1. I would stay with the company for several years and continue to expand it throughout the region. I would then plan to keep it in the family and pass it down to the next generation, probably by the time I was in my fifties, and then retire in the future.
2. I have chosen this strategy for several reasons. I would pass it down to the family because I feel that doing so would give the next ownership a true sense of pride in the company not simply as a thing or as a title, but in the fact that this is something that their family began and has always run. My stepping down and letting my children take one by the time I am in my early fifties also serves three purposes. First, they would have time to work under and with me in leadership roles and begin to learn how things have been run. Second, they would still have me working under and with them as they take over and I can guide them as I see fit, while also giving them some freedom to try new things. Lastly, it will keep people that are younger, more up to date with the current (or in this case, the future's current) technology, and therefore allow the company to remain innovative.
3. My exit strategy is something that I had not thought much about, specifically. I do not truly consider it an exit strategy, in my case. I would be here for the long haul. With that in mind, it did have some effect on my business plan. I was not thinking of this as something that I would try to make worth a lot of money fast so that I can sell it for a maximum profit and move on; I was considering it something that would, theoretically, be my and my family's life work.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Assignment 27A
Elon Musk
1. The thing that I found to be most surprising was actually the first thing that was talked about. Musk said no and did not cooperate with the biography for several months, and only changed his mind to cooperate by getting to be the one that got to read through it first, make edits and add footnotes. To me, that was most interesting. The thing that I admire most about Musk is that he is not a rich person who is surrounded by what the author calls 'handlers'; he is speaking his own words/thoughts and does not have someone to buffer between him and those around him. I believe that this is admirable. The thing that I least admired about him was the way that he talked about women. While it could have been a joke or could have been serious and I am looking into it wrong, he talked about the 'minimum' amount of time that a woman would want for someone to spend with them when they are in a relationship. To me, this is something that should not be a set number. It should be something that is simply natural for both people involved. Elon Musk has definitely encountered adversity and has been able to push through it. He has, in most recent memory, done so by coming clean publicly and apologizing for actions that he has taken. In the past, he has simply not given up and continued working hard in order to succeed again.
2. The entrepreneur exhibits a vast amount of competencies, with some of the most obvious being that he is very intelligent and hard-working. Pairing those two things together without many other things would make someone successful; however, Musk has those plus many more. Those are simply the two that I view as the most important, personally.
3. I got a bit confused reading about his life goal of dying with humanity having a bright future. He plans to do so by helping make it possible for humans to migrate to Mars.
4. What should I do with any money that I have to invest, and what is your one start up idea that will make me a billionaire? The first would be something that I would ask in order to invest more of the money that I would like to buy stocks with. This is because, while his portfolio became very risky very fast, he has become a very rich man based on those risks. The other is because he has already started and sold two businesses for large sums of money; large enough that I could sell one and never work a day in my life beyond that.
5. He views hard-work as mandatory. This is obvious through the fact that he profited $22 million on his FIRST (and significantly smaller than his second) start-up company, and turned around and used that money to start another. He could have retired and been comfortable for life after that first company, but did not. This shows that he is a hard-worker. I share that view.
1. The thing that I found to be most surprising was actually the first thing that was talked about. Musk said no and did not cooperate with the biography for several months, and only changed his mind to cooperate by getting to be the one that got to read through it first, make edits and add footnotes. To me, that was most interesting. The thing that I admire most about Musk is that he is not a rich person who is surrounded by what the author calls 'handlers'; he is speaking his own words/thoughts and does not have someone to buffer between him and those around him. I believe that this is admirable. The thing that I least admired about him was the way that he talked about women. While it could have been a joke or could have been serious and I am looking into it wrong, he talked about the 'minimum' amount of time that a woman would want for someone to spend with them when they are in a relationship. To me, this is something that should not be a set number. It should be something that is simply natural for both people involved. Elon Musk has definitely encountered adversity and has been able to push through it. He has, in most recent memory, done so by coming clean publicly and apologizing for actions that he has taken. In the past, he has simply not given up and continued working hard in order to succeed again.
2. The entrepreneur exhibits a vast amount of competencies, with some of the most obvious being that he is very intelligent and hard-working. Pairing those two things together without many other things would make someone successful; however, Musk has those plus many more. Those are simply the two that I view as the most important, personally.
3. I got a bit confused reading about his life goal of dying with humanity having a bright future. He plans to do so by helping make it possible for humans to migrate to Mars.
4. What should I do with any money that I have to invest, and what is your one start up idea that will make me a billionaire? The first would be something that I would ask in order to invest more of the money that I would like to buy stocks with. This is because, while his portfolio became very risky very fast, he has become a very rich man based on those risks. The other is because he has already started and sold two businesses for large sums of money; large enough that I could sell one and never work a day in my life beyond that.
5. He views hard-work as mandatory. This is obvious through the fact that he profited $22 million on his FIRST (and significantly smaller than his second) start-up company, and turned around and used that money to start another. He could have retired and been comfortable for life after that first company, but did not. This shows that he is a hard-worker. I share that view.
Assignment 26A
1. I failed one specific shift at work several times this semester. I was hired to work in one department (seafood), and have done well in my own opinion in each and every one of my shifts inside of that department. However, sometimes I am asked to work in the meat department, which is what I actually applied for when I applied for a job. However, the meat department shift that I work is one that is relatively busy and that I was never well-trained for in my store. With that in mind, my first time I did not get to make all of the products that I was supposed to, and at the end of the day I had to leave most of the things that I was supposed to clean for the next person to finish. Each time following this, I got slightly better but still failed to do all of the tasks that I was assigned.
2. I learned that what you think you want to do is not always what you really want to do. When I started, I was disappointed to learn that I would be in seafood and wanted to work in the meat department more and more. As time went on and I got comfortable working seafood, this completely changed and I began to want to work in the seafood department.
3. Failure to me is not succeeding in anything. In some cases, failure on a test could be getting a B, while in others it could be that you literally failed (got a C- or less). In different situations, failing can be different. I feel that I handle failure relatively well. I am a person that is usually pretty confident and I do not react much in terms of emotions very often. I hide from others that I have failed by doing this, even when I know that I have and they do not. I am no more or less likely to take risks after this class. I have always been someone who feels that I can do things well. While this class strengthened my viewpoint on this and made me see that some risks are more worth it than others, I do not think that it made my risk taking preferences any different.
2. I learned that what you think you want to do is not always what you really want to do. When I started, I was disappointed to learn that I would be in seafood and wanted to work in the meat department more and more. As time went on and I got comfortable working seafood, this completely changed and I began to want to work in the seafood department.
3. Failure to me is not succeeding in anything. In some cases, failure on a test could be getting a B, while in others it could be that you literally failed (got a C- or less). In different situations, failing can be different. I feel that I handle failure relatively well. I am a person that is usually pretty confident and I do not react much in terms of emotions very often. I hide from others that I have failed by doing this, even when I know that I have and they do not. I am no more or less likely to take risks after this class. I have always been someone who feels that I can do things well. While this class strengthened my viewpoint on this and made me see that some risks are more worth it than others, I do not think that it made my risk taking preferences any different.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Assignment 25A
Existing Market
I believe that the future for this business is expanding beyond the local area that it will begin and serving new customers, as well as the original ones.
Once I talked with my potential customers, I felt that I was right. One person in particular's response strengthened this idea; he told me about a friend in a neighboring county that he felt would appreciate the idea and would be glad to buy the feed, if it were available near them. He also told me about the people in the area that this friend of his knew, and therefore the domino effect could take place in terms of new customers in that particular area beginning to buy the feed, if the opportunity was given to them.
This would be an example of growing the existing market because it would be the exact same product in both areas. Essentially, the goal here would be to establish a name for the brand. By mastering one type of feed for the state's climate and then moving to a county or area that has essentially the same climate and same needs, the feed will appear to do well from the start for any of those who have not heard of it before and try it. Doing this will give a good reputation to the brand and help grow it further in the future, by exploiting other areas of growth.
New Market
The new market that I can see becoming available for this company would be different species of animals, with sheep and chickens being the particular species that come to mind for me.
I found out through my interviews that this is actually not as much of a need as that of the swine and cattle industries. It turns out that most sheep feeds are not very expensive, and most chickens do not eat enough feed to make it necessary for people to worry as much about the amount that they spend on each bag. However, that does not mean that the market would be impossible to enter. Like the other two areas, there are a very select few options that are available to those who raise show sheep and show chickens.
Taking advantage of this area of the market, simply trying to enter the product in as something new that the customers have never seen before and keeping the price of the product just below that of the competition's similar feeds would make the feed something that could possibly sell. In my opinion, that paired with the (hopefully) good reputation that the company will have built from its swine and cattle feeds in the same areas will make it something that people would at least be willing to try. Pairing that with changing the formula and attempting to perfect it early on based on customer feedback, and I feel that this is a new area of the market that the company would excel in, in the long run. However, especially in the short run, the existing market will be more successful.
I believe that the future for this business is expanding beyond the local area that it will begin and serving new customers, as well as the original ones.
Once I talked with my potential customers, I felt that I was right. One person in particular's response strengthened this idea; he told me about a friend in a neighboring county that he felt would appreciate the idea and would be glad to buy the feed, if it were available near them. He also told me about the people in the area that this friend of his knew, and therefore the domino effect could take place in terms of new customers in that particular area beginning to buy the feed, if the opportunity was given to them.
This would be an example of growing the existing market because it would be the exact same product in both areas. Essentially, the goal here would be to establish a name for the brand. By mastering one type of feed for the state's climate and then moving to a county or area that has essentially the same climate and same needs, the feed will appear to do well from the start for any of those who have not heard of it before and try it. Doing this will give a good reputation to the brand and help grow it further in the future, by exploiting other areas of growth.
New Market
The new market that I can see becoming available for this company would be different species of animals, with sheep and chickens being the particular species that come to mind for me.
I found out through my interviews that this is actually not as much of a need as that of the swine and cattle industries. It turns out that most sheep feeds are not very expensive, and most chickens do not eat enough feed to make it necessary for people to worry as much about the amount that they spend on each bag. However, that does not mean that the market would be impossible to enter. Like the other two areas, there are a very select few options that are available to those who raise show sheep and show chickens.
Taking advantage of this area of the market, simply trying to enter the product in as something new that the customers have never seen before and keeping the price of the product just below that of the competition's similar feeds would make the feed something that could possibly sell. In my opinion, that paired with the (hopefully) good reputation that the company will have built from its swine and cattle feeds in the same areas will make it something that people would at least be willing to try. Pairing that with changing the formula and attempting to perfect it early on based on customer feedback, and I feel that this is a new area of the market that the company would excel in, in the long run. However, especially in the short run, the existing market will be more successful.
Assignment 24A - Ration-X
The people who have this need are the exhibitors of show animals and their parents. This is a need that is currently under-met, with a very limited supply and high demand. This need is located in Central Florida, particularly Polk County. Currently, the customers are meeting this need by shopping for brand name show feeds that are expensive and limited in terms of options. This opportunity could be very big, expanding from the current local area to the state and at least the region. The window of opportunity could close at any time.
The innovation that I am offering is a new animal feed that will serve as a show animal feed. It will be more inexpensive than the current feeds and will serve as a complete ration, not requiring customers to mix the feed with other products to meet their animals' needs. The exact price will be determined by the cost of manufacturing the feed, however the plan is to cut out the middleman and therefore keep the price lower. This will be done by selling directly from a mill; most feed stores mark prices up at least 20%, in my experience. Cutting this markup out will keep prices down.
The main two reasons that customers would switch are to receive a ration that is complete and because the new feed will be more inexpensive. It will be hard to get some to switch and easy to get others; it will depend on the particular person. All in all, most people will be likely to start out buying a few bags and trying the feed before they commit to switching all of their animals over to it. The competitors are Purina and Nutrina, the current two brand name feeds that have show feeds. They both have one main weakness; their prices are very high and customers do not appreciate that. If the business were to remain local, less than five employees would be needed. It would be made about two to three times a week in the mill and the same people would be able to serve the customers when they come to pick the feed up. As the market expands and the feed sells in new places, more people would be needed. The roles would basically be the same, as long as only one main feed was sold. If this expanded, a sort of feed store could be started, complete with managers and lower level employees.
The advantage that I would have in this business are my contacts. From feed representatives of 'rival' companies to the people that would actually be buying the feed, I know many people in the area that are involved in the industry.
Next for this venture would be expanding. This can be done in two ways. The first is expanding to new areas/markets. The second is expanding to new species; if we start out with only swine and cattle feed, we could expand to chicken or sheep feed in the future.
In five years, this feed company could easily expand to cover the entire state, either all operating out of one location and customers coming to me or by having different locations spread about. The main thing that I aspire to be in the next decade is successful and profitable; this company has the ability to make me both in at once.
Assignment 23A
1.
- Dedication
- Responsible
- Contacts
- Experience with animals
- Experience with feed
- Hard-working
- Formal education
- Market
- Area
2.
- Dedication
- Valuable- Being dedicated to anything is extremely valuable; it determines the limit to your success, in my opinion.
- Rare- In today's society, I consider this relatively rare. Most people seem to find it hard to show dedication towards things today.
- Inimitable- If people were to dedicate dedication, this is something that I feel could be easily imitable.
- Non-substitutable- I have heard "nothing can take the place of hard-work" my entire life. Dedication and hard-work go hand in hand. Therefore, I consider this something that is not substitutable.
- Responsible
- Valuable- This is extremely valuable. Being responsible takes effect by both determining your customer satisfaction as well as whether or not you can find business backing in the form of investors.
- Rare- Again, this is something that I think is very rare in people that are my age.
- Inimitable- I feel that this is also somewhat imitable. If someone focuses on being responsible, over time they may be able to become more responsible but it is harder to find naturally.
- Non-substitutable- In some instances I feel that it is substitutable for a time, but over time being irresponsible usually comes back to bite you.
- Contacts
- Valuable- This is possibly my most valuable item on the list. Both the contacts that I have in the industry and the contacts that I know as potential customers would make a huge difference for this business venture.
- Rare- These are extremely rare contacts. No one else has the exact list of people that I do on my list; others may have better people, but my set of contacts is unique nonetheless.
- Inimitable- This is something that is virtually impossible for someone else to imitate. Their own list may be very similar to mine, but it would take a very similar upbringing and set of life experiences to compile the same list.
- Non-substitutable- A set of contacts is not substitutable. All of the other things on the list could help one try to make up for this, but even then it would not be the same thing.
- Experience with animals
- Valuable- This is something that is very valuable. It is one of the major reasons that I have the idea and have the desire to follow through with it.
- Rare- This depends on the group that you are considering. For those close to me and potential customers of mine, it is not that rate. For others, it is very rare.
- Inimitable- It is not difficult to gain more experience with animals.
- Non-substitutable- A great deal of education can replace this, but it will not be as effective.
- Experience with industry
- Valuable- This is very valuable. My experience with the industry gives me a sort of insider information when it comes to things such as feed prices and markup amounts, as well as the science in the feeds.
- Rare- This is somewhat rare. Not many people have spent the amount of time that I have inside of the industry.
- Inimitable- This is not imitable. Without spending 3-4 years in the industry, another person cannot get the same experiences.
- Non-substitutable- This cannot be substituted. Learning what formal education says is one thing, but the actual hands-on experiences of the industry are always different.
- Hard-working
- Valuable- This is very valuable. Without hard work, nothing will succeed.
- Rare- This is another trait that I feel is very rare in today's society, but it is still present.
- Inimitable- This can be imitated. Like responsibility, continually making yourself work hard can make it a habit, but it is easier if you start at a younger age.
- Non-substitutable- As explained above, this CANNOT be substituted in my opinion.
- Formal education
- Valuable- This is relatively important. My understanding of business and economics would help in this business, but it is not as valuable as some of the other information that I have gained from things such as work experience.
- Rare- This is not that rare. Many people go to at least some college. It is more rare that I am getting a masters degree, but still formal education as a whole beyond high school is becoming more common in society.
- Inimitable- This is imitable. Someone could go and get the same degrees and take the same courses that I have.
- Non-substitutable- I feel that while it is relatively common, this cannot be substituted. Things such as economics would be virtually impossible for most people to learn on their own. With that in mind, any role that this would play in my venture are not substitutable.
- Market
- Valuable- This is extremely valuable. Without a market for my product, there would be no product.
- Rare- This is not rare. There is a market in most places, at least in Florida. In other states, however, a market for show feeds is extremely rare.
- Inimitable- This can be imitated. In other regions of Florida, there can also be markets.
- Non-substitutable- This cannot be substituted. As explained above, I understand that there is a market and can therefore exploit it. Without one, there is not a need for the product.
- Area
- Valuable- This is very valuable. This product would be for the central Florida area, which has a decent need for the product. If I were in another area without a need, it would not be successful.
- Rare- This is relatively rare. Not that many people in central Florida would think about solving it, they would simply note the issue.
- Inimitable- This is imitable. Somewhere else, others could have an area with the need.
- Non-substitutable- This is very similar to market in the sense of if you are in an area without a need, you will be unsuccessful.
- Personal gain
- Valuable- This can be very valuable or invaluable. I feel that it is valuable, because I have a reason beyond making money to want this to work. On top of the business making money, I could save my own operation money if I were to develop a show feed that actually works.
- Rare- This is not very rare. For the people that I know, anyone that would follow through with this plan has the same personal gain to achieve.
- Inimitable- This is not inimitable. Anyone could theoretically achieve it.
- Non-substitutable- It is not substitutable. Either you have personal gains to attain or you do not.
The top thing that I have to bring to the table is my contacts. It is better than the rest because it is the one thing that I have that no one else can get, under any circumstances. The probability of someone developing the exact same contacts and having the same exact relationship with all of them that I do is virtually 0.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Assignment 22A
3. I changed essentially nothing between the second and third pitch. There was nothing that my group outlined as things that they thought that I should change, so I tried to take their advice and leave it mostly the same between submissions. I did, however, try to polish my delivery a bit more. While this was not something that was given to me in the feedback, as I watched the video before beginning this one, I noticed that I paused a bit more than I would like. I still did have some points in this video that could have been better, but I feel that the delivery was much smoother this time around.
Assignment 21A
I read Innovation and Entrepreneurship, by Peter Drucker.
1. The general theme of this book was to explain some of the methods that Drucker followed in his work. Essentially, this is the closest thing that he has ever come to explaining that exact methodology. One of the largest arguments that I see being posed throughout the book is the importance of change; it explains that some changes are good and others are bad, and that people/organizations must know how to utilize change.
2. There are many parellels that can be drawn between the book and the course. Two of the main ones that I saw were that both explained entrepreneurship to be something more and different than most people view it as and that it is important to look deep into the target audience for a company, into things as personal as demographics and political views in some areas.
3. I feel that the exercise that I would design would be one very similar to this one. By asking pointed questions about the book but giving people the option to read several different books both a) gives students some freedom to pick what they do the assignment on and b) allows each of us to get at least a little bit of up to three of the selected readings (the one we read for our initial post and the possibility of reading posts about at least two different readings from our peers).
4. The portion that I found to be the most interesting was the one discussing the different growth rates between large and medium sized companies. Though this reading is from over 30 years ago (it was written by Drucker in 1985), it explains that in that time the Fortune 500 companies were experiencing a steady decline in terms of employees that they had working for them, while 'mid-sized' companies were steadily becoming larger and creating new jobs, while paying their employees well and being profitable.
1. The general theme of this book was to explain some of the methods that Drucker followed in his work. Essentially, this is the closest thing that he has ever come to explaining that exact methodology. One of the largest arguments that I see being posed throughout the book is the importance of change; it explains that some changes are good and others are bad, and that people/organizations must know how to utilize change.
2. There are many parellels that can be drawn between the book and the course. Two of the main ones that I saw were that both explained entrepreneurship to be something more and different than most people view it as and that it is important to look deep into the target audience for a company, into things as personal as demographics and political views in some areas.
3. I feel that the exercise that I would design would be one very similar to this one. By asking pointed questions about the book but giving people the option to read several different books both a) gives students some freedom to pick what they do the assignment on and b) allows each of us to get at least a little bit of up to three of the selected readings (the one we read for our initial post and the possibility of reading posts about at least two different readings from our peers).
4. The portion that I found to be the most interesting was the one discussing the different growth rates between large and medium sized companies. Though this reading is from over 30 years ago (it was written by Drucker in 1985), it explains that in that time the Fortune 500 companies were experiencing a steady decline in terms of employees that they had working for them, while 'mid-sized' companies were steadily becoming larger and creating new jobs, while paying their employees well and being profitable.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Assignment 20A
Person 1
1. I talked to Jim, a co-owner of J&J Tack Shack. He has been a horse owner his entire life and has been an owner and operator of the feed store for over a decade.
2. He is a domain expert. As a person who owns his own feed store, he knows firsthand the prices that are charged for the current brand name show feeds. As an animal owner, he also knows firsthand how hard it can be to pay for these expensive show feeds.
3. Jim is someone that I used to work for, so I have known him for years. I contacted him by calling the main store of the company, where I know his office is located, and asking to speak with him for a few minutes.
4. I presented some of the ideas that I have had towards this plan so far to Jim and asked for his opinion. The return that was implied is that if anything were to come of this company or feed type, that he would be one of the first to know so that he could either prepare to counter it or try to sell some of it in his stores as a vendor.
5. Having someone who has been around the feed industry longer than I would be valuable in many ways, with one of the main ways being having access to more stores across central Florida that I could potentially sell feed out of if a deal were struck.
Person 2
1. The next person that I met with was Jeff. He is a Purina show feed representative.
2. He is a supplier. As someone who has helped create and sell show feeds for at least the last 15 years, he has met with people around the southeastern portion of the country and helped them with their show animal feed concerns.
3. I have met Jeff several times over the last 12 years at various cattle shows. For this particular occasion, we ran into each other at a show that my siblings were at two weekends ago and I talked with him about this idea.
4. The favor that he did for me was give me constructive criticism about the plan and what he would change if he were me. There was no real agreement for how I would repay the favor to him.
5. Jeff is someone that I would be able to talk to about this plan all the way through. Even though he would technically work for a form of a rival company, he is someone that realizes that a small company or mill in one portion of one state is not going to have a real impact on him and Purina, as they are a global brand.
Person 3
1. The third person that I spoke with was Derrell. He is the owner and operator of a custom feed mill that he has run since 1974.
2. He is an expert on the market. In the past, I have worked with him to make custom blends of show feeds for my cattle and have bought other people's custom feeds for swine that he blended.
3. Over the years of buying feeds from his mill, he and I got to know each other relatively well. This initial contact allowed me to reach out to him easily enough and present the idea to him.
4. He gave me more contrastive criticism and told me the things that would be hard to make the plan work. He then told me that if I were to follow through with this plan, he wanted to be my mill. Therefore, the returned favor would be making his company my partner if this venture became real.
5. Derrell is now the person that I would use to manufacture this feed if this plan were to become an actual business and there became a way for me to go about following through with it.
Reflect:
I did not network any different than I have done in the past for the assignment. Instead, I used contacts that I already have and reached out to those people. This will change how I network in the future by simply giving me the experience to approach these types of situations with more confidence and possibly be more effective as a result.
1. I talked to Jim, a co-owner of J&J Tack Shack. He has been a horse owner his entire life and has been an owner and operator of the feed store for over a decade.
2. He is a domain expert. As a person who owns his own feed store, he knows firsthand the prices that are charged for the current brand name show feeds. As an animal owner, he also knows firsthand how hard it can be to pay for these expensive show feeds.
3. Jim is someone that I used to work for, so I have known him for years. I contacted him by calling the main store of the company, where I know his office is located, and asking to speak with him for a few minutes.
4. I presented some of the ideas that I have had towards this plan so far to Jim and asked for his opinion. The return that was implied is that if anything were to come of this company or feed type, that he would be one of the first to know so that he could either prepare to counter it or try to sell some of it in his stores as a vendor.
5. Having someone who has been around the feed industry longer than I would be valuable in many ways, with one of the main ways being having access to more stores across central Florida that I could potentially sell feed out of if a deal were struck.
Person 2
1. The next person that I met with was Jeff. He is a Purina show feed representative.
2. He is a supplier. As someone who has helped create and sell show feeds for at least the last 15 years, he has met with people around the southeastern portion of the country and helped them with their show animal feed concerns.
3. I have met Jeff several times over the last 12 years at various cattle shows. For this particular occasion, we ran into each other at a show that my siblings were at two weekends ago and I talked with him about this idea.
4. The favor that he did for me was give me constructive criticism about the plan and what he would change if he were me. There was no real agreement for how I would repay the favor to him.
5. Jeff is someone that I would be able to talk to about this plan all the way through. Even though he would technically work for a form of a rival company, he is someone that realizes that a small company or mill in one portion of one state is not going to have a real impact on him and Purina, as they are a global brand.
Person 3
1. The third person that I spoke with was Derrell. He is the owner and operator of a custom feed mill that he has run since 1974.
2. He is an expert on the market. In the past, I have worked with him to make custom blends of show feeds for my cattle and have bought other people's custom feeds for swine that he blended.
3. Over the years of buying feeds from his mill, he and I got to know each other relatively well. This initial contact allowed me to reach out to him easily enough and present the idea to him.
4. He gave me more contrastive criticism and told me the things that would be hard to make the plan work. He then told me that if I were to follow through with this plan, he wanted to be my mill. Therefore, the returned favor would be making his company my partner if this venture became real.
5. Derrell is now the person that I would use to manufacture this feed if this plan were to become an actual business and there became a way for me to go about following through with it.
Reflect:
I did not network any different than I have done in the past for the assignment. Instead, I used contacts that I already have and reached out to those people. This will change how I network in the future by simply giving me the experience to approach these types of situations with more confidence and possibly be more effective as a result.
Assignment 19A
1. I am experienced with raising and showing animals of different species. In my life, I have raised small animals such as dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits, as well as large animals including horses, cattle and hogs. With that in mind, I have had many experiences with feeding animals. On top of that, I worked at a feed store for over two years, and was able to talk to various feed representatives in that time, as well as see how much the feeds are sold to the stores for and how the markup on these feeds works. In the future, I aspire to be a sales representative for a veterinary pharmaceutical company.
2. The product that I would like to offer is a new, more complete and more inexpensive show feed ration for both show swine and show cattle for 4-H and FFA members and their families to use on their animals. This is something that I will expand on in the future, if this hypothetical idea/company was to come to fruition, to try to include more and more types of show animals and in turn benefit more people.
3. The specific customers that this will be directed at are animal owners, with the vast majority of the consumers being those that own animals that are intended to be shown or intended to have offspring that are shown.
4. There are three main reasons that people may be interested in buying this product. First of all, the goal is to make it more inexpensive than the existing products. Second, it will give them a way to get away from the large brand name corporations that some people have had bad experiences with and give them another option. Lastly, this will be a way for people to feed one feed as a complete ration, rather than having to mix in different feeds and supplements to make it cover everything that their animals need.
5. The first thing that I feel sets me apart from other people is my background. I have tried different feeds, including some that are not available locally that I was required to drive nearly 100 miles each direction once every two weeks in order to get the feed. On top of that, I have worked with feeds in a feed store and feel that this informed me more of the available options. Lastly, I have gone to UF and been educated by professors around the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including several that are in the animal sciences department. Therefore, I have a solid formal education foundation as well. In addition to these experiences, I feel that I am an honest person who people would enjoy doing business with. Through showing my animals, many people already know my name and who I am that are involved in this industry. I feel that these people would be willing to do business with me, simply because they know that I am going to treat them well and because they have watched me participate alongside them.
I feel that all of these points flow together relatively well. The problem that I am setting out to solve is very similar to the way that my idea is a solution, which is reflected by the fact that the points are nearly identical between the two. On top of that, the things such as my background and education are both the reasons why I understand the need for this solution and the reasons that I am confident that I could solve the problem. All in all, I firmly believe that my entire background and all of my experiences mean that this is something that I am well-rounded enough and well-prepared for.
Feedback:
I did not change my post much from what I initially said. In fact, the only change that I made is adding a new aspect to the plan for potential growth in the future. This is because in the feedback that I received, I did not really have anything new that I feel I needed or anything that I needed to change. The only reason for the growth being added to the idea now is due to the ultimate goals of this plan; to make money and to help FFA and 4-H students have a way to feed their show animals affordable feed. By expanding from just swine and cattle once the business is up and running, I would both open myself up to new clients and therefore more income and be able to help a growing number of people find affordable show feed.
2. The product that I would like to offer is a new, more complete and more inexpensive show feed ration for both show swine and show cattle for 4-H and FFA members and their families to use on their animals. This is something that I will expand on in the future, if this hypothetical idea/company was to come to fruition, to try to include more and more types of show animals and in turn benefit more people.
3. The specific customers that this will be directed at are animal owners, with the vast majority of the consumers being those that own animals that are intended to be shown or intended to have offspring that are shown.
4. There are three main reasons that people may be interested in buying this product. First of all, the goal is to make it more inexpensive than the existing products. Second, it will give them a way to get away from the large brand name corporations that some people have had bad experiences with and give them another option. Lastly, this will be a way for people to feed one feed as a complete ration, rather than having to mix in different feeds and supplements to make it cover everything that their animals need.
5. The first thing that I feel sets me apart from other people is my background. I have tried different feeds, including some that are not available locally that I was required to drive nearly 100 miles each direction once every two weeks in order to get the feed. On top of that, I have worked with feeds in a feed store and feel that this informed me more of the available options. Lastly, I have gone to UF and been educated by professors around the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including several that are in the animal sciences department. Therefore, I have a solid formal education foundation as well. In addition to these experiences, I feel that I am an honest person who people would enjoy doing business with. Through showing my animals, many people already know my name and who I am that are involved in this industry. I feel that these people would be willing to do business with me, simply because they know that I am going to treat them well and because they have watched me participate alongside them.
I feel that all of these points flow together relatively well. The problem that I am setting out to solve is very similar to the way that my idea is a solution, which is reflected by the fact that the points are nearly identical between the two. On top of that, the things such as my background and education are both the reasons why I understand the need for this solution and the reasons that I am confident that I could solve the problem. All in all, I firmly believe that my entire background and all of my experiences mean that this is something that I am well-rounded enough and well-prepared for.
Feedback:
I did not change my post much from what I initially said. In fact, the only change that I made is adding a new aspect to the plan for potential growth in the future. This is because in the feedback that I received, I did not really have anything new that I feel I needed or anything that I needed to change. The only reason for the growth being added to the idea now is due to the ultimate goals of this plan; to make money and to help FFA and 4-H students have a way to feed their show animals affordable feed. By expanding from just swine and cattle once the business is up and running, I would both open myself up to new clients and therefore more income and be able to help a growing number of people find affordable show feed.
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