Week 7 Journal Entry

Weekly Readings 

In Praise of the Purple Cow

 -Stand out from the herd!
-Don't be afraid to be different
-If you're a boring company, customers will also be bored.
-Find things that are “just not done” in your industry, and then go ahead and do them.
-Create two teams: the inventors and the milkers. Put them in separate buildings.



Affordable Consumer Research Tools





-ATYM, ask your target market.

-Target respondents through a variety of criteria, such as age and income, to ensure you're talking to the right audience.

-Zoomerang:
create your survey online using the Zoomerang tool and fill out a form outlining your targeting criteria.

Acton Hero: Phil Romano 

-Go against the grain
-Actions speak louder than words
-Do the things people tell you not to do in business.
-Create things.  Innovation.
- If it doesn't feel good to you it won't feel good to your customer.
-Ask people what they would want from your service.
-Think about service.  Giving people what they want. 





 5 Company Naming Mistakes That Can Kill Your Business

 -Building a long lasting, attribute-based company name can add value to your business and reduce customer confusion.

- search engine ranking becomes a major issue as you compete with thousands of other “alphabet soup” company names.

- customer won’t understand the business unless it’s described in literal terms.

-

$500 Dollar reflections

- Team is working hard
-Everyone has made at least 5 sales
- Met twice this week and set sells goals and finalized designs for different teams
.

 

Personal Reflections 



Look for a purple cow opportunity.
Be different.
Think of what could make like easier.
What things do you not enjoy doing? What could make this easier?


 

E Myth Notes

-Your "Strategic Objective" is what you want to do with the business in order to fulfill your "Primary Aim" in life.

-You must speak to people's unconscious minds - all the rational arguments in the world won't win over someone whose unconscious mind has already said 'no'.

-The author explains that in order to make your business work, you must have a "Primary Aim" in life - not business, but your life.  Without that, your business may come to consume you.

-If the business is to thrive, it must move beyond the founder

Week 6 Journal Entry

Weekly Readings 

Cow Pie Clocks
-Look for business in everything.  Be creative.
-Personality and charisma can go a long way in the business world
-Be aware of how much the business you can handle yourself
-Consider hiring the right team and employees to help your business progress
-Consider increasing your product line


The customer is #1

-Every time you touch a contact or prospect, you should feel your brand breathing.
-A brand has a tremendous impact on your business!
-One of the most important assets you can develop for your business is a powerful brand.
-"your brand purpose" is a logical snapshot of what you provide the market

$500 Dollar reflections

Increased profit to $260
Rec Sports won't allow us to advertise in the I-Center or on campus. 
Too much conflict with IBC.
We are limited to flyer and word of mouth advertisement
.

Personal Reflections 

-Look for business opportunity in everything, a la cow pie clocks!
-Be willing to expand your product line if one product will eventually fade out in time.
-Your personality in the business world can attract the right investors to your company.
-Be Charismatic and likeable.  Don't have a big ego.


E Myth Notes


-Your "Strategic Objective" is what you want to do with the business in order to fulfill your "Primary Aim" in life.

-You must speak to people's unconscious minds - all the rational arguments in the world won't win over someone whose unconscious mind has already said 'no'.

-The author explains that in order to make your business work, you must have a "Primary Aim" in life - not business, but your life.  Without that, your business may come to consume you.

-If the business is to thrive, it must move beyond the founder

 

Week 5 Journal Entry

Weekly Readings Italia Factoria

-Look for an experienced and reliable architect when constructing a building for your business to minimize problems.
-You can expect competition and sometimes legal issues when entering a business where other competitors are already present.
- Doing lots of research and knowing your market is crucial before commencing a new business venture.
-Knowing when to move on from a business or continue to improve the business you already have is an issue all entrepreneurs will need to deal with

Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts

-First step to financial freedom is paying your tithing.
-Debt is a form of bondage
-It's ok to go into debt for the following: modest home, vehicle, and education.
-heavenly debts are much harder to pay back than earthly debts

$500 Dollar reflections

-Team has now successfully designed T-shirts for two intramural teams.  We currently sit at around 150$ in profit.
- Had a mishap with RecSports saying we can't advertise through our BYU Idaho e mail account.
-Held team meeting discussing contacts we've made as well as a sales quota from each team member by the end of next week.

 

Personal Reflections 
- Going into business with family and friends can be risky but also very rewarding if you can all work together.
-Before you go out and start your business, study the business model you plan on using and see what successes are out there currently and why they are successful.
-Know where you will place your business and what the population/needs are in that area.
-Always remember that paying your tithing is the first step to becoming financially free.

E Myth Notes

-Everything about the business should be documented in operations manuals.

- You need as much data as possible - with time you'll learn what the critical numbers are, and be able to tell how things are going by keeping an eye on them.

-The key question to ask is: "does the business I have in mind alleviate a frustration experienced by a large enough group of consumers to make it worth my while?".

-You need people that believe in what your company does to make those systems work, but having a system in place that doesn't require a fantastic manager.

Week 4 Journal Entry

Week 4 Journal Entry

 

 

Weekly Readings

Heather Evans Case Study

 

 

 

Provident Living

-Some of the most loving words you can say to your spouse is "we can't afford it".

- Hold family council's and teach your children the importance of keeping a budget and being frugal with your earnings.

-It's ok to go into debt when purchasing a home, buying a modest vehicle, and education purposes.

-Ask yourself before a purchase, "“Is the benefit temporary or

 

 

Bootstrap finance

-Venture Capitalists are neither greedy nor short sided

-Venture capitalists incur significant costs in investigating, negotiating, and monitoring investments.

-Raising big money requires careful market research, well thought-out business plans, top-notch founding teams, sagacious boards, quarterly performance reviews, and devilishly complex financial structure.

-Many entrepreneurs thrive in rapidly changing industries and niches where established companies are deterred by uncertain prospects.

-An entrepreneur's time is not well spent courting investors.

 

$500 Dollar reflections

- Team has reached deal with printing shop for our T-shirts.  It'll cost us $1.89 per shirt.
-Every member of the team has been assigned to a group of intramural teams to market too for our business.
-Flyers have been made.
-Decided to not focus as much on the website that we previously had spent a lot of time trying to develop.
-Best way too sell our product is through word of mouth and personal interaction.

 

Action Hero Video

Paul Robshaw

-Founded AIC ventures
- Learned the will to work from his Father
-Learned how to work at an early age.
-Lists honesty, integrity friends, family, and God as core values
-Went bankrupt and divorced in the same day
-Created a life plan that he still works with
-Dreams are reality without boundaries
Personal Reflections
- Keeping core values such as honesty and integrity will be driving factors for your success in the business world
-Don't assume or count on one big investor to invest in your company.  Build your network and don't put all your eggs in one basket.
-Don't waste too much time within your groups talking about possible methods to sell your product, get out and go do it!
- There is no substitute for hard work in the business world.

E Myth Notes

-Everything about the business should be documented in operations manuals.

- You need as much data as possible - with time you'll learn what the critical numbers are, and be able to tell how things are going by keeping an eye on them.

-The key question to ask is: "does the business I have in mind alleviate a frustration experienced by a large enough group of consumers to make it worth my while?".

-You need people that believe in what your company does to make those systems work, but having a system in place that doesn't require a fantastic manager.