Assignment 10- Elevator Pitch

Heres the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdJG77pBF28&feature=youtu.be

Assignment 9- Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Assignment 9- Testing the Hypothesis Part 2



· WHO: From conducting my interviews I found a few groups of students that although they are undergraduate students here at UF fall outside of the boundary of my opportunity. For example, two students that I interviewed have morning classes all week and come to the library when those classes end (one being at 8:15 and the other being at 9:20). At the time that they come to the library they never have an issue finding seats because of how early in the day they come. From this I was able to conclude that class time plays a large role on who has the need for this opportunity. I also interviewed a couple of students who just choose to not come to the library regardless of time of day or year. They prefer to study at off campus study spots such as Starbucks or local coffee joints. This was something I hadn’t even thought of when creating my opportunity. I also found from a separate interviewee that outside involvement plays a lot on this need. For example, this student has a part time job and never finds herself on campus after classes, so after work she goes home to study and complete homework.

· WHAT:Even though an app would solve the issue of wasting time looking for seats it would not make the library less crowded, and I believe that would be something that I want to make sure students understand. The product would be used to SAVE time, not stop crowding all together.

· WHY:I don’t necessarily feel that the need is different. However, the use of the library by various students is different so not all students would download and use an app if they don’t come to the library or have to deal with the issue.






   

Assignment 8- Solving the Problem

Solving the Problem



· My opportunity is the time wasted by undergraduate University of Florida students searching for vacant seats at Library West. I believe students have this issue because there is no way to see the location/number of seats available before showing up at the library.

· I have a few ideas for a system to implement that would alleviate this problem among students. My first is an app that students would use their gator id to log into and then are prompted to click on the various floors in library west. Say a student chooses the second floor, a floor plan will come up showing the seats and tables on the floor. Students can click on the seat they are sitting in which will show up as red on the map and the still available seats will be green. This will allow for students to pull up the app on their phone before even leaving home to see how busy the library is as well as if they have a party of 2 or 3 going if there are any tables available with that specific number of seats.

· My other idea for a solution for this problem is putting a monitor up on the second floor of library west that allows students to click on the floor level and see the same sort of map set up with red (unavailable sets) and green (available seats). However, instead of being able to select which seats they are sitting at on the monitor there will be some sort of button system at the tables that students hit when they sit down which will then prompt the seat or table to turn red on the monitor at the front of the floor. The only downside with this plan is that students would still only have the ability to see seating availability when they arrive at the library whereas with an app, students could check seat availability from anywhere.



· When it comes to selling this product, I have thought about the issue of getting broke college students to want to pay for an app but then I remembered from talking to Jana (Library West head chair) that the library gets funds for new technology every semester. So, implementing the app would be funded by the library’s tech funds itself and then promoted to students through that.

Assignment 7- Testing the Hypothesis

Testing the hypothesis



· People waste a lot of time walking around libraries trying to find a place to sit.

· Opportunity: Students at the University of Florida waste time that could be spent on homework walking around Library West (the central most library on UF’s campus) trying to find an empty seat because there is no see where vacant seats are prior to walking around the library.

o The who: Students at the University of Florida

o The what: They waste time that they want to be using to study walking around the library in search of a seat.

o The why: There is no way for students to see where vacant seats are located in the library prior to walking around and searching for them.

· Testing the boundaries

o Testing the who: This is a need among private as well as public universities all over the country that do not have a system in place to alleviate the opportunity, not just Library West at the University of Florida. I know this because I asked a student who attend the University of South Carolina if he experiences this issue of wasting time trying to find a seat at his libraries and indeed he does. However, since I am in Gainesville, I am limited to see my own experiences and for me this opportunity presents itself at Library West. But, a system to solve this problem can be implemented all over.

o Testing the what: Since not everyone spends time studying at Library West, not everyone experiences the issue of wasting time trying to find a seat. I would be interested to see if all 5 libraries on UF’s campus experience this same “what”. From the research that I have conducted it seems most common in libraries that are closer to the center of campus such as Library West and Marston Science Library.

o Testing the why: Students blame this “why” on many different reasons. Some believe it just depends on the time of day that you come to the library, which will affect how busy it is; thus, determining how long one has to walk around to find a seat. Others believe it is the library that you choose to go to. It was even suggested that the library is just inefficiently designed so that it does not maximize the space wisely inside. Therefore, this why doesn’t hold the same for everyone. However, I believe if there were one system to get rid of the problem all together the different why’s wouldn’t matter so much since people will have a way to get around them.

· Interviews

o #1:

§ I conducted this interview with a student who is currently a junior at the University of South Carolina to try and determine the extent of the “whos” within this opportunity. He expressed that he experiences the same issue of trying to find a seat for extended periods of time at the libraries on USC’s campus. He believes this is an issue on his campus because the libraries are so large that it can take forever just to search one floor alone. He often tries to avoid the problem by just staying at home to study even though he feels most productive in the library.

o #2:

§ I interviewed a Law School student at the University of Florida to see if graduate students also experience this need. He informed me that at the law library he can always find a place to study but he believes this is because of the efficient use of space in the library. As a graduate student, he doesn’t come to the center of campus much to use these libraries since everything for him is mostly centered at the law school. However, he is a double gator and sated that he wished some sore of system was in place during his undergraduate years to fix the problem. This made me wasn’t to redefine my “who” to UNDERGRADUATE UF students since they are the ones who are mostly in the center of campus.

o #3:

§ I found another to student walking around Library West to interview about this opportunity. She explained how she faces this issue all the time and she believes it is dependent on the time of the semester. She described how last the week the library wasn’t nearly as busy as it was this week because the first exams for courses are about to happen. However, she also believes that sometimes the crowd in the library is just random and determined by an individual’s study preferences that day. This made me take a different view on the what for the opportunity.

o #4:

§ I interviewed an employee at the circulation desk at library west to see what they thought about this opportunity. As an older man, who doesn’t come to the library to study he said he had never thought about how time consuming it could be to walk around to find a seat. He expressed to me exactly how large the library is and by the time you search every table up to the fourth floor it could take almost an hour. He says that he also has heard of students attempting to implement a system to solve this problem but it has yet to work.

o #5

§ For my last interview, I walked over to Marston Science Library to interview a student studying here to see if they face the same issues. She claimed that even though Marston has more study spaces than library west, it is still extremely hard to find a seat sometimes. This interview was good news to me because it shows that multiple libraries on campus could benefit from some sort of new system. This could potentially expand the who of my opportunity, however for the purpose of this project I decided to initially focus on one library and could choose to later on expand.

· Summary:



o My interviews brought some points to my attention that I hadn’t thought about before. For example, in interview #2, I almost neglected grad students when trying to assess the trouble with crowded libraries on campus. Now, I realize that to target a more accurate and specific who, this opportunity needs to be tailored towards undergraduate students. This trims down the number of students included to nearly half of what it was, since the graduate students here account for such a large population of students on campus. From interviewing students at both centrally located libraries (West and Marston) I was also able to see that both libraries carry this opportunity which could present a larger market and expansion for a possible solution in the future. In addition, from talking to the student that attends USC it also makes me believe that this solution can be taken nationally to schools all over the country with the same issue. It would be nice to have a system that works at certain times of the say, such as when the library is busiest, or at certain times of the year, like right around exam time. However, since it is difficult to predict these patterns I believe a 24/7 system would be the most useful. Even though from my interviews I discovered that there were multiple reasons that people believe as to WHY library crowding and the time consumed searching for seats is a problem, I believe one system to resolve all whys can be put in place.

Assignment 6-Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

· Regulatory change #1

o An opportunity to increase outdoor recreational facilities for children.

o Source: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr3186

o I believe this opportunity exists because the attempt of establishing the “Every Kid Outdoors Act” will lead to a need for more places for kids to go exercise. If every child is going to want to go out and get more active there will need to be more recreational areas for kids to do just that. I believe they would also be more enticed to go out and exercise if they had a fun place near them to do so.

o I think the most likely customer for this would be cities themselves, who’s legislative body could hire playground construction companies to build areas for children to go out and play on.

o I think this could be difficult to exploit just because working with cities to approve and hire people, as well as figure out zoning for certain playground/ recreational areas can be a lengthy process.

o I saw this opportunity because in order to make an act like “Every Kid Outdoors” happen there needs to be proper facilities in local areas all over the country. On a personal level, being healthy and staying active is very important to me so reading about this act helped me to discover this opportunity.





· Regulatory change #2

o An opportunity to increase types of cybersecurity software for businesses.

o Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/regulatory/articles/securities-regulatory-outlook.html

o I believe this opportunity will exist because although it is not a specific regulation yet, there have been many regulations centered around the cyber world of companies and businesses which has led to an increase need of regulation of security of this “cyber world”. This security will be crucial to the success of certain companies as well as result in peace of mind for many stakeholders and customers.

o I think the most likely customer for this opportunity will mostly be large corporations and businesses who need to protect their clients/stakeholder’s information from being leaked to the public. Even though they would be the main customer, I believe that small businesses would also benefit from a regulatory change in cyber security. Although they don’t have as many customers as larger businesses, they still are concerned with protecting their customers information.

o I think this opportunity will be easy to exploit for the most part, I believe there is a big demand for it so it will generate a lot of profit.

o I saw this opportunity because of the recent events that have been going on recently. Such as ICloud being hacked (in other words not well secured) as well as the recent scandal with Facebook. Therefore, in light of today’s activities this issue is relatively easy to see.



· Economic trend #1:

o Work force demographics are changing

o Source: https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/six-key-economic-trends

o I believe there is an opportunity here because since many baby boomers are nearing retirement age there is a whole new market of young and more diverse employees entering the job market. Also, because of this trend the workforce is predicted to grow faster over the coming years than in the past, creating a tremendous opportunity.

o The customer for this is young adults now entering the workforce and changing the demographics in today’s workplace.

o Exploiting this opportunity will be easy because of the wide pool of young, diverse individuals who will be searching for jobs while simultaneously changing the demographics in the US workforce regardless of outside conditions.

o I saw this opportunity because my dad is a baby boomer who is retiring from his company this year which made this trend stick out to me. I have been able to see first-hand how the younger generation is going to be taking over the work place in the coming years.



· Economic trend #2:

o Industry growth in Europe and Japan is predicted to increase heavily this year.

o Source: https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/six-key-economic-trends

o There is an opportunity here because the growth in these countries will have significant implications on the economy of the US in regard to exports, overseas competition, and currency exchange. It also will create opportunities in the industrially maturing countries.

o The customer for this will be global businesses in the Unites States that are involved in trading, exporting, or importing.

o This will be an easy opportunity to exploit, granted that’s these countries actually do end growing industrially, because many businesses will pick up on this and take advantage of it.



o I saw this opportunity because it was evident that it was almost a cause and effect. The cause being Europe and Japan gaining an economic advantage and the effect being the US increasing global business ties.

Assignment 5- Identifying Local Opportunities

Opportunity 1:



· Problem:Football is losing the popularity that it once had.

· Article:Is Football Fascination Fading Before Our Eyes?

· What the Article was about:This article discusses how a commonality between all college football games played this past week was a partially empty stadium. It discusses how empty seats never used to be problem, but now other events are gaining popularity over football. Some possible reasons such as safety concerns and the sports exploitative nature were addressed as to why the sport could be losing popularity.

· Who has the problem? College Football teams in Florida, Universities in Florida, Coaches and staff of college football teams in Florida

· Link: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0910%21September%2B10&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5A5FB1AFEE768



Opportunity 2:

· Problem: Florida Banks are closing accounts that politicians supporting medical marijuana use in Florida have opened with them.

· Article:Candidate’s Account Again Closed for Marijuana Ties

· What the article was about:Nicole Fried, Cabinet member candidate in Florida, has played a crucial role in getting the use of medical marijuana for terminal illnesses passed in Florida. Because of this, multiple banks such as Wells Fargo and BB&T, have closed her campaign accounts because they “must” follow federal laws when it comes to marijuana. Deeming it not right to hold the money of someone who had a marijuana bill passed. Her campaign manager will soon be releasing the name of the new bank in which her new accounts were opened with.

· Who has the problem?Nicole Fried, possible other candidates/political figures in Florida who support marijuana (recreationally or medically), banks

· Link:https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0910%21September%2B10&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5A5FB14034E68



Opportunity 3:

· Problem:Deaths from motorcycle accidents are common in the United States.

· Article:Motorcyclist, 19, Killed in Collision on State Road 54

· What the article was about: A local 19-year-old boy, Scott Barnhouse, was found dead on a small country road from injuries in a fatal collision with a 74-year-old driver, while riding his motorcycle. The woman in the SUV, Milagros Coulmas, veered into the motorcyclist’s path where he collided with the side of her car. The women who hit the boy will be attending court over the incident soon to determine her sentence.

· Who has the problem?Motorcycle drivers, Car drivers, family members of motorcyclists, hospitals

· Link:https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0910%21September%2B10&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5A5FC6C1AF078



Opportunity 4:

· Problem:The Child Welfare system in Florida is becoming less and less effective.

· Article:System Fails Another Toddler

· What the article was about:Toddler Jordan Belliveau, who was taken into child protective services for 20 months, died 2 months after being released to go back to his mother. His 21-year-old mother is now facing first degree murder charges. Many believe that the system failed this child by letting him return to her care regardless of therapy that she had undergone, especially since there were advocates who brought it to the courts attention that he should not be returned home. Not only is this situation sad in itself for Jordan but also for all of the social workers involved in his case.

· Who has the problem?The Child Welfare system, toddlers, lawyers, parents, foster parents

· Link:https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0909%21September%2B09&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5A5FCF5975470



Opportunity 5:

· Problem: Market place apps and websites are posing danger to those who use them in the state of Florida.

· Article: Deputies:Facebook Apps Used in Robbery

· What the article was about:A couple in Tampa who brought their baby along to purchase a cell phone from someone selling in the Facebook market place were robbed at gun point when they met up with the seller to purchase the phone. They were robbed of $500 dollars and personal belongings. Luckily, police were able to find the two young adults who committed the robbery by tracking down a partial license plate number that the couple was able to write down.

· Who has the problem?Marketplace sites owners, police, people using marketplace sites



· Link:https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0909%21September%2B09&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5A5FC1B2474B0

Assignment 4- Forming An Opportunity Belief

Forming An Opportunity Belief

1. I believe people waste a lot of time walking around Library West trying to find an empty seat.

2. Students do not have a way to see, prior to arriving and walking around for several minutes at a time, which tables/ seats are available at library west. They need a way to see what tables are available instantaneously to avoid wasting time that could be used studying, looking for a seat. Those with this need are undergraduate students taking classes at the University of Florida’s campus that use Library West. This need has been here for as long as I have been attending UF (3 years). Because of the large volume of students that have always been attending UF, I suspect this has been a problem for several years. To meet this need now, students will text friends in the library to see if there are seats near them to avoid walking around to find seats. There are really no other options besides going to a different library or just walking around until a seat opens up. I am about 75% sure that this opportunity exists and would be useful to current students who use the library.

3. The prototypical customer:

a. A UF student who is seated studying at Library West.

b. A UF student who is walking around searching for a seat at Library West.

c. An employee who works at the Library West Circulation Desk

4. Interviews:

a. I found a pair of students sitting at a circular table on the second floor of Library West and asked them questions about the problem of looking for seats. One student, Taylor, told me she had been at the library since 8 am and when she arrived there were plenty of seats available. When the other student, Mackenzie, arrived at around 11 there were hardly any tables left so she had asked Taylor to save her a spot. They both agreed that they have spent “multiple occasions wasting time pacing around the library looking for a place to sit”. Both made a point to express that sitting at a table with one empty seat while the others are already taken by a group makes them uncomfortable so they usually look for an all-around empty table to sit in. As expressed by Taylor, this need isn’t so prevalent in the early mornings but “as the day goes on it becomes more of an issue”. They both claimed that wasting time looking for a seat at Library West has been a problem since their freshman year, and they are each seniors now. Neither one was satisfied with their current system of walking around aimlessly until a spot opens up.

b. Among the hundreds of students studying, I stopped one student, Savannah, who was in the midst of walking around to find a seat and asked her a few questions. Her issue with walking around to find a seat was the amount of time it takes, as she described herself as “a very impatient person”. The way savannah deals with the issue is: if she has been searching for a seat for over 10 minutes she leaves Library West and walks to Marston Science Library to see if there are any seats available there. She is unhappy with this solution because she claims it causes her to spend “more time walking around campus than getting any studying done”. When asked how often she experiences this need, Savannah said it is mostly on weekdays. For instance, when she goes to library on Friday night it is not as busy as compared to a Monday night. Savannah began to notice this need about a month or two into her freshman year, and will sometimes avoid the libraries all together because of it.

c. After to talking to the head of Library West, Jana Ronan, she informed me that there are actually precise numbers on how many students enter and exit the library and at what specific times this happens. She is gathering the information to email to me so that I can see exact figures as to when Library West is the busiest. She agreed that the way students search for a seat at Library West is not as efficient as it could be. She also explained that the library gets funds from the tech portion of student fees that could be used to pay for some sort of program to alleviate the issue. Jana also expressed her concerns about students “who have tried to solve this issue in the past” but weren’t able to go through with it. Because this library is so central on campus it makes it one of the busiest libraries, which is why Jana’s role as head chair was able to give me a lot of insight on this issue.

5. From conducting these interviews, I was able to gain a lot of information about this opportunity. I learned that every student in Library West, whether studying or walking around trying to find a place to study is affected by this issue of searching for seats. What was most surprising to me about my opportunity was how much the staff noticed this issue and was even interested in looking for ways to relieve it. I also learned that different people are affected different by my opportunity. For example, someone who is patient may notice the issue but may not have a problem spending time searching for a seat, whereas an impatient person, like Savannah, really struggles looking for a place to sit. I also found it interesting that all 3 students I spoke to have noticed this problem since they first arrived at UF, which leads to me to believe it has been going on for an extended period of time. I was able to gain insight as to what both the student body and faculty thought about this issue which allowed me to see different perspectives about this opportunity.

6. (Repeated steps above)

7. I believe after going through this process that my original opportunity is still there. From the information that I collected, I would say that the opportunity is more accurate than I thought to begin with. I didn’t realize how many people actually noticed this issue, including faculty. I think entrepreneurs should adapt their ideas as much as possible to the majority opinion of customers. As we learned in class your product isn’t going to work unless there is a customer need for it, and staying firm is not going to change customers opinions. So, in order to be successful, I believe there must be some compromise on the entrepreneur’s part to adapt to customer feedback.

Assignment 3- Your Entrepreneurship Story

My Entrepreneurship Story



I have been exposed to entrepreneurs many times throughout my life. However, in order to illustrate the best picture to everyone about my own entrepreneurship story I feel it’s best to describe my own personal experience as an entrepreneur. My junior year of high school I founded my own club called The Lutz Warriors (Lutz, Florida being my hometown and the warriors being my high school mascot). The purpose of this club was to have National Honors Society (NHS) members from my high school take a trip during club period every other week to the local elementary school, Lutz Elementary, and help the elementary students with their reading and homework skills. I remember one of the struggles getting the club formed was finding the right resources, like the money to fund it from the school’s club fund as well as a teacher to sign off to be the club’s sponsor. In addition, choosing members to join was another difficult task in forming my club. I had over 55 students send in applications! I read through all of them and was able to select around 15-20 students to actually be in the club (with the help of our faculty sponsor). I wanted to create a school club that not only would be fun (as we got to travel off of our high school campus), but also would use NHS students’ abilities to the advantage of others. This club solved the club members problem of needing community service hours while also solving the school’s problem of finding completely free tutors. I chose to visit Lutz Elementary because it was actually the elementary school that I attended, so it made the project that much more special to me. The most rewarding aspect of this experience was being able to make a difference in many children’s lives during the course of the school year. From founding this club, I learned the responsibility and dedication of an entrepreneur, even though at the time I didn’t realize founding and leading the club was considered entrepreneurial.

I enrolled in ENT3003 to learn more about the ideals and processes that go on behind the scenes in becoming an Entrepreneur. My goal one day is own and operate my own law firm, which although is not a NEW idea, is still an entrepreneurial venture. I hoped that in taking this course I could apply some knowledge to my future career and know a little bit about what can be expected when starting out as an entrepreneur. I am really looking forward to coming up with my own business idea in the course and am also excited to see what ideas my classmates have. All in all, I'm really excited for this semester in ENT3003.




Below is a photo of the old Lutz Elementary school house, which stands in front of the newly renovated school (where my club volunteered at every other week).