Presentation...Almost Here

It is almost time for myself and my group to present our presentation. During the course of the semester, our professor has been informing us about this day to come. We have been in class talking about social entrepreneurship. The pros and cons, different types of businesses, etc. Then afterwards, the class (which was divided into groups) went out into the "Real World" to find a social entrepreneur and help them out with their business venture. The Social Entrepreneur that I have worked with during this whole process has been an interesting person to work with.

The task that we were assigned to do for her, was interesting and different then what I expected. During the time working with this task, I was able to learn how different entrepreneurs have started their own business, was it beneficial or not to start their own business, and so many other information. During the time of this project, I was able to build up some skills that were not so steady. For instance, I am now able build up my researching skill (searching different places to call and information to help others); interviewing skill (asking questions to people that I usually do not talk to or associate with); patience skill (some people are very hard to schedule with or get information from, so I had to be calm and keep myself content in each situtation that seemed to be difficult); and business skills (I have learned so much infromation that has occurred with other entrepreneurs that I can inform others about als).

If a person was interested in taking my Social Entrepreneurship course I would recommend it. It informs you about information that is at times not really talked about. For instance, if it was not for this class, I would not have even considered being a social entrepreneur. The reason so is because, I thought that social entrepreneurs did not make money at all, but come to find out that they can make a decent amout of money all at the same time help out with a social issue.

I am ready for my presentation to come along. I might be a little nervous informing people about the topic, but I will make sure to keep a smile on my face, look positive, and smile.

-Edgal

Phone Interview

As defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an interview is defined as information that is obtained during a meeting. For about 2 weeks now my group and myself have been going out and interviewing different types of people, from librarians to entrepreneurs. We were asking different questions to find out how to basically start a business and what are some important factors that are needed during that time.

I had gone out and found several different entrepreneurs and interviewed them. At first I was scared to interview a few of these people, because they were all business owned people wearing nice business attire and then myself (a student). During the time I was interviewing people, some I did over the phone and some in person. I has asked questions like: What type of business did you start? Was it easy to start your own business? What factors did you go through? What would you recommend to a person who wants to start their own business?

After each interview, the most common comment that I had gotten, was that "Entrepreneurs are not only people who want to make money, but also want to create a business which could help people out, whether it is giving them food, clothing, shelter, etc."

-Edgal

THE ACT OF CALLING
EL ACTO DE LLAMAR

Have you ever tried to call a business to ask for basic information such as: how did it start out? what are the struggles of the company?. Well, this is the first time I've ever tried to do that, and it is not as easy as it seemed. Sometimes the person in the other side of the line just hang up when you say you are student and you are looking for information for a project. Sometimes people is willing to help you and they are excited to answer your questions even tought you don't speak a good English.

Alguna vez has tratado de llamar a un negocio para preguntar simples preguntas como: de que manera comenzó? o, cuales son las dificultades de la compañía? Bueno, esta es la primera vez que lo intento y la verdad no es tan fácil como parecía. A veces la persona al otro lado de la linea simplemente cuelga el teléfono al momento que les dices que eres estudiante y estás buscando información para un proyecto. A veces la gente simplemente está deseosa de ayudar y muestran interés al responder tus preguntas, aún cuando no hablas inglés adecuadamente.

Lira-

Library Interview

I had recently interviewed a person in the library for a project that my group and myself are doing for Social Entrepreneurship. Myself and one of my group partners had decided to go to the library after class and just start asking questions about where would we go if we wanted to start our own business. It was interesting to find out that libraries actually have a lot of good information for anyone. We had gone through some public websites and were even able to find out what different types of businesses are around North Carolina. They had informed us that in the University Libraries there are so many resources out there for students, but students just have to be willing to look for it. They also said that even if you are a University student or not, you can still find information. The public library, for instance, is one good place to go and find out information about how to start a business. They will give you books, different websites, articles, etc. I am glad that I am working on this Social Entrepreneurship project, because it makes me realize that even if I was going to start my own I would be able to get resources to help me start out.

-Edgal

Case Study

Recently, during the time looking at the Case Study "Homeboy Industries" it seems to be an interesting company. They seem to want to help out so many people who need jobs, as well as, try to keep a good image. While working on the Case Study and realizing how much money they earned and/or did not earn, it made me realize that it is important to always keep track of your records. The reason so is because at one point it seemed that the company did not keep all records of their items. While calculating things like the net working capital, it made a realization that it is important to keep track of things like that, because who knows you could be making more money then is recorded. It was a long Case Study to read, but did enjoy getting to know some informartion. The phrase "you learn something new each day" did work for me today, because it made me think about how when I am to run my own business, I better start making sure that I keep track of everything (from donations, loans, etc.).

-Edgal

Experience So Far

My group and myself have been working together to start helping out our social entrepreneur. We worked on the business plan, completed the practical proposal, and now starting to work on reading up on the history of TWEI. When in class this week, it was good to see the class again. Each group had to tell what their progress was so far and everybody seemed to be focused and accomplished a lot thus far. I feel that our group is at a great pace, but we do have to realize that the semester is coming close to an end and we do need to figure out how we can help our social entrepreneur to the best of our ability. Another thing that was reminded in class, was that we do have to do a Conga Line to advertise for the big final of the presentations. I really did forget about that part of the project, but I am looking forward to doing the Conga Line and see how my fellow classmates act outside of class.

(Edgal)

Course So far

The Social Entrepreneurship course so far is getting interesting. We have been giving the opportunity to work with our entrepreneurs. I am starting to read up on what my Social Entrepreneur's business is and how it was started and everything seems interesting so far. Her business/program, seems to be interesting and can become a stable/successful business. From what I have read about the business plan so far, I would recommend people to this business. The business that my group and I are working on is called Triad Women's Entrepreneurial Initiative. I am excited to be helping them out and wondering what different surprises will be learned during this experience.

(Edgal)