Guest Speaker - Brian

Brian had started off as a 3rd grade teacher, before becoming an entrepreneur. He had told us that while he was growing up, he was always "problem solving". With this mentality, he now owns his own business Sitecrafting.com. This business gives him the chance to problem solve every day he goes in for work. There is the challenge of knowing what design certain people want, how you can implement it properly, how to grow the business, etc. He had told us about PEMCO and how the lack of communication between his business, PEMCO, and the third party design team almost sunk his business. That event alone is the definition of entrepreneurship... taking risks. Brian treats his employees like family members, which leads to more trust and loyalty in the workplace. He had fired only one employee since starting his company, which shows how much the workers enjoy working for him. The article we read at the beginning of the quarter told us that becoming an entrepreneur was suicide, but Brian is a perfect example of a successful entrepreneur.

Ron Kornfeld - Guest Speaker

Ron Kornfeld had given us a lecture about the steps to creating a perfect business plan. He had told us that the actual process is rarely ever changed, and it is used pretty globally. Business plans fall into two categories, operational plans and plans designed to attract investors. Operational plans are plans that detail the logistics for development. While other business plans are made in a way to attract investors to support your business by showing them through the plan. When starting your business, marketing cost and operating capital is vastly overlooked. It is like building up a business, without considering costs for advertising.. because without marketing, the business has no room to grow. When you're business is suffering financially, and business is slow, people tend to overlook the need for operating capital, which is money that you store away that you can use in dire situations. You are not supposed to write the executive summary until the business plan is complete. You must spell check, spell check, spell check. Having spelling and grammatical errors in your business plans can be detrimental to your investors interest. Mr. Kornfeld had shared with us the Five Step Program to creating the business plan.

1. Identify the audience (Who are you aiming this towards? investors, potential employees, partners, management team, etc.)
2. Outline the Business Plan (How is it going to be structured?)
   
3. Write the Business Plan (Complete info, relevant research in hand, proformas. Make sure to spell check!)
   
4. Review the Business Plan (Get feedback not ideas on CHANGE.)
   
5. Update the Business Plan (commit to regular updating, business plans are always a draft)
   

Five Business Ideas

1. Make a business based on mobile apps - this idea came to mind because mobile apps are the BIG market right now.
2. Start my own computer tech shop, fixing computers and doing upgrades.
3. Online lotto tickets and scratch tickets. They sell like crazy in stores.. so why not online?
4. Online store that rents out and sells textbooks, fees depending on quarter/semester lengths and also sell ebooks of textbooks.
5. Make a computer that functions primarily off voice command, sort of futuristic, like in movies where they talk to their computers.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Erik Hanberg - Guest Speaker

Erik Hanberg gave our class a guest lecture from the perspective of an entrepreneur. He shared with us a quote that said "Everyone has ideas, but most people won't get around to doing it". This quote is the basic idea that, most people have some great ideas that they aren't committed in enough to follow through with. Erik stressed the need for courage. Taking risks is a large part of being an entrepreneur and if you're afraid to take risks then you are in the wrong business. Risk failure.. emotionally, not financially. At the Horatio Theater (he started the theater himself) he ended up losing thousands of dollars in equity. If I lost thousands of dollars in my first business, I'm sure I would have learned quite a bit from the experience but I would definitely lose all confidence and try to play it safe. Erik had written his own book, made a website for it, put some money in for Google ads and had some success with it. The lecture that Erik gave was a very good feel at how people can make a living off of being an entrepreneur and their own boss. It definitely gave me a perspective on opportunities that were not there prior.

Entrepreneurship

I really enjoyed this reading, because it was short and to the point. Reggie Aggarwal and Mark Esposito start off the article by explaining to the reader the benefits of becoming an entrepreneur, but sullenly follows it up with the frustration and sorrow that it brings. The authors explain that many entrepreneurs have failed one point or another, and that made me think about our guest speakers and how some of them may come in devastated with how their business is running. Technology entrepreneurs have three primary objectives which are:

1. To be on the cutting edge
2. Build long-term value
3. and have freedom.

Becoming an entrepreneur is definitely a risky choice for a career, but having the freedom to be your own boss.. and to employ your own workers. That is a good way to live. The authors say that if big personal cash payouts is your motivating factor, then you're going into the wrong career.

Class Expectations

I currently have no solid plans for what I want to do after I graduate college. I feel like this course will give me an opportunity to gain skill-sets that can be used in the real world. The class expectations that I have for this course includes a better understanding of how to start a business and all the work it takes to start and build it up. I expect to create business plans and learn ways to start my own business. This class will help me think more about the logistics of running a business, and how to manage finances properly. I expect to get helpful advice and tips from professionals during guest lectures, and to get the reality and hardships of running a business. I expect to get a slap in the face with the realities of running and owning a business.