Final Reflection

1) When looking back on my posts from throughout this semester, I realized how many different assignments were completed. I also noticed the tangible progression of my business concept and how I was able to grow as an entrepreneur. One of my favorite, but most frustrating, assignments would definitely have to be the "Bug List." This was an assignment that was difficult because I had never really been so focused or intent on identifying things that bothered me, but it was also so significant because it introduced me to a very powerful truth: problems are opportunities waiting to be solved. Another dreadful, yet super rewarding, experience would have to be the elevator pitches. I am not the most comfortable at public speaking so this assignment presented a few personal challenges for me. However, through multiple trials, I was able to develop the confidence necessary to deliver a powerful business pitch.

2) The thing that sticks out to me as the most formative experience would definitely be the development of my venture concept. My venture concept, however, was the final product of a culmination of assignments---including "Identifying Local Opportunities," "Idea Napkins," and "Figuring Out Buyer Behaviors." All of these different assignments had various components and some even had multiple iterations. If I had to identify the one defining aspect of these different assignments, it would have to be the interviews. Despite an ongoing global pandemic, the fact that I was able to secure and conduct multiple interviews throughout this semester is something I am truly proud of. These interviews provided great experience in terms of networking and building rapport, while encouraging me to often step outside my comfort zone. 

3) Taking the time to now reflect on my journey in this course, I can now affirmatively say that I see myself as an entrepreneur. While there will always be room for improvement, I believe that I have cultivated an entrepreneurial mindset that allows me to identify problems (or opportunities) with a new perspective. I am also a lot more familiar with the process that it takes, including the amount of time and energy, in order to truly develop a successful business venture. 

4) One recommendation I would make to the students who are going to journey down this path is to "start early." In order capitalize every learning opportunity in this course, I believe it is pivotal to always start early and effectively manage your time. By doing so, you are able to secure interviews well in advance and position yourself for academic success. As for recommendations for fostering an entrepreneurial mindset, the biggest thing I would suggest is to "be cognizant of your environment." We are surrounded with problems and varying deficiencies in our life---these are all opportunities that can be capitalized on. If you can identify these local opportunities by tailoring your mindset to be more observant, you are already one step closer to becoming an entrepreneur. 

Venture Concept No. 2: Protective Roofing Headgear

PART 1:

Opportunity: The business concept I am suggesting is creating protective headgear equipment for roofers that would protect them from potentially hazardous weather conditions, like lightning. Thus, the need that I am addressing is the need for safety and security for manual laborers that perform their daily tasks outside and on elevated surfaces. As briefly mentioned, this product would primarily pertain to roofers. Roofers are susceptible to lightning strikes and other lethal injuries because lightning tends to strike taller objects, such as roofs, as they provide upward streamers to connect with downward lightning streamers. There are currently over 50,000 corporations engaged in roofing work and installation work valued at a total of $31.4 billion. Further, the United States has 75 million single-family homes and on average, about 7% re-roof each year. Demographically, the average male roofer in the industry is 36.8 years old and the average female roofer in the industry is 37.3 years old, with the most common race for roofers being white (non-Hispanic). Despite there being general guidelines as to the type of clothing a roofer should wear (depending on the type of roofing system he or she is working on), there exist no standard protective roofing equipment for these workers. Thus, customers are not adequately satisfying this need or are simply not aware of this need because it has become almost normalized to have no protective equipment for roofers. While other manual laborers, like general construction workers, wear hard-hats as a form of headgear, this would not be sufficient to protect against lightning strikes and hazardous weather conditions. With the market size of the roofing industry having grown 2.7% per year on average in the United States between 2015 and 2020, there is a clear market and opportunity for this product. Until someone else devises a form of protective headgear that is both functional and practical to the daily demands of a roofer, this "window of opportunity" will remain open.

Innovation: The product that I am offering would be considered radically innovative because there currently exists no standard protective equipment for roofers on the market. The product itself will be composed of durable metal material. Contrary to common thought, since metal is a strong conductor of electricity, metal provides lightning a low-resistance path. (Compare this with poor conductors of electricity have have more resistance: these material cause electrical energy to be converted into heat---making it conducive for fire or even explosions. This product would also remain relatively light-weight and practical in order to adhere to the working conditions of roofers. Roofers already often experience excruciating levels of heat, so the headgear could not be too intrusive or overbearing on their working conditions. By developing a product composed of durable metal material, I would be offering an innovative product that has the potential to alter safety protocols in the roofing industry. With around 188,000 individuals employed in roofing, if we priced this protective headgear at $35 a piece, we would generate at least $6 million in revenue on a yearly basis.

Venture Concept: This protective headgear composed of durable metal material would address the problem I identified by providing a tangible piece of equipment that offers both protection and safety. My targeted customers will be compelled to purchase this product simply due to the fact that there is no other product that is really similar in the functional purpose that it serves. By being composed of metal and still remaining light, this headgear may be similar in nature to other general helmets in that they serve the purpose of protecting one's head. However, the functionality of the helmet I am proposing is completely innovative and radical compared to, for example, a hard-hat worn by general construction workers. Since this would be a radically innovative product, I do not believe it would be hard to get my customers to "switch" to this product. The main thing would be to make roofers aware of this inherent need that they have that they may have suppressed and ignored for so long because the roofing industry has normalized a lack of safety standards. As mentioned, the main competitors to this product are other forms of general headgear equipment and helmets. These products' weaknesses and vulnerabilities lie in the fact that they cannot adequately withstand or protect against perilous weather conditions. In organizing a business to support the ongoing production of my new product, the team I would be working with would initially be rather small. The main components or roles in the venture would be research and development (in order to construct the product), and supply-chain management (in order to establish a strong relationship with a supplier that can provide the necessary materials for constructing the product), and marketing (in order to analyze the specifics of market demand).

Secret Sauce: In pursuing this business concept, my most important resource will be human capital---specifically my business administration degree that I am receiving through higher education, communication skills and ability to demonstrate emotional intelligence, experience and background in leading teams and collaborating with individuals, natural tendency to have an optimistic approach, creativity and desire for continuous innovation, and ability to provide constructive criticism and receptiveness to feedback. Having these human capital traits will allow me to facilitate a culture of passion, understanding, and withstanding success.

What's Next For Venture: The next action item for the venture would be to engage in feasibility screening and concept testing. Feasibility screening would entail undergoing a critical examination of my product concept to ensure that the idea does not go beyond the scope of practical capabilities. In other words, I would run perform research and data analytics to see how much production costs would be and whether it is feasible or not to actually pursue the product. If it is deemed feasible, I would then perform concept testing to gauge the interest among potential customers. An actual product or prototype would not yet be produced, I would simply describe the concept of my product to consumers and see if it is actually a desired product. 

What's Next for Me: Assuming I've launched, in five years, I would like to continue running this venture if successful. Depending on the profitability of this business, I would use it as my primary form of occupation. Based on the level of stability within the business, I would also seek to either expand the line of products within the product category of protective headgear or target a new market (such as B2B markets). If later focusing on business to business markets, I would consider bulk shipments to large retailers like Home Depot or industry corporations like Duke Energy---deciding which business to target would simply depend on the available profit margins. This would obviously create more responsibilities on my end, but I would properly address those by creating a larger network and expanding my team to support the different business functions.

PART 2:

Based on the feedback I received, I realized that it may be rather too soon to develop a prototype and engage in research and development. Prior to developing a prototype, I was advised to focus on more preceding goals and gather more information first. This would allow me to get a better idea on what the market price of product should be. Further, it was brought to my attention that expanding my target market to focus on business to business (B2B) markets would be a profitable move in the future. When I initially proposed the idea, I was unsure whether it would be a logical decision. However, according to the feedback, expanding into B2B markets would allow for bulk transactions and potentially more profitable gains. 

PART 3:

Based on what I learned from the feedback, the aspects of my venture concept that I changed were primarily under "What's Next for Venture" and "What's Next for Me"---the rest of venture concept remained the same. Rather than discussing the next step for the venture as being prototype development along with research and development, I decided to change it to feasibility screening and concept testing. These intermediate steps would allow me to determine whether my business concept is practical and desirable in the first place. I also altered my plans for what's next for me by discussing the expansion of business into B2B markets. I particularly discussed the possibility of expanding my target market to include large retailers, as well as industry corporations. This was an idea that was initially proposed in the "What's Next" exercise, but I have now incorporated it into my venture concept. 

PART 4:

My Exit Strategy

1) Going forward, I would hope to grow my business venture large enough so that I can stay with the business for several years and then retire. This would require sustainable growth and a stream of income that is sizable enough for my desired retirement plan. 

2) I have chosen this particular exit strategy because I personally am one to develop sentiment and attachment towards something I really care about. So, unless the offer is utterly irresistible, my main prerogative would not be to sell the business. I would continue my venture with the expectation that I can grow and enhance it under my guidance and supervision. However, with that said, I would not intend to protect the family venture as a family business and pass it down to my children. I would not do so because I am also a strong believer in the idea that everyone has their own passions and desires. Thus, I would never want to force my children to continue a passion that was mine. If my children happen to say that they want to continue my venture on the basis of their own will, that is a different story (but I do not intent nor expect my children to continue this business). 

3) I have always had a desire to establish a business with longevity in mind. This exit strategy has definitely influenced other decisions I have made in developing my business concept. For example, understanding that the roofing industry has grown 2.7% per year on average in the United States between 2015 and 2020, I strategically chose to enter an industry that has growth potential far into the future. With this in mind, I also purposefully stated that I would want to expand my product line to provide other equipment and materials to roofers as a growth strategy going forward.

Reading Reflection No. 3

1) The book I chose for the third reading reflection is Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. The general theme of the book was about defining and establishing a growth mindset so that you can channel any failures or setbacks into vessels for growth. In contrast to a growth mindset, a fixed mindset inhibits your brain from evolving---this mindset sees certain traits, such as intellect and skills, as being inherently fixed. In determining which mindset you adopt, perspective plays a vital role. The way in which you perceive your mind and brain ultimately dictates whether you seek new opportunities in life or are content with simply being stagnant. 

2) The book, in my opinion, connected with and enhanced what I am learning in ENT3003 because this course has emphasized the importance of adopting a growth mindset. Through different assignments, like the Bug List and Identifying Local Opportunities, we have been taught to constantly seek challenges or problems that can ultimately be turned into opportunities for success. Rather than being discouraged or resentful of the challenges in our life, we have approached these problems with the perspective that we can capitalize and solve them. Further, through multiple iterations of the same assignment, we have learned to seek points of weaknesses and ways to enhance our current understandings (as it pertains to our business concept). Thus, I feel as if the assignments we have completed throughout this course have embodied and exemplified the exact lessons that were conveyed in the book.

3) The book emphasizes the notion that a fixed mindset can be modified to become a growth mindset. It all depends on awareness and perspective. So, if I had to design an exercise for this class based on the book, it would be to have students make a list of experiences in which he or she exhibited a fixed mindset. Based on those experiences, I would then ask the students to explain what they would have done if they used a growth mindset instead. By asking students to reflect on their past decisions, and then to envision a different course of action, we would be conditioning students to identify what a growth mindset looks like and instances in which a growth mindset can be utilized going forward. Thus, this assignment would teach ways to be proactive, rather than reactive, in the future.

4) The biggest surprise or 'aha' moment that I had when reading the book was when Dweck mentioned that a growth mindset allows a journey to be worthwhile, regardless of whether you win or lose. In essence, even if you fail, a growth mindset will see that failure as being meaningful and worth it. Rather than this statement being a difference from a prior expectation, this was an 'aha' moment because I realized that this statement perfectly conveyed a sentiment that I had always felt towards failure. I have always perceived failure as an opportunity for growth, but I never realized that this understanding was attributed to something known as a "growth mindset." 

Celebrating Failure

1) Over the summer, some friends and I have engaged in creating an online startup company centered around health and recovery products. This business is separate from the one that I have been planning throughout the duration of this course (which is a business centered around providing protective headgear equipment for roofers). There are currently six total members within our team, and I have been delegated the financial tasks and responsibilities of the company. After filing an LLC to be recognized as an official business within the state of Florida, I was assigned the responsibility of applying for a corporate bank account. Since our business functions online as an eCommerce store, I had sought out an online banking institution. After collecting all of our relevant information, I diligently filled out the banking application online (with the assumption that it would be processed and accepted rather immediately). Much to my dismay, seconds after receiving an email verifying that I successfully submitted my application, I received another email stating that my application could not be further reviewed. I was utterly distraught and did not know the reason for the rejection. After doing some research, I learned that some common reasons for why an online bank would immediately deny your application include the following: lack of credit history, a complex business structure, or troublesome banking history. However, none of those applied to my situation. When I tried to receive further clarification, the banking institution would not specify the reasons for why my application got denied and referred me to the screening agency (ChexSystems) that was used during the review process. ChexSystems, however, had an automated phone system that would not allow me to communicate with a live person and the only way to send mail was via physical mail at the post office---they had no email for communication purposes. Needless to say, I was utterly frustrated and confused with the entire process. 

2) After my disappointing experience with the online bank's customer service, I found myself reading a bunch of reddit threads in an attempt to self-diagnose what the problem exactly was. Ultimately, I decided that a traditional brick-and-mortar banking institution would be a lot more helpful in opening a corporate bank account. A few days later, I went to a traditional bank and worked with an associate to fill out an application. I explained to her all my grievances and told her about the complications I faced when attempting to use an online bank. She was able to provide a lot more clarity and answered all the questions I had. When it was time to fill out the application at the brick-and-mortar bank, I was also more prepared and had all the necessary paperwork and information with me. This caught the banking associate by surprise because she said that most of her clients have little to almost no knowledge of how to properly fill out an application. Her remark made me realize that my initial failure in opening a bank account allowed me to be much more prepared and ready for the second go-round. The second attempt felt a lot more seamless and smooth. Thus, based on my first experience, I learned that failure can allow you to be more prepared for the next opportunity or chance you receive (so long as you allow yourself to learn from that failure). 

3) Failure can be super frustrating, complex, and unexpected. It can cause immense stress and disappointment, but it is not useless. If you can take your failure as a learning experience and find ways to adapt, failure can actually be a purposeful tactic in allowing you to be successful. When I am faced with failure, I become very determined to understand why I failed. I seek for reasons and clarity so that I do not repeat the same mistakes in the future. Taking ENT3003 has also reiterated my perspective on failure based on the different assignments we were assigned throughout the year. By completing multiple iterations of the same assignment, I was forced to re-evaluate my decisions and understand why certain things did not work out the way I had expected. Thus, via trial and error, this class has equipped me with the understanding that failure is an uncomfortable, but necessary, part of the process. Since the only way to fail sometimes is by taking chances and leaps of faith, I am definitely more likely to take a risk than I was a few months ago.

What's Next?

Existing Market

    I believe that the next step is is actually developing the proposed product, or research and development. Since I have constructed the market research and demand for protective headgear equipment, the next step would be actually construct the product and test for functionality. This would involve creating a prototype and running different tests and simulations to gauge the overall effectiveness of the product. My product will be composed to durable metal materials, so finding the right balance in product composition will be crucial to the efficacy of the helmet.

    After interviewing three customers and explaining to them my business, all three actually asked if I could demonstrate or showcase the product to them. They were interested in actually seeing the tangible product so that they could visualize my proposed business concept. However, I had to express that a product was not yet created and this led them to your suggestion of what the next step of my venture would be: creating a model product that can be conveyed to target consumers. All three interviewees alluded to practicality and wanted to ensure that the protective headgear would not be too stifling or heavy for manual laborers. One interviewee did also mention the suggestion to perform more market research to ensure that the business model can truly be sustaining and successful. Since their suggestions were similar to what I thought would be the next step, we were in agreement in terms of the direction of the venture and what actions ought to be taken. 

    Based on my expectations and the feedback that I received from customers, I believe the next step would be create some tangible representation of what my product is. Even if it is not the actual product itself, having a model or representation of some sort would be super helpful in conveying my business concept to target customers. While it is easy to hear the many benefits and advantages of a product, it is often more difficult to actually visualize what that product is. Thus, by creating a model or prototype, customers can better understand the vision and feel compelled to try the product in the future. In creating a prototype, product testing can also be done to ensure the effectiveness of the headgear. It is vital that a product actually does what it advertises, so running tests and simulations would be an integral process in ensuring the legitimacy of a product.

New Market

    My target market has been primarily end-consumers (manual laborers who their daily tasks outside and on elevated surface, such as roofers). Thus, a completely new market would targeting B2B or offering my proposed product to another business. 

    My radically different market, which I describe as being a business market now, would create value for people in that market by providing them a product that they can wholesale to their already existing customers. In this business model, I would essentially be serving as a manufacturer who supplies my protective headgear equipment to retailers and other business. If these businesses already have an established customer market, then providing them a new product will allow them to address more of their customers' needs. For instance, consider a home improvement store like Home Depot. I would provide my products to Home Depot and they would subsequently offer it to their customers. 

    In this section, I interviewed two employees from Home Depot. When I expressed my business concept to them, they both felt as if my product would fit in their overall product offerings. Since Home Depot specializes in home improvement, including construction products, protective headgear for roofers fits their overall store theme. This was something that was stressed during my interviews: compatibility and theme. Both interviewees explained that my product could be adapted for any business retailer as long as it fits the scheme of the overall products they are selling. For example, one interviewee provided an example and explained that my product would not be suitable for a place like PetCo, a company that specializes in pet products. However, in stores specializing in home improvement and hardware, like Lowe's and Ace Hardware, my product could definitely fit under their product offerings.

    Upon conducting this portion of the assignment, I realized that there is a totally new market that I had never really considered before (B2B). I had always thought only about the end-consumer, but never about selling my product to other businesses. This new target market definitely seems just as feasible and there exists a clear opportunity to find success. In my Venture Concept assignment, I had talked about wanting to potentially expand the services of my product by creating additional items within my product category. However, I now realize that an alternative approach would be to simply expand my target market by offering my product to a new set of customers.

Venture Concept No. 1: Protective Roofing Headgear

Opportunity: The business concept I am suggesting is creating protective headgear equipment for roofers that would protect them from potentially hazardous weather conditions, like lightning. Thus, the need that I am addressing is the need for safety and security for manual laborers that perform their daily tasks outside and on elevated surfaces. As briefly mentioned, this product would primarily pertain to roofers. Roofers are susceptible to lightning strikes and other lethal injuries because lightning tends to strike taller objects, such as roofs, as they provide upward streamers to connect with downward lightning streamers. There are currently over 50,000 corporations engaged in roofing work and installation work valued at a total of $31.4 billion. Further, the ted States has 75 million single-family homes and on average, about 7% re-roof each year. Demographically, the average male roofer in the industry is 36.8 years old and the average female roofer in the industry is 37.3 years old, with the most common race for roofers being white (non-Hispanic). Despite there being general guidelines as to the type of clothing a roofer should wear (depending on the type of roofing system he or she is working on), there exist no standard protective roofing equipment for these workers. Thus, customers are not adequately satisfying this need or are simply not aware of this need because it has become almost normalized to have no protective equipment for roofers. While other manual laborers, like general construction workers, wear hard-hats as a form of headgear, this would not be sufficient to protect against lightning strikes and hazardous weather conditions. With the market size of the roofing industry having grown 2.7% per year on average in the United States between 2015 and 2020, there is a clear market and opportunity for this product. Until someone else devises a form of protective headgear that is both functional and practical to the daily demands of a roofer, this "window of opportunity" will remain open.

Innovation: The product that I am offering would be considered radically innovative because there currently exists no standard protective equipment for roofers on the market. The product itself will be composed of durable metal material. Contrary to common thought, since metal is a strong conductor of electricity, metal provides lightning a low-resistance path. (Compare this with poor conductors of electricity have have more resistance: these material cause electrical energy to be converted into heat---making it conducive for fire or even explosions. This product would also remain relatively light-weight and practical in order to adhere to the working conditions of roofers. Roofers already often experience excruciating levels of heat, so the headgear could not be too intrusive or overbearing on their working conditions. By developing a product composed of durable metal material, I would be offering an innovative product that has the potential to alter safety protocols in the roofing industry. With around 188,000 individuals employed in roofing, if we priced this protective headgear at $35 a piece, we would generate at least $6 million in revenue on a yearly basis.

Venture Concept: This protective headgear composed of durable metal material would address the problem I identified by providing a tangible piece of equipment that offers both protection and safety. My targeted customers will be compelled to purchase this product simply due to the fact that there is no other product that is really similar in the functional purpose that it serves. By being composed of metal and still remaining light, this headgear may be similar in nature to other general helmets in that they serve the purpose of protecting one's head. However, the functionality of the helmet I am proposing is completely innovative and radical compared to, for example, a hard-hat worn by general construction workers. Since this would be a radically innovative product, I do not believe it would be hard to get my customers to "switch" to this product. The main thing would be to make roofers aware of this inherent need that they have that they may have suppressed and ignored for so long because the roofing industry has normalized a lack of safety standards. As mentioned, the main competitors to this product are other forms of general headgear equipment and helmets. These products' weaknesses and vulnerabilities lie in the fact that they cannot adequately withstand or protect against perilous weather conditions. In organizing a business to support the ongoing production of my new product, the team I would be working with would initially be rather small. The main components or roles in the venture would be research and development (in order to construct the product), and supply-chain management (in order to establish a strong relationship with a supplier that can provide the necessary materials for constructing the product), and marketing (in order to analyze the specifics of market demand).

Secret Sauce: In pursuing this business concept, my most important resource will be human capital---specifically my business administration degree that I am receiving through higher education, communication skills and ability to demonstrate emotional intelligence, experience and background in leading teams and collaborating with individuals, natural tendency to have an optimistic approach, creativity and desire for continuous innovation, and ability to provide constructive criticism and receptiveness to feedback. Having these human capital traits will allow me to facilitate a culture of passion, understanding, and withstanding success.

What's Next For Venture: The next action item for the venture would be to actually try to develop and construct the proposed product. This would require further research and development, and involve prototype testing of my protective headgear. I would have to ensure that the headgear is composed of the right specific materials so that it can achieve optimal performance and function.

What's Next for Me: Assuming I've launched, in five years, I would like to continue running this venture if successful. Depending on the profitability of this business, I would use it as my primary form of occupation. Based on the level of stability within the business, I would also seek to either expand the line of products within the product category of protective headgear or create a new business as an entrepreneur (to have multiple projects running at the same time). This would obviously create more responsibilities on my end, but I would properly address those by creating a larger network and expanding my team to support the different business functions.