30B

When I reflect on the individual experiences of this semester, it is impossible to choose just one component of the last 12 weeks and deem it "most formative". Writing a blog has been pretty formative. I actually know a handful of peers who maintain their own blogs and I have always kind of wondered, why? What is it about blogging that they find worthy of their time and effort. I think I have more respect for blogging as a medium now. After reading Guy Kawasaki's book, the Art of Social Media and now having posted around 25 of my own blogs, blogging is a platform where you can share your thoughts with your subscribers with far fewer compositional restraints than via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. I find that I actually spend more time these days reading those blogs of my friends.
The most formative experiences I’ve had this semester is the elevator pitch assignments. The most challenging experience of the class has been arranging all the interviews for the early assignments. The experience I most enjoyed was reading the comments from classmates, it has given me valuable feedback on my ideas and concepts. I am most proud of spending an extended amount of time fleshing out a business idea I have had for quite some time.
                At the beginning of the semester I was confident that I was coming into this class with an entrepreneurial mindset. The assignments in the class have expanded on that mindset, causing me to look at issues and annoyances as opportunities. This class has taught me that the entrepreneurial mindset is something that is developed and refined over time and with experience.
              
                My recommendation to students who will take this class in the future is to embrace the class, using the course as an opportunity to gain valuable feedback and insight on a business concept you’re interested can allow you to explore and revise your idea without costing yourself time or money in the marketplace. To perform best in the course, I recommend taking the time to read your classmates comments on your concept and take their advice into consideration. To foster an entrepreneurial mindset students should take to find ways to provide value to consumers by identifying and solving their needs. Doing this will cause you to start seeing opportunities you had not noticed before.
This class and the experience has given me a new perspective on entrepreneurship. While previously I only thought of those poor souls on Shark Tank, and Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as "entrepreneurs", now I see them everywhere. The coffee truck that shows up at my office every Tuesday and Thursday is manned by an entrepreneur who dreamed of having her own coffee shop using all organic and sustainably sourced ingredients but one that could migrate around town like the nomadic nature of her own personality. Some mutual acquaintances of our friends are entrepreneurs, a husband and wife who are both artists. He composes wall art and she makes unique and classy jewelry. Do I see myself in this category of individuals? Not exactly. Do I think I am capable of being entrepreneurial? Sure I do. By always looking for the solutions to the problems, testing them out, maybe ideas work and maybe they don't, I will be living with an entrepreneurial mindset.

29 B

  My company can take advantage of this opportunity by employing innovative new ways of communicating with residents so that we may help them solve their problems quickly. Communication is key in the community management space, working with so many homeowners, subcontractors, and board of director members means things can suffer due to miscommunication or a lack of communication by any of the parties. By opening the channels of communication, we can provide prompt responses to resident inquires via; phone, internet, or mobile, this accessibility will provide my organization the opportunity to provide quality customer service and improve the relationship between residents and management. While this focus on customer experience is not a new concept it is an innovative new idea in the field of community association management. We can build strong relationships with residents by taking advantage of every opportunity to enhance their experience when interacting with management and can improve their experience of living in the community by working collaboratively together to the benefit of everyone. Building these relationships with residents can provide my organization with the opportunity to offer additional ancillary services to both the community and individual residents. By holding my organization to a high standard, we can establish a reputation for quality service and reliability within the community. Depending on services rendered costs can start as low as $20 per month per home or condominium in the community. 

                The innovations my organization will provide will address the opportunity outlined above by focusing on the customer experience by providing high quality customer service and create a collaborative community environment for the association. Customers will purchase my services because the services will offer high quality service without a substantial increase in costs to them. Getting customers to switch may be difficult without an established reputation, management contracts can span multiple years and it can be costly and painful to switch. Making connections with influential people in the community and networking is my intended way of acquiring business early on. The competition are large established management companies which are often know for their weakness of assigning too many communities to a single manager who can not adequately provide quality service to each community. Organizing the business will consist of several community managers, a handful of support staff, and subcontractors. 

                The key to my business is the commitment to the customer experience, I understand that it is a privilege to work within someone’s community and do not take that responsibility lightly. The advantage I see to the community association management space is that it allows you a foothold in the community where you can then pursue more opportunities. I would like to expand the business to include additional services such as maintenance and rental management as well as real estate sales. As an entrepreneur I would love the opportunity to create multiple business which occupy diverse spaces. I would like to build the business to the point where I can reduce my role to less than 15 hours per week, so that I can pursue other endeavors and passions. 

Feedback: 

The feedback I received for my Venture Concept No. 1 was positive and reaffirmed the importance of the strong emphasis I put on communication between my community association management company and the residents of the communities which we manage. The information I gained from the What’s Next assignment has further spurred my interest in providing ancillary services to the communities which we manage as additional revenue drivers for the organization. 

I changed by venture concept by expanding on the importance of communication and how my organization will incorporate strong communication into every facet of its operation.