Elevator Pitch No. 2

I received some very good feedback on my elevator pitch No. 1. I agreed with all of it and think that the people who commented had really good ideas for improving my elevator pitch. Some suggested rehearsing the pitch ahead of time and being confident in what I am pitching. So for this elevator pitch what I tried to improve upon was my confidence and not saying too many filler words as well as writing out what I wanted to say so that I knew ahead of time what I was going to be talking about and was less on the spot. I think by doing these things my elevator pitch improved a lot compared to the first one.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmgqKF0Wns&feature=youtu.be

Week 6 Reading Reflection

I was surprised to think about how the rivalry among competitors can diminish profitability.  But when reading the article it makes complete sense because when there are new competitors in a particular industry the other companies have to worry about raising their prices. If they raise them while a new competitor has lower prices than that then they lose out on certain profits. I think the exit and entry barriers confused me the most of the entire article. What are the entry barriers and exit barriers and why do they exist? The text explained the barriers but I still did not quite grasp the point behind them so I would not mind more explanation. I do not disagree with anything the author said I think the five forces concept makes sense for describing competitors.

Idea Napkin No. 1

All of my life I have been very good at math, but it was not until a couple of months ago that I realized I wanted to become a math teacher. It had never crossed my mind before because of all of the bad things I have heard about becoming a teacher, the low pay wages, horrible benefits and the atmosphere.  I have done plenty of research on the topic as of lately and many of those points are very true. The salary of a teacher is not high to begin with but it is especially low in Florida.  Many teachers lose passion in their work because of the environment they are thrown into, where they have no budget to work with and disinterested children that they have to help pass.  It is a very tough job, children now a days do not care about their school work in the least and many parents don't either.  So after all the research and brainstorming I did about this topic I came up with the Teacher Relief Program. This program is an outside company completely geared towards teachers. Teachers receive little to no recognition for the job that they do and many of them do not want or need it but after years of not feeling appreciated many of these teachers lose the drive and passion that had once made them great teachers. This program aims to show teachers that someone is thinking about them and that they matter in this world. This program will get its funding from donations from the parents and also by fundraisers. I think the parents will care enough to donate or help out because I think many know how hard it is being a teacher and will want to make them feel appreciated. I think this idea alone sets my business plan apart from anything else because there is not a program at any school like this.  Many jobs have teacher appreciation weeks but teacher's do not really get anything. I think my idea is still at such an early stage that its a little weak because I am still not quite sure how the program would help teachers. I think much of the problems is the kids do not care and the teachers do not know how to make them care.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

The thing that surprised me the most from chapter 9 was the amount of things on the new-venture idea checklist.  This checklist includes questions about so many aspects of creating a venture such as feasibility, competitive advantages, buyer decisions, marketing and production of the good and services and much more. Nothing from this chapter confused me, each point was explained well enough to get the concept. I would ask the author if you are missing any part of the new venture idea checklist is this when problems occur? and Which method do you think is the best approach for assessing entrepreneurial opportunities? I would ask these questions because I think the author probably has a preference for which method is the best. I do not disagree with anything the author said I think that all of the problems that cause a new venture to fail make complete sense and I think the checklist is a good way to analyze the success of a new venture idea.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

The name of my business plan is a non-profit program called The Teacher Relief Program. This program sets out to make teachers feel appreciated and like they are actually making a difference in someones life. Much of what teachers go through is becoming discouraged by the school system by getting pay cuts or even by family members who disagree with how the classroom is ran on a day to day basis. What many do not realize is what these teachers do behind the scenes for their students. I personally have felt this from some of the teachers I have had over the years and for the ones who have not been that way I think they just need a push in the right direction and to feel appreciated.

Reading reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? What stuck out to me was the table of the most common idea killers. I have never really thought of what kills an idea but its true that those phrases kill creativity.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
The incongruities section confused me because if no one believed that it was a good idea then how could it have come to be.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why? What happens when you have tried all of the ways of developing creativity do not work? What are ways to improve your brainstorming ability? I ask these questions because while I think I am somewhat creative I am not very good at coming up with new and innovative ideas and I draw a complete blank when I try to brainstorm.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I did not disagree with what the author said in this chapter. A lot of what the author said was very true, like the table on the left and right hemisphere and what each side is associated with. I also agreed with the parts that go into the critical thinking process.

interviewing customers no. 1

This interview was especially intriguing because it opened my eyes to the fact that the reason why teachers may not be treated properly and are losing passion in their jobs because the school system does not have enough funds to properly take care of their employees

I agreed that many teachers in the school system push their kids very hard but then there are some that hate their job and come to work to collect their measly paycheck to pay their bills. Apparently his son William is pushed harder to do well in school here in Gainesville than in Colorado. I think the teachers who do not push their children may have once had a passion in helping the kids but have been beaten down over the years.

 Mr. Nirav did not know much about the school system and how the teachers get paid but he did feel that some teachers have lost passion in what they do and no longer care if the children do not do well. When this happens children lose interest and start to not care about their education either.

 I especially found this interview interesting, she took her grandson out of the public school system because of how the teachers are and how the system works. She felt that her grandson was not getting as good of an education here. I agree with her that the teachers are discouraged and do not want to help the children. I also agree that the reason there is a shortage in teachers in Florida is because they are not treated fairly and paid properly.

 Jessica is a teacher and she agrees completely that teachers are not treated fairly and paid properly. Also that it affects the children. She also said that some of the reason teachers are losing passion is because children's parents sometimes treat the teachers poorly when the teachers are only trying to help the kids.

I chose the school system in Florida and how it treats its teachers to be the opportunity I interviewed 5 people about. I have always heard of the unrest among teachers and how the Florida school system does not treat teachers very fairly. I got some varying opinions and a lot more insight into why the system has its problems and why teachers are not treated quite as well as the deserve to be. After talking to a few people I definitely believe that there is many unmet needs in this area that would serve as good opportunities. From this I learned that interviewing people is very interesting and scary, people are not always so forthcoming when they are told they are going to be recorded. You definitely have to be prepared when conducting interviews with people you do not really know.