Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.
I went through my post and the comments that were posted throughout my blog. There were definitely times that I have felt a lot of pressure trying to get multiple interviews recorded in a very short amount of time. It can be quite stressful when you run out of people close by to interview.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?
The greatest experience that I got out of these assignments was to feel comfortable stepping out of my comfortable zone and not be afraid to get out there to interview random people. I ended up making closer connections talking to random people. I enjoyed the assignments where we were asked to step back and reflect on how this class actually helps us in life. There are not that many classes where someone is able to say that they can apply their knowledge/ skills learned in class to everyday life. This class really helped me see my strengths and weaknesses. I was able to better allocate time towards assignments and understand what “failure” to me really means.

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?
It’s nostalgic looking back at the first day of this semester. I remember repeating that mantra as confidently as I could have at the time. However, I was not able to fully grasp the concept. I didn’t fully convince myself that I was an entrepreneur. Looking back at it now, I would be able to confidently say that I am an entrepreneur. I applied skills to build an entrepreneurial mindset. I am able to keep a sharp eye out for problems, and I’m willing to offer a solution. I see things from a new perspective.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?
To the students who end up taking this course in the future, I encourage you to allocate enough time needed to complete the assignments ahead of time because some assignments can be very stressful if done last minute. Always keep an eye out for any recording we would need to do because it can be very difficult to record last-minute customers. Especially if you are doing it late at night, there may not even be people around you to interview. Lastly, this class is what you make of it. This means that if you actually put in the effort to do the assignments and meet the requirements, you will definitely pass this class. Although it is a lot of busy work, it’s manageable if you keep an open mindset.

Week 15 Reading Reflection

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 biggest surprise to me in the reading was when the author mentioned that the only lend money to women because studies have shown that women are more likely than men to reinvest profits in the household and to support others in their borrowing group.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I was confused at why they wanted to give information about their loans through text messaging. I understand that it might be easier in communication to an extent, but I feel like it doesn’t give the other party much privacy when that lights up on their phone as a notification to pay money for loans.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
If you were asked by someone in a poor area if they could borrow money from you, what would you say? I’m curious because the author mentioned that in general in order to truly use microfinance to help eradicate poverty, they shouldn’t turn any poor person away.

Did you have any other motives for starting a nonprofit with lots of small donations from friends? I’m curious because the author says that his initial motive was because he had no money of his own and no interested investors.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I would disagree on the fact that text messaging being a better way of communication of loans. As mentioned in question #2, I would think that it makes it a little less private for the other party that is needing to pay the money.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

1) Final Elevator Pitch!

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. 

For my final pitch I have refined my business from being only focused on the Greek community, to being more focused on other students as well. I have gotten many people asking me to consider expanding my business to a wider range of people. I decided that it would be best to start small and gradually increasing my service. I have also been told to speak a little slower, and clearer.

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

Based on my feedback, I refined my business accordingly to #2 above. I met the minute goal as requested and I spoke a little slower and clearer.

Venture Concept No. 2

1) Provide, again, your venture concept description:

Brief introduction:
Being in a sorority helped me identify potential opportunities that was brought to my attention. One of which is the lack of healthy food options available to sororities and fraternities. Although there may be a salad bar or vegetables, many of them are not fresh/ organic. Therefore, I came up with “GreekGarden” which is a catering service for Greek life on campus. It would definitely help fix unmet needs in my own sorority as well as others. *I would like to eventually incorporate this into campus for other students not in Greek life as well. *

Opportunity:
*I want to note that the change I would like to make, is to eventually incorporate this service to a wider range of people. For example, the whole campus, instead of just the Greek community. * 
Aimed at sorority/ fraternity meal plans, “GreekGarden” helps provide healthier meals throughout the week. It is a catering service, once a week on Mondays, where fresh, organic fruits and vegetables would be delivered to fraternities and sororities. In this one day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will contain only freshly cooked meals. Since Monday is usually set off for “chapter” (meetings) in many sororities, many girls have to dress up for these meetings. I thought that if they had to dress up nicely for dinner, the food itself should be highly authentic. Therefore, it would be a great day to make the majority of Greek life on campus happy by bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to the table. I am only starting off with one day a week, because many people that I interviewed loved the food as is. Starting off with one day and gradually incorporating healthier food options everyday into Greek life on campus, is my goal.

How did this happen?
Unfortunately being in college means that some people might be off on their own for the first time. This might entail not knowing how to cook a healthy meal because many are looking for a fast and easy meal to make. The last thing a busy college student would want is an hour long waiting line to order food. As a result, colleges must plan to make fast served food for hundreds of students. This proves likewise for sororities and fraternities on campus. With hundreds of people in Greek life on campus, the chefs and kitchen staff must work twice as hard to make the sorority sisters’ and fraternity brothers’ food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In order to accommodate busy schedules for everyone, the food must be made in bulky and satisfy hunger. This might mean fast food, or meals that were frozen. In conclusion, the meals might not be as healthy as one would have anticipated because of the crunch for time.

Innovation:
Imagine a world where we could be able to eat healthy without having to pay for it through wasting time and effort making a meal. I am starting this business venture because I want to incorporate healthier meals into every life in sororities and fraternities. I am starting in one centralized area (Greek life) at first because I want to see how far this whole concept would prosper. If I would be able to start in a small generalized location, say in one sorority, and make my way up to the university, it would prove that people are supporting my ideas for incorporating heathier foods in our diets. It may not be easy for you, personally, to make a healthy lunch and dinner. That is why I want to implement a catering service where we come to the sororities and fraternities to help out the kitchen staff by providing healthy alternatives to dishes.

Venture Concept:
Customers would switch to this because it provides a better alternative to eating on campus. Especially if you are in a sorority or fraternity, GreekGarden would help implement a healthier way of living into college student’s lives. The chief competitors would be any business that Housing Corps. is associated with in regards to foods. My business will work but starting out small in one sorority or fraternity, and gradually integrating healthier alternatives into Greek life. Eventually, I would hope to expand to a greater network, such as the entire campus. I would hope to give everyone a chance to experience a healthier lifestyle.

My most important resource would be my connection to a sorority and know the different bylaws in my sorority. I can get my information through my sorority on campus. I think it would be beneficial to know how the contracts are written and how much extra money the sorority has to spend on luxuries like a catering service.

Next for this venture is to go out and talk to different sororities and fraternities and see how their budget will accommodate a catering service. Many sororities and fraternities have extra money that they would be willing to spend on a service like GreekGarden.

Next for me, would be to gradually increase from a small centralized location to a larger one. For example, I would like to one day incorporate this healthier meal alternative, not only for Greek life, but also for the university if business is successful in a small-scale sorority or fraternity.

2) Provide a summary of the feedback you received from your previous venture concept description. You certainly want to include the student feedback, but you may also include the feedback you received from others during the "What's Next" exercise. You want to summarize all of the feedback, but be sure to place an emphasis on what people recommended you change about your idea. (In other words, don't just describe the positive feedback.)
In regards to my feedback so far, many people have told me to consider expanding my business. For example, may people really want to not only have my catering service in sororities and fraternities, but also on campus as well, for the students not in the Greek community. I think that this would be a great idea, personally. Also, some sorority sisters told me that it would also be a bit difficult so negotiate with Housing Corps. for a catering service. They recommended that I start my business off small and then gradually explain/ show Housing Corps. why my service is wanted. The positive feedback that I received also gave me confidence that many people would love to have this kind of service.

3) Describe how you changed your venture concept, based on what you learned from the feedback.
I changed my venture concept by adding in that I would like to eventually incorporate my service to a wider range of people. For example, I would like to extend my service out to other students that aren’t in Greek life as well. Since there was a lot more positive feedback than negative, I didn’t change much on my venture concept.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

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 was surprised that there weren’t more steps listed when the author talked about the steps that will help innovative people to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The book started to get a little confusing when the author started to talk about corporate entrepreneurship. I feel like this is mostly due to the face that I don’t have much experience with this.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
When you are developing your venture teams, do you need to have any prior knowledge before you do so? Is there any statistic data that is needed when you structure for an intrapreneurial climate? I feel that I don’t have enough knowledge about these subjects.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I don’t believe that the author was wrong is any of the information. However, I do think that this is mainly due to my lack of knowledge and experience in this field.

Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimiation (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 
In order to approach SEO, I made sure that each of my posts contained the title of my assignment. Also, for all of my posts, I made sure to type in tags that would help me locate the assignment. I have also created a name for my business. This way, it was easy for me to find my blog out of everyone else’s. 

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?
Keywords throughout the semester included the titles of every assignment. Also, I made sure to include the week that I was completing the assignment. This made it a lot easier for me to not only locate my assignment within my own blog, but easier for me to search as well. I also selected my business name “GreekGarden” specifically knowing that no one else would have the same business name. 

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?
Using a social network such as Google to write my blogs really helped me in creating a network of supporters. It is easy to navigate and use. Many people who have the link to my blog are able to comment on it and give me feedback. This helped strengthen my own confidence or likewise build it up.

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?
My most viral post would have to be the “What’s Next?” post. Many people thought my idea was really creative because it would help their shopping experiences online.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?
Yes, I did make it to the first page of Google when I typed in “GreekGarden IA Blog”. 

Week 13 Reading Reflection

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 really liked the fact that the author broke the reading down from the images shown. For example, the author not only broke down Valuation of the Venture into three parts (Differing Goals of Buyer and Seller, Emotional Bias of the Seller, and Reasons for the Acquisition), but also elaborated in detail on each individual subset.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I started getting really confused when the author started talking about The Pricing Formula. This might quite possibly be due to the lack of knowledge I have in this area.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
Does estimating the value of the intangibles in the “years of profit” figure ever become reliable? Does the control factor determine the future success of your business? It would be great to know if it’s a model or a reliable prediction.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
In all honestly, I didn’t find anything wrong. This is mostly due to my lack of knowledge in this particular chapter. It really started to get into the logistics of the business and this subject isn’t my strongest suit.