Week 2

$100 challenge - this week we brought our top 5 ideas with us to class, and find a potential person to donate to on kiva. Then found out that the groups were done wrong, and so we needed to get into new groups and then get to know each other.

This week we were also asked to read and watch start up nation #2 - choosing a business model. This was a very insiteful way of looking at what kind of business I am looking into, and all of the different types of business models that there are. There are 7 main types,
1. Home-based
2. Brick-and-mortar
3. E-Commerce
4. eBay
5. Franchising
6. Licensing your product
7. Multi-level marketing
I am looking into a small brick-and-mortar store that I can run from my house. I have a lot of land behind my house that I am going to build a shop on and work out of that.

Another thing that we read was " Visionary businessman". This was a summery of a book that pointed out several different things that every business should think about when they start up. The author said that every business should begin with a sense of vision. A list of 11 things were given and the challenge was given to apply 3 to our business ideas, I chose
1. Visualize success. If your visualization is stronger than your doubts or fears, you will succeed.
2. Practice management by goals, not by crisis. Keep reinventing your company, establish good working relationships, and hire A People and empower them to lead.
3. Have a higher purpose than just making money.
I believe that these will help me as I go out on my own

Next we were introduced to the case study method. This is a very effective way to learn from other people's challenges. We studied about the Boston Ducks, an amphibious jeep that was used in WW2, was converted to give tours around Boston. The creator of the tours went through several different trials before and during his business getting off the ground, but he held on and it is still going on today.

Acton Hero - Tom Monaghan
Things I learned from watching this are:
Had to change the name, and took the suggestion of one of his drivers. Good way to keep employees happy.
Realized that having all the "toys" is not the best way to do things
Had a corner on the delivery market.
Realized that he was being very prideful, and needed to change, and help others.