30A - Final Reflection

1) The most formative experience was definitely trying to come up with an opportunity to pursue for the semester. I have never thought outside of the box like that and have never had experience with entrepreneurial thinking. It was an interesting learning experience. To be completely honest, I am most proud of taking an online class during my last semester of college. Staying in "school mode" is difficult enough when you see the light at the end of the tunnel (graduation) but I think I managed to stay on track and take this class seriously enough. 

3) I think I have learned some techniques of an entrepreneur that I will be able to adapt to my future career, but I don't think I consider myself a true entrepreneur yet. I'm definitely moving in that direction.

4)  I would mention to future students to try to be as creative as possible when approaching this class. I had a hard time at first coming up with ideas for my opportunity, mainly because I was stuck in a box and not trying to think creatively. It became much easier when I took a step back and thought of things that didn't just affect me directly. It was more fun for me to complete the assignments once I found an idea that I enjoyed researching and thinking about.

 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) I plan to stay with my company for several years and hopefully expanding it to other markets around the state of Florida and maybe even around the country. I would definitely bring experienced business leaders on to my team to help me market my service effectively. Eventually, I'm sure this idea would become very successful and I would be approached by bigger investors who would want to buy my company in order to expand it further than I could. I would like to keep a decent stake in the company that I would be able to pass down to my family in the future. 

2) I chose this exit strategy because I think I would be able to bring my service to other markets effectively with the help of experienced business professionals that are also passionate about this type of innovative service. 

3) I haven't thought about my exit strategy until now, so it has not influenced other decisions I've made in my concept. 

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

Shoe Dog, Phil Knight

1) Learning how unpopular Nike was at first surprised me. Not all brands started off being popular or even liked by the general public. It is surprising to hear though, since now it is such a household name. I was also surprised to find out the origin of Nike and how it was started by a legitimate family. Large companies don't normally base their culture off of "family values" so it was nice to read that Phil Knight surrounded himself with family, family friends, and other athletes. I admired the persistence Knight showed when he was designing his shoes and manufacturing efforts. Knight made it clear in his book that he faced adversity and failure pretty often. I also admired how he depended on his Research and Development team to find answers.

2) Leadership was a trait Knight displayed very well, which contributed to Nike's success. His knowledge of the athletic world, more specifically the unmet needs in it, allowed him and the company to reach peak success. His passion for this industry was unparalleled and that gave him the competitive edge to excel with his company.

3) For the most part, I wasn't confused by anything in this book. I enjoyed reading it and I would recommend to a friend.

4) I would ask Knight: Were you ever worried about causing issues due to hiring your family and/or friends? What were your longterm goals for the future of Nike? Did you predict that it would become as successful as it has become?

5) Knight's athleticism is something I can relate to from my experience of playing various sports. I think he and I would both agree that in order to succeed, you need to put in the work. In life, and in sports, nothing comes easily without putting in hard work.

26A – Celebrating Failure

At the beginning of this semester, I was looking for an internship. After researching local companies, I contacted the one that appeared the most interesting to me. It was a marketing internship with a holistic health and fitness center located in downtown Gainesville. An interview date was set a few days after I applied.

When I arrived at the interview a few minutes early, the woman interviewing me, Samantha, informed me that she forgot our interview was scheduled for that time and asked me to come back a few hours later.

When I returned, we had a fantastic connection. After an hour of discussing the business and how I could be part of their team, she gave me a basic marketing assignment to prepare for the second round of interviews with the owner of the business. I had a lot of ideas to enhance their social media platforms, and knew I had a strong presentation.

The day before the next interview, Samantha postponed the meeting until a few days later because of a scheduling conflict. Almost three weeks after my initial contact, I met with the owner of the company, Elena, and Samantha for the second interview. I arrived 30 minutes early to sign some paperwork, but was told my interview would not start until 45 minutes after we scheduled because they decided to have a last-minute meeting.

After preliminary questions, I delivered my presentation. I hit all the points Samantha had asked me to cover. However, the reaction from Elena was not what I expected it would be. She had no idea what to expect from an intern.  I had a lot of interesting ideas how to market the business and was enthusiastic to be involved. Unfortunately, after this meeting, I knew her expectations were for a very experienced marketing employee. She was not looking for a university student with excellent marketing experience and education for an internship.

The company contacted me later in the week. I explained I enjoyed learning about the business, but the lack of structure and knowledge of what interns are contributing to a business had made me realize the internship was not what I was interested in pursuing.

By this point, there weren’t many internships available. This taught me a valuable lesson about expectations from one positive interview. I realized I had put all my eggs in one basket, and learned from that mistake. I ended up working as a nanny for three adorable boys and learned other valuable lessons about raising children. I was sad at first because I realized I had wasted a lot of time on an opportunity that didn't play out the way I expected. But I gained interview experience and realized what I expect from a future internship or job. Taking this class helped me come to that realization as well. I have had experience with failure throughout my life, but ENT 3003 helped me celebrate that instead of shy away from it.