30A – Final Reflection

For me, the most formative experience was not a single event but the cumulative experience of taking this course. I liked that we had to use blogger and can see that being useful in the future. The reading list I also found to be very informative and look forward to reading more when I get the chance. I think Dr. Pryor's guerrilla marketing with the rye grass was brilliant and will definitely remember that. I'm happy that I had the opportunity to listen to his lectures and only wish I had more time.

I do see myself as an entrepreneur and hope some of the things we learned in this class will help me in my ventures moving forward.

Any students who journey down this path in the future will undoubtedly find this course's content useful. To perform best in this course, I'd recommend that they work ahead and not leave things until too near the deadline. At a minimum they should read ahead to be aware of the time they will need to complete things on time.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Our opportunity exists among fanciers of the Doberman Pinscher. The popularity of breeds varies from year to year-last year, the Doberman was the 17th most popular breed out of 192 recognized by the AKC. While not the most popular, families that own Dobermans represent a surprisingly large portion of the American public that owns a purebred dog. For many people that own or have owned a Doberman, no other breed will do. Dobermans are the only breed that was created solely for the purpose of personal protection. This appeals to many people who are either buying their first dog or are at a point of their life where security is important. A vast majority of our customers are newlyweds buying their first home or just starting their family, families where the husband travels away from home for work, or retirees that want to feel safe. For the foreseeable future we will always have the need for security. For many Americans, when we think of home security we may think of an alarm system or firearm. Both, however, come with significant drawbacks:
Alarm systems will alert police if your home is burglarized but will do little to protect you if you are outside of your home or during the time it takes police to respond. In 2018 the average police response time in the U.S. was 50 minutes. While alarm systems act as an effective deterrent in most cases, in the event you are subjected to an attack by a determined attacker 50 minutes is more than enough time for them to harm you or a loved one.
Firearm ownership historically has been as American as apple pie but firearms are not without their drawbacks. Public sentiment is shifting. While firearm ownership remains popular in rural areas, we have seen declines of ownership in urban areas. Many people simply do not want a firearm in their house. In the hands of an untrained homeowner they can be ineffective and in the hands of a child the results can be catastrophic.
A safe and effective solution many people turn to is man’s best friend. Most dogs of any breed will bark if they hear an intruder or sense a threat but many are little deterrence to a determined attacker meaning you or your loved ones harm. While many large breeds may effectively deter a would be assailant, it is often left to a case by case basis whether or how that particular dog will intervene. In the instance that a “bad guy” is not deterred, many large dogs will be just as afraid as you are. Of the few breeds that possess the instinctive courage required in such a situation, many come with drawbacks of their own. Dogs bred to hunt large game may have excessive prey drive and thus may pose a risk to other pets or children. Others might lack excessive prey drive but might also lack agility or even worse trainability. Among dogs that will bite, over 90% do so as a fear response. This not only creates a liability during non-emergency situations, in emergency situations it results in non-full bite and a failure to effectively hold an attacker at bay. Dobermans are unique in that they were bred to be instinctively protective and fearless. This true courage gives the dog the confidence necessary to be stable enough to be trusted with children while ensuring that when it is time to intervene physically, he/she will do so deliberately and with power. All working line Dobermans, whether male or female and regardless of individual temperament, will intervene physically to protect their family.
There are many breeders of Dobermans across the country. Many of them however are breeding American show lines. These dogs for the last 50 years have been bred strictly for their appearance at the expense of the utility for which the breed was originally created. These dogs look beautiful but lack their working aptitude which limits their effectiveness as family guardians. Even worse, show dogs look the most poised and are awarded the most points when they are erect and at attention. This has incentivized breeders to breed dogs that are high strung and easily alerted. This in turn undermines the stability of the dog. The increased anxiety contributes to a host of issues from chewing, to incessant barking, and fear biting. Breeding for appearance has also resulted in small gene pools and prevalence of the bleeding disorder vWD, the neurological disorder DM, and vestibular deafness DVOB dings.
By breeding European working lines, breeders address the behavioral issues but at the cost of introducing the lethal cardiac disorders DCM1 which causes congestive heart failure and DCM2 which cause sudden cardiac arrest. Within European working lines, genes pools are also limited leading to prevalence of other hereditary chromosome mutations.
Across dogs of all breeds, for every 10% increase of inbreeding coefficient researchers have observed a 13% reduction in size and an immeasurable but significant increase in genetic disorder.
We have selectively bred the best American line in the Southeast United States to the best European lines from Eastern Europe and Russia. At every generation, we DNA tested all parents and every puppy over the course of 6 years to produce a hybrid of the two lines that possesses the appearance, temperament, and stability of European working lines-but more importantly dogs that are free of every genetic disorder known to affect canines with inbreeding coefficients lower than over 75% of all purebred dogs.
Our puppies range from $1500-$3500 depending on sex, parentage, and registration type. Our customers do business with us with confidence that they are getting the most healthy family guardian that money can buy.
The feedback we received in the "What's Next" assignment was unanimous in that we should focus on training to expand our business. Almost everyone that has a big and potentially dangerous dog might enjoy the peace of mind of having it trained. The dogs we breed are particularly trainable, so it just makes sense. I've taken steps to incorporate basic and advanced obedience and protection training to our services available to customers. We contacted Jim Edwards of K9 Patrol Dogs who has been training high level canines since 1978 and made arrangements to take his course this summer.
This development may ultimately result in a shift where we sell only trained dogs.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

 When it's time to exit the business, I will most likely just leave it to my brothers. I plan to build my business to a point where I can earn 50k-100k a year while going to grad school then I will give the company to my brothers while I pursue a career in law. I expect to work this opportunity for the next 4-5 years and exit.

From the beginning my brothers have been involved with the business and I have pursued it as a way to earn extra money while working on my degree. Thus far it has served that purpose and I will be grateful if it continues to do so. When I'm able to make as much or more in a professional position I will be happy to give my brothers the same opportunity that I had to get started in their lives pursuing their passions.

Everything I've done since day one has been in pursuit of long term growth-forgoing consumption today so that I came consume more later. I have built something from nothing using the help of my brothers and the property that we own together. I chose something that we all enjoyed and that we could pursue with the resources available to us. This approach has influenced my decisions and I hope my brothers are able to finish school with minimal debt as I have been able to.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

This book addresses the processes we use to make decisions and deductions by differentiating by two main types of analysis we use when taking in the world around us. It argues that there are times when we should think quickly and instinctively and others when we should take the time to exhaustively and logically work through things. It introduces ideas like anchoring, becoming aware of real probabilities, our natural aversion to risk, our natural propensity to make decisions influenced by sunk costs, and how to frame information to influence how your audience responds.

This book loosely connects to things we have been learning in ENT 3003. It helps readers to understand social drivers of decision making which might enable us to more effectively practice the principles we learn in this class and others.

I might assign the reading of this book and require a thoughtful paper be written either summarizing the material or presenting real world scenarios for each of the ideas covered and providing analysis of how these situations exemplify each principle. Additionally a cupcake could be put together to test students' understanding of the principles covered in this book. 

A lot of these ideas I have encountered elsewhere but it is intriguing to see how they are assembled and correlate to one another in terms of data analysis and decision making. A mastery of these could prevent costly missteps in business and give an entrepreneur aware of them a definitive edge.

26A – Celebrating Failure

I've always tried things many people wouldn't. Sometimes these attempts would result in success but many times they would result in failure. Shortly after high school I bought my first rental property. I used all my savings to get into the deal. Not having reserves led me to rent to people that I shouldn't have and eventually I had to sell at a significant loss. I've owned multiple businesses and again, some did well and others not so much. Ambitious for sales, I hired sales people that I shouldn't have and often paid more than I should have. I took deals that I shouldn't have. I've taken risks on investments that resulted in loss. My failures are too numerous to list, I've made and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, relationships, and academic opportunities. As far as this semester, I haven't experienced many failures-I've been lucky. I haven't done as well this semester as I have throughout my education but I think that is true for a lot of us.

I've learned a lot from from both my successes and failures. I've learned what I should do but more importantly I've learned what I shouldn't. I've learned that persistence is necessary to succeed in business and in life. I've learned that relationships can be valuable but that bad relationships or relationships with the wrong people can hurt more than they help. I've learned that how much you make matters less than how much you spend. Risk of loss should not be taken likely-it should be weighed as an expenditure. I've learned that bad deals should never become deals at all-not only do you risk losing the money, you also risk your ability to process good deals. I've learned that the harder you work, the luckier you seem to be.

Failure is hard. It can be hard to endure and hard to cope with. It can be embarrassing. It can be humbling. I agree with Dr. Pryor that "it means that we have to change something about ourselves". Emotionally I try to remind myself that bumps in the road are par for the course. Nothing worth having comes easily and no success can be lasting and meaningful without adversity. Behaviorally, I try to react positively and take from my experiences what I can. This is not always easy. Sometimes in the moment I get angry or upset like a child that didn't get his way. Fortunately, my perception allows me to reflect objectively once these feelings subside. I am also fortunate to be ambitious and persistent-in the past when I've succumbed to negativity and given up, it isn't long before I grow dissatisfied with mediocrity and try again. When this happens I go into a new venture with the knowledge and experiences from my past. This class has provided insight and context for me to measure my experiences against. I am no more likely to take risks but taking risks has never been something I shy away from. I hope to benefit from polish and knowledge and look to classes like this one to help me determine which risks are worthwhile.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market
In my current market we are breeding dobermans. My brother has training experience and trains our dogs. My customers regularly ask about whether or not we offer training-most people want basic or advanced obedience and occasionally we get a customer that wants protection work. I'd like to get a boarding kennel license so I can take in customers' dogs because currently we are limited to training puppies before they are placed. This is tough because when people call and ask about trained dogs it would be a couple months before I could train one for delivery. By then they tend to have moved on. When I've trained dogs before they're ordered in the past I've always ended up keeping the dog longer than is ideal by the time I place them.

I always get approached by people that have seen my male and by customers asking if I'll train their dog. The customers I talked to about this both think it's a good idea. One customer in NY thinks it's such a good idea he wants to move here when he retires and start a kennel to breed, board, and train. It was unclear whether he wanted to do it with us or on his own. I didn't ask because I assume if he wants to partner up with me he'll tell me because we talk on the phone a couple times a month. If we do decide to go in that direction it will most likely be in a year or two due to the economic uncertainty-while they say the pet industry is recession proof, pet services such as boarding declines sharply during economic downturns. While I am not interested in just boarding a customer that used to be in the business told me that boarding covering expenses enables training income to be mostly profit.

New Market
I've considered expanding to shepherds or rottweilers because dobermans, shepherds, and rottweilers are the 3 breeds Jack Healy bred and trained at his USK9 facility. I believe jack did this because the working breed market is pretty much split up between the 3 depending on customer preference. I have mixed feelings about this however because I chose to get involved with dobermans because they are the breed I prefer. Although we have been lucky to generate revenue doing what we love with our favorite breed, I'm not sure I'd have the same passion if I did another.

Customers I've talked to in the past have not really been into this idea. I think in this case asking doberman customers about another breed is probably not the best way to measure because they are likely to be biased. One customer thinks I should breed shepherds because coincidentally her and her husband have a ddr shepherd. While they are the 2nd most popular breed and my business model would be successful with them or rottweilers due to the long list of health problems common in both, I don't think I will go this route for a couple reasons: One, I think part of the reason we've been so successful with dobermans is the passion we all have for the breed. To do another breed, it would feel like we were in it for the wrong reasons. Two, every penny that I invested venturing in another direction would be resources my dobermans would be missing out on. 

For those reasons I think I will explore expanding my current market once we get through this economic uncertainty.

Florida Dobermans

Our opportunity exists among fanciers of the Doberman Pinscher. The popularity of breeds varies from year to year-last year, the Doberman was the 17th most popular breed out of 192 recognized by the AKC. While not the most popular, families that own Dobermans represent a surprisingly large portion of the American public that owns a purebred dog. For many people that own or have owned a Doberman, no other breed will do. Dobermans are the only breed that was created solely for the purpose of personal protection. This appeals to many people who are either buying their first dog or are at a point of their life where security is important. A vast majority of our customers are newlyweds buying their first home or just starting their family, families where the husband travels away from home for work, or retirees that want to feel safe. For the foreseeable future we will always have the need for security. For many Americans, when we think of home security we may think of an alarm system or firearm. Both, however, come with significant drawbacks:
Alarm systems will alert police if your home is burglarized but will do little to protect you if you are outside of your home or during the time it takes police to respond. In 2018 the average police response time in the U.S. was 50 minutes. While alarm systems act as an effective deterrent in most cases, in the event you are subjected to an attack by a determined attacker 50 minutes is more than enough time for them to harm you or a loved one.
Firearm ownership historically has been as American as apple pie but firearms are not without their drawbacks. Public sentiment is shifting. While firearm ownership remains popular in rural areas, we have seen declines of ownership in urban areas. Many people simply do not want a firearm in their house. In the hands of an untrained homeowner they can be ineffective and in the hands of a child the results can be catastrophic.
A safe and effective solution many people turn to is man’s best friend. Most dogs of any breed will bark if they hear an intruder or sense a threat but many are little deterrence to a determined attacker meaning you or your loved ones harm. While many large breeds may effectively deter a would be assailant, it is often left to a case by case basis whether or how that particular dog will intervene. In the instance that a “bad guy” is not deterred, many large dogs will be just as afraid as you are. Of the few breeds that possess the instinctive courage required in such a situation, many come with drawbacks of their own. Dogs bred to hunt large game may have excessive prey drive and thus may pose a risk to other pets or children. Others might lack excessive prey drive but might also lack agility or even worse trainability. Among dogs that will bite, over 90% do so as a fear response. This not only creates a liability during non-emergency situations, in emergency situations it results in non-full bite and a failure to effectively hold an attacker at bay. Dobermans are unique in that they were bred to be instinctively protective and fearless. This true courage gives the dog the confidence necessary to be stable enough to be trusted with children while ensuring that when it is time to intervene physically, he/she will do so deliberately and with power. All working line Dobermans, whether male or female and regardless of individual temperament, will intervene physically to protect their family.
There are many breeders of Dobermans across the country. Many of them however are breeding American show lines. These dogs for the last 50 years have been bred strictly for their appearance at the expense of the utility for which the breed was originally created. These dogs look beautiful but lack their working aptitude which limits their effectiveness as family guardians. Even worse, show dogs look the most poised and are awarded the most points when they are erect and at attention. This has incentivized breeders to breed dogs that are high strung and easily alerted. This in turn undermines the stability of the dog. The increased anxiety contributes to a host of issues from chewing, to incessant barking, and fear biting. Breeding for appearance has also resulted in small gene pools and prevalence of the bleeding disorder vWD, the neurological disorder DM, and vestibular deafness DVOB dings.
By breeding European working lines, breeders address the behavioral issues but at the cost of introducing the lethal cardiac disorders DCM1 which causes congestive heart failure and DCM2 which cause sudden cardiac arrest. Within European working lines, genes pools are also limited leading to prevalence of other hereditary chromosome mutations.
Across dogs of all breeds, for every 10% increase of inbreeding coefficient researchers have observed a 13% reduction in size and an immeasurable but significant increase in genetic disorder.
We have selectively bred the best American line in the Southeast United States to the best European lines from Eastern Europe and Russia. At every generation, we DNA tested all parents and every puppy over the course of 6 years to produce a hybrid of the two lines that possesses the appearance, temperament, and stability of European working lines-but more importantly dogs that are free of every genetic disorder known to affect canines with inbreeding coefficients lower than over 75% of all purebred dogs.
Our puppies range from $1500-$3500 depending on sex, parentage, and registration type. Our customers do business with us with confidence that they are getting the most healthy family guardian that money can buy.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage?

My Experience: I have over 14 years of experience with the breed-10 of which I've owned them myself and 6 of which I've been breeding on a serious level. This experience is very valuable-While some things can be taught many cannot be such as pack dynamics and some aspects of husbandry. This is not common but also is not rare-others can learn if they dedicate the time. This experience is not inimitable-anyone that invests the time will eventually learn these skills. It is however non-substitutable. There is no substitute for experience when it comes to knowing how to coexist and keep peace among a pack of working dogs.

My Brother Cody's Experience: Cody worked extensively with Jay training as a Summer job throughout high school. During that time, he has learned obedience and protection training. Cody's experience is very valuable-it would be impossible to do what I do if Cody, myself, or someone else wasn't able to train. While valuable, knowledge of training is not exceedingly rare. Training skill is easily copied by others. Cody's training experience is able to be substituted although paying someone to train for us might be cost prohibitive.

My Brother Connor's Experience: Connor has also worked for Jay and myself where he has gained experience in husbandry and training. While he doesn't perform these tasks now, his experience has proved valuable when he does our photography and it allows him to be a knowledgeable resource for customers. The individual parts of Connor's experience are not rare but his combination of skills is. Other's could copy what Connor brings to the table. We could substitute Connor's contribution by hiring a photographer while myself or Cody handled the dogs.

Jay as a Mentor: My dad's best friend from elementary school has been breeding and training working line canines for over 30 years. He is a close family friend and my mentor. Having Jay to teach us has been extremely valuable-none of us would have this hobby if it wasn't for the time spent with him. Jay as a resource is rare. While many people have similar knowledge Jay is one of only a few USK9 trainers that worked under Jack Healy and that knows the Healy-Salva method of training. This can be copied. There is another trainer in Alabama that teaches our method for a price. This could be substituted by using any one of the other proven police or military training methods coupled with a contact experienced in breeding.

Industry Contacts: We have reached out to the top kennels in Europe to seek advice and to import dogs that give us the ability to have quality genetics. This is valuable because it enables us to have lines that are rare here in the U.S. Our relationship with these breeders is not rare-anyone willing to pay can have dogs imported. This is easily copied-in fact since we have been advertising these lines other breeders have imported similar dogs. This can be substituted by purchasing dogs from other who have imported.

Our Grandfather's Support: My grandfather always ran small side businesses as a young man. When we acted on our interest and proved to him our commitment, he offered to invest in our business in exchange for a small stake that supplements his retirement income. His support has been valuable by enabling us to grow at a rate that we would not have been able to otherwise. This is not rare-many people have friends or family that is willing to invest in a venture. For this reason this resource can be easily imitated. We could have substituted his support with time.

Cash Reserves: Compared to our competition we are highly liquid. Since we have started breeding myself and my brothers have saved 10% of gross sales to fund growth and hedge for rough patches. This is extremely valuable in that it provides us security. It is not exceedingly rare to save money. This practice can be easily copied. There are few substitutes to cash reserves other than available credit.

Facilities: We own a rural property where we have built a kennel. Our facility is valuable because it allows us to do what we love in a way that gives our pets room to roam and enjoy a high quality of life. Many people have kennels although few have as comfortable accommodations as we do. This can be easily copied by anyone willing to spend the money. In our opinion there is no acceptable substitute for comfortable accommodations for our pack.

Our Bloodline: We have a unique combination of top European working and American show lines. It is very valuable. We've had people travel from all over the U.S. to buy our dogs because what we have is simply not available in their state. It is also rare-no one has our exact combination of bloodlines. It cannot be copied because many of the foundational breeders are no longer alive. Our bloodline could be substituted for a large number of comparable lines.

DNA: Due to our breeding practices, we have stock free of all genetic conditions known to affect canines. This is extremely valuable. Many of our customers that have owned dobermans before lost their beloved pet at a young age to DCM. When this happens many people only want a dog that is clear of this condition that affects half of all dobermans worldwide. This is also rare-just this month we had a family of 8 drive down from Washington D.C. during a pandemic because we were the closest breeder that could guarantee their pup would be free of vWD, DCM1, DCM2, DM, and DVOB dings. While this can be copied, it would take years to do so. There is no substitute.

Our most valuable resource is our breeding stock-the combination of our bloodline and it's genetic health. Most top American show lines have issues with vWD and most top European lines have issues with DCM. To my knowledge we are the only breeders in the state and one of only a few nationwide that have these famous lines that are also completely free of these genetic disorders.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

The general theme and argument of the book is that as market conditions change and technology allows us to move from the traditional centralized production model customers will have more choice. The increase in choice will create demand for niche products and services. Chris Anderson asserts that moving forward this segment of the market is where entrepreneurs want to find themselves.

I think the book connects with what we are learning in that it stresses that broadly, success in business moving forward will rely heavily on innovation and customer connection.

I would design an exercise that requires students to identify an extensive list of niche products and services that have been successful and evaluate the space they occupy. I would ask the class to explain what has changed that enables the product or service to be successful today and what would have prevented the product or service from being successful in the past.

For me, learning about this concept reinforced what I'm doing in the doberman space. My mentor has bred for 30 years and focuses on his "pitch" and volume. I have always disagreed with his philosophy but couldn't really put my finger on why. From the beginning, my intuition was that I would rather sell fewer but at a higher quality that commanded higher prices. I think this book explains exactly why my philosophy is more appropriate for the times.