Week 3 Reading Reflection

One of the biggest surprises for me in this chapter is how much I seemed to identify with the characteristics of an entrepreneur.  I don’t consider myself an entrepreneur or at least never thought of myself in that way.  What I mean by identify is that I am very competitive and like to win, I set high standards for myself sometimes to a level that is not possible to achieve, one thing I pride myself on at work is the ability to solve problems, and I like feedback but prefer more constructive criticism rather than praise so I know how I can improve.  I don’t think there was anything that I flat disagree with, but the author makes a point that being successful risks and threatens a successful family life.  He doesn’t say that it can’t happen, but in my experience I have seen multiple successful business in which the owners and operators also have a good family life.  I feel that work and family create risks towards the other weather regardless if the person is an entrepreneur or not.  Something that I would ask the author is if it is better to put your own ethical beliefs aside in some situations if they are not the popular or common belief on a subject?  I would ask this to know if it is better to stick by your guns or if sometimes it better to bow to public opinion.  I personally do not think that I would be able to adjust my views or turn a blind eye to something that I don’t believe.  It seems to me from the reading the first 2 chapters that entrepreneurship has more to do with a person mindset rather than their ability to do things or how they are able to navigate through business.  Someone can have all the attributes but not be successful, and on the other hand a person may struggle with the ideas or how to execute but the determination takes them where they want to go.  I would ask if this is true or if I am on the wrong track.  I didn’t find anything “confusing” but I did read the ethics section of the chapter multiple times.  I did this because, to me, ethics is such a fine line to walk and I do not think that there is any one right answer or right way to do things.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1.       Bitter Dill: Health fi s file Chapter 11; "They are exploring all their options," says attorney 
     Orlando Business Journal

http://go.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T003&prodId=GPS&searchId=R7&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=3&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE|A81793410&contentSet=GALE|A81793410

This story is about a company that provides nutritional products to doctors who then sell to patients.  A lack of revenue caused the company to significantly decrease the amount of product they sell.  They went from 13 products down to 2.  From that point they were no longer able to keep enough funds to stay afloat.  An agreement was made with investors but the stipulation was that the company had to make $8 million in a time frame or the investors could call off the deals.  The company did not make required amount and 2 deals fell through causing the company to file a chapter 11.

The problem was the company trying to get a continuous revenue is it can begin to rebuild itself but market and investors kept falling through as the company failed to become stable.

Access Health and its four subsidiaries are having the problem.

2.       

       Why community banks are an endangered species and how than can hurt Central Florida's small businesses: why fewer community banks is problematic for Orlando's small businesses 
    Orlando Business Journal

http://go.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Article&tabID=T003&prodId=GPS&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=1&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE|A440527901&contentSet=GALE|A440527901

This story is about the closing of local community banks decreasing the opportunity of small businesses to get loans.  These community banks are being replaced by national banks which makes it harder for the small businesses to survive, because their ability to get funds to get them started has been cut.

The problem is larger national banks taking the place of the local banks that help the small businesses in the area which helps the area grow.

The people having the problem in this situation is the small local businesses, because they can no longer get the funding they require to become successful.

3.     

          Hot and cold sales perplex local retailers
   Orlando Business Journal

http://go.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T003&prodId=GPS&searchId=R14&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=6&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE|A68875628&contentSet=GALE|A68875628

This article speaks about the local retailers in the area and how they were affected by the indecisiveness of shoppers over the holiday.  Overall retail sales went up 3% from last year, however some businesses, such as Partridge Tree Gift Shop, dropped 20%.  This problem is quickly becoming considered the norm in today’s holiday shopping season.  Shoppers seem to be more caution and sales and deals are starting earlier every year and running into the week after the 25^th as well.  What this says to me is that if you miss time your sales and marketing you and your business will suffer.

This problem is interesting because it is not isolated down to one business and does not have a long enough history to track and forecast potential issues.  The people that hit the hardest seem to be smaller local retailors that do not have the ability to market as well as the major chains in the area.

4.        

          Sticky business
       Orlando Business Journal

http://go.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T003&prodId=GPS&searchId=R17&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=9&searchResultsType=MultiTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE|A67549808&contentSet=GALE|A67549808

This is a short, but interesting article.  One of the reasons I picked this was because of how effective his solution was.  This was an online labeling company which started running into issues because of the explosion of similar web based business.  The owner went ahead and decided to not match but beat anyone’s price by 5%.  He also found that this tactic also kept him up to date with the current market values.

David Carmany and his online business had the problem in this article.

5.       

        Out of ink
     Orlando Business Journal

http://go.galegroup.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T003&prodId=GPS&searchId=R18&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=6&searchResultsType=MultiTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE|A78577108&contentSet=GALE|A78577108

In this article the company ends up taking themselves out of business before they went bankrupt.  This was a start-up magazine which was to almost piggy back off of a previous magazine.  Unfortunately the magazine never gained any traction and decided to pull the plug before they had nothing left.

The effected magazine was “Metro Orlando Parent”.  This magazine is no longer in existence and blamed bad timing for their failures.

Very Short Interview No. 1

I was able to interview my boss who is and comes from a family of entrepreneurs.  They own a very successful Chevrolet dealership in Central Florida.  He currently runs the Service Department and has implemented multiple new ways to make the experience for the customers more enjoyable and more efficient.  Not all of the ideas are successful and that just he goes back to drawing board to find another way.
The first question I asked was what he wished he had been taught more in school that help him prepare for his career.  His answer was accounting.  He said that it is very hard to see what making your business more or less successful if you can't crunch the numbers.  He also said that the best way to learn everything else is on the job and trial by error.  The next question I asked was what he thinks I should learn in the course.  His answer wasn't so much a direct response as more of what to take away from other entrepreneurs that we will study about or reference.  That is to keep my drive alive and never be comfortable with where I am always strive for more.  Lastly, I asked him what it means to him to be an entrepreneur.  The first thing that jumped to his was being able to build something from nothing and how self-fulfilling that was and still is.
The interview was somewhat enlightening in that I got to see a different side of him.  Nothing really surprised me from his answers I could see how all of those things are important or why he answered that way.   I have known him and his family professionally for about 10 years now and they run one of the best family owned businesses I have ever seen.  They seem to believe in a philosophy that it is just as important to take care of the employees as it is the customers.  Nothing really surprises me about they do and I am privileged enough to be able to see how hard they work everyday to keep they're it top form and how they are always looking to improve it for both their employees and customers.         

World's Biggest Problems

1.  Selfishness, the world has gone to a very selfish "what have you done for me lately" type of place.  Just about everyone is guilty of this, and frankly I don’t have a way to stop it or help it.  Everyone would have to look inside and fight it for it.  Start with baby steps, little things make big things.

2.  I think that another problem with the world is focusing attention on the wrong things.  Why can’t we put some of the energy we used to fight the name of a football team (Washington Redskins), and use it to focus on helping the homeless in the country?  In order for this type of a change we would need to make more pressing matters more mainstream.  Instead of tweeting how you don’t like Synder why not tweet about helping someone have a bite to eat?

3.  The number of homeless in the country is another issue that we have.  When I worked in Orlando I had to walk by close to 20-30 homeless every day and it was only about a half mile from the parking garage to the office.  Trying to set up more programs to help train and teach the homeless and uneducated would, I think, help them get back on their feet and maybe become a useful member of society.

4.  Unemployment is another pressing issue.  I actually think the number of unemployed people is higher because more and more people with skills and background are in the job market and are being taken for jobs that are typically occupied by entry level or unskilled laborers.  One way to help this is, get rid of the automatic check machines from the stores and order and payment machines at restaurants.  This will increase the need for checkout clerks, servers, and even runners.

5.  The economy is something else that needs to be addressed.  Right we live in a world where everything is overpriced and over inflated, but the dollar is not worth as much as it used to be.  A way to help combat this is to get rid of unneeded spending, particularly by the government.  As an example I have seen a government vehicle need to be towed 20 miles because it had low air in the tires.  Instead of taking less than 2 minutes to top off the tires this company wasted over $100 to have it towed.

6.  Hunger is another major issue in the world.  After the day is over, restaurants will throw away any food that was cooked but not needed.  Why not take the food that can be reheated or safely consumed and set up a facility, like a good will for food, that can disperse the food to areas that need it.  This facility would also have employees that have to work there. (See number 4).  

7.  War is a problem that is going across the world right now.  With the addition of cyber terrorism and advancements in biological and chemical warfare, it is becoming harder and harder to protect the innocents in a war.  I think that better communication between world leaders would help this issue.

8.  In this country, health care is a major concern.  Getting insurance through the market place is very difficult and you must make a decision based on plans that you don’t fully understand.  Then again health care through work can be extremely expensive, for instance I pay $600 per month for insurance.  This is another area where I feel inflation has had a major effect.  We need to find a way to get pricing for different procedures under control.  Example would be $300 for a 1 mile ambulance ride.

9.  Helping cure diseases is something else that I feel needs more focus.  There is a saying that there is no money in finding cures so we don’t them.  I think that statement is probably true.  I also feel that not having to widow a mother at the age 47, because we didn’t want to find a cure for cancer, is payment enough.  More research facilities and actually devoting resources for a cure would be beneficial.

10. My wife is really big on the overabundance of stray animals such as cats and dogs.  I do not see this as a major problem in the world, but she is being persistent.  There are ways to start reducing these numbers.  To start it could be mandated that all animals that are not fixed must be registered to breed and all others are subject to fines for the owners.  This will help take care of the addition to the strays.  In regards to the amount of strays that are currently roaming around well it could be a solution to problem 6.

In short there are a number a major problems in the world and not everyone will even agree on my top 10.  In regards to the “solutions” I presented to be honest I have not done the amount of research required to find a feasible solution.  I think that for most of these to begin to, implement, execute, and follow through with a successful solution to even one of these problems, would be a full time job and then some.