Primary research must have a bigger sample. Also, conducting research inside Pediatricians and Family Practitioners clinics is a better choice for a product that is to be regarded as “high quality.” It would also allow Flory to develop relationships with doctors (authorities). These relationships can be used to promote Baby King, as one of the competitors does: “4 out of 5 pediatricians recommend Gerber.” People being inquired should be able to sample the product. Questions regarding price should be eliminated. Also, include a question to find out how customers feel about the word “Organic.” Research shows Hispanics like organic products. Translate questions to Spanish. Do people think of organic as higher quality? Flory also needs to conduct research on Pediatricians to see if they would recommend it.

Most doctors don’t recommend feeding milk to babies under 1 years of age because it may cause kidney problems among other things. Can water substitute milk? If not, consider changing the “From 6 months” and “Prepare with milk” labels on packaging. Before introducing vegetable flavors, Flory must conduct a thorough market research on the topic. As for reducing the number of flavors offered at start, it is a good idea. However, Flory should research the flavors offered by competitors and learn which are the favorites amongst customers.

Baby King should retail their products in the same places competitors do and consumers are used to seeing them: grocery stores. The packaging must change completely: get rid of most of the text and include the words “Organic” in the box if it is positive reinforcement.

Pricing should be higher than competitors. Flory should devote its efforts to building a superior image through good packaging, recommendations by authorities such as Pediatricians, the fact that the product is organic and a taste babies love. Customers need to feel like they are upgrading to a better product, not saving a dollar or two at the expense of their newborns. They won’t.

Last week I had a group presentation in my Management class and I felt like I did a really bad job because I wasn’t prepared for what I was saying. At the beginning I babbled a bit and I didn’t spend a lot of time talking like I wanted to.

Yesterday I got the comments from the professor and the rest of the students on how the group did and to my surprise people had mostly good things to say about my presentation. They said I had a good and clear voice, the I have presence, that the way I presented the topic was easy for them to understand and I make for a good conversational style/no memorization speaker. A couple of students said I didn’t move away from the podium and I used “ums” a lot.

No doubt the comments made me feel good. While I’m only thinking about the things I could be doing better, people are looking at all the other things that made my presentation look good. Still, the lesson to prepare myself was well taken and now is engraved in the back of my brain.

Just an hour ago I had the chance to meet with a Billionaire for the first time. I wasn’t really expecting him to be any different than anyone else in the room, but it was good to here his experiences. I can say this though: I’m at a point where I just want to do things. I’m not that interested in listening anymore. Like I said, it’s good, but after a while you start hearing the same story over and over. It’s time to make my own story happen.

The name of the guy is Ted Waitt. He is the co-founder of a computer company called Gateway, which he started when he was 22 years old after dropping out of college. Now he lives in La Jolla, CA and spends a lot of time on phylantropic activities.

I remembered that when I was a little kid the teachers at school complained to my parents that I was always falling asleep. I even used to miss the recess time because of it. One time I woke up just after recess and two teachers were discussing what to do about my problem. It wasn’t the first time, so they wrote a letter to my parents and my dad took me to see my pediatrician and figure out what was wrong with me.

The doctor did some blood test and found out my hemoglobin was low. It’s an iron deficiency. I had to consume things rich in iron for a while and that seemed to cure things for the moment. It wasn’t the last time I fell asleep in class, but it was expected. Isn’t that when people do when the interest is not there?

I was just thinking about something I heard Tony Soprano say to a friend of his on The Sopranos. The friend was having business problems and Tony said something about dealing with the situation and not feeling sorry for himself. I don’t really like to take advice from fictional characters in TV shows, but this one is true. I’ve felt sorry for myself many times before and I can say for a fact that it is not good.

It’s like jealousy. I learned a few years ago to control and squash my jealousies. I like to say that “jealousy is a wasted emotion.” You spend time thinking about another person, what they’re doing and what not and you end up just doing damage to yourself. Tracy used to make me really jealous sometimes, especially when I was still in Panama and she was up here in California. I would call her late at night to talk to her and she would sometimes find an excuse to get off the phone or not answer at all. I would call over and over again, spend days thinking about what she was doing and hundreds of dollars I couldn’t afford to spare. For what? She was up here not thinking twice about the way I felt while I was living in hell. What I should have done, since it bothered me that much, was leave her ass right there and then. Done Deal.

I’m working on my Spanish homework right now. Sometimes in class I get the feeling that the professor is sarcastically making fun of me, but who really knows or cares more than I do. She’s always praising my work in class and saying how I get everything right. Whenever she is looking for the right word to translate something between English and Spanish she thinks maybe I can help. Honestly, I think maybe the problem is with me because I’m not used to people praising me. It feels awkward, but I just try to ignore it. The bottom line is she’s saying nice things and as long as I don’t act like I know it all I should be fine.

Today is election day, by the way. I’m casting my vote before class if I can. Polling places are said to be packed all over the country, but I just hope mine isn’t. It’s the first time in my life I’m elegible to vote. When I turned 18 Panama was going through elections that year, but I didn’t qualify on the age requirement by just a few days. The next time there were elections in Panama I was already living in the U.S.

I just spent more than 5 hours working on a piece of code for Bullen Tea to actually end up with three lines worth of coding…

It’s working though, even though it’s not as transparent as I would like it to be. I’ll work on it on Wednesday and get it done. Tomorrow I’ll be busy finishing a Marketing project.

I’ve lost about 10 pounds in the last couple of months. I’ve figured it’s because I’m eating one meal a day most of the time, but quite honestly I don’t even think about eating that much. Yesterday, for example, I got up around 11:30 a.m. and went to my Spanish class, then Economics and after that I had a meeting with my Marketing group which ran from 3:00 till 6:30 p.m. I grabbed a bag of chips to eat on the way to my 7:00 p.m. Finance class and got out of there around 9:20. I got home maybe around 9:45 and ate my first meal of the day, left over pasta. I watched The Sopranos and started writing an essay and reading for Marketing. Between distractions and being committed to finishing my work, I finished what I was doing at 7:00 a.m. Then I went to campus to turn in my essay and came back home, slept until 4:00 p.m.

I’m going to start gaining some weight back though. Just pay more attention to my eating habits. Make it a point to eat more meals a day.

A few days ago I received an email from an ex-girlfriend, Tracy. She wants to see how I’m doing and is “really sorry” about the way she treated me. I didn’t reply back and I’m not planning on it. I’m mentioning it because about five years ago when we broke up, I knew this moment would come.

She must be feeling pretty lonely now. She’s now 33 years old and most likely still not married. Probably still carrying the same problems she used to when we were together and now she must want a child more than ever. I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason why she thought of me is because someone close to her just had a baby. Maybe her good friend Danielle or one of her coworkers. It’s a far out theory, but because I know her and lived with her for a year I don’t think I’m too far from the truth.

What could I possibly want from her now? If it wasn’t for the way things ended I wouldn’t be in such a good place right now.

What goes around really does come around…

Lately, I’ve been getting these anxiety to want to fight somebody or hit something. I get angry for a minute and then the feeling goes away, or I control it. Anger is one of those feelings that I learned to control when I was younger. I used to get really angry at my mom for saying shit about me that wasn’t true and she never stopped. She never knew when it was enough. I honestly feel like saying all the shit she had to say about me and anyone else was and still is her self medicated therapy. My dad had his good moments too. I think he felt like he was some god and he tried to exercise full control over everything I did. There was no freedom of expression. As far as I can remember all of the things I did that make me feel alive were behind their backs. But this is the past now. All I can do, if I ever get lucky enough to have my own family, is do better with the things they didn’t do right and continue doing the right things, which there are many.

So anger is a feeling I bottle, happiness I also know how to contain very well. I think my excitement for business is probably the one feeling I have no control over. I’m like a kid in a candy store when it comes to talking about all the things I’m planning on accomplishing and I’m sure people get tired of listening, but I can’t help it.