One of things that surprised me in this week's reading was the fact that companies can raise publicly besides having an IPO. I thought the only way to really sell stock was releasing the company to the public. However, through Regulation D, smaller companies are still able to sell stock and raise money. I did not know that it was possible for smaller ventures to raise money this way, and before reading this chapter I only thought that extremely large companies were able to raise these types of funds.
One thing about this reading that confused me was the section that talked about "other financing sources". The sections about factoring and accounts receivable financing did not make that much sense to me, mainly due to the fact that I have not heard about these methods before and that they are fairly new to me. Hopefully in the future I will be able to grasp these concepts better and have a better understanding of how they can tie into my entrepreneurship experience.
Two questions I would like to ask the author:
1. What is the simplest way you could explain "Angel Financing" to a young college student?
2. What is the best way to grab the attention of a successful Venture capitalist?
Once again, there is nothing a I disagree with, with Kuratko due to the objective nature of his writing. Although there were a few confusing parts, he explained mostly everything pretty well and I agreed with about all of what he had to say.
Until next time,
-Bryce
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Half-Way Reflection
Hey everyone,
this is my post dedicated to the half-way reflection. So far, perseverance is the biggest characteristic that has helped me get through the course. Even though there are no homework's, quizzes, or tests related to the course, it has been one of the most challenging courses that I have have taken. This course has required me to get out of my comfort zone and really go above and beyond to complete this course requirements. I have learned to not rely on what others think to accomplish what I need to do and to solely rely on myself as a means of accomplishing what is truly important in my life.
The exercise of interviewing customers was one assignment where I was really challenged and felt like giving up. The first interviewing customers assignment posed problems for me due to the fact that my customer interviews would not load causing me to lose points for that assignment. The next weeks I was out of town causing me to lose points for the second interviewing customers assignment. However, the third assignment, I was able to pull through and complete the assignment while getting a lot of positive feedback for my business idea. My tenaciousness allowed me to be successful and accomplish the goals that I had set out before me in this particular situation within the course.
The three tips that I would offer students taking this course in the future would be to 1) Get out of your comfort zone and pursue your own ideas. 2) Believe in your own capabilities and the things that you are capable of doing. 3) Do not let anyone tell you that you are unable to do something. These three things, I feel, are crucial to developing a "tenacious mindset of an entrepreneur and being a successful individual.
Until next time,
-Bryce
this is my post dedicated to the half-way reflection. So far, perseverance is the biggest characteristic that has helped me get through the course. Even though there are no homework's, quizzes, or tests related to the course, it has been one of the most challenging courses that I have have taken. This course has required me to get out of my comfort zone and really go above and beyond to complete this course requirements. I have learned to not rely on what others think to accomplish what I need to do and to solely rely on myself as a means of accomplishing what is truly important in my life.
The exercise of interviewing customers was one assignment where I was really challenged and felt like giving up. The first interviewing customers assignment posed problems for me due to the fact that my customer interviews would not load causing me to lose points for that assignment. The next weeks I was out of town causing me to lose points for the second interviewing customers assignment. However, the third assignment, I was able to pull through and complete the assignment while getting a lot of positive feedback for my business idea. My tenaciousness allowed me to be successful and accomplish the goals that I had set out before me in this particular situation within the course.
The three tips that I would offer students taking this course in the future would be to 1) Get out of your comfort zone and pursue your own ideas. 2) Believe in your own capabilities and the things that you are capable of doing. 3) Do not let anyone tell you that you are unable to do something. These three things, I feel, are crucial to developing a "tenacious mindset of an entrepreneur and being a successful individual.
Until next time,
-Bryce
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Elevator Pitch No.2
Hey guys, this post is dedicated to my second elevator pitch. It is safe to say that a had a little bit of fun with this one and tried to include a nice hook to draw in the viewers attention. The biggest thing people told me during my last pitch was to immediately grab the attention of my viewers so hopefully my new approach will accomplish that exact thing. Other than that the feedback was extremely positive so I hope that I outdid the last one. Enjoy guys!
Link to elevator pitch No.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlzRfHVbLmY
Let me know what you all think, thanks in advance for all your feedback.
Until next time,
-Bryce
Link to elevator pitch No.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlzRfHVbLmY
Let me know what you all think, thanks in advance for all your feedback.
Until next time,
-Bryce
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Week 6 Reading Reflection
Hey everyone,
This is my weekly post dedicated to our weekly reading. This week's reading is the first reading of the semester to come from a source other than our Entrepreneurship book so that is pretty exciting (I guess). Instead, this week's reading comes from the Harvard Business Review and is an article written by Michael Porter titled "The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy".
The thing about this reading that truly surprised me was the fact that such a large part of strategy revolves around analyzing and digging into the structure of the industry itself. After breaking down the five forces, Porter broke each of them down into even more specific factors. For example, for the force of "Threat of Entry", he analyzed another seven or eight factors that could contribute to that single force on the industry. I was completely unaware that there were so many different factors that can have an immense impact on a single industry.
To me, the part that was the most confusing revolved around the "Rivalry Among Existing Competitors" section. I am not too sure if rivalry among competitors is supposed to be a bad thing and why that would deter other companies from entering a market. The part about changing industry structure was also quite confusing to me.
Two questions that I would ask the author:
1. When entering a market, what do you believe is the most important out of the five forces to be aware of?
2. What makes these five "forces" so distinct compared to the possibly infinite factors that could perhaps affect a certain industry?
The only thing I did not really agree with in this reading would have to do with the rivalry among competitors. I believe that in any profitable industry or market, there will have to be very heavy competition so I do not understand why this would deter others from entering. To be unwilling to take on competition is to be unwilling to ultimately succeed.
Until next time,
-Bryce
This is my weekly post dedicated to our weekly reading. This week's reading is the first reading of the semester to come from a source other than our Entrepreneurship book so that is pretty exciting (I guess). Instead, this week's reading comes from the Harvard Business Review and is an article written by Michael Porter titled "The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy".
The thing about this reading that truly surprised me was the fact that such a large part of strategy revolves around analyzing and digging into the structure of the industry itself. After breaking down the five forces, Porter broke each of them down into even more specific factors. For example, for the force of "Threat of Entry", he analyzed another seven or eight factors that could contribute to that single force on the industry. I was completely unaware that there were so many different factors that can have an immense impact on a single industry.
To me, the part that was the most confusing revolved around the "Rivalry Among Existing Competitors" section. I am not too sure if rivalry among competitors is supposed to be a bad thing and why that would deter other companies from entering a market. The part about changing industry structure was also quite confusing to me.
Two questions that I would ask the author:
1. When entering a market, what do you believe is the most important out of the five forces to be aware of?
2. What makes these five "forces" so distinct compared to the possibly infinite factors that could perhaps affect a certain industry?
The only thing I did not really agree with in this reading would have to do with the rivalry among competitors. I believe that in any profitable industry or market, there will have to be very heavy competition so I do not understand why this would deter others from entering. To be unwilling to take on competition is to be unwilling to ultimately succeed.
Until next time,
-Bryce
Customer Interviews No.3
Hey everyone,
This is my last interviewing customers post. For this exercise I wrote out my business concept on an index card and handed it out to my "customers". I asked them for their initial thoughts on my business concept and proceeded to ask them a follow up question about what I could have changed or done differently to make things even better or more clear. The responses were very interesting and provided me with great feedback. A lot of people seemed to agree with the idea and thought it could be pretty helpful for students which I thought was encouraging. This surprised me because I did not expect so many people to have the same attitude as me. As I have stated in earlier posts, this concept is for everyone so I interviewed people from all over and with different types of majors to see what they thought about my concept! Thanks everyone and let me know what you all think!
Until next time,
-Bryce
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Idea Napkin No.1
Hey everyone,
This post will be dedicated as the Idea Napkin No.1 post.
To begin, my name is Bryce Harrold and I am a second year Finance Major from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. My skills include working well with teams, excellent organizational and problem solving skills, as well as a drive to be the very best at what I do. What I enjoy the most is looking at problems other people are facing and coming up with the best and most efficient ideas to resolve their problems. This company to me would be a way to help students in my same demographic and I would be able to monitor the results firsthand as this affects students all around me.
Through my start-up, ChompNation Books, I will be offering students who both buying and selling books, a larger market to obtain and sell their textbooks for reasonable prices in order to ensure that they are receiving their money's worth in each transaction. Students will be able to sell their books back to us or get in contact with one another through our services in order to more effectively buy and sell their items. Many students are fed up with paying thousands of dollars for textbooks that they might only open once or twice, and then not being able to re-sell them for a reasonable prices. We will also implement same day skipping at lower costs to provide students with their materials when needed, as well as a user-friendly online catalog and marketplace.
These services will be offered to students of all ages and majors. No matter whether they are an incoming freshman Pre-Med student or a fifth year Mechanical Engineering major, this company will be suited to fit the needs of everyone. We are here to cater for people who have $2000 worth of books on their desks to those that cannot afford to wait two hours in a line at the bookstore.
Our audience will be extremely excited for our services because it will save them both time and money when it comes to getting materials for their classes as well as a delivery service unlike any other.
Our core competencies revolve around putting the customer first. Whereas the campus bookstore is trying to earn large profit margins, we are here to make everything more affordable and convenient for our customers. The online, as well as delivery services will allow us to give students books cheaper and faster than they would anywhere else in Gainesville, and perhaps the United States. It is through these qualities that I believe will put us a step higher than that of our competition.
I believe that all of these things will be able to fit together effectively in order to achieve success. However, the only thing that I think would be my weakest element would be the fact that there are a lot of competitors in this specific market. However, I believe that through an effective marketing campaign, we would be able to gain the interest and trust of students all around Gainesville in dealing with their academic needs.
This post will be dedicated as the Idea Napkin No.1 post.
To begin, my name is Bryce Harrold and I am a second year Finance Major from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. My skills include working well with teams, excellent organizational and problem solving skills, as well as a drive to be the very best at what I do. What I enjoy the most is looking at problems other people are facing and coming up with the best and most efficient ideas to resolve their problems. This company to me would be a way to help students in my same demographic and I would be able to monitor the results firsthand as this affects students all around me.
Through my start-up, ChompNation Books, I will be offering students who both buying and selling books, a larger market to obtain and sell their textbooks for reasonable prices in order to ensure that they are receiving their money's worth in each transaction. Students will be able to sell their books back to us or get in contact with one another through our services in order to more effectively buy and sell their items. Many students are fed up with paying thousands of dollars for textbooks that they might only open once or twice, and then not being able to re-sell them for a reasonable prices. We will also implement same day skipping at lower costs to provide students with their materials when needed, as well as a user-friendly online catalog and marketplace.
These services will be offered to students of all ages and majors. No matter whether they are an incoming freshman Pre-Med student or a fifth year Mechanical Engineering major, this company will be suited to fit the needs of everyone. We are here to cater for people who have $2000 worth of books on their desks to those that cannot afford to wait two hours in a line at the bookstore.
Our audience will be extremely excited for our services because it will save them both time and money when it comes to getting materials for their classes as well as a delivery service unlike any other.
Our core competencies revolve around putting the customer first. Whereas the campus bookstore is trying to earn large profit margins, we are here to make everything more affordable and convenient for our customers. The online, as well as delivery services will allow us to give students books cheaper and faster than they would anywhere else in Gainesville, and perhaps the United States. It is through these qualities that I believe will put us a step higher than that of our competition.
I believe that all of these things will be able to fit together effectively in order to achieve success. However, the only thing that I think would be my weakest element would be the fact that there are a lot of competitors in this specific market. However, I believe that through an effective marketing campaign, we would be able to gain the interest and trust of students all around Gainesville in dealing with their academic needs.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Week 5 Reading Reflection
Hey guys,
This post will be talking about this week's reading reflection coming our Entrepreneurship book written by Donald F. Kuratko. This specific reading covers Ch.9 titled "Assessment of Entrepreneurial Opportunities" which I believed to be an extremely interesting chapter.
One of the things that surprised me the most in this reading was the fact that there are nearly 600,000 new start-ups a year in the United States, which equates to 1,500 new start-ups per day! The scary thing is that only a very small percentage of these start-ups actually make it. I was also surprised about the percentage of business that said lack of internal financial management and lack of market knowledge accounted for so many of business problems. I feel that if you are going to start a new venture, these are two things that can absolutely not fail in order to be successful.
One part of the reading that was kind of confusing to me was the section that explained the comprehensive feasibility approach. Figure 6.2 was extremely confusing because I did not really know what kind of relationships or progression the chart was trying to show.
Two questions that I would ask the author:
1. If your venture does not have a high degree of "uniqueness", how can you compensate in other areas to make up for this?
2. What part of the pre-start up phase, when proper done, will provide the best foundation for success?
Once again, there was nothing I did not agree with. Kuratko is great at backing up everything he says with statistics, facts, and logic that makes it hard to disagree with the things that he is saying. Also, he comes from a pretty objective approach, making it mostly unbiased.
Until next time,
-Bryce
This post will be talking about this week's reading reflection coming our Entrepreneurship book written by Donald F. Kuratko. This specific reading covers Ch.9 titled "Assessment of Entrepreneurial Opportunities" which I believed to be an extremely interesting chapter.
One of the things that surprised me the most in this reading was the fact that there are nearly 600,000 new start-ups a year in the United States, which equates to 1,500 new start-ups per day! The scary thing is that only a very small percentage of these start-ups actually make it. I was also surprised about the percentage of business that said lack of internal financial management and lack of market knowledge accounted for so many of business problems. I feel that if you are going to start a new venture, these are two things that can absolutely not fail in order to be successful.
One part of the reading that was kind of confusing to me was the section that explained the comprehensive feasibility approach. Figure 6.2 was extremely confusing because I did not really know what kind of relationships or progression the chart was trying to show.
Two questions that I would ask the author:
1. If your venture does not have a high degree of "uniqueness", how can you compensate in other areas to make up for this?
2. What part of the pre-start up phase, when proper done, will provide the best foundation for success?
Once again, there was nothing I did not agree with. Kuratko is great at backing up everything he says with statistics, facts, and logic that makes it hard to disagree with the things that he is saying. Also, he comes from a pretty objective approach, making it mostly unbiased.
Until next time,
-Bryce
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Elevator Pitch No.1
Hey everyone,
In this blog I will be discussing an opportunity I saw and the solution to this opportunity. Let me know what you guys think!
Opportunity: Last week while I was interviewing students across campus, I realized that there was a large problem that confronted the majority of them: acquiring books. Most of the people I interviewed, regardless of major, said that they were paying upwards of $200-$300 dollars for books that they might have opened twice. Others said that they were forced to wait in line for close to two hours, and some even said they purchased the wrong textbooks due to incorrect labeling. I myself experienced this as well, as they did not have a couple books I needed during the first week of school, which ended up hurting me.
Solution: I am looking to start a new company called ChompNation Books. This company would allow students to interact with one another while trying to sell back their books and find books for lower prices. This company would be mostly digital, but would pair with the Reitz Union bookstore as well as the Florida Bookstore on University Ave. I am hoping that this would allow students to rid themselves of thousands of dollars worth of books, while saving money on new books that they would buy. We could even supply same-day delivery around Gainesville for students who are not willing to wait in lines, and can be the middleman between two students who buy from one another.
Here is the video of my elevator pitch: https://youtu.be/iuQk7q1eGBQ
In this blog I will be discussing an opportunity I saw and the solution to this opportunity. Let me know what you guys think!
Opportunity: Last week while I was interviewing students across campus, I realized that there was a large problem that confronted the majority of them: acquiring books. Most of the people I interviewed, regardless of major, said that they were paying upwards of $200-$300 dollars for books that they might have opened twice. Others said that they were forced to wait in line for close to two hours, and some even said they purchased the wrong textbooks due to incorrect labeling. I myself experienced this as well, as they did not have a couple books I needed during the first week of school, which ended up hurting me.
Solution: I am looking to start a new company called ChompNation Books. This company would allow students to interact with one another while trying to sell back their books and find books for lower prices. This company would be mostly digital, but would pair with the Reitz Union bookstore as well as the Florida Bookstore on University Ave. I am hoping that this would allow students to rid themselves of thousands of dollars worth of books, while saving money on new books that they would buy. We could even supply same-day delivery around Gainesville for students who are not willing to wait in lines, and can be the middleman between two students who buy from one another.
Here is the video of my elevator pitch: https://youtu.be/iuQk7q1eGBQ
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