Growing My Social Capital

1. The first person I contacted is an old time family friend named Andrew Kayworth. Mr. Kayworth is the owner and CEO of Commsource data, a manufacturing company based in Jacksonville Fl. Mr. Kayworth went to Florida State University and originally started as a salesman for a similar company based out of New York, but when the company wanted him to relocate, Mr. Kayworth decided to break off and start his own company and is one of the most successful entrepreneurs I’ve ever met. I contacted Mr. Kayworth because I felt that he was a domain expert in the industry I want to break into. All I had to do to obtain Mr. Kayworths number was go online to the Commsource data website and retrieve it. I decided to call Mr. Kayworth and to my surprise he remembered me from when I was younger. I told him my situation and we talked for about an hour about the manufacturing business. He explained to me how it takes time to build a company with a brand, and that his business motto is that the customer is always right. While he makes telecommunications devices and I would be in the supplement industry, we would both me manufacturing products. He also believed that I should find a niche to set myself apart, and maybe make custom supplements for people with specific needs. They could send me the supplement they want that would meet their goals, and I could get it mixed and made and packaged and shipped to them. I think having Mr. Kayworth on my team would be a huge benefit, not only because he is a huge success with his business, but because he is a great guy and a good mentor. He had no problem taking time out of his busy day to talk to me about my entrepreneurial venture, and I think having someone like that will be a huge help when I have questions down the line.

2. The second person I contacted was a sales rep from Tiger Fitness. Tiger Fitness is a company that sells workout/energy supplements online. They not only have their own branded supplements, but they also sell other popular brands and take a percentage cut. While I wasn’t able to reach the CEO, I talked to a man named Chris Thomas about breaking through to the supplement industry. Since he had some valuable information, I felt that he could fill the slot of the “one person who is an expert in my market.” I found Chris through a youtube video about starting a supplement company. I went online and researched tiger fitness and made a couple phone calls until I finally was able to speak to him. Chris told me that the supplement industry does billions a year in sales and is extremely competitive, and that breaking through is not easy. He also said that if I did come up with a product that he felt could really increase focus and benefit people, that I could send a sample in to the company and if they like it they would market it for me on their website. Chris gave me his personal email to contact him when I am ready to send a supplement in, and if I had any other questions. I think having someone like Chris on my team would be extremely beneficial since he is such a wealth of information and already successful in the industry that I want to get into.

3. The last person I got in contact with was a gentleman named George, who is the director of R&D for Watson Industries INC. George would fill the slot of being an important supplier to my industry. I found this person through doing some detective work. While I was watching a youtube video on building a supplement company, a gentleman pulled out a bag that had a label on it, so I paused the video and researched the name on the label and found a supplement company based in California that not only sells supplements in mass quantity but will also mix the supplements and put them into empty pill cases for you. I got ahold of George to discuss pricing with him and see how the process works and how long it takes. George gave me quotes on the ingredients that I want to use for my MentalEdge supplement, and also told me that once the order is in it shouldn’t take more than a week to have everything ready. I would have to order bottles and get them shipped to Watson, as well as the pill capsules, but they would take care of the rest. I think having George on my team would be a huge asset, especially once we have a strong business relationship. George was able to give me the run down on all the supplements I wanted and told me which ones go good together and which ones I should leave out because they don’t work as good as people think.

Reflection: After completing this exercise I feel a sense of relief. Even though it took me a couple days to contact all of these people, I feel 100 times closer to my goal then when I started. This type of networking was definitely different than what I’m used to because the majority of it was over the phone with people I’d never talked to before. When I first thought about starting this company, I didn’t even know where to begin, and now I have names of people who can help me, and even a company that is willing to do almost all of the manufacturing process at minimal cost. When I first looked at this exercise it seemed daunting, but it only took me a couple emails and phone calls to get in touch with all of these people. I am relieved to have completed these tasks and feel as though I am on my way to having a supplement that is ready for the market! 

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1. What surprised me in this chapter is how much accounting and math you have to know for your entrepreneurial venture. In the beginning of this chapter, it goes over basic accounting principles for owning and running your own business. I know a lot of this from the different accounting and finance classes I’ve taken, but I was trying to imagine someone who had never gone to college starting their own business and how tough that could be. I know many of the famous entrepreneurs didn’t attend college or dropped out, so knowing all about how to run a business had to have been learned on the way, which to me seems like an even tougher challenge.

2. One thing that was a little confusing for me in chapter 11 was the Dynamic Manufacturing Production Budget Worksheet. I had never seen anything like it before in any accounting class, so it was new to me and took me a little while to understand what was going on exactly. It is essentially giving you the total production requirements, but it doesn’t show you whether its adding or subtracting and is an overall strange graph.

3. If I had a chance to ask Kuratko a question I would ask when these principles start becoming detrimental to your business. For example, when you’re first starting out how important is tracking your finances compared to when you’re running an established business. I know it’s always important to keep on top of your finances, but I know people who own small service businesses that don’t do any of this.

4. There was nothing in this chapter that I disagree’d with. It all seemed straight forward and logical and I had no complaints!

Elevator Pitch #3

2. I described my feedback in the video, but I got mostly positive feedback other than my shifting movement.

3. Based on my feedback I didn't move. But as far as the MentalEdge supplement I don't plan on changing anything!

My Secret Sauce

1. Human capital that I have that I feel that is truly unique is my level of motivation, interpersonal skills, drive to succeed, level head, and the overall enjoyment I have for life. I feel that my motivation is at a level higher than the average person. I am self motivated and don’t have to come up with reasons why I do something, or reasons why I can’t. When I want to go the the gym and have work all day, I wake up at 4am and go. My interpersonal skills I also feel are better than normal. I am good at reading a person’s mood, and most of all I’m a good listener (which is something that is rare in todays society). I’m good at making people feel like they’ve known me forever. My drive to succeed is high. I know a lot of people I go to school with who will have an exam or other things they need to do and will instead go out partying or do something fun. When I have something I want to succeed in I don’t let everyday things like that get in the way. Although I’m not afraid to fail, I do whatever it takes to succeed. My level head is something that I feel that most people my age, or even older, do not possess. The other day I was in bank of America and a customer started being rude to the bank manager and the manager immediately got angry right back and was yelling at the customer, and clearly let his emotions get in the way. With me, I am good at looking at the big picture and realizing why people act the way they do. For example, a lady at work the other day started screaming at me, and instead of getting mad I just sat back and said, "she must be having a really rough day to be acting like this," and just sat there calmly while she yelled. And finally, I feel that my overall enjoyment of life is a huge plus in my human capital. Being morose or complaining about work all day does nothing but bring other people around you down, and it also shows whenever you speak to your customers. Whenever I am doing something, I look at it as a learning experience and instead am just happy to be doing what I’m doing, and realize that other people would love to do what I’m doing. Keeping this attitude helps me greatly as I go about my life, and I feel sets me apart from others.
2.

3. I feel that the way I see myself and how others see me is relatively similar. They gave me compliments about my drive, as well as my interpersonal skills and my positive attitude. I was actually very pleased with what everyone had to say about me (even though they are my friends and family). Going back over from what I wrote about my secret sauce and what my friends and family have to say I wouldn’t change a thing. These are truly my qualities that set me apart from others.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1. What surprised me in this chapter were how many components there are to marketing for entrepreneurs. When I think of marketing I think of simply getting my product out to the most people possible, but according to Kuratko its much more than that. Kuratko describes that marketing includes what a market consists of, marketing research, the development of a marketing plan, and the proper approach to a pricing strategy. It makes sense when I see it written down, but is also interesting to know how much goes behind this concept.

2. What was confusing to me when I first read the chapter was that you gather secondary data first. Secondary data is data that was already gathered by other people. Essentially it is like learning from others experience and mistakes. When I first read this I was confused as to why you wouldn’t gather primary data first and then secondary, but as Kuratko describes it, it starts to make sense.

3. I would ask what the greatest marketing skill Kuratko felt an entrepreneur could have, and I would also ask how critical he felt marketing was to the process of launching a company.

4. There was nothing in this chapter that I necessarily disagreed with. Since I don’t know much about marketing and Kuratko seems to have a vast knowledge of it, I can’t say I felt he was wrong in anything he said. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. My name is Keifer McClain and I’m an aspiring entrepreneur. I’m talented at math and work as a financial administrator. I’ve worked in fields including real estate and finance and aspire to create a product that helps people and makes their lives easier. If I start this business, I see it playing a major role in my life simply because of the time it takes to create a successful company. Also, I’d be a personal user of my product so that would be a definite benefit.

2. I am offering customers a natural study aid that will help them maintain focus and increase mental dexterity that can be given over the counter instead of prescription. This product would be for students or people like me, who just have a hard time focusing.

3. My product, like described in the last question, could be used by literally anyone who needs mental focus to succeed including students, white collar workers, or anybody that needs brain power. For example, instead of buying that red bull to try and stay up all night to study (but eventually crash) you could take my Mental Edge supplement, and get lasting natural energy.

4. Based on feedback, I believe that customers would find this product valuable simply because focusing in today’s society is an ongoing problem. ADD or ADHD is extremely overprescribed so students or working people can get their hands on something to help them concentrate, but these prescribed drugs can have bad side effects and addictive qualities.

5. I believe what sets this apart from other products is the Niche, and the fact that its natural ingredients instead of something like redbull or 5 hour energy.

Feedback Memo: From the feedback I’d say the five things I took away are as follows:
1) This isn’t going to be easy. The constructive criticism people left made me realize how hard this could actually be. The most important factor would be the ingredients used, so I would have to test many different variations to find the right one.
2) Up the dosage. When I originally wanted to charge $35 for a one month supply people thought that I should go for a 2 month supply instead.
3) Open up my market. I originally only thought I should focus on college students but some people advised me that I might want to open up the market and have a broader customer base.
4) Work hard. Several people commented about how competitive the supplement industry is, and it will be tough to break through and be a competitor.
5) Don’t give up. I also got positive feedback and reassurance that this product could actually work!

Week 8 Reading Reflection

1. I would say what stood out to me the most in the reading was actually the main idea of the whole chapter. I never really knew how important financing is for a business venture. You always think how much profit you can make from owning a business, but not how much you have to put into in the beginning and all the hidden expenses that come up along the way.

2. Nothing in this chapter really confused me. As I read through the chapter I understood all the concepts and charts that Kuratko laid out.

3. I would ask Mr. Kuratko which method of financing he has used, or which he felt was the most useful. I know it varies from person to person or depending on situation but for people starting out there has to be one that sticks out over the others.

4. There was nothing in this chapter that I disagreed with! Kuratko laid out the financing to open a business well, and I especially enjoyed his idea of the great end result, taking your business public. Every entrepreneurs dream.