Opportunity #1- "Tampa's Popular Downtowner rides could end soon unless someone pays for them." by Caitlin Johnston, Tampa Bay Times, https://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/2020/01/28/tampas-popular-downtowner-rides-could-end-soon-unless-someone-pays-for-them/
The Story: This news report describes how the "Downtowner" service (An app similar to Uber that gives free rides to people in downtown.) is running out of money to fund its services.
The Problem: The Hillsborough Transit Agency board has been reluctant to continue funding the service, and without any alternatives in sight the service could be removing its services from the city of Tampa within the next two months.
Who this problem affects: This problem affects the citizens of downtown Tampa, drivers who work for the "Downtowner" service, and the Hillsborough Transit Agency.
Opportunity #2- "Lucky's Market to sell 11 stores to Aldi and Publix as it files for bankruptcy." by Sara Dinatale, Tampa Bay Times, https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2020/01/27/luckys-market-to-sell-six-locations-to-aldi-as-it-files-for-bankruptcy/
The Story: Lucky's Market, a chain of supermarkets, has filed for bankruptcy as it faces increasing competition from Aldi and Publix.
The Problem: Without the financial backing from Kroger,the chains main investor, Lucky's Market can no longer afford to keep its stores open. Without any support the supermarket chain has been forced to file for bankruptcy and sell off most of its remaining stores to its competitors, Aldi and Publix.
Who this problem affects: The bankruptcy of Lucky's Market will affect the stakeholders of the chain, Aldi, Publix, and Kroger.
Opportunity #3- "East Lake residents sue after Tarpon Springs annexes land for developer." by Tracy McManus, Tampa Bay Times, https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2020/01/27/east-lake-residents-sue-after-tarpon-springs-annexes-land-for-developer/
The Story: Residents of North East Lake is suing the city of Tarpon Springs for selling 44 acres of land to a property developer.
The Problem: The residents are infuriated due to the fact that the land the city of Tarpon Springs has sold was meant to be preserved to ensure the protection of the area's rural nature and are suing the city for its disregard of the district.
Who this problem affects: This dispute affects the residents of North East Lake, The city of Tarpon Springs, Potential home buyers, and the land developer.
Opportunity #4- "Cybercrimes nearly double in Florida, costing the average victim more than $7,000." by Graham Brink, Tampa Bay Times, https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2020/01/28/cybercrimes-nearly-double-in-florida-costing-the-average-victim-more-than-7000/
The Story- Cybercrime in Florida is on the rise and the cost of each attack is following suit.
The Problem: Cybercrime, such as data breaches, are becoming much more common and much more expensive as cybercriminals and scammers find new ways to exploit and breach the cyber security of business and just about anyone else costing organizations millions of dollars in damages every year.
Who this problem affects: Security breaches and cyber attacks can affect entire businesses as well as all of their stakeholders, Government officials, and reckless internet users.
Opportunity #5- "Tampa condo tower to Park & Rec: Yes, you are a nightclub." by Sara Dinatale, Tampa Bay Times, https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2020/01/17/tampa-condo-tower-to-park-rec-yes-you-are-a-nightclub/
The Story: A Tampa condo association is in an ongoing legal battle with the Park & Rec bar over whether the bar should be defined as a nightclub or a bar.
The Problem: The residents of the condo state that the Park & Rec bar is a nightclub that causes immense noise pollution and does not belong in the space on the lowest level of the building. However, the Park & Rex bar counters this claim by stating they are a bar and restaurant and should not be removed from the space.
Who this problem affects: This problem affects the residents of the condo, The condo management and legal teams, Park & Rec guests, Park & Rec management, legal team, and employees.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief
Step 1: I believe there exists a need for a secure, temperature controlled lock box to be used inside a refrigerator. The target market for this invention would be consumers who do not wish for the food they put in the refrigerator to be eaten by other individuals at their workplace or home.
Step 2: I have often heard the complaint from neighbors, friends, and coworkers alike that anytime they put food in the refrigerator someone else in their home or workplace will eat their food while they are not looking. Currently the method of combating this dilemma are simply putting sticky notes on containers of food to ward off potential scavengers, however if the issue persists there is little to nothing the owner can do to stop this. It is due to this factor and the fact that this has been a long established issue that has never been resolved that I am 75% confident that this is a need of consumers.
Step 3: The protypical customers for this invention would be consumers who live in multi-person households or workers who share a refrigerator at work.
Step 4 Part 1: I started off by interviewing my neighbor Zachary, who lives in a household with three other relatives. Zachary stated that he would certainly buy this product if it were to become available as nearly every time he orders food for delivery or brings home leftovers the rest of his household would eat the food he had saved for later. Zachary had attempted to hide his leftovers in a spare refrigerator to resolve this issue but had no success as his relatives simply found the extra refrigerator and ate his leftovers anyway.
Step 5 Part 1: The discussion I had with Zachary has given me enough information to conclude that this need does actually exist. The issue he had encountered with family members eating his leftovers and food he has set aside for another period are very similar to the experiences I had that inspired me to form this opportunity belief. Zachary also provided evidence to suggest that current methods to satisfy this need are ineffective and that the product I have described would fill this gap.
Step 6: I repeated this interview process twice more.
Step 4 Part 2: For my second interview I traveled to the nearby University of South Florida's Tampa campus and interviewed Jaycea, a student living on campus. Jaycea stated that as he buys food from the store to be used such as cheese and ham for sandwiches his roommate will take them and use it all before he even gets a chance to use them for himself. He added that is very irritating and that he is always getting angry at his roommate for this reason. Jaycea also expressed that a simple lock box would not help him in his situation as he often leaves his keys in his dorm room where his roommate could easily access them and open the lockbox. He instead stated that he would prefer if the lockbox was password locked rather than locked with a key.
Step 5 Part 2: The interview with Jaycea provided me with some very useful information regarding the needs of potential customers. The conversation indicated that the device I described could also be used for groceries that the user would like to keep from being as well as the previously stated safety for already made meals. Jaycea also shared a concern that I had not previously considered regarding the fact that family members could simply find the key to access the device. A password protected lock is a great suggestion that could attract a larger range of customers such as Jaycea.
Step 4 Part 3: The final interview performed was with Charles a concierge worker at the Towers Of Channelside in Tampa. Charles shares a refrigerator at work with his co-workers and states that these co-workers constantly eat his food despite him having labeled his lunch with a sticky note. Charles stated that he would certainly buy this product if it were to become available.
Step 5 Part 3: Speaking with Charles has confirmed my belief that there is a market for this device among workers who share a refrigerator and lunch place and do not wish for their lunch to be disturbed by their co-workers.
Step 7: Based on these interviews it would seem that I was correct in my belief that there is a market for a product such as this. As a result I believe my initial opportunity belief is still valid and that this product could assist customers both at home and at work with the issue of another individual eating the food they save for later. However, I did receive some suggestions on how to improve my initial idea from these interviews such as the implementation of a password protected lock rather than a key lock. Without this insight the product would likely not be purchased by a wide majority of customers who would like to use this device at home as relatives could easily find the key to the device. Based on this I believe that entrepreneurs should certainly adapt their product based on customer feedback as these ideas could very likely be shared by many more customers looking to buy the product and thus could generate a higher sales amount.
Step 2: I have often heard the complaint from neighbors, friends, and coworkers alike that anytime they put food in the refrigerator someone else in their home or workplace will eat their food while they are not looking. Currently the method of combating this dilemma are simply putting sticky notes on containers of food to ward off potential scavengers, however if the issue persists there is little to nothing the owner can do to stop this. It is due to this factor and the fact that this has been a long established issue that has never been resolved that I am 75% confident that this is a need of consumers.
Step 3: The protypical customers for this invention would be consumers who live in multi-person households or workers who share a refrigerator at work.
Step 4 Part 1: I started off by interviewing my neighbor Zachary, who lives in a household with three other relatives. Zachary stated that he would certainly buy this product if it were to become available as nearly every time he orders food for delivery or brings home leftovers the rest of his household would eat the food he had saved for later. Zachary had attempted to hide his leftovers in a spare refrigerator to resolve this issue but had no success as his relatives simply found the extra refrigerator and ate his leftovers anyway.
Step 5 Part 1: The discussion I had with Zachary has given me enough information to conclude that this need does actually exist. The issue he had encountered with family members eating his leftovers and food he has set aside for another period are very similar to the experiences I had that inspired me to form this opportunity belief. Zachary also provided evidence to suggest that current methods to satisfy this need are ineffective and that the product I have described would fill this gap.
Step 6: I repeated this interview process twice more.
Step 4 Part 2: For my second interview I traveled to the nearby University of South Florida's Tampa campus and interviewed Jaycea, a student living on campus. Jaycea stated that as he buys food from the store to be used such as cheese and ham for sandwiches his roommate will take them and use it all before he even gets a chance to use them for himself. He added that is very irritating and that he is always getting angry at his roommate for this reason. Jaycea also expressed that a simple lock box would not help him in his situation as he often leaves his keys in his dorm room where his roommate could easily access them and open the lockbox. He instead stated that he would prefer if the lockbox was password locked rather than locked with a key.
Step 5 Part 2: The interview with Jaycea provided me with some very useful information regarding the needs of potential customers. The conversation indicated that the device I described could also be used for groceries that the user would like to keep from being as well as the previously stated safety for already made meals. Jaycea also shared a concern that I had not previously considered regarding the fact that family members could simply find the key to access the device. A password protected lock is a great suggestion that could attract a larger range of customers such as Jaycea.
Step 4 Part 3: The final interview performed was with Charles a concierge worker at the Towers Of Channelside in Tampa. Charles shares a refrigerator at work with his co-workers and states that these co-workers constantly eat his food despite him having labeled his lunch with a sticky note. Charles stated that he would certainly buy this product if it were to become available.
Step 5 Part 3: Speaking with Charles has confirmed my belief that there is a market for this device among workers who share a refrigerator and lunch place and do not wish for their lunch to be disturbed by their co-workers.
Step 7: Based on these interviews it would seem that I was correct in my belief that there is a market for a product such as this. As a result I believe my initial opportunity belief is still valid and that this product could assist customers both at home and at work with the issue of another individual eating the food they save for later. However, I did receive some suggestions on how to improve my initial idea from these interviews such as the implementation of a password protected lock rather than a key lock. Without this insight the product would likely not be purchased by a wide majority of customers who would like to use this device at home as relatives could easily find the key to the device. Based on this I believe that entrepreneurs should certainly adapt their product based on customer feedback as these ideas could very likely be shared by many more customers looking to buy the product and thus could generate a higher sales amount.
3A - My Entrepreneurship Story
My exposure to the world of entrepreneurship originates from my father Roy Hunt who has owned and operated a franchise of ServiceMaster Clean for many years. Due to this exposure I have received some knowledge of the entrepreneurship process prior to this class. Although I did not understand most of the details at the time due to my lack of knowledge on the subject my father would keep me up to date on the various business operations that the franchise entitled such as managing contracts and supply chain management and would occasionally take me with him to job sites and to meetings so that I could experience what operating a business is really like.
These experiences in entrepreneurship have helped me develop a thorough interest in the subject and have motivated me to pursue a career in the business field so that I may one day fulfill a managerial role in the workplace and put these experiences and the knowledge I receive about the business world from this class to use within an organization.
Despite my exposure to entrepreneurship and my interest in the subject I enrolled in ENT3003 mainly because the class is a required course for the General Studies major in the UF Online BSBA program. However, I am thoroughly enjoying this course so far and am very much looking forward to learning more about the entrepreneurship processes that I did not fully comprehend when I was exposed to the business processes of ServiceMaster Clean.
Friday, January 24, 2020
2A- Bug List
Bug #1- Despite having a listed start time on the ticket, viewers must still sit through 15 minutes of advertisements before the start of a movie at a movie theater.
Why?- The movie theater likely receives a significant portion of their income through these advertisements and ensure that viewers arriving slightly late do not miss segments of the movie they paid for.
Bug #2- Occasionally I will go to get food out of my refrigerator only to find out that my roommate has eaten the food I was going to make.
Why?- Perhaps my roommate did not think that I would notice that the food is missing and thought that taking the food was worth the risk of getting caught.
Bug #3- I always encounter numerous red lights when driving through downtown Tampa.
Why?- Being a major city traffic is very heavy in Tampa and as such requires many traffic lights to be positioned downtown to manage traffic resulting in me running into at least one every time I drive through Tampa.
Bug #4- Professor Banko's finance class gives me at least one headache a day.
Why?- The difficulty of Professor Banko's class causes immense stress and results in at least one headache per day.
Bug #5- Pedestrians constantly dart out in front of traffic in downtown Tampa.
Why?- Perhaps they think that because pedestrians get the right of way that they are allowed to just run out in front of traffic assuming there will be no consequences.
Bug #6- The elevator in my apartment building is very slow.
Why?- This could be due to a lack of maintenance to the elevator or a be caused by a dated elevator system.
Bug #7- When I drive to the movie theater there are hardly ever any open parking spots.
Why?- There are many other people who see movies at the local movie theater, but not enough parking spaces for the immense traffic resulting in overcrowded parking.
Bug #8- My neighbors have very loud dogs that constantly bark and interrupt my day.
Why?- It could be that my neighbors either do not know or do not care that their dogs are very loud and disruptive and as a consequence refuse to train them to not bark.
Bug #9- At random times in the day my internet speed will drop causing very long and irritating load times.
Why?- It could be that high traffic during these times of the day causes a slower internet speed across the network.
Bug #10- Despite being on the "Do Not Call" list I still receive numerous telemarketer calls a day.
Why?- It is possible that businesses have found ways to bypass the "Do Not Call" list to continue making calls to potential customers.
Bug #11- The Bic pens I purchased from Walmart consistently bleed through the paper of my notebook as I take notes causing my notes to become much harder to read.
Why?- The quality of the Bic pens is likely directly related to them being a lower price at Walmart, exchanging a lower price for a lower quality.
Bug #12- The staff at the local Taco Bell continue to forget to include the complete list of food I have ordered, always missing at least one item whenever I go through the Drive-Thru.
Why?- The employees at the Taco Bell could be either inattentive or uncaring enough to pay attention to the complete order once I place it.
Bug #13- My Iphone charger is just slightly too short to reach my bed causing it to become damaged and unusable whenever I attempt to use it while laying down.
Why?- The length and durability of the standard Iphone charging cord are not high quality, requiring me to either attempt to use the standard cable at awkward angles damaging the cord or opting to purchase a longer more durable cord to replace it.
Bug #14- My brother regularly plays music very loud using an amplifier from his room to echo the music throughout the entire house.
Why?- Perhaps my brother is not aware that not everyone in the house is fond of his very loud, distracting music or simply does not care that he disrupts the work and sleep of the entire household.
Bug #15- The UF Outlook mail box occasionally becomes frozen on the inbox page causing the page to not notify you when you receive an email resulting in missed emails.
Why?- This could be due to a technical error caused by a lengthy time of being inactive on the page requiring a refresh to resolve the issue.
Bug #16- The Canvas To-do list does not include notifications for Professor Banko's extra credit assignments.
Why?- Due to Professor Banko using Pearson MyFinanceLab over Canvas as the location for his extra credit assignments Canvas does not display the due dates in the To-do list.
Bug #17- My Grandfather usually calls me very early in the morning, waking me up in the process resulting in me becoming tired and agitated throughout the day due to a lack of sleep.
Why?- My Grandfather likely does not realize how early he wakes up, usually calling around 6am to say good morning. Despite his good intentions this is much earlier than I would like to wake up.
Bug #18- The HP printer I have set up in my house only works about 1/4th of the times we attempt to use it.
Why?- This is likely due to the age of the printer as we have owned and operated it for many years, however when it does break down it forces us to make a print order at the local Office Depot to get our printing done there instead.
Bug #19- There is almost always an auto accident on the Howard Franklin bridge outside of Tampa resulting in immensely long traffic wait times.
Why?- This is likely due to the sheer volume of cars that travel across the Howard Franklin bridge every day resulting in a higher chance of an auto accident.
Bug #20- Amazon arrival times are usually days longer than the listed delivery time upon purchasing an item.
Why?- It could be that due to the immense popularity of Amazon package delivery my deliveries are pushed back and delayed caused by attempting to move such a large number of packages within a span of a few days.
Reflection: To my surprise I actually found this assignment very difficult and had a hard time thinking about things that really bug me in my everyday life. I usually just shrug off these annoyances as just inconveniences and had never really asked why these things happen in the past. By participating in this assignment I have developed the skills to analyze these problems deeper and really dive into the reasoning behind them rather than simply accepting these bugs for the minor irritants they are.
Why?- The movie theater likely receives a significant portion of their income through these advertisements and ensure that viewers arriving slightly late do not miss segments of the movie they paid for.
Bug #2- Occasionally I will go to get food out of my refrigerator only to find out that my roommate has eaten the food I was going to make.
Why?- Perhaps my roommate did not think that I would notice that the food is missing and thought that taking the food was worth the risk of getting caught.
Bug #3- I always encounter numerous red lights when driving through downtown Tampa.
Why?- Being a major city traffic is very heavy in Tampa and as such requires many traffic lights to be positioned downtown to manage traffic resulting in me running into at least one every time I drive through Tampa.
Bug #4- Professor Banko's finance class gives me at least one headache a day.
Why?- The difficulty of Professor Banko's class causes immense stress and results in at least one headache per day.
Bug #5- Pedestrians constantly dart out in front of traffic in downtown Tampa.
Why?- Perhaps they think that because pedestrians get the right of way that they are allowed to just run out in front of traffic assuming there will be no consequences.
Bug #6- The elevator in my apartment building is very slow.
Why?- This could be due to a lack of maintenance to the elevator or a be caused by a dated elevator system.
Bug #7- When I drive to the movie theater there are hardly ever any open parking spots.
Why?- There are many other people who see movies at the local movie theater, but not enough parking spaces for the immense traffic resulting in overcrowded parking.
Bug #8- My neighbors have very loud dogs that constantly bark and interrupt my day.
Why?- It could be that my neighbors either do not know or do not care that their dogs are very loud and disruptive and as a consequence refuse to train them to not bark.
Bug #9- At random times in the day my internet speed will drop causing very long and irritating load times.
Why?- It could be that high traffic during these times of the day causes a slower internet speed across the network.
Bug #10- Despite being on the "Do Not Call" list I still receive numerous telemarketer calls a day.
Why?- It is possible that businesses have found ways to bypass the "Do Not Call" list to continue making calls to potential customers.
Bug #11- The Bic pens I purchased from Walmart consistently bleed through the paper of my notebook as I take notes causing my notes to become much harder to read.
Why?- The quality of the Bic pens is likely directly related to them being a lower price at Walmart, exchanging a lower price for a lower quality.
Bug #12- The staff at the local Taco Bell continue to forget to include the complete list of food I have ordered, always missing at least one item whenever I go through the Drive-Thru.
Why?- The employees at the Taco Bell could be either inattentive or uncaring enough to pay attention to the complete order once I place it.
Bug #13- My Iphone charger is just slightly too short to reach my bed causing it to become damaged and unusable whenever I attempt to use it while laying down.
Why?- The length and durability of the standard Iphone charging cord are not high quality, requiring me to either attempt to use the standard cable at awkward angles damaging the cord or opting to purchase a longer more durable cord to replace it.
Bug #14- My brother regularly plays music very loud using an amplifier from his room to echo the music throughout the entire house.
Why?- Perhaps my brother is not aware that not everyone in the house is fond of his very loud, distracting music or simply does not care that he disrupts the work and sleep of the entire household.
Bug #15- The UF Outlook mail box occasionally becomes frozen on the inbox page causing the page to not notify you when you receive an email resulting in missed emails.
Why?- This could be due to a technical error caused by a lengthy time of being inactive on the page requiring a refresh to resolve the issue.
Bug #16- The Canvas To-do list does not include notifications for Professor Banko's extra credit assignments.
Why?- Due to Professor Banko using Pearson MyFinanceLab over Canvas as the location for his extra credit assignments Canvas does not display the due dates in the To-do list.
Bug #17- My Grandfather usually calls me very early in the morning, waking me up in the process resulting in me becoming tired and agitated throughout the day due to a lack of sleep.
Why?- My Grandfather likely does not realize how early he wakes up, usually calling around 6am to say good morning. Despite his good intentions this is much earlier than I would like to wake up.
Bug #18- The HP printer I have set up in my house only works about 1/4th of the times we attempt to use it.
Why?- This is likely due to the age of the printer as we have owned and operated it for many years, however when it does break down it forces us to make a print order at the local Office Depot to get our printing done there instead.
Bug #19- There is almost always an auto accident on the Howard Franklin bridge outside of Tampa resulting in immensely long traffic wait times.
Why?- This is likely due to the sheer volume of cars that travel across the Howard Franklin bridge every day resulting in a higher chance of an auto accident.
Bug #20- Amazon arrival times are usually days longer than the listed delivery time upon purchasing an item.
Why?- It could be that due to the immense popularity of Amazon package delivery my deliveries are pushed back and delayed caused by attempting to move such a large number of packages within a span of a few days.
Reflection: To my surprise I actually found this assignment very difficult and had a hard time thinking about things that really bug me in my everyday life. I usually just shrug off these annoyances as just inconveniences and had never really asked why these things happen in the past. By participating in this assignment I have developed the skills to analyze these problems deeper and really dive into the reasoning behind them rather than simply accepting these bugs for the minor irritants they are.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)