Emily's Entrepreneurial Journey

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children? I plan on expanding the business into a franchise to bring it to other college towns first in Florida and then across the country.   For example, I see Orlando as another great market due to the fact that it has the University of Central Florida with the second biggest student population in the United States as well as other places such as Tampa and Boca due to their relations with state universities.  After serving as the CEO for several decades, I will eventually pass the business along to a trusted executive and retire.  If one of my children decides to get involved in the business then I would love to pass it along to them but I want their career choices to be their own and d...

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? I decided to read  The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawaski because I am very interested in social media and the ways in which it connects us to other users more efficiently. By reading this book, I was able to gain powerful strategies and insights into what it takes to have a strong social media presence and maintain beneficial followers. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? This book definitely enhanced my learning in ENT 3003 because social media has become such a big part of marketing for so many businesses and I wanted to improve my knowledge on this essential tool to promote my ideas.  I am very passionate about my business "Stacked" and can think of several campaigns that I could complete on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, wha...

1) This past October, I failed to keep myself organized after visiting my hometown for my cousin's wedding and I left my laptop at home on accident.  I needed this laptop for work as well as homework assignments and a test that I had the next day.  In order to get this laptop to Gainesville as soon as possible, my mom had to ship it to me in an expensive box with insurance and the total cost far exceeded what I would have liked to pay.  While this was not a cost that I had planned for, I had to pay it because I needed my computer in order to complete my responsibilities. 2) From this experience I learned that it is important to keep track of all of your belongings and helpful to make lists when travelling with important items.  These lists make it easier to ensure that one has all of their belongings and knows exactly what they brought so that they can make it back home with everything they came with.  Additionally, I learned that it is overall important to s...

Existing Market Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture. I think that there is going to be a greater demand for trendy places to eat as people love to take pictures of their food and post them on social media.  Social media has become such an important part of people's lives, especially millennials.  When I go on apps such as snapchat, I constantly see posts of food and people out to eat because it has proven to be an aesthetic and a cool thing to display.   Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about  your  ideas of what customers might want next.  After interviewing three customers within the customizable fast food industry, I have found that peop...

              Throughout this course, I have turned a simple idea into a grand and achievable vision that I could see becoming a reality in the near future.   Stacked is a concept in which I have developed that will serve as a customizable fast-food restaurant in which customers can build their own breakfast platters.   When pondering on different problems in my life and their solutions, I thought about the lack of good breakfast food that is open late at night and does not require you to sit down for a full meal in which you have to tip a server.               In the Gainesville area, I recognize that there is a great need for a breakfast place that is open extended hours into the night and early parts of the morning.   There are no places like Stacked Downtown and people are constantly looking for new foods to try after going out.  ...

employees- A company would be nothing without its employees.  Stacked would make sure to hire college students that are passionate about food and are able to work at a variety of hours with energy.  The whole experience of building one's breakfast platter should be very exciting and it can only be made this way with the help of the passionate employees.  food-  Stacked will be known for its delicious food options and will require the freshest of ingredients as an important resource. machines- The company will need to acquire appliances that are able to cook the food in the most efficient manner. juices- It is important for Stacked to sell juices as well as unhealthy food to promote diversity and have options for everyone. furniture-  I envision Stacked to have really cool trendy furniture for people to take pictures at.  I even think that it would be awesome to have customized chairs shaped like eggs for people to sit inside and tables shaped like pan...

1) The pitch. Same as last time, 1-minute long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link. Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj3GI6RV-V8 2) A reflection on the feedback you received from my last pitch: I was very grateful to receive such detailed feedback and positive comments.  One of the things that stood out to me was to stand for my pitch and dress in a more professional attire.  I agree that standing would make me seem much more confident and credible on my idea.  I was also really glad to see that people enjoyed my personal comments on late night snacks and attempts to make the post more relatable.  I made sure to continue these comments in my new pitch in order to seem knowledgeable yet engaging to my audience. 3) What I changed based on my feedback I felt much more confident giving this elevator pitch because I knew the material much better and developed a greater...

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? In the book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big , Scott Adams emphasizes various lessons that he has learned throughout his life that are both beneficial for personal and professional issues.  I really enjoyed reading this book because the author was very personal and made his writing seem almost conversational and informal.  His strategies for success include everything from faking it till you make it, to speaking with positivity, and even having a system to achieve your desired goals. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? This book exemplified much of the lessons that I have learned in ENT3003 and emphasized how anyone can be an entrepreneur if they have the right mindset.  I recognize that you do not have to be some brilliant inventor to start your own business but instead need to embody the key strategies to having an open mind and b...

I have reached out to the following three people to help grow my business:  Domain expert in the restaurant industry:  A friend of mine named Megan worked at Chipotle for several years and learned a lot about what it takes to have consistent food that is fresh and ready for customers to build their bowls.  I made sure to reach out to her and get her insight on this concept as it is very similar to chipotle and she has a lot of knowledge on their behind the scenes efforts.  She was so kind to tell me about how quickly they went through food on a daily basis and how they dealt with so many customers at popular times.   She explained to me how stressful some of the timing was to make sure that there was enough of everything to keep the line moving but said that there were often mistakes and no day was perfect.  Including her in my network could help me exploit my opportunity because she can give advice on how to maintain certain foods to keep them fres...

1)  You.- I think that one of my biggest attributes is my passion and determination to accomplish the goals that I set my mind to.  I am a very driven person and will find ways to overcome the obstacles that I face. If I were to start this business in real life, I think that I would be able to effectively draw in the skills that I learned from my classes as well as organizations such as the Florida Leadership Academy.  With that being said, I would recruit help from professionals in the industry that can help me get the business started and analyze initial analytics. 2)  What are you offering to customers?  I am offering a way for people to have customization breakfast food throughout the day and night.  The restaurant will have a fun atmosphere that people can enjoy all meals at while hanging with friends and family. 3)  Who are you offering it to?  I am offering this restaurant mainly to college students in the Gainesville area th...