Conclusion of MCC

MCC over the past semester has seen many changes and new ideas from the original business plan. While the venture wasn't able to be officially launched due to timing of all components coming together at the end of the semester. The future of My College Cabana is a bright one, this venture will be something I will be manipulating in the summer to perfect for the fall of 2010. We will still be in the Mercer County area and the colleges/universities its home too.

"The story of the entrepreneur… is the story of forward progress, of pursuing one's dreams and goals no matter how outlandish they seem to others. The entrepreneur, like the pioneer, pushes boundaries in search of what's new, what's next. Sometimes, he brings the whole society with him, rushing forward together into a next phase of our communal human life."- Sam Wyly

Through my experience in SVE at Rider I was able to experience life as an entrepreneur dealing with barriers and breaks for growth. While in the beginning dealing with vendors was challenging before the end of semester we were able to sign 5 and create alot of interest. The timing of the end of the semester made our time line cut short.

In the future we will be looking to not only offer members discounts but also provide low cost quality college dorm furnishings and merchandise. Over the summer we will be actively looking for expanding our profile diversification. We hope to offer our customers a one-stop-shop for our customers in the future for all there dorm and college needs.

The business is growing and for updated news please visit our website at www.mycollegecabana.com, and we invite you to join our facebook, twitter, and blog pages. Look forward to doing business with you in the future.
-Jack King

MCC SVE Video Project

A senior at Monclair State University produced a video regarding the venture of My College Cabana. The video highlights the features and benefits in becoming a member.

New look

With the end of the semester coming to a close My College Cabana is in the planning stage for the summer and next fall. For the fall 2010 we are looking into electronic loyalty cards that can track your purchases so you can receive coupons from the places you visit. Also you will receive gear and gift certificates from our vendors. A new feature when we launch will be an online store that will be the one stop shop for college gear. No longer do you have to shop all over at 15 different stores to get all your college gear at a reasonable price. College students will be able to go online and also develop a wish list that they can email to someone if there low on funds(we know how that is). Our video for Montclair State is in the works and is looking very good. This will serve as our first ad for the website. Make sure to visit us online at www.mycollegecabana.com to find out was currently going on.

-Jack

My College Cabana Update

We decided to expand our business to online businesses in an effort to give a variety of discounts to our customers. In the last week of contacting businesses we were able to obtain partnerships with 5 businesses. These companies include:

Bustedtees.com a college t shirt companie
TwinXL.com which is a college bedding website
SouthSmoke.com which offers a variety of hookah products
dormco.com has a variety of items for "dressing up your dorm"
Epicnicbasket.com selling picnic & tailgate supplies

Our online business partnerships will be the start and we will now be focusing on our local restaurants and bars in Mercer County.

My College Cabana Update

My College Cabana is a discount card membership program exclusively for college students. Currently we are starting our venture out in Mercer County, New Jersey with four colleges its a great network of schools. Our program currently works were local bars and restaurants partner with us and offer a preset discount for a certain day. We than sell the cards to local college students who are looking to save some money when going out to eat or drink. The student than visits our website MyCollegeCabana.com were they can see what discounts are available that day to optimize the use of there card. When they visit the venue all they have to do is flash the card with there school id and they recieve an instant discount. The card pass for itself with only two visits to venues.
We currently are in the stage of creating an extensive venue list and hope to achieve this soon so we get a test up by the end of the semester. The website is fully functional and really is a great "home base" for the business.

Blast from the Past - SportsFanBase.com Update!

Yes, that's right - Ari Bluestein is back on the SVE Blog! HA ... I wanted to give everyone a quick update on SportsFanBase.com, my interactive online community for sports fans that I started while in the SVE program at Rider.

The site actually had to get shut down temporarily because it was hacked. But we refreshed the database, switched servers, and now it is back and up and running. Advertising revenue is still a little slow right now and I am still trying to get the deal with the Philadelphia 76ers going. I provided them with a sample page as to what we can give them and they replied with ‘thank you’ – So we’ll see what they say. If I get the 76ers deal, Sports Fan Base will be exactly where I want it to be.

Also, on another note, have been doing sports analysis on the radio with the Sports Journey Radio Network – I got that gig thru Sports Fan Base. Well now I host my own show Monday thru Friday from 10AM-12PM EST. Here is the link - http://sjrn.ezstream.com/broadcasts/index.cfm?fuseaction=usrbrd&broadcasterid=54617

You can listen to it live, or you can listed to the archives. The show is called The Other Side (and of course is sponsored by SportsFanBase.com, ha!) and after the first week of doing the show, I feel pretty comfortable hosting my own show.

Also, I will be co-hosting a live remote sports talk show with Philadelphia Eagles players at a bar in Bristol, PA every other Thursday. That starts in August.

Plus, there are a couple new developments with Sports Fan Base.com. I am looking into developing an online sports magazine. So if that goes through, I will come back and write a Blog about that.

So please listen to my sports talk radio show if you can. Again, if it wasn't for Sports Fan Base (and hence, if it wasn't for Rider's SVE program), I would not have gotten the radio gig that I have now.

As I get more updated with the 76ers deal, my new radio career and the online magazine, I will post some more updates!

Final Update for Garden Artisans LLC

The past three months have definitely been interesting while running my business and taking the SVE course. Since Garden Artisans was formed in April of 2007 my project was done on the expansion of my business. At first I was a little disappointed in the progress we made over the past year, but then I started to look back at what we were doing this time last year. Some of our problems this time last year were as simple as creating an invoice, getting a corp code, and business insurance. This year our problems are much larger and more complex and I can only laugh at what I thought was a problem last year. Our most current problem is having too much work, which is a good problem to have in business. Right now we are booked into July and there are no signs of an economic recession in the landscaping industry. We still cannot find a truck driver, but we do have three prospects right now to fill the position, so hopefully one will work out. We are also starting to sell more of our technical services, which is leading to the need for a skilled foreman on our job sites. We just made our biggest sale ever, which consists of a raised terrace and patio with plantings to compliment it. Early in the year, back in January we were debating on how much to invest in new equipment and how many employees to hire because of the possible recession and not wanting to overextend ourselves financially. We ended up taking a conservative step this year, but are now starting to regret it with the amount of clients and work we have. That's what keeps running your business so interesting though is the unknown. The most exciting part for me is looking back at how much our business has grown while full time students. I can't wait to see what we can do when the business is our main focus.