Career Planning

My top three objectives for the next five years are:

1. To finish my Undergraduate Degree in Business Entrepreneurship by the end of next year.

2. To learn the trade of making savory pastries and Cornish pasties from people already in the Business in England

3. To open my own Pasty Bakehouse Business in New York City

Strengths and Weaknesses

1. My strengths that will help me finish my undergraduate degree are:

• I have excellent time management skills. I am able to earn an income from part time work as well as have enough time to study and learn as well as socialize
• I have a great job with flexible hours and high income for the amount of time I work
• I have great contacts with friends, family and professors to help me accomplish this goal.
• I am strong minded and focused on completing this goal.
• I have a very business thinking mind

My weaknesses that may hinder me completing my undergraduate degree:

• I have no financial aid given to me due to my income
• I always have to be in control and sometimes that can affect my ability to perform tasks.
• I do not have the best writing skills
• I am impatient at times and need to finish tasks immediately
• I don't always listen to everyone around me

2. My strengths that will help me learn the trade of making savory pastries and Cornish pasties from people already in the business in England are:

• I am not afraid of the unknown but excited to learn and eager.
• I am punctual and have a friendly warming personality to gets along with the right people
• I have contacts through friends of friends with pastry chefs in England who know the art of the trade. 
• I have plenty background knowledge from growing up in England.
• I have a very creative mind

My weaknesses are:

• I am not the best at cooking
• I am impatient to wait for food to cook
• I like to make up my own rules when it comes to cooking
• I struggle to keep a positive frame of mind when something goes wrong first time

3. My strengths that will help me to open my own Pasty Bakehouse business in New York City are:

• I have already built relationships with possible investors
• I have a very strong idea that I want to fulfill
• I have great contacts to help me active this goal.
• I have a good background on the fast food industry in NYC
• I think realistically and can keep very focused.
• I have great experience and knowledge in customer service
• I have a great sense of what consumer tastes are like

My weaknesses are:

• I am very young and still have a lot to learn about opening a business in NYC.
• I am rigid in my way of thinking and change is sometimes hard to accept
• Sometimes I go with what my parents think rather than what I think
• I can be very anxious and up tight.

Detailed Action Plan

Completing my Undergraduate Degree

1. Finish the 5 classes this semester with grades of B or better
2. Sign up for and take 2 classes in Winter term of Finance 3000 and an elective and complete with grades B or better.
3. Sign up for and take 5 classes in Spring term all that are Business Entrepreneurial and complete with grades of B or better
4. Sign up for and take 5 classes in the fall for the final 3 entrepreneurial classes, an elective plus BPL 5000. 
5. Work at least 2 nights a week until I finish my degree. If I miss a week, make up the hours in another week
6. Study Fridays and Sundays or at least 2 days a week.

Learn the trade of making savory pastries or Cornish pasties

1. Go to England in beginning of June 2013
2. Spend 2 months in England 
3. Go to Cornwall where the pasties are made and learn the trade for 6 weeks
4. Stay with my friends Andy and Byrony Lawson in Cornwall
5. Meet James, Michelin Star chef in Bournemouth, my hometown to help me perfect my skills before I head back to the US.
6. Spend one day a week whilst finishing my degree to make pasties at home and experiment with new recipes

Open my own Pasty Bakehouse Business in NYC

1. Finish my degree by end of 2013
2. Learn the trade of making pasties in Summer 2012
3. Look to recruit chefs in Summer 2013 for business the following year in NYC
4. Devise recipes throughout 2012 experimenting weekly making pasties at home
5. Formulate an initial Business Plan
6. Keep working 2 to 3 nights a week to earn an income to live
7. Look to sell the house in Florida for capital for initial business set up in January 2014 or look to investors already established.
8. Find an already operating kitchen that is used part time for nightly banquets that is already health and safety certified to rent and use during the day to operate a delivery based pasty bakehouse in January 2014.
9. Create a name, logo, menu, and website to begin
10. Recruit employees. Maybe begin with friends for initial research purposes
11. Train employee(s) for delivery and making the product
12. Research local businesses and use contacts to focus on lunch trade for marketing and research, to give free samples with surveys and questionnaires about the product.
13. Put advertisements on social media like Groupon and Social Eatz for Delivery
14. Get local press to taste the new product or pasties to get press coverage.
15. Analyze questionnaires and surveys to get feedback and to help establish target market. Give out samples in different districts of NYC.
16. Update business plan to reflect research and development
17. Experiment with changing the menu.
18. Look towards other market segments and increasing sales.
19. If the idea and product is liked and successful, reflect the findings in my business plan and have a full detailed plan that can be presented to investors with financial aspects of the company
20. Look for a location to open the bakehouse that is low in rent and affordable.

The plan for opening a business is extremely long. Here above I have bulleted my thoughts as of now. I am sure there are many things along the way that I hope to achieve and they may hinder my plan to open my own Bakehouse.

For those of you who do not know. A Cornish pasty is a savory shortcrust pastry that is filled with many different types of meats and vegetables that is baked in the oven. The traditional in England is the beef, potato, carrot, onion, suede and pepper. I am looking to take this concept and develop it further to new tasty exciting recipes that look outside the box and really focus on American comforts and alternative ideas.

Crisis Management: The Collapse of the Coal Mine in Chile

On August 5th, 2010, a small San Jose Copper and Gold mine, near Copiapo in Chile, collapsed. The unstable roof collapsed trapping 33 miners half a mile underground. After 69 days of planning and deciding on an operation, the miners were shuttled up a narrow escape shaft to freedom. On October 12th all 33 miners were pulled safely out of the mine.

A source that really talks about the incident from day one up until today with all its articles published, comes from The Guardian. You can scroll through many pages and articles from when the collapse first happened.

The authorities in Chile managed the crisis very well. They explored all options, made precise careful decisions and lifted the miners to safety in immense condition considering how long the miners were buried deep underground.

The authorities used innovation to process and manage the situation using the six rules for crisis management in my opinion.

Firstly, the authorities gathered all the information that affected the miners condition, there whereabouts and surrounding problems. The authorities knew how deep they were, how much room they had, what food and water supplies they had. Gathering information was very important for the survival of the miners and ensuring their safety.

The authorities were very efficient, and knew that time was crucial. As much as they knew speed matters, they also knew that every move they made had to be exact. 33 men were stuck in poor conditions and soon enough, unless they were rescued they could die from a number of factors. So the authorities knew they didn't have unlimited time but also knew that the time they did have, they would have to move carefully.

Waiting was a key strategy. 69 days is a long time but identifying the main goals of bringing the men to safety as well as in best possible condition meant that not rushing was important. The authorities had to identify the risks and dangers.

The collapse meant that the territory became unfamiliar ground. Any wrong move could further alter the remaining structure of the mine and kill the miners. The authorities respected the surrounding danger. With uncertainty the authorities explored many different options even if the ideas were old tactics, any innovative approach was considered.

The authorities valued what they were skeptical about. The mine had taken a new unsafe structure. Valuing the fact that they were unsure how safe and the dimensions of the mine were key components. If they had not of valued the unknown, the miners may not had been as lucky.

Being such a sensitive situation that was very delicate, every move had to be calculated. I don't know if the authorities could fight fire with fire. If the mine was to further collapse, they would be even more time constrained and would have to think and move quicker. One poor move could instantly of killed all the miners in the small space they were situated.

The Authorities of Chile showed the world that they had the innovation to deal with a disaster. They led the way, set clear goals and openly interacted with all different parties that could ensure the authorities to reach the major goal of saving the miners. A great article that looked at the crisis from a management standpoint comes from The Daily Beast. The article analyses how Chile dealt with the crisis and why they were so successful. The Chilean coal mine is a great reminder of how the world can come together at such critical times.