Week 15 Reading Reflection

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? 

Nothing really stood out to me, but I really liked this article. I wish more companies would come to the USA and do this with lower income areas, or try and help people in their 20's do things like this. I know tons of people my age who could milk a cow everyday and sell the milk for some money, and after 15 years turn it into a big business.  To bad banks here are only lending out thousands of dollars for the big interest payments up front.

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

Does this company really think it can keep this growth up for long?  Adding 150,000 thousand customers a month is great, but at some point they will cover all of India and be out of new customers.

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

Have you considered doing this in the USA?  I think this would help a lot of younger milllenials!

How much does your company profit?  Just curious how many micro loans does it take to become profitable.

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

I like the author and the ideas. This was a great read!

Final Reflection

What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

I really enjoyed making a venture concept in this class.  It gave me a perspective about what it takes to start a business. Lots of hours and lots of initial capital are required, and more than I originally thought actually. Doing tat exercise I think was the most eye opening and gave me the right perspective, I definitely have a greater respect for individuals who started their own enterprises.

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

Well, I do not consider myself that much of an entrepreneur. I think I have some good idea, but they are not always original, and they are mostly support ideas for other products and ideas. I think I am really good at adding value on top of ideas already in existence, and in a way that is entrepreneurial, but I think it is different.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

I would recommend students to keep an open mind and just do the assignments. This class has a lot of work up front, but after week 8 it gets easier and easier. This class requires students to be organized, and utilize time management skills.  All the assignments are always due on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, so keeping track is easy!

Elevator Pitch No. 4

Okay,   This tool can be used by individuals or companies as a whole.   Don"t think ace hardware  and Home Depot. Although they might be customers I want you to think companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman. Big companies that need close tolerance hardware for specific needs!    So that is what I adjusted from the precious week.  Thanks for the good feedback.  Although, someone said they would use this on their own car, and YES this would be an ideal app for those purposes too. All of your hardware needs solved on the first trip to the Store.    I might even be able to sell advertisement rights for this app to a store like Lowes or home depot.


https://youtu.be/NRmiRbc8dOc

Venture Concept No. 2

People as a whole have a need for a better CrossFit gym, and so do many college students who want to play sports for their college, or further enhance their physical condition. Customers can range from college students to stay at home moms who want to improve their overall fitness level. Gainesville currently has what I consider tier 3 CrossFit gyms and they are essentially no good in my opinion. Currently customers are going to what they think are good Crossfit gyms but they are lead by people with little talent, who are solely after the money or trainers who don’t know what they are talking about. I used to train at a few of these facilities and I think they only stay open currently because new students come in every 4 months.

Customers would switch so quickly if the location was close to campus and big enough to accompany 50 people at once (Nearly 2x the current average).

I will have a decent amount of competitors, but my location will be prime, priced better, and trainers who actually know what they are talking about. Customer service will play a vital role in the business as people will want o be treated very well as they should. The appearance of this product (location) will also have to be good to distinguish myself from other competitors.

I could see this place operating with 3 full time trainers and perhaps 2 part time trainers if needed.

What will you have that will make it hard for competitors to copy your success?

The size of the location will be almost 2x the size of any other location in town, and that is so difficult to replicate.  The only options another gym might be able to perform is to move, and that is costly, so my competition will have no choice.

 What’s next for the venture?

Developing an athletes guide to get students on path to join college sport teams. There are a lot of college want-to-be athletes who never made the official college team, but still have the same dream. I would like to fuel that dream with a program that would enable these athletes to train over the course of a year, and then be able to walk on a UF Athletics team! I think in the begging phase I would have to have a specialty program for just track athletes, and then expand into baseball, and then football, and then the next sport.  This would take a lot of upfront work, but after a few success stories this would explode! So this would be the most fun part of the business, but in the start up phase will not pay for itself. The regular class that teaches regular students CrossFit will be the prime money maker in the beginning phase.

What’s next for me?

After success with this venture, I think the goal would be to expand into new territory.  There are colleges all around the country filled with students who are not satisfied with their CrossFit gyms. Gainesville being a prime location and having what I consider tier 3 gyms is an eye opener. If Gainesville has this type of opportunity I believe other college towns would as well. The trick is to cater to the right customers, and understand their unique goals, and get them on the right track.

Five Years- Expand into at least one new location such as Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Sarasota, orTampa. The goal would be to set up the Gainesville location and have such success that athletes all over the country would want an opportunity like this. I think developing the proper program for athletes is going to be the toughest aspect of this venture. A football player, and a gymnast will have very different needs as far as training goes, and I am going to need coaches with expertise in both! I realize this will be tough to solve, but all problems are fixable.

Ten Years- Have several locations, and expand outside the sunshine state to increase territory. At this point I would think other competitors would see my plan and try making their own version of my product. That will happen, but not in every single market.  The goal would be to have locations in several markets and take care of them for long run business opportunity.  After 10 years I would imagine hiring outside management to take care of individual locations while I focus on new ventures. I think this idea is unique, and I do not see others doing it..YET!

Everyone who reviewed my last post only gave me positive advise, so that was a good thing. Although I noticed some people had no idea about how bad the Crossfit gyms are in Gainesville and how bad I think of them. So now I know the Market I will be working in is not as educated in this area, or maybe customers do not see it the way I see it.  I imagine my product will be very very different than anything else ever seen in Gainesville and it will take the town by storm!   I only changed my concept, by adding a bigger time estimate to it. Perhaps 10 years will not be long enough, and instead I should aim for 15 or so.  The first establishment will take a very long time to nurture and grow.

Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimization (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

At first in the semester I would just make sure to share my posts with all of my email contacts.  That seemed to generate some web traffic.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

I did not put in specific key words to increase traffic or refine them in anyway shape or form. 

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

I used Google Plus which is recommended by the blogger site, but after a few weeks I decided to not pursue this option any longer. I did not want to bombard my friends and family with my school work topics. If I had a product I would simply use Google AD-WORDS to get the front page I want.

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

My Venture Concept Idea number 1 gained the most traffic, and I think it can be contributed to two factors. Number one This was the longest assignment and I really tried my best to do this assignment to the best of my ability, and I think people noticed. This assignment also required 4 comments, so most of my views came from comments.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

YES I made it to the first page of google results, for two of my blog posts.  My Key words are my name Stephen Clegg. I am also the first LinkedIn Profile that appears.  Never knew I would be first page google material, but here I am!

Very Short Interview, Part 2

From where you stand now, what is your impression of that initial interview?


I think my initial interview was very educational, but not eye opening.  Everyone wants to open a business and sell it for a hige profit after 5 years, and move onto the next project.  Make a lot of money and have fun with it is drilled into our brains. Altough, real world business does not always flow perfectly. There are set back and hills to climb over. Nick Saban believed in a term called THE PROCESS. Go in a do your best everyday to work towards the goal you seek.  That is what business is all about. Get the job done, and just grind.

I am not asking the same question instead I am asking my Boss what he sees in the future of his company what my physical presence will bring, and what is his exit strategy.

Government Contracting dealing with parts being manufacturer to delivered for specific projects. I will start learning the process of government sourcing and dealing with DLA to help our company grow into a multimillion dollar enterprise.   My Boss does not have an exit strategy. After 20 years of this job he might spend another 10 working and then sell the company off or hand it to managers to handle the daily operating.


Well I have always been very blunt with people and conducting interviews is something I consider easy, so tht did not change.  I did ask different questions, but I think that is more dependent on the material we were learning at the time.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

) 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? 

WHen the author discusses One-Person Band Syndrome I thought that was a good vocab word for the definition.  I know a lot of people who should read that paragraph.

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

How is Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth studied and proven to work better when implemented or not implemented?

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

I would not ask the author questions.  I understand what he wrote and I am still taking it all in

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

Nope, I just wish he would have sourced some of his statements so I could read up, and make sure he really knows what he is talking about.

Celebrating Failure

Wow So many little memories come into mind about failing something this semester. Just int he past few days actually, especially outside of class.  I do not want to bore my audience so Ill talk about the Jerk I misses the other day at the gym.   I was doing one clean and jerk every minute for 15 minutes, and I chose to perform this exercise at 225lbs.   Well sure enough at rep 13 the luckiest of all numbers I missed my jerk and the bar almost hit me in the head!!!     Crazy experience right there, but it is all part of the process as Nick Saban would say

What did I learn from this?  Well I get tired towards the end of workouts and I need to be more cautious of that. Missed lifts are no good in lifting and in life in general. And missing a lift is okay here and there, but you need to pick the bar back up and just grind it out.  This is kinda like life. When you get knocked down you need to asses the situation feel sorry for yourself for about 2 seconds and get back in the game. Finish what you start and don't look back!
Now this class didn't really teach me about failure, but it did teach me to get out of my comfort zone more which perhaps is addressing previous failures.

Reading Reflection

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 really enjoyed this chapter, and how it flowed into this weeks posts and lectured.   It was like this week was staged to flow properly and I really enjoyed learning all the angles of this topic!

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

The role of switching over from an entrepreneur to a manager was a little confusing to me. It THe book also talks about hiring people who are going to love their job, but the reality is that will rarely happen.

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

This book seems a little out dated now, do you still consider facebook, google, apple, and amazon the top 4 entrepreneurial firms ever?

Hiring perfect people for their dream jobs sounds good and all, but is it really possible to staff a whole company that way?

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

Not wrong about anything, but my method is just a little different. Same outcomes, so all good!

My Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

Hiring other managers to run the daily operations while I am away.  The goal is to have a chain of locations that operate in different cities, so this will be primal in the beginning.  When I am old I will just focus on maybe one main location and not worry about the others. When I am 70 I will sell everything off and be stress free.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I think when I am older the last thing I want to be is bored. Many people who are retired have nothing to do, and they usually develop bad habits like gambling,or drinking. If i continued working until I as 70 I would still be pursuing my passions and having a good time!

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

Well this might slow down the process in my opinion, because I extend my deadline.  When people want to build an empire and sell it they usually take about 5 years to accumulate what they need and then they retire.  THey have a close deadline. If I have a 50 year deadline, work will get done slower, that is nature of it.  But I will probably have more fun!

Venture Concept No. 1

Venture Idea: The Best CrossFit in Gainesville

People as a whole have a need for a better CrossFit gym, and so do many college students who want to play sports for their college, or further enhance their physical condition. Customers can range from college students to stay at home moms who want to improve their overall fitness level. Gainesville currently has what I consider tier 3 CrossFit gyms and they are essentially no good in my opinion. Currently customers are going to what they think are good Crossfit gyms but they are lead by people with little talent, who are solely after the money or trainers who don’t know what they are talking about. I used to train at a few of these facilities and I think they only stay open currently because new students come in every 4 months.

Customers would switch so quickly if the location was close to campus and big enough to accompany 50 people at once (Nearly 2x the current average).

I will have a decent amount of competitors, but my location will be prime, priced better, and trainers who actually know what they are talking about. Customer service will play a vital role in the business as people will want o be treated very well as they should. The appearance of this product (location) will also have to be good to distinguish myself from other competitors.

I could see this place operating with 3 full time trainers and perhaps 2 part time trainers if needed.

What will you have that will make it hard for competitors to copy your success?

The size of the location will be almost 2x the size of any other location in town, and that is so difficult to replicate.  The only options another gym might be able to perform is to move, and that is costly, so my competition will have no choice.

 What’s next for the venture?

Developing an athletes guide to get students on path to join college sport teams. There are a lot of college want-to-be athletes who never made the official college team, but still have the same dream. I would like to fuel that dream with a program that would enable these athletes to train over the course of a year, and then be able to walk on a UF Athletics team! I think in the begging phase I would have to have a specialty program for just track athletes, and then expand into baseball, and then football, and then the next sport.  This would take a lot of upfront work, but after a few success stories this would explode! So this would be the most fun part of the business, but in the start up phase will not pay for itself. The regular class that teaches regular students CrossFit will be the prime money maker in the beginning phase.

What’s next for me?

After success with this venture, I think the goal would be to expand into new territory.  There are colleges all around the country filled with students who are not satisfied with their CrossFit gyms.  Gainesville being a prime location and having what I consider tier 3 gyms is an eye opener. If Gainesville has this type of opportunity I believe other college towns would as well. The trick is to cater to the right customers, and understand their unique goals, and get them on the right track.

Five Years- Expand into at least one new location such as Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Sarasota, or Tampa. The goal would be to set up the Gainesville location and have such success that athletes all over the country would want an opportunity like this. I think developing the proper program for athletes is going to be the toughest aspect of this venture. A football player, and a gymnast will have very different needs as far as training goes, and I am going to need coaches with expertise in both! I realize this will be tough to solve, but all problems are fixable.

Ten Years- Have several locations, and expand outside the sunshine state to increase territory. At this point I would think other competitors would see my plan and try making their own version of my product. That will happen, but not in every single market.  The goal would be to have locations in several markets and take care of them for long run business opportunity.  After 10 years I would imagine hiring outside management to take care of individual locations while I focus on new ventures. I think this idea is unique, and I do not see others doing it..YET!

Week 11 Reading Reflection

For each reading reflection post, I ask you to address the following areas:

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? 

This article is so simple, but the author clearly does not understand what they are actually talking about. THe author is trying to explain why certain companies are failing and others are doing well. The real answer can be found reading any chapter about supply and demand, and looking at manufacturing jobs in the USA.  I was surprised this article was this long to be honest, because I could have explained all of this to a 6th grader in half the time it took me to read this article.

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

WHat confused me was why the author went on and on rambling about companies not being innovating enough, or their priorities were considered wrong about innovation. Seemed that the author was just crying.

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

Have you ever read a book, or even a chapter in a book about supply and demand?

Did Harvard pay you to write this awful article? I hope Harvard students didn't have to pay to have this written.

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

Companies fold all the time, and it is not always about their product not being innovating enough. Companies just do not know what to do all the time. The Ipad was invented 10 years before Apple released it by Microsoft. MIcrosoft had no idea what to do with their product so they shit-canned it.  innovation is overlooked.

Amazon Whisperer

• Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

Signing people up for memberships on a monthly basis that cost 120$ each.  

• Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the nextthing your customers want?

Protein powders, recovery drinks, family group rates, easier classes for the very unfit trying to improve their basic lives.

• Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

The protein and recovery drinks will enhance athlete performance and make them enjoy the experience better because they will become better faster. Family group discounts and more basic classes will bring in more money as this will increase gym membership as a whole. People seem to enjoy working out with their spouses or kids and this will increase that urge!

• Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

P90X is a very similar product, but it is different.  With P90X you workout at your house on your own schedule. People who do this have to own their own equipment, and workout at their own house. This is ideal for people who own larger houses to accommodate all the space it requires. Training is most with free weights and body weight movements. There is a program to follow, as well as a meal guide to follow.  I actually did P90X maybe 8 years ago now.

• 
• What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

People actually like P90X a lot, and the fact that every movement can be scaled. WHich is similar to the product I want to bring to teach people who are extremely unfit to improve their life.  P90X just does not coach people as they are doing it, and people like the coaching environment. All positive reviews for this product, except when you try and repeat P90X a few times the workouts can become boring, time consuming, and the results go away because the stimulus stays the same.

• Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 

Different workouts regularly to keep the stimulus new and exciting.

• Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

This would encourage more people to show up, and diversify the customer base by adding a new market to it.  Having a separate class for athletes, and then a new class for individuals who are solely their to loose weight and improve their basic lives. This would increase the team base feel for the new people who want to feel good about working out and make current athletes feel better about themselves. 

My Unfair Advantage

• 1.) Human Capital
  My Staff is going to be unique and trained very well. Other places around town have okay trainers, but not the best, and definitely not the best all the time. Other gyms have good trainers, but only have access to them a handful of times a week. This is easy to copy, but difficult to implement. 
  
  
  2.) Social Capital
  Marketing will be done mostly by friends and family who are members of the gym. This is will cut down costs as I will not have to pay to market my product.
  3.) Financial Capital
  I have direct access to manufacturers, who build these types of gyms, and I will not have to go to a distributor for equipment and this will save thousands of dollars. Not many people know how to go about this, this is just one of the personal connections I have.
  4.) Capabilities
  A CrossFit Gym large enough to accommodate classes of 10 people up to 50 people.  Most gyms outside of big cities can only serve upwards to 20 people at a time. Once classes become larger than that chaos breaks loose and customers stop showing up.  Our capabilities will suit the community and the structure will be so good others cannot imitate. 
  5.) Location
  Prime Location is key to success. Entering the right market is ideal, and this can also be replicated fairly easily 
  6.) Knowledge of Product
  I have been doing this sport for nearly 3 years, and when I am ready to venture off into my own business of this I will have well over 5 years of experience. That is years of working one with people, and working in a class situation. The only way to replicate this is to spend the time to learn. This is a valuable resource.
  7.) Organizational culture
  The culture at the location will be professional, but fun. This will make customers feel very confident about the product, but still make them feel like working out is fun.  This is very hard to find elsewhere.
  8.) Best Equipment
  Like I states earlier having access to manufacturers I will be able to purchase better equipment at lower prices and more of it. This is extremely important when operating a gym as appearance is vital to success.
  9.) Atmospheric Pleasure
  This is more of an internal atmosphere I would like to control by having the proper staff act a certain way with each other that keeps gossip down and fun up. This will create a better work environment which should be a standard though the industry, but it is not.
  10.) Size
  Imagine a CrossFit facility capable of serving world class athletes, and also able to make your grandma fit.  The size of this gym is going o be so massive it is going to attract people from an hours drive away. Serving all customers no matter their athleticism will be what separates me from my competition 

There is a gym in the Orlando area that is MASSIVE and people go there, but the coaches are no good in my opinion, but they have a booming business.

There is another gym in Stewart FL that has some of the best athletes in the state, but Stewart is literally in the middle of nowhere and the gym struggles.  Finding a prime location and size venue will be challenging, but manageable.

week 10 reading reflection

For each reading reflection post, I ask you to address the following areas:

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 actually enjoyed this chapter of the book. When I went to community colleges my favorite classes were financial and managerial accounting, so reading about accounting was fun!  Nothing stood out to me and I enjoyed this chapter very much

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

Some of the definitions were in the back of my mind and I had to recall learning about the,, but the meaning where right in front of my eyes which was nice.  I liked how this chapter laid out all of the financial terms we should know and used them in context.

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

Why is this section chapter 11, money is important shouldn't this be chapter 3, or 4?

This chapter doesn't really explain how an entrepreneur can set themselves up for financial success in the beginning of their endeavours.  I think it should, wouldnt you agree?

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

Nope, I don't think this author really wrote much in this chapter to be honest. There are not many opinions in this chapter, there are facts and that's the sum of this chapter. To disagree would mean to be wrong.

Growing My Social Capital

One person must be a domain expert in your industry. This would be someone who's engaged in the same type of business activity as you would like to be. They may own the same kind of company that you would like to own, or they may be a technical expert who knows a lot about the kind of product or service that you would like to produce.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Sam Wills is a salesman for the company that I work for. He sells aircraft equipment most days and the parts he sells can be all over the place. For example he might be selling nuts and bolts on Monday, but on Thursday he is selling helicopter exhaust pipes.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

I am filling slot # 1 which is the domain expert in the industry. Sam Wills has been selling all type of aircraft equipment for years and knows hundreds of different supplier, vendors, and just a ton of general information that can be useful.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

Sam, actually works for the same company I work for, but I do not talk to him frequently. Sam is friendly and he makes good choices and it reflects on his work outcomes.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

I asked Sam a lot of question about what he thought of my idea, and he told me a lot of interesting things.  My idea was taking a picture of a hardware item and being able to identify it.  Sam thought it was a good product as long as I have customers, and suppliers to go to to purchase the needed items.  He was insightful. No return is expected from me.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Do I really have to answer this question? Sam knows other people in the industry and has contacts across hundreds of companies. His knowledge will help me improve my idea and perhaps target my market better.

2) One person must be an expert on your market. This would be someone who is targeting your market with similar products services -- or knows a lot about conducting customer research in your area -- or represents a major piece of your market (this might be most applicable with B2B markets).

1) Who they are and what their background is.

My Uncle actually owns a company that sells products to the government that go on airplanes and navy ships.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

My Uncle would be filling position # two. He knows how to conduct customer research, doing business with large companies, and has a lot of knowledge about the industry as a whole.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

This is my uncle, so he was pretty easy to find. Have not talked to him in awhile, but he would help me if I asked.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

Well I am the nephew, so I feel like for the most part I can get help for free on the weekends, but If I needed professional help I would most likely have to pay him, or offer some type of service in return.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

My uncle knows much about the industry and could help me get set up for success.  He has started a few business in the past and would be able to tell em what to do right, and what steps to avoid. It is his past experience, and General Knowledge that would help me.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry. 

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Currently at the gym I workout at there is a guy named Jad who works at a Aerospace and Defense company. Primarily he sells directly to the government.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

I am filling in spot # 3 here. Jad fits this description because technically he is my competition, but he is also a friend with good advice.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I workout at the gym and Jad is there every once is a while. One day I noticed his shirt labeled Northrop Grumman, and we starting talking about the Aerospace and Defense industry.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

Personal friend who can provide great advice. I honestly do not think I will ever have to repay any favors unless I used his professional skills during the work week.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Jad will be able to help me set up business with government sales and associates in that field of the industry.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

This exercise taught me what to talk about with certain people.  Usually I am a clown when I am out in public. I am 22 and I enjoy being free and having fun. This exercise opened my eyes and made me realize how others can view me. When you are with certain "clicks" of people you need to act a certain way, so they view you as a professional.   I never really networked in the past, so this does not differ from anything I have ever done, because I haven't done this before!  Cool exercise!