My Customer's Avatar

The interviews and even research outside of the assignments helped me envision my customer's avatar for my business opportunity of a fitness center that offered classes to residents of a particular housing development.  My customer's avatar that makes up the majority of my is a 40 year old white collar woman or stay at home mom.  These determined women may not be in perfect physical shape but it's not because they don't have the drive.  They just don't have the time or knowledge to meet their fitness goals.  My customer avatar is also your typical mom that loves doing activities that allows them to socialize with other women in the community.  This prototypical customer is married, drives a burgundy minivan, involved in every PTA meeting, and although the customer is 40 they feel like they are 60 due to "life happening".  They love watching Scandal, Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family, and anything on Lifetime.  My customer's avatar supports either Hillary Clinton or Ted Cruz due their very conservative behaviors, which is typical in most middle class housing developments.  The one thing that I have in common with my customer's avatar is how much we value family but also understanding the importance of balancing our physical well-being with the family dynamic.  This is not a coincidence because my business opportunity was understanding how hard it is to make time for working out with a job and a family as well as understanding the needs of my customer's avatar as a result of helping my wife for years with reaching her fitness goals.

Alternative & Post-Purchase Evaluation

Two of the three interviewees felt that quality was much more important than price and style when it comes to finding their ideal fitness center.  They really are dependent upon a trainer or class instructor to teach them how to meet their fitness goals so the quality of instruction given in the fitness classes at the gym is extremely important to them.  Price is the second most important to them because the style of instruction given or the aesthetic style of the facility is not too important to them as long as they are seeing results in meeting their fitness goals.  Arryel mentioned that distance is very important to her.  If the fitness center is placed within a housing development she thinks it should be centrally located to mitigate the frustration of a fitness center being too far away from some of the residents and efficiently accommodating the needs of a select number of residents.  Ira mentioned that he is more likely to join a gym that offers a variety of classes as opposed to a variety of weights and equipment.  The other interviewee, Greg, was already in great shape and seemed to have a wealth of knowledge as it relates to fitness and nutrition.  He thought price was much more important than quality of the fitness classes because he would be more likely to become a member at the gym if price was low and the right mix of equipment was available at the gym.  All interviewees felt that actual physical results determines whether the purchase was a good idea.  Negative results or difficulty making it to the gym helps determine whether the membership was a bad idea.

Halfway Reflection

Behaviors Used:  The most effective behavior that I have used this semester is having a "Just Do It" attitude.  Many of the assignments for this class are very uncomfortable and out of the ordinary, such as the many assignments that requires us to interview five random people that we don't know for at least 10 minutes.  At first it was very frustrating because I kept thinking about how much I didn't want to bother or talk to a random person that I didn't know.  What worked for was to stop thinking about the actual assignment so much and "Just Do It".  Another behavior that's helpful is being open minded and not confined to your idea of what you expect a typical college course to be.  And finally be ready to use your creativity.  The assignments are ambiguous in a sense that there is no grading rubric so there is a lot of freedom in how you choose to do your assignments as long as you cover the main points that's required.  So, enjoy and take full advantage of the freedom that's given because it's not often that you will come across a class of this type.  Finally, use time management wisely and work ahead because the interview assignments are not made to do in a day or two.  If you wait until the last minute then most likely you will not end up doing the assignment because it's difficult to find 5 people to effectively interview at the last minute and also do the assignment.

Tenacious Attitude:  I felt like throwing in the towel a few times because the assignments definitely removed me from my comfort zone.  One moment in particular was at the beginning of the semester when the first interview assignment was due.  I hated how uncomfortable it made me to go out and interview random people shopping in the Base Exchange and the rejection from some people that did not want to participate in the interview, which is what I expected.  I was in the Base Exchange and noticed a lady that had previously told me "No" was whispering to one of her family members and staring but I knew it wasn't anything positive.  Later on I asked a older gentleman that was shopping to participate in the interview and he looked at me and said "My wife just told you no a few minutes ago but I don't mind, I'm just waiting for her to get done shopping".  I was just trying to do an assignment and I wanted to give up because I felt I shouldn't have to go through any sort of rejection just to accomplish an assignment.  Along with having a newborn it was frustrating to have to leave the comfort of my house for these assignments every week but after awhile I began to get used to the interviews and the rejection from people stopped feeling like rejection and I started to realize that they may have been in a rush or just didn't have the time.  I started to feel a lot more comfortable with the interviews and knew I had to "Just Do It".  I feel like I definitely developed a tenacious attitude in the past two months in comparison to my attitude when the semester first began.  The experience that contributed to me having a tenacious attitude was me taking a 0 an interview assignment and realizing how much it affected my grade.  I am determined to get an A in this class this semester so I knew I had to learn to enjoy these assignments.

Tips:  Don't think about how uncomfortable the assignment will be but the end result of effectively accomplishing the assignment.  The next tip is to put forth creative and an innovative thought process when developing your business opportunity because it helps to make the assignments enjoyable and interesting.  The proceeding assignments will be boring and difficult when you begin to just throw assignments together just to get a grade.  I noticed I was able to easily put together ideas when I started to really be creative and immerse myself into the idea of being an entrepreneur and it made the assignments easier to accomplish.  The last tip is to always think in terms of using this course as a means of truly developing a legitimate business opportunity as opposed to creating an idea that's unrealistic and have no interest in ever formulating a business plan for your opportunity.

Flycation

I was looking in my wife's Essence magazine and came across two words that go perfect together.  Shopping and Vacation.  Shopcation is the word that came from me browsing through the magazine.  A Flycation is defined as a vacation taken to a place that a person typically would not travel to specifically for the purpose of shopping for clothes, sneakers, hats, a car, toupee, wig, vacation home or anything that would enhance our image of being "fly".  Some people take trips to Italy or New York for clothes or sneakers while others  take trips to Jamaica or Costa Rica to search for vacation homes and some go to Miami to seek exotic cars.  These are all examples of a Flycation.  I began using the term around my wife, talking on the phone to my siblings and cousins, and also at work.  My brother  and a cousin was the only ones that laughed at the term.  My brother laughed and said "What the hell are you talking about man?".  Most people at my job look puzzled but quickly inquired, "Please explain" or "What is that?".  Once I go on to explain then they look very interested and think it's an actual term that was already created.  I never told them that I created the word and I think that may have contributed to people taking the term more seriously.  My wife has used the term and asked "When are we going to take our first flycation?" or "can me and Tasha take a flycation to New York for my graduation gift?".  Three of my co-workers have also used the term with two being female and one male.  Now, they actually use the term more than I do at work and I laugh every time I hear it now because it feels like a sense of accomplishment to hear people use a word that I created.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1.     Me:  I am an aspiring Certified Personal Trainer and plan to be officially certified by March 2017.  Some of my talents are weightlifting, boxing, basketball, teaching nutrition and fitness subjects, developing personal workout plans tailored to individual needs, leading a large group of people towards a specific goal, excellent communication skills, creative, and very personable.  I have been heavily involved with various fitness activities over the past 15 years such as being a trained lifeguard, training for exhibition boxing matches, coaching youth basketball, and being chosen as my squadron’s Physical Training Leader at 2 different bases.  I see this business being my primary means of income and livelihood.  I will be at the fitness center about 70-80 hours per week in the beginning to ensure that the business is being ran properly and customers are happy with the services provided.  Once I find a competent, trustworthy, and motivated manager then I may not need to be at the fitness center as often.  The business will be something that I will really enjoy and have a desire and passion to be involved in on a regular basis.  It will also give me the psychological freedom that I have been seeking for years by allowing me to make 100% of the decisions in my career and day to day life.

2.     What am I offering to customers:  I am offering a fitness center in residential areas, which will offer classes such as yoga, palates, spin, turbo kickboxing, and callisthenic circuits that are easily accessible to the residents of the neighborhood.  There will be a free weights and various other pieces of equipment to accommodate the needs of those not interested in classes.  Most importantly, I am offering the type of fitness center that has not been seen in residential neighborhoods and gives the regular working class an very accommodating option to driving several miles to the nearest gym. In addition, temporary child care services will be offered while residents workout.  Personal training will also be offered to the residents along with a health food and drink bar.

3.     Who am I offering it to:  The services will be offered to the residents of housing developments in Tallahassee.  These services will be rolled into the HOA fees and the other amenities such as personal training and the products served at the health food and drink bar will be additional charge.

4.     Why do they care:  Potential customers care because most people care about their health but either they don’t have the time to workout due to a gym not being within a reasonable distance or they just don’t know how to reach their personal fitness goals.

5.     What are your core competencies:  The core competencies that I envision my business to have is to be flexible, ethically sound, result-oriented, thoroughness, creative thinking and empowerment of others.

Reading Reflection No. 1

1.     You read about Elon Musk:

a.     What surprised you the most?

I was really surprised to know that Elon Musk played a huge role in PayPal’s success because I only knew Elon Musk as the CEO of Tesla Motors.  Musk discovered an entrepreneurship opportunity for internet banking. He invested $12M of his own money into a company called X.com which later merged with Confinity, the founders of PayPal.  PayPal was later purchased by eBay for $1.5B.

b.     What about Elon Musk did you most admire?

The characteristic I most admired about Elon Musk was his enormous ambition to revolutionize solar energy, space, and automotive industries and achieve the impossible.  He never thinks on a small scale, i.e. gaming industry, and develops concepts that has and will possibly improve human civilization.  People think his ideas are crazy and far-fetched such as creating civilization on Mars and the notion of an electric car that could rival most sports cars in speed, design, and most importantly, affordability.  But despite the reluctance of critics to support his ideas he continues to work tirelessly to make sure these “far-fetched” ideas are materialized.

c.     What about Elon Musk did you least admire?

The characteristic I least admire about Elon Musk is his treatment of his employees and lack of compassion.  For example, he once reprimanded and insulted an employee that was present for his child’s birth rather than attending an important company event.  Musk questioned the employee’s priorities.  He has no limit on how far he will push his employees to achieve perfection for his vision of Tesla Motors, Space X, and Solar City, even if it comes at the cost of severing great relationships.

d.     Did Elon Musk encounter adversity and failure?  If so, what did he do about it?

Yes, he encountered adversity and failure.  Tesla Motors faced a financial crisis just as other automotive companies did during the Great Recession in 2008.  Tesla Motors was almost bankrupt by the end of 2008 but the car sales team put together by Musk successfully secured hundreds of orders for the Model S just in time to announce the first quarter’s profits and sales.  The numbers convinced investors to put their money in Tesla, which raised the tens of millions of dollars needed to prevent the company from going bankrupt.

2.     What competencies did you notice that Elon Musk exhibited?

The most valuable and interesting competency of Musk is his ability to innovate and materialize unimaginable ideas.  He is constantly thinking “outside of the box”.  He has developed plans to colonize Mars and build a self-sustaining civilization on the planet.  Also, his great ability to recall information and visualize technology was amazing and was a major contributor to his huge success.

3.     Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One part of the reading that really confused me was when the author began explaining ultra capacitors, which was mentioned several times in the book.  I became disinterested every time the the author referred to ultra capacitors.

4.     If you were able to ask two questions to Elon Musk, what would you ask?  Why?

a.     What do you think contributes mostly to your ambition and drive to turn far-fetched, unimaginable ideas into reality?  I would ask this question to understand the mindset of a person that has the confidence to know a concept or idea will be successful despite a large number of critics and experts that believe otherwise.

b.     Do you think there is a balance between pushing your employees to their full potential and taking care of your employees personal needs?  I would ask this question to understand why he pushes his employees so hard.

5.     What do you think Elon Musk’s opinion was of hard work?  Do you share that opinion?

His opinion of hard work is attaining the end goal of of a job “by any means necessary” and meeting unrealistic deadlines at all cost, even if it means putting the priority of your family second behind the job.  Elon Musk works an average of 80 hours per week, 7 days a week.  He also believes in the concept that all things can be achieved, no matter the circumstances and will fire anyone that says “I can’t”.  We don’t share the same opinion of hard work.  I believe my family comes before the task and goals that need to be achieved at my job.  My priorities are family, work, then play.