Reading Reflection 1
1.
The most surprising thing to me was the fact that although Blue Ribbon, Nike were both million dollar companies, the people who worked for them including Phil Knight did not make a ton of money for a very long time.
The thing I admired the most about Phil is that he was very open with his weaknesses, but despite his weaknesses he never gave up no matter the obstacle.
There is not many things that I did not like about Phil, but if I had to pick one thing, I would say that I did not admire his occasional immoral business tactics. There were some situations where he had to hide certain things, as well as lie. Obviously it all ended up working out for him.
Phil encountered a ton of adversity, but not a ton of failure. During adversity Phil did a lot of thinking. On many occasions, the book talked about Phil sitting in his recliner for hours at night thinking about solutions. He always asked himself "what do I know?" He would also get advice from his dad, and others with more experience.
2.
The main competencies were leadership, great thinker, and he was a Shoe Dog! there were other things that he was formidable at, but his employees were better than him at most things. He was just a great leader.
3.
The one thing that did not make much since to me was the fact that they were making a ton of money, but they consistently had a very small cash balance.
4.
You write in your book that you have always been a shy man, did this ever change with the more money you made? Did more confidence come with more money?
If you could do one thing different what would it be and why?
5.
Phil states throughout his book that what ever he did as a profession he had to have fun. He said that hard work had to feel fun.
I agree with Phil that ideally hard work should be fun, but I do think that there will be sometimes it wont be fun, but instead more of a grind.
Friday, June 15, 2018
Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 1
Figuring out buyer behavior 1
For this assignment I have decided to focus on totally blind individuals who are between the ages of 23 and 33. Also, the segment will only include people who currently working, and who live and travel independently.
Travis: 26 year old male massage therapist. Also has an under graduate degree in psychology
Tyler: 33 year old male. Tyler is a personal trainer with a degree in APK.
Farah: 29 year old female. Farah has a masters degree in social work, and is currently looking for employment.
Need awareness
Farah is most aware of the need at this point in her life. She stated that since she is fresh out of her masters program, its time to find a job. She said that she has noticed a weird reaction from potential employers when she walks in and they see the accommodations they may need to provide for her. She said that in college the need was not as obvious because her disability resource center did a great job providing her with all the necessary accommodations to succeed. Travis noted that he is most aware of the need when he gets clients that ask him a lot of questions about being blind. He said that he does not mind answering the questions, but it does show the lack of accurate knowledge most people have in regards to blindness. Travis said that he gets multiple questions about his blindness every day. Tyler's situation is a little different. He stated that since he is very established at his gym, he does not notice the need as much while he is working. He said that the need is most noticed while he is out with his wife and three kids. Tyler's wife is also completely blind, but all three of their children are fully sighted. He said that sometimes he can hear people whispering curious comments. Also, he said that the question that never gets old is "how do you feed your kids if you are blind?"
Information Search
When it comes to information search it seems that all three interviewees handled their respective situations in a similar way. For Travis and Tyler they said that they usually just answer the questions, because they don't ever think that their is another way to handle it. This shows that the blind individuals are in a place where we just settle for what we know because no other solution has been presented to us. For Farah, she said that when she faces opposition during her job searching she contacts the division of blind services, which is a FL based organization that helps blind individuals with employment, and other vocational goals. Unfortunately, there has not been much success from the help that the Division of Blind Services has provided.
Conclusion
This is what I like to call the hot market. The results for the most part were very close to what I assumed they would be. This section will be the focus in my organization, because of the over whelming need that is presented in it.
For this assignment I have decided to focus on totally blind individuals who are between the ages of 23 and 33. Also, the segment will only include people who currently working, and who live and travel independently.
Travis: 26 year old male massage therapist. Also has an under graduate degree in psychology
Tyler: 33 year old male. Tyler is a personal trainer with a degree in APK.
Farah: 29 year old female. Farah has a masters degree in social work, and is currently looking for employment.
Need awareness
Farah is most aware of the need at this point in her life. She stated that since she is fresh out of her masters program, its time to find a job. She said that she has noticed a weird reaction from potential employers when she walks in and they see the accommodations they may need to provide for her. She said that in college the need was not as obvious because her disability resource center did a great job providing her with all the necessary accommodations to succeed. Travis noted that he is most aware of the need when he gets clients that ask him a lot of questions about being blind. He said that he does not mind answering the questions, but it does show the lack of accurate knowledge most people have in regards to blindness. Travis said that he gets multiple questions about his blindness every day. Tyler's situation is a little different. He stated that since he is very established at his gym, he does not notice the need as much while he is working. He said that the need is most noticed while he is out with his wife and three kids. Tyler's wife is also completely blind, but all three of their children are fully sighted. He said that sometimes he can hear people whispering curious comments. Also, he said that the question that never gets old is "how do you feed your kids if you are blind?"
Information Search
When it comes to information search it seems that all three interviewees handled their respective situations in a similar way. For Travis and Tyler they said that they usually just answer the questions, because they don't ever think that their is another way to handle it. This shows that the blind individuals are in a place where we just settle for what we know because no other solution has been presented to us. For Farah, she said that when she faces opposition during her job searching she contacts the division of blind services, which is a FL based organization that helps blind individuals with employment, and other vocational goals. Unfortunately, there has not been much success from the help that the Division of Blind Services has provided.
Conclusion
This is what I like to call the hot market. The results for the most part were very close to what I assumed they would be. This section will be the focus in my organization, because of the over whelming need that is presented in it.
Idea Napkin 1
Idea Napkin 1
1.
I am a very ambitious blind individual that wants to play a part in changing the world! I want to see the lives of people around the world transformed forever. I am a great speaker, and I love connecting and meeting new people all the time. I personally believe that being relatable to all walks of life is a great skill, and I truly believe I am very good at it. I have a ton of experience with blindness, considering that I am blind. Also, I attended a blind boarding school all throughout my high school years, as a result I have developed many long lasting friendships. This business will play a huge roll in my life, because the business is based on the life that me and so many other blind individuals live. Who better to find the solution to a problem than the people who have the problem.
2.
I am offering my customers services that will create blind advocacy and employment.
First, I plan to create a board of successful blind individuals who are willing to speak to the public about the abilities and limitations of high functioning blind people. Society has it's perceptions of what blind people can and cannot do, and it is up to us to change these perceptions. We will speak to businesses, high schools, colleges, and other entities to spread the true gospel of blindness. Second, I would like to create another board of blind individuals that will be assigned to teach the parents of blind children how to raise them in a way that allows them to grow up and achieve the full potential that their lives has to offer. Lastly, I would like to create a networking group of blind professionals that will allow up and coming young ambitious blind people the opportunity to get their foot in the door in a career that intrusts them.
3.
I am offering these services to ambitious blind individuals, as well as parents raising blind children. Large cities in the united states will be my primary focus, because most of the time blind people have specialist doctors for their eyes, and these doctors mostly reside in large cities. The age of our clients will very, although the majority of them will be young, between the ages of 18 and 28. Since this will be a nonprofit, the income of our clients should be a non factor.
4.
Customers will care about this service because this solves a huge problem in the blind world. Someone who is blind created something that will tell the truth about blind people. As of right now only minor advocacy programs exist. Non of them are advocating to see blind engineers, lawyers, business men and women, etc. Most advocacy organizations are pushing to see blind people get jobs that pay them minimum wage. We are capable of so much more than that!
5.
I believe the one major thing that sets us apart from everyone else is the fact that this is being created by someone who experiences the same exact problem day in and day out. Other organizations have blind representatives, but the majority of the organizations were not created by people who face the same problem as these blind people. Also I would like to create a culture in our non profit that promotes having a great time in every situation. We will be fun, modern, innovative, passionate , and hard working all the time.
I believe that all aspects mentioned above bit together very well. First, my skills and experiences work very well with this business idea. I will be speaking a lot, and the experiences I have had in the past with blind individuals allows me to have a general idea of what their exact needs are. Also, the ideas of young, hard working, and innovative really go together well. I believe that young blind individuals will come into this organization with a chip on their shoulder, wanting to show the world what they are capable of!
1.
I am a very ambitious blind individual that wants to play a part in changing the world! I want to see the lives of people around the world transformed forever. I am a great speaker, and I love connecting and meeting new people all the time. I personally believe that being relatable to all walks of life is a great skill, and I truly believe I am very good at it. I have a ton of experience with blindness, considering that I am blind. Also, I attended a blind boarding school all throughout my high school years, as a result I have developed many long lasting friendships. This business will play a huge roll in my life, because the business is based on the life that me and so many other blind individuals live. Who better to find the solution to a problem than the people who have the problem.
2.
I am offering my customers services that will create blind advocacy and employment.
First, I plan to create a board of successful blind individuals who are willing to speak to the public about the abilities and limitations of high functioning blind people. Society has it's perceptions of what blind people can and cannot do, and it is up to us to change these perceptions. We will speak to businesses, high schools, colleges, and other entities to spread the true gospel of blindness. Second, I would like to create another board of blind individuals that will be assigned to teach the parents of blind children how to raise them in a way that allows them to grow up and achieve the full potential that their lives has to offer. Lastly, I would like to create a networking group of blind professionals that will allow up and coming young ambitious blind people the opportunity to get their foot in the door in a career that intrusts them.
3.
I am offering these services to ambitious blind individuals, as well as parents raising blind children. Large cities in the united states will be my primary focus, because most of the time blind people have specialist doctors for their eyes, and these doctors mostly reside in large cities. The age of our clients will very, although the majority of them will be young, between the ages of 18 and 28. Since this will be a nonprofit, the income of our clients should be a non factor.
4.
Customers will care about this service because this solves a huge problem in the blind world. Someone who is blind created something that will tell the truth about blind people. As of right now only minor advocacy programs exist. Non of them are advocating to see blind engineers, lawyers, business men and women, etc. Most advocacy organizations are pushing to see blind people get jobs that pay them minimum wage. We are capable of so much more than that!
5.
I believe the one major thing that sets us apart from everyone else is the fact that this is being created by someone who experiences the same exact problem day in and day out. Other organizations have blind representatives, but the majority of the organizations were not created by people who face the same problem as these blind people. Also I would like to create a culture in our non profit that promotes having a great time in every situation. We will be fun, modern, innovative, passionate , and hard working all the time.
I believe that all aspects mentioned above bit together very well. First, my skills and experiences work very well with this business idea. I will be speaking a lot, and the experiences I have had in the past with blind individuals allows me to have a general idea of what their exact needs are. Also, the ideas of young, hard working, and innovative really go together well. I believe that young blind individuals will come into this organization with a chip on their shoulder, wanting to show the world what they are capable of!
Friday, June 8, 2018
Testing the hypothesis part 2
After speaking with five people who have the need, but are not receiving anything to fill the need I have a better understanding of my boundaries for the who, what, and why aspects of my opportunity. First, the "who" aspect keeps getting narrowed down more and more. Three out of the five people I spoke to said that this need only exists for high functioning ambitious visually impaired or blind individuals. Reason being is because the vast majorbby of low functioning and non ambitious blind people usually do not travel independently, and they are usually okay with working under whelming jobs. Unfortunately, this does narrow my market a significant amount, but never the less there still is a nice size market remaining. For the "what" aspect I have presented that people need to be educated about visually impaired/ blind people, and their limitations and capabilities. Also, I would like to address the issue of blind unemployment. One interviewee mentioned that a lot of people believe that the need I am trying to address is already met. They went on to say, this is due to individuals (blind and sited) who are not willing to go above and beyond the expectations of many. As of right now, the services that exists are rehabilitation centers, and blind foundations that promote advocacy. Like I have said time and time again, my goal is to go where no blind organization or center has ever gone before. In regards to the "why" aspect, the need for the people inside the boundary is very similar to the people outside, but the major difference is the need is not easily satisfied for the people inside the boundary. One interviewee gave a pretty cool analogy, they said that its almost like a rich person deciding to go to McDonalds instead of a five star restaurant, because growing up McDonalds is all they new. Although the rich person has the resources to go wherever they want, they decide to settle for less, because it is what they are familiar with. Similarly, a lot of blind people have the capability of doing whatever they want, but most of them are settling for the only thing they know.
After speaking with five people who have the need, but are not receiving anything to fill the need I have a better understanding of my boundaries for the who, what, and why aspects of my opportunity. First, the "who" aspect keeps getting narrowed down more and more. Three out of the five people I spoke to said that this need only exists for high functioning ambitious visually impaired or blind individuals. Reason being is because the vast majorbby of low functioning and non ambitious blind people usually do not travel independently, and they are usually okay with working under whelming jobs. Unfortunately, this does narrow my market a significant amount, but never the less there still is a nice size market remaining. For the "what" aspect I have presented that people need to be educated about visually impaired/ blind people, and their limitations and capabilities. Also, I would like to address the issue of blind unemployment. One interviewee mentioned that a lot of people believe that the need I am trying to address is already met. They went on to say, this is due to individuals (blind and sited) who are not willing to go above and beyond the expectations of many. As of right now, the services that exists are rehabilitation centers, and blind foundations that promote advocacy. Like I have said time and time again, my goal is to go where no blind organization or center has ever gone before. In regards to the "why" aspect, the need for the people inside the boundary is very similar to the people outside, but the major difference is the need is not easily satisfied for the people inside the boundary. One interviewee gave a pretty cool analogy, they said that its almost like a rich person deciding to go to McDonalds instead of a five star restaurant, because growing up McDonalds is all they new. Although the rich person has the resources to go wherever they want, they decide to settle for less, because it is what they are familiar with. Similarly, a lot of blind people have the capability of doing whatever they want, but most of them are settling for the only thing they know.
|
Who is in? High-functioning and ambitious visually-impaired/blind
individuals.
|
Who is not? Low-functioning, non-ambitious
visually-impaired/blind individuals.
|
|
What the need is? Advocacy for the employment of blind
people.
|
What the need is not? Vocational rehabilitation of blind
people
|
|
Why the need exists? Current non-profits are not
accommodating high-functioning and ambitious individuals.
|
Alternative Explanations? Society’s perception of the
capabilities of blind individuals.
|
8a Solving the problem
The opportunity that I would like to exploit is the lack of advocacy for visually impaired and blind people. Specifically, thereis a huge need for awareness, as well as employment. For awareness, I have noticed that people just do not know what to do when they see a blind person. Based on peoples actions its obvious they are contemplating weather they should help, or just leave them alone. That's where I come in! As far as employment goes, almost 80% of blind people are unemployed, and my goal is to help lower that.
To create a solution for these problems I would like to create a non profit organization that focuses on bringing awareness to the masses, and teach them the capabilities and limitations of blind people. This could include info sessions at high schools, colleges, businesses, etc. Also, I would like to address the issue of blind unemployment. Aside from hosting detailed info sessions at small and large businesses, it would also be cool if we could create a networking group that is filled with successful blind individuals, as well as blind people that aspire to grow in their professional lives. The successful ones can give the others advice, and they can also help them gain connections in the business world.
The opportunity that I would like to exploit is the lack of advocacy for visually impaired and blind people. Specifically, thereis a huge need for awareness, as well as employment. For awareness, I have noticed that people just do not know what to do when they see a blind person. Based on peoples actions its obvious they are contemplating weather they should help, or just leave them alone. That's where I come in! As far as employment goes, almost 80% of blind people are unemployed, and my goal is to help lower that.
To create a solution for these problems I would like to create a non profit organization that focuses on bringing awareness to the masses, and teach them the capabilities and limitations of blind people. This could include info sessions at high schools, colleges, businesses, etc. Also, I would like to address the issue of blind unemployment. Aside from hosting detailed info sessions at small and large businesses, it would also be cool if we could create a networking group that is filled with successful blind individuals, as well as blind people that aspire to grow in their professional lives. The successful ones can give the others advice, and they can also help them gain connections in the business world.
Friday, June 1, 2018
7A - Testing the Hypothesis Part 1
7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
1. Non-profit that brings awareness to blindness.
2. Visually impaired and blind individuals in America do not
receive the same opportunities as their sighted counterparts because of the
lack of advocacy for blind individuals and their abilities throughout the
country.
The who: blind and visually impaired individuals.
The what: the blind do not receive the same opportunities as
sighted individuals.
The why: the lack of advocacy for blind individuals.
3.
·
Testing the who:
o
Including other disabilities.
o
Excluding people with higher acuity who may not
see the need for this service.
·
Testing the what:
o
Was not able to expand the what.
·
Testing the why:
o
Teaching parents of blind children.
o
Teaching/reteaching society because their former
knowledge of blindness is incorrect.
4. After interviewing 5 people to manipulate the “who, what
and why” concepts of my opportunity, the results were interesting. For the “who”
factor, I noticed that all five interviewees believed that all visually impaired
and blind individuals have the same need. They considered friends, family, and
people they have met throughout their lives, and they have only come across people
who do not meet the need because they are not ambitious with their lives. Also,
one interviewee noted that this need is not exclusive to blind people, this
need is also obvious for people with other disabilities as well. Something else
that was brought to my attention was the fact that the better an individual vision
is, the less they see their need for this type of service. So, this need may
not exist for people whose vision is higher than a certain acuity. For the “what”
factor, most blind individuals do not receive the same advocacy or opportunity
as most other people. The interviewees said that there are some outliers, but
those are few and far between. For the “why” factor, the people that were
interviewed think that there are a couple entities to blame for those issues. First,
parents who have blind children who limit them and do not allow them to
experience the world. When parents raise their children this way, it tells the
child from day one that they are incapable and a lot of the time they live the majority
of their lives believing those lies. Also, some of this “why” can be attributed
to the social stigma that blind individuals have. For example, one of the people
I interviewed said that just the other day, someone asked them how they live on
their own. This question reveals a lot about society. It shows that not only
were they not taught about the abilities of blind people, but that at some
point they were taught the opposite of what these capabilities consist of. Overall,
these interviews helped me to see that I can extend the “who” and the “why” the
most. For the “who,” I can include people with other disabilities and I can
exclude individuals with a higher acuity. The “why” taught me that I can target
more than just employers and the general public, but I also need to target the parents
of blind children, schools, and other developmental entities. Also, society as a
whole needs to be taught or retaught what the capabilities of blind people
really are.
5A - Identifying Local Opportunities
1. Teeth injuring metal
in the meat got 22800 pounds of these food staples recalled.
During the packaging
process of 228000 pounds of spam metal objects were left in the meet. These
specific packages of spam were consumed in the US territory of Guam.
Problem:
The problem is that
there was metal in these spam containers. I cannot imagine how much money it
cost Hormel foods to recall that much spam.
Who has the problem:
Two different parties
have the problem. First of all, Hormel foods had to take a huge financial hit
after recalling 228000 pounds of spam. The article did not note a dollar value,
but it had to be a lot. Also, the article did note that there were individuals
who were minimally injured because of the metal objects in the food. Now Hormel
foods has to worry about people sewing them.
2. In a long-neglected Miami neighborhood a new co-working
space stirs to life.
This article talks about
a collaborative co working facility in Overtown Miami. This facility was
created to give business owners and minority entrepreneurs a free space to run their
business and collaborate with others.
Problem:
The problem presented in
the article is the lack of development in impoverished parts of large cities.
This article talks about the effort to developer these cities and give them
more business opportunities. The facility that was opened is called
"Trife," and it serves as the beginning efforts to give minorities
the same opportunities as the majority.
Who has the problem:
The problem belongs to
the individuals who live in these cities. Because of the lack of development
throughout these cities, the citizens have to suffer.
3. Two Miami millennial
combine social networking skills and form marketing company
Two millennial
"Verjano and Klumpp" collaborate to create a marketing company that
adds some flavor to the industry. Their goal is to give small businesses the
same quality of marketing as large businesses. There first client was a small
brewery in south Miami, and their partnership was a huge success.
Problem:
The problem that is
presented in this article is the lack of young social network marketers in the
industry. I believe that this is a great opportunity since young people are
more in tuned with the ins and outs of social media.
Who has the problem:
The problem belongs to
small businesses who cannot afford premier marketing firms.
4. ‘Kids, eat your vegetables’ does not have to be a daily struggle
Two sisters, one an
engineer and the other a doctor create a vegetable formula. This formula can be
mixed into recipes, and it gives children all the nutrients from vegetable
without having to force feed it to them.
Problem:
This article is addressing
a very common problem that exists amongst most children, and that is the battle
to get them to eat their vegetables.
Who has the problem:
Parents have the
problem, because they are the ones that need to deal with the health of their
kids.
5. Yes, it’s safe to go into the water with this Shark Tank startup’s invention
After a group of friends had their belongings stolen while swimming in the water at the beach, they decided to create a safe that will keep their stuff safe, and it can attach to beach cares.
Problem:
I think that the only
problem with this invention is, what is stopping someone before taking the safe
and the beach chair its connected to.
Who has the problem:
People who attend the
beach on a consistent basis have the problem.
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