Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your lesson, why?

I'm most proud of my answers to my Essential Question and the way o justified each answer by giving reasons, examples and scenarios.

2.What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson, and why?

I would give myself a P- mainly because although I felt like I did have nice answers I could have looked for a better hook and I feel like I wasn't as confident up there presenting as I should have been. 

3.If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson? How can you use that knowledge to give a better lesson 2? 

I would defidently up my confidence I think that is a huge part of presenting and speaking louder is also a part of that. This helps hold my audiences attention and I will defidently apply this to my lesson 2.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

I'm working with my aunt on her start up process, I am getting a lot of meaningful information. Right now my aunts renting out two different houses and building a new house from the ground up, by renting these houses out she'll develop more than enough revenue to make sure she can afford the restaurant and still have enough money to fall back on. This is actually a very stressful project she's going through at this point but she continues to teach me a lot about the whole start up process, its a very personal and helpful approach to my topic for me.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

I'm related to my mentor, trust me this hasn't affected her being hard on me when it comes to completing my task in fact I think she is even harder on me because of the fact that Im her niece. It took some convincing at first I had to explain to her what my whole project was all about and I had to promise I would slack on my work duties and assignments just because she's my aunt.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship? 

How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person?I'm very comfortable with her, I have learned a lot more about her and seen a more deep personal side,it's been a wonderful experience so far and I'm looking forward to more amazing moments with my mentor. I have been spending every other weekend with her and we have been going over restaurant updates and possible vendors and she has been helping me out on editing my business plan for my personal component.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

I feel as though my mentor was a lot more comfortable this time around, she seemed to have been more in to the interview and more genuine. I could tell from her tone of voice and the way she looked when she talked about her reasons fro starting a restaurant, it's a wonderful and inspirational thing watching people talk about something they love. I feel like I need to ask more in depth questions and some more follow up questions, its just that my mentor tends to add on to the question I had originally asked which is amazing and just means I need to come up with better questions. I will probably research more regarding types of interview questions.

Here is the link to the interview with my mentor:

https://soundcloud.com/michelle-985280227/interview-2-mentor

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

 

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

Yes, I currently have a mentor and our interview is scheduled for this Saturday.

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.   

My most specific areas of research would be the basic ambiance of the restaurant. By ambiance I mean lighting, vibe, waiter/waitress attitude, music, smells, colors and how these factors affect the customer. Another area would be the location of the restaurant, understanding if there's a heavy traffic flow, who is your competition, if there is enough parking and how all of these factors will contribute to the whole "make or break" factor of the restaurant. A third point of interest would be the business plan which at this point is the most important thing to have well planned out so as of now I have three areas I find most promising. 

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

I need to go back to the cal poly library because I have been researching some books online regarding the restaurant start up process and many of them seem very promising. 

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

"What is the most essential quality/process needed to ensure a successful restaurant?"

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

I plan to spend at least thirty hours working on my very own business plan. A business plan is by definition, "A written document that describes in detail how a new business is going to achieve its goals. A business plan will layout a written plan from a marketing, financial and operational viewpoint." This whole process will involve a lot of research and tedious writing. I will be thinking of my very own type of restaurant whether it be vegetarian, fast food or dine in. The business plan will consist of:

An executive summary- which is just a run through of what the business is about. 

General company description- this includes a mission statement and goals of the restaurant. 

Products and services- which may include pictures and descriptions of products that will be available in the restaurant regarding the quality of the food. 

Marketing plan- include statistics and sources that will predict my projected sales. Also includes target group, benefits about my product and other strategies. 

Operational Plan- Where services are produced, type of location the restaurant is going to be in, legal documents, workers, inventory. 

Management and Organization- The basic manager of the business and their credentials.

Personal Financial statement- personal assets, stockholders, liabilities (this section is mainly just to show to the banks if you're planning on pulling out a huge loan, so this probably wont apply to me or I might just make a hypothetical financial statement).

Start Up expenses and Capitalization- This is a basic estimate of how much money I will end up putting in the restaurant. 

Financial Plan- The title says it all, there will most likely be a twelve month chart based on the projected profit and loss. 

Appendices- includes all types of information used to write up my business plan.

Refining the plan- includes a restatement of all sections. 

Click the link below to download the document that I'm basing my business plan off of, its basically a summary of all of the sections included in a business plan.

A view at how a business plan is written (click to download)

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

 I will be able to provide my house teacher with a bibliography of the different types of websites and books I used to write my business plan as well as biweekly progress reports on the actual plan and if that isn't enough I could have my mentor monitor me while I'm working on the business plan and sign off on how many hours I had spent on it. 

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

I feel like writing my own business plan will allow me to learn more about each specific step needed to build up a restaurant and it will feel more realistic to me as if I was actually going to start up this restaurant. Giving me more of a hands on and personal approach to my senior topic

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert? 

My mentor is Karina Reel and she currently works at UEI College working with students and other employees. At this point her workplace doesn't reflect her expertise. And as she sees it, it doesn't reflect her actual potential either. She went to Cal Poly and studied business administration with a finance major in order to become an entrepreneur. She had started working at UEI when she was younger and got started receiving constant promotions until she worked her way up to the limit and now she feels like she's ready to go ahead and take on her original life plan to start her restaurant. So far she's done her best to thoroughly explain to me the basic "mechanics" of business start ups and I feel like she is passing on her knowledge to the best of her ability. I can see the dedication. 

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. What was one of the most important things you would say you learned from you finance major?

2.  Have you ever tried doing something similar to this restaurant start up in the past?

3. What first sparked your interest for the field of business administartion?

4. What are some other classes you took back in college that you would say helped you with planning a business?

5. If you were given the opportunity, would you go back in time and work on starting up this restaurant earlier?  

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?   

My mentorship and research has worked very well for me during this whole senior project process. My mentor really does help out when I need it and I feel like there is an abundance of research available for my whole "Restaurant Start up" topic. Especially because there's certain laws and restraints that a restaurant needs to follow before officially opening and I can write down and learn all about those. Ny mentor has also provided me with a significant amount of books that I can use for research checks which I am extremely grateful for.

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

As of now there aren't many problems regarding my senior project unless you count the possibility of changing my topic. One of my cousins is an environmental engineer and I was telling him about this whole project and apparently he recently got a job at a company he use to intern at and he could possibly mentor me. The only issue is that I'm not quite sure what I should officially call the topic and since engineering is actually something I consider doing in the future I'm afraid I'll get tired of it throughout the year. Even so it's a possibility. 

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

• The most important thing I learned from this interview would have to be that it is important to have extremely open ended questions so that the interviewee has plenty of things to say. In this interview my mentor had actually asked me to see the questions in advance which was probably a good idea. It gave her some extra time to think of what to say and perhaps come up with extra details that she probably would have forgotten if she had been asked these questions on the spot. In my next interview I will definitely send the questions to my interviewee a few more days in advance, I also think it helps them feel more prepared and perhaps less nervous. 

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

• I actually did get some additional contacts from my mentor. After the interview she gave me the phone number of one of her friends who currently owns two restaurants and then she had introduced me to this friend and we all had a good talk. I mentioned the possibility of an interview and long story short I'm pretty sure I have my "Interview 2" already set up. 

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me?

• Well my interviewee is actually my mentor and she has had  prior experience when it comes to business start ups, with her previous catering business. She has also graduated from business administration with a finance major from Cal Poly Pomona. I feel that this interview has helped me learn a bit more about my mentor and her motivation, intentions and ideas. She also happened to have some connections with some current business owners which helped me a lot for future interviews.  

To listen to my interview please click the link below.                            

• Interview 1

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

1. Write a short explanation of what you are hoping to accomplish through your senior project topic. 

• I want to take my senior project topic and turn it in to something more than just a project. I want this to be a life experience, because after all this gives us the opportunity to explore something we find intriguing and then be able to decide if this is something we would like to work around even after graduation. So with that said my goal is to really get an in depth experience about the social, mental and physical amount of energy it takes to start up a business on your own. I mean with starting your own restaurant there are so many factors you have to consider and chances you have to take, and you don't always know whether or not your gonna come out successful. Ever since I got my first job as a waitress and I got to know the owner of the place I worked at I would often find myself talking to her about her business experience and the responsibilities to maintain a restaurant of her own. I always thought it was an amazing thing that this very restaurant that I worked in and people ate in was once just an idea in this woman's head. She said she always felt a sense of accomplishment because the process really does take a toll on you. So my goal is to feel something close to that sense of accomplishment and I feel that my mentor can help me get there by allowing me to accompany her on creating her own restaurant. I want to experience the fun and the hard parts of making an idea come to life. 

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

• I plan to interview my mentor, Karina Reel primarily because of her genuine interest and knowledge regarding my senior topic. She has been teaching me a lot and I feel like an interview would allow me to have an even deeper understanding about points that she tries to get across to me. 

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions.
My follow up questions:

1. Why did you choose to start this restaurant in the first place, like what was your motivation?
2. If any, what was your main fear before making the final  decision of building up this business?
3. What types of characteristics do you feel would be most important to work on if choosing to go in to this type of business, for what reasons?
4. What are the most important risks to analyze before starting a business how do you feel about them? 
5. How do you feel about the obvious risks that accompany starting your own business now after analyzing more information versus when you had first started off this whole business making process?

Here are the assigned questions:

1. I'm interested in studying the process a "business start up". What can you tell me about it?
2. From your perspective, what could I study that would be significant to other people?
3. Who else would you recommend I talk to?
4. What kinds of places or activities do you recommend I do for the mentorship component?
5. What materials should I read in this field? Who else can I interview?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

Senior Project Hours 

*Above is the title and table of contents of the business plan I have been working on- I'm not allowed to share the actual business plan*

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

• My very own aunt Karina Reel gave me the amazing opportunity to join her on her journey of building up her restaurant, below I listed the information as needed. 

Karina Reel 

Business Administration 

Finance Major 

(626)922-2074

Yummies

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?

• Mrs.Reel studied at Cal Poly and graduated from Business Administration with a Finance major, giving her an abundant amount of knowledge needed to actually start up her very own business. She had also began a catering business a few years back with the same name, "Yummies", which had actually taken off for quite a while. Sadly she started getting more preoccupied with her other job and could not make her business a top priority at the time. Now she's ready to start up again and judging by the progress we have made Yummies will soon be a dream come to true. 

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.

• Having started up a business plan, what are the most important pieces of information needed to insure future investors?
• Since starting up a new business is essentially a "venture in to the unknown" type of ordeal, what are some systems used by other companies to keep track of future business expenses so we do not spend more than we may actually may have? 
• When releasing the restaurant out to the public, what are the best advertising methods? 

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• The most important thing that I gained from my summer mentorship would have to be that one seemingly minuscule and unreachable idea can prosper in to something more with the right amount of dedication, passion, and most importantly creativity. I started off by helping with the Business Plan, and the first obstacle we ran in to was the mission statement. We had come up with several different mission statements beforehand which involved doing a lot of research. In the end, complex thinking and an overload of information wasn't enough to come up with a satisfying mission statement. We needed something that would catch an average consumers attention, so we reached in to the right side of our brains and put ourselves in to our "future customers" shoes. Asking questions like,"Why should I eat here?", "Why would I choose to eat here instead of the place right next to it?". Passion, you really need to want this to happen. It is so easy after two hours of research and typing and backspacing to just give up, especially in today's world where it's so much harder to catch peoples attention since it seems like everything has been said, done and cooked. You cannot let yourself get discouraged you have to keep that passion up in order to truly succeed. Dedication, once you start up on this idea there is no going back that is the mindset you need to have. Karina has had this Yummies dream for about six years now and it takes so much courage and dedication to make it happen. You cannot let distractions pull you from your main goal and Karina learned this from her first attempt. 

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

• My senior project topic is most likely going to be restaurant management. I have worked at a restaurant before and being in the actual environment gave me a pretty good idea of how a restaurant is managed throughout the day, however I had always been curious as to how  any of it started. My mentorship gave me a very broad idea on how a restaurant starts up and provided me with more of a "behind the scenes" type of information. Mainly on what important obstacles need to be passed before you can really set your restaurant out for the public. So far the journey has been quite intriguing and I have been wanting to explore the "business side" for some time now. I'm ready to find out if this is something I would consider doing in the future or maybe its not for me, the excitement continues.  

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

1.What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

The three lessons that were most helpful for me to see were the ones centered upon Business Management, Engineering and Negligence Law. These were the main topics that I was considering when thinking of my senior project, I wanted to know what sort of mentorship they took on and what their role was and if they actually felt like they learned something while "on the job"

2.List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

One thing that I learned from the senior interviews that will help me get off to a better start would be when they told me "it's not easy getting a mentor, you have to be very persistent or they just forget about you". I hadn't originally thought about how hard it would be to find a mentor, I thought that all I had to do was find a nice community service area and perhaps find someone working there that is well credited in the line of work that I am looking for, ask them if they would mind mentoring me and they would most likely say yes. I now have to subtract that "most likely" part. If I had gone in to summer with my original mindset that mentorship would be easy I probably would have placed finding a mentor to the last month of summer.

3.What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

My number one topic as of now would be business management, mainly because I am working at a restaurant right now and I am good friends with the owner so I sometimes see how she runs things around the place and ever since I first started working there I had been wondering how she can run a business all by herself. My aunt had also started her own catering business a while ago, she was successful but it only lasted about two years before she had her baby and other stuf with work came up and she could no longer find the time to run her little business, but I had always admired how she was able to begin something from the ground up.

4.What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

I had started thinking about an essential question ever since Ortega walked in to Edwards class to explain the senior project, so far I have, "What is the most essential quality needed in order to open a successful restaurant?". It is still a work in progress but some potential answers include location, customer service, management or media advertisement.

5.What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

Like I had stated above I am good friends with the owner of the restaurant I am currently working at, I could always ask her for her guidance, but she might be too busy. Another option would be asking the manager of this other venue that my brother works at, they are good friends and I am sure that if I introduce myself, state my project goal and with my brothers recommendation the manager wouldn't mind being my mentor.