Entrepreneurship - Day 10

Today for our entrepreneurial experience we gathered all our books and shipped them on amazon. We couldn't sell about half of them, but we were still able to make enough to split about $10 each. We presented our results to the class today as well. Our plan did better than I thought it would to be honest. I wasn't sure if we would get any books, but we got a decent amount. Class was really short today considering we only presented our entrepreneurial experiences and listened to the others. Ours seemed to go well compared to the others.

Entrepreneurship - Day 9

Today we talked about continuing a growing business. Franchising was discussed and we looked up what is involved to start your own franchise and how much it costs. I looked up Taco Bell and found out that a new franchise will run you about $1.5 million for start up costs, and they offer free training for their new managers. We did our final planning on our entrepreneurship groups today as well. We found quite a few buyers actually and will be shipping most of the books tomorrow.

Entrepreneurship - Day 8

For class today Prof. Thompson discussed the start up costs of running a business. We did some research over what start up costs would be necessary for each of our individual business plans. One of the start up costs involves buying or renting the space needed so we put some thought into the location of our business and local buildings that could be leased. Following our break, the topic of human resource management was discussed. Prof. Thompson taught us about the types of leadership and the recruiting process of obtaining employees. We wrapped class up once again with a "Shark Tank" episode. The first presenters were a man and a woman who were offering a stake in a family fun clubbing experience. It seemed like a weird idea to hold a family gathering with little kids in a club. I didn't expect them to get an offer since their business plan, or lack there of, was confusing. The next guy had a wild presentation and was a really boisterous and crazy guy. I didn't think he would get funded either, but to most people's surprise Daymond made the deal.

Entrepreneurship - Day 7

Today we talked about ways to finance your business and looked up ways we could fund our own business plan. We looked up websites like Kickstarter and venture capitalists that we could utilize. We got the marketing aspects of our entrepreneurship projects figured out as well. Our project is coming together well and today we got the email sent and created the flyers. After our break, we went over the ways to run a business and the legalities of a business. Lastly, we watched another "Shark Tank" video. In today's episode, a guy wanted to sell equity of his meat company, but couldn't get a buyer since he didn't have the slightest idea of a marketing plan. Another product was a illuminated coolers. The presenters made the mistake of giving Kevin 33% of all royalties. They missed on a much better opportunity because they hesitated.

Entrepreneurship - Day 6

We were lectured over chapters 8 and 9 today. They involved income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. We started class learning about income statements and balance sheets, and then we discussed our plan for our entrepreneurial experience again. Our group assigned jobs to each of our group members. I was assigned to be in charge of marketing since I have a twitter account. That means I will be making signs and posting on social networking sites, as well as sending out an email. After that we started up on chapter 9 and went over cash flow statements. The stuff we went over today mostly dealt with accounting principles, so I was familiar with some of it already. We finished class with another "Shark Tank" video. I thought the presentation wasn't the greatest, but the entrepreneurs had a good product and they earned the deal.

Entrepreneurship - Day 5

Today we had a guest speaker come in to talk to us, Anthony Rossi. He is a local entrepreneur and has had experience in the field, so he was able to teach us a little bit from experience. He explained the situation in Sioux City and all the possibilities for entrepreneurship. He said we were of the prime age to get started. Then he proceeded to show us his office along with some of his ideas, some of which are already active. I thought it was a cool idea to think of improving Sioux City through entrepreneurship. After that we took the test. I thought the test went well and included stuff we talked about or were quizzed on already. Afterwards we went over the video worksheets. I wasn't aware of microlending before the assignment so that was interesting. The last thing we did was write our opinion on a "Shark Tank" presentation and our prediction on whether a deal was made. That was for extra credit.

Entrepreneurship - Day 4

Class today was much shorter than our other classes. During that time, we covered more of the marketing aspect in business, including the 4 P's of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. We also worked on our entrepreneurial experience again. We talked a little bit about our first test as well. The assignment we received tonight was a little different than usual in that we had to watch videos and answer question on them. We had a smaller class today since we covered the material yesterday, and we were supposed to focus on the test and the extra assignments given to us.

Entrepreneurship - Day 3

We started off class today talking about business plans and we spent a good half hour or so going over our own for our class project. This involved looking up the trading associations related to our business industry. Prof. Thompson provided us a with a few good resources for finding information for our business plans. We also looked further into our market and what strategies would be effective. After spending quite a bit of time lecturing we finished class with another Shark Tank video. I am glad we had class time to work on our projects, otherwise I would probably wait it off. I found some good material on my business plan and should be able to come up with a portfolio pretty easily. The Shark Tank video was interesting as usual. It featured a couple pretty stupid business ideas if you ask me. The first guy introduced magnetic Christmas lights that were way overpriced, while the other guy came up with a Christmas tree ornament the shape of the Star of David to celebrate both holidays. The nice idea, but if anybody really wanted to make money off it they are kidding themselves. One of the sharks actually ended up buying a share, though.

Entrepreneurship Day Two

     To begin class today we discussed the concept of business plans and various examples of them. We were assigned to look up information on our own business plan for class, and then go around the room and talk about our findings and ideas. I decided to look up sports clothing stores and what is involved in starting them. I decided a location in a smaller sized town would be good, as long as it had a big enough market to keep me in business. We also went over our entrepreneurial experience plans again. Our group added a guy today, and we came up with several more ideas than yesterday. We wrapped class up with a lecture on the organization within a business.
     Business plans are central to starting an entrepreneurship. Before you start a business it is good to know what you are getting yourself into. This includes your start up costs and target market. By going over our business plans in class I have a better idea of what I want to do for mine. I put more thought into what business I would start and where I would start it. I am glad we got another guy in our entrepreneurial group because we have more brain and man power now. Today we also learned more about the marketing aspect of a business venture, which I am already familiar with, but I still think it was necessary to go over. It made sense that it would be the next thing we discuss.

Entrepreneurship - Day 1

     Today we started off by going over the syllabus, including course objectives and what we can expect to learn in this class. Prof. Thompson introduced us to the book and the author behind it, Steve Mariotti, telling us how he directed the book towards teenage readers to keep them interested and inspire them. Then we went over the the projects we will be doing over the term. That included this blog, an entrepreneurial experience, and a business plan. After the syllabus, we covered the concept of entrepreneurship and what characteristics define an entrepreneur, using Barefoot wines as an example. We then discussed what is involved in a entrepreneurial business venture. Class was concluded with a shark tank video and a short discussion.
     I think the idea of becoming an entrepreneur myself sounds pretty cool. It allows a person to have freedom and creativity in the career, while also being responsible and challenging oneself intellectually. With that said, I think this class should be fairly relevant to my future in both college and in life. If I ever do decide to take business ventures, I hope that this class would contribute to me making good decisions. I think it is a good thing for the most part that the books are designed to keep students attention, even for college level students. We tend to get distracted easily, so it should certainly help a little bit. It was interesting to me the way Steve Mariotti thought about products by thinking backwards through what they are composed of and developing from there. The blog seems like a good idea to retain information that you learned throughout the day, especially with 3 hour long classes. For our real life entrepreneurial experience, my group discussed a variety of financial/accounting related ventures. One of them was calculating college expenses for people and keeping track of them. For my business plan, I would consider a new website, or possibly a clothing store in my home town of Le Mars since it is lacking in that department. It was definitely important to go over the basics of entrepreneurship today to get us familiarized, so I appreciated that. I haven't seen many episodes of shark tank, but from what I have seen it is usually pretty interesting. It is absolutely applicable to an entrepreneurship class, and gives a pretty good look into the workings of business ventures. Overall, we had a good overview of what to expect and we got our minds started again after holiday break.