Customer Interviews No. 1

Customer Interview

Week 4

The opportunity that I identified was that the "Service Industry" does not have any organization nor any protection/rights as an employee. I learned that the majority of the employees I interviewed were for Unionization. This surprised me.

Questions:
1. Are you a Service Industry Employee?
2. Would you like to see the Service Industry Unionized?
3. What benefits would you like to see if it were to become unionized?

I am fortunate in the interviewing process being that I have worked as a Business Developer prior to now and have obtained the skills to talk with complete strangers. My only draw back at this moment is that I have braces on my teeth and cannot modulate my words proficiently. Fun assignment.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

Reading Reflection

Week 4

What surprised me the most about this week’s readings was that entrepreneurs sometimes will talk themselves out of an idea before even trying to implement it. Negative talk from others really can influence one’s own decisions. I know of a few times that others would shot down an idea I have had, but being an optimist, I always seem to find the good or challenge in the negative comments.

I was confused (initially) by the Recognizing Relations section of the book. That appositional relationships exist because of other things and people. After rereading it a couple of time it started to finally make a little more sense to me.

First I would ask about the muddling mindset actions, is their scientific evidence that people only use 2-10% of their brains? If so where could one find this information/studies?

I was fascinated and intrigued by the complete chapter. A little confused at first on some of the concepts, but after rereading them I understood the point that was being presented. Great book thus far.

Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 World Problems

Week 4

Problems:
1. Wars in the name of religion. How can so many different religions be the one almighty true religion?
2. Terrorism and the effect it is having on the world. No one like being scared to walk around in their own city with a possible terrorist act being committed at any time.
3. Climate change and what it is doing to our planet. How can anyone not notice that the earth is changing and it is due to our emissions?
4. Nuclear weapons need to be nonexistent. How is a nuclear weapon ever going to be used? The first one to go up will send all the others up and the world will no longer exist.
5. Famine in any part of this world we live in. With the amount of food that goes to waste each day, how can people be staring?

Solutions:
1. *The International Climate Change Agreement needs to be mandatory instead of voluntary. Countries that deem it too expensive to do anything about their emissions is not going to do anything.
2. *We need to end this once and for all time. It is not a matter of politics anymore it is a matter of keeping humans safe and secure.
3. *We need to come together and discuss what it is that makes all the other religions wrong and how is it possible for there to be so many GODS.
4. *Somehow the governments need to get together for their people and the people of the world and find a way to harvest the land that they have, and also supply adequate water to those areas.
5. *Just get rid of them all. There is no place in this world for weapons of such mass destruction.

I chose the “Wars in the name of Religion”, as my top problem because I believe that is where all the terrorism is contributed too. To me it is unbelievable how so many people can get upset over an entity that is based on a belief. Nothing more than a belief.

I chose “Climate Change” as my top solution because we are so close to an actual resolution. We know what needs to be done, now we just need to inforce it all around the world. No country should be exempt from it because it is going to affect us all, as it already is.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

Reading Reflection

Week 3

I have a type A personality. I had always thought that I had a type A personality, but after reading the chapter, I know for sure. It described myself almost with absolution. I t was definitely a fun read.
What I found most confusing about the chapter was the part on Ethical Rationalizations. I cannot remember a time that I let my business get in the way of logical thinking. As much stress that one might be under with starting and running their own business, I never found myself make bad or immoral/unethical decisions. (that I actually carried through on)
I would ask (again) for more insight into why he thinks entrepreneurs would make such bad decisions. Also, what are the actual results compiled from. Because I find it very interesting how people under pressure make decisions.
I found the chapter to be new (to me) and interesting. This was another great chapter in the book. I look forward to reading more in the next weeks.

Identifying Local Opportunities

Local Opportunities

Week 3

Politicians say Miami ‘slums' prove need for new laws
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E3CD20CD1840?p=AWNB
Decrypted old apartment buildings are putting low-income tenants at risk. The owners are not complying with the court’s rulings to fix the buildings.
Low-income tenants are put at risk.
Abraham and Denise Vaknin

Single-family home prices soar in Broward County
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E3CB121D96A8?p=AWNB
Increasing home prices are making almost impossible for first-time home buyers and low-income families to purchase a house. The rising prices are also an indication of exactly what caused the last recession, one of the longest and greatest recessions in history.
Rising home prices.
First Time Home Buyers and Low-Income Families

Race to redevelop Liberty Square down to two feuding developers
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E3CC1AC174F0?p=AWNB
Competition between two developers has curtain-tailed plans for a redevelopment of a local community square. The two developer’s lawyers are dragging out the finalization for a winning bid, as well as the start date for the redevelopment.
Unnecessary start and completion of a community redevelopment.
The community

Car2Go suspending business indefinitely in Miami, Miami Beach
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A88F87690EFC80?p=AWNB
Taxes and low ridership are proving too much for a local rideshare company. After years of service to the Miami and Miami Beach area, Car2Go is suspending their ride share service with hopes of returning service at a later date.
Taxes and fees are too high to continue service.

Customers

Climate change could cost jobs in South Florida, says White House adviser
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A83B09F3219D68?p=AWNB
Global warming could have a devastating effect on the local Miami tourism sector. As sea levels rise the beaches are starting to erode as well as the water level would start to undermine buildings with devastating effects. All of this is a cause of future unemployment of 1000’s of workers who depend on the tourism to stay employed.
Rising sea levels would stifle tourism.
Employed and Unemployed people

Very Short Interview No. 1

Entrepreneur Interview

Week 3

The entrepreneur I interviewed is the owner/operator of Fox Realty, which started in Santa Cruz, CA. and has since moved to a more aggressive area in Denver, CO.

1. What was your motivation as an entrepreneur, to start your business?

        My husband was a pilot and traveling a great deal.  He also had a background as a real estate broker and I have a background in architecture and construction administration.  We saw real estate investing as a good opportunity to work for ourselves and control not only our income but our schedule as well.

2. What has been your greatest challenge to date as an entrepreneur?

        Our greatest challenge has been locating discounted properties.  We had thought at the beginning that lining up financing would be much harder but that has been easy in comparison. Finding properties that are discounted enough to allow for a profit after remodeling costs has been very difficult.

3. Where would you like to see your business go in the future?

        We plan to purchase rental properties in other US markets and remodel multi-unit and larger residential properties and explore new construction opportunities in our local market.

I am not really surprised at all to the answers given. I know this couple personally and know of their work ethic as well as their drive to succeed at whatever it is they set out to do. I learned from the answers that with determination and patience that anyone can succeed as an entrepreneur.

World's Biggest Problems

World’s Biggest Problems

Week 3

1. Wars in the name of religion. How can so many different religions be the one almighty true religion?
*We need to come together and discuss what it is that makes all the other religions wrong and how is it possible for there to be so many GODS.
2. Famine in any part of this world we live in. With the amount of food that goes to waste each day, how can people be staring?
*Somehow the governments need to get together for their people and the people of the world and find a way to harvest the land that they have, and also supply adequate water to those areas.
3. Climate change and what it is doing to our planet. How can anyone not notice that the earth is changing and it is due to our emissions?
*The International Climate Change Agreement needs to be mandatory instead of voluntary. Countries that deem it too expensive to do anything about their emissions is not going to do anything.
4. Terrorism and the effect it is having on the world. No one like being scared to walk around in their own city with a possible terrorist act being committed at any time.
*We need to end this once and for all time. It is not a matter of politics anymore it is a matter of keeping humans safe and secure.
5. The population is starting to spiral out of control. Especially now that China has lifted their “One baby per Family” decree.
*People need to be more responsible for their actions and the repercussions of those actions. If you can’t afford an additional mouth to feed, use some protection to make sure it doesn’t happen.
6. Disease being spread throughout the world. How can a disease that is deadly enough to kill a person spread throughout the world with such ease?
*Proper screening needs to be set up at airports and train stations to monitor a person for diseases. Also, people should hold themselves more accountable if they know that they are sick.
7. Border control being such a huge issue. I know this is a touchy subject, but I believe in border control and immigrate having to be properly documented and have legitimate jobs as well as paying taxes.
*Do something about it. Stop all the talk and let’s see a little action. I personally do not know the solution, but we need to just start somewhere and see where it goes.
8. Nuclear weapons need to be nonexistent. How is a nuclear weapon ever going to be used? The first one to go up will send all the others up and the world will no longer exist.
*Just get rid of them all. There is no place in this world for weapons of such mass destruction.
9. Oil production is out of control. There is so much oil in the United states that not one individual corporation can make any money. The far east knows this, that is why they have upped their production to keep the prices down and make it too expensive to produce oil in the U.S.
*The U.S. needs to start buying more of our own oil and less of the oil from the far east.
10. We need to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., so our own economics can increase.
*We need to stop buying a large portion of the products we use here from other countries. The government needs to increase incentives for companies to open more manufacturing facilities her in the U. S.

Week 2 Reading Reflection

Reading

Week 2

I would have to say the biggest surprise to me while reading this chapter is that there is workshop dedicated to financial/capital attainment. I had always thought that one should research and develop this skill on ones own. This is definitely something I am going to look into. A part of the reading that was confusing to me was about the number of small business started each year and their failure rate. I am not sure if entrepreneurs go into a business knowing that they have a high rate of failure. I would want to ask the author what one could do to lessen that chance of failure and also what is the mindset of entrepreneurs that do go into the business knowing that it might fail quickly and they will be out their life savings. (more often than not) Because I would like to know what to look for on my next entrepreneur venture. Personally I liked the entire chapter. I found it very informative and look forward to read more. So I found nothing that I could honestly say I disagreed with.

Bug List

Bug List
Week 2

1. Road construction slowing cars down to a crawl.
Roads need to be improved and maintained.
2. Rubberneckers thinking that they need to slow down and look at an accident that has nothing to do with them, and subsequently slowing everyone else down.
We should slow down while passing by a wreck on the roads. (but not too much)
3. People who are always late, are inconsiderate.
They do not think of others time as valuable as theirs.
4. Wi-Fi printers that don’t always connect right away.
There is a clinch that seems to always happen whenever I turn it on.
5. Mean people make the world a nasty place to live.
Their lives revolve around negativity.
6. Phone batteries that do not last very long.
There seems to be a bunch of hidden apps always running.
7. Phone chargers that do not charge a phone's battery very quickly.
You would think they could improve upon this situation.
8. Tablet processing takes forever.
See above.
9. Honda cars that seem to have the same mechanical breakdown every other month.
They could improve the parts that are being replaced.
10. People that think they need to know all your business all the time.
Don’t they have a life?
11. Students that think they can wait until the last minute of an exam to study and then complain about a bad grade.
They think that 12 hours of studying the day/night before an exam will stick to their memory.
12. Calculators with so many functions that one has a hard time using it.
They need to make them more user-friendly. (graphing calculators)
13. Expensive TV’s that seem to only last a couple of years.
I swear they do it on purpose to sell more of them. (turnaround time)
14. Wi-Fi service that is very slow.
If Europeans can have fast internet speed, why can’t we?
15. Textbooks that are so expensive one have to go without eating for a week.
They should limit what can be charged for a textbook.
16. Car service advisor that say they will only need the car for a couple of hours and turns into the whole day.
They should just tell you the whole day and then surprise you when/if it finished early.
17. Nutrition bars that say they are fat-free, but fail to mentions that are only the trans-fat.
That is how they trick you into buying their product. (false advertising)
18. Online retailers that say they are giving you 50% off a product, when in all actuality you can find it even cheaper elsewhere for regular price.
Another way of taking advantage of people.
19. People whom you email or text that don’t respond in a considerable amount of time.
They don’t care.
20. Expensive sunglasses that break within a couple months of buying them.
It cost too much to ship them back for a new pair.
21. Me having to write this and sound like a whiner.
I really don’t complain this much.

I found that while writing this “Bugs” out, I had a hard time coming up with anything concrete. This bugs I have written about seem so petty and non-constructive. I really don’t complain this much. Seems like a waste of time.

Introduction

Week 2

My name is Dallin Jones, am in my 3rd (junior) year of a Business Administration Degree (BSBA). Completed my first two years at Valencia. After completing the BSBA program, I will either continue on into an MBA program or (if I am accepted) enter the Doctorate program at Harvard University. 

Have 15 years in construction management, I started to plateau in my advancement and needed a degree to move up to the next levels as a COO or CEO. 

I have one daughter that is the love of my life. I enjoy surfing, SUPing, road biking, motor biking, and anything sports related.

My Entrepreneurship Story

Week 2

I would guess one could say that I have been an entrepreneur from a very young age.

I was a member of Boy Scouts of America, and they had a program where one could sell magazine subscriptions door-to-door and earn points for an array of equipment a boy scout could use in their everyday life. There was no course one could take to learn how to sell the magazines, one would just go out and learn on their own. I did quite well at it, it was my own little business. I also had a paper route, where I would have to wake up very early to deliver hundreds of papers, do all the collections and pay for the papers I delivered. Again on my own.

Which lead to the Real Estate Investment firm I owned. Included several apartment buildings, that was owned and run by my company. A couple of years later I opened a Real Estate Development company, was able to procure several investors and plan my first, ground up, new construction apartment building. Unfortunately, that was in 2007, right before the recession hit and the project did not materialize.

Needless to say, I am not afraid to venture out and start a business.

I enrolled into ENT 3003 mostly because it is required by my degree. But just completing the first few assignments and reading all the information one will be getting out of the class, I am very excited to continue. I expect to gain a vast knowledge of Entrepreneurship in this class.

DJ's Entrepreneur's Mantra

Week 2

This is why I am a business student and not a communications student.

LOL

First Blog

I am now a blogger!!!