Week 13 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I thought that the traditional pricing model was surprising because event though both enterprises the same net worth and salaries, the net earnings are different therefore making the pricing different.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I was confused when the author was explaining the differences between the price earnings ratio method and the discounted earnings method. They both put values on companies but I guess they do it in different ways.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

How can two different business be valued the same yet one of them not be able to make sufficient returns? I was confused by this.

How can a business owner do the final valuation of the company without one of the elements that was talked about in the reading? What if they don't know about accuracy of projections or control factors?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I don't think I spotted anything that I disagreed with in this reading. The author did a good job of explaining things, especially by going over the terminology definitions when talking about letters of intent or LOIs.

Celebrating Failure

This past semester has been great, but it has also had its fair share of obstacles. On top of school, I work as a manager and event planner for a restaurant, and also have been volunteering for an event production company; it's been busy! I would say that the most notable failure that I have encountered this semester was a couple weeks ago while working  at the restaurant. I work at One Love Cafe, and my mom is the owner, so I am highly involved in the operation of the restaurant and try my best to make sure that everything always runs smoothly. Well, if you have ever worked in a restaurant, I'm sure that you would agree that this does not always happen- no matter how hard you try. Anyways, a few weeks ago we were having a typical steadily busy Thursday night, when our head chef had to leave because of personal matters. The other guys in the back are great don't get me wrong, but without the leader who usually calls out orders and makes sure everything is going out the way it's supposed to, things got a little crazy. Food tickets were getting lost, people weren't getting their food, items were missing from people's orders, and there were a lot of unhappy customers. I felt like we had failed that night big time. My mom claimed it was the most terrible night of her life, and it made me feel even worse! I had to reassure her that everything was going to be okay and tomorrow is a new day and everything will be fine. The cherry on top were the very hostile reviews that a couple people left on Facebook. They were bad. I'm at the point where they don't really phase me just because I think its sad that people have to post negative things about businesses that they have no idea the amount of effort and handwork goes into keeping them afloat. But I digress. This was the biggest fail that we had at the restaurant, and I wish that those customers did not have to have their first experience at One Love on a night where so many things were going wrong. I felt responsible and it made me feel horrible because all I want is for our customers to be happy! But the next day was smooth and everything went well, so everything turned out okay and my mom felt better too. 

From this fail, I learned that you cannot always control everything, and things like this happen-it's normal to have a rough time every once in a while. Sometimes things just don't go your way no matter how hard you try. You just have to remain positive and try harder next time. 

Failure is definitely hard, but it is also a learning experience. It teaches you to be strong and confident with your abilities, and shows you that sometimes even the hardest working people can fail. You just have to remain motivated and keep pushing through the obstacles life throws at you. I try to handle failure by always looking on the bright side and looking to the future; there is always a glimmer of hope in each failure you will encounter and there is always time to make up for things that don't work out perfectly. I think I am more likely to take risks now than four months ago, because this class has pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. Failure is something that is natural and it is going to happen to successful people; getting back up again and trying harder is what makes you stronger.

My Exit Strategy

1. Identify the exit strategy you plan to make.

The exit strategy I plan to make is to sell my business in the next 5 years once I have developed a solid and dependable solar charging station. Once I have broken into the market and sold my product to at least 3 different college campuses or businesses, then I will take the opportunity to sell it to someone who is an expert in the market and can take my business to the next level of profitability.

2. Why have you chosen this strategy?

I have chosen this strategy because this is a business that I most likely would do as a hobby/on the side, while still trying to go in the direction of the career I want to have. Once I get the business up and running it will be a lot of work and require a lot of time to run it once it becomes successful and the demand increases. Selling the business would allow me to make money from selling it while also providing people with a sustainable product from the person who takes over my business.

3. How has it influenced your decisions?

This strategy has influenced my decisions in a number of ways. First off, I wanted my business to be something that I could develop and then sell for a large amount of money while still keeping the business going by a different owner. It has influenced how I use resources because I can start out with a small amount of capital and use the solar contractor to help me make my product at a low cost. Once it is up and running it would be marketed to many different universities across the country emphasizing sustainability and then be sold to them, making a lot of money. This would attract someone to buy my company after seeing that it is profitable, who has a lot more experience in the marketing and business strategies than I would have if I were not to sell the business.