30A- Final Reflection

While looking back at my posts from this semester, there were a couple that definitely stood out to me.   I think the post that challenged me the most was Growing Your Social Capital.  I had never had to reach out to people I didn’t know and be professional.  I had to find a way to make a coonect with these people I had never met, not knowing them at all.  It was difficult to find these people, and even more difficult to work up the courage to contact them.  Looking back though, I’m most proud of this assignment.  I did something I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do.  It’s a great feeling knowing that I have these people in my network, and it showed me just how much I could do as an entrepreneur.  The other post I really remember was my first elevator pitch.  It made me really nervous at first, having to record myself speaking and posting it so everyone could see.  I wasn’t sure if I was cut out for this sort of thing.  Once I started to write it though, it just began to flow.  I practiced it and I felt like I had done a really good job, which helped me with my confidence in the actual video.  Looking at this first one, I’m really proud of how far I’ve come since then, no matter how difficult and trying it was.  I think that these two exercises were the ones that taught me the most out of all the course work.  They helped me grow into my entrepreneurial self.

I think that my mind set has definitely changed as a result of this course. Before the course, I had entrepreneurial aspirations, but no clue how to make them a reality.  Now, I have an idea of how to make my aspirations a reality. I notice myself coming up with idea for new products fairly regularly, as a see holes in daily life.  I have started selling more stuff on my EBay page, trying to turn a profit.  I think that more than anything, this class had taught me not to be afraid to take risks. It’s easy to think about being an entrepreneur, it’s another thing to take actual steps.  Risk taking is what this class had been centered on, and what entrepreneurship is all about.  I think in the future I will be more likely to take entrepreneurial risks, because I know the work that it takes, and I know that I can do it.  It just takes doing your research and being passionate about your product.

I think that the most important aspect of entrepreneurship is being well informed.  I would advise new students to take the news somehow.  The key to this class, and entrepreneurship in general, is identifying and taking advantage of opportunities.  The best way to become better is by identifying them in the real world.  I think that by taking the news students have more opportunity to practice this skill, and stay up to date on what the future holds.  As entrepreneurs, we must anticipate consumers’ needs before they take shape.  Staying up to date is the only way to truly know how the world is changing.