepreneurship compared to marketing in anything else?
• Do environmental factors affect pricing strategies?In the reading I disagreed with the author about the marketing research process and how gathering secondary data is a step before gathering primary data. 

I thought the author was not fully correct when he claimed that a new venture will survive only if a market exists for its product or service. I believe new ventures can make their own product market.

Very Short Interview With Entrepreneur, Part 2

When I first was made aware of this assignment I was stumped; I was certain I didn't know of ANY entrepreneurs. I read over the assignment again a few days later while I was at work and tried to think (again) of any possible entrepreneurs I even remotely knew. Then it hit me: I did know one and he was sitting at the desk less than three feet away from me.

I'm going to tell you about a very inspiring individual. I've had the pleasure of working with Brandon Telg for the past two years. Brandon created quite the passion project called Self Narrate. Self Narrate helps individuals (and groups of individuals) tell their real life stories to empower them in understanding their experiences so that they can grow and learn (individually or together as a group). Self Narrate believes everyone has a story and they want to help you tell it.

Even though Brandon took a few entrepreneurship courses while he was in graduate school here at the University of Florida, he started off our conversation by saying, "I never thought I'd be doing this [Self Narrate]." After taking an interpersonal leadership class and was required, via an assignment, to "tell his story" in 20 minutes to his entire class, Brandon experienced the benefits of storytelling and realized his experiences mattered to someone else. He wanted other people to have the opportunity to feel what he felt when he shared his story, so he and a classmate began offering people all over campus $1 to tell their story. Brandon and his classmate discovered most people believed they didn't have a story worth telling. However, they did encounter a few people who, when they shared their stories, were relieved or reached an epiphany just because someone stopped to listen.

At the end of our conversation, Brandon revealed the one thing he wished he was taught in his classes before he became an entrepreneur. "I wish I was taught where to find clients!" he exclaimed. Brandon explained how it's difficult for him to develop his own unique client base because what he does is so specialized and different organizations want to use his services.

To conclude our conversation, I asked Brandon what his favorite quotes were:

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." - Maya Angelou
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche
This assignment made me realize entrepreneurs come in all different forms. Entrepreneurs are more than just individuals in suits trying to get you to buy the products they came up with. This is why it took me so long to realize that Brandon is an entrepreneur! Brandon is just like anyone else who has a big passion for something. However, Brandon isn't pushy for you to buy something from him. Brandon just wants to know your story because he's so passionate about storytelling. I think a great deal of entrepreneurs can learn something from Brandon and Self Narrate. Entrepreneurship is founded on, and fueled by, passion and thanks to Brandon, Self Narrate is a great example of just that.


Feel free to learn more about Self Narrate by visiting the following website:
http://www.selfnarrate.com/

Celebrating Failure

I failed for about 16 days this semester. It happened in January and I completely cracked. I was overwhelmed with the start of new classes, commitment to my involvement, and some other personal issues I was dealing with. I failed at keeping everything together. During those 16 days, it seemed as if I failed at something each day. From forgetting about an exam to being late to work, I was failing at life in general for 16 days. I would wake up with a tightness in my chest and the inability to breathe normally because I had so much anxiety that I was late to something or had to be somewhere at that time. Every email, call, and text I received sent my heart racing. I was on edge because I knew I had too much going on at once. 

I learned that spreading yourself too thin WILL LITERALLY TRY TO KILL YOU. I learned that it is not normal to wake up with difficulty breathing. I learned it is ok to say no to people and it is even more ok to ask for help when needed.

Failure absolutely sucks. The only good that comes with failure is what you learn from it. Thankfully I know now to take a step back and prevent myself from ever having another "16 days" situation. I handle failure in such a weird way. I don't like talking about it and I don't like burdening people with my problems. During those 16 days, probably no one knew I was losing my mind. It was only until after those 16 days were over that I was able to share what was going on. This class didn't really change my perspective on failure. It only made me aware of the fact that entrepreneurs must fail in order to perfect what they want to come to fruition. I'm always willing to take a *smart* risk. I'd rather do/say something than always wonder "what if."

Week 13 Reading Reflection

I was surprised, yet pleased, to read how entrepreneurs are so relatable. They make mistakes and encounter problems, but that doesn't mean they have to solve literally every issue in their life and they know insolvable problems exist.

I'm slightly confused on just how entrepreneurs know they are making the right behavioral and entrepreneurial decisions according to a model of entrepreneurial motivation. I was also confused/intrigued by the concept of grief recovery, but only because I think very few failures should be followed by a period of mourning.

There actually wasn't any part of the reading I disagreed with. In fact, there was one mention of something in the text I agree with wholeheartedly: entrepreneurs don't believe their successes or failures of their businesses derive from luck. I believe in setting goals, working hard, fate, and being at the right place at the right time.

The two questions I would ask the author are: 

1. Should an entrepreneur be feared or liked?
2. How do you deal with emotional side (grieving, stress, anxiety, etc.) of entrepreneurship?
   

My Exit Strategy

Unfortunately I don't see my idea turning into anything more than just a passion project/hobby. I love hand lettering in my free time and making them as gifts for my friends and family. I have other career aspirations I would like to accomplish first rather than trying to make my little hand lettering business idea grow. However, I fully intend on continuing my hobby and have it ready as a side hustle if I ever want to make a few extra bucks a month when needed!

I've selected this as an exit strategy for the simple reason of wanting to keep my hobby, a hobby. I'm also afraid that the more I do my hobby/am forced to do it, the less I am going to love it and I don't want that to happen.

My exit strategy has definitely influenced what I want to do ultimately in the future. I would still like to incorporate my hobby of hand lettering in a future creative career but not have it be the whole thing. I'll stick to my aspirations of wanting to work in the advertising field.

What's Next?

Week 12 Reading Reflection