Assignment 21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) The general theme of this book is how the author learned to take care of himself first, so then eventually he could go from loss to loss, until eventually, he won big. Adams shares his story about how he kept himself happy, motivated and healthy through this difficult time of failing. The successive failures in his life mounted up and it all eventually led to his success in life. He suggests that you need to first look after yourself and your life before you look to anyone else. The reason for this is because if you don’t look after yourself first you will become a burden on your friends and family. The author shares a strategy of inviting failure into his life, embracing that failure and then overcoming it to ultimately succeed in life. Which he makes choices in his life to maximize his energy so then it will be easier to manage other priorities in your life.

2) In my opinion, the book connected with and enhanced what I am learning in ENT 3003 by it shows that through perseverance and pushing through the tough times makes you a better person and leads to success. The book enhanced that tenacity is very important for someone to have especially as an entrepreneur. You need to be very determined in your life if you want to succeed either with a new product or in school. Success is not wished for or given; you must pursue it effectively with a schedule that keeps you on track. This book has connected with my knowledge from this course and showing that your mindset and determination are vital in everything you do.

3) After reading this book, the exercise that I would is for the entire class to pick something that they are good or successful at and take that feeling of success and apply it to something else in their life. Then after doing that, the class will reflect on the steps that they took to apply the success and the outcome. If the student fails at applying the success to something else, then they can embrace it and reflect on what they have learned and what they’ll do differently. All the exercise parts will be included in a blog post. The blog post will allow other students in the class to read about other students’ experiences. This exercise is about how to apply a successful mindset to life because success can be habit-forming. You may not succeed, but that is a part of life, what you must do next is get back up, and learn from it for the future.

4) I learned from the book is it constantly states to look after yourself or in words from the book to have a selfish form outlook on life. This outlook is something different from my expectations because throughout my life I have been taught to look after your friend and family first before yourself. Most people I know are not selfish, so at first, reading this and going through some of the book I was surprised that the author said to be selfish. However, after reading the book more and understanding what the author was explaining I agree with the author’s point of view. For example, one of my favorite statements from Scott Adams was, “The most important form of selfishness involves spending time on your fitness, eating right, pursuing your career, and still spending quality time with your friends and family.” This statement resonated with me and I believe it is a great philosophy for some to live their life.

Assignment 20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1. Domain Expert in my Industry: The first person I interviewed was Joe Williams, and he is the lead sales representative for Powersports USA. He has been working with them for 5 years and he sells motorcycles, scooters, and anything dealing with their equipment. He is the domain expert for my product/service mix. Mr. Williams fills this spot because he has been working around scooters for some time and owns a motorcycle himself. He knows scooters and motorcycles and knows what it is like to sell scooters to college students. The way that I found the person was looking up local scooter places in my hometown and then picking one to go to talk to someone. He was the first person I approached, and he happily talked to me. The favor that he did for me was offering me valuable and vital knowledge of the scooter market today and some more facts about scooters that I did not know already. The return expectation is that I will refer some people I know to the store so they can check out the merchandise they are selling. Including this person into my network will enhance my ability to exploit this idea by I will have a better network connection on more information about trying to sell them to college students and more things to learn about scooters.

2. Expert in my Market: The second person that I reached out to was Mr. Joe Wilson, and he is a Division Manager for Motorsports Training Yamaha Motor Corporation. He has been with Yamaha Motor Corporation for approximately 12 years and he loves what he does. He is going to be the market expert for my industry. He fills this spot perfectly because he is targeting the same market with a similar service and will help me gain vital research. I found his information on the internet and decided to contact him via email. The favor he did for me was that he shared his knowledge on how to better research my customers so I could better attract customers to my product/service mix. The return expectation was that I will update him on my service and how I am doing on it. Having this individual in my network will allow me to gain insight on how to attract more customers to my service. Also, it will help me have an ability to network with him and others that he knows.

3. Important Supplier for my Industry: The last person that I contacted was Jeremy Smith. He is the Manager and the Market Analytics & Product Education Group for Kawasaki Motors Corporation. He has been with his company for 20 years. He will be my supplier and he fills this spot because he has been with the company for a long time and has more connections with the education world for two-wheel transportation. I found the person on the internet and decided I was going to email him and find out more information regarding selling my services to other firms in my industry. The favor that he will help me with how to supply the riders with vital riding and safety knowledge. He said that he just expects me to use this information so I can succeed with my idea to keep roadways safer. Also, I will keep in contact with him as well with the help with my idea from him. By including him into my network it will aid me in gaining more knowledge on the education aspect for my service. Then it helps me have more people to help me with getting my business idea to others. This process allows me to gain businesses to offer the scooter to the rider for completing the course which will increase their sales.

Reflection: This experience will shape how I network in the future by I will be more confident to approach people to gain insight into what they do and if they can help me. This experience is a great place to start so then I will have a bigger network of people to communicate with. Yes, this experience did differ from my past networking experiences because I was selling myself to the people in the past. In this situation, I am selling my idea and solution to them, so I can gain valuable knowledge about the market and industry. I am selling myself somewhat, so these experiences have some things in common, but I had a specific mindset going into this networking experience. This experience was successful and will be worth it in the long run.

Assignment 19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1) I am a senior at the University of Florida (UF) majoring in Business Management. I have switched my major from Engineering to Business while going through my educational journey at UF. Some of my key talents and skills are Leadership, decision making, reliability, communication skills, athleticism, integrity, and dedication. Also, I am in Air Force ROTC, so I have gained experience in Leadership, decision making, communication, and integrity. Some experiences are that I have played football since I was about six years old, I have played soccer for some time as a kid, did track & field in high school, and won the scholar-athlete award in the District 7A high school football state championship. My successful completion of AFROTC Field Training has shaped me because it is a 13-day intense leadership evaluation while being under tremendous stress. Switching majors while being in college has also made me into the person I am because I had realized I wanted to do something that I have an interest in. Upon graduation from UF, I will commission into the Air Force as an officer and I will start my career. I will still be using my education in management as I will be applying principles learned in my classes to my leadership and management style. If I were to start this business, it would make my life busier, but it would also provide something I could do in my off-time and help run it. This business will help make me some more money, so then I can help change the world by helping keep scooter riders safe. This business will help me learn some business techniques and some valuable life lessons as well.

2) The service that will be offered to customers is a scooter course at local dealerships that offer scooters. This course will help educate new or current scooter riders on the proper driving and safety skills. Also, people who complete the scooter course will obtain a discount on a new or used scooter. The idea of pairing up the service with the discount on a scooter will help not only the people taking the courses but will also help the dealership make more money. Everyone that completes the scooter course will gain vital rider and safety knowledge. Also, there will be more money that will flow into the market and the economy. The unmet need of people that ride/own a scooter that lack rider and safety knowledge will decrease.

3) In general, people that have been involved with a scooter in common by either owning, riding or having a thought of owning a scooter in the future are all customers for this service. The demographic characteristics of my customers are students or people in Florida that would be involved with a scooter. The older scooter riders might not find value in taking these courses before buying a scooter or even after owning a scooter for some time. Dealerships that sell scooters are included in who the service will be offered to since they will find value in it with the added business that the course will bring. People that own a scooter already are included in the customer base but are not the target market because they will feel that their driving is good and don’t need the course.

4) This is a unique service that I will offer to customers because it will be the one way that people can gain the proper rider and safety knowledge that is specific to scooters. Additionally, along with gaining important rider and safety knowledge for scooters, the customer that completes the course can purchase a new/used scooter at a discount from the dealership. The only other way to gain rider knowledge is through a motorcycle safety course, in which you gain motorcycle knowledge. People would want to learn information on the specifics of riding a scooter. This service will be beneficial to them because it will keep people safe on the roads by knowing proper riding techniques.

5) The thing that sets me apart from everyone else is that there is currently no service that offers scooter courses in Florida. After completing the course, you will earn a discount on a new or used scooter. I have a service that is linked to a discount of a scooter in the dealership and this product-service combination is the only one like it. This product/service mix will lead to more changes involving scooters to help maintain rider safety, including legislation on scooters in Florida.

Evaluation: I believe that all these elements fit together well because it is important to make sure everyone driving on the road know how to drive their vehicle and how to be safe. All the elements go with my idea of keeping everyone safer on the road and to cut out on expensive hospital visits for people. The state will realize that there was a problem with scooter riders and then will show more support for the provided education for two-wheel transportation. It fits well with myself since I own a motorcycle and have been riding for over two years. As a motorcycle rider, I have even more in common with my market segment.

Feedback Memo: I received no negative feedback on the information that I presented in my first blog post. The things that I did revise in this post are that I cleaned up any grammatical errors that made the text confusing and unreadable. The other point that I fixed was removing anything that I already mentioned or that was unrelated to the question. This allowed my post to be clearer and more concise. I incorporated the feedback by rereading this idea napkin for any discrepancies and I fixed them. Also, I made sure to clean up run-on sentences and sentences saying what was already said.

Assignment 18A – Create a Customer Avatar

The customer segment that I am focusing on is the younger generations in the demographics segment. The prototypical customer for this service and product mix is any person or college student that owns a scooter already or looking to buy a scooter in the future.


The hobbies that my customers have are hanging out with friends, going out to the bars or clubs, sports, going to the gym, running, and some play video games and other customers prefer shopping. The kind of car they usually drive are trucks, sedans, coupes or convertibles. Also, the customers drive scooters and motorcycles as well. The color of the car that they prefer is blue, grey, white or black. The TV shows that they watch includes The Bachelor, the Office, Game of Thrones, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Grey’s Anatomy and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The customer does not have kids and most if not, all are not adopted. The people that I interviewed said they don’t read that much in their free time so I would not have an idea of what this segment’s favorite book is. Most of the customers in this segment preferred not to say their favorite politician or they aren’t that invested into it. The age range of the customers is 18-24 years old. They feel as if they are a lot older. For example, some people under 21 years old, feel as if they are 22 or 23 already.

I have a lot of the same likes with hobbies and TV shows, and I am a college student currently as well. I do feel somewhat older than I am and if I had a car, I would like it in the same colors that they prefer as well. Most of the hobbies that prototypical customers are the same as mine. Overall, I have a lot in common with the avatar or the customer segment. I think that the things I have in common with the avatar are a coincidence because I think that some if not most college students like about the same things. Being a college student and targeting a customer base that I have a lot in common with will allow me to gain more investments and better sell my service/product mix.

Assignment 17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

Link for Elevator Pitch No. 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL9pXSqSfcw&feature=youtu.be 

1) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.

I received a couple of comments on my previous elevator pitch and they are both useful and insightful to sharpen my new elevator pitch. First, the big takeaway is that us important to the new elevator pitch is delivering the message better while still making eye contact with the viewers. I can accomplish this by memorizing my speech more. Next, although I did have a power stance in my first elevator pitch, I will move some more during transitions, and add more body movements. These movements will ensure I can be more enthusiastic in my speech and will engage the viewers more to the pitch.

2) What did you change, based on the feedback?

Based on the feedback that I received from the previous elevator pitch assignment, I decided to revise a few things for my elevator pitch. First, I will memorize my pitch better so then I will not have to look off the screen as often. This memorization will allow me to make more eye contact with my viewers. This increased eye contact will help my viewers be more engaged in my product/service mix. Next, throughout the pitch, I will show more enthusiasm to help convince potential buyers or investors. Finally, to allow I will move a little more in my presentation to be more fluid. Finally, to attract more attention and to support my pitch I will do more body movements and move around more during transitions in the elevator pitch.

Assignment 16A - What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique:

1. Dedication- Whatever I set my mind to I will be driven to complete the task at hand no matter what it is or the outcome. This is one of the vital factors that allow me to achieve my goals in life and it shows others that even with the perseverance that I face I will prevail in one way or another. 
2. Leadership- I have been gaining more experience on how to be the best in this the start of college throughout ROTC. I think this will allow me to guide people to complete tasks more efficiently and effectively. I show a lot of intensity and passion which helps motivate others around me to complete the mission. This allows me to learn more about people as well.
3. Integrity- This is my inner motivation to do the right thing all the time, especially when no one is looking. It is what defines me as a person and displays to everyone that they can trust that I’ll make the right and best decision. I have learned this more and more and adopted it to be a value that I will always follow.
4. Hard-working- No matter what I do or what is in front of me, I put 110% effort into what I do. I always work my hardest at whatever I do, and this is what makes me stand out with a competitive edge to investors or other businesses. I have always been like this because I believe that hard work beats skill. I always must try my best because it will give me the best experience and results.
5. Competitive- Throughout my life, I have been always been super aggressive to the point where I want to win at everything that I encounter. I believe that this will help me in my career and will have more motivation, creativity, and self-reflection. Employers like people that want to win and be the best to help the company, and this will help me accomplish my goals in life.

Interview 1:

●    Audio File: https://soundcloud.com/timmy-eyler/ent3003-16a-audio 

●    Explanation: I am the most motivated and driven person that he has ever met. In all facets of life, I want to want to win. The explanation of wanting to win in life includes being happy with my friends, succeeding and doing well at sports and in school. I have a lot of integrity and will always do the right thing.

Interview 2:

●    Audio File: https://soundcloud.com/timmy-eyler/ent3003-16a-audio-2 

●    Explanation: I am a very caring person. I care a lot about the things I do and the people that are in my life. However, sometimes I care too much, and I get lost in what I am doing and don’t focus on the bigger picture. Focusing on the bigger picture is very important in life and it has been something that I have focused on to improve myself.

Interview 3:

●    Audio File: https://soundcloud.com/timmy-eyler/ent3003-16a-audio-3 

●    Explanation: I am driven and determined like no one else he has met before. Whatever I set my mind to do in life, I put 100% effort into finishing it. He doesn’t give up or make excuses and is motivated to complete that task.

Interview 4:

●    Audio File: https://soundcloud.com/timmy-eyler/ent3003-16a-audio-4 

●    Explanation: I am one of the most compassionate people he has ever met. I like to be there for my friends and family and make sure they are okay. If my friends are struggling with something, I like to give them advice on what I think they should do if I were in the same situation.

Interview 5:

●    Audio File: https://soundcloud.com/timmy-eyler/ent3003-16a-audio-5 

●    Explanation: I am a very selfless person in the fact that I always look out for other people before myself. I have a caring and loving heart towards all my friends and even others I do not know. Everyone deserves someone kind and genuine there for them, like having a positive attitude towards a stranger, and I exhibit that quality towards others.

Reflection on the Differences: The way I see myself and the way others see match up well, and there are only slight differences. One difference is others have seen me be too intense and invested in stuff, and I didn’t recognize that flaw until later. Which now I have been focused on it and making it better, by seeing the bigger picture more. Others see me as compassionate, caring and selfless. I do see myself as these qualities as well, but I just mentioned more of the better ways that I have unique human capital. What causes these differences are the fact that people sometimes don’t like to focus on their flaws and people think they have more impressive qualities that are more important. I believe that the people that I interviewed were correct about how they described me and the information in the interviews was important. Going back to my list from part one, in my opinion, I would not make any corrections to the list. That is the list I believe is what makes me unique, so I wouldn’t want to change it. I believe the list in part one is true about me and it displays more of my human capital than what my friends stated in the interviews.

Assignment 15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Segment: Demographics, specifically, the younger generations from ages 18-24.

Person #1: The customer that I interviewed is a full-time college student and has a job as well. He stated that price does matter the most to him and so does quality. If a product or service has better quality, it will most likely be more expensive to offset the cost spent by the company. Style does not matter to him as much as price and quality. The factors that are important to this customer are price and quality. These factors are important because he does not want to spend a lot of money that he needs for school, and if it is less expensive, he prefers it to have better quality. He said that he is more likely to buy his products in-store to make sure he receives his purchases at that moment. This customer is more likely to use his debit card to make his purchase since he has direct deposit with his job. This purchase is not Business-to-Business (B2B). The thing that matters the most to this customer when he thinks back on the purchase is dependent on the price and quality. He determines that the purchase was a good idea if he got great quality for something not that expensive. The thing that would make him believe it was a bad purchase is if he got something that is expensive but later finds out he could’ve gotten it for less money. Also, if the purchase did not have great quality at all and was either cheap or expensive.

Person #2: The next customer that I interviewed is a female full-time college student, who focuses on school. She determined that price does matter the most when she is making purchases. Also, she stated that quality does not matter all too much, however she does value style when making a purchase. She said quality doesn’t matter too much to her because she is a student that is tight on funds. The two factors that she finds important are price and style. She values the visuals and looks along with the price of the purchase. Since she is very focused on school, she prefers and is more likely to make the purchase online with her debit card. The purchase is not B2B. The things that matter the most to her when looking back on the purchase are mainly if she made an expensive purchase and if she liked the style. This customer determines if the purchase was a good idea if she got a lot of use out of her purchase and didn’t spend a lot of money. She determines the purchase was a bad idea because she doesn’t use it at all, or the purchase is expensive with bad quality.

Person #3: The final person that I interviewed was a part-time student because he is currently in graduate school. He said that price to him does matter the most to him. He stated that quality does matter along with style when he is making a purchase. For this customer, three factors that are important in his purchase decision are the price, quality, and style. He mentioned that he is more likely to purchase in a store with cash because he does not like to have debt. This transaction is not a B2B purchase. When he thinks back to his purchase, he decided that the price, quality, and style of his purchase is what matters. This individual says that already graduating with his bachelor’s degree if his purchase has great quality and some good style then that would make it a good idea. He mentioned the purchase was a bad idea if he spent a lot of money to find out that the quality was very cheap, and thus doesn’t get to use it as much.

Summary of Interviews: The interviews that I conducted I learned that different people value different things. For example, one person may value price and quality but not style, or just price. I think it is all dependent on the person’s values, and as the entrepreneur, you need to meet all customer’s needs, not just a few. Another thing I learned from the interviews is that quality does matter in some type of way, maybe a little or maybe a lot. However, all the people I interviewed mentioned that they wouldn’t want to buy something cheap that didn’t last long. So, the longevity of the purchase is very important to customers in my segment. I was not dealing with B2B purchases, it was Business-to-Customers.

Conclusions: I would describe this segment by their choosing based on first what can they afford, then how good is the quality and finally, they look at the style when making an alternative evaluation in this segment. The purchase decision that describes this segment is a customer buying from a business in person with mostly cash or money in their bank account. This description fits their purchase decision because this younger generation doesn’t want to be in debt, so they pay with the cash that they have. Finally, I would describe this segment’s post-purchase decision by getting the most bang for your dollar. This description explains that this segment wants a purchase that can last and will not cost them a lot of money. Also, the purchase would be worth more than the price for the customer.