14A – Halfway Reflection

1. Some behaviors I have acquired while being in this course so far is time management and planning ahead. The class has a very repetitive flow and assignments fall on the same days, so you need to spread out the work through the week. If you stay organized and don’t let yourself fall behind there is no reason you should not pass this class. 

2. My attitude changed when I was not as happy with my previous semester’s GPA. I made it a goal for myself to do better this semester and try my best on every assignment. It was tough to get myself up and hit the textbooks after a bad test or two, but I realized it wasn’t going to fix itself. I was the only one that was going to make a change and do better. I feel like since I have adjusted to college after the first semester, and had winter break, I was ready to come back and work for what I wanted. I made sure to stay organized and put extra work into all my classes, even if the social aspect of college was hindered slightly. So far it has been for the better, and I feel like I put myself in the right direction to success. 

3. My first tip would to be to create a schedule for yourself. For example, since there are two lectures a week and usually two assignments due, gives yourself time to complete one assignment right after class. My second tip would be to watch the lectures twice and take tedious notes with examples, as the quiz derives straight from lecture videos. My third tip would be to have a mindset that even if you don’t do well on something, to pick back up and grow from your mistakes. You have to learn what works and what doesn’t work for you in order to be successful in school. There may be some down points and not so great grades, but if you finish strong it will be well worth it. 

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Mary Kay Ash:

The most surprising aspect of Mary Kay Ash was that she was creating her business while she was caring for her sick father and divorced her husband. While her father was sick, she did cleaning and cooking, while taking care of herself and succeeding in school. What is surprising is she wanted to go to college and become a doctor, but her parents could not afford the schooling. So she got married instead.

What I admired the most about Mary Kay Ash was how she focused on being happy at all times and really putting her heart into her business. She also really put an emphasis on using her femininity to her best advantage. She shows the advantages that you can receive from showing off and how it helped her build her business. There was much that I didn’t admire of Mary Kay. 

As I mentioned what I admired of her previously, there are not many negative things to say. Maybe the only thing is she used her femininity to be succeed in a Man’s world, when she was probably successful enough. It seems like she may have been taking advantage of her powers as a women, but it is still inspiring to some young women who don’t feel as confident. 

I think Mary Kay Ash had more hardships in her life than failures. From her father passing away to her divorce with her husband. She also struggled a little bit what she called a male-dominated business world. These struggles she had though didn’t get to her and she grew from the challenges life threw at her. 

I think that some competencies Mary Kay Ash exhibits are responsibility, adaptability, and determination. These characteristics made her so successful in her business and should be a role model for other entrepreneurs. 

The most confusing part of the story was when they explained the profits of Mary Kay Ash had made and how they were transferred from SHP to World Gift Company. I feel like the timeline of events was a little confusing and was a little unclear.

I would ask Mary Kay Ash how she coped with the struggles in her life. I feel as she grew the most from her lower points and I feel as that would be valuable advice in life. I would also ask her if she would’ve done anything different in the whole business process. Knowing this information would give me an insight on what and what not to do while being an entrepreneur.

I feel as that Mary Kay Ash truly did put in the hard work for her business to be successful. I think that she was very passionate about her business and was full involved throughout the whole process. To be successful, you have to put in the work. The business isn’t just going to start itself.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

For my interviews, I have decided to look into families who own pets. These people would be the prototypical customers for my business. The first person I interviewed was one of my local neighbors who owns three dogs. He is an older gentleman who usually asks me to walk his dogs. The next person I interviewed was a close family friend, who travels for work. He is a pilot and has three dogs and two cats in his household. The last person I talked to was my Grandma. She has two cats in her house and likes to visit her husband at the clinic often. I think these people would all contribute valuable information and opinions about my business as they are the type of people I would try to direct business towards.

In my first interview with my neighbor I asked him a few questions regarding how many pets he has, how many hours he works, and if he vacations frequently (if he is comfortable with providing this information). He explained to me that he has three lovely dogs, as I knew since I have previously cared for them. He says that he works full time and occasionally gets time off from work to vacation. He explained how his pet fare always so excited to see him at the end of the day when he comes home from work. I asked him where he takes his pets to stay on these vacations. He says that the vets is the first option, and if they are full then he asks a friend. This is the type of customer I was looking for. I questioned him if he had ever heard of a Pet Hotel. He said “No, but thats sounds intriguing.” I explained to him my business idea and he thought that it would be a great solution when he goes away. 

In my second interview, I spoke to a Pilot. He has a wife, two kids, three dogs and two cats. Since he is a close family friend, I know that they travel often and that he is away frequently because of his job. I asked him what he did with his beloved pets when he and his family travels. He explained to me that he boards the dogs at the veterinary office and leaves the cats food and water at home. This is a perfect example of how animals can be stressed when their family vacations. I questioned him, “Do you think your pets are lonely and miss their families?” He ensured me that they do as they are extremely lovey when they return from their trip. I asked him how he would feel about leaving his pets at a Pet Spa and Hotel, where there are a multitude of amenities for your pets. He explained to me that sounds great, and would look into sending his pets if a place like this existed. 

In my last interview, I spoke to my Grandma who is an owner of two cats. I asked her how much she goes out and leaves the house, if she travels and for how long. She tells me that she is not much of a traveler anymore, but how she goes a few days a week to visit her husband at the clinic or retirement home. I asked her what she does with her two cats while she is gone all day. She told me that they are pretty much used to being alone and taking care of themselves when she is gone, and that is is hard to take care of them at her age. I asked her if she looked up pet care providers and she said she has but they don’t offer services that she needs. I then thought that she would be a good client to introduce my business idea to. She of course thought my idea was great as she was my Grandma, but said that she would love to take her cats to the Pet Hotel on her way to the retirement home, so they aren’t lonely and get good treatment. 

From my interviews, I found that many pet owners take their pets to the vets office, or just leave them at home when they go away. Most prevalent needs for pet boarding is work and vacations. The Vets office is usually the most convenient, but during high demand vacation times, these places can become overbooked. This is exactly why I want to open up my Pet Spa and Hotel business so that pet owners have a luxury place to put their pets as they vacation. I feel like the need is quite prevalent for really any pet owner. Other than taking the option of the boarding at veterinary offices, they go to family and friends to ask for help as there are no other services that provide pet boarding. Opening up this business will not only allow pet owners to feel safe about leaving their pets in a comfortable environment they know they will be treated better than the over populated vets office. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

My business is a place for pets to feel safe and comfortable. A place to go when their owners and families go away and they cannot be brought with. My skills and experience include being a pet holder myself and having to put them in cold and lonely veterinary offices during a vacation. My aspirations include running a successful Pet Spa and Hotel while focusing on the customer’s needs as well as their pets. I would like to put the costumers first and always be accommodating. As well as taking care of their pets, I would like to take the time to help stray animals find new homes. Homeless pets will be found or can be taken to my Pet hotel and Spa and be cleaned up and placed for adoption. In this I hope to lower the rate of stray animals on the roads. I feel fully dedicated to start this business and make it my priority. I have been an animal lover my whole life and would love to make a change to how they are treated. In my Pet Hotel and Spa, it is a full-service facility that offers overnight stay, pet playrooms, treat bakery, grooming, etc. Instead of the veterinary office, this is a comfortable and fun place for pets to stay. Anyone with pets are able to come and let their pet stay the night or play for the day. If you’re going on a weekend trip or vacation bring your pets to my Spa and Hotel for your pets to be pampered just like you will be on your vacation. The service is well worth it as your pets will be in a more comfortable environment and will not be stressed as they are alone in a veterinary cage. It causes emotional stress to the animal as they are felling you are abandoning them. At the Pet Spa and Hotel, they are exposed to other pets and friendly staff that will play and interact with them. When you bring your pets here, you are also supporting the service of finding stray animals and providing safety for them. Some of the profit will ho to housing and feeding these homeless animals until they are adopted. I think this is what sets our business apart. We are dedicated to making personal connections with your pets to make them feel comfortable while the owners are away, and at the same time making a change in the community. There are not many businesses that use profit to do good in the community, and that is what makes our efforts to help stray animals stand out.

10A- Elevator Pitch No. 1

10A- Elevator Pitch No. 1

https://youtu.be/C2qHOSfUgIk

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: In all of my interviews, everyone said that they had been affected by the flu or has known someone that had gotten it. I feel like that everyone falls in the boundary as it is considered as an epidemic. Some may argue that ones that receive flu shots would not be in the boundary, but multiple people I spoke to said that they received the flu shot and still ended up with some strand of the flu. Others stated how they are not pro vaccine, and these are the people that would be farthest in the opportunity.

What: Some of the people I spoke to questioned that even if more people receive the flu shot, how we would know if there was a significance improvement in the effectiveness. They stated how the flu virus will still be around and is very unpredictable.

Why: I don’t believe that the need is different than what is inside the boundary. I feel that everyone can benefit from this and help keep others healthier. There is not really people outside the boundary as the whole country is affected.

	Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who	U.S. Citizens; Pregnant women Employees Doctors Families	People who are unsupportive of vaccines.
What	Making the shot more effective as more people receive the flu vaccine. Providing and easier alternative to receive a flu shot.	Getting rid of the flu virus completely.
Why	The existence of an epidemic is uncontrollable. There are many types of flu.	There is not enough technology to create a new vaccine.

Solving the Problem

Solving the Problem

1)     My opportunity is in regard to in the United States, flu shots are not as effective because the shot is designed for one predicted epidemic strand. This is an issue that effects so many Americans and is quite severe of a problem.

2)     In order to improve the effectiveness of flu shots, I think a program needs to be created that pursues a mobile service of free or rewarded flu shots. Somewhat like a blood donation bus. If you donate blood on campus you get a reward of a UF T-shirt. As I learned in my interviews, a student explained how he received a Publix gift card for going there to get his flu shot. As many do not have the time in their day to go out one extra time to go get a shot, this service could travel to workplaces and schools and provide shots to employees/students in order to keep their facilities heathy. The more people that have the shot the less likely it is prone to spread. I think that the convenience of having a mobile service will have an effect on the amount of people who receive a vaccination. Instead of taking time from work to go get the vaccine, it will come to you. Not only will this service will be beneficial for health of U.S. citizens it will give more people opportunities for work, and students opportunities to intern and learn from other nurses who are doing the service.