Final Reflection

This semester was certainly a challenging one that helped me evolve as an entrepreneur.

I learned so much from going through this class. I have never started a business the way this class walked me through and if I had, I would have excelled a lot faster and with fewer mistakes. There was multiple a-ha's that stood out to me and I started implementing ideas and lessons from this class in my own business. I really enjoyed Dr. Pryor's lectures and education by the content. It leads me to consider various things that are outside of my normal train of thought. I really dreaded doing the interviews. Not so much because I'm nervous or any of that, but because I have so much to do running by business that doing interviews and other things really take up a lot of extra time.

I think the most useful experience or information this summer was thinking through various revenue drivers and how that identification should be established in a well-performing business. My company has multiple revenue streams, but thinking through how to increase depth in those revenue streams and adding more revenue streams. While we did this for a mock business, I actually implemented these things in my real life business.

I believe that I came in with an entrepreneurial mindset and have had one for many years. I think that the adjustment this semester was viewing people that aren't business owners, but instead, solve problems also as entrepreneurs.

I think the best advice I could offer is to not wait until Friday to ever start any homework. Work at least a few days ahead every week. You should also really think a few levels deeper than you normally would when you are identifying the various pieces of the exercises.

Venture Concept 2

The opportunity for this business, starting a community focused coffee shop on Johns Island, is exceptional. The need for this business is very large at the present time. There is a 15-30 minute drive area to the West, South, & North that has over 100,000 people in it. There are no coffee shops within this area. The only source of coffee that the residents and the 50,000 visitors per year have is McDonald's and a gas station. This need has been accelerated by a very quickly developed real estate marketing, thousands of new residents, and very restrictive commercial laws. The area has resisted commercial zoning and infrastructure development, reducing the interest of businesses from coming in and targeting the market. The real estate for commercial businesses is scarce, causing higher rent rates. There are currently no competitors in this market in the industry, and there will be a window of 3-5 years before the zoning is shifted enough to attract more competitors of a national level.

This is a service-based business. The factors that will determine our success will be the quality of the coffee, affordable pricing, the timeliness from order to serving, the environment inside of the location, and our corporate responsibility practices. At the current time, the only competitors are McDonald's and two gas stations. They are very different than the model I am exploring. They have weaknesses of very bad quality product and an experience that is not as enjoyable as ours will be. They lack in customer service and visual appeal. They are also not involved in supporting the local community at all.

Our innovation will come from creating a unique environment that is conducive for meetings and local community gatherings and involvement. The coffee we have will be slightly less than Starbucks but will have better pricing and be locally sourced. You cannot get this combination within 1 hour of our location. The combination of a unique product, great pricing, and local community support will create a business model that most of the local culture will embrace.

Our most important resource will be our environment. There are many options to get a cup of coffee. There are no options to get a cup of coffee that is premium quality in a location that has great customer service and you enjoy sitting in. Creating an environment that welcomes and asks for the community to spend time in the location sharing coffee, conversations, and memories together.

The next steps to pursue this venture would be to seek a business loan for the equipment and rent of the first location. We would then need to secure a location, start on marketing, and sourcing our employees.

The future for me if I were to pursue this venture would be to secure a great general manager that shares my vision and to closely participate in the growth of the business. Over the next 5 years, we would seek to grow powerful relationships with our community and customers, developing the business into a $500,000 per year revenue business. We would likely hold onto the business until we were offered a large enough buyout or until national companies enter the market and take an excess of the market share.


Feedback: I received all positive feedback that this idea appeared to be well thought out and seemed that it would succeed. I didn't change anything from my first post, because everything appears as though it makes sense to move forward as is. 

Exit Strategy

I would have two exit strategies in this business. My first exit strategy would be to have a manager and leadership that could effectively run the business. This would be the strategy for at least the first 5 years and I would be focusing on it rather quickly. It affects my decisions immediately by getting good staff and a potential manager right at the start of the business to develop over time. Once the business is established and running well I would look to turn over management to a general manager.

My second strategy would be a 10-15 year strategy which would be to sell the business. By that time the business should have a great reputation and should have the ability to succeed without a figurehead and would have a solid valuation. This strategy would allow me to profit off the system that is developed and the assets we've purchased and managed properly.

Let's Fail a Lot

I failed every week. I had a goal entering the semester that I reset every Sunday to do homework every night so I could be ahead on my assignments and have my weekends free. I never hit this goal. Something always came up every single week. However, I slowly adjusted my schedule to get better throughout the semester, but I spent many weekends catching up on lectures and assignments. It helped me to be a better priority manager of my assignments and in my work life though. I fail daily in my life as a business owner and no longer call them failures, I call them learning lessons.

What's Next?

I interviewed Stephanie B, Vanessa W, and Kevin H as existing customers. When I asked Stephanie what we should be doing that I am currently not thinking of, which is the initial set up tasks for establishing and opening the business, Stephanie said that I should be focused on developing customer interest. She said that going to the local farmers market with samples while the concept is being built would create a desire for it before we open to accelerate the growth process. When I spoke to Vanessa, she informed me that it would be beneficial to start running social media promotions with gift certificates or giveaways to drive customers into the location in the first week of opening. Kevin said it could be useful to start working on outsourced bakers to supply baking goods and to explore other partnerships that could drive customers into the location seeking other products like grab and go frozen meals.

The new market I established is a catering model for businesses. There are multiple businesses in the area that are small businesses. I feel that if I had staff that could deliver coffee to those businesses daily, there could be a significant revenue stream created. If our location doesn't have a drive through this could be critical to ensure we can't be beaten by a competitor that opens with a drive-through. The level of customer service provided by offering delivery for coffee and pastries would also create a competitive edge that would be hard to duplicate quickly.

Venture Concept

The opportunity for this business, starting a community focused coffee shop on Johns Island, is exceptional. The need for this business is very large at the present time. There is a 15-30 minute drive area to the West, South, & North that has over 100,000 people in it. There are no coffee shops within this area. The only source of coffee that the residents and the 50,000 visitors per year have is McDonald's and a gas station. This need has been accelerated by a very quickly developed real estate marketing, thousands of new residents, and very restrictive commercial laws. The area has resisted commercial zoning and infrastructure development, reducing the interest of businesses from coming in and targeting the market. The real estate for commercial businesses is scarce, causing higher rent rates. There are currently no competitors in this market in the industry, and there will be a window of 3-5 years before the zoning is shifted enough to attract more competitors of a national level.

This is a service-based business. The factors that will determine our success will be the quality of the coffee, affordable pricing, the timeliness from order to serving, the environment inside of the location, and our corporate responsibility practices. At the current time, the only competitors are McDonald's and two gas stations. They are very different than the model I am exploring. They have weaknesses of very bad quality product and an experience that is not as enjoyable as ours will be. They lack in customer service and visual appeal. They are also not involved in supporting the local community at all.

Our innovation will come from creating a unique environment that is conducive for meetings and local community gatherings and involvement. The coffee we have will be slightly less than Starbucks but will have better pricing and be locally sourced. You cannot get this combination within 1 hour of our location. The combination of a unique product, great pricing, and local community support will create a business model that most of the local culture will embrace.

Our most important resource will be our environment. There are many options to get a cup of coffee. There are no options to get a cup of coffee that is premium quality in a location that has great customer service and you enjoy sitting in. Creating an environment that welcomes and asks for the community to spend time in the location sharing coffee, conversations, and memories together.

The next steps to pursue this venture would be to seek a business loan for the equipment and rent of the first location. We would then need to secure a location, start on marketing, and sourcing our employees.

The future for me if I were to pursue this venture would be to secure a great general manager that shares my vision and to closely participate in the growth of the business. Over the next 5 years we would seek to grow powerful relationships with our community and customers, developing the business into a $500,000 per year revenue business. We would likely hold onto the business until we were offered a large enough buyout or until national companies enter the market and take an excess of the market share.

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Here is the list of resources I have to grow this business or that I will need to do so. 

• Marketing Knowledge
• Value: I can communicate the benefits and value of our services effectively. 
• Rareness: Mastering the art of marketing takes time and experience. 
• Imitability: Other businesses can hire good marketing people. 
• Non-substitutable: Other people can hire good marketing professionals. 
• Local Community Knowledge
• Value: I understand what the target market desires in their local businesses. 
• Rareness: The local clientele is very unique and there is a specific level of quality and company resources they seek. 
• Imitability: This can't be imitated, but they can get other locals to help explain things to them. 
• Non-substitutable: They can't duplicate my knowledge, but they can source inputs from locals. 
• Scarce Property
• Value: There is very limited property available for rent in the area, this makes the ability to get a business like this operating before others, very valuable. 
• Rareness: This creates the ability for the company to be rare for a period of time. 
• Imitability: You can't create more property and there is limited zoning. 
• Non-substitutable: You can't substitute property. 
• Personal Relationships
• Value: There is a lot of value in knowing the locals that can help to create referral partners for you. 
• Rareness: This isn't rare because you can hire managers and employees that have local relationships. 
• Imitability: Others can have access to this resource. 
• Non-substitutable: This is substitutable. 
• Locally Sourced Product
• Value: This creates value from getting local support. 
• Rareness: This is not rare. 
• Imitability: This resource can be sourced by competitors. 
• Non-substitutable: This can be substitutable by using other local providers. 
• Mentorship from business owners
• Value: I can talk to other friends that have already started and opened successful community-focused coffee shops. 
• Rareness: This is rare because there are only 2 others that are successful like the concept that I am seeking to do. 
• Imitability: Others could reach out as well, but I am already friends with them. 
• Non-substitutable: You can't substitute people. 
• Business Ownership Experience
• Value: I have a lot of personal experience with running a business. I have many lessons that I can use to prevent mistakes from being made during the growth stage. 
• Rareness: This isn't rare, other successful business owners can also start a coffee business. 
• Imitability: My knowledge can't be imitated. 
• Non-substitutable: My knowledge can't be substituted. 
• Competitive Advantage
• Value: There is a significant competitive advantage in being the first to market with a large market and limited competition. 
• Rareness: This is rare. 
• Imitability: This can't be imitated. 
• Non-substitutable: This can't be substituted. Every competitor that opens will only dilute the market and reduce this advantage for all. 
• Timeliness
• Value: It is very valuable to offer coffee at a fast turn around time. 
• Rareness: It is not rare to be able to do this, however, it doesn't occur often. 
• Imitability: A competitor could change their processes to serve products faster. 
• Non-substitutable: This is not a substitutable resource. 

Elevator Pitch 3

https://youtu.be/Q_bWsW1yzgU 

I received really positive feedback on both sessions we have done this. Being a self-critic though, I really wasn't happy with how it flowed after I watched it. This time, I focused on ensuring I transitioned well, had call to actions thought out, and started off with a serious of attention-grabbing questions, statements, and voice inflections. 

Reading Reflection No 2

I choose the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as my book to read. This is actually the second time I have read this book. The first time was 7 years ago before I was running a successful company. I was just a freelancer and didn't have a lot to manage the first time.

The general principle of this book is that there are 7 Habits that effective and successful people tend to follow. When these principles are followed, they allow for incredible personal growth and success to occur. The book stresses taking personal accountability for your actions and proper goal setting as a couple of ideas. When you are able to know who you are, what matters to you, and you realize you are in charge of your actions in life you can tremendously affect the direction and results in your life.

An exercise I would do in the class would be to do a vision board that includes your values, dreams, and your personal mission statement. Starting with the end in mind and defining who you really make all of the other habits easy.

My biggest aha is how different this book was this time I read it. The first time I read it, a lot didn't make sense to me and I found it challenging to read. This time, it left a much stronger impression and reminded me of a lot of things that I need to do again. I actually did most of the things he said to the first time and reflecting back, I realize that I have followed the guidance of those things for the last several years without even doing it intentionally.

Growing Your Social Content

For the market expert, I selected Chef Nathan T. He has started, managed, and owned several restaurants on Johns Island and the surrounding area. His markets have been the same that I am targeting. I used to work for him when I was a server at one of his restaurants. I asked if he would poll his current employees at his restaurant on the island to see if they would be a consumer and would promote it if it existed. He informed me that some would use it (the coffee drinkers), and that they would promote it. He didn't ask for anything in return, he said I've done enough with my past work efforts. He is able to assist me in coming up with great marketing tactics for my target market.

For the product expert, I selected Sarah P. She is the owner of Muddy Waters, a future competitor, or potential ally depending on how we proceed with the relationship. She runs a coffee shop on James Island that serves French and Italy beans, which has a very unique taste. So while the market is similar, she has a very unique product. I connected to her by going to the store and asking who the owner was. I then emailed her to request a meeting. The favor I asked of her was to share with me feedback she gets on her pricing and products. She told me that she has found that the pricing range limits her to price between $3-$4 per cup to create maximum sales and revenue. She also told me that because of the unique taste of her coffee she has a very loyal following and focuses on the development of their loyalty and referrals instead of external marketing. She can help me to identify the best pricing point and how to be unique in the market.

For the supplier I spoke to Alex S. He is the salesperson for Charleston Coffee Roasters. This is the company we would use to roast our beans and import the product for our coffee. I found him through LinkedIn and sent him a message requesting a one on one to discuss his products. He helped to explain the process of their roasting and how the process works. I asked him if he could elaborate on how we can be highly sought after and a market leader. He informed me that the biggest thing we need to focus on is customer service and really developing loyal customers. In return, he asked if we would consider using him as our roaster. He has helped me to verify what we need as our competitive edge.

Idea Napkin 2

1. I am a Charleston native and local business owner. I also grew up on Johns Island, which is the area that I am targeting. I have a passion for business and the game of entrepreneurship. I have operated a marketing agency for several years and also have started to business service, not for profits. I believe that these skill sets are very valuable in this venture because I will be able to grow the sales of the new company. I envision starting this business and building it with a manager and staff that will be well trained with solid systems in place so that I will only need to drop in for a few hours a day 2-3 times a week initially and eventually for just a couple of hours total per week. 
2. We will offer locally roasted, premium coffee. A complimentary product will be freshly baked pastries. Those will allow us to create revenue. The other thing we will be offering that isn't a product, but creates our brand loyalty is a space for people to create community through face to face time.  
3. Our target will be the residents of Johns Island, SC. Our secondary market will be people on the island for business, passing through on their way to the resorts, or people staying in Air BnB's for travel. 
4. Our target customers will be interested in purchasing our coffee and spending time at our shop because there is not an alternative within 15 minutes. We will be the only community/local-focused coffee shop within 45 minutes and the only coffee shop with a decent tasting product within 15 minutes. 
5. Our coffee will be locally brewed and premium sourced. We will have the only offering within 45 minutes that provides a community enhancing experience and the only locally roasted coffee within 45 minutes. We are the only nonfranchise, quality coffee product within 15 minutes. 

This business idea is very well thought through and I have researched it extensively. The area we are targeting is the fastest in the state and expected to double in size in the next 10 years. There are only a couple of restaurants and food & beverage offerings on the island and none that offer this type of coffee house. The median income for the area is $40,000 and it is the second largest island on the East Coast of the US. There is significant opportunity if the location is focused on building rapport in the community, great customer service, and premium quality. 

The feedback I received was all positive and everyone focused on that it seemed that this was a solid business plan and possibility. I have extended the research, planning, and consideration since the last assignment like this and have incorporated those ideas into this by enhancing my analysis on the situation and offerings. 

Custom Avatar

Our prototypical customer will be a female aged 20-40 that has a steady career or is a stay at home mom. Our secondary customers will be either sex aged 25-55 in business or college students. Our customers will go out to eat at leas 2-3 times per week and often be too busy for the norms of live. they will have cars ranging from all types of sedans and suv's. They will typically watch reality tv, sitcoms, and sports. Our customer will range from single to married with up to 4 children. The ages will be under the age of 25.

I fit in the prototypical customer demographics. I am a business male, aged 29, that eats out twice per week with two kids under 12. I drive an moderate SUV, watch reality tv & sports. I would be a customer of my store.

Elevator Pitch 2

I actually found all of the feedback I received helpful. While I knew the things that people were sharing with me, what I realized is that I wasn't practicing the things that I knew to do. I have been giving 60 second elevator pitches weekly for the last 7 years. I realized that because the pitch I did the first time was for a business I don't actually own and run, my heart wasn't in it. I attempted to make sure this time to do the things I have practiced many times for years.

16A Secret Sauce

I believe that my human capital comes from being goal driven, hard working, and caring. I care about my staff and family. I care about what they think, how they feel, and their goals. I think that makes me a better husband, father, and boss. It allows me to make adjustments to who I am and how I operate to make things better for the people around me. I believe that in business you have to be goal driven to understand who you are and how you operate. You have to have a strong work ethic because you are self disciplined and you have to be willing to put in the time and effort before you can ask others to.

I interviewed my wife, Jennifer, my dad, my daughter Tagan, my aunt Jill, and my son Sebastian.

Jennifer said that I was very task/goal oriented and was very driven.
https://soundcloud.com/alan-292841405/sets/school 

My dad said that I was driven, personable, & smart.
https://youtu.be/bmO4VUYXoWA

Tagan said that I am very driven- does a lot.
https://soundcloud.com/alan-292841405/sets/school

Jill said that I am outspoken, that I go above and beyond, I am trustworthy, and that I am hard working.
https://youtu.be/MTK7k1MeyXA

Sebastian said that he likes how I speak to him, that I am responsible, that I am admirable, and that how I treat others is respectful.
https://youtu.be/gjH6tGPnxAo 

I feel that other people's opinions of my human capital is accurate. I tend to believe that I am very in tune with who I am, how I feel, and what I do best. The things that they said are the same that I said. Hearing it from my children really stood out to me because it comforts me knowing that I am teaching them the things that I want them to see.

15A Buyer Behavior 2

Guest 1- Jill W

I interviewed my aunt that fits the target market as a resident of the island. I specifically focused on alternatives with her and why she chooses her locations. Her preference is Starbucks because of convenience. She is constantly on the go, so having the ability to order with an app and get rewards for coming frequently is enjoyable to her. 

Guest 2- Chrissy P

I had a great conversation with Chrissy, a school teacher on the island. She lives out of the way of where I have been prospecting, but is still in the segment. She said that the location would probably prevent her from coming because it is not on her route. She will likely choose an alternate location, and her preference is Muddy Waters. That location is on another island where she works and has to pass by on the way. She likes to support local and would consider our location on the weekends, but for her the location is critical. She defines a good purchase as the coffee tasting good without mistakes and her being able to get in and out quickly.

Guest 3- Darby R

Darby is the daughter of Chrissy and is a high school senior. She said that she currently has to travel to Starbucks as the alternative. She goes there to get out of the house to go see friends and to study. When our location opens she intends to come to us because we will be closer and have more space. She looks to see a comfortable environment to enjoy her coffee and the things she is doing. 

I believe that I have to really consider and review the convenience and loyalty factors in my planning. The place has to be well built, well trained, and there has to be either a loyalty program or a very strong brand loyalty to compete with Starbucks. 

Halfway Review

1) I wouldn't say that I have had to be tenacious throughout the semester to complete the requirements. However, I have had to have successful planning, time management, and self discipline to ensure that I get the tasks done how they are said to be done and on time. There is a decent amount of work with the class to keep up with it and it requires you to be focused and disciplined to succeed. 

2) Being this is my fourth full time semester, while still running my companies at 50-60

hours a week and being the sole provider for my family, I am used to it now. There are definitely moments that I question whether it is worth staying full time. However, I realize that when you are in the middle of the fire, you shouldn't make decisions about that fire. Your best bet is to be tenacious and just stick it out until you can get through it and make an objective full perspective decision.

3) Tip 1- Understand the schedule of the deadlines to that you can properly manage your time. 

Tip 2- Do something every day. If you do something every day, you can easily stay ahead of schedule. 

Tip 3- Be involved. Invest in the effort and it is easy to produce quality work and get a value out of the class. 

Reading Review

1) I chose Steve Jobs as my entrepreneur. I was surprised by the lack of people skills and intangibles that he had. This is also the thing that I liked the least about him. From my experience and from all that I have seen your people determine your success. I think that if he had better people skills, he would have seen success faster and wouldn't have lost control of Apple initially. One of my favorite things about him is his desire for perfection. I admire how he was constantly focused on delivering a perfect product that matched the look that people wanted and the performance to stay innovative. 

2) Steve Jobs was very confident. He was very confident that he was a leader and innovator. He believed in his abilities to lead and innovate for anything he tried to do. He had an incredible attention to detail that allowed him to produce the exceptional quality that he demanded of himself and then the teams that he lead within Apple.

3) The part that confused me or that at least left me frustrated is why the board removed Steve Jobs completely from the company. While I understand the demand for success and their logic, they were not succeeding at other projects and needed new products and innovation. They brought in CEO's that did not have tech experience and only had success in marketing. 

4) If you could go back and do it all over, what is one things you would have never done? What was the one thing that you would have done more of?

5) His definition of hard work was massive focus. He was a perfectionist. He wanted the product to be perfect at any cost. I have a similarly strong desire for perfection. However, I am more focused on doing a lot of focused work. I want intense focus on accomplishing a lot at a high level. I understand that mistakes happen, so I implement failsafes to prevent mistakes, allowing my staff to compete at a high level of productivity. 

Buyer Behavior

I identified three people to understand how they make purchasing decisions for the new business industry. During my interviews I learned that I would have to run ads on Facebook targeting the island and surrounding barrier islands to ensure that the locals know that we exist. Once we are able to get them in one time and they have a positive experience, I expect a significantly high re-purchase rate.

I re-interviewed my dad, a long time resident that drinks coffee from McDonald's currently. During my interview I asked him how he makes his purchasing decisions for this item and he told me they have been the only place to get coffee for years now, so he just assumes to go there. However, if he were to see an ad online or if someone were to recommend our new coffee shop he would look up our website to get a feeling for what we offer and look like and then would try it. He said a coupon would be enticing.

I re-interviewed his roommate that doesn't drink, but likes to get out of the house during the day. He said he isn't a big coffee drinker, but would be willing to support the business by purchasing a cup of coffee in exchange for having a "hip" place to go that has good wifi and is relaxing to be at. He says he searches sometimes for places with wi-fi and most likely would find out about our location from that.

I interviewed a resident of the neighboring island, James Island, to ask if they ever visit Johns Island and if they would go out of there way to go to our coffee shop instead of stopping at Starbucks on James Island. They told me that if they knew there was a locally owned, community focused, coffee shop on Johns Island and they were passing through Johns Island in the morning, they would purposely wait until they could get to our shop. They said because there is a Starbucks on James Island, they would most likely only come to know about our location from either seeing it on Facebook or someone recommending it.

Idea Napkin

1. I am a native to Charleston and specifically Johns Island, where we will be launching the business. I have extensive knowledge of the local market and demographics. I am a current business owner in the area, so I am familiar with marketing tactics and various business items that will enable me to have success when launching this new business. 
2. We will be offering premium coffee and various espresso coffee options. We will also offer freshly baked pastries. All of this will be enhanced by a positive and desirable atmosphere of community within the coffee shop. 
3. We will be offering it to the local residents of Johns Island, SC that like coffee or that need a place to use wifi or meet others during the day.
4. They will want what we are offering because there is no option for a great tasting cup of coffee within 15 minutes. There also is no place that serves as a meeting/community hub during the day. 
5. We will use locally roasted coffee that will have exceptional taste and customer service. No one on the island currently offers this. 

I believe that I have a solid business idea. The mean income for the local population is over $40,000. There are multiple people moving to the local island from up north and other areas that will be seeking a great taste of coffee and that have a desire to plug into a local community style coffee shop. By providing a warm feeling along with an amazing tasting cup of coffee, we can provide a slice of heaven as people start or get through their day.

Testing the Hypothesis 2

As a recap, I am starting a local coffee shop on Johns Island (a Barrier Island near Charleston, SC). We will serve locally roasted coffee's and provide a location as a community hub and resource.

I spoke with 5 people that would have been in my ideal client targeting for demographics, but are not ideal clients because of preferences.

Interview 1- Starbucks Customer John R. 
I spoke with a friend that of mine that frequents Starbucks on James Island, SC that is about 15 minutes from Johns Island. I focused my questions on asking him about if he would be willing to go to what would be my new business, instead of Starbucks. He said that if he was on Johns Island and wanted coffee, he likely would not change his coffee choice unless it would be too difficult to get to Starbucks. He fits the mold of the perfect client for living on Johns Island, the age, and financial status.

Interview 2- Muddy Waters Customer Lyndsey B. 
I went to a local coffee shop on James Island, that will be the closest competitor to me, to solicit feedback from a customer. I struck up a conversation with Lyndsey that was doing homework to ask if she would be interested in the new coffee shop on Johns Island. She would be in my extended client base because she lives on James Island, within 15 minutes of my location, but not exactly on my island. She said that even though the locally involved coffee shop is appealing, it is not ideal because she has a local coffee shop (not involved in the community) and Starbucks that is closer.

Interview 3- My wife, Jennifer Thompson
I was discussing the idea with my wife, specifically because she fits into the perfect demographics, and also because she could be considered a partner on the new venture. However, she said she would not be interested in that business. She said that she thought the idea was intriguing and would be successful, but she wouldn't end up being a frequent visitor because she doesn't really like coffee unless it is like Starbucks with a lot of sugar.

Interview 4- Local Bar Owner, Paul F.
We were talking about having a coffee shop as a local community hub. He owns a bar on the island and has been involved on the island for many years. He said that he feels as though the bars on the island are already very popular hubs as the island has very unique breweries and bars. He said that people may not really care to go get coffee in the afternoon or evening because that is the time that they typically start seeing an increase in traffic.

Interview 5- Construction Worker, Chuckie W.
Chuckie works on Johns Island a lot with new home construction and renovations as the island is rapidly growing and adjusting. I asked if he would be interested in stopping by the new coffee shop for a morning or mid day cup of coffee. He said he would potentially occasionally go, but usually he gets coffee from McDonalds with his breakfast and it is too hot after 9am to drink coffee in Charleston.

In summary, I still think there is a huge market opportunity. However, I will have to face some competition from the other coffee shop on James Island and Starbucks on James Island. I think that my work that will determine our competitive edge is going to be winning hearts and minds by being heavily involved in the local community to build the love for our brand. Strong Corporate Social Responsibility from the first day will make a significant impact in our chances for success.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Johns Island Residents	Johns Isl residents that do not like coffee or that prefer Starbucks due to their options.
A community focused coffee shop on the island	An alternative to major franchises and brands.
People love coffee & there are no local places to be able to get coffee	Providing a local community venue.

90 Second Commercial

https://youtu.be/DbKAWKGPO-U 

Solving the Problem

I have selected opening up a community coffee shop on Johns Island. The coffee shop will serve as a locally sourced and engaged business that focuses on being involved in the local area. The products we will sell as our primary revenue drivers will be coffees and pastries. We will serve a variety of light, medium, and bold coffee roasts as well as espresso drinks. The beans will be premium sourced options and locally roasted. We will make our own pastries consisting of muffins, scones, breakfast sandwiches, and more.

Another revenue driver we will offer will be utilizing our space as an event space. We will offer the roasting area to groups and local business groups as a meeting space for an affordable rate or a guarantee of an amount of coffee purchases.

We will host a poetry night, a local artist night, and a jazz or acoustic musician 1 night a week to help bring the community together. Through this we will also offer teas and decaf coffee options to the individuals coming in on these nights.

Testing the Hypothesis

I decided to proceed with my identified opportunity that Johns Island, SC needs a community coffee shop that offers a high quality coffee product and the availability of a local community hub. The coffee shop would serve locally roasted coffee as a tasteful premium product. By having ample room for people to sit at tables and meet, we provide the opportunity to become a valuable hub for local connections on the island. The space can also be used to feature poets, acoustic artists, visual artists, and more to support our local residents and their works.

The Who: Johns Island & Wadmalaw Island residents, transients, visitors (you have to go through Johns Island to access or leave Wadmalaw Island)
The What: There is not a quality coffee product available within 15-45 minutes depending on where the person lives. There are also no community hubs outside of churches or bars.
The Why: Most investors bypassed the island to target the rich resort islands near Johns Island, thus leaving Johns Island very rural and with less accommodations.

Interview 1- My Dad
My dad has been a resident of Johns Island for 25 years and in his time has never had a coffee shop on the island that served a coffee that was worth seeking out regularly, nor has there ever been a central "business" or location that majority of the residents prefer to meet. He believes the challenge is that so many people are passing through the island rather than working on the island, so it has not been identified as an opportunity.

Interview 2- My Dad's Roommate
Johnny has lived with my dad for 4 years now and on the island for 10. He works in food and beverage and typically is heading into work in the afternoon and leaving work late at night. When we discussed the what he felt as though he personally wouldn't have a large need for the product, but that many of his co workers enjoyed coffee and complained about the lack of good coffee on the island. He felt that if a good quality coffee option was available on one of the 2 main roads that run the length of the island, it could be a sustainable business.

Interview 3- Christina White (2nd Generation Resident)
Christina owns a business she runs out of her house at the busiest intersection on the island where 1 of only 2 shopping centers are located. From her house, the nearest Starbucks is 25 minutes and the only local coffee option is not very welcoming or very good. Being that she is a service provider, she often has to meet with clients and finds that most of them prefer for her to travel the 25 minutes to meet at Starbucks (despite living on the island with her) than to meet at her home office, because of being in a more lively environment with other people. She stated that she felt that if there was a local place that was similar to Starbucks but completely local and involved in the local events on the island, it would be widely embraced. There are a few things that the locals really support like little league baseball, the local farmer's market, and local restaurants. By building a coffee shop that is involved in those same things and that offers a great product and service, it would have a large chance to succeed.

Interview 4- Steve Nettles (Charleston Business Owner)
Steve Nettles owns multiple businesses in the local area. I spoke to him about the opportunity and when doing so I targeted the why. When we were brain storming the reasons why this opportunity hasn't been exploited already, he brought up great reasons. He brought up the fact that commercial zoned spaces in high traffic areas are very scarce and it is difficult to take advantage of the timing to secure a space. He also said that the market could be very small being that no one seeks out traveling to the barrier islands unless they have a specific reason (work, living there, etc). It is not a place that other people in the area desire to travel to. It would have to be a beloved brand to all of the residents of the island to really capitalize on the market of the residents.

Interview 5- Jessica D (Frequent Transient)
Jessica visits Johns Island at least 2 times per week for family and lives on the other side of the city (about 40 minutes away). We spoke about all 3 factors, but the excitement of fulfilling the void dominated our conversation. She shared in majority of my view points that there is a significant need for this kind of business. She has to remember when she drives out there to bring coffee from home or stop well before she approaches the island to ensure that she gets an item that she enjoys every day, because there are no other opportunities exist on the island currently.

In summary, I think that the validation of my idea has been increased. The challenges that I need to consider is the availability of location and the price of that real estate. The zoning for a f&b style business could also be a hindrance with finding a location. The business has to immediately be integrated into the community with supporting everything that the local population enjoys and is passionate about.

Identifying Economic & Regulatory Opportunities

Regulatory
1) South Carolina introduced a new bill that could legalize the medical use of marijuana at the beginning of January. While, it is still being voted on, the approval of this bill can create significant waves. Currently, all hemp growing and sales are illegal in our state. If this bill is approved it can create a massive opportunity for many related businesses. It would allow for CBD products to be created without repercussions. It would also create medical marijuana dispensaries. For those that can get the diagnosis, they will need medical marijuana cards, places to purchase it regularly, and accessories to use it. For those that can't use it, they could still purchase and use CBD products legally. This would also be another massive market that companies already exist in locally, but are technically operating illegally and are importing the products from other states. The ideal customers will be people that can get a diagnosis for medical marijuana- high anxiety, high stress, seizures, PTSD, and many other issues. The other market will be people that don't want to smoke marijuana or can't get a diagnosis, but still want the benefits. Those people will be able to purchase CBD products. Both customer types would have to be over the age of 18. This opportunity has been proven in other states and while legislation is being considered there is an opportunity for people to begin preparing for the law to be passed. You can create all of the branding and marketing materials needed for the new product, look at where to source the plants from, prepare packing and distribution options, and essentially set up the business minus signing a lease for a retail space. I have experience helping to start and create CBD companies as well as launching the marketing for over 350 companies as well as starting my own companies.

2) More criminal records will be erased in South Carolina if applied for. SC approved legislation allowing more criminal offenses to be expunged if applied for by criminals. They did this to attempt to increase the pool of candidates for hire in the state. The ideal customer this will affect will be individuals with criminal records with first time drug charges and closely related charges. This creates an opportunity to create a company with an attorney that just focuses on assisting individuals filing to request for expungements. The legislation also protects employers that elect to hire individuals with an expunged record. I have experience in this from working with clients that are staffing companies as well as working in law enforcement and understanding how people get charged for crimes.

Economic
3) The forecast for the year is that there will be sustained increase in economic growth and consumers will end the year with improved balance sheets according to the Washington Examiner. This creates an opportunity for businesses to capitalize throughout the year on improved retail and services sales as well as a rise in real estate values. Through this increase it provides the opportunity for people that are purchased their homes during the recession to potentially sell for a premium value before we experience the next economic decline. I have experience from this from watching the market and others around me prior to 2008 when we were experiencing continued economic growth. I had to watch so many homes go on the market after 2008 from the massive declines in value and large amount of foreclosures and was not able to take advantage of the opportunities when prices were at the lowest with the lowest interest rates. Anyone that was able to, could sell now when everything is at a high and make a profit.

4) Many of the financial heavyweights believe that a recession is possible within the next 2 years. They fear that it could be a global recession as there appear to be many cracks developing within the global markets. Should one occur, it will likely impact everyone across the globe again. While those would seem to not be ideal times to exploit opportunities, they often are. They force companies to look at every area of their operations to cut costs, opening opportunities for automation companies and robotics. A recession also opens opportunities for individuals seeking alternate forms of income, which allows for exceptional growth in network marketing companies. I was able to launch a very successful networking marketing company during the recession, primarily because people desperately needed additional income and the only way to do so without adding extra jobs were to help people through network marketing.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1) Charleston’s drinking culture makes it hard to stay sober in entertainment scene in the Post & Courier https://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-s-drinking-culture-makes-it-hard-to-stay-sober/article_841357ce-e90a-11e8-ab8e-57b38e68f158.html 

Society as a whole, but specifically Charleston was noted as having an increased issue with having alcohol in their entertainment and essentially not being able to escape it. Nearly every event and location that you go to has alcohol for sale and it is creating a sensation of alcoholism and drug addictions in society. This problem is affecting the people that are drinking, the police for the crimes that are caused when people are drunk (DUI, fights, vandalism), and the medical systems that have to treat the people that come in with alcohol withdrawals or excessive drinking.

2) HIV positive numbers rose in 2018, according to North Charleston nonprofit in the Charleston City Paper https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2019/01/24/hiv-positive-numbers-rose-in-2018-according-to-north-charleston-nonprofit 

There were 20 more HIV cases reported by a local Non Profit in Charleston. 90% of the new cases were reported from men that have sex with men. It appears as though there is not enough safe sex education or resources for safe male to male sex to occur to prevent AIDS from spreading. This affects the people that contract the STD, their families, and the medical system for the places that have to treat them, their insurances, and the tax payers if they are unable to pay. 

3) Tecklenburg: Flooding an ‘existential threat’ to Charleston in the Charleston Regional Business Journal https://charlestonbusiness.com/news/government/75879/ 

Being a low lying area that is at or below sea level, flooding has developed as a significant problem that continues to get worse every year. As sea levels rise and we have increased rainfall, local residents often find themselves stranded, having to use/find alternate routes, and our roads crumbling. This affects everyone that lives in or travels on the local roads. It also affects everyone that has a home in a low lying area the can flood. The problem also affects local governments, insurance companies, builders, city/county councils, the state budgeting, state department of transportation, Army Corps of Engineers, and probably even more than that. This is a massive issue that continues to become more important every year.

4) Charleston appeals tour guide licensing decision in the Charleston Regional Business Journal https://scbiznews.com/news/hospitality-and-tourism/75828/ 

Recently the US Circuit Court ruled that it was illegal for the City of Charleston to require anyone offering tours in the City to have to take and pass a very detailed and lengthy exam. The City of Charleston has appealed this decision, attempting to open up the opportunity for their licensing process to once again be required. If it does not get overturned, it can provide the opportunity to open up new tour guide companies with lower cost tours and featuring different tour options than the other companies. This affects the city, the federal government for courts, the tour guides, and everyone that goes on the tours.

5) S.C. unemployment rate remains at 3.3% in the Charleston Regional Business Journal https://scbiznews.com/news/human-resources/75759/  The unemployment rate in Charleston continues to be at record lows. This creates a unique problem of leaving employers with jobs they can't fill with qualified candidates and creates a larger demand than the supply can handle. This presents a unique opportunity allowing staffing companies to charge a premium to help companies fill valuable positions with the best quality individuals. This affects the employers, the staffing agency and their employees, and the people being hired. 

My Bug List

Dwayne Alan Thompson II
ENT 3003
University of Florida

My Bug List

I definitely have many things that bug me. Perhaps it's because I have been in business for some time now and realize that the things in my business or industry that annoy me can be changed by me whenever I want, yet hundreds of things in life cannot be changed by me. Below is my list of things that bug me and why they occur.

1. People chewing with their mouths open. This drives me absolutely nuts, because I can't do anything about it and the sound is disgusting. 
1. Why 1? People do this because they never had parents to teach them manners. 
2. Why 2? The offenders have zero care for others and are comfortable being obnoxious. 
2. The potholes in the roads in South Carolina, specifically the roads around Charleston. 
1. Why 1? The South Carolina Department of Transportation is completely ineffective at managing our roads. Despite the significant tax increase 2 years ago for Charleston County, the roads seem to get worse every day. They pay 6 guys to stand around and watch 1 throw dirt into the pothole and then pour a little asphalt on top of it. So in about 2 weeks, the pothole just returns. In my opinion, this is what causes the lack of repair.
2. Why 2? First, the roads are built on filled in marsh and low level grounds. Second, it rains a ton, which creates pockets of soft soil underneath and erodes the asphalt. 
3. The amount of weight that I gained in the last 4 years. I went from an athletic shaped, lean male at 175 to an overweight, out of shape 240 pound guy. Thankfully, I have lost about 20 of those pounds over the last 10 weeks and continue to lose weight. 
1. Why 1? Because I threw away my values and self care when I got married and elected to eat as many of the best tasting foods that I could while drinking great beer and avoiding the gym like the plague. 
2. Why 2? I had no self control, internal drive to work out, and failed to manage my meal portions because I enjoyed my temporary satisfactions from eating. 
4. Robocalls are the worse thing about having a cell phone. They bug me about 10 times a day. 
1. Why 1? The cell phone companies don't care who calls you, they just want a payment every month and thus have not created a method to eliminate robo callers.
2. Why 2? The FTC has not introduced severe enough repercussions for violating the Do Not Call registry for robo callers to care to follow it.
5. When people request pointless meetings or want to just chit chat.
1. Why 1? They have nothing to occupy their time so they attempt to find ways to waste other people's or fill their boredom with using someone else's creativity. 
2. Why 2? They are focused on friendships and relationships during the time when we are there to make money. Being a task oriented person I don't understand how people are so happy to sit around and talk and joke when you've got things to do and wealth to obtain. 
6. When people start a business and have no idea how they are different from their competitors.
1. Why 1? Someone said you should go start your own business, so they took their trade they know and decided to go into business themselves without proper planning. 
2. Why 2? They end up failing or living with a mediocre life that could have been better by just working for someone else. They don't take the time to thoroughly plan out why they are going into business, the value they will bring to the marketplace, and how they can stay unique, thus making them desirable. 
7. When people in groups, teams, or relationships do not properly communicate thoughts, instructions, dates, or tasks. 
1. Why 1? They are only thinking of themselves and ensuring their needs are met by completing something, scheduling something, etc and do not inform the other member(s) of the meeting date, change(s), things to be done, etc until the last minute or not at all. 
2. Why 2? They have not established a priority on mutual accountability and ensuring that they are a contributing member of the group/team.
8. When people procrastinate despite knowing deadlines and having the time to complete tasks in advance. 
1. Why 1? They operate based on the deadline and doing the bare minimum instead of having a good work ethic and being focused on always being ahead.
2. Why 2? They don't plan their time, resources, or manage their priorities properly, thus procrastinating the more important items on their lists to do the small, unimportant tasks first so that they feel like they accomplished something. 
9. When others drive slow in the left (fast) lane, specifically on every road that is 4+ lanes. 
1. Why 1? They have no concept of how the flow of traffic operates and that most states have laws that require you to move out of the way if you are slower than the car behind you. 
2. Why 2? They do not care about why the person behind them may need to get somewhere faster or how they could potentially cause an accident by making the faster traffic have to pass them and others in the right hand lanes of the road. 
10. When people drive in the rain without their lights on.
1. Why 1? Similar to #9, they are either ignorant of state driving laws requiring them to have their lights on. 
2. Why 2? They do not care about the safety of themselves or others when driving and are happy to accept the risks involved with not being seen in a rain storm. 
11. When we waste time in the military (or when anyone wastes time for that matter).
1. Why 1? Leadership of the team, unit, etc did not properly plan the mission or priorities to accomplish, thus creating large time voids that could be compressed into more effective training periods. 
2. Why 1? Leaders are more focused on what they have to accomplish rather than ensure their subordinates are properly prepared and equipped to fill in any blank time periods. 
12. When it takes Taco Bell 20 minutes to make you 3 tacos at 11pm at night.
1. Why 1? Because Taco Bell understaffs their locations. 
2. Why 2? Because the staff of the restaurants are not being trained on the importance of quality fast service in preparing and delivering fast food. 
3. Why 3? Their staff doesn't really care.
13. When my computer freezes in the middle of me doing 5 tasks with 10 windows open and makes me restart it.
1. Why 1? The computer is overloaded with programs running and tasks it is performing and needs more resources to accomplish what I'm asking of it.
2. Why 2? The computers processor and resources are out dated, thus limiting it's capabilities. 
14. It bugs me when Walmart only has 2 registers open (most of the time), despite having 20 registers. 
1. Why 1? Walmart does everything they can to minimize overhead to increase profitability, regardless of customer service. 
2. Why 2? They do not appear to train their staff on the values of customer service to create a desire to jump into action to help reduce customer problems.
15. It bugs me that Airlines have not adjusted to modern body sizes and customer seating preference, despite knowing how uncomfortable their passengers are. 
1. Why 1? Airlines (specifically American Airlines), are in the business of making money, and while every dollar counts, they appear to put profits in front of customer comfort and preference because they know people don't have a good alternative for long distance travel.
2. Why 2? It would cost a significant amount of money to put aircraft out of commission to do upgrades on the planes from both being downed and the actual upgrade costs. Those costs outweigh the gains they would get for customer satisfaction. 
16. People texting and driving because it is incredibly dangerous and creates a situation that is worse than drinking and driving. 
1. Why 1? Society has shifted to a focus on instant gratification and connection. People are unable to control their curiosity and have patience to wait to do things at the better time to do so.
2. Why 2? Governments have not placed severe punishments for the actions of doing this and the risk vs reward is far higher in the reward category to them. The instant gratification of knowing what was sent to them and being able to provide their response matters more than the small consequences of being caught, currently. 
17. It bugs me that people get over excited and hyped about potential weather events prematurely resulting in a loss of revenue for businesses not in the construction or grocery trades.
1. Why 1? The media utilizes the POTENTIAL weather event as content and story lines to draw in ratings. 
2. Why 2? Government are over paranoid because of not wanting to look like New Orleans when Katrina hit, but creating a situation where the boy that cried wolf will eventually result in loss of life from people no longer caring to head warnings. 
18. Customers believe they are always right, despite the fact they hired a professional for services for a reason, they couldn't do what they needed.
1. Why 1? To reverse the negative perceptions created by brands that neglected customer service, they pushed very hard in the new millennium for great customer service. Big brands defined that as, the customer is always right. However, when hiring a professional for a service, you are doing so to lean on their experience and expertise. You must be willing to trust in that provider, not blindly, but with reason as it is typically in their best interest to serve the customer with the best service possible. 
2. Why 2? Brands do not want to be perceived as not caring about their customers by telling them no. However, they actually do their customers a disservice by allowing them to make purchases or investments that do not actually benefit them. This is a systematic belief that should be confronted.
19. Not discipling children and setting them up for failure in life is unacceptable and infuriating. 
1. Why 1? Society has created an exaggerated response to child abuse, removing the ability for parents to strictly discipline their children. While child abuse should never occur, parents must have the ability to take away electronics, grab their children by the hand if they are moving away, or take necessary means to teach them right from wrong. 
2. Why 2? There has been a mental change with the current generation that we want to be our children's friend more than their guidance. While, you certainly want to be approachable, you must also be able to stand up and enforce proper morals to your children. It is more important for who they become than having a new best friend. 
20. Facebook and what seems to be every digital screen in America forcing you to watch an ad before you can use their screen or watch a video. 
1. Why 1? Marketers are looking for an alternative way to mass market because of the significant decrease in results from interruption marketing norms (tv commercials, radio, newspapers). So they are forcing you to watch the ads during your activities, despite creating a frustration now connected to that company's ad.
2. Why 2? It is another way for all of the platforms to generate significant revenue. Facebook decreased the reach and performance of Facebook Pages by changing algorithms, thus forcing businesses to look for additional methods to create brand awareness and engagement because their own ads and boosted posts have become less effective. 

My reflection is that I felt very negative while writing this and that it was rather difficult to identify 20 things and 40 causes that frustrate me. However, while there are a few that I don't know a true solution will ever exist for, there are several that have solutions identified through clarified the cause for their existence. 

Forming An Opportunity Belief

Dwayne Alan Thompson II
ENT 3003
University of Florida

Forming An Opportunity Belief

Where I live in Charleston, SC, the metro area is made up of very diverse, geographically based, environments. We have a very upscale area of our city, that is separated from the other areas by two rivers on the west and south parts of the city. We have an industrial economical area that is in the center of the Metro. We have a small town community area on the northern end of the Metro. Finally, we have multiple barrier islands that offer very different living styles. One being very close to downtown with many things, and the others being very rural focused and resistant to change. I grew up on the rural barrier island, Johns Island, and we were deprived of many of the conveniences that you find in most American towns today. We had to drive over 40 minutes (off the island) for coffee, fast food, Walmart, and everything except a school, grocery store, and gas station. Since my youth, the island has welcomed several amazing quality restaurants for casual and fine dining, has had extensive residential developments, and has opened a few convenience stores (still no Walmart). 

One of the things that has shocked me thus far, is there is no highly appealing coffee shops on the island. The island has a very tight knit community and is actually the second largest in terms of land mass in the United States. Yet, the only two coffee resources on the island period is McDonald's and a very bad local coffee "box" with just a drive through. I have had the idea for many years of opening a community focused coffee shop. With a small town feel and strong loyalty to local businesses, my belief is that a community coffee shop would thrive. 

The customer that would frequent this store is a wide demographic. Because the island only offers two inferior options and the closest quality competitor is over 15 minutes away (requiring you to leave the island), majority of the residents and transients would be potential clients. From my discussions I believe that 30-40% of the residents or transients, on their way to work on the other barrier islands, would utilize our location for their caffeine fix. The best customer for us will be the ones that seek an escape from home life to accomplish life, or wants to be able to be involved in their community without having to go to a bar. Currently the only social option on the island are bars/restaurants. Through offering community events like fundraisers for the local little league teams, poetry, acoustic music, and being involved in the local schools, I believe that we could create a very strong sense of customer loyalty. 

My first interview was with my father, he is a local resident and has been for 24 years. When discussing the idea he found that he also felt this is a substantial opportunity and has even considered partnering with me to start it. We discussed the local market and their interest in this opportunity and he stated that in his conversations when he ran a local restaurant, this topic came up several times with customers expressing their desires for a great tasting local coffee shop. He felt that a coffee shop with a quick drive through that offered competitive drinks to Starbucks or other franchise coffee shops before those brands come to market is a very unique opportunity that could be sustainable for a long time. 

I then interviewed a friend that has opened a business of the same type in Summerville, which has a similar community culture to our island. When discussing how he built his business into a highly influential community resource, we found that there is a parallel opportunity on our island. He faced local coffee shops and your franchise brands as competitors and was still able to build a very substantial business that is incredibly sustainable despite the franchise brands being in the market years before he is. His recommendation is to ensure the coffee is premier and locally roasted to ensure the actual product is unique in the market. 

My last interview was with one of the longest generation residents of the island. He is a local farmer and his family has been on the island for several generations. Despite he being the leading force behind resisting change to the island, he also agreed. He shared in the concerns of not having a local place to be able to just go and hang without having to drink alcohol. There are no locations on the island for anyone to meet others during the day for business or professional reasons, no where to just go and enjoy fellowship without having to compete for a table at a packed venue at night, and there is no place that has been deemed as "the community hub". By having a coffee shop that is well ingrained in the local community, he also feels that you have an opportunity to provide the community a significant resource for multiple reasons other than just a great cup of coffee.

Through my research, thoughtful analysis, and extensive consideration, I have come to the realization that I believe this is a potential business opportunity to pursue. From this simple project, I plan to start discussing lending, locations, and vendor options to see what difficulty lies ahead in exploiting this opportunity with a valuable solution. While I figured there would be a decent amount of positive support, I have been impressed with the overwhelming encouragement and apparent desire to fill this need. I believe that there is more opportunity than I originally envisioned and that I am sitting on a very large opportunity. I think that involving your customers is critical as an entrepreneur. A start up is an ever changing and evolving organization and the first 12 months of planning and opening present significant opportunity to determine the long term success or failure of a brand. By adapting offerings to what the community and customers request, you are able to provide the exact item that customers want, creating better value and a higher chance of significant success. On the contrary, ignoring your customers request for adaptations or the evidence the originally estimated need doesn't actually exist will result in failure and significant loss. 

My Entrepreneurship Story

Dwayne Alan Thompson II
ENT 3003
University of Florida

My Entrepreneurship Story

I have been an entrepreneur since I was a teenager. Some would say it could even be destiny. I worked with my father growing up, who owned a locksmith company, like his dad did. I started washing cars and doing yard work in my neighborhood when I was 13. I designed flyers and business cards and walked around my neighborhood, going door to door, asking home owners if I could provide these services. In High School, I created monthly magazines that I took around and sold to my classmates and also paid people that had artistic skills to make drawings for me that I sold for a mark up. 

I then started a web design agency at the age of 18, which I grew into a rather successful business until I was 22 and I sold it to an employee I had at the time. I proceeded to do 1099 legal insurance sales for a MLM company for 4 years, achieving the top levels in that organization. When I finally became tired of that venture, I started a new marketing company (4 years ago). I have since grown that agency into a powerhouse in Charleston, with 300 companies that we either created the branding for or created websites for. I have grown my staff to 6 with 4 production employees specializing in the 4 areas of digital marketing. I have also launched 2 local Not for Profits, Great Business Networking and the North Charleston Chamber of Commerce. 

 

I enrolled in ENT 3003 because this is what I live and breathe every day. It is the only thing I could consider doing after so many years of doing it. During the periods that I was changing my companies or in start up mode, I would work for others (waiting tables, being a deputy sheriff, and some others). What I have repeatedly come to know, is that I am psychologically unemployable. I'd prefer a broke day as a business owner any day over being an employee of anywhere, well other than maybe being in marketing for UF. I hope to learn an academic prospective of being an entrepreneur in that I may improve my operations, company structures, or other things that I may not know from just being a doer my entire life without a collegiate education. 

This is my first post on this blog

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Ready to rock this new blog for ENT 3003.