BUS105 IA5

Tyler Peyman
BUS105
IA4
April 24, 2018



We had a guest lecture a few months ago by Rebecca Harris.  She has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, consultant, and marketing specialist.  During that time, she also started and managed a number of businesses, consulted on business development, marketing, sales management and strategic planning, and has worked for several non-profit organizations.  She holds an MBA in marketing from The Fox School of Business at Temple University and a bachelor of science degree in communication studies from Northwestern University.  You can access her LinkedIn profile here.

What made me decide to write about this guest lecture was the fact that when Rebecca Harris began her lecture, she made all the students put away their laptops and really engaged the class into her presentation.  She talked about the process of being an entrepreneur and shared her experiences.  She then incorporated the textbook chapter on entrepreneurship into her lecture.

I am comparing the guest lecture by Rebecca Harris to an article in the Harvard Business Review titled What Makes Entrepreneurs Burn Out.  I am comparing this article with the lecture because I remember Rebecca talking about what makes a good entrepreneur.  According to the article, evidence suggests that entrepreneurs are at more risk of burnout because they tend to be extremely passionate about work and more socially isolated, have limited safety nets, and operate in high uncertainty (Moll et al. 2018).  As a result of this, they are more likely to contribute entrepreneurial firm failure and bankruptcy.

In conclusion, I have learned a lot about entrepreneurship through the guest lecture by Rebecca Harris.  Her experiences, knowledge and ability to share with students are very beneficial.  I hope to learn more about entrepreneurship in the future at Chatham University.

References:

Mol, E. D., Pollack, J., & Ho, V. T. (2018, April 10). What Makes Entrepreneurs Burn Out.                       Retrieved April 24, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2018/04/what-makes-entrepreneurs-burn-out

BUS 105 IA4

Tyler Peyman
IA4
BUS105
April 24, 2018

I attended an internship mixer located in Laughlin Hall, and got to speak with many recruiters from different companies.  Companies I spoke with include City of Pittsburgh, Department of City Planning, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, Auberle and Allegheny Land Trust.  This was a great way to network and get that first foot in the door towards a career path and internships.  Also, I was able to receive business cards and follow up with certain people about that mixer.  This event helped me gain more confidence and more comfortable socializing with others about potential careers.  For the most part, the recruiters seemed very excited to talk to me about their company. 

By networking, I was able to follow up and connect with people on LinkedIn, allowing me to see their profile and connect even more.  Another thing I noticed at this event was that the recruiters would not come up to you, you had to come to them to learn more information about their company.  I thought that was a great way to get students to talk and socialize.

Overall, this was a great event to attend and has helped me network with companies I haven’t heard about and consider in the future.  Because of this, I will plan to attend more career events as it is beneficial information for myself. 

BUS105 IA3

Tyler Peyman

IA3

4/20/18

Personal Business Plan

Mission Statement:

We strive to develop our products sustainably, only using materials that do not harm the environment and the people and can be recycled once wasted.  By using this strategy, we save the company money, customers are satisfied, and no damage is done.  Lastly, we provide competitive prices for materials and provide a rewarding work environment for its employees. 

Business Environment:

I will be competing in the construction industry as my company creates sustainable building materials for construction companies to use.  As for the global environment, barriers to entry are low because worldwide, there is no company that does this at this level.  However, competition will be rising due to the fact that other distributors will claim their company is better.  For supply and demand, economic forces will be present.  During the cold seasons, demand will be lower, but in warmer seasons, demand would be high.  Thus, in the middle of the supply and demand will be the equilibrium point. 

Entrepreneurship and Strategy:

One of the main challenges I envision promoting and selling product me is branding and receiving enough support from customers and clients.  If more clients are satisfied with the product and service, it is more likely the company will begin to expand.  As for potential strategies, I would plan to do a service that other companies may not provide such as delivering materials to the location of the construction site.  That way, construction companies will be able to save time off site and more time on site, completing the project at hand.  Another start up strategy would be the location of the business.  Obviously, if there is another construction materials distributor in the same area, I would not want to start a similar business there. 

Management:

As for management, I would push for efficiency and effectiveness by using as few resources as possible as well as achieve goals as fully as possible in order to have managerial success.  As a general manager, I would have employees report back to me the progress they made.  Since the company involves distributing construction materials, I would motivate the employees by having a competition.  For example, for sales, the competition would be to see who brings in the most construction companies buying materials from my company.  The employee with the most would receive a bonus.  I think this way would promote a healthy, efficient and fun way to manage the employees.  At the beginning of each work week, I would set goals that we as a company need to achieve for that week. 

Marketing:

As a Chief Marketing Officer of this company, I would promote my products through networking.  This will allow for the company to spread to potential customers who may be interested in the products and services.  My potential customers would be construction companies and homeowners.  Using the four P’s of marketing, (Product, Price, Placement, Promotion) I would use the sustainability aspect to market the products.  Allowing the customers to know that the materials they are getting are eco-friendly and safe to use, should promote a good way of buying these products.  As for digital marketing, I would promote my products through social media especially twitter because I feel that is the best way to promote the products. 

Accounting and Finance:

For this assignment, we will be a publically traded company.  This will allow for the company to have shareholders and stock.  We would then be able to sell stock and generate revenue and keep the shareholders involved in the business. 

Example of company balance sheet:

Assets:

            Cash $600

Liabilities and Owner’s equity

            Liabilities 400

            Owner’s Equity 200

Total Liabilities and Owner’s equity $600

Also, fixed costs, variable costs, and contribution margin per unit are a part of the breakeven analysis.  This is the process to break even and the total sales revenue must exactly equal all your expenses.  A financial plan would consist of a steady wage for all employees along with benefits and retirement plan. 

Information Systems and Operations:

As for information systems and operations, the company will need to collect data on a lot of different aspects of the business.  I would make sure the company is running on the ERP System.  This will manage information flow among all database applications.  Each department would need this.  For example, Finance, they report customer’s credit rating and current selling prices. 

BUS105 Individual Assignment 2

Tyler Peyman
BUS105 Individual Assignment 2
4/13/18

I had the opportunity to interview Garrett Jex, a graduate student and also the graduate assistant baseball coach at Chatham University.  Garrett is from Bowling Green, Ohio and graduated from Lourdes University with a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology.  Currently, he is in the Master of Arts in Teaching program at Chatham University.  After grad school, he would like to teach middle school students.  His interests are reading books on leadership and baseball, enjoys watching sports, traveling and likes to exercise in his free time.

When asked about good studying strategies, Garrett thinks it is important to be proactive and study the material ahead of time rather than last minute.  Also, taking notes and then rewriting them helps him understand the material more clearly and gives him the chance to look at it again.  Lastly, studying with a classmate helps because they may understand some of the material better than you did and Garrett believes people learn better through their peers.

The last part of the interview I asked Garrett if he had any advice on building a good resume/portfolio. His response was that it is important to gain experience in the field you want to work in and volunteer whenever possible.  Reaching out to people and building good relationships with those who have experience in the career field you want to work in is important.  I think Garrett made a good point that some people are afraid to pick up the phone and contact somebody but a lot of times, people are more than happy to give advice or share information.  This could then lead to a potential job down the road through the connection.  Lastly, for building a resume, Garrett thinks keeping your resume organized and constantly update it as you gain experience and different skills.

I decided to compare and contrast my interview with Garrett Jex and a Chatham Business Insight article called Planting the Seed: Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Shares Life Lessons.  One thing I found that was similar is that both mentioned the importance of working in a group.  Being able to collaborate with co-workers or classmates can help you develop new skills.  Also, it allows for new connections to be made.  One statement that was made in the article, "Always use the best way, even if it's not your way."  I think that statement has a powerful message saying do whats best for everyone, not just yourself.  This shows the importance of teamwork.  In conclusion, Garrett is a great role model and has helped me out when I needed it throughout baseball season, on and off the field.

Tyler Peyman
Individual Assignment 1

A Beating Hear for Sustainable Brewing: For the Many, Not the Few 

By: Mike Townsend and Kevin Jones

This article starts off by explaining that the brewing industry is going all out for sustainability and that is good news considering brewing is a global industry generating a huge ecological footprint.  The focus of the article is in Ontario, Canada where their reputation for craft beers is well-known.  The industry for beer in Ontario accounts for 6% of the total market for beer and is currently rising.  Projections of this market is to be tripled by the year 2025, yielding over 25,00 jobs and increasing the economic impact over time.

However, there are problems that will arise for the production of beer at such a high demand.  There are risks and constraints such as market overheating, and impacts to resource availability.  This will also mean that the overall ecological footprint will be higher if certain steps are not taken and can affect the local infrastructure and communities.  Luckily, as I stated above, brewing industries are all about sustainability and can likely achieve its high demand for products following a sustainable, business model known as the 20 by 25 model.

BLOOM and Earthshine developed the 20 by 25 model for Ontario's craft beer industry to rise to the top and achieve a sustainable 20 percent market share by 2025.  The model focuses on three key dimensions: Selling the most sustainable craft beer in the world, Produced by the most sustainable craft brewers in the world, and enabled by a supportive ecosystem and policy landscape.  The way this works is that craft breweries will operate within their local environmental, community and resource limits using a closed-loop operation powered by renewable energies, proactive watershed stewardship and responsible by-product management.  This is a new a way of doing business as it will create jobs and shared prosperity.

I chose this article because I can relate it to what we have been discussing in class.  For our team project assignment, one of the sections we will be covering is sustainability within the company we are researching.  By choosing this article, I was able to see how different companies incorporate sustainability in their business model and mission.  Also, when our guest lecturer, Rebecca Harris, was present in class last week, she talked about what it is like to be an entrepreneur and having ideas that people need instead of want.  That way, the product or service you invented will target everyone rather than a select group of people.  This article relates to this because if one brewing company begins using the 20 by 25 business model and are successful, other companies will join in.  Then, most brewing companies will be operating on a sustainable level.

Link to Article: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/business_case/mike_townsend/beating_heart_sustainable_brewing_many_not_few


For the upcoming individual assignment 2, I plan to interview my roommate, who is a business management major and is currently a junior.  I plan to interview him within the next week and begin posting a blog before the assignment is due.

For the upcoming assignment 3, I plan to come up with a business plan in the sustainability industry.  Over the course of the semester I will gather more knowledge to be able to complete this assignment.

For upcoming assignment 4, I will first attend an event with the instructors permission.  The event I will attend will be determined later due to baseball schedule.  Once I have a clear set schedule, I will be able to finish this assignment. 

For upcoming assignment 5, I plan to reflect on Rebecca Harris's guest lecture because I gained much knowledge during this class period about Entrepreneurship.  I will complete this assignment soon while the information I have gained is still fresh in mind.