Final Reflection

After looking over several of my blogs along this semester, I would say that what sticks out to me as the most formative experience was the elevator pitch. I will definitely remember the interviews that I did on my unique abilities and strengths, years later, and I would also consider that to be my most joyous experience. I think that the experience that I am most proud of accomplishing, would be the interview that I conducted with an entrepreneur. Looking back at the entrepreneurial mantra that I repeated, I would now say that I do consider myself to be moving closer to having an entrepreneurial mindset. I would recommend for the students that are going to journey down this path in the future, to just have an open mind and be able to try new things. They should not be afraid to try things outside of their comfort zone, I would say to perform the best in this course.

Week 15 Reading Reflection

   For this week's reading reflection, on Vikram Akula, I would say that the biggest surprise for me in the reading, was the impact that religion had on business, here. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the idea of extortion and how that was relevant to the business that was being discussed. If I were able to ask the author two questions, I would ask him about why extortions and the fatwa was present, in his business ventures, because I was curious as to how that became relevant. I would also ask him what he thinks is the best part about business, as he did not talk much about it. I do not think, however, that Akula said anything wrong in this article, though.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

This time, I did try to move around more and not sound as nervous, by taking a little more time in saying all of the information. I added in some information on the app that will now also be a part of my venture concept. I also changed my jacket to something more formal to look the part.

Venture Concept No. 2

1. Many people nowadays have gotten in to the trend of eating healthy and eating purely made foods, that are not filled with unknown chemicals and ingredients. People do not want to succumb to an unhealthy lifestyle and also do not want their children to fall down that same path. This is because of so many problems relating to fast foods and badly produced foods and meats. However, when it comes to attaining purely made, organic foods, it is not as easy due to high prices and less distribution of it. That is where my company, "Pure Ag", comes in to play. Pure Ag satisfies both of these customer issues, in that it delivers low priced organically produced foods in many supermarkets, as well as online. Pure Ag is the only company that delivers food which is not extremely unhealthy for you, or very fattening. In addition to that, Pure Ag has an app that monitors ones calorie intake and adds suggestions based on people's tastes.
2. In terms of the kind of feedback that I received, it was very helpful with so many good points. The majority of it was based on the pricing as well as the app. I definitely do agree that the prices will be lower than other organic food prices, and I also do understand that people would want food suggestions, which I will definitely include as well. This will therefor, save a shopper's reference.
3. I changed my venture concept based on this feedback, in that I made my app include product suggestions for customers, and therefore also deleted the professional helper on the app, because it would cost money for them to constantly be in contact with the customers, as written in the feedback.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

For this week's reading, I would say that the biggest surprise I encountered was the conversation on the global marketplace. I did not know how ethics and morality played in to this topic to such a high extent. I think that an aspect of this reading which confused me would probably be the area where our ecosystem plays such a huge part in businesses and entrepreneurship. I would ask the author to explain more on why this is so, as the two topics aren't always mentioned together. Another part of the reading that I would ask the author about would be about how ethical entrepreneurship viewpoint and corporate entrepreneurship viewpoint differ. There isn't any part of the reading where I necessarily disagree with the author on.

Google Gold

-Some of the activities that I did for each blog post to pursue SEO were speaking of my background and my college major, since that related to my business concept and why I chose it.
- The keywords included were largely surrounded around animals, since my company aims to pursue humanely raising and treating farm animals when used in food production.
- I actually did not really use my social media to enhance SEO efforts, but I would guess that that would've been a major game changer in how my results would have played out.
-My most viral post was probably my elevator pitch, because it showed me physically explaining what my business was all about, in a very short, and detailed form.
- I did not make it to the first page of Google results for my keywords, but I did make it to the third page.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

Based on where I stand now, my impression of the initial interview with the entrepreneur I had chosen was that it was very basic and simple. I feel that my questions were not very specific and lacked a certain amount of depth. For the three questions this time, I made sure to make them more deep and interesting.

1. How has entrepreneurship been difficult for you? It was extremely hard in the beginning, building up a company from scratch and gathering people to successfully nourish it over the years.
2. How would you say entrepreneurship has affected you as a person? I am more capable of dealing with challenges and taking risks in life because of entrepreneurship. My sense of creativity has also significantly increased.
3. What would you recommend to someone pursuing entrepreneurship in their life? I would ask them to never give up, to take risks, and to be as innovative, passionate, and creative as their mind allows them.

I definitely think that I am now a lot more comfortable and knowledgeable, when it comes to talking about entrepreneurship in this interview. The entrepreneur that I revisited, Faisal Naseem, also agreed that my new questions were a lot more thought provoking and interesting than my previous ones, and he had though that I had progressed in the subject.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

For this week's assigned reading, my biggest surprise was the concept on emotional bias. I think that a part of the reading that was confusing to me was the term, adjusted tangible book value. I would probably ask the author to further explain this term, so I would be able to understand this concept and the chapter as a whole, better. I would also ask the author about what he/she thinks is the difference between price/earnings ratio method, and discounted earnings method, because these are two ideas that are very interesting to me. There was nothing that I think the author was wrong about, in this chapter, though.

Celebrating Failure

When it comes to failure, I have experienced it a couple of times in my harder classes of chemistry and calculus. I have not performed as well as I would've thought on exams in this class, even when I thought I had known the material, and had confidence on the concepts. I definitely learned that complacency is something that one should stay away from. Even when you are entirely confident about something, you still have to put in effort at all times. I think that failure is what makes us human, and humbles us to great levels. Those are the kinds of emotions that I take in to consideration, when it comes to handling failure. I think that this class has changed my perspective on failure, in that it made me more open to trying out things I am not so comfortable with trying, even if I do not know what the outcome will be. This class has definitely made me more able to take risks, compared to four months ago.

My Exit Strategy

 When it comes to my exit strategy, I intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to my children. I have selected this particular strategy because this allows for businesses to grow and prosper over a long period of time. I think that my exit strategy has influenced the other decisions I have made in my concept because I have always looked for ways to grow my business.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

For this week's reading reflection, I would say that the biggest surprise I encountered was the section on fatal visions in strategic planning. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the chart on entrepreneurial actions and strategic actions. I would ask the author how those two differ, as they seem pretty similar to me. I would also ask the author how he/she came up with the list of fatal visions, as I would want to know how they were thought of and put it in to this list. I do not think the author was particularly wrong about anything in this reading

Venture Concept No.1

   After so many assignments and thought put in to my business venture of "Pure Ag", it is quite simple to wrap it all up in to one whole summary, with aspects on opportunity, innovation, and venture concept. As far as my opportunity is concerned, I would consider it to include the group of people who are in search of a healthy lifestyle but do not want to spend so much money on purely produced and organic foods, and also do not have the time to invest in searching for the right types of foods for their bodies. With everyone's lives nowadays being so busy, it is always been so much easier for everyone to opt more for fast food options that don't take up so much of their time, effort, and money. I would say this market is defined largely within the people who are living in cities, because those are the people that generally tend to have the busiest lives, and also have an ample amount of unhealthy, fast food options available. I think that a large base of people who partake in healthy, organic grocery food shopping, reside in more suburban, slow-paced areas. They meet this need of theirs by basically sacrificing the price factor for the benefit of healthy eating for themselves and for their family. So, in totality, the folks living in the city and the suburbs both do desire a healthy eating lifestyle, but one group just does not have the time to invest in to it, and that is a huge portion of my opportunity, which I feel will always exist, as fast-paced city life will always exist for people.
    When it comes to speaking of the second important aspect of my business venture, innovation, I feel that the product I would plan on innovating would definitely satisfy my customer's needs to a large extent. The app that I plan on creating will allow customers to order their foods for delivery or pick-up at a close by store selling my foods. In addition to that, this app will include an array of actual people who are experts in the health and foods field, that will always be available to assist the users with tips on what kinds of foods to purchase, what amounts of it to eat each day, and also just any important concepts on living the healthy life that these customers desire. Basically, the user will be able message any one of the experts that are online with a question or some needed tips, kind of like a social media forum. In terms of how this app would make me money, it would come down to loyal and committed customers, as the app would have a free one week trial period, with costs coming in later on, as people decide to get memberships towards my stores.
      Now on to the last key element of my summary, which is my venture concept. My innovation will address the opportunity I presented through the form of information at ones fingertips. My app will solve the amount of time that people often think goes in to grocery shopping, especially for organic and purely made foods. I feel that customers would be attracted to the one week trial period and the helpfulness of the app will cause them to want to go through with the purchase and membership. I think that when it comes to my business idea and innovation, there are not many known competitors that offer all of the same things that I do. Other than grocery stores such as trader joe's and fresh market, there are no companies that also include an app that makes grocery shopping easier for the public. That is why I think that my potential customers would be willing to switch to "Pure Ag". Packaging and distribution plays a huge role in my business, simply because the app has a delivery option, and also because I am willing to sell my foods at various supermarkets, to increase customer purchase. I also feel that the kinds of employees that I will hire will play a big role in Pure Ag because they will be the ones selling the food, and also providing advice and information to our loyal customers. That is what will keep my business and product ongoing. I definitely think that the employees are the secret sauce of my company, because they call for that one-to-one connection with the customer, which you don't really see anywhere else.
    As I think of what is next for the venture, fitness is the first thing that comes to mind, because that is such a huge part of living the healthy lifestyle, and so I would love to incorporate that in to Pure Ag somehow. When it comes to what's next for me as an individual and entrepreneur, I just want to continue to expand whatever business venture I am working on, and use the utmost amount of creativity and passion in it.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

For this week's assigned reading, I was surprised to find out how important innovation is for so many companies, and how there is such a huge lack of it. One part of this reading that was confusing to me was the concepts on innovation strategies and innovation systems. I would probably ask the author to further explain those terms in more detail so I can understand the importance of each one of them. I would also ask the author what he would consider the greatest aspect of innovation. I do not think that the author was wrong about anything in this article

Amazon Whisperer

-The revenue drivers in my business concept will come through all of the loyal customers who go out and purchase my food products, along with the customers who order it online or call for delivery.
-The kind of product I believe should be next would be an app that tells customers what kinds of foods they should buy and how much of it that they should consume in order to completely live the healthy lifestyle they desire.
-This will definitely improve the user experience, simply because customers will have a known professional in health, that can give them useful tips and advice to achieve their healthy life. That way, the customer doesn't have to be playing a guessing game on what is good for their body and well-being.
-
My health tracker is pretty much exactly what my app will be like, in that it offers information on ones weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. The only difference is that my app will actually include a person in the health field that will offer advice to my customers and potential customers, on what foods to consume in order to benefit their health, and the similar statistics will show as the my health tracker app.
-The reviews on this app are pretty mixed, with some customers saying that it is too basic and does not allow one to input as much information as they would like. Other customers say that it is extremely easy to use.
-Some design changes that I would make to the app would probably just be adding a lot more features, like the amount of calories one should consume, or what specific foods are better for a certain individual.
-This product would make a good addition to my service because it will make grocery shopping and living healthy so much easier for my customers.

My Unfair Advantage

Resources:
1. A broad amount of options as places to sell my food- Thia is important because it creates much more business and exposure
2. Social media presence- This makes a difference, as the younger generation gets a lot more information on the company, as they are all in tune with social media
3. Food delivery options- This is extremely unique because everyone nowadays appreciates delivery, and also food delivery only occurs with unhealthy and fast food options
4. Less pricey products- This is rare because pretty much all organically producing fod companies contain products that are quite expensive for the average person to buy
5. All employees will be properly educated on food production- This makes a huge difference because the employees will have a lot of background knowledge to feed their customers with
6. We will always consider as much feedback as possible from customers and constantly improve our company based on it- This also makes a difference becuase the customer will feel like they have a say in the company's business and will be getting what they desire from the service
7. International appeal- This is very important and unique because similar companies only have national appeal and haven't explored the market worldwide
8. Tips on how much of what food to eat will be available for customers- This also is a very unique resource because it allows for a personal relationship with the customer
9. Discounts and promotions will be available to most loyal customers- This adds to the amount of loyal customers in the business and is not found a lot in other companies
10. Stores will also sell baby and animal foods that are produced naturally- This is very unique because people only consider adults when it comes to organically produced foods

I would say that my top resource is the last one on baby and animal foods being sold through my company, as that is rarely every considered in other companies that are producing their foods organically. This is especially important to me because it allows for a wider range of customers attracted to my company, and also benefits babies and animals.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

  For this week's assigned reading on chapter 11, the biggest surprise for me was the section on a financial glossary for the entrepreneur, and how all of that was set up. One part of the reading that was a little confusing to me was the concept on liabilities, and how that relates to the business world. If I were able to ask the author of this book two questions, I would probably ask him/her how they came up with the financial glossary for the entrepreneur because I am curious to know how he/she decided what to include there. I would also ask the author what he/she considers to be the most important type of fixed asset, because I feel like that would make me understand the concept a lot better. As far as identifying something that I think the author was wrong about, there isn't anything I would be able to point out in this chapter where I think I disagreed with them on.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

I was exceedingly pleased with the kind of positive feedback that I received on my previous elevator pitch. The only thing that was asked of me to change was that I look at the camera more and try to be more natural, and I think that was completely justified. There was no type of feedback that I thought was outright silly. So that is why I basically only tried to look at the camera more often and try to sound less nervous.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

  From this week's reading on chapter 10, I would say that the biggest surprise I encountered was the section on pricing in the social media age. This was surprising to me because I did not expect social media to have any sort of effect on the concept of pricing, at all, as I thought that these were two completely different and separate topics. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the part on developing an information-gathering instrument, because I did not really understand what the author meant by the instrument aspect of it. That would be one of the two questions that I would then ask the author of this book. The other question would be about which type of marketing research he/she considers to be more important. I do not however, think that the author was wrong about anything in this reading.

My Secret Sauce

Five ways that I feel I have human capital that is truly unique:
-I've lived in different countries throughout my life and have also been fortunate enough to travel so much of the world from the age of 1, and in turn, learn about different cultures in the process.
-I also am extremely fond of animals and have a lot of experience working with them.
-I think that I'm also very open-minded and listen carefully to other people's opinions, to shape my own at times.
-Whenever I am faced with a challenge, I try to put my all in to overcoming it.
-I am also a very positive minded person, and always look at the glass half full, rather than half empty.

interview 1; I feel that the first interview was very good in mentioning my cultural knowledge and exposure to the world. I also took away the fact that my upbringing was very unique and varied, from others, such as my brother's.

interview 2; The second interview brought out my capital in dealing with animals. It was very specific in the kind of experience I have had working with animals.

interview 3; The third interview that I did talked more about my personality traits, such as my stubbornness, and also my willingness to help people. It also though, included similar aspects from the other two interviews.

interview 4; The fourth interview that I did was also based on my trait of helping others, but also included me as a kind hearted person. It also talked about my knowledge of different cultures.

interview 5; the fifth interview was very specific and unique in the wording it used. Although, it uses very similar points about me being good with animals, and also people.

When comparing how I see myself versus how others see me, I would say it is pretty much the same. I would definitely not disagree or want to change the way others spoke of me as I do think they are correct. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

    When it comes to my business concept, I feel that a huge aspect of it is definitely to describe me as a person. I am an animal sciences major here at UF, and hope to attend vet school after my undergrad. I have a lot of experience working with animals, and that is also what comprises a lot of my compassion in life. As a student in the college of agriculture and life sciences, I felt as if creating a business idea that includes both agriculture and animals would be perfect for me, as I am also very compassionate about the agriculture industry and the way meats are produced today. That is why I think that my company, "Pure Ag" will give customers the benefit of knowing that they are eating pure, organically produced food that is also not ridiculously harmful to farm animals. This type of business idea would definitely appeal to people like me, who want to eat natural foods with meats that are produced in the correct way. This is important because nowadays, every other food chain and brand does not take any pride in the way that they produce their meats, and just bring out low quality, unhealthy foods for their customers. I think that the aspect which will set me apart from other organically producing food companies would be the fact that mine would be open to selling its food in any store and not creating a whole separate store like Trader Joes or Whole Foods, for it. I also will aim at bringing much lower prices for my organically produced food, as compared to other organically and naturally producing food brands. I believe that this will be a key element in getting people to purchase my food. 

   Overall, when speaking of my business venture, I do feel that its aspects fit together quite well, with a little bit of room for improvement, of course. When it comes to the money related aspect, I have yet to figure out just how I would successfully produce higher quality foods at a low price. From the feedback that I received on my last napkin idea post, I truly figured out who supportive and in favor people are of this idea and topic in general. That proved to be quite motivating for me. I also liked how people shared their own experiences with the type of food that they choose to eat, and also how they are slowly getting in to this trend of organic foods. The really important feedback for me was definitely the money aspect of my business and how I should address that. In addition to that, the competition I will have was also good feedback for me to acknowledge.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

    After reading Chapter 8 of the textbook, I think that what surprised me the most was the section on fighting terrorism with financial opportunity. I didn't quite understand how these two concepts related to each other at all, until I read the section and found out so much on Ronald Bruder's theories of why terrorism and finance relate to each other. I think that one part of this reading that was confusing to me was the definition of business angels, and how that goes hand in hand with informal risk capitalists. I would probably ask the author how those two terms relate to one another. I would also ask the author how he/she came up with the list of criteria for evaluating new-venture proposals. There is nothing, however, that I feel the author was wrong about though.

Half-way Reflection

    For this unique class known as ENT3003, I began to think a little differently from how I thought in a lot of my other classes. For example, I was made to use a lot of creativity for some of the assignments in this class, and I had to develop an entrepreneurial sort of a mindset, in attempting to create business ideas and opportunities. I would say that the moments in which I wanted to give up consisted of the assignments in which I had to ask strangers if they wanted to be videotaped for an interview and several of them said no. I think that what pulled me through was just asking more and more people until they agreed. It definitely did cause me to develop a somewhat tenacious attitude which I didn't have before. The odd and kind of uncomfortable situations entailed in the assignments for this class were what contributed the most to this. I would definitely advise next semester's student to not let one or two unsuccessful tries to let them down, and to just keep going at it. I would also advise them to not be so conscious of being videotaped and having other classmates see it, as they are all doing the same thing you are anyways. These two things would allow you to have the tenacious mindset that an ENT student requires. Another tip I would give to the future students of this class would to just use as much creativity as you possibly can, in developing your business ideas.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

For this week's assigned reading, what surprised me the most was just how much marketing had changed over 40 years, in terms of segmentation. Nondemographic segmentation became just as unenlightening as demographic segmentation had been. I was a little bit confused by the idea that Yankelovich had to re-assess whether the claims he made about segmentation earlier were true or not, because I did not quite understand why 40 years later he would think that the market could change back to its previous ways. This would be one of the two questions that I would ask the author. I would also ask the author how effective segmentation really is in the market. I do not think that the author was wrong about anything in this article though.

Free Money

For the exercise, I simply went around my home neighborhood, and not surprisingly, people were pretty willing to take the dollar, as this is not a common sight, where someone just gets handed a free dollar. So in that way, giving it away was easier than I thought, and it did match up to my predictions about how it would all span out, as I did assume that people would take the dollar willingly, and without questions.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

I really enjoyed reading the comments and feedback on my previous elevator pitch. I think what stood out to me the most was how positively people reacted to my idea, and how much they appreciated it. I didn't think any of the comments was silly or wrong, and I really helped from all of them. Based on some of my feedback, I added a more personal touch to my pitch and talked more about the financial aspect of the company.

Customer Interviews No. 3

I basically extended my question to summarize the entire issue of college textbook prices and why it exists, specifically. Before, I was speaking of more experience based questions on textbook prices, and now it's more about looking at why this issue exists for people. I learned that people feel the same why as I do about textbook prices, and the fact that they are too high. I was surprised at the answer of people not being able to afford these books because of their family background and income, because I was thinking it would be because people are spending too much money in other places. I hope that more people will realize this opportunity and begin to want to change it for the better

Week 6 Reading Reflection

   For week six's assigned reading, I would say that the biggest surprise I encountered was the graph on the five forces that shape industry competition, just because I had no idea that there was such an organized chart on this subject. One part of the reading that was confusing to me would be the aspect of government in relation to this subject, because it is not good or bad for industry profitability, so I would ask the author why he/she included it in the list, if it does not have any effect on industry at all. I would also ask the author about how exactly he/she came up with the long list of typical steps in industry analysis, and what all had to be considered to create that list.

Idea Napkin No. 1

    When it comes to my business concept, I feel that a huge aspect of it is definitely to describe me as a person. I am an animal sciences major here at UF, and hope to attend vet school after my undergrad. I have a lot of experience working with animals, and that is also what comprises a lot of my compassion in life. As a student in the college of agriculture and life sciences, I felt as if creating a business idea that includes both agriculture and animals would be perfect for me, as I am also very compassionate about the agriculture industry and the way meats are produced today. That is why I think that my company, "Pure Ag" will give customers the benefit of knowing that they are eating pure, organically produced food that is also not ridiculously harmful to farm animals. This type of business idea would definitely appeal to people like me, who want to eat natural foods with meats that are produced in the correct way. This is important because nowadays, every other food chain and brand does not take any pride in the way that they produce their meats, and just bring out low quality, unhealthy foods for their customers. I think that the aspect which will set me apart from other organically producing food companies would be the fact that mine would be open to selling its food in any store and not creating a whole separate store like Trader Joes or Whole Foods, for it.


   I think that most of the aspects of my business concept gel pretty well together, but I do feel that I need to elaborate more and just how the foods would be produced. I also think that speaking of specific kinds of food that would be sold would also be helpful. I would probably consider these two elements to probably be my more weaker elements in this business idea.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

I definitely learned a lot from recording these 5 videos, and that was the fact that everyone has search contrasting views on a certain opportunity, and their answers are not always going to match what you expect. I would recommend for people to always keep that in mind, when interviewing customers, and to also create clear, relative, and concise questions for the opportunity being represented. I would want to advise others to create an opportunity that they understand very well and can talk a lot about

Week 5 Reading Reflection

     For this week's assigned reading, I would say that what stood out to me the most was the concept of trade secrets. It was surprising to find out that certain business processes and information that cannot be patented, copyrighted or trademarked may still be protected as "trade secrets." One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the section on the process of obtaining a patent. I didn't quite understand why there was an aspect of examination and then also post-examination, and I would ask the author why those too are needed in the process. I would also ask the author if he/she considered the entrepreneurial process to be a parody or an infringement. Other than that, I did not consider this book's author to be wrong about anything.

Elevator Pitch No 1

The opportunity that I am making use of in this assignment is the food/agricultural industry. There are quite a few issues in this industry, with how meats and food are produced, and my solution is my business venture, "Pure Ag". This company seeks to fix these issues, and provide pure meals to its customers.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

     For this week's assigned reading, I enjoyed reading about the basic concept of innovation. I was surprised to find out about the various types of innovation in action. I did not know that concepts such as extension, duplication, and synthesis were actually considered forms of this idea. Although I would say that the concept of duplication did confuse me quite a bit, just because it speaks of the creative replication of an existing concept, and as far as I know, creative and replication are practically polar opposites of one another. So that would be one of the two questions that I would ask the author, simply because I would want to understand how this concept relates to innovation. Another question that I would ask the author about would be whether or not he/she considers having a certain climate to be an agent of creativity, because I would want to know just how much ones surroundings can affect their creative process. Other than that though, I don't feel that the author was technically wrong about anything, I just did question some of his/her points, that I already mentioned.

Top 5 World Problems

1. Poverty is a world issue that has unfortunately been around for a long amount of time now. I feel like the unequal distribution of pretty much everything there is to own, is the cause of this problem. 

2. When it comes to the health of the world's people, it is sad to say that many infectious diseases have taken a large population of it by storm for a while.

3. Terrorism is a huge problem in the world, especially for this generation. I think war and violence in general have been a huge part of this issue.

4. Gender inequality is a broad issue that too exists in our world. In certain places, women are not paid the same amount of money as men are, for doing the same jobs, and in other parts of the world, women are not allowed to partake in the same activities as men, such as driving.

5. Animal cruelty in the farming industry is an issue that arises everywhere, with the way companies produce and process their meats.

Solutions:

1. There are other less violent and diplomatic ways to sort out international problems, such as terrorism. Politicians and world leaders can organize meetings to discuss this prevalent issue. 

2. Laws should be put in to place to change this amount of inequality between men and women.

3. There should be strict regulations that ban these acts of cruelty against animals in the food industry.

4.  Diseases such as AIDS, influenza, and meningitis can be reduced with adequate amount of healthcare to people everywhere.

5.  Less overcrowding of certain places could be a way to resolve poverty, along with more equal distribution of belongings such as food and clothes. 

     I selected poverty as my top problem because it is an issue that has been so relevant everywhere for so long. No matter how much technological progress and wealth that is gained in our world, poverty has always been present in a large majority of the world's people. My top solution however, was for terrorism just because I feel like it rests in misunderstanding and ignorance of people from different cultures and can possibly be resolved by proper, non-violent discussion. Even though laws and strict bans can also be implemented for my issues, I still feel like the solution to terrorism takes less work to implement. 

Identifying Local Opportunities

1. Apartment demand proves costly
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A9366D47EFAD60?  p=AWNB

     I think that this article is primarily about the recent and large increase in apartment mortgages in The U.S. Basically, people are buying less and less houses, and thus causing more of a demand for apartments and renting instead. As an effect of this shift from the norm, apartment renters have begun to feel "cost-burdened", which I feel is the main issue of this article. "The housing market defines a "cost-burdened renter" as someone who spends at least 30 percent of his or her income on housing. At 30 to 50 percent, renters are deemed "moderately burdened." If they pay more than 50 percent, they are counted as "severely burdened."

2. Snowstorm disrupts flights in S. Florida
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E37AB077C6A0?p=AWNB

        To me, this article is mainly about all of the flights that were recently canceled in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, due to the extreme weather in the region. In addition to that, there were many flights also delayed in this airport because of the snowstorm in the east. This therefore, heavily slows down travel, leaving problems for all those passengers waiting for their flight. 

3. Jobless claims hit 6-month high
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E37879B1BEB0?p=AWNB

         I feel that this article as on the high number of people seeking unemployment benefits in recent times, as a result of being laid off, specifically during the winter holidays. This is because, as the author indicates, many retail employers are laid off, therefore also being the ones who have the problem. Ultimately, this issue is divided between the employees being laid off and the time period in which they are laid off in.

4. KitKat in no shape for trademark
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A88E9A1E3FE968?p=AWNB

         This article all comes down to rivalry in my opinion. This rivalry is specifically between a couple of chocolate brands trying to trademark the chocolate bar, "KitKat". While Nestle and Cadbury both tried to trademark this bar, Britain's High Court ruled that it hasn't acquired a distinct enough character to satisfy trademark requirements. Thus, leaving both of these brands out of this pursuit. Still, Nestle planned to appeal, saying that the shape of the bar had been used in Britain for more than 80 years.

5. No consensus on privacy issue
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8380A091AFA78?p=AWNB

         I feel that this article surrounds the topic of privacy in our society today. Nowadays, pretty much every place there is to know, from one's car to their home, is public property, and can be seen by practically everyone. And although there are certain benefits to public display of information, such as lower energy bills, people still do believe that privacy has become a non-existent idea now, and needs to be given more importance. 



   

Week 3 Reading Reflection

         For this assigned reading, I would say that what stood out to me the most was the concept of entrepreneurial cognition. I did not know that there was actually a mindset for an entrepreneur, in which there are knowledge structures that people use to make assessments, judgments, or decisions involving opportunity evaluation, venture creations, and growth. This idea definitely surprised me in the text and allowed me to learn more about this topic. One part of this reading section that was confusing to me though, was the one about entrepreneurial stress. The author defines the word stress as we all know it to be generally, but identifies it as entrepreneurial stress as well, which makes me wonder just what specifically is different in regular stress and entrepreneurial stress. So in terms of what two questions I would ask the author about the text, this would be one of them. Another question that I would ask the author would be whether or not having an unrealistic optimism as an entrepreneur is considered a bad thing or a good thing. I feel that this would've been the only thing that I would've disagreed with the author on a bit, as I look at unrealistic optimism as more of a positive aspect than a negative one, as the author depicts it in this book.

Very Short Interview No.1

    The entrepreneur that I will be interviewing for this assignment is someone that started a general contracting construction company in 1996, that today serves diverse international and local institutional customers with general contracting design-build and construction management services. Although what I feel specifically makes Faisal Naseem an entrepreneur is the fact that his company, DINSONS Private Limited became the first ever Pakistan based contractor to be recognized by the Design Build Institute of America with the 2012 Design-Build Honor Award, and the fact that besides working for the Pakistani government, his company also works as a federal prime contractor with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Pakistan. This not only sets Naseem's company apart from others, but also provides for the good of many people.

1. Why did you choose to be an entrepreneur? I chose entrepreneurship because of two reasons:
-I wanted to work for myself
-Entrepreneurship seemed to be more exciting of a challenge than regualar 9-5
2. What is your favorite thing about entrepreneurship? There are no limits, the canvas is as vast as one's imagination
3. What is your personal definition of entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship is a great space in commerce that encourages creativity, for survival as well as success.

     After completing this interview, I truly learned about all of the positives that entrepreneurship can bring to one's life as well as others. Not only does it bring out the creativity and drive in you, it also brings out the contentment of helping others. I was definitely surprised by the far reach that entrepreneurship can have as well, with businesses continuing to be successful in many parts of the world.

World's Biggest Problems

1. Terrorism is a huge problem in the world, especially for this generation. I think war and violence in general have been a huge part of this issue. There are other less violent and diplomatic ways to sort out international problems.

2. Poverty is another world issue that has unfortunately been around for a long amount of time now. I feel like that unequal distribution of pretty much everything there is to own, is the cause of this problem. Less overcrowding of certain places could also be a way to resolve it.

3. I would consider racism to be an issue in our world as well. Spreading information and the truth about this topic would reduce all of the ignorance that causes this issue to occur.

4. The hunting and poaching of animals all over our planet is a big issue that has continued for many years. Although there have been punishments and laws to reduce it, they haven't been enforced or strict enough to lessen the endangerment and extinction of many species.

5.  Global warming and climate change is a large phenomenon of our time that has to be addressed more often. Most natural disasters have been linked to global warming, and there are ways that can be changed, such as creating less toxic waste as individuals, in addition to as groups.

6. Domestic violence also comprises this list of world issues, I believe. In households everywhere, this problem has come up. I think that one's background and upbringing is the cause of this and proper education can fix it.

7. When it comes to the health of the world's people, it is sad to say that many infectious diseases have taken a large population of it by storm for a while. Diseases such as AIDS, influenza, and meningitis can be reduced with adequate amount of healthcare to people everywhere.

8. The amount of refugees in this world has been ever so on the rise lately, and I believe it to be a significant issue. In order for this to end, there has to be less social unrest and political unjust all over the world.

9. Gender inequality is a broad issue that too exists in our world. In certain places, women are not paid the same amount of money as men are, for doing the same jobs, and in other parts of the world, women are not allowed to partake in the same activities as men, such as driving. Laws should be put in to place to change this amount of inequality.

10. Animal cruelty in the farming industry is an issue that arises everywhere, with the way companies produce and process their meats. There should be strict regulations that ban these acts.

Week 2 Reading Reflection

    After completing the assigned reading for this class, an element that definitely stood out the most to me was the explanation of entrepreneurship as being much more than simply creating a business, which is what I had believed up until now. The explanation that the book gives about entrepreneurs taking risks and having a certain mindset or perspective to change their ideas in to reality really gave me a completely different and new view on this topic. Although in addition to this, there was a part of the reading that did confuse me a bit. This was in the section of gazelles, where the textbook speaks of the amount of gazelles that actually survive. Since this number was zero, I was wondering how their continues to be economic growth through them, as they all end up withering and dying off. So that would probably be something that I'd question the textbook's author about, along with asking about the macro and micro views to entrepreneurship. I would ask the author which view would they consider to be most important and resourceful when going about an entrepreneurial venture. Besides these questions though, there was not something in this chapter that I would say I disagreed with the author about, partly because this topic is relatively new to me so I didn't have much previous knowledge to base my opinion on.

Bug List

1. The mailing service having issues such as the lengthy amount of time to mail things and having the package not reaching, through confusion between all the parties involved in the mail.
-There are too many people/parties involved in mailing a package, and there are also a lot of people mailing things in general, which causes this problem to occur.

2. The RTS bus system not having accurate predictions of arrival times of buses to certain places.
-There are a lot of routes on this app, which makes it tough for an accurate prediction all the time.

3. Cars not being able to convey the exact amount of miles remaining in your car, and just giving a range or prediction that constantly changes as well.
-Depending on how much or how fast you drive your car could be the cause of this.

4. Headphones getting torn apart and not fully working after a short period of time.
-The quality of material used for making headphones may not be strong enough.

5. Triple A not being of quick service when your car has broken down or has a flat tire.
-The amount of people in need of Triple A at the same time could be the cause of this.

6. IPhones losing their amount of battery life in a very short amount of time, compared to other phones.
-The amount of apps and such on the iPhone might take up a lot of the battery usage, thus making it die faster.

7. Unpredictable cellular bills at the end of the month, with unnecessary additional charges added.
-Unmentioned billing info could be the root cause of the unpredictable bills.

8. Printers being unreliable with sometimes printing only half of the information, or printing it backwards.
-Certain unknown gimmicks with printers could cause these printing mishaps.

9. Cell phone cases not really protecting the phone when it falls.
-Some of the cases that are made nowadays are for the fashion and look rather than the protection and sturdiness, causing this issue to arise.

10. College textbook prices being ridiculously high.
-Certain classes containing a lot of information in the textbook could cause for the high prices of their textbooks.

11. Big food corporations like Tyson not regulating the way their meats are processed.
-These corporations basically only focus on the taste and sales of their product and then forget about the morality in how their meat is processed.

12. The amount of parking available to UF students being much less than the amount of decals sold.
-The desire for selling as many decals causes the universities to be at a loss of parking spots to match that amount.

13. Hair ties and scrunchies breaking too easily.
-The type of material used to make these does not contain the strength of holding thick hair, for example.

14. Items that have extremely hard to open packaging.
-Though these items are packaged well enough to successfully keep all the items safe and sound inside, the effort required to open them is not easy.

15. Flimsy grocery shopping bags.
-The low price for making these kinds of bags causes for the inadequate material to actually hold together all of the grocery items.

16. CD's and/or DVD's not working when they are a little dusty or not completely clean.
-The sensitivity of the CD or DVD causes for problems in using them to play something.

17. Computers and laptops needing to install Adobe Flash for practically anything.
-The importance that is put in having Adobe Flash to work things is the root cause of this problem.

18. Certain computers having to exit from the main screen in order to restart and finish updates.
-Some companies like Windows, constantly have to update their software, which causes this problem.

19. Carpet floors becoming dirty way too fast, as compared to wood or tile.
-Carpets are not durable enough to stand different things like shoes walking on them.

20. Parking plazas and parking spots being too tiny for space to reverse and turn around to get back on the road.
-The amount of space to move around in a parking plaza isn't really considered in this process.

       The difficulty I had in coming up with this list was quite high because I am not used to thinking like this and don't really remember all of the issues I had with certain products when looking back. But once I began writing this reflection, several similar instances in which I was exposed to service and product bugs did come back in to my head. I could then more easily go from problems I had with services I use more often, such as phones and computers.

My Entrepreneurship Story

     Not too long ago, three of my classmates and I had the opportunity to create a business venture that we would be able to showcase to our peers and in a way, sell the idea to people. We thought of developing a service that specialized in less expensive trips for college students. We named it "Roam" and later went on to create a website, brochures, and business plan for it. This entire process brought me so much exposure to the concept of entrepreneurship and the fact that an idea can be taken so far to potentially become a success.

      Registering for ENT 3003 seemed like such a new experience for me, as I have never taken an online class before and haven't really learned that much about entrepreneurship in general. That is why I thought that this class would be unique for me and would also teach me basic skills about this subject I am not so commonly exposed to in school. I felt that registering for ENT 3003 would make me much more familiar with the entrepreneur in me.

Introduction

     Hi, my name is Minaa Omar. I'm from South Florida, near the Boca Raton area. My family and I are originally from Pakistan, and have also lived in Singapore before moving to the states. I am an Animal Sciences major and hope to attend UF's vet school in order to pursue my career in veterinary medicine. Ever since I was a kid, I have been fortunate enough to travel to many amazing places like Paris, Thailand, Mexico, and London, and I hope to get many more opportunities to travel the world in the future,

Entrepreneurship Mantra

Hi, I'm Minaa:)