Saturday, March 8, 2014

Entrepreneur Journal – Entry 8 (B283)




This week was full of excellent readings and videos. So much good information on hiring and firing and how to find the right candidate for job positions. Out of all the information given this week the one I enjoyed the most was the article and video on JetBlue. The best part was learning about the CEO, David Neeleman. His vision of what he wanted his company to be was incredible and very criticized by many. But he’s very determined and knew it would work, and it did! His main goal was to provide a great flying experience at low fare prices – 65% lower than the competition. He believed there was a way to provide air travel without people being herded like cattle. Another major goal was to be a completely paperless airline. All tickets are e-tickets. He was also focused on investing in what brought value to the customer. Most people make fun of airline food, so Neeleman omitted it. He used the money instead to invest in more room on his planes, leather seats, individual TV’s with satellite channels for each passenger. His airline has and continues to grow at an incredible rate. He takes a modest salary, helps in every aspect of the airline including passing out snacks, cleaning up after a flight, and helping with baggage. He teaches all his employees that they are members of a team – crew members, actually. They also take part in cleaning up the plane between flights, even the pilots help clean. It’s a great environment with a company culture of caring and doing their best.

I think I’m done for the semester with my $100 Challenge. I’d love to keep producing and selling, but my school work is getting more and more overwhelming. It’s been a tough semester so far. I’m going to do all the paperwork to calculate exactly what expenses and revenue were accrued during the project. Hopefully I’ll have that done by next week so I can report it in next week’s journal entry. It’s been a fun experience.

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