What stood out to me the most in this chapter was the need for corporate entrepreneurship in today's global economy. I know all to well how easy it is for a company to become set in it's ways and largely ignore new ideas or anything really that goes against the grain. It is an issue I face at work on an almost daily basis. For a company to survive and stay competitive it must undergo an almost constant and never ending cycle of change.
What I found most confusing was the corporate entrepreneurship strategy process. Initially I was unable to see how such a system would function but after reviewing it and comparing with my own experiences with change and growth in a business I now have a better understanding.
Two questions I have for the author would include: "At what point in the growth and life of a business would you say it becomes necessary to undergo corporate entrepreneurship and ensure that enough changes are made to adapt?" and "Would radical innovation be preferred over incremental in a situation where the existing product still meets customers needs but competition is beginning to take market share?"
There was nothing in these chapters that I found to be wrong. The author has presented this information in an understandable and informative manner.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Going for Google Gold
I will be the first to admit that I did little, if any thing towards search engine optimization and promoting my blog. In truth my main concern was to simply complete the assignment itself and all of my effort went into the quality of the post, not its promotion. The most promotion I did was to provide a link to my own post for the assignment I was commenting on.
My keywords were the week number and the title of the post taken usually verbatim from the assignment. I selected these keywords based off of the instructions in the assignment, as I have said before I have done little else outside of what I was instructed to do in regards to promotion.
I do not use social media in any for personally, so therefore I didn't use social media to promote my blog. Should I pursue my business idea into reality I would certainly use social media to my advantage. While I have a personal distaste for it, I have seen its value both in this class and other marketing, business, and technology courses I have taken.
My most viral post was: "Elevator Pitch No. 2". I do not know why this is exactly. The feedback I received for this post was overwhelmingly positive so perhaps it was spread that way. It had 18 views and four comments.
Searching for both "Luke Logsdon blog" and "Luke Logsdon Week 13" (An arbitrary week number), one or more of my posts came up as the first result. To my surprise there are in fact other out there who share my name but my link still came up in the first spot.
My keywords were the week number and the title of the post taken usually verbatim from the assignment. I selected these keywords based off of the instructions in the assignment, as I have said before I have done little else outside of what I was instructed to do in regards to promotion.
I do not use social media in any for personally, so therefore I didn't use social media to promote my blog. Should I pursue my business idea into reality I would certainly use social media to my advantage. While I have a personal distaste for it, I have seen its value both in this class and other marketing, business, and technology courses I have taken.
My most viral post was: "Elevator Pitch No. 2". I do not know why this is exactly. The feedback I received for this post was overwhelmingly positive so perhaps it was spread that way. It had 18 views and four comments.
Searching for both "Luke Logsdon blog" and "Luke Logsdon Week 13" (An arbitrary week number), one or more of my posts came up as the first result. To my surprise there are in fact other out there who share my name but my link still came up in the first spot.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Very Short Interview Part 2
My first interview revealed a good deal about both my boss and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. I feel like that first interview has helped me in this course as it gave me insight into the entrepreneurial process from someone who has been doing it for thirty years.
For this interview I again sat down with my boss after work. My experiences, and indeed my frustrations in this class helped to influence my questions for this round. First I asked her if she could go back and do it all over again would she. Her response to this was yes. She said that being independent and being able to run her business how she pleases makes up for all of the troubles it has caused. She did say there were of course some details that she would change given the knowledge she has now, but over all she wouldn't choose a different path. I spent a few minutes explaining my business concept as it stands now after a semester of work. I had talked about some details of my idea before to her, indeed before I even took this class, but i had never "put it all together" for her before. I asked what she thought, and she believed the ideas have merit, but were not compatible with her current business model especially given the corporate rules which govern her as a franchisee. My final question was hypothetical given it would require me to quit working for her. I asked if I were to actually pursue my business venture, what my next step should be. She answered with: "Start making connections." This of course made me recall the social networking assignment. She went on to say that her customer database was the most valuable thing her business possessed. Equipment and workers can be replaced, but without that there is no business.
While we of course are not on equal footing in the subject of entrepreneurship, I feel my experiences in this course over the last semester have helped me to understand the world of an entrepreneur a bit better and allowed me to relate to my boss on more even ground, if even by a tiny amount. I could not accurately gauge how well I was coming across to her nor did I directly ask the question, however I feel that I have progressed on my journey, and I would imagine that she would agree.
For this interview I again sat down with my boss after work. My experiences, and indeed my frustrations in this class helped to influence my questions for this round. First I asked her if she could go back and do it all over again would she. Her response to this was yes. She said that being independent and being able to run her business how she pleases makes up for all of the troubles it has caused. She did say there were of course some details that she would change given the knowledge she has now, but over all she wouldn't choose a different path. I spent a few minutes explaining my business concept as it stands now after a semester of work. I had talked about some details of my idea before to her, indeed before I even took this class, but i had never "put it all together" for her before. I asked what she thought, and she believed the ideas have merit, but were not compatible with her current business model especially given the corporate rules which govern her as a franchisee. My final question was hypothetical given it would require me to quit working for her. I asked if I were to actually pursue my business venture, what my next step should be. She answered with: "Start making connections." This of course made me recall the social networking assignment. She went on to say that her customer database was the most valuable thing her business possessed. Equipment and workers can be replaced, but without that there is no business.
While we of course are not on equal footing in the subject of entrepreneurship, I feel my experiences in this course over the last semester have helped me to understand the world of an entrepreneur a bit better and allowed me to relate to my boss on more even ground, if even by a tiny amount. I could not accurately gauge how well I was coming across to her nor did I directly ask the question, however I feel that I have progressed on my journey, and I would imagine that she would agree.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Week 13 Reading Reflection
What I found most surprising in the reading was the vast scope of factors that determine a venture's value. When I was in my teens my mother had toyed with the notion of selling her business. This was before the '08 crash and the business was doing quite well. I remember her coming up with a valuation that was over inflated and as a result couldn't find a buyer. I know she did not take all of the necessary steps to come up with a truly accurate valuation.
There was nothing in this chapter that I found to be confusing. Valuation is a complicated process but the author did a good job of breaking down the necessary steps.
Two questions I have for the author would include: "When doing a due diligence evaluation, what is a reasonable margin of error to keep in mind between the owners asking price and one's own valuation?" and "When basing value on assets and liabilities, how much value would you put on the experience of the workers themselves?"
There was nothing in this chapter I disagreed with. The author did a great job of breaking down valuation techniques and I feel I now have a better understanding of determining my businesses value.
There was nothing in this chapter that I found to be confusing. Valuation is a complicated process but the author did a good job of breaking down the necessary steps.
Two questions I have for the author would include: "When doing a due diligence evaluation, what is a reasonable margin of error to keep in mind between the owners asking price and one's own valuation?" and "When basing value on assets and liabilities, how much value would you put on the experience of the workers themselves?"
There was nothing in this chapter I disagreed with. The author did a great job of breaking down valuation techniques and I feel I now have a better understanding of determining my businesses value.
Celebrating Failure
A time I failed this semester was when my girlfriend and I came to the realization that our plans to move out of state this summer were not to be. I had received a job offer from an old boss now living in Tennessee. This offer and its location seemed to provide exactly what we were looking for so we perused a plan to be moved up there by this summer. I had already made arrangements with my current job to let them know of my plans and we had both told our families, who all live in this area. However about a month ago we reached a point where a decision to stay or go had to be made and we had to accept the fact that we weren't going to be able to leave due to a number of factors, money being the most paramount.
I learned a great deal from this experience. When the offer was first made to me, neither my girlfriend nor I could find any real flaw in our plan. In hindsight we both had a major confirmation bias. The facts that forced us to reconsider our plan were present from the beginning, but we refused to see them. This incident taught me to be much more objective in my decision making and goal setting. I have to force my self to weigh all of the facts, not just the ones that support my argument.
Failure is certainly embarrassing. When I had to tell my boss and my family that I wasn't going I felt almost ashamed of myself. As I stated above I was forced to re-evaluate the way I make decisions and set goals. I try to handle failure by moving past it and focusing on bettering myself. I do not like to dwell, although sometimes it really can't be helped. I think the challenges this class has presented and my own reflections in the assignments has helped my handling of risk to some measurable degree. Next time I plan a major life change I will be able to follow through.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
My Exit Strategy
In five years time I hope to have grown my business into a profitable venture and one in which I can pursue one of two options:
I do not think my exit strategy has effected my choices so far in any noticeable way. The amount of work required to make my vision into a reality is the same regardless if I plan to sell in five years or run it until I retire. The opportunity I identified came to me from my current job. My equipment would have to come the way of financing and hopefully the outstanding debts that would create would be paid off in five years time.
- Sell the business, invest the profits and pursue other life long goals
- Continue to own the business and focus on hiring and training a managerial staff so I can pursue other interests.
I do not think my exit strategy has effected my choices so far in any noticeable way. The amount of work required to make my vision into a reality is the same regardless if I plan to sell in five years or run it until I retire. The opportunity I identified came to me from my current job. My equipment would have to come the way of financing and hopefully the outstanding debts that would create would be paid off in five years time.
Week 12 reading Reflection
What stood out to me the most in this chapter was the lack of planning on the part of many ventures out there. In the chapter it stated that 20% of ventures they studied who had no real level of strategic planning failed within the first two years. I found this figure to be surprising.
I found the section on multistage contingency approach to be a little confusing as I had a hard time differentiating it from previously mentioned approaches to strategic planning.
Two questions I would ask to the author would include: "What is the best way to avoid fatal strategies in the initial planning process with a new venture?" and "If time is limited is it worthwhile to bring in a manger more skilled in planning?"
I do not disagree with the author on any major points. Overall this chapter was well written and informative on the benifits and pitfalls of the planning process.
I found the section on multistage contingency approach to be a little confusing as I had a hard time differentiating it from previously mentioned approaches to strategic planning.
Two questions I would ask to the author would include: "What is the best way to avoid fatal strategies in the initial planning process with a new venture?" and "If time is limited is it worthwhile to bring in a manger more skilled in planning?"
I do not disagree with the author on any major points. Overall this chapter was well written and informative on the benifits and pitfalls of the planning process.
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