1.This semester I have struggled with one of my
upper division business courses. The past two exams have not gone up to par
with my expectations.
2.I have learned that sometime you will struggle
with obstacles, but what’s important is that you continue to work hard until
you achieve your goals.
3.Failure is tough, but in several instances is
more valuable than success. Failure helps you grow as a person and helps you
learn what you can do to improve as a person and in your life ventures. Failure
is extremely troubling and causes a lot of stress, but it makes the times when
you do succeed that much better. This class has not really altered my
perception of failure or my personal goals, but it has helped me to realize the
value of failure and the value of risk.
1. I found it interesting to learn that several companies
encounter a growth wall. Obviously there are obstacles in scaling a business,
but I would assume that once you have learned how to successfully grow your
business it would be manageable to overcome whatever obstacle lays in your
path.
2. One aspect of the reading that was confusing to me was
the portion that mentions companies either innovate or they die. What about
companies such as McDonalds that essentially have the exact same business model
for many years, yet they are constantly growing.
3. If I could ask two questions to the author the first
would be: What do you think is the most efficient way to scale a business? The
second question would be: What company do you think is the best model of rapid
growth.
4. There was nothing that I believe the author to be wrong
about.
1.Ideally the plan would be to grow the company to
such a level that I would simply hire a CEO and allow him to run the business for
me while I collect paycheck on the beach somewhere. However, a strong play in
the business strategy lies in licensing, so if that appeared to be the best
move the company would likely be sold at an early stage.
2.I picked this strategy because the goal is to
eventually raise enough revenue to become an investor, rather than an operator.
3.I don’t think the exit strategy has had much of
an impact on the previous steps in the concept stages at all. As a prospect
idea it is hard enough to even see past the testing stage, yet a scaled company
with infrastructure. It is nearly impossible to anticipate the possible path of
a company or the possibilities of a large buyout or merger. Similar to life you
have to take business a day at a time keeping in mind a long-term goal. The
goal of this company if ever created would simply be to grow the product line
to its fullest potential and simply see what offers or possibilities exist.
1.Due to the fact that my company is a clothing
company in its essence the logical answer to what’s next is simply expanding
the line of apparel that my company offers and finding new ways to implement
the technology in other styles of clothing.
2.It is extremely hard to gauge the expectations
of a company without any market testing or research. However, from a pure
concept viewpoint the company’s growth lies in expanding the initial product
line. In order to expand the product line simple design and shirt style
variations is key. The next steps are uncertain, but would likely be creating
new designs and lines of apparel that incorporate the company’s material
technology. I think definitely an interesting idea would be to do some time of line of suits.
New Market
1.A radically different approach to the company
would be to create extremely a line of extremely inexpensive dress clothes that
would potentially be featured in a Wal-Mart type of setting.
2.In a lower income market the real struggle is
creating high utility at a low price point. If it was possible to create a
lightweight sweat wicking material that could be produced extremely cheaply it
would be a great product to sell at low income clothing stores
3.My
interviews were relatively inconclusive due to that fact that very few people I
know or have access to only shop in low income retail stores. In order to do
research in more representative area I would need to venture out to a lower
income area. My presumption would be that the product is not very geared toward
a lower income demographic. The product is for those who are not worried about
spending an extra $10 $20 on a shirt for comfort. The market does not appear to
be attractive simply because the product in its nature is high end.
I had slight issues with the camera on my phone so I was only able to obtain two brief responses from customers in audio form. They are both below.
1.I found it extremely surprising to learn that
many entrepreneurs neglect to spend time creating a strategic plan. I would
think that in a new company having a guided path to success would be very
valuable.
2.I found it slightly confusing to learn that many
researchers believe that strategic planning is used most often to find new
industries for companies to compete. I initially believed that strategic
planning was a way to plan how to successfully separate yourself from your
competition.
3.If I could ask two questions to the author the
first would be: Which company today do you think is most successful in
utilizing strategic planning. The second would be: If you were part of a start
up how would you utilize strategic planning to your advantage.
4.There was nothing in the reading that I
disagreed with.
