Arthur's Blog

30A – Final Reflection Although this is the end of our journey together in ENT 3003, you now have a set of experiences that you can use to better navigate the future. My hope is that each of you have, to one extent or another, developed an entrepreneurial mindset. That you keep a sharp eye out for problems, and you're willing to offer a solution. For this final reflection, I'd like you to do a few things: 1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread. 2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing? I believe the one assignment I will always remember is one of the first assignments we did, the bug list. The reason I really liked this specifi...

1) As an exit strategy for Speech Bubble, I plan to grow and protect the venture as a family business so it can be passed down to my children in the future. 2) I have selected this strategy as I would like to see the fruit of my work grow and expand over the years. I have always dreamed and seeing something that I was able to star myself, grow into something meaningful that would help other people. For this reason, I believe this exit strategy is the most appropriate one for this plan come to pass. 3) This exit strategy has not changed my plans for this business, this exit strategy has been the same since the start of it. The plans to acquire and use resources have been the same since the beginning. Financially, I will use personal servings for the first investment on this business idea, on the technical part, I will use technical knowledge that I have acquired over the years to start building this mobile and web application myself.

Book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? The general theme of the book is how can we explain success through a psychology perspective. It explains the growth mindset, where we can use past failures as a step towards success in our future. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? I think this book connects in multiples levels with different subjects which we have discussed and learned in ENT 3003. Among them, the most important was on how we see failure. How everyone fails and failing is not an excuse or a reason to stop us, but rather to make us learn from it so we can keep on loving forward towards success. 3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? If I had to design an exercise for this class, based on this book, it would be for students to think of a situation where they fa...

1) One way I have failed this last semester was trying to read multiple business books at the same time while working full-time and studying part-time. It’s just not doable. 2) I learned that trying to do multiple things at the same time can be possible, however I will not be able to do all of them to the best of my ability given the time constrains. If I want to do the things I want to do, well, then I need to let of the things that are not crucial. 3) Failure is never fun, at least not as you go through it. Its disappointing to ourselves and to those around us that have seen us fail. The way I have dealt with failure recently was first being disappointed, but it did not take long for me to recover from it and keep going. I believe that this course has helped me be more optimistic about failure, not that anyone should seek failure, however, it is part of the process and that is okay. I have also learned that we can possibly learn more from a failure experience than from a succe...

Existing Market Step 1 What I think is next for this venture is adding other languages to the web and mobile application. The original language of the application is English and after one year of having the application up and running, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese will be added next. Step 2 The customers I have interviewed for this portion of this assignment agreed that adding more languages will be a great next step. They also asked for the possibility of adding a service for physical and occupational therapy. Since these are different from speech therapy, we would first need to evaluate and consider the viability of this option. Step 3 What makes the most sense is the initial plan to add other languages. After that, we might consider including other services like the ones suggested by these customers who are part of the market for this product/service. New Market Step 1 A Radical different market from the one I am currently in is parents who do homeschooling. Step ...

Major Elements Opportunity The opportunity for the proposed business idea arises from the fact that parents who have children that need speech therapy have to spend hundreds of dollars (if not thousands) every years in their children speech therapy needs. If they have insurance they only need to pay a small portion, however, for parents that do not have insurance, they have to pay out-of-pocket. There are no specific geographical location for this unmet need. It cover the whole US and other countries abroad as well. Customers do not have another alternative at the moment, they are obligated to pay for the high cost of speech therapy. This is a very big opportunity with lots of potential for growth. This opportunity will be "open" until I create this business, other companies copying this business model will probably follow along. If I can plan it correctly, I must build it fast and continue to innovate so I can stay ahead in the market. Innovation This is a innovation ...

Ten resources: Valuable Rare Inimitable Non-substitutable 1) Computer savvy to create web/mobile application V - I believe this is valuable since I will not need to hire someone to do it for me (at least not for a while) R - Rare because my knowledge is a compilation of multiple experiences I have acquired overtime I - It is imitable, however, it would not be easy to do so N - It is non-substitutable for the same reason it is rare 2) Having contacts in the technology industry for future needs at a lower cost V  - Very valuable as it will save me a lot of time in the future. R  - It is rare because I have multiple contacts in different sections of the technology industry I  - It is imitable, however, it would not be easy to do so N  - It is non-substitutable for the same reason it is rare 3)  First products of its kind V  - Very valuable for parents that will be able to save a lot of money R  - Very rare, there are none in the ma...

Book: The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? The general theme of the book/argument of the book was giving tips and tools that can be used to maximize awareness of your brand through social media. It also covers things that should be done to yield positive results and which things to do not, so there are no undesired results to your brand's image caused by poor social media marketing. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? The main point of this course is for us to explore (as close as possible) what would it be like if we were to start our own business. All of these assignments which we do based in one business idea, shows us all different perspectives we need to observe and analyse in order to make an informed decision whether our business idea is viable or not. I believe the book complements everything we have learned in this course...

Domain Expert 1. This is Mary Owens. She has been a speech language pathologist for 23 years now. 2. Mrs. Owens is an domain expert for she has been working in the field for a great amount of years, and has worked in all different kinds of settings: schools, clinics, hospitals, etc. 3. I found her through a mutual connection on LinkedIn which is the same way I contacted her. 4. The nature of this exchange was purely a favor. Mrs. Owens did not ask for anything in return to give me a feedback on my idea, according to her, as long as it will help people communicate better, she is happy to help. 5. Including Mrs. Owens in my network will enhance this opportunity by a great amount. She was able to give me very useful feedback on this business idea. Market Expert 1. This is Mark Federman, he is also a speech language pathologist who has his own practice and has been running it for the last 12 years. 2. Mr. Federman is a market expert as he has been dealing with parents (who have c...

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?      I am Arthur Nascimento. I was born in Brazil and moved to the US at the age of 17 to learn English. Liked it so much so I ended up staying here. I met my wife in my first college class ever, about 7 years ago, and we've been happily married for almost 3 years now. If there is one thing my father taught me was to never be satisfied by working for other people, he always encouraged me to pursue my own dreams, according to him, if I don't do it for myself, I will end up working for someone else making their dreams happen.      I have started a couple ventures but those were just trials that permitted me to gain more knowledge and hand-on experience. I do have a consulting business but I don't plan on expanding it...

My prototypical customer is a mom, Daisy, who cares very much for her 2 children, John and Marcus. Both John and Marcus have speech therapy needs and Daisy has to take both of them to speech therapy every week. Daisy likes running and walking their family pet on Lake Eola Park on weekends. She drives a Toyota corolla and uses it to go everywhere. Daisy works at a DMV office, and she has been working there for 7 years now. She loves reading novels but most of all, she loves reading the Bible, she says it brings her closer to God. She is not too involved in politics, but she leans toward the conservative side. Daisy is 46, she lives with her husband Emmanuel and her two boys, John who is 6 years old, and Marcus who is 2 years old. What I have in common with Daisy is that we both like running and we both have the same faith, Christianity. I don't think that these things I have in common with her are a coincidence.

1) Five ways in which I believe I have human capital that is unique:     1. Problem Solving - Over the years I have spent working in a fast pace manufacturing industry, there are so many variables to everyday problems that I have been able to put my problem solving skills to great use and by doing so, I have also been able to get better at it. This encompasses all kind of simple fix solutions to situations that are very complex, data driven and if done correctly can save the company a great amount on money.     2. Determination - In my opinion, a key element in life. Nobody has gone far in life, whether in sport, business, or anything without determination. Even though I might get tired or even discouraged sometimes, it is almost rare for me to give up on something I believe.     3. Consistency - I am a very methodical person. The reason behind me being methodical is very simple. I don't like wasting time. Therefore, by being methodical, I spend "m...

I interviewed 3 parents who have children with speech therapy needs. Parents said that when it comes to speech therapy, is not the same as buying a product (example: computer), since it is a service, and a medical service which their children must have, they have no option but to pay the price for each therapy visit. Since they are not familiar with therapy itself, it is hard for them to evaluate the quality of the therapy. The only way they have to evaluate it, is through the progress of their children, and even by judging quality that way is very complicated, since they are not able to tell if their children had or did not have progress due to the quality of the therapy, or due to their children ability to advance their communication and cognitive skills through therapy. The only thing that is easy for them to determined the quality is the customer service they received at the speech therapy clinic. Factors that are important when considering a place for therapy for their childre...

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 believe that up until now I have been able to use behaviors/skills such as: resilience, consistency, determination, and others to keep up with the requirements of this course. 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? Well, I did not feel like giving up at any point in this course, because I like challenge. I see every assignment that we have to complete, as a challenge that must be overcome successfully. What made me pull through is the experience of learning more (in fact, as much as possible) about entrepreneurship and business, since this is something I truly enjoy. I believe that the past two months ...

1) You read about an entrepreneur: What surprised you the most? How when Steve Jobs came back to apple in 1997/1998 he recovered the company from over a billion dollars in loss and was able to bring it to over hundreds of millions of dollars in profit What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? What surprised me most was how tenacious and determined Steve Jobs was. He worked very hard to build everything he did. How he was able to use elements from his past to build principles used into apple products, such as the calligraphy course he took in college as well as his experience from working for Atari into how to make products simple and intuitive. What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? The fact that he did not believe that Lisa was his daughter, and that he had a paternity tests done to verify. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Yes, when we had completely left apple. He went onto another business ventures s...

1) Pick a segment The segment I picked for this assignment are customers with the following characteristics: (1) parents who have children who need speech therapy (2) do not have health insurance and have to pay for visits out of their own pocket (3) their child needs speech therapy in English. 2) Interviews a. Questions i. How often does your child need speech therapy? ii. What is the average cost you spend on therapy for your child per month? iii. Have you even been in a situation where you did not have money to pay for the therapy session? iv.  If so, what did you do about it? v. How often does that happen? vi. Would you be open to an alternative opportunity, where your child could still have a version of therapy, that would cost you very little amount of money per month? b. Summary Through the interviews conducted for this assignment, I was able to discover information I had no knowledge of before. Average monthly cost of therapy for interviewees were: Intervi...

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?      I am Arthur Nascimento. I was born in Brazil and moved to the US at the age of 17 to learn English. Liked it so much so I ended up staying here. I met my wife in my first college class ever, about 7 years ago, and we've been happily married for almost 3 years now. If there is one thing my father taught me was to never be satisfied by working for other people, he always encouraged me to pursue my own dreams, according to him, if I don't do it for myself, I will end up working for someone else making their dreams happen.      I have started a couple ventures but those were just trials that permitted me to gain more knowledge and hand-on experience. I do have a consulting business but I don't plan on expanding it...

Who: After conducting the exercise "Hypothesis 1", I was able to interview potential users of the proposed web and mobile application.  I then discovered that even among the people who I would initially consider of being a potential user of this product, may end up not being a customer depending mainly on: whether they have or do not have health insurance and whether they have the time to use it or not. What: This need differs from other needs that would require another kind of therapy other than speech therapy. Why: The underlying cause for the outsiders needs being different from those inside the boundary is that this proposed application would work with speech therapy because it deals with cognitive and communication skills. Other kinds of therapy (physical, occupational) required knowledge that can not be taught to parents through the web or mobile application. During this second set of interviews, I have noticed that not all parents who have children that need spee...

Solution to  Selected Opportunity The opportunity I selected is the opportunity mentioned in the post "7A", regarding the expensive cost of speech therapy for children. Product/Service The idea is to offer a combination of a product and service. The product/service will be the web and mobile application where parents who have children with speech therapy needs can receive their evaluation online and chose to either take their children to a clinic to receive therapy, do the therapy themselves or a combination of both. Additionally, parents who have children that do not need speech therapy could also use this application to further develop their children cognitive and communication skills.

1) Opportunity Speech therapy for children is very expensive to families who do not have insurance. Additionally parents that have children with severe speech therapy needs may need more therapy than what the insurance covers every week. 2) Opportunity Description To create a web and mobile application where speech therapy patients can over the internet receive a evaluation/diagnostic (every six months) of their children speech therapy needs and have weekly goals for their children to achieve where the parents will be instructed on how to give therapy themselves to their children, avoiding the high cost of therapy (without insurance around $60 per visit twice a week). For the parents who have insurance and can take their children weekly to receive therapy, it is still beneficial to use the application as, the more therapy the child the receives, the faster they will advance. Therapy fro children is usually done through specific games that may target a specific skill such as: shap...

Questions A) Where opportunity was found (source of opportunity) B) What leads to believe that an opportunity might exist C) Who is most likely the customer for this opportunity D) Is the opportunity relatively easy or relatively difficult to exploit E) Why did I see an opportunity ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economic Trends Opportunities 1) Low unemployment rate in the US Answers A)  http://fortune.com/2018/05/04/unemployment-rate-century-low-percent/ B) This is an great opportunity for employees to fill their unmet needs for a job with higher pay and more fringe benefits. C) All US workers. D) I would say it is neither easy or difficult. The process of changing jobs (or even careers) varies drastically depending on a variety of factors, such as: employee's happiness level with current job, pay, location, hours, benefits, perks, etc. E) I saw this opportunity as I have ...

Requirements A) The title of the article B) The link to the article C) A description of the story, in your own words D) A description of the problem presented in the story E) A description of who has the problem ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opportunities 1) Potential Opportunity A) 2 Lake County students made threats, arrested B) https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AORLB%21Orlando%2BSentinel%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0912%21September%2B12&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E63B590D97C450 C) Students making threats of starting a shooting in their schools D) The problem is that security in schools need to be made more efficient E)  All schools students and employees who have their life at risk if these threats are not caught on time 2) Potential Oppo...

Part 1 What is the unmet need? Better public transportation in the city of Orlando, FL. Who has the need? Any and all people who live and travel to the city of Orlando, FL. Where did the need come from? The need has always existed. Public transportation does exists, however one may need to wait 2 hours on a bus stop in order to catch a bus towards the desired location. What are people doing to meet this need now? Those who have money to buy a car, and pay for insurance, gas and maintenance, meet this need buy using a car. Those who do not have money, have to deal with the public transportation as it is. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 2 Interview Questions 1) Do you use public transportation? 2) If we had a better public transportation system, where buses would be available every 15-30 minutes, would you use it? 3) How often would you use it? 4)...

One thing my dad has always thought me was to always think with a entrepreneur mindset, to never settle by simply working for someone else. I remember a time when I was around 10 years old and my father used to work by creating events to advertise politicians in our city. Something happened and he lost a contract he had been counting on. He then decided he needed to do something so compensate that contract that was lost.  He then had an idea of making a few customized items to sell to businesses, we purchased the necessary parts and starting making them. Amount the items that we sold the most was a wall clock. We would purchase the glass from a store near our house, print the image (clock with the customer's logo on it), purchase the three pointers (hour, minute and seconds) along with the clock motor from a store in the downtown area of our city and we would make these wall clocks at home. We did not make a fortune, but it was enough to get us through that tough time. ...

The Bug List 1) When at a Subway restaurant, the employee who was cleaning the floor with a broom or wiping the counter does not wash their hands before starting to make your sandwich. Why: This bug exists possibly due to lack of SOP (standard operating procedures) training or lack or supervision to ensure employees comply with hygiene training. 2) When driving in the middle lane of a highway at speed at maximum speed limit, a driver is behind you blinking his headlights because he/she wants you to move over. Why: This bug exists due to lack of: responsibility, knowledge of driving regulations and at the end of the day also a "bit" of intelligence since the left lane is open for him/her to fly as fast as they desire 3) When at the gym people don't clean the equipment they just used and leave their sweat all over it Why: It exists due to lack of consideration for other people who will use the machine after them 4) When at the gym people put their bag in one mach...

First post! ENT 3003