Dave Thomas (Wendy's)

• always 3 deals ahead.
• 1932, a hamburger cost 5 cents.
• Thomas was born in Atlantic City.
• when he was 5 years old, his adoptive mother died.
• his father and him would always eat at restaurants together.
• 1944, Dave and his adoptive father moved.
• Dave walked into the local family restaurant, Regis and worked at a young age.
• worked until 3-4 in the morning.
• worked a full time job at age 12.
• Dave took his job as a challenge
• had a vision of what he wanted to do with a chain of restaurants he wanted to create.
• 1947, his adopted father moved his new wife and stepdaughter into their trailer with no indoor plumbing and didn't have a bedroom of his own.
• dropped out of high school at 15.
• got a job at the Hobby House restaurant.
• was willing to work extra, stay late, and have projects to develop or create an idea.
• 1950, at the age of 18, joined the army.
• went through cooking school.
• returned in 1953.
• Lorraine (a waitress) and Dave got married a year later.
• Dave Thomas was already a veteran in the food business at age 20.
• loved to promote.
• created "carry-out"
• him and his wife had 4 children in 6 years.
• Dave became friends with Sanders, creator of KFC.
• Dave helped out Sanders' businesses in Ohio, but didn't enjoy himself.
• believed him and Sanders' had the best product.
• didn't know how to enjoy his life, he just knew how to enjoy work.
• late 1960's, successful and rich.
• age 37, veteran of 25 years of hard work
• 1969, at age 37 came up with the name of Wendy, the nickname of his daughter.
• downtown Ohio in 1969 was when Wendy's first opened.
• didn't pay attention to his kid's schools.
• had the drive-thru and increased sales by 50%
• 1975, the company went public.
• 1978, there were 1,000 Wendy's.
• 1979, put in a salad bar.
• was the only one who stood at the grill and flipped the product himself.
• the market was under served and overstocked.
• 1990's, Wendy's was an official success.
• 1992, Wendy's opened it's 4,000 store.

Developing The Plan

• A
• Slurpie Machine
• Bake Sale
• Hot Dogs/Pop
• Candy
• School Supplies
• Popcorn
• Chips
• Donuts
• Cotton Candy
• Pizza

• B - Hot Dogs/Pop/Freezies
• Make good profit off of hot dogs because everyone loves hot dogs.
• It will be hot during that week so freezies will help students cool off.
• It will be easy to make and fast to serve.
• Cheap food.
• The buns will be easy to get because Lacey's aunt works at McGavins.
• Ketchup, Mustard, Relish etc. will be easy to get from home.
• Napkins are non-expensive.
• slurpie machine is time-consuming while hot dogs are fast to make.
• cans can be recycled instead of being thrown away.
• there will be many flavors of freezies to choose from instead of a limited choice.

C - 5 problems/situations to overcome.

• leave class early to set up to make money.
• money may be tight for some people.
• some people may not like the choice of pop (have to generalize the flavours)
• it may rain on one of the days during the week.
• some people might not be here on the day of selling.

Ray Kroc - McDonalds

• Competitive.
• "If they were drowning to death, I'd put a hose in their mouth."
• made himself a millionaire.
• born in Chicago, in 1902.
• had a little brother named Bob, and little sister named Loraine.
• moved to Oak Park.
• helped his mom around the house, seemed more ambitious than other kids his age.
• Ray's prediction on life is that he would work in the food industry.
• worked in a grocery store.
• Ray had no patience for school when he was a teenager, and always thought of ways to make money.
• if there was an idea, he would make that idea into reality.
• Kroc was a pitcher for his baseball team.
• joined the Red Cross Ambulance.
• quit school in 1919.
• got a job at Paw Paw Lake in Michigan.
• got married to Ethel, whom he met in Michigan.
• young, ambitious, and willing to work hard.
• clean freak, very polished.
• sold paper cups everywhere.
• Ray convinced Soda Fountain owners that they can get more customers if they used his cups.
• signed a contract with Walgreens, and became the star salesman in his company.
• spent countless hours with his customers.
• 1939, Kroc found love in the multimixer, a milkshake machine.
• At 37, Kroc had a successful career in the paper cup company.
• 1950's, Ray was losing customers due to suburbs.
• 1954, he flew to California and met Dick and Mac McDonald.
• 1937, opened their own hot dog stand.
• for 8 years Dick and Mac ran the most successful drive in in town.
• cut their menu item of 25, down to 9.
• sped up service with new grills and new equipment.
• 20 minutes down to 30 seconds
• sales shot up 40% in 3 years.
• got on the cover of American Restaurant Magazine in 1952.
• Ray was in for a surprise, the McDonald brothers didn't tell him they sold it.
• by the mid 50's, Kroc opened his first McDonald's restaurant.
• made sure the restaurants were always clean.
• For each franchise he sold, he would get 1.9%
• sold 18 franchises in his first year, but realized he was barely earning enough to cover his expenses.
• with his real estate formula in place, and had a goal of opening 1000 McDonald's coast to coast.
• Kroc fell in love with another woman, Joan Smith.
• in 1961, he ended his relationship with Ethel.
• looked for church steeples in a helicopter because he realized that's where all the families were.
• burgers had to be 1.6 ounces.
• opened up a training program (Hamburger University)
• Ray couldn't really change anything without the McDonald brothers permission.
• 1961, Kroc decided he wanted McDonald's all to himself.
• to buy it out, it would have to be $1 million each to each brother, and cover their taxes.
• December 1961, Kroc brought the rights to McDonald's.
• Breakfast counts for more than 20%
• by 1965, Kroc opened up to 745 restaurants in 44 states.
• by the time Ray turned 70, he had everything he wanted in life.
• 1970's, McDonald's became the largest food supplier in the country.

Sir Ken Robinson, "Creativity"

• everyone has an interest in education.
• education is meant to take us into the future for something we cannot grasp.
• children have huge capacity for innovation.
• creativity is just as important as literacy in education.
• if you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.
• all children are born artists.
• if we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it.
• humanity is the bottom of art.
• art and music are given a higher state in school than drama and dance.
• there was no public education before the 19th century.
• the whole world is engulfed in revolution.
• in the next 30 years, more people will be graduating in education than all the people in history.
• degrees aren't worth anything.
• intelligence is dynamic, wonderfully interactive and distinct.
• rethink the fundamentals of the education for our children.
• if all human beings disappeared on earth, animals would flourish.

Summary:

Ken Robinson's speech meant a lot because I agree with all of his points, concluding that education is killing the creavitity there is in ever child. If children are destined to learn something they love and will purse it in their future, why learn things that are mandatory and generalized for all kids. Creativity is very important in everyone's life, whether someone knows their talent or not, they will find out through the things they love. When people say they "aren't creative," it just shows that they aren't willing and have the motivation to see what they are actually good at.

SpringWise

McDonald’s Hong Kong launches in-house wedding service

• McDonalds Hong Kong has stepped in to make their location a venue for weddings.
• Plans everything for your wedding or special occassion, all you have to do is show up with your family and friends.

Ordered on iPads, meals are delivered to the gate at NY airports

•   Delta Air Lines and airport restaurant operator OTG Management have created stationary iPads at tables to order meals at airport restaurants in 10 minutes.
•  customers are informed of their meal delivery time to ensure the food is received before their flight takes off, though it can also be taken to go.

iPhone app delivers nutrition analysis of supermarket foods

• Fooducate, an app on the iPhone, can help you decide which food is healthier between comparisons of other foods.
• Find out more necessary nutrition details on the product, and look for the good and bad highlights of what they are buying.
• Find out how much teaspoons are added in a certain product.

Trends

• 20. Projected Publicity
• Billboards, Outdoor visual advertising
• 19. Interactive Retail
• advertising online
• 18. Charitable Deviance
• controversial advertising, relating to sex.
• 17. Wearable Tech
• technology you can wear such as a bracelet with caller id.
• 16. Brand Reversion
• old style.
• 15. On The Spot Style
• real street style
• 14. Real Timing
• using Internet to advertise with twitter and facebook.
• Modern Cubism
• interior design
• 13. Next Besting (Update)
• 11. Tangible Printing
• 10. Hyperrealism
• Photoshop perfection
• 9. Toddler touchscreen
• 8. Democratic Selling
• 7. Rockstar self-expressionism
• 6. Modern Kidvertising
• 5. Luxury lives on
• 4. Geriatric Couture
• 3. Perpetual Adaptation
• 2. Tweetonomic
• 1. Discrete Consumerism

My Hedgehog Concept Is..

Baking. Whenever I get the chance to bake for someone's birthday or for no reasons at all, I jump right onto that opportunity and make it with passion and motivation. From snacks to cake, I love making it on the spot and spending my time on it as well. I don't do it for other people's enjoyment, but for mine too. I love the process and the results of what I do, and become proud of my outcome.

Mr. Bobble

• Jeff Wolsky - $75,000 in exchange for 18% equity for his business.
• makes custom bobble heads.
• supplies with a photograph, pick a body to do bobblehead on.
• 5 years the business has been running.
• Hiding the real business from the sharks, only showing the vapour to them.
• 500-600,000 profit per year.
• told he would be forbidden to sell in malls.
• Kevin was willing to do $75K for 15%.
• "greed is good, but we need to be greedy together."
• $125K for 75%  was offered.
• Jeff offered $225 for 20% of the business.
• $100,000 for 20%.

Good To Great

• Good is the enemy of great.
• Level 5 Leadership
• "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice."
• Humble & Fearless.
• Professional Will/Personal Humility.
• First Who, Then What
• "If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats and the wrong people off the bus."
• "Great vision without great people is irrelevant."
• "The right people don't need to be tightly managed or fired up.
• "In a good to great transformation, people are not your most important asset. The right people are."
• "The only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving."
• Practical Principles:
• 1. When in doubt don't hire, keep looking.
• 2. When you know you need to make a change, act.
• 3. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not on your biggest problems.
• How might you tell if someone is the right person on the bus?
• Confront the Brutal Facts
• "You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts."
• Remember the Stockdale Paradox
• retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.
• AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
• What are your 3 circles?
• what are you best in the world at?
• what drives your economic engine?
• what are you deeply passionate about?
• The Hedgehog Concept
• Know Thyself
• It is an understanding of what you can be the best at.
• A Culture of Discipline
• "You focus on what you've accomplished relative to exactly what you said you were going to accomplish - no matter how tough the measure."

Summary:
Good things come to those who wait. No matter how long it takes, all that you've hoped for, will be worth it in the end. Never give up on your dream, and always find a way to fix your problems. If you can't find a solution, figure out plan B. With an optimistic attitude, any individual can look beyond the flaws and negativity and continue to look straight ahead and keep trying.

• Martha formed her own company and magazine for over 15 million dollars.
•  had her radio show, website, merchandising, news column.
• October 19, 1999 made her company public.
• Martha had the drive and ability, didn't wait for something to come around to her she went out to get it
• Her father was always pushing taught Martha a lot.
• Martha and her father planned her school's prom, and it turned out to be the best prom the school has ever seen.
• her mother made most of their clothes by hand.
• Martha took great pride in her family's home making skills.
• Martha took babysitting jobs and sold hot dogs in order to put herself through college
• 1958 Martha started making good money modeling clothes.
• She got a partial scholarship to a college in New York City.
• She took art classes and history classes in college and would slip off once a week to do modeling in order to pay.
• She was chosen for Glamour magazine to be one of the best dressed college girls
• Martha decided to drop out of school and help pay for her husbands law school
• In 1972 Martha decided to move out of the city and find a house in need of repair she began a caterer and made food art.
• 1.7 Billion dollars in her company.

Young Ent.

• Stanley Tang - 18 year old entrepreneur from Hong Kong.
• has developed online businesses, created dozens of websites and launched several products.
• the author of eMillions, a #1 best-selling book published in 2008.
• started his first online business in 2006 where he began in information marketing, affiliate marketing and social media.
• Started his first business at age 11, selling snacks in classrooms. (charging a little bit more for chips than what he bought them for.)
• only lasted for about 2 weeks, but had a few hundred dollars.
• By August 2006, he made his first $100 and also registered his first domain name.
• started creating content-rich websites in niches such as web hosting, magic tricks and business
•  In January 2007,  he made his first $1,000 (in under 48 hours) selling an ebook called Co-Registration Secrets Revealed.
• In the summer of 2007, Stanley took on his biggest project yet when he began on a journalistic mission to interview the most successful internet entrepreneurs in the industry.
• in 2010, he quit information marketing, and is now working on a social news aggregation website called BuzzBlaze.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates was the founder of Microsoft, with Paul Allen as his business partner, both being known as the best businessman of our century. They both invented the personal computer, and 30% of the world had their product. Bill was known as being a curious child, and was always eager to learn new things. He eventually went to Lakeside and attended Harvard later on. After finding a love for computers, Gates dropped out and became a billionaire at age 31. IMB wanted both Bill and Paul to invent an operating system for Microsoft, but was eventually tied down to Microsoft, and ended up buying a computer license for the two businessman. Bill's story is known as one of the greatest success story of all time.

Tina Seelig

• every problem is an opportunity for a creative solution.
• intersection of your "skills, market need and passion"
• willing to fail, make a resume of failures.
• build relationships, for the long term (don't burn bridges)

The Marketing Plan

• marketing plan: a plan used by a business to guide its marketing process to a desired conclusion based on information obtained through market research and target market decisions.
• marketing objectives: what a business wants to accomplish through its marketing efforts.
• marketing mix: the 5 marketing strategies used to reach a market: product, place, price, promotion, and people.
• Product considerations include:
• features and benefits
• branding, packaging, and labeling
• selection
• positioning
• mix
• brand: the name, symbol, or design used to identify a product.
• package: the physical container or wrapper used to present information.
• label: the part of the package used to present information about the product.
• product positioning: how consumers see a product in comparison to another product.
• product mix: all the products a company makes or sells.
• channel of distribution: the path a product takes from producer or manufacturer to final user or consumer.

Sam Walton

• America's bargain billionaire.
• sold things cheaper, and changed the way we shopped.
• never thought about anything, except building and growing Wal-Mart.
• largest fortune in America.
• Born on March 29, 1918
• Sam's Dad's job was to go evict people from farms
• Sam Walton was an active child, at age 3 he wandered out of his home and went down to the school and listened to the teacher for hours.
• 1933, the dustbowl struck.
• the family moved from town to town looking for work, and developed an outgoing personality from changing schools.
• Sam contributed to the family by selling milk to families.
• Sam joined the boy scouts and gained skills that made him the local hero.
• saved a person's life, and was promoted to Eagle scouts and became the youngest person to do so.
• Sam was vice president of the junior class, and played almost every sport and was very competitive.
• Fall 1936, entered university as an economist major.
• Sam went to work for full time after graduation, and was paid $75 a month along with commission.
• Was helped by JC Penny himself.
• Sam was eager to get into the army, but was put on the reserve list.
• Sam met Helen Robson, his future wife and married on Valentines Day, 1943.
• October 28, 1944 is when they had their first child.
• Sam buys Ben Franklin's Store Stock with $5000.
• found a way to beat his rivals at using a popcorn machine
• selling twice as much popcorn than the opponent across the street.
• within 3 years, he paid off the loan of his father in law.
• Sam almost gave up, and said he wanted to work for Sears
• the landlord was renewing Sam's lease and lost his store, but Sam shrugged it off and kept on going.
• Sam and his family moved to Bentonville and insisted on a 99-year lease.
• Sam had 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl.
• He was the head of the rotary club.
• eager to keep prices down and shopping traffic up.
• in just one year, sales tripled.
• Fayetteville Drug was his competition, and was right beside his store.
• by 1960, it was the largest retail store in America.
• bought a plane to make him visit any store at any time.
• Sam thought even lower prices could make even more money, so he brought in discount.
• went in for 95% of investment, and was in debt but Sam still went on with his plan.
• no one could take Sam seriously because they thought he would fail again.
• made a million dollars in sales in the first year.
• bought ownership on the bank.
• built 2 stores per year.
• wished he spent more time with his children.
• Sam tried to make it up to his family for his busy schedule by going on month-long trips such as camping.
• wanted to teach the stock market how a small country boy can make it big.
• by 1970, he opened 32 stores and profits were going through the roof.
• owed over $2 million dollars
• his strategy to control his debt was to expand.
• K-Mart was Wal-Mart's rival, and was 10 times as big.
• K-Mart and Sears didn't see Wal-Mart coming.
• many Wal-mart sales clerk earned not even minimum wage.
• 1972, Wal-Mart opened it's profit sharing plan.
• A truck driver for Wal-Mart retired and got a check for $7,000.
• 1978, Sam had 198 stores.
• 1983 Wal-Mart had the sales of $4 million dollars.
• Sam was 64 when he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
• 1986, Hilary Clinton was elected as the first woman to work on Wal-Mart's headboard.
• Walton was accustomed to getting his way.
• 1984, Clinton called on Sam Walton to help with cheap goods overseas.
• the union was voted down.
• 1985, Sam Walton was named the richest man in the country.
• Sam Walton lost one and a half billion dollars on Black Monday, but was still by far the richest man in America.
• 1988, set up a Latin-American scholarship fund in Central America with his wife.
• 1990, was diagnosed with bone cancer.
• George Bush wanted to recognize Sam Walton on the certificate of freedom.
• April 5 1992, Sam Walton died.
• support education and health care charities in nearby cities.
• was in the right place at the right time.

Sam Walton was the most determined and most motivated business man and never gave up on his dream, even if he suffered and failed. His passion for business and succeeding in it helped him in the long run. His mentors, such as his wife, brother, and close friends JC Penney and Bill Clinton, all watched him grow in business and assisted him in anything he wanted to set his mind to.
When profits began to go through the roof, Sears and K-Mart didn't expect this at all, making him achieve his goals while defeating the rivals during the growth of Wal-Mart. As a key learning, Sam Walton was commited to his business and believed in it more than anything else. He loved his work, and did it with a passion. By thinking differently, Sam bought products and made them cheaper to make more money instead of making them the same price as other businesses had.

Market Research

• Industry: a collection of businesses with a common line of products or services.
• Carrying capacity: the ability of industry to support new growth.
• Uncertainty is the degree of stability or instability in an industry.
• Complexity: the number and diversity of contacts with which a business must deal.
• Stage of life cycle:
• Birth
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline
• market: a group of people or companies who have a demand for a product or service and are willing and able to buy it.
• target market: a specific group of customers whom a business wishes to reach
• market segmentation: the process of grouping a market into smaller subgroups defined by specific characteristics.
• market segments: subgroups of buyers with similar characteristics, segmented by geographics, demographics, psychographics, and buying characteristics.
• geographics: the study of the market based on where customers live, including region, state, country, city, and/or area.
• psychographics: the study of consumers based on social and psychological characteristics, including personality, values, opinions, beliefs, motivations, attitudes, and lifestyle elements.
• industrial markets: customers who buy goods or services for business use.
• the target market for your product or service should be:
• measurable
• large enough to be profitable
• reachable
• responsive
• market research: the collection and analysis of information aimed at understanding the behavior of consumers in a certain market.
• exploratory research: the initial collection and analysis of information used when very little is known about a subject; it forms a foundation for later research.
• focus group: a group of people whose opinions are studied to determine the opinions that can be expected from a larger population.  
• descriptive research: the collection of information to determine the status of something, such as in developing a customer profile.
• historical research: the study of the past to explain the present circumstances and predict future trends.
• secondary data: infortmation that has already been collected by someone else.
• primary data: information that is collected for the first time, is current, and relates directly to the collector's study.

Blue Ocean Strategy

Blue Ocean
Businesses that are unique in their own way, and learn to be different from other competing businesses and become successful and careful with their profit and products.
Examples:
Apple - introduces new products every year that other competing companies are still trying to live up to.
Tasimo - first product that makes instant coffee with a simple bar code scan and makes the coffee right on the spot.
Nintendo Wii - the first interactive video game that gives humans more control over the game with motion and body movements with the game control.

Red Ocean
Businesses that compete in existing markets and already work on existing demand instead of thinking above the expected.
Examples:
Playstation 3: This video game console only follows the big names, and doesn't come up with anything but replicas of the big products of other businesses.
Skin ID: This business is only following into the steps of Proactiv, by same tv advertisements and offering similar products.

6 Principles of Blue Ocean Strategy
1. Reconstruct Market Boundaries
2. Focus on the big picture, not the numbers
3. Reach beyond existing commant
4. Get the strategic sequence right
5. Overcome Key Organizational Hurdles
6. Build execution into strategy

Levi Giebrecht

• Entrepreneur tip: Generate a concept in your mind and become able to execute it.
• Lots of creativity, and do something with it.
• learn the skills, or surround yourself with the skills.
• didn't have any formal business education, didn't finish high school.
• the more skills you can have to utilize, the better off you are.
• 1984, started a company.
• learn from your experiences.
• be surrounded by your strengths.
• make sure your partner is someone you can get along with or someone you like.
• you don't want to have a partner that has a lot of money, but someone who has different values and different perspectives.
• started out with an investment of $6,000
• feel good and look good and do it in such a passionate way.
• 20,000 people came in the month of December.
• find a way to be the best
• their mandate was to be the best spa in the industry.
• takes 2 and a half years to become profitable.
• had a determination to succeed.
• just had employees, but wanted to find a way to make his employees feel special.
• every year took his employees down to Mexico.
• has the opportunity to choose the destiny of the company.
• must be passionate about your business, passion carries you through tough times.

Hulks Hauling Junk/Foxes Packing Boxes

• $250,000 dollars at 25%
• largest/fastest growing company in 2009 for USA
• top 30 new franchise.
• the business is just giving the sharks an extension of what is already built.
• foxes = $500,000, at 20%
• 51% for 250 k
• never laugh at money or insult it.
• only interested in the existing business.
• the offer the hulks gave is a million dollars/10%
• 50/50 on the foxes, and 10% of the shark's investment
• the companies passed the offer
• the business expanded during the recession.

Triumph of the Nerds

• Paul Allen has $8 billion dollars and is friends with Bill Gates and invented the personal computer.
• Microsoft occured by accident by just trying to impress their friends.
• Nerd: a someone who uses a computer in order to use a computer.
• Edwin's friends think of him as a friend, but he doesn't mind.
• Worked on their own time.
• the data is held in a computer by code, known as machine language.
• Grace Hopper invented the English language into binary code.
• nerds wanted their own computers, but it took a technological breakthrough for that to happen.
• Intel started 28 years ago, and invented the chip.
• the people with the power are the ones that understand what's going on.
• Intel didn't appreciate the brilliance of their own product, and had all the elements necessary, but just didn't get the concept.
• Altair 8800 was the first Minicomputer kit and was to be built yourself, and usually didn't work in the end.
• by New Mexico, MITS was in progress of being bankrupt.
• Turning the Altair required a programming language instead of flipping switches.

Entrepreneurial Seminar/Innovation

The Golden Rules of High Speed Innovation

• Necessity to Act.
• Do Something.
• "We did it because we believed we had to." - Larry Hillblom Co-founder DHL
• Necessity to Invent/Act.
• Create Crisis and Urgency
• Feeling the Genius of the Average Worker
• Do something, anything, better each day
• Create Urgency
• Steve Jobs @ Apple. Creates high expectations, known for demanding, results in high stress, but strangely high inspiration in its employees. 
• Free the Genius of the Average Worker.
• 90% of the workers are average, Honda goal was to get 1 idea per month from the 90% average worker, the results are miraculous.
• Do something, anything better each day.
• Find something to improve, some process to speed up, something small or big.
• Jim Pattison, starts all meetings early.
• Love what you do and get good at it.
• Sarah Breedlove Walker
• Walker Manufacturing
• First black millionairess

Shark Tank: Mr. Tod's Pies

• "don't cry for money, it never cries for you."
• The sharks are successful businessmen that have achieved their goals and are investing in other people's businesses.
• over 3,000 pies sold per day.
• worth $4.6 million dollars
• 10% stake
• major market is on the whole sale side.
• $2 million dollars in sales last year.
• averaging 20% net income.
• Owner can't keep up with the demand.
• Half of the revenue comes from one flavour.
• $300,000 will go to producting a facility.
• $460, 000 --> 10%
• Sweet potatoe pie brings in 94% for his profit, leading to a wholesale of 50%  and retail of 50%
• $425, 000 comes from the sweet potatoe pie alone.
• McDonalds is willing to take in Mr. Todd's product.
• The owner is planning on walking away with $460,000 if he accepts, but will only get half of his company.

The owner's strengths would be his signature sweet potatoe pie. Since the sweet potatoe pie brings in 94% of his profit, which has lead to a wholesale of 50% and retail of 50%. In all, $425,000 comes from this pie alone. But his weaknesses is that he is very emotional with his money, and was willing to expand his business farther out to big businesses such as McDonalds and he can't keep up with the demand.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

• he knew what he wanted and knew how to get it.
• one of the most interesting people in the world.
• They called him the "Austrian Oak".
• Came into America with only a gym bag, and a dream.
• Captured the heart of a Kennedy.
• Born in 1947 in Austria, and lived in a 300-year old home with no indoor heating.
• his father was an ice curling champion.
• Arnold's Dad was a perfectionist, and a strict disciplinarian on Arnold, but favoured Arnold's older brother.
• was already a talented athlete by his teens.
• "I am going to be the best  body builder." - age 18
• had a low pain tolerance.
• 6 days a week, he would walk or bike and work out for hours.
• eventually made his own gym at home after being told he could only work out 3 times a week at the local gym.
• fun was the most important thing to Arnold while training.
• entered the Austrian army
• was arrested and thrown in jail, but was told to keep training.
• when he was 19, he was already known as a body building legend throughout Austria and Germany.
• competed for Mr. Universe and won 2nd prize.
• In 1967, he managed to scrape enough money to buy a famous gym for himself.
• at the age of 20, he became the youngest Mr. Universe in all of history.
• known to be very conceited.
• was astonished by the body builders in America, and took 2nd place.
• he had the mind and heart of a champion.
• began his own mail order company, and was determined to conquer capitalism.
• Joe Weider was Arnold's mentor: body building and business.
• Arnold told Joe he needs to have more joy in his life.
• Arnold went back to London to win Mr. European
• back in Austria, Arnold's brother was killed and his father died of a stroke.
• Jim Lorimer became Arnold's business partner.
• Arnold announced he would be retiring from body building in 1975.
• at the age of 28, Arnold was the most famous bodybuilder in the world.
• "Hercules Goes to New York" was Arnold's first film.
• was told to change his name and had a difficult accent.
• Arnold won a Golden Globe for his role in "Stay Hungry."
• in 1977, "Pumping Iron" opened as a documentary of Arnold's body building life.
• he wanted to be a movie star, but had other dreams such as real estate.
• very realistic, and very focused and very smart.
• He had a business degree in Sports.
• spent a year training his speech.
• was offered the role of the terminator after being seen in his 2-3 films.
• By 1985 he was already named International star of the year.
• In 1986, Arnold married Marie Kennedy.
• Always learning.
• gives back to the country that has given him so much.

I learned from Arnold that anyone can be successful with very little in hand. Coming from another country, Arnold showed the world by entering the USA with little knowledge but determination and motivation to achieve his goal.  With a positive attitude, Arnold proves that I can fulfill their dreams and goals. By doing what I love and with an optimistic mind, I can do great things when I put their mind to it.

Canada's Top 100: TD Bank Financial Group

TD Bank Financial Group


Why were they chosen?

• continues to expand and create new jobs in Canada
• provides employees excellent financial benefits, including low-interest home loans, a share purchase plan, year-end bonuses and discounts on banking services
• supports new parents with leave top-up payments
• helps employees plan for retirement with a defined benefit pension plan

Employer Background

• provides customers a full line of retail, commercial, corporate, investment banking and treasury products and services
•  TD Bank maintains over 1,100 branch locations across Canada and ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms with over 5.5 million online customers
• In the United States, the bank operates through its TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank banner, which has now has over 1,000 retail banking branches throughout the States.

Physical Workplace

• rated as exceptional
• Employees take part in the selection of charitable groups assisted each year.
• TD Bank is one of Canada's largest corporate donors, directing millions of dollars to charities and non-profit agencies every year
• In addition, employees raise millions of additional dollars every year through personal contributions and through fundraising efforts across Canada.

Work Atmosphere

• rated as exceptional
• the bank encourages a range of social, cultural and recreational activities through employee-led social committees
• The social committee also hosts an impressive holiday party for children of employees with over 6,000 guests, carnival rides, a petting zoo, pony rides, arts and crafts and over 3,000 gifts delivered by Santa.
• TD Bank keeps employees informed and encourages feedback through a company newsletter; corporate intranet site; email suggestion box.

Financial Benefits

• rated as exceptional
• To keep salaries competitive the company participates in outside salary surveys every 12 months.
•  TD Bank also provides signing bonuses for some employees; year-end bonuses for all employees.

Health

• rated as very good.
• TD Bank's health benefits plans are a combination of self-insured and Manulife Financial, as well as being administered by ClaimSecure Inc. (drug plan) and Manulife Financial.
• As part of the health plan, the employer pays 100% of the premiums
• Employees who work 15 hours per week receive coverage
• The waiting period for new employees is 90 days.
• Employees receive full family coverage on the health benefits plan
• The health plan also includes retiree coverage with no age limit

Employee Engagement

• rated as exceptional
• Employees receive individual performance reviews every 6 months
•  TD Bank rewards exceptional performance through a variety of business recognition programs, including on-the-spot awards, performance awards and nomination based awards
• The bank also hosts a formal employee appreciate week every June and supports the "You Make TD" reward and recognition program by investing approximately $1.5 million every year.
• TD Bank hires an outside consultant to conduct confidential employee satisfaction and engagement surveys.

Training

• rated as above average.
• Employees receive tuition subsidies for courses related to their position
• Employees may also receive tuition subsidies for courses unrelated to their current position
• TD Bank also supports ongoing employee career development with subsidies for professional accreditations, in-house training progams etc.

Community Involvement

• rated as exceptional
• Approximately 2,100 charitable and community organizations were supported last year.
• TD Bank is one of Canada's largest corporate donors, directing millions of dollars to charities and non-profit agencies every year
• The bank and its employees support numerous initiatives, including Habitat for Humanity, the United Way, the Children's Miracle Network, Junior Achievement, the Mentoring Partnership, and the TD Grade One Book Giveaway

Canada's top 100: Telus Corporation

TELUS CORPORATION

Why were they chosen?

• provides maternity leave top-up payments to employees who are new mothers.
• manages a formal work-from-home program which enables employees to work through the company's specially designed intranet.
• offers a number of excellent financial benefits.

Employer Background

• Canada's second-largest telecommunications company, providing data, Internet, voice and wireless communication services
• the company provides a wide range of wireline and wireless telecommunications products and services including data, Internet Protocol (IP), voice, video and entertainment services to customers across Canada.
• the company launched the Koodoo Mobile brand, to provide Canadians with a basic and affordable level of wireless service.

Physical Workplace

• rated as exceptional
• Located in the heart of busy Robson Street in downtown Vancouver, Telus' head office is only minutes away from public transit options, restaurants, shopping areas, recreation centres, and educational institutions.

Work Atmosphere

• rated as very good.
• The company-subsidized social committee has been in operation since 2004.
• The company also encourages employees to make their opinions known through a variety of means and keeps employees up-to-date about new company developments through a company newsletter, emails etc.

Financial Benefits

• rated as above average.
• Individual salaries are reviewed every year.
• Telus provides signing bonuses for some employees new employee referral bonuses

Health

• rated very good.
• The company has separate health plans for its union and non-union employees
• the employer pays 75% of the premiums.
• Employees who work 19 hours per week receive coverage. There is no waiting period before coverage begins.
•  The company also offers optional family coverage using flex credits, and an onsite wellness centre at the head office, which provides blood pressure checks, massage services, naturopathic consultations, and reflexology treatments.
• Telus also manages a formal work-from-home program, with over 700 employees working as at-home agents across the country

Employee Engagement

• rated above average.
• Performance feedback is also solicited from co-workers and other managers familiar with each employee's work
•  Telus recognizes exceptional employee performance with company-paid trips and financial bonuses, recently rewarding top sales employees with a five-day trip for two to Barcelona, Spain.

Training

• rated exceptional
• Employees receive tuition subsidies for courses related to their position.
• In addition to full tuition subsidies, Telus supports employees' ongoing career development with subsidies for professional accreditations, financial bonuses for course completions, in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades internships, and more.

Community Involvement

• rated as exceptional
• supports local, national and international charitable organizations
• Employees take part in the selection of charitable groups assisted each year
• Employees receive paid time off to volunteer with their favourite charitable organizations
• employees in all Telus locations were given one paid day off and the opportunity to volunteer in their communities for the day.



Canada's top 100: BC Hydro

BC HYDRO

Why were they chosen?
BC Hydro was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2011 because they offer their employees up to 20 paid personal days off each year and gives them the flexible options to "cash-out" unused days. They also encourage their employees' ongoing development with good tutition subsidies, in-house and online training programs, and professional accreditation subsidies.

Employer Background
BC Hydro generates and creates the electricity to citizens of BC. The provincial Crown corporation is one of Canada's biggest public utilities, working 20 hydroelectric facilities (creating 80% of BC's electricity) They also have 2 gas-fired thermal plants and one combustion fuel turbine station. Along with their primary offices in Vancouver and Burnaby, BC Hydro has offices and facilities located in local communities across BC.

Physical Workplace
BC Hydro's physical workplace is rated as above-average. Their employees are located at generating facilities and field offices in local communities across BC. The employees that are located in the Greater Vancouver area work from major offices in Vancouver and Burnaby, surrounded by public transit, restaurants, public shopping, and public parks. The public utility is planning to build all new office facilities to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard. The head office also holds an onsite fitness facility, physiotherapy services and more.

Work Atmosphere
BC Hydro's work atmosphere is rated very good. The employees are allowed to dress casual, they can listen to their own music while working. There are also social gatherings such as holiday parties and celebrations.

Financial Benefits

BC Hydro's financial benefits are rated as above-average. To keep salaries competitive, the company participates in outside salary surveys every year.  BC Hydro provides signing bonuses for some employees, year-end bonuses for all employees, defined benefit pension with employer contributions, as well as life & disability insurance.

Health

The health and family benefits are very good.  All plans offer flexibility through varying levels of coverage, from no coverage to extended levels of coverage for employees and their families. There is no waiting period before coverage begins. The health plan also includes retiree coverage with no age limit. The basic plan includes routine dental, restorative dental, orthodontics, traditional medicine coverage, alternative medicine coverage, massage therapy, medical equipment and supplies, employee assistance (EAP) plan, and travel insurance.

Employee Engagement
Their engagement is rated as average. New employees receive 3 weeks of vacation allowance after their first year. Vacation increases after 10 years on the job. Long-serving employees receive a maximum of 6 weeks of vacation each year. Employees can also apply for an unpaid leave of absence. Employees can also schedule up to 20 paid personal days off every year. After their first year on the job, paid vacation increases by one day after every 2 years of continuous employment.

Training

BC Hydro's training and skills development program is rated as exceptional. Employees receive tuition subsidies for courses related to their position.BC Hydro supports employees' career development with subsidies for professional accreditations, in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades internships, in-house training programs, online training programs, and more. The organization offers a graduate technologist-in-training program for candidates in the engineering, operations and electrical systems maintenance and repair fields.

Community Involvement

BC Hydro's community involvement program is rated as very good. BC Hydro supports local and national charitable organizations. Employees take part in the selection of charitable groups assisted each year. The public utility and its employees volunteer and support organizations such as the Vancouver YWCA, Habitat for Humanity and the BC-based Minerva Foundation. BC Hydro also maintains on focus energy conservation and environmental sustainability initiatives and supports and encourages individuals to incorporate energy conservation into their everyday lives.

Entrepreneurial Seminar Notes

• The basics of entrepreneurship: sense of mission, customer/product vision, high speed innovation, and self-inspired behaviour.
• "The inclination of my life has been to do things and make things which will give pleasure to people in new and amazing ways. By doing that I please and satisfy myself." - Walt Disney
• Steve Jobs: The managers knew how to manage, but they couldn't do anything. (Apple Computer)
• Sense of mission: leaving footprints in the sand
• be excited, love your business! this is important stuff.
• "Fall in love with your business" - George Tidball, Founder of Keg Restaurants.
• "I was convinced we were doing something that had tremendous significance in the world." - Ben Tregoe
• Sense of Mission: creating high purpose and high standards.
• don't do average work, do excellent work.
• "Our duty as industrialists is to produce goods for the public, and to enrich and make happier all those who use them." - Konosuke Matsushita (Panasonic)
• To create your business plans you must question yourself: What do I like to do? What Am I Good at Doing? What does the market need? What competitive position would I have? and what capabilities and cash must I have?
• Creating Entrepreneurial Business Plans: A matter of Survival, It's not a "project", focus on customers, focus on products, and the criteria that count.
• In a high competitive position, you will have a high market need.
• Bigger is NOT better.
• 33% of the Excellent Co's('62-'84), 84% of the 100 Biggest Co's(1990-2000), 70% of the Fortune 500 (1955-2006)
• started out entrepreneurial, became managerial.
• LIFE CYCLE OF ORGANIZATION: 1. Start up, 2. High Growth, 3. Decline, 4. Survival
• "everything that can be invented has been invented." - Charles Duell Director. (US Patent Office, 1899)
• I'm Okay, you're okay. (1st deadly sin) this produces terminal inaction --> we are not okay, we are NEVER okay.
• crisis, and a sense of urgency are necessary for organizations to grow.
• One Best Way (2nd deadly sin) - Silences workers forever, kills innovation.
• Out of touch with competitors and customers (3rd deadly sin) - your next great idea comes from competitors and customers.
• Centralize everything (4th) - this is all about controlling things, is bigger actually better?
• when in doubt - decentralize.
• Branson - when he sold Virgin Records, it was made up of 50 different record companies with no more than 60 employees in each.
• Lab in the Woods (Scientists take over) (5th)
• Idea of having an innovation team out in the woods away from the hustle bustle of business allowed for creativity.
• Best ideas come from the factory floor, lunch brainstorming with salesman and face to face meetings with unhappy customers. (McDonald's)
• Marketing takes over or salesmen take over  (6th)
• opposite to lab in the woods
• not product specialist, you need both scientist (product specialist) and salesman (customer specialist) working together.
• Senior Management disconnected (7th)
• MBA Syndrome: sit in corner office and make decisions, disconnect from factory floor, customer.
• Sears was the largest retailer, then it built the World's tallest building in Chicago, lost connections to customers. In comes Wal-Mart.

Entrepreneurial Seminar Notes

John D. Rockeffeller

• Student voted most likely to succeed.
• His grandfather was known as the world's first billionaire.
• his family was criticized for their reputation.
• With little capital, anyone could strike it rich with oil.
• John Davidson Rockefeller wanted to control things his own way, and wanted to rationalize them.
• Rockefeller created Ledger A counted every penny coming in, and every penny going out.
• in 1865, he went into a partnership with Samuel Andrews.
• $100,000 driller--> refiner
• the cheaper it costs, the greater it's profits.
• the company grew by building up refineries.
• bought out competition by offering his stock.
• never lost his deep commitment to religion.
• Rockefeller in 1882 moved his company to New York.
• paid for a black woman's freedom
• established a college for black women in Atlanta.
• In 1889, he donated $600,000 to a college.
• the only reason he gave lots of money because he had a sense of responsibility to use his money intelligently.
• he became the perfect example of capitalism gone mad.
• Roosevelt was a big enemy of the big business trust.
• in 1909, the Supreme Court came in to bring the Standard oil down.
• 34 different companies were created out of Standard Oil, and John D. got a piece of every one of them.
• He had become so despised, he hired Ivy Lee to change him into a "sympathetic figure" to the public.
• Rockefeller became to be known as the man who gave out dimes.
• handed over his business affairs to his son Rockefeller Jr.
• Rockefeller Jr. was required to keep a ledger.
• Rockfeller's wife refused to keep a ledger after he suggested it to her.
• In the early 1900's, Rockefeller Jr. had a nervous breakdown and eventually gave up his work.
• 75 in total were killed in the "Rockefeller War"
• Rockefeller Jr. visited all of the camps and brought improvement to the mines.
• May 23 1957, Rockefeller died.
• Jr. believed that every plant, every rock etc. had their own spirit.
• 1948 Abby Rockefeller died of a stroke.
• John D. Rockefeller Jr. died in 1960.
• All of John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s children became very successful.
• No other family in America has come close to establish the same power as the Rockefeller's.

What I learned:

Rockefeller became one of the most successful people in all of history. Although he was given a bad reputation, Rockefeller rose above it and still continued to be successful and was the first billionaire in all of America. With the help of oil and the branches of it such as Sohio and Chevron, Rockfeller received his own portion of the income from these companies, making him even more rich with his business. Therefore, I have learned that there are many aspects of business, and anyone can be successful even with a bad reputation.