Jacob's Entrepreneurship Blog

I read the book, “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s”, by Ray Kroc. What surprised me most about Ray Kroc and McDonald’s is the fact that the French Fries were actually one of the biggest sellers early on. One of his suppliers went as far as to say that he wasn’t even in the hamburger business - he was in the French Fry business! The thing about Ray Kroc I most admire is that he never gave up on reaching for success. Ray Kroc was 52 years old when he got involved with the McDonald’s business. He had previously sold multimixers but never achieved the level of success he did when McDonald’s started taking off. This goes to show you that the right opportunity may be a long ways down the road, but you should never give up looking for it. The thing about Ray Kroc I least admire is the decision to raise the franchise fee from 1.9% to a whopping 11.9%. I am in strong favor of small businesses and their ability to succeed, and 11.9% just seems too greedy to me. Kroc was a geni...

What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? One helpful behavior to have with this course is the determination to finish things well ahead of the deadline. If you can find time earlier in the week or on a weekend to knock out multiple assignments, your life will be a lot easier. 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? To be honest, I felt like giving up on this assignment. I have a very busy schedule and am gone every weekend and have to make time for this course, but I decided to pull through and write this assignment. The motivating factor is getting an A in this class. All I have to do is put in the time and work and I can get the A. I will be going to the extra credit as well and am trying not to miss that many assignm...

Segment: College students who go to the gym at least once a week. My first interview was with a second year male who goes to the gym almost every day. He is in the business college and has most of his classes online and therefore has a flexible schedule. When I asked him how he feels about whether or not the gym gets too crowded, he said that it's annoying when he has to wait for a machine that can sometimes take up to 10 minutes of pure wait time. He said he as a very strict workout routine and doesn't like to vary from it so he has to wait until the next machine is available. He said he tries to go when the gym is less crowded, but it can change day to day.  My second interview was with a fourth year girl who uses the gym primarily for cardio. She said that while most cardio machine are usually open, the track can get crowded sometimes and makes it hard to run indoors. During her leg day, she said she also struggles to get the leg press machine, as there is only one in th...

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 Jacob and I am a third year Information Systems student in the combined degree program for Information Systems and Operations Management Master's degree. I have experience in small entrepreneurial ventures I've started dealing with social media, internet marketing, web design, and more. I am familiar with the basics of programming and know Java. I want to work in the technology field but also own my own business. If I were to start this business, I would see myself learning more about app development and interviewing more gym owners to see if they have any recommendations. What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).  I am offering a simpl...

Who:  After interviewing different people, I learned some new information but most of the conversations were similar to the ones I had previously had. People outside of this boundary would include people who don't go to the gym, people with rigid schedules where gym capacity does not affect their decision to go, people with physical disabilities that can't go to the gym, and gyms owners that wish to keep this information private. I had not considered the fact that some gym owners may not want the data of how many people are in their gym to be public information. While I still think that most gyms would go for this idea, there will definitely be some that will not. I had assumed all gyms wouldn't have a problem with that information being public. What: There are still some people that would not want the information as it is too insignificant to impact their decision to go to the gym or not. Why: I feel that this need is catered to people who have an active interest in go...

The opportunity I chose to pursue was an app that tracks how crowded the gym is. Gyms usually have members "sign in" in some fashion before using the equipment. When a member signs in, the computer system updates the capacity of the gym with a number reflecting how many people have signed in versus signed out. The app would need approval from the gym to have access to that number (which could potentially work out to being a partnership). The app would then project that number in the app, showing how many people are currently in the gym to people looking at the app. The app would then give data such as if it is busier than normal, recommend a time to go based off of user input, etc. As for designing the app, I have some experience in coding and, given enough time, could figure out how to make the app. This would be much more efficiently done though if I hired a programmer to make the app, or gave them part ownership in the company.

Gym Capacity App Opportunity: Picking the right time to go to the gym is a big part of having an efficient workout. An app that would allow you to track how crowded the gym is would be useful. The who: People who go to the gym The what: An app that tracks a gym's capacity The why: To plan an efficient workout Testing the who:  This could also be useful for people who don't go to the gym but want to start going. Some people are self conscious of other people watching them and would want to go at the least crowded time that fits their schedule. Testing the what:  The app would rely on the gym having a tracking system for capacity already and would just project that number to the app.  Testing the why:  People have busy schedules and want to get the most out of their time. If someone only has one hour to workout, they would want to be productive during that hour instead of sitting around waiting for a machine to open up. Interview #1:  My ...