reflectingonmyjourney

[reflectingonmyjourney]

Thinking About Entrepreneurship Finance: Realizing Dreams and Making Dreams Come True.

I was in the Entrepreneurship Finance class hoping to have a solid background in financial analysis and financing of Oasis Mirage’s launch. I didn’t want to be too scared of a capital-heavy business.

The course was invaluable for everything from costing and funding to projections of profit and loss. Discovering startup cost breakdowns allowed me to manage the multifaceted financial requirements of Oasis Mirage. For instance, a mixture of fixed and variable costs makes operational flexibility possible in the high- and low-peak periods. I also learned how to find the breakeven point, which is very important when making monetary plans.

Further, the SMARTstart model was focused on acquisition and retention of customers. With this model I would like to introduce memberships and premium plugins to make recurring revenue. That’s exactly how Oasis Mirage envisions a premier wellness oasis.

Lastly, the contingency planning component has taught me to be ready for anything. If I build agility into the business model like providing event hosting and wellness programs for corporates, I can keep it financially strong .

Not only has this course given me the information to launch Oasis Mirage, but it has also built my self-belief as an entrepreneur. I’m looking forward to using these values to build a successful and long-term business.

[reflectingonmyjourney]

Reflecting on My Journey: Achieving My Goal in the Creativity and Innovation Course

Introduction

With my goal of developing self and personal development skills for my course in Creativity and Innovation this is what I focused on for the month of May. Here I was inspired to study the principles of design thinking, apply them to my own entrepreneurial plans (an old far-flung entrepreneurial dream of mine is to open a European style thermal spa/water park.) and gain a deeper understanding of how creative entrepreneurs make things happen. Now I feel better equipped to explore and take the next steps for my future.

Original Goal

My first – but most important – learning goal for this course was to explain in detail what design thinking and creative entrepreneurship are, including how they are applied into business planning, ideation and creativity, and critical problem-solving. My second goal was that, by the end of the course, I would be able to develop and understand strategies that will help me create a unique, premium, traditional thermal spa experience in Galánta, while simultaneously being aware of modern trends in wellness.

Achieving the Goal

It also seems that the mix of what I was taught (content, structure) worked for me, because I was taking up the fundamental question of how one can learn design thinking. The lectures provided a general overview and got me hooked on the topic; the readings complemented the lectures with stimulating ideas by diverse thinkers whom I might have never heard of otherwise; and the practical assignments gave me the opportunity to be exposed to real-world best practices, through case studies of the world’s most innovative companies, such as Apple, IDEO, and Airbnb.

Key Learnings

This may seem like a rather obvious outcome of the course, but I found it to be profound: Design thinking is an iterative process. And iterative processes take us somewhere. — Jon KolkoDesign thinking is not just about making things but a way of solving problems and addressing user needs through iteration as we move on to the next version, back to ‘diverge’, and onwards. The continuous iterations have made me start thinking about the problem-solving process through the design-thinking principles – being empathetic to the user and grounding innovation in user needs are fundamental concepts that I will keep in mind in my work moving forward.

Furthermore, with the creative entrepreneurship principles of Nathaniel Howe, Jayson Whitmore and Kim Alpert in mind – including being flexible, resilient and working in teams – one cannot always have everything figured out before you step into the market. Things change when you’re dealing with building a thermal spa and adapting to your customer’s needs and market conditions often becomes part of the reality of this business.

Making the Shift to Federal Law Enforcement

The most important transition for me is the one that I expect to make from career military service to career service as a member of the federal government. I am determined to become an expert in law enforcement ideas and to bring the lessons I learned from my leadership and discipline as a member of the military. No matter what my age, I will remain dedicated to lifelong learning. Within one year I intend to learn new skills and improve my investigative work, as well as gain a more advanced understanding of the intricacies of federal law enforcement systems. Even more personally, within one year I intend to build my leadership, decision-making, and ability to make a tremendous impact in the positions I will fill on the ball court in the future. Ultimately, within a year, I plan to achieve my goal of writing my first novel in the next five years. After my master’s degree and my two decades of military service, I am well positioned to enter the sector where I plan to continue to serve with distinction and with mission impact.

Application of Learnings

What I have learned from this course will influence my life, personal and professional. Personally, I will priorities focusing on questions first, and not following the directions too blindly, to approach problems with more creative thinking and greater empathy. Professionally, I would like to focus on understanding more about our users so I can lead more innovative projects towards a better entrepreneurial vision.

To guarantee that every element of the thermal spa I design has been created with user feedback in mind, I plan to employ design thinking methodologies, such as user research, defining problems, brainstorming and prototyping solutions, and testing those ideas in the real world.

Furthermore, the theories of being a creative entrepreneur will introduce my business mindset. Developing a unique selling proposition, having business resiliency and creating a work culture that has a collaborative team environment will create a spa that competitively sets itself apart from the rest of the industry and has a satisfied customer returning to experience again.

Conclusion

Looking back, I benefitted from getting into the course. I learned a lot. The course exceeded my expectations, as I feel now well-grounded in creativity and innovation, and ready to pursue my dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. I am sure these insights and tools will be useful, especially in my thermal spa project and their applicability to future ventures.