28A - Your Exit Strategy

There are many different factors that come into play when it comes down to an exit strategy within a business that you have created.  I think some of the factors include, how long-term will the business or idea last, can the business grow with technology or will technology pass it by as well as how large the business can become. 
My father sold his business after 36 years and made an enormous profit, and now he has started another business, the exact same type of business just with a new name.  I think that is the option I would choose as you already have the knowledge to do it, so you are essentially paying yourself a large profit and starting over again.  Yet, you still have the ability to pass it along to your children.
All businesses come to an end, whether it is hundreds of years or just a few months, so I would get out while on top and move onto the next idea.

27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

Inbound Marketing was a book that I really took a strong liking to.  A book about how to get away from the traditional methods of marketing such as calling randomly, door-to-door salesman and email blasts and how to usher in the new methods of marketing, that are also much more cost effective, in social media posts and other forms of social media such as a hashtag.  This new form of marketing is everywhere in the world, even when you go to football games they post pictures from Instagram of people tailgating and the #PublixTailgate and they select a winner for a $500 gift card.

26A - Celebrating Failure

Everyone has had countless failures in life, whether it comes from a lack of communication or just a lack of performance or effort.  The main failures I have had are from a lack of remembering to remember.  For example, just three weeks ago my cousin was having a huge engagement party at their house.  I was supposed to work on that Saturday and forgot to take the day off in order to attend.  Of course an hour into the party and I am at work and my phone is going crazy from my family asking where I am, so I had to rush out of work, shower and change and head over only to pull into an empty driveway as the party was over and everyone had already left...

25A - What's Next?

I am very glad that this assignment was apart of this class as I did not know in what other direction to really go after I had completed my invention and marketing the first product.  Many of my would-be customers were just about as flabbergasted as I was when it came down to other products and how to grow the company into other subjects within the same industry.  One customer offered an idea, making different options much as the garbage disposals that go in your sink work.  You need to be able to offer three different levels of the same product, one that is cheap and noisy, one that is moderate in both categories and one that is silent but expensive.

The other way we all decided that would continue to grow the company would be expanding into other industries such as hospitals, hotels and the workplace, instead of just a household product.  Another idea would be creating a service center as well as other products that deal with hygiene and bathroom products such as cleaning kits and personal care.

20A - Growing Your Social Capital

1) Josh Johansen - Marketing Director for plumbing installation company, 20+ years selling and retaining customers, domain expert.
I found and met Josh at my local Home Depot actually looking throughout the plumbing section and monitoring which of his companies products were selling more rapidly. 
I chatted with him for about 5 minutes about my idea and where I expected to be withing 5 years of launching.  He liked the idea and said to keep him updated throughout my process as he may want to get his company involved.

2) Michelle Klipper - Sales Manager for the same company as Josh.  Been in that position for 12 years now.  Marketing expert.
I met Michelle through the means of Josh as he gave me her contact information in order to help me with this project.
We exchanged emails and she stated that the money it would take to inform the customers about the product and how it works may put me in a huge hole up front but eventually, if it is a quality product, the sales will be profitable.

3) Mike Roell - Plant Manager for the same company.  Has worked in the warehouse for 40 years. 
Once again, Josh hooked me up with his plant manager.  It will be expensive to build prototypes and fill small orders but once it gets rolling it will become cheaper.

21A - Reading Reflection No. 2

The book I chose to write about is called, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".  The theme of the book is the main habits of the more successful entrepreneurs of this era and how those habits have helped them achieve the most they can achieve.  The book navigates through how these people discovered, unlocked and mastered their 7 habits that have made them amongst the most successful people on Earth today. 

This book absolutely enhanced what we are learning in this class as it ties directly into what we are learning about.  Entrepreneurship is not just about how to create a business and be successful, it is about how to enhance your traits and build habits that will help you be successful for years to come.

The exercise I would design would be based off of a model experiment.  An experiment where you create your business with and without the 7 habits and predict the success rates of each of those businesses. 

The biggest surprise was how simple most of the habits are.  They are everyday values that have seem to been forgotten but they really are the difference maker when it comes to success.

16A - What's Your Secret

1. Experience - I have so much managerial experience as well as experience handling difficult situations and making on-point decisions when it comes to business and handling different personalities.
2. Personality - I have a personality that is very outgoing and knowing how to make people laugh and smile.
3. Desire - I have a huge desire to make things out of nothing.
4. Success - I have an uncanny ability that is second to none in making bad situations successful ones.
5. Conversationalist - A word that is not very common, I have an ability to hold a conversation with anyone about anything.

My fellow comrades had a good variety on what makes me special.  Three of them went back on my previously successful business ventures while the other two were more focused on the path that lies ahead and my current business venture.  Mainly the focus was on the fact that I have a great personality.  I have an ability to go out and talk to people and figure them out without saying too much.

I am such an outgoing person that I do not keep anything inside of me.  When I go out to do something I leave it all out there.  That makes the others around me very aware and keen on the type of person that I am which is why their interviews and my own were so closely related.