We were asked to take a quick survey about our potential to become entrepreneurs. The reason for taking this was to be create a baseline at the beginning of the class which to build from.
Some of the class results:
“…An interesting synthesis of my answers revealed that it’s best that I surround myself with others. Having others that accept and support my vision provides me a support mechanism for long-term advancement and successes. I find this point to be interesting in that I’ve often thought, at various points in my academic endeavors, that I was void of a constant mentor. I have often felt that my efforts to achieve are very self-motivated, and I’ll often embark on my journeys alone. This finding represents a good reminder of an area that requires improvement. I also need to remain driven by consequential rewards for those objectives that remain most meaningful to me” – KD
“The survey is a great tool for me to know where I’m standing when it comes to entrepreneurship. through the survey I learned my strong points and my weak sides, I need to work more on learning marketing techniques, understanding market needs and demand, making strategic connections, and learning how to find a partner.” – AH
The questionnaire can be found here : http://www.forbes.com/sites/tompost/2012/06/04/are-you-an-entrepreneur-startup/
We are also asked to be consider different ‘Points of Pain’ in our life, everyday obstacles that are the object of our frustrations. These ‘Points of Pain’ are great catalysts for creating innovations that address these problems and can create entrepreneurial opportunities.
Some of the classes “Favorites”:
“Taking cold showers. When I am back in Chicago and home with my parents and six siblings I face the daily problem of whether or not I woke up early enough to have a hot shower. The earlier you wake up the better your chances, but since everyone leaves the house around the same time you are stuck waiting until more hot water is available. What this calls for is a water heater that allows you to input how many people are in the house and around what time they take showers so that the water heater can heat and store enough hot water so that everyone can take a shower continuously without waiting for hot water or being stuck taking a cold shower. This type of invention would be great for large families.” – CR
“Customer Service: Several times within the past few months, I have had to deal with customer service and each encounter always ends with me needing to come back. This happened once for a laptop at Best Buy and once for AT&T. After several trips and calls, the desired outcomes were always reached. Companies should teach their employees to be more empathetic with customers on the first try than making customers repeatedly prove their point. Ultimately it is just a burden on everyone’s time.” – RS
“Working with a computer for a long time in my studio and [it] makes me tired. I get neck pain and sometimes really need somewhere to relax for a while and have something to eat and comeback to work!” – MM
