reflectingonmyjourney

[reflectingonmyjourney]

BMM Mastery Journal Entry: Refining My Business Model Through Strategic Management

Analyzing My Initial Goal

At first, I had one main goal when I started the Business  Model Management course, and that was to learn how to improve and perfect Oasis Mirage’s business model.  I had a goal of coming up with a scalable and sustainable way of analyzing key performance indicators in order  to enhance customer engagement and improve operational efficiency. I also wished to enhance my skills in using data-driven  decision making to solve various business problems and maintain my venture’s competitiveness in the market.

The coursework helped me:

1. Identify key performance indicators for Oasis Mirage that  include measuring operational efficiency, customer acquisition rates, retention strategies, and customer lifetime value.

2. Put  in place a process for the continuous improvement of the customer experience by analyzing the data from the surveys,  social media posts, and the loyalty program.

3. Examine the impacts of different leadership styles on  organizational performance to improve my leadership skills to improve the relationship between employees and customers.

These strategic  elements enabled me to come up with a business model for Oasis Mirage that is data driven and adaptive to  my vision.

Major Lessons from the Course

The most important lesson I learned from the course is the  necessity of continuous business model assessment and adjustment for its effectiveness. Those business models that are static are more  likely to fail while those that are dynamic and respond to customers’ needs and market trends as well as  company’s operations are likely to thrive.

A few key characteristics are:

Critical tools for assessing the  organizational health and for making strategic business decisions are performance measures.

• Customer reviews should not be ignored but  rather encouraged. While negative reviews are always inconvenient for the companies, they can also be used correctly to  grow the number of loyal customers and increase the customer retention rate.

• Leadership is one of the most  critical determinants of business results. Thus, the combination of coaching, democratic, affiliative, and  authoritative leadership styles offer a good balance for the organization’s performance and the morale of the employees.

How  I Will Incorporate These Ideas in My Professional Life:  I will use the following approaches to implement  these realizations in my next projects.

1. Strategic marketing and customer engagement management of Oasis Mirage.  I will be able to tell whether our marketing dollar is well spent by using performance metrics to determine if  we are getting customer acquisition and retention from each marketing campaign.

2. Disciplined client feedback  loops. I can continuously improve the customer experience through email surveys, free and paid feedback tools including social media  surveys and A/B testing.

3. Enhancing my leadership skills. Through proper team management, proper  instruction, and proper assignment of work, I will create a good workforce that will help in the growth  of Oasis Mirage.

Final Thoughts

The course enhanced my tactical thinking and leadership roles, thereby assisting me  in developing my business model. In my attempt to make Oasis Mirage a customer-focused water solution company with  optimal performance, the information I have acquired will be very useful.

These tools will allow me to address  the issues that are specific to business ownership and make sure that my business will be successful in the long  run, which I am certain.

[reflectingonmyjourney]

EMS Mastery Journal: Creativity and Innovation Reflection 

Original Goal for the Course 

Upon beginning this Creativity and Innovation course I intended to develop creative thinking and innovation skills which I could apply both in my personal life and professional environment. My objective was to develop actionable plans for business operations at Oasis Mirage water oasis as well as my workplace. My goal was to establish a culture of innovation that enhances employee productivity and satisfaction and delivers better customer experiences.

The course successfully fulfilled my goal expectations. 

The course provided tools and frameworks which exceeded what I initially anticipated. The course curriculum taught design thinking principles in combination with workplace innovation approaches to enhance organizational creativity. The workplace design lessons revealed that spaces need both privacy and collaborative flexibility according to the Oasis Mirage implementation principles. The study of workplace strategies used by organizations such as Nike provided practical demonstrations of how intentional design can enhance creativity and employee satisfaction through creative office layouts.

What I Learned from This Course 

The course showed me how design thinking serves as a creative method to address problems effectively. When facing challenges today I start with understanding user needs then define problems and create solutions through ideation and prototyping before testing. The methodology has proven to be effective in upgrading Oasis Mirage elements which include age-restricted sections along with combustion-free lounges. According to the Gensler U.S. Workplace Surveys the primary finding showed how to merge innovative ideas with practical implementations. The results showed both the evolution of worker requirements over time and the necessity for flexibility in contemporary workspaces.

I plan to apply this material both in my personal life and during my professional career journey.

Through creativity lessons I learned to embrace multiple perspectives and view challenges as opportunities for personal growth. I apply these principles through the development of an educational and curious mindset. During the program I acquired professional skills necessary for creating an innovative and dynamic environment at Oasis Mirage. The spaces designed for relaxation and creativity use collaborative technology to enhance customer experience. I plan to apply workplace design innovations to position Oasis Mirage as the industry benchmark for customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

Conclusion 

My creative thinking approach and innovative methods underwent fundamental changes because of this course. My practical knowledge plus attained objectives facilitates the application of these concepts to my business operations and everyday problem-solving situations. The course knowledge I gained will bring permanent changes to my career journey while also helping Oasis Mirage reach new milestones.

[reflectingonmyjourney]

Thinking About Entrepreneurship Finance: Realizing Dreams and Making Dreams Come True.

I was in the Entrepreneurship Finance class hoping to have a solid background in financial analysis and financing of Oasis Mirage’s launch. I didn’t want to be too scared of a capital-heavy business.

The course was invaluable for everything from costing and funding to projections of profit and loss. Discovering startup cost breakdowns allowed me to manage the multifaceted financial requirements of Oasis Mirage. For instance, a mixture of fixed and variable costs makes operational flexibility possible in the high- and low-peak periods. I also learned how to find the breakeven point, which is very important when making monetary plans.

Further, the SMARTstart model was focused on acquisition and retention of customers. With this model I would like to introduce memberships and premium plugins to make recurring revenue. That’s exactly how Oasis Mirage envisions a premier wellness oasis.

Lastly, the contingency planning component has taught me to be ready for anything. If I build agility into the business model like providing event hosting and wellness programs for corporates, I can keep it financially strong .

Not only has this course given me the information to launch Oasis Mirage, but it has also built my self-belief as an entrepreneur. I’m looking forward to using these values to build a successful and long-term business.

[reflectingonmyjourney]

Reflecting on My Journey: Achieving My Goal in the Creativity and Innovation Course

Introduction

With my goal of developing self and personal development skills for my course in Creativity and Innovation this is what I focused on for the month of May. Here I was inspired to study the principles of design thinking, apply them to my own entrepreneurial plans (an old far-flung entrepreneurial dream of mine is to open a European style thermal spa/water park.) and gain a deeper understanding of how creative entrepreneurs make things happen. Now I feel better equipped to explore and take the next steps for my future.

Original Goal

My first – but most important – learning goal for this course was to explain in detail what design thinking and creative entrepreneurship are, including how they are applied into business planning, ideation and creativity, and critical problem-solving. My second goal was that, by the end of the course, I would be able to develop and understand strategies that will help me create a unique, premium, traditional thermal spa experience in Galánta, while simultaneously being aware of modern trends in wellness.

Achieving the Goal

It also seems that the mix of what I was taught (content, structure) worked for me, because I was taking up the fundamental question of how one can learn design thinking. The lectures provided a general overview and got me hooked on the topic; the readings complemented the lectures with stimulating ideas by diverse thinkers whom I might have never heard of otherwise; and the practical assignments gave me the opportunity to be exposed to real-world best practices, through case studies of the world’s most innovative companies, such as Apple, IDEO, and Airbnb.

Key Learnings

This may seem like a rather obvious outcome of the course, but I found it to be profound: Design thinking is an iterative process. And iterative processes take us somewhere. — Jon KolkoDesign thinking is not just about making things but a way of solving problems and addressing user needs through iteration as we move on to the next version, back to ‘diverge’, and onwards. The continuous iterations have made me start thinking about the problem-solving process through the design-thinking principles – being empathetic to the user and grounding innovation in user needs are fundamental concepts that I will keep in mind in my work moving forward.

Furthermore, with the creative entrepreneurship principles of Nathaniel Howe, Jayson Whitmore and Kim Alpert in mind – including being flexible, resilient and working in teams – one cannot always have everything figured out before you step into the market. Things change when you’re dealing with building a thermal spa and adapting to your customer’s needs and market conditions often becomes part of the reality of this business.

Making the Shift to Federal Law Enforcement

The most important transition for me is the one that I expect to make from career military service to career service as a member of the federal government. I am determined to become an expert in law enforcement ideas and to bring the lessons I learned from my leadership and discipline as a member of the military. No matter what my age, I will remain dedicated to lifelong learning. Within one year I intend to learn new skills and improve my investigative work, as well as gain a more advanced understanding of the intricacies of federal law enforcement systems. Even more personally, within one year I intend to build my leadership, decision-making, and ability to make a tremendous impact in the positions I will fill on the ball court in the future. Ultimately, within a year, I plan to achieve my goal of writing my first novel in the next five years. After my master’s degree and my two decades of military service, I am well positioned to enter the sector where I plan to continue to serve with distinction and with mission impact.

Application of Learnings

What I have learned from this course will influence my life, personal and professional. Personally, I will priorities focusing on questions first, and not following the directions too blindly, to approach problems with more creative thinking and greater empathy. Professionally, I would like to focus on understanding more about our users so I can lead more innovative projects towards a better entrepreneurial vision.

To guarantee that every element of the thermal spa I design has been created with user feedback in mind, I plan to employ design thinking methodologies, such as user research, defining problems, brainstorming and prototyping solutions, and testing those ideas in the real world.

Furthermore, the theories of being a creative entrepreneur will introduce my business mindset. Developing a unique selling proposition, having business resiliency and creating a work culture that has a collaborative team environment will create a spa that competitively sets itself apart from the rest of the industry and has a satisfied customer returning to experience again.

Conclusion

Looking back, I benefitted from getting into the course. I learned a lot. The course exceeded my expectations, as I feel now well-grounded in creativity and innovation, and ready to pursue my dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. I am sure these insights and tools will be useful, especially in my thermal spa project and their applicability to future ventures.