Making It Real

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DaTTj2jo6iP35BuJxbwT5pXfyDPSqVWQmUEUUKqU0wA/edit?usp=sharing

My Exit Strategy

1) I intend on staying with my Junior Golf Tour for decades to come. I believe that this business is not about selling to the highest bidder, but that I will have an influence on junior golf for the years to come. I would need to stay as long as possible to ensure that my program grows and reaches across the nation to the best junior golfers so that they can further their career.

2) As stated before, I believe I have a duty to grow the game. The easiest way to grow the game is to get more kids involved, and also keep them involved throughout their grade school career. I won't be able to grow the game in just a few years, and will need to stay in the program for decades to ensure the steady growth of my program and the game. I don't know what I would do if I let another person run the business I created.

3) I believe that my exit strategy definitely influences most decisions I've made on this particular venture. With my goal in growing the game the program is based upon, I would have dedicated my life to making sure this program is successful. Making sure that I am able to watch these young kids grow not only in height and age, but with their passion for the game would be something that would obviously take me more than a few years. With that, having a long career, retiring at a decent age, and running the program I created with help from many people over the years, this is an exit strategy I firmly stand behind in order to achieve my goals .

Celebrating Failure

1) This semester I attempted to practice as hard as I could to qualify for the state golf tournaments. I decided that I needed to stop seeing a golf instructor, and work on my golf swing on my own. At first, it worked very well, as I was able to qualify for the first two tournaments I entered. However, due to the fact that I wasn't taking care of my body, and I was swinging incorrectly, I ended up hurting my back, causing me to miss out on the remainder of the season. I am still recovering as I am writing this, and I can't wait to get back to swinging the club again!

2) I learned that I have a great self motivation skill when I want something really bad, however a little guidance can really help me in the long run and stop me if I'm making mistakes.

3) I believe failure is very humbling. One moment you could be on top of the world, the next you can be down in the dirt. It teaches you more life lessons than any type of success could give you. The most successful people in this world use failure as a tool to move ahead and let it open new doors in their future. When I get back to hiting golf balls, I will have learned a lot more about my game and physical ability. This past year I've had some pretty big failures, ones that I expected not to happen. I feel like I handle failure a lot better than most, in that Ive already been through a lot in my childhood and realize that the clouds will clear eventually if you keep blowing them away. I feel as if I have always been about taking risks throughout my life, and this class definitely validated that.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

            Children and young adults today are becoming more fascinated with sports every year. America has a set of sports that people become obsessed with, therefore children go after those sports with passion, leaving the lesser known sports in the dust. Golf is an interesting game, and it has captured the lives of many people. Without young adults and children getting into the game, the sport itself will become stagnant, not able to keep up with the other sports around it. The potential customers are young adults and children, needing  to find a sport they like and enjoy as well as learn to become good at it. Golf isn’t like basketball or football, it doesn’t require you to be strong, tall, or fast. It is a kid friendly game that is open to anyone. The market isn’t defined by gender or age, and advertises itself by the pure beauty that is a golf course. The opportunity to open up a junior golf tour that gets kids addicted to the game, while also making it competitive for older young adults to pursue their dreams of one day playing golf in college is a window that can be open at all times. Customers need a cheap and discounted experience that is also fun and satisfying. Golf can be a hard game, and it is my job to make it less intimidating.

Innovation:

            This program is all about creativity and competition. Together, these two values make this program separate from other junior golf tours in that is brings young children up to play the game, and develops them into becoming a great competitor. This is similar to what could possibly be called a “school for golf”, in that young kids will learn the basics, play with equipment that makes the game much easier as well as as making a “par” that can show progress. The older kids will play a “golf tour” that is similar to the PGA tour, with “Majors” and “Tour Championships”. Once there are good golfers on the tour, this reputation will lead to colleges wanting to recruit from these specific tournaments. Membership in this tour would require money, but also get discounts at area golf courses as well as college recruiting tips and discounted equipment. Tournaments would cost a separate fee as well, and there would be exemptions for players who are past champions of tournaments or championship leaders. The young kids group would work almost like boy scouts, where you earn medals or skills to bring you to the next level. Once that child is ready to compete, he or she can choose what tournaments they want to play in, and they will be put with their certain age group. Tournaments would come in a package deal, making them cheaper that\n AJGA or SJGT tournaments. The average tournament(AJGA) would cost around $300, but with a package deal a golfer can pay $300 for 2 tournaments, and a lesson with a golf coach. Memberships would range based on what level a child is at.

Venture Concept:

            I believe the customer would switch to this program because junior golf tours can be extremely complicated to navigate and pay for. When I was a junior golfer, I played on three different tours, paid for three different memberships, and also paid for each tournament. I always wished there was a tour that could just do all of this in one, while also getting smaller kids into the game. One tour I was on was called The First Tee of Northwest Florida, that brought kids up and taught them golf. They would also go play on a separate tour where they were able to look up to the older kids like myself and get inspired to win tournaments. Kids are motivated by competition and kids that are older than them. Having a single program that streamlines a child from learning to play the game, to working their way up and spectating, to finally being able to compete for themselves is a great way to keep kids interest in golf throughout their childhood. The classes would also include lessons on the industry itself, so a young adult about to go to college can look into what field they may want to go into if competing doesn’t work out. The weaknesses of this would be in the very beginning, trying to convince parents that this tour is better and more streamlined than the others. Once the prestige of the tour is built, more and more colleges and great junior players will look into playing in tournaments. I would organize this business by having assistant tournament directors directing the different types of events. I would have photographers photographing the kids to post on social media. I would also hire rules officials to support any rules issues we had, and finally I would hire a few golf coaches from area courses to work with me in bringing the kids discounted lessons and clinics. All in all, I would need about 3-5full-time employees, and 4-6 part-time employees to run the program

Minor Elements:

            I believe my most import resource in order to make this work would be to make this tour feel like a family rather than just a tour. A lot of times junior tours act like they don’t care enough about the growth of the game, rather just getting the best players to play their tournament. I would make sure every child and family feels welcome at every event. I would like for this tour to eventually work its way in helping high school athletes become collegiate athletes, and work on making this tour a Junior World Golf Rankings program. In 5 years, I would want for the best juniors in the nation to play my tournaments, to inspire the young kids to be as great as them. This will in term keep young kids excited about that game, and continuing to grow the sport I love.

Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big - by Scott Adams

1) The general theme of the book was about what the book called "systems". Systems are the key in accomplishing long term goals. In fact the book even says that goals are for losers. When reaching for a goal your passion and success rate are acting on each other. When you succeed, your passion grows, and when you fail you passion diminishes. The only way the continue reaching for your goal is to create a system that allows you to focus on the short term, then achieve the achievement. It also gave me a lot of tips and tricks to living a happier lifestyle, starting with achieving my personal goals first, being more selfish (but not in an egotistical kind of way), then worry about the world around me. 

2) The book is further keeping my knowledge into having more of an entrepreneurial mindset. The mindset can be valuable anywhere, and this book screams and pounds your head into learning this mindset. It allows you to think as if you are a leader, and that you are one step ahead of everyone else. This definitely goes hand and hand with what we are learning in this class.

3) Creating a system or step by step procedure on how to fulfill the eventual achievement. Almost like a blueprint for your ideas.

4) The biggest "aha" moment for me is when the book said that successful people are inherently selfish, but good successful people can use what they have accomplished by being "selfish" into helping other people. People such as Ellen Degeneres, who worked her whole life in show business to work her way up, to now being one of the most charitable talk show hosts in the history of television. I hope that I could be that successful one day.

Growing My Social Capital

1: John Stevens - West End Golf Course, First Tee of Gainesville Coach
2: Domain Expert- He is a domain expert because understands how important junior golf is. If I could not start a junior golf tour, being a coach would be another great option for me.
3: I found him by talking to him on the putting green of the Mark Bostick Golf Course. He used to be a ranger for the course but I hadn't really talked to him until this point.
4: He actually gave me some help with my putting. This was a big help because I had a tournament that it really helped me in. This is the sort of thing I would love to have the opportunity to do in my career. I did not have to do anything for him in return for this exchange. It was just a friendly gesture.
5: It would benefit me in getting more experience in the junior golf industry. Yesterday he even asked if I would possibly like to help out in the fall with their classes.

1: Pete Marino - Assistant Golf Course Director at the Mark Bostick Golf Course
2: Market Expert - Pete handles the inventory at the course, including purchasing inventory to sell in the pro shop. He meets with certain brand representatives and makes deals with these companies to sell their product.
3: I know Pete because he is one of our overseeing managers at the Mark Bostick Golf Course where I am a pro shop manager.
4: Pete is another branch of golf that I could get into. I asked him many questions on how of what his job entails, and gave him some ideas of how I could handle some of the work load, as well as increasing activity in the pro shop and golf course. He has since given me more responsibility in handling some of the books in keeping track of certain discounts and inventory.
5: Working in the pro shop and learning some of the nuances of being a manager at a golf course could further benefit me in both my goal of creating a junior golf tour, or also if I decide to manage a golf course one day.

1: Steve Bobe - Srixon/Cleveland Golf Ambassador
2: Supplier - Sold Srixon/Cleveland Golf supplies to club golf teams including UF's.
3: Steve is our supplier for the UF Club Golf team, as well as the North Florida Region. Being the club golf vice president I do business with him in getting the team the apparel we need.
4: Golf equipment is something that interests me so much that I physically can't stop buying the next best club year after year. With Steve, I am able to sell his product after purchasing them in bulk (Polos, Hats, T-Shirts, etc) so that he can make money, as well as help with club golf fundraising.
5: Working with suppliers would be something that benefits me with any branch I go in. With a junior golf tour, you always need sponsors and suppliers. The tour I worked on last year was supplied by Nike, and the tour a played on as a junior golfer was supplied by adidas and TaylorMade. Running a golf course would also yield similar circumstances.

Reflect: Networking is something that I seem to be very good at. Especially being in the golf industry and working at a golf course, there are plenty of people who have strong connections to the field I want to get into. I have learned that there are numerous routes and opportunities to make new connections every day, and that one connection can change the path of your career for the better.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1: You

     I am David McCaskill, and I am very passionate about the aspects of my career field and confident in my learning ability and work ethic. Sports have been my life long passion ever since I could remember, and I have competed in a few sports, mainly Swimming and Golf. Golf is the sport that swept me off my feet six years ago, and ever since then I have been keen in making sure I get on path to get my into the golf world. I would like to eventually work on the PGA tour, or assist in bringing up the future stars of our game by either working with junior golfers or becoming a golf coach. Junior golfers, including at the middle school and high school levels are the basis for growing the game. I experienced this in high school, as many of my friends quit the game for being too hard, or feeling like they didn't have a chance in the industry. I would like to change that going forward. 

2: What are you offering to customers

     I am offering a unique golfing experience to junior golfers. One that bring kids up believe that golf can actually be fun for the younger kids, and making it competitive for the older ones. This golf program will help junior golf grow, and also keep kids in the game longer to develop their skills, or aspire to work in the golf industry. I would make sure that each junior golfer is tended to, and that nobody gets overlooked. I would also like to give these golfers addition options other than playing competitively, such as volunteering and internships to get into the industry. 

3: Who are you offering this to

    I am offering this to anyone and everyone. Anyone whose family wants to give golf a try, or a family that has known and played golf for generations. Everyone is welcomed to get their children involved in the game.

4: Why do they care?

    The families who are already into golf want to find a completive environment for their children to polish their skills. Families will care because it is important for junior golfers to gain experience in tournaments if they would like to make it to the next level, which would be college golf. As far as the newer families, making golf fun is the most important aspect. Once kids get into the game, and are able to stick with it through my program, families will realize how much the game brings people together just as Football and Basketball do so well. 

5: What are your core competencies?

      I believe that I am offering a platform that no other golf tour can match. With the advantage of big hole golf for the younger kids, and a tournament schedule that mimics the PGA tour itself, golfers will be very interested in testing their skills. Also, being a junior golfer in the modern golf era, and also from experience working on previous golf tours, I know exactly what junior golfers want, and what they need to become successful. My enthusiasm for the game is what sets me apart more than most. I have experienced kids leaving the game, and I have also experienced my friends succeed in the industry in a variety of ways. This is the main difference between myself and others. 

Evaluation: I feel like this concepts work together very well. I feel like this concept is different from other golf tours in a good way, while also retaining and enhancing the amount of fun junior golfers can have. If there are any weaknesses in this concept, it would be the advertisement for the older kids. Though have a PGA tour style tour may attract customers, it takes a while to build a strong field for junior golfers to compete in order to get ready for college golf. All in all this I feel like this concept would take time to develop, but once developed it gain being in serious results. 

Feedback Memo

      I received a few important feedback notes that made me slightly change my idea napkin. It was not enough feedback for me to change the entire thing all together, rather I added more to my original napkin with elaborated my main goal for this junior golf tour. I added more personal experiences to my napkin to give me more core competencies. I also made sure that I addressed the fact that this tour could take off really fast, and that no matter how successful or unsuccessful this program could be, no child or young adult will be overlooked, and each of them would be given options to go further in the industry. 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1) The Pitch: https://youtu.be/xbNH3YqcILk

2) My last video didn't get much feedback. I made sure that I didn't write anything down, and that I spoke from the heart to show my passion for junior golf. I know that I should have a template or some broad ideas on a notecard to prepare myself for an elevator pitch, but in this video I wanted to see how I would do in the moment with not much preparation. In future videos I will organize my ideas first and then attempt a speech to see with method worked better.

3) In the first video, It took many attempts to get the elevator pitch "perfect". In this video, I attempted to do my speech in as little attempts as possible to make it feel more real and on the spot.

My Customer's Avatar

       The customer I would picture in my head when thinking about my junior golf program would be children to young adults. This includes males and females, however because junior golf in more male percentage wise, a young man was the first customer that popped into my head. I was also a junior golfer once, not knowing what to do as far as tournaments and preparation for big events goes. This is the kind of junior golfer I am looking for, and I would hope that these customers see the difference in my junior golf tour compared to the others. I don't think it's a coincidence that I have this similarity with my avatar. I see myself, and the many problems I had to deal with when thinking about what tournaments and programs to enter as a middle school and high school student as far as my golf game went.