Assignment 23A

1.

1. Dedication
2. Responsible 
3. Contacts
4. Experience with animals
5. Experience with feed
6. Hard-working
7. Formal education
8. Market
9. Area

2. 

1. Dedication
1. Valuable- Being dedicated to anything is extremely valuable; it determines the limit to your success, in my opinion. 
2. Rare- In today's society, I consider this relatively rare. Most people seem to find it hard to show dedication towards things today. 
3. Inimitable- If people were to dedicate dedication, this is something that I feel could be easily imitable. 
4. 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.
2. Responsible
1. 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. 
2. Rare- Again, this is something that I think is very rare in people that are my age. 
3. 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. 
4. 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. 
3. Contacts
1. 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. 
2. 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. 
3. 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. 
4. 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. 
4. Experience with animals 
1. 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. 
2. 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. 
3. Inimitable- It is not difficult to gain more experience with animals. 
4. Non-substitutable- A great deal of education can replace this, but it will not be as effective. 
5. Experience with industry
1. 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. 
2. Rare- This is somewhat rare. Not many people have spent the amount of time that I have inside of the industry. 
3. Inimitable- This is not imitable. Without spending 3-4 years in the industry, another person cannot get the same experiences. 
4. 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. 
6. Hard-working
1. Valuable- This is very valuable. Without hard work, nothing will succeed. 
2. Rare- This is another trait that I feel is very rare in today's society, but it is still present. 
3. 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. 
4. Non-substitutable- As explained above, this CANNOT be substituted in my opinion. 
7. Formal education
1. 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. 
2. 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. 
3. Inimitable- This is imitable. Someone could go and get the same degrees and take the same courses that I have. 
4. 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. 
8. Market
1. Valuable- This is extremely valuable. Without a market for my product, there would be no product.  
2. 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. 
3. Inimitable- This can be imitated. In other regions of Florida, there can also be markets. 
4. 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. 
9. Area
1. 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. 
2. Rare- This is relatively rare. Not that many people in central Florida would think about solving it, they would simply note the issue. 
3. Inimitable- This is imitable. Somewhere else, others could have an area with the need. 
4. 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. 
10. Personal gain
1. 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. 
2. 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. 
3. Inimitable- This is not inimitable. Anyone could theoretically achieve it. 
4. 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. 

Assignment 22A

2. The feedback that I received on my last post was all positive. The things that I fixed in between the first and second pitches seemed to improve it a great deal in my group's eyes. I noticed that both of the people felt that the picture that I painted in the opening of the pitch was very effective and made the pitch better, so it was something that I tried to leave mostly the same between pitches, with some minor adjustments and attempting to get it out with a more smooth flow and less pauses.

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.

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.

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.

Assignment 17A

1.

2. I received a good deal of feedback from the initial post. Some of the things that I found beneficial were the ones that were pointing me towards more of the marketing side of my product rather than the side of talking about nothing but the problem. I also appreciated that some of the people enjoyed my idea of throwing my own experiences in. There was not really any feedback that I did not think was beneficial or warranted.

3. In this video, I tried to make the first half a condensed version of what my first pitch was. In the second half, I used the feedback and talked more about the specifics of the product that I would be offering. The only thing that I feel had some value that I had to cut out in doing this was the personal experience piece of the pitch; however, this is not something that is only able to be shared in the elevator pitch, I feel that I would be able to work it into the discussion with certain potential customers in the future.

Assignment 18A

This is a sample of the avatar that I created. A generous portion of the people that shop for my product will be men, as from my experience most of the time when the parents are shopping for animal feed for show animals, the dad does the shopping. A good deal of these customers will also drive trucks. My customer's main hobbies include being outdoors and raising animals. The vast majority of them supported Adam Putnam as the Commissioner of Agriculture and again in the governor race, and he is their main favorite politician as he is from Central Florida and has an agricultural background. Most of them are in their 30's and shopping for their young children, showing for the first few years. 

Many of the views and hobbies that this customer has are similar to mine. Adam Putnam, for example, is someone that I have met in person and hold a great deal of respect for. I also enjoy doing things outdoors and raising animals is one of my main hobbies. This is not a coincidence at all. I had this idea because it is something that I have had an issue with in the past, and is something that I wanted there to be a solution for in those time. These people are similar to me, because they are in the same position that I was for the last 10 years.