Andrew Colgan ENT3003

The experience from this class that sticks out as the most formative experience would be learning how to identify problems in the world, just by simply living life and noticing what bugs you.  The experience that was most joyous would be when i began to see my idea coming together and falling into place, this would also stick out to me as the moment that i am most proud of myself for.  At the beginning of the semester i saw myself as an entrepreneur, now that the semester is over i have learned that i was not even close to having a true entrepreneurial mind set.  I feel that i am now closer than ever to building this mindset but i'm sure in a year if i look back at this experience i will feel the same way i do now about myself at the beginning of the semester.  One recommendation that i would make to the students that are taking this class next semester is to stay  on top of your work, but that's too generic, so id be more likely to say that they should keep an ...

The Opportunity: Construction is a huge industry in America today, and its only growing.  With this growth comes stress on the market for specialized services, these companies that offer the specialized services needed for construction are all over booked and focus mostly on large projects with their pre existing customers.  Those smaller projects, or new customers are pretty much out of luck when it comes to finding these specialized services.  the service that i am focusing on is the site development sector.  site development is what must happen to a new construction site before it is ever even considered a construction site.  a crew comes in and clears the land, levels the land, puts in access roads, parking areas, etc.  Many of the companies that offer these services are so booked that they dont even have the option of taking on new projects.  Even if these companies had openings they would focus mostly on large and easy projects tha...

I read the biography of Steve Jobs.  What surprised me the most about Steve Jobs was that he had dropped out of college, but that wasnt the surprising part, the surprising part was that he continued to attend certain classes that he found interesting.  The thing that i most admired about him was his attention to detail and his demand for excellence.  But that was also what i admired the least about him because some times his idea of perfection was too far fetched.  He faced alot of adversity and just kept fighting and pushing and got through it.  One part of the reading that was confusing to me is how he lost his position in his own company.  if i could ask him one question i would ask him where he came up with the ideas.  I think he would be very supportive of hard work.

My exit strategy for this company would ultimately to build it to a size that it is nearly self sufficient.  meaning that i would have to hire multiple crews and have foreman to over see these crews so i would not be required to be on site with these crews, allowing me more time to follow other ventures, or just simply spend the piles of money that i will be earning.  I have selected this strategy because why wouldn't i want to continue to make money while my employees did all the work and all iw ould have to do is make big decisions.  This exit strategy has overall been the driving force behind any sort of internal growth that i predicted for the company.

One instance that i have failed over this past semester would be in my pursuit of duck hunting.  early teal season came around in September and i had put in countless hours of scouting and general prep for this short one week season.  i was out in the marsh as many days as i could be.  i had a few ducks come into my decoy set but of course, i hadn't put enough prep into my shooting skills and missed every duck that i shot at that week.  that's pretty embarrassing for me because hunting is what i do, its pretty much my whole life and for me to have put this much work into it and still come out unsuccessful was aggravating.  but i never let it get me down, i never let the lack of ducks or my poor shooting skills discourage me from getting back up at 4 am the next morning and driving to the lake again and facing the mosquitoes and the heat.  every day i was out on the water i learned more and more, i like to think that i learn more from failure simply because ...

1. I can foresee the need for growth within this company.  whether that means expanding to one crew or 5 crews will greatly depend on the continuation in growth of the construction industry as well as the demand for my services. 3. After having interviewed three of the customers that i have preciously interviewed, i have decided that it may be necessary for my company to also expand into the erosion control and environmental services sector of the construction industry.  these jobs are what happens almost intermediately after the site development crew is done and they actually stick with the job until it is completed.  they put up the little black fences around the sites as well as the floating yellow plastic in water around sites.  these are in place to keep the construction debris from leaving the site and contaminating surrounding areas.  These sectors are also grossly under served in the construction industry and show great promise for growth New Market ...

The Opportunity: Construction is a huge industry in America today, and its only growing.  With this growth comes stress on the market for specialized services, these companies that offer the specialized services needed for construction are all over booked and focus mostly on large projects with their pre existing customers.  Those smaller projects, or new customers are pretty much out of luck when it comes to finding these specialized services.  the service that i am focusing on is the site development sector.  site development is what must happen to a new construction site before it is ever even considered a construction site.  a crew comes in and clears the land, levels the land, puts in access roads, parking areas, etc.  Many of the companies that offer these services are so booked that they dont even have the option of taking on new projects.  Even if these companies had openings they would focus mostly on large and easy projects that make them t...

1. I already have a working relationship with both a heavy equipment dealer and a trailer manufacturer. V- This is extremely valuable because it will allow me to get this equipment at the best price and receive the best service possible R- This relationship is not exactly rare but the quality of relationship that i have with these dealers is rare I- The relationship that i have with these dealers is practically impossible to imitate, because the dealer is my uncle. N- These relationships are not substitutable 2. I already own the trucks that would be required to haul the equipment. V- These trucks are extremely valuable to the business because without them the equipment and workers could never get to these job sites R- These trucks are not rare in any way, drive down any road and you'll see one just like them I- These trucks are very imitable. N- These trucks could easily be substituted with any heavy duty pick up truck on the road. 3. I have great connections into the ...

I read “how to fail at pretty much everything and still win big” by Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comics.  The main idea of the book was how he has dealt with his failures and learned from them and stayed motivated which eventually led to his success.  The material in the book connects to the material we’ve learned in class because we’ve learned about how entrepreneurship can be failure after failure but can also lead to great success if the work is out in and the person is dedicated. If I were to design an assignment for this class based on this book it would be a discussion of some of our biggest failures in life and how they actually taught us and shaped us into the people we are today.  One part of this book that really stood out to me was building our lives around systems and not goals.  I never really thought about the inherent issues with setting goals and how actually demotivising they can be if we slip even a little bit off of reaching our exact go...

Here's  the video.  Please excuse my less than ideal shirt collar positioning, I didn't realize it until I went to upload it.  In this pitch i payed more attention to having the pitch memorized and speaking more smoothly.  I also re worded most of the pitch to allow for a better overall flow of the pitch as recommended from my feedback.

The first Person that i talked to was John Wells,  he is the owner of JTS a small construction company based out of central Florida.  I would consider him a domain expert in the industry. I Found John because he is a friend of my father.  The contact that we had was at a gathering of friends.  The exchange involved me describing the class that i was in and the business plan that i was attempting to create was.  He provided me with some advice on the industry and also referred me to a friend of his who was in the same market as i intend to be in.  Including him in my network will enhance my ability to exploit this opportunity by him providing me with advice and contact information for possible new jobs and such. The second person that i talked to was Andy Morgan, he is the owner of a land development crew very similar to the business that i intend to create.  I would consider him an expert in the market that i plan to be involved in.  I was refer...

1) I am a man that is experienced in the outdoors as well as construction.  i intend on working for myself for as much as my life as possible.  once a business venture succeeds enough i plan to purchase a large tract of land and opening a hunting guide service.  Hopefully the site development business is successful enough to fund this venture. 2) The service that i intend to provide is site clearing and development in preparation for new construction on primarily previously undeveloped land.  Focusing on the jobs that are more difficult than most companies are willing to take on. 3) My customer will be the land owner or construction manager, these customers have land that they wish to have cleared and possibly leveled for construction of agriculture use.  These customers are unable to land contracts with larger site development firms and also don't have the ability to do the job themselves. 4) The customers will be willing to pay for this service because t...

Here is the pitch

Since my business will consist mostly of B2B transactions, obviously my stereotypical customer will not be in human form, instead it will be a business.  On a rare occasion the customer will be the individual land owner and in that case the customer will be a human.  The stereotypical business that will be a customer to my service will be a small to medium construction company or land development firm.  These firms will not be large enough to own the equipment or have the labor force that is required to clear the land prior to construction.  In the case of having the land owner as the customer, this will typically be a white male, around his 40s, typically married with children, he makes his living with his hands, whether that means farming his land or working in a shop, he owns a large chunk of land that he needs cleared.  he wears flannels when its cold and jeans and boots even if it isn't cold, almost always wearing a hat to protect him from the sun and hide ...

Through my interviews i discovered that for most of the people in my customer segment make their decision for the service based mostly the pride of the service, in this business the quality tends to not be regarded as much as price. That being said, if a customer finds a company that they like to do business with they tend to stick with them for more projects even if their price is slightly higher than other companies simply because of the business relationship that is developed.  This being mostly a B2B service, the person in charge of choosing the service provider is the purchasing agent and depending on the size of the company sometimes the owner or site manager is included in the decision.  The companies typically pay for these services once the job is complete and sometimes on credit.  After the job is complete the customers will typically send a foreman or site manager to the site to make sure that the site was cleaned and graded and such to the standards specified ...

The thing that surprised me the most about Berry Gordy was that he initially wished to be a boxer.  He wanted to be a boxer as well as a musician when he was in his teens, he decided that boxers could only fight every few months while musicians could play everyday so he decided to chase his dream as a musician.  The thing that I admire most about Berry Gordy was that he never let the opinions of others discourage him from following his dreams, even when he was peer pressured into getting a “real job” he was still making efforts to write songs.  What I admire the least about Berry Gordy was that he seemed almost too focused on his career to truly spend time with his children, but this could simply be attributed to the way that he presented the story of his life.  Berry Gordy encountered much adversity in his life, he never let it get him down, through all of his failures he never stopped trying to be successful.  Even his divorce was a driving force for his caree...

Over the course of the past two months i have been challenged with the task of keeping up with this class.  in order to do that task i have definitely had to pay a lot more attention to what I'm doing, not only while completing the assignments but also just during my daily life.  I have payed a lot more attention to the world in general in order to determine the problems faced by people everyday.  I have also had to stay on top of myself and not allow myself to procrastinate, which is something i haven't done a great job of so far. Throughout the class i have thought about giving up a few times, mostly when having to do interviews.  What got me through these assignments was knowing that my dream was to become a successful entrepreneur so in order to reach this goal i would have to put in this work for my real business so i should get used to it.  I don't necessarily feel that i have develop a tenacious attitude, i feel more that i have solidified my tenaciousnes...

The Segment that i chose to evaluate in this activity was the segment that had the need for land clearing/site development for recreational use.  This included clearing land for hunting, motocross courses, bike trails, etc.  through my interviews i determined that their need occurs most often when they are on the property or thinking about the property.  They realize that if the land, or part of the land, were cleared they could have better use of the property in general.  Their need also becomes salient when they are thinking about the act that they intend upon using the land for once cleared, such as when they are shopping for sporting goods and such.  My interviews showed me that most of the time people that are in this segment they search for the solution via the internet, they use search terms such as "Land Clearing" or something similar.  The customer also finds a solution to the problem by talking to their friends and family who have experienced a si...

1) I am a man that is experienced in the outdoors as well as construction. I am very good at understanding the landscape and picturing what it can be.  I aspire to eventually be the successful owner/operator/manager of a hunting guide service on my own large piece of land.  I see the site development business blossoming into a large and successful business venture that will allow me to buy the large piece of property that is required for my guide service. 2) The service that I intend to provide to the customers would be land clearing/site development for new construction on previously undeveloped land 3) My customers will be property owners or construction managers that have a previously undeveloped tract of land that needs to be cleared in order for new construction, or creating a field or modifying the land in any way. 4) The customers will be willing to pay for this service because they need the land to be cleared and the site developed in order to continue the constr...

In this post i will delve further into the opportunity of creating a site development company.  In order to further investigate this opportunity i have conducted interviews of people who should have the need that i have identified but for some reason do not have that need. From these interviews i have determined that although there are many companies and land developers out there creating new construction, some of them already have a site development company on contracts.  This shows that there is competition in the market of site development.  What i also learned from my interviews is that some of the larger companies that are involved in land development and new construction are a "one stop shop" of sorts, meaning that they do all of there own work from site development to finishing trim, leaving no room for my business with them.  I also determined that there is a difference between the need for a site development team and the need for a full project company, this...