16A

·     Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different?

1.    Honest: I give my honest opinion to people no matter the circumstance. It can be a fault of mine as well though because not all people are equipped to handle honesty when it is the opposite of what they want to hear. 

2.    Determined: When I set my mind to do something I will complete the task no matter how long it takes. Again, this can be a fault as well because I often over focus almost to the point of obsession on something which can lead to stress and anxiety.

3.    Adaptability: I feel comfortable in almost any environment with every type of person you can imagine. This is due to the fact that I grew up moving around the world as a child so I had to learn how to live and connect with people from everywhere. 

4.    Leadership: I am always willing to take charge of a situation when others are not to get tasks done in an efficient manner.

5.    Punctual: I will always be on time and I will always complete my tasks on time due to my organizational skills and anxiety. It is honestly cringe worthy to me and I will beat myself up about not completing a task on time which is why it will almost never happen anymore. 

·     How do you see yourself, and how do others see you? Are there differences in how you assess yourself compared to others? What do you think causes these differences? Do you think your interviewees are correct about you? Finally, going back to your list from part 1, would you make any corrections to the list? How? I believe how I see myself and how others see me is fairly similar. I do think that because we were asked to interview five of the people in our lives who know us the best and are closest to us that they are a bit biased towards how they see me. What I mean by this is I don’t think they have anything negative to say about me because they like me which is a huge part of what can cause differences in how we see ourselves versus how the people closes to us see us. I am much more critical of myself then my friends or my family so it took me a while to come up with five things that give me human capital. I don’t believe I would make any changes to my list. 

·     Voice Recordings 

1.     https://soundcloud.com/user-129269320-108109793/new-recording-2

2.     https://soundcloud.com/user-129269320-108109793/new-recording-4-2

3.     https://soundcloud.com/user-129269320-108109793/new-recording-4

4.     https://soundcloud.com/user-129269320-108109793/16a-2

5.     https://soundcloud.com/user-129269320-108109793/16a

15A

·     Report of Findings: 

Quality of the produce ranked highest among all my interviewees when it came to where they select to buy from. Almost all say they will stay away from certain grocery stores, even ones with an organic section, if the produce looks old, moldy, or wilted. Price seemed to be of little importance as long as it was fairly matched with the quality. 

To meet the need of fresh produce they shop at higher end grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Lucky’s. The reasons stated were that the produce always looks extremely fresh and the stores are very clean. Two individuals stated that you can tell the staff cares about their work as it is evident in how clean the store is and how well displayed the items are. 

A major factor when evaluating their purchases of produce is longevity. Does the fruit or vegetable seem to stay fresh for more than a day or two. These individuals have often noticed that when they bought organic produce from places like Walmart that it only lasted a day or two before molding but when they purchased from higher end stores the produce could last up to a week if stored properly. 

After conducting more interviews, I am now more equipped to understand what motivates my potential customers to purchase their produce from certain locations as well as what keeps them coming back.

14A

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

-      I have been an online student for a while so I am not really new to using time management skills. What I continue to do is look at my week and what tasks I have planned and schedule the time I need to spend on homework and lectures accordingly. I always check the schedule on Sunday for assignments due the following week so that I do not accidently miss an assignment. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

-      In this class I have never felt like giving up. In life I have felt like giving up when my rheumatoid arthritis gets bad. The way I am able to pull through is by asking for help. I have always been very independent but with this chronic illness I have had to learn that it is better to swallow my pride and just ask for the little push I need to make it through the day. I think this mentality applies to school work as well. If you are struggling ask someone for help. There is no possible way that you are the only one feeling the way you do about a certain task or assignment and it is much better to get the help you need before things start to really pile up and everything becomes unmanageable.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset’?

1.    As I said previously, do not be afraid to ask for help. You will feel so much better once someone clarifies something for you as opposed to struggling to grasp a concept. 

2.    Try to stay organized, routine is key. Routine can really help balance school, work, and family life. While it may seem boring to plan things ahead it will insure that you are able to complete all of the tasks required of you

3.     Keep an open mind. Many of the tasks you are given in this class may seem odd or pointless at first but after a while you begin to understand that they are made to aid you in seeing thing differently than you normally would. This happens to me very often in many of my classes where I just do not feel like I am engaged or onboard with all of the assignments and how they will help me but usually by about halfway through I begin to understand things much better and the class becomes more enjoyable. 

13A

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

·      What surprised you the most?

·      What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

·      What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

·      Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

-     I read the biography Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc and Robert Anderson. Ray Kroc was the man that helped transform McDonalds from a small family run business into a billion-dollar franchise. I think one of the most surprising things I learned about Kroc was that he didn’t have any higher education training and furthermore he never completed high school. He preferred to learn on the job through experience. I most admired Kroc’s determination to succeed no matter what endeavor he pursued. He was always striving for excellence. This also contributes to a bit of what I least admire and that is his personal relationships. He seemed to dispose of whomever he was close with if they were no longer useful to him. Kroc encountered much adversity and failure. The beginning stages of most of his endeavors were almost always shot down by outside investors. To overcome these challenges, he ended up throwing most of his life savings into the beginning phases of his businesses so others could see how well they were doing and eventually contribute. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

-      One of Kroc’s most valuable competencies was the ability to read people, both investors and customers. He was a salesman at heart because that is what he had done in the early stages of his life and these previous skills of networking really payed off for him in the long run. Perfection also seemed to play a major role in his success. He would refuse anything less than excellence which is part of the major draw in customers to McDonald’s. 

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

-      Kroc’s self-confidence was a bit confusing to me. Even early in life he writes as though he was never really fearful of not becoming a success. I guess I just cannot relate to this mentality. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

-      The first question I would ask is if he regrets dedicating most of his life to McDonald’s and not to his family. The reason being is that many successful people I have talked with state that towards the end of their lives they wish they had spent more time doing leisurely activities. The second question I would ask is if the franchising of McDonald’s had failed would he have kept playing his hand in the entrepreneurial game or would he have bowed out and returned to being a salesman. I would ask this because though he faced many failures he never really lost it all and I would just like to know if losing it all would change his mentality. 

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

-       His entire life motto was that of hard work and determination. “Press on: Nothing in the world can take place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with no talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” (Kroc 188). I am fully onboard with his opinion that these two attributes are of the utmost importance. I was taught in the military the value of hard work and it has really changed the way I approach work and life in general. 

·     Citation: Kroc, Ray, and Robert Anderson. Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's. St. Martin's Press, 1992.

12A

·     Segment: The segment I chose is individuals who shop at Lucky’s Market. The reason I chose this store in particular is because their business was founded on the need for fresh produce that was pesticide free as well as cruelty free products at competitive prices. This is very similar to what my hydroponic farming market is meant to achieve so it stands to reason that people who shop at these stores would also be the types of customers who may be interested in my concept. 

·     Interviews: What I learned from these interviews is that these types of individuals are indeed willing to pay premium prices for fresh produce. In fact, this is the main reason they shop at Lucky’s as opposed to shopping at Walmart. They were all keen on emphasizing that the premium prices are only worth it if the products are of a higher standard. When I asked them what higher standards they were referring to there were many factors, other than freshness, that I had not considered would sway people to shop at my store. Among these factors were: 

1.) Store layout: Did it make sense and were goods easy to find? 

2.) Presentation of goods: Were the goods presented in an appealing manor? 

3.) Variety of goods: (considered by all three to be of the utmost importance) Could they obtain all of their needs in one location or would they need to go to multiple stores?

4.) Cleanliness of store: Was it a positive environment to shop in?

5.) Helpfulness of employees: Were they familiar with the products that were being offered and where they were sourced from? 

These were just a few of the reasons they associated Lucky’s Market with a store that sells fresh premium products and also the reasons they would shop at a hydroponic farming market if there was one available in their area of residence. 

·     Conclusions: After these interviews it has become clear to me that while fresh produce is very important to this segment, there are a plethora of factors that persuade these individuals to shop at a store that offers this service so it is key to address all aspects in order to create a successful business model. The interviews have also brought to my attention the fact that there are indeed stores out there who offer fresh produce currently but they do not have the key advantage of my business model of on-site, year-round, fresh produce production. However, I would have to match stores like Lucky’s market in other areas such as variety and shopping experience to be able to compete sense this segment already has the fresh produce portion of my business model being met. 

11A

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically, regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life? 

-      My name is Kristie Alina Brenes. I am a General Business Studies major. I started college a little later than most. Before college I was in the United States Coast Guard for six years as a health services technician. Being in a branch of the military taught me responsibility and comradery that many people will never experience. I grew up living around the world my entire life as well as moving around for my job in the Coast Guard. This has given me the ability to make connections with individuals not matter where I am as well as an understanding of many different cultures and customs. My aspirations are to simply make a difference. My dad worked for the government helping third world countries start businesses that would ultimately create many jobs and bring in much needed revenue and I was able to experience the positive impact this had on so many people’s lives. I want to be able to accomplish something similar to this. If I were to start this business of a hydroponic farming market I believe this would play a major role in meeting my aspirations of making a difference especially when it comes to protecting our environment. 

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

-      With a hydroponic farming market, what I am offering is a farm to table experience for customers. This will meet their need for fresh produce at reasonable prices year-round. I will be able to provide this because with hydroponic farming the produce is grown in a controlled environment where the plants are protected from bugs, unpredictable weather, and unfavorable growing temperatures. It will also meet the needs of environmentally conscious individuals in that it is a highly sustainable approach to farming as well as it leaving a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional farming and using far fewer natural resources. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

-      This service and products will be geared toward environmentally conscious suburban and city dwellers in the middle to upper class brackets at first. Eventually I would want the prices of produce to allow all economic classes the ability to shop at the store but with startup costs it will be difficult at first. The reason this is geared more towards the metropolitan market is because these areas do not have the space for traditional farms which means the rely on products to be transported in from other areas. With hydroponic farming markets little space is required due to the fact that they can be grown stacked vertically as opposed to spread out horizontally. This creates the ability to provide fresh produce without the need for excessive amounts of land, farming equipment, and transportation of goods due to the fact they will be grown indoors and sold on site. 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

-      Customers care, especially in the states that experience four seasons, because fresh quality produce is hard to find during months of inclement weather. Not only that but the prices increase as well due to the fact that they must be imported from other locations. Environmentally conscious individuals will also respect that fact that these hydroponic farms reduce CO2 emissions as well as use fewer natural resources. The price of my produce will be competitive with the market as well as the produce being available year-round. Customers will pay the money to use these hydroponic farm markets because they are home grown, competitive with market prices, require no pesticides, available year-round, and are grown in a more environmentally friendly way than traditional farming. 

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

-      To my knowledge there are no businesses that offer both hydroponic farms and the sale of the produce on site to customers. This farm to market experience and freshness of produce is what would set me apart from other competitors in the field. The produce has the ability to be picked and sold in the same day while being grown indoors in a metropolitan area which is a service no one else has to offer. 

¨    I believe all of these elements fit into my business design/model. I would have to ensure that all aspects of the business being run on a day to day basis aired on the side of being environmentally consciences. If this was unable to come to fruition than a big purpose of business model in hydroponic farming would be rendered useless. Basically, if I am able to connect all of the moving parts I believe these elements all play a major role in what this business would stand for as well as how it would be run. 

10A Elevator Pitch #1

https://youtu.be/LFHu7CYvtJQ

9A Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

·     Who: With the interviewing of five new individuals and a more in-depth discussion of what hydroponic farming is and truly consists of, I was able to divide the who groups up into a few more categories. As with my previous interviews it seems that lower to lower middle class individuals seem to be more affected by the rise in produce prices and would prefer to shop somewhere that offered lower prices. However, I was able to find middle to upper class individuals who said they would support a hydroponic store that grew and sold their own produce. These individuals consisted of a sub category of the environmentally conscientious. After I explained to these individuals the environmental impacts traditional farming has and then compared that to the impacts hydroponic farming has on the environment, it became evident that there were indeed people in the upper classes who were not as concerned with the financial side of the problem but were concerned with the philanthropic side of the problem. 

·     What: While the original problem/need I had was focused mostly on the price of produce, I do think there is a whole other market to be reached with the environmentally conscientious population. In this market people pay even higher prices for goods sold that are cruelty free or recycled and shop at places like whole foods that upcharge for these types of products. 

·     Why: I believe the needs for the lower and upper class are different, one being financially motivated and the other being more environmentally motivated. However, lower class individuals are still concerned with the environment but the price of a product outweighs that concern. I do think it is possible to meet the needs of both groups of people in the long run but not in the startup phase of the business. The equipment it requires to start a hydroponic farm/store is very expensive so in the beginning phases the products would have to compete with market prices but eventually in the long run prices would be able to be reduced.

·       

	Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who	Lower to lower middle class with a family to support  Environmentally conscientious middle to upper class	Lower to lower middle class single or married with no children  Middle to upper class
What	To have a smaller environmental footprint with hydroponic farming	To greatly reduce the cost
Why	Hydroponic farming is a lot more sustainable and requires less use of natural resources than traditional farming	The equipment needed to start a hydroponic farm/store is specialized and expensive at first.