ENT3003 Entrepreneurship Blog

1)  Tenaciousness is a competency.  Constant reading/analysis of the current market environment. Inundating  yourself with business news and asking your opinion of it is a great way to stay sharp. 2)  Tenaciousness is also about attitude. I always keep my long-term goals at the fore-front of my mind. When I am in a tough place, I ask myself "With this help me achieve X". 3)  Three tips.  Set meaningful goals that are also achievable Build a personal "Board of Directors" Constantly challenge your own beliefs.

1)  Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc What surprised you the most? I didn't know anything about Ray Kroc before this book, but I was most surprised at how quickly he blew up- going from a very average salesmen to a franchising giant! What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? His hard work. He refused to give up! What about the entrepreneur did you  least  admire? I least admire some of the "dominant" or "aggressive" tactics that he used. I read up more on Kroc after finishing his autobiography, and he has received some criticism for not giving the original MacDonald brothers more credit. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Yes. First, he worked hard until he had the opportunity to work on something that had the potential to blow up (McDonald's). Then, he built out a highly skilled team around him! 2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibi...

1)  Pick a segment.   The segment I am targeting is people who have not yet made any plans for long-term care. 2) Need Awareness #1- Worried about lack of plans. Their lack of future plans stems from the fact that they don't know what their financial situation will be like in 10-15 years. #2- Not worried about lack of plans. Money is not a problem for couple, so they feel like that gives them room for error in their planning. They have not decided on any plans for long-term care because they don't know where they want to retire. #3- Not necessarily  worried, but not content with their level of preparedness  either. This individual is retired but still very busy doing missions work overseas in Central and South America. Money isn't going to be too much of an issue because of charities which will support him in his later years. However, he does have budget constraints and won't have unlimited options. 4) Move to information search.  The two coupl...

1) You. I am from Jacksonville, Florida. It is a military town with a large population of pensioners and retirees. Because the cost of living is low, the quality of life is high and the weather is generally quite good, lots of people choose to retire down here. Because of this, I have seen a lot of nursing homes. I have also worked for a nursing home over the course of a summer, and my grandmother was in a nursing home for several years. I love business, finance and corporate strategy. Right now I work for a tech company in Jacksonville, assisting in Corporate Development and Investor Relations. If I were to start this business, I would need to pull on all my experience to raise enough capital to bring it to market. 2)  What are you offering to customers?  I am offering a flexible, cost sensitive one-size fits all approach to long term assisted living insurance. 3)  Who are you offering it to?  My customers are troubled by the rising cost of quality long-term c...

Who:  There are people who fit my demographic but to not respond to my product. There are three types of people who fall into this category: people who are happy with their existing form of care, people who want more traditional type of long-term care and people who have no plan for long-term care, and are not making any. My great-uncle is a good example of this last demographic. When I interviewed him, he acknowledged that he was aging but just insisted that his plan was to die before he ever needed any type of long-term assistance. What:  My need is geared towards people who want a flexible, one size fits all long-term plan. The type of person who would be interested in my solution would also be interested in something like a fixed annuity. Why:  No, the underlying cause, aging, is exactly the same. Inside the boundary Outside the boundary People who still need long-term care Those who don't want anymore long-term care or none at all Providing a flexible long...

Problem- As the population ages, seniors will increasingly need long-term care. The lack of long-term care is constantly playing catch-up, leading to it being very high in price. Solution: A company which provides a suite of senior needs, adapted to whatever the individual prefers. How do we do this? An individuals assets are valued and placed into a managed trust. Our company acts as financial adviser and care provider, this allows us to manage risk from both sides. We can approve the senior for HE loans for home modifications, and receive referral fee's for doing so. We can provide flexible live-in care as needed. This allows us to meet senior needs and maintain an acceptable but managed amount of risk.

Who: Seniors and people over the age of 55 with disposable income or long-term care benefits What: There is not enough capacity to care for these individuals as they age Why: Current long-term care infrastructure is designed to handle the current populations and is constantly playing catch-up Testing the who: Yes, everyone in my market shares this need, unless they die suddenly before they need long-term attentive care. Even if your family is the one taking care of you, everyone needs help when they age. Testing the what: The degree of need and the type of need demanded change based on demographics. Elders with higher disposable income typically prefer live-in care, home modifications or regular visitation from a health professional. People with less benefits or disposable income prefer less expensive group homes. Testing the why: The only people who my why does not apply to are those who are already in a facility or have long-term care. Interviews Summary: I intervie...

Aging population will increase demand for long-term senior care Where did you find this? This is something I have been aware of for a while, but I did additional research and confirmed this using data from the U.S. census. What leads you to believe this opportunity might exist? As people age, their needs change, and many need long-term care from a dedicated professional staff. Compounding this effect is the fact that the Baby Boomers and Gen-X had less children (i.e. caretakers) than previous generations, implying that their late-life care will have to be outsourced to professionals. Who do you think is the most likely customer? People 60 and over with access to long-term benefits or sufficient retirement savings. Is the opportunity easy or difficult to exploit? It is fairly difficult, as you have to raise substantial capital to build a senior living facility. Why did you see the opportunity? I worked for a summer with a senior facility, so I have been aware of trends in t...