Principles of Entrepreneurship

Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's (by Ray Kroc) 1) You read about an entrepreneur: What surprised you the most? I was surprised that Ray Kroc started what would be his most successful business idea when he was much older than expected. He had already had multiple careers when he partnered with the McDonald's brothers.  What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admired that he was never going to give up on his business even if it meant working long hours and paying himself very little. What about the entrepreneur did you  least  admire? I did not admire that he came across as though he knew he was going to succeed. It is one thing to believe in yourself and your idea, but he seemed to think that he would succeed no matter what because he was putting in the work.  Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Ray Kroc encountered most of his hard times with failure before his partnering with the McDonal...

1)  Tenaciousness is a competency.  Before beginning this class, I thought that I was pretty good at time management for my classes. This is my first semester having more than one online class at one time, this has made me realize that my time management skills needed some work. At the start of the course I was able to keep up with most of my assignments but I had to rush more than I wanted to. I have gotten to work on these skills and I have been able to get more of my assignments done much before the deadline.  2)  Tenaciousness is also about attitude.  I feel as though things that I have been through prior to this class have made me work on a "not giving up" attitude. I think that through this course so far I have been able to increase that attitude and make it even easier for me to push through and continue to work towards my goals. I think that Professor Pryor's lectures have helped me to be interested in what I am learning which makes working on an ...

1) The segment I have chosen is middle age consumers who tend to use their debit or credit card very frequently.  2) The people I chose to interview were a mid 30's married mother of 3, mid 40's married man with no children, and a mid 30's single mother with one child. 3) Out of the three people I interviewed, all of the three have experienced many times when their card does not work as well as having to have their cards replaced. Two of the three people I interviewed did not realize that they had an unmet need until I started questioning them about their experiences. All three of them stated that they use their card at least three times a day each day and that at least two of the times each day, at different locations, they have had card reader errors. This means that it was not the chip readers themselves that were having issues, but instead the cards that were damaged or overused and caused damage. I tried to find a pattern with them, to see if it was truly their c...

1) As a Customer Service Staff at Publix, it is my job to handle money in a few of its forms,  including in the way of debit and credit cards. I see every day the frustration that customers and cashiers have when a card does not work or takes multiple tries to go through. For my business, I would like the new style of cards to be implemented at a few of the local banks first and then the larger ones to spread my customer base. I would like for customers to bee able to get rid of the frustration of having a card not work due to damage.  2) I am offering a card made out of titanium that gives customers the peace of mind that it will not get damaged or break before it expires. As of now, customers experience a high number of card issues that could be fixed with this titanium card. 3) The product I am offering will not be offered directly to customers, but instead to banks and credit union first then to individual customers. Once a bank has contracted with my company, they c...

Interviews Interview 1: stay at home mom mid 30s ·       While talking with my aunt, I was able to ask her some questions about her spending habits and how she pays for things when she goes shopping. I learned that she generally used Samsung pay because she said she forgets her wallet in the car a lot when she tries to run errands with all three of her kids with her. She continued on to say that she only really uses one of her cards when she does use a card and that she’s had it for over two years and never had an issue with it not reading at a register. Interview 2: early 20s college student ·       My best friend lives in a dorm and I was able to talk to one of his roommates about how he spends money and if he has had any card problems. He informed me that his parents pay for the meal plan for him, so he mainly uses his Gator1 card and not a card with a chip. He went on to say that he does have a debit card of ...

"Chip reader error please try again" My opportunity has to do with debit and credit card chips that stop working before the card expires. I think that while the chip card has probably made using a debit or credit card more safe, and you are less likely to get your account hacked, it makes life a little bit more difficult when your chip no longer works. There should be a solution to this, while Apple pay and Samsung pay are great options, they are not accepted everywhere, making switching to just that not a reliable or practical solution. I think that there should be a more sturdy way to make the chip cards so that they do not break as quickly. Cards are used by almost everyone every day and therefore, they should be improved with the technology we have available to us. I would not be selling my product to individuals exactly, I would more be selling to banks and banking institutions to help them make their customers happier. I think that while it would be an initial invest...

2) Clearly state the opportunity you have identified, including the who, what, why. For instance, "Hospitals in the United States are unable to easily, efficiently bill Medicare for drugs they distribute because of the logistical challenges in linking a drug given to a patient and the patient's bill."  The who: Hospitals in the United States The what: They are unable to easily, efficiently bill Medicare for drugs they distribute to patients The why: Logistical challenges related to listing prescribed drugs on patients' bills 3) This is your 'hypothesis' about the opportunity. It is a statement of your belief related to an opportunity. I'd like you to test the boundaries of the hypothesis by pushing and prodding each of the three elements. That means: Testing the who: Are there others who have this need? Or, does everyone in your current 'who' share the need?  Testing the what: What are the boundaries of the need? For the example above, t...

Regulatory Change Opportunities: Tobacco and Nicotine purchase age raised to 21 This example can be seen as a loss of opportunity or a gain, I have chosen to explain both. In this example, I read information about the new vaping age regulations in the United States. Beginning at the start of this year, tobacco and nicotine products can no longer be sold or purchased by someone between the ages of 18 and 20. The new regulations have increased the purchase age to 21 and they think they have good reasoning about it. https://www.blu.com/en/US/explore/explore-vaping/vaping-locations-regulations/what-do-fda-regulations-mean-for-the-future-of-vaping I think that some might view this article and not see opportunities, however, I think that there are. Previously, there was talk of banning flavored vape due to the greater appeal to children and teens. I think that with this regulation in place, the vape companies are able to continue to offer flavors of vape that may appeal to younger...