Where do I start?

This week was focused on what decisions need to be made about starting a new online business.  The biggest decisions are deciding which business model to follow, and what product or service to provide.  Working through a case study helped me to gain some insight about the challenges and strategies that can be used to make these decisions.  Communicating with the other students in the class showed me how personal beliefs and opinions can bring people to different conclusions on these decisions, even while working with the same information.

The case study made me consider the opinions and experience of a group, rather than just myself.  I was able to take in the opinions shared and add my opinion to theirs while recommending a decision.  This made me realize that the people I choose to work with will have a great deal of influence over my business and how it is setup and what it will accomplish.  The decision of who to go into business with should be made carefully.

It was very interesting to see the difference in recommendations from other students.  There were varying opinions on what should be done first, and everyone had good reasons for making the recommendation they had.  It showed that the same information was valued differently by each student, which affected the recommendation they decided to make.  There wasn’t necessarily a right and wrong answer, just which way each of us would act based on what we thought was more important. 

Overall, the lesson material this week has taught me that creating an online business is not a straight-forward process.  It is a series of decisions that are very personal to the individuals who are starting the business, and those decisions should be made based on the experience, knowledge, and goals of those individuals.  I need to be mindful of the people I choose to work with.  They should add to my experience, which gives greater opportunities to work with, and agree with me on the goals we have for the business.  However, they shouldn’t be a push-over and agree with me on everything.  I want to work with people who will voice their opinions, especially when they are different from my own.  This way, I will know that the final decision will be the best decision possible to make our business successful.