Reading Reflection No. 3

For my third and final reading reflection, I read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.

I chose this book because it sounded (from the title) like a book about how to turn lemons into lemonade. It takes a special mindset and perspective to be able to do that and I wanted to see what author Scott Adams had to say about that. It's even more impressive because he didn't just talk about it but he did it! He was successful at making lemonade out of those lemons. 

The general theme/mindset of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big was to persevere through the lemons no matter how long it takes to squeeze them into lemonade. Try, try again and don't give up! Scott Adams is the creator of Dilbert, a wildly successful cartoon comic. It wasn't a hit from the get go and took years of struggling and failure before it took off and became what we know it as today. Quotes from the text to support the general theme:

• “I bought some art supplies, practiced drawing every morning before work, and wrote my affirmation fifteen times a day: ‘I, Scott Adams, will be a famous cartoonist.”
• “I find it helpful to see the world as a slot machine that doesn’t ask you to put money in. All it asks is your time, focus, and energy to pull the handle over and over. A normal slot machine that requires money will bankrupt any player in the long run. But the machine that has rare yet certain payoffs, and asks for no money up front, is a guaranteed winner if you have what it takes to keep yanking until you get lucky. In that environment, you can fail 99 percent of the time, while knowing success is guaranteed. All you need to do is stay in the game long enough.”

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big connects with what we have learned in class by showing us that it is acceptable to fail many, many times before you get something right. Just keep trying! This correlates to the "Celebrating Failure" blog post we did where we talked about a time we failed, how we processed it, and how we moved forward. Both this book and the assignment reinforced that failure is a normal and acceptable part of the entrepreneurial process. It's how we handle it that matters.

If I had to design an exercise for this class based on How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, it would be a personal words of affirmation exercise directed at yourself. Just as Scott Adams handwrote that he would be a famous cartoonist fifteen times a day, we would do the same practice with our own words for what we aspire to do. We would record if/how our thought process and perspective of ourselves changed after repetitively doing this for x amount of days. Also, a requirement of this exercise would be to upload a picture of your handwritten affirmations. With all the constant negativity in the world, it is important to remember to compliment yourself regularly and to believe in yourself.

My aha moment while reading How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big was when Scott Adams said:

• “I’m a perfect example of the power of leveraging multiple mediocre skills. I’m a rich and famous cartoonist who doesn’t draw well . At social gatherings I’m usually not the funniest person in the room. My writing skills are good, not great. But what I have that most artists and cartoonists do not have is years of corporate business experience plus an MBA from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.” 

This speaks to me. It means that you don't even necessarily need to be the brightest or best at something to be successful at it. Just harness the unique aspects that make you you and apply everything you've got. I thought this was a very down to earth and truthful statement that we all need to remind ourselves of. It alleviates pressure and teaches us to just do the best you can do and strive to be the best you can be. It will pay off and lead to greatness if you just keep trying. 

Venture Concept No. 2

To summarize what I wrote in my Venture Concept No. 1:

Opportunity:
Mainly busy working people and elders have the need of my grocery delivery service business. They have this need because they simply don't have enough time to do everything required of them, one of the most time consuming being grocery shopping. Also, they have better things to do and to enjoy. As far as elders go, perhaps they simply just don't have a way to get to the grocery store. Maybe they are unable to drive a car or are physically incapable. This unmet need can affect anyone and everyone regardless of geographical location or demographics. There are no exemptions because everyone needs to eat. This need is currently unsatisfied so there is a big opportunity here and I believe it will be open until a giant grows and takes over the market.. me! I would be a pioneer business.

Innovation:
My innovation is called Groceries To Go, which is a grocery delivery service business. It allows people to order groceries via the website or mobile app (you can even upload a picture of your grocery list) and to have them delivered to their front doorstep within a two-hour time frame guaranteed. The fee is a small percentage of the order total amount. I'm thinking 12%-15% at this time. Customers can pay securely with their credit card.

Venture Concept:
My business venture will solve peoples' unmet need by saving them time and hassle. Customers will no longer have to take the time to go grocery shopping and to deal with the congestion of busy roads, parking lots, aisles, and check out lines. They can do other more important things like get other less time consuming errands done or spend more quality time with family and friends, or simply just not leave the house and relax at home. Customers would use my service business to save themselves time and hassle. There are no big name competitors at this point. Nothing similar has taken off. Perhaps they are not infiltrating their business well enough. My quick distribution, excellent customer service, and availability to large urban populations will put me ahead in my venture. I will need many different departments for my business to be successful. I will need market researchers, orderers, stockers, accountants, product pullers and packagers, distribution, logistics, and more. The amount of employees I would need would be determined by the amount of demand.

My secret sauce/unfair advantage would be my close attention to excellent customer service. Since this is a service business, that is extremely important. I can't stress that enough. Without excellent customer service, my business would quickly go under no matter how awesome the idea is.

What's next for the venture is making my service available to more than just populated urban areas. I would like to expand to the suburbs and rural areas alike. I would also like to include more than just groceries that can be delivered, such as items like household items and hygiene products.

What's next for me is growing my business and either nurturing it and handing it down to my family someday or if they don't want it then selling it to a company that will continue to grow it and make it great. This first venture helps to achieve my vision by showing myself that I can do it! I can create an original idea on paper and flourish it in real life. Also, the whole entrepreneurial and business growing process would teach me the ropes.

I received some wonderful feedback from my classmates about my Venture Concept No. 1. Some comments were reinforcing but there were also two that helped me with making improvements. A really good reinforcing comment was from Carlos. He agreed that my value of excellent customer service and an urban location for my service business were very important. The reinforcement helped me to feel more confident in my viewpoints. The two comments that offered improvements were very insightful and helpful as well. I appreciated it. CPaxton said that I had a great idea and it would be a great service business for elders but that she was concerned that they wouldn't be able to use it because of the technology factor, the mobile app and/or website. That's something that I hadn't really thought about but it's a realistic factor. Some elders don't have access to technology or just plain don't like it or don't know how to use it. I'm  not sure how else I would reach elders or have them place grocery delivery orders, but it's something I do need to think about now and come up with a solution for. Thanks for the insight on something I hadn't thought about Cathy! Another helpful comment was from Juan. He said that he liked my idea but that it was certainly a luxury service, which is true! I had mentioned that earlier as well. His comment was insightful because it made me reconsider my target market so that I can reach the right group of people and have the best chance at success possible.

Final Reflection

ENT 3003 has been both an interesting and wonderful experience.

I believe the assignment that has created the most formative experience for me was actually the "Bug List," our very first assignment. This might sound surprising because it was fairly simple and there was no major concept being developed at this point yet, but it was THE assignment that gave me my new entrepreneurial mindset. The Bug List is what helped me to understand what thinking like an entrepreneur was and I found myself identifying real life problems and solutions well after the assignment was over. The Bug List first embedded the entrepreneurial mindset in me.

The experience that I'll remember years from now is the interviews of course! They were intimidating, nerve wrecking, and demanding, as well as informative and eye-opening too. They were both good and bad and probably overall necessary. They definitely helped me to grow as a person. I know that.

My most joyous and proud experience was the development of my elevator pitch. I really enjoyed those assignments and the process of taking my classmates' feedback as well as my own and applying it. I feel like I really got the details together during the development of my elevator pitch and gained a lot of clarity on my venture.

I do believe I have developed an entrepreneurial mindset as I said above in my blog post. The Bug List began it all and now I am able to identify problems and solutions to unmet needs and things that can be improved.

My #1 recommendation for future ENT 3003 students is to create and develop a venture that you actually really care about and are interested in. Also, don't skip out on the assignments that include interviews. Yes, it is a hassle but it is very rewarding when you get it done and have done it right. That gives you the truest and best experience.