My Company

I need to figure out a way to actually get my company promoted and out into the eyes of the public. What I have been considering is using the sources that are already out there to my advantage. This could be done in a number of different ways. Currently there are websites that support the hobby of miniature gaming and just building figures by themselves. With add space available on these sites, I would purchase the right to show my company info there. Perhaps using these we can have people who watch the forums and if anybody request information for how to get an army painted and built for them that we can reply and give them the company info. To help the cause it might be a good idea to host a website that has painting tips and rules that we host. On this site we can have clear information posted that allows customers to realize that if they don't want to do it themselves or the task looks overly difficult or time consuming, that we can do it for them.

Lew McMurran

Although Lew didn't have much time to talk it as still interesting in what he had to say. He gave us an idea of what it means to be a Lobbyist and just how difficult it can be. I have always heard of them in a negative light, but he was able to quickly convince me that they are actually a good thing. The company he works for sounds to be beneficial on multiple levels. Not only are they able to try to help them in the goverment with supporting laws and regulations that benefit them, they also help give benefits like healthcare that they would have a hard time affording on their own. I wish he had more time to talk as some of the particulars of how Lobbying works would be interesting to know.

Jeff Goodwin

Jeff was a speaker that I think could connect with a lot of the students who take the class. Working from a normal job he managed to find himself with the idea of how to create his own business and run with it. Managing to create the business and transform it into something useful and actually successful was fascinating. The structure of how he actually managed to sell his business also was intriguing. I was amused to think that he was so dedicated to his business and wanting to sell it that he was willing to wait as long as was needed for Cisco to talk to him.

I liked the idea of the new business he was creating. It is something that I would have thought was already well established and out in the market but he managed to find a niche. Having a business based around sorting business documents where not really what I would want to do, sounds to have potential.

lynnette Claire

Lynnette Claire has done a lot to try to build businesses in the area and promote learning how to come up with idea's for them. She has run a workshop/competition that allowed individuals to get together and form teams and present an idea. The problem that needed to be solved was given to each team and they had to think of a way to meet this need and give a presentation on it. She said that it actually turned out to be a huge success with the plans being well done. She did mention that she is not always sure what draws Judges to think one idea is better than another and that she doesn't always agree. The information given was interesting and hey...I always love being given Hershey's candy bars at the end. Love em.

Startup.com

Startup.com was a presentation on what it can be like to grow a business. It follows their steps over the years of the business from the start to finish when it eventually failed. It was created by two friends who had been close for years. One of the moments that struck me as the most important was when one friend informed the other that they no longer trusted them. Hearing that from a friend is a devastating piece of news that might very well cause somebody to not recover from. Each individuals wants to believe that their friends actually trust them. Eventually one friend had to fire the other friend and even though it was hard it seemed like they eventually were able to make it through the tough times.

John Dimmer

John Dimmer struck me as a funny individual. On the less serious note I remember a couple of details that had me laughing inside. It is rare that I am in a room with an individual who just exudes success and yet he is one. The amount of success he has is the dream of most individuals. Though for all his success the note that he refuses to play an MMO that you have to pay monthly for as funny.

The other story I remember clearly from his presentation was talking about how two girls approached him to help them start a business for selling peanut butter. What struck me the most was the honesty of the man and how he did not want to rip them off. Giving them good advice and helping them get their business in order as well as making sure that they knew that if he put in the amount of money they requested, that he would own far too much of the company and that they should not do that.

Ron Kornfeld

Ron Kornfeld was individual responsible for the Business Plan that we are modeling our own after. The plan lays out just the right information to put into a plan to present for investors. The information within is wide ranging and gives adequate detail for the potential figures that a new business could hope to see.

Ron also created a business that helped teach elementary students about math. This business was designed with his kids in mind. Just a small bit of information about him that I personally found to be curious. He eventually managed to sell the company and it still exists today. The company was called Dreambox.

Bruce Kendall

Bruce Kendall was fascinating to listen to. The moment that struck me as the most interesting and the most beneficial for our area was when he talked about the shipping companies. I can only think it would be a huge boon to the local economy to have a major shipping company come down into the Port of Tacoma. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to actually convince them to move down there.

Bruce's job actually sounded interesting. Talking to so many different companies and trying to convince them to open up offices in the local area would be challenging yet rewarding. The end result potentially leading to close ties with the companies. The nature of the job itself where it might take lots of time is just an appealing prospect.

Technology Differentiation

I plan on using the technology's of my competitors in a new fashion that will help grow my customer base. My competitors allow for customers to look at lists of options to pick and choose what product they want to purchase but I want to take it a step farther than that. I want to give my customers the capability to look at each and every piece of a miniature and put them together in a fashion that is pleasing to their senses. Coding this program and giving this option will provide the customer with exactly what they desire in most cases. Far to often as of now the companies that build and paint figures will only work off base streamlines and standard paint scheme's to make their lives easier. I believe that with an adequate database of parts and printing of pictures, that we could go into more detail on what a customer desires.

Brian Forth

Brian Forth was a very interesting speaker to listen to. The contributions he has made as well as the work he has done with websites to be rather intriguing. The one point I was very much interested in was the fact that he taught and worked with kids. Teaching them the tools that technology has to offer and allowing them to build websites can only vastly help them as they grow up in a world where technology is prevalent.

The other detail that I was really drawn to was how he treated his employee's. From what I have seen the majority of owners look more into their own interests rather than the interests of their employee's. The amount of detail and time he took to make sure they were happy was staggering to me. I can only hope that one day if I don't become an Entrepreneur, that I could work for a boss like him.

Being an Entrepreneur takes a special mindset that not all individuals have the capability of doing. To become an entrepreneur, one has to be willing to take risks and put themselves out. Pushing themselves and working long hours to accomplish what they setup to be. It is a rare circumstance where an Entrepreneur has all the required skills to be successful. If they are missing some of the details its important to find other individuals that complement your own style and weaknesses.

The fact is its not easy to actually be an Entrepreneur. Most who actually attempt it will fail at their attempt. It is said that 1 in 6,000,000 will actually achieve the status of being an IPO. Others might remain small or fail all together. So with this in mind why do individuals actually attempt to become a Entrepreneur? The idea of creating something with their own hands and being their own manager is a huge draw to some individuals. With the promise of this and making an income based completely on their own merits is a driving factor.

Erik Hanberg's Visit

In class we had an opportunity to listen to Erik Hanberg talk about his entrepreneurship experiences. I found it fascinating to learn about the difficulties and ups and downs that he had to face. His story really put into place in my mind the value of starting small and being willing to build up what you have. This is mostly focused on his business with writing books and selling them online. I have enjoyed writing books myself and it was a good insight on how to handle it.

The information that he provided really makes one also realize that owning your own business is indeed a lot of work at least in the beginning. It will have a lot of ups and downs with some insecurity in knowing exactly what your financial situation will be.

My Completely Unoriginal Business Plans

1) So I have been thinking of what kind of business I would like to create if I could. The one that I have constantly thought about has to deal with the game Warhammer by GW and its other products. Where I myself do enjoy the game I am not always in the mood to just paint all the figures. I have seen another business or two out there where people will do this but what they offer always feels so limited to me. If you order from them you can only get the basic setup when they build the models though you can have more freedom on painting.

What I would do differently is offer the same services of building and painting models though I want to take it a step further. One of the joys of the game for me are the custom looks that can be provided to the models. By using a website I could see other options being given for customers to select from. Providing pictures of different components and their angles, a customer can select and build custom models. There could be additional options such as putty though how this is handled would need to be considered.

2) Having several friends who are into brewing their own mead, we have talked about going into business together in the past. Further thinking about it I could see an opportunity to create their own business and incorporate technology into their business to help with sales. When creating the mead one can put many different types of ingredients in it to change the flavor. Expanding upon this, one could sell over a website and depending on popularity, one would be able to also have an option where they can take custom orders for flavors that a customer would like to try that they do not offer.

3) My third idea for a business is for a company that is involved in localizing games from other parts of the world and bringing them to the united states. There would be a lot of difficulty with this with getting other game companies to allow it, but there could a market for the items. Often I see titles that are offered in other countries that are not shown in the united states that look highly interesting.