Final Reflection

Final Reflection

1. With so many assignments in this class to complete, I think that it is easy for everyone to recall their lows and highs. To begin with, I think that one of the best experiences I have had in this class can be seen in my time spent on developing my big opportunity. I realized how passionate I have become about something after working on it for basically this whole length of the semester. My idea to build a pedestrian bridge on Museum Road derived from my experiences driving on this road and dealing with the mayhem, but also was further supported when I began talking to my peers about how change can be made. For my low experience, I think that this came during the middle of the semester when I found myself unable to complete a great assignment because of my time and resource constraints. The Secret Sauce assignment was the only assignment that I failed to complete in this class and I feel like it was one of the worst to miss because I could have learned more about how the people closest to me felt about me and my potential skills.
2. Again, the most formative experience that I had in this class was the time that I spent developing my Pedestrian Bridge. All of the assignments and work that was completed towards the details of my idea will leave a lasting impact that I will remember for many years. I am proud of myself for accomplishing all of these assignments, but in the end I realize that all of my work could be wasted if there is not anything changed to get rid of the traffic congestion and ensure the safety of pedestrians. 
3. At the end of this class, I feel like my entrepreneurial mindset has drastically increased because I am starting to see things in my life as opportunities that could be worked on. Whether it is a random assortment of resources or just something that could be improved, I have noticed that I have definitely changed my mindset with this class. However, I do not think that I will become an entrepreneur at the end of the day because these assignments have made me realize how passionate I can get about something and I am worried that this could hurt my ability to be successful if I create a product that does not get the same kind of support like my first idea did.
4. The biggest piece of advice that I would give to someone that is beginning this class is to complete every single assignment. I think that it is easy to get in the mindset that missing an assignment for whatever reason is not that big of a deal, but when you have a class that is only out of 100 points, it is way more impactful than I first thought. To combat this, I would suggest that students try to make a schedule at the beginning of every week where they can allot the proper amount of time so that they can complete every ENT 3003 assignment. Lastly, I think that it needs to be better communicated on how important the opportunity assignment is because this is something that you deal with all semester. For me, I am happy that I decided to choose something that I was enjoying to work on because it made me think more critically about the information that I was presenting. Altogether, I think that when students find something that they are passionate about, they should focus on it because this can open up the doors for a great future!

Venture Concept No. 2

Pedestrian Bridge over Museum Road between NPB and Reitz Union



Opportunity

The opportunity that I have chosen to identify exists on the University of Florida Campus, specifically along one of the busiest roads, Museum Road. With the University of Florida being a large, connected campus that has many students focusing on doing well in their academics, there is a problem with traffic congestion. There is an area along Museum Road where there are three crosswalks in one intersection between the New Physics Building and the Reitz Union. Given that this is one of the most popular places to travel around, there is a lot of congestion that is created between students as pedestrians traveling to class and people in cars, trucks, and busses trying to drive around campus. As waves of students get out of class and find it necessary to cross the road, this often creates a lot of traffic as people in motor vehicles have to constantly wait for these people to cross. There are two groups of potential customers in this opportunity between UF students walking around campus and people who are operating motor vehicles along Museum Road. The market for my opportunity being addressed is very specific to the University of Florida Campus because I am only trying to solve the problems for people here and nowhere else. Currently, customers are satisfying this need of being able to travel in an efficient amount of time by either leaving earlier for their destination or by driving like maniacs and not giving any regard to the pedestrians crossing the street. The opportunity to build a pedestrian bridge will be here as long as UF stays as populated as it is and people's attitudes about how to deal with traffic does not get any better.


Innovation

The innovation that I am proposing is to address the needs of students, faculty, and bus drivers that want to be able to travel on campus more effectively and efficiently. This need will be addressed with the construction of a pedestrian bridge that goes above Museum Road to lets students cross the road without having to worry about being hit by a driver that is not paying attention. Not only will this pedestrian bridge benefit students walking from class to class, but it will also help drivers because they will no longer have to deal with the frustration of inching up and up in their motor vehicle as people cross the street in an unorderly process. I am unsure of the exact cost that would be required to build a bridge of this sort, but given the fact that we are a top university in the nation, I am sure that money would be able to be directed towards this effort and if not then I would do everything in my power to fundraise for it. This is obviously something that would need to be clearly mapped out before I would be able to get the University on board with building something on campus. I know that I would have to present things to them about the cost of the project and the type of environmental impact that the construction could have, so there would have to be more information collected before I went through with this.



Venture Concept

This concept that I have proposed will make the flow of traffic more efficient and allow people to walk on campus with a better state of mind knowing that their life is not at risk if they decide to cross Museum Road. Currently there are three main problems that arise with the way that things are set up.


1.) Too much traffic is situated in an area that is not prepared to handle the flow of people that it currently handles so people often spend way longer trying to travel through the area then they should. As a result, people are often frustrated and annoyed as they end up either being late to class or have to deal with a student who walks out in front of their motor vehicle.


2.) There are too many distracted drivers, which puts the lives of pedestrians at risk. People should be able to use a crosswalk on their college campus without having to worry about being hit by a car, truck, or bus.


3.) Many people will find a different way to drive on campus which only makes the rest of campus road even more congested with motor vehicles. It's better to solve the main problem at hand then to just spread the congestion across campus.



Customers will see this pedestrian bridge located across Museum Road and understand that this is their safest way of getting across the street in an efficient amount of time. A competitive idea that could be used to solve the traffic flow issue in this area could be to install another street stop light, but this will only frustrate people further as they still have to stop and wait in this area for the light to change green. Everyone will enjoy my concept because they will not only be able to walk from class to class in a safe manner from the pedestrian point of view, but also for the operators of motor vehicles- they will no longer have to worry about being constantly held up from groups of students crossing.


The Three Minor Elements

1.) I believe that my most important resource for this concept is the fact that I am a credible source of information in regards to the problem as a University of Florida student who deals with the same issues as everyone else. It is easier to get someone on board with you when they have the same lifestyle as you do.


2.) I am unsure of what my next venture would be because I have only focused my efforts towards the University of Florida's traffic issues. Maybe I could look to other college campuses that have the same type of traffic flow issue and try to install more pedestrian bridges to keep everyone safe.


3.) Assuming that I have launched and it has been 5 years, I will be doing something that has no connection to my pedestrian bridge opportunity. I am more focused on this now as a student, but 5 years later I will hopefully just be an alumnus who is happy that they have left a helping mark on the university.

Summary of the Feedback

• After reviewing the feedback that I received from my peers, I realize that with the proper presentation of my ideas and details, I have a lot of support. I believe that people could see the passion that I have to get this idea turned into an actual project that can do something good for the University of Florida campus. One of my peer review comments suggested that I may have some difficulty getting the University on board with my idea, but this is something that I think I can try to persuade by talking with the right people in charge and showing them how beneficial this change can be.
• The biggest change that I made in my venture concept was to better address the concern from my peers about getting the University of Florida to agree with the construction. There would be many details that would be have to be sorted out such as when exactly the construction could occur that would be least impactful to the traffic flow on campus and also how expensive it would cost.

Your Exit Strategy

1.) Because my entrepreneurship opportunity is very limited to the University of Florida, I plan to just close my business and move onto other things. I do not see myself making a career out of constructing pedestrian bridges on college campuses, so I think that it would just be best for me to find something else once I accomplish what I'm trying to start. I would just like to see some kind of recognition on the pedestrian bridge for myself if it were actually able to happen, but other than that there is not much more for me to do in this opportunity.

2.) I have selected this particular exit strategy because I want to do other things with my life after I graduate from the University of Florida. Given this specific opportunity that I have worked on, I think that this is more of a one and done thing to solve a problem than anything else.


3.) I think that my exit strategy really has not influenced any of the concepts that I have discussed because my exit is more of a choice than being forced. I worked very hard to come up with different details that would make my idea most beneficial for everyone on the University of Florida campus. The only thing that stands out to me in this situation is that I would be making connections and collecting resources just to complete one thing instead of a future of doing it, so it might be more difficult to acquire resources and people if they know that there is not a long term loyalty associated with it.

Reading Reflection No. 3

Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky

1.) The general theme that was discussed throughout the entirety of this book is the idea that with 4.5 billion people in the world, we have a lot of wasted knowledge and ideas because of our choices in lifestyle. Clay Shirky argues that the free time that people have can be better utilized by connecting on the internet rather than spending hours watching television.


2.) The biggest thing that this book connected with in ENT 3003 can be seen with the dynamics of this entire class. As we all know, we have to complete a multitude of assignments that are all posted online on our individual blogs so that other students in the class can see. This structure is similar to the theme that was discussed in Cognitive Surplus because rather than submitting our work to one person, we are making it readily available for other students to view and learn from too. When students are required to peer review each others blog posts, we are able to gain knowledge from the information that is being presented such as information about a book that was part of the reading list, but was not chosen. All of this together goes with this book because we are utilizing the intelligence of all of the students in the class rather than wasting it.


3.) If I had the opportunity to design an exercise for this class that would better illustrate the argument in Cognitive Surplus, it would be constructed as a full week assignment. To further explain, I would create a timesheet for each student so that they could record the amount of hours they spend on various things. Whether a student spends time sleeping, eating, playing video games, watching television, or studying, I would have them note just how much time was spent on this during each day. In this way, after a week of recording the amount of time spent on different things, I would have them tally up each category so that they can have a better understanding of how their time is spent during the week. This activity will help students comprehend just how much time is spent as "leisure time" or even time that is completely wasted, where people could be doing things to better themselves. In the book, Shirky makes a reference to the number of hours people spend watching television and compares it to the amount of time people have spent collaborating information on Wikipedia. When compared, he illustrates how beneficial it is to spend time on the internet sharing ideas and interacting and challenges just how much more productive it could be for our society if more people spent time doing this rather than watching television.

4.) The biggest thing that surprised me in this book is when Shirky created a formula that readers could understand the severity of the issue on hand. I did not realize just how many hours are pent by people during their leisure time with watching television, but it has become something that is highly incorporated into our society. When Shirky was able to compare the time spent watching television to the number of human hours that have been put into collaborating for Wikipedia I was shocked to learn that we could have 2000 Wikipedias every year if time was differently spent.

Celebrating Failure

One time, I experienced failure in this class when I did not plan my schedule accordingly and was unable to complete the "What's Your Secret Sauce?" assignment. For this assignment, we were instructed to interview five different people that know us best and can describe what makes you different from the rest of the people in this world. This would have been a great assignment for me to learn more from the people that I considered close to me as to what they think that I am best at doing or have the best skills for. I failed with the completion of this assignment because I waited too long to interview my friends before the Friday due date came up during the week. Unfortunately, I had to leave town on Thursday to spend time with my family at the beach, so this made it unable for me to be around enough people on campus to interview.

The biggest thing that I learned from my failure here is that I need to plan my schedule  at the beginning of the week so that I give the necessary time to my responsibilities as a student. With the understanding that there are always going to be blog posts due on Friday night every week for this class, I have now learned that it's important to set up a schedule on Sunday before the week gets started. By doing this, I can be most successful so that I will not experience a time where I am scrambling at the last minute to ultimately admit failure.

Failure is something that I do not like experiencing, which is definitely very common for University of Florida students. When I experience failure, it usually makes me realize that I need to change some of the practices that happen on a daily basis so that it never happens again. I also handle failure by being upset emotionally where I will have to take time out and chill and even listen to some motivational music to get me back on track. However, with my known stubbornness, I think that after this class I am still willing to take risks such as waiting till the last minute to complete assignments. For some reason, I sometimes see it as a challenge that I will not be able to complete something by the due date, which I know is not a good habit to get into.

What's Next?

Existing Market

I think that now what is next for me to to try and see if other college campuses deal with the same kind of traffic congestion from many students trying to get from class to class.

1.) This first person I interviewed was Chris, who is a Finance major here at the University of Florida. After discussing my business concept, he told me that he could see this as a great solution to solving the problem at hand and that he wishes that everyone had the type of motivation to solve problems that arise on people's respected campuses. He encouraged me that I should do some research on universities that are larger because they could be dealing with the same issue.

2.) I next spoke with Joseph, who is a Sustainability major at the University of Florida. Given his background as a person who advocates for sustainability, he told me that I should look more into trying to emphasis the use of public transportation more. He made a good point to me that in the long run it could be more sustainable to get more people to use the bus system on campus so that there would not be so many cars on campus and as a result only the buses would deal with pedestrians.

3.) The last person I spoke with was Jamie, who is a marketing major here at the University of Florida. After discussing my plan, he told me that I need to do a better job of publicizing my ideas so that more people become of the problem at hand. He told me that he believes that if I were to draw more attention to this topic, then the University might be more willing to spend money to make changes or even make other universities more aware of how to keep their college students safe as pedestrians.

After questioning these people, I believe that I have a bag of mixed decisions that I could make for my future. There are many paths that could be taken in regards to my pedestrian bridge venture, but I realized how many more details I need to address. Altogether, I think what makes most sense for my future is to try to expand my efforts here at the University of Florida to other large universities. I realize that with some good marketing skills, I could persuade more people to recognize how beneficial pedestrian bridges can actually be.

New Market

After thinking about a radically different market from the University of Florida campus, I thought about a college back at home that I am very familiar with. Being from Tallahassee, I am aware of how different FAMU is compared to UF. Given this, I had to contact some of my old friends who are currently attending this school.

Once I identified this new market, I started thinking about the dynamics of FAMU's campus. Given that they have a much smaller population of students at 11,000, I realized that there would be a significantly less number of students traveling around on campus. However, I also realized that there is much more land covered from UF compared to FAMU, so things could still get very congested even with a lesser population of students.

The first person I asked was my friend David, who is also a business major at FAMU and is very involved on campus. He told me that he does not believe that FAMU has quite the traffic issue that I described to him as Florida has. However, he did state that many students have their own vehicle to drive around campus so he could still see some major areas on campus where things could be better off with the installation of this bridge.

The next person I interviewed was my friend Willis, who is a student athlete at FAMU. After discussing with him about extending my business concept to FAMU, he told me that he believed students would feel more safe on campus if they knew they could cross the street without having to worry about motor vehicles. He noted how there are a couple pedestrian bridges that he knows of around Tallahassee, but thinks that my bridge does not need to be of that same magnitude in order to be successful on campus.


After learning about this new market, I have now realized how much more beneficial pedestrian bridges could be on many college campuses. Given the frequent number of pedestrians on any campus, it is important that I make sure they feel safe while they are trying to earn their degree. I found it quite interesting to realize how if you look at FAMU proportionally for their population size and school acreage, then congestion can still arise. However, I still think that my original market is the best because I have never firsthand experienced an issue on FAMU's campus like I have at the University of Florida.

Venture Concept No. 1

Pedestrian Bridge over Museum Road between NPB and Reitz Union


Opportunity

The opportunity that I have chosen to identify exists on the University of Florida Campus, specifically along one of the busiest roads, Museum Road. With the University of Florida being a large, connected campus that has many students focusing on doing well in their academics, there is a problem with traffic congestion. There is an area along Museum Road where there are three crosswalks in one intersection between the New Physics Building and the Reitz Union. Given that this is one of the most popular places to travel around, there is a lot of congestion that is created between students as pedestrians traveling to class and people in cars, trucks, and busses trying to drive around campus. As waves of students get out of class and find it necessary to cross the road, this often creates a lot of traffic as people in motor vehicles have to constantly wait for these people to cross. There are two groups of potential customers in this opportunity between UF students walking around campus and people who are operating motor vehicles along Museum Road. The market for my opportunity being addressed is very specific to the University of Florida Campus because I am only trying to solve the problems for people here and nowhere else. Currently, customers are satisfying this need of being able to travel in an efficient amount of time by either leaving earlier for their destination or by driving like maniacs and not giving any regard to the pedestrians crossing the street. The opportunity to build a pedestrian bridge will be here as long as UF stays as populated as it is and people's attitudes about how to deal with traffic does not get any better.


Innovation

The innovation that I am proposing is to address the needs of students, faculty, and bus drivers that want to be able to travel on campus more effectively and efficiently. This need will be addressed with the construction of a pedestrian bridge that goes above Museum Road to lets students cross the road without having to worry about being hit by a driver that is not paying attention. Not only will this pedestrian bridge benefit students walking from class to class, but it will also help drivers because they will no longer have to deal with the frustration of inching up and up in their motor vehicle as people cross the street in an unorderly process. I am unsure of the exact cost that would be required to build a bridge of this sort, but given the fact that we are a top university in the nation, I am sure that money would be able to be directed towards this effort and if not then I would do everything in my power to fundraise for it. This is obviously something that would need to be clearly mapped out before I would be able to get the University on board with building something on campus.



Venture Concept

This concept that I have proposed will make the flow of traffic more efficient and allow people to walk on campus with a better state of mind knowing that their life is not at risk if they decide to cross Museum Road. Currently there are three main problems that arise with the way that things are set up.

1.) Too much traffic is situated in an area that is not prepared to handle the flow of people that it currently handles so people often spend way longer trying to travel through the area then they should. As a result, people are often frustrated and annoyed as they end up either being late to class or have to deal with a student who walks out in front of their motor vehicle.

2.) There are too many distracted drivers, which puts the lives of pedestrians at risk. People should be able to use a crosswalk on their college campus without having to worry about being hit by a car, truck, or bus.

3.) Many people will find a different way to drive on campus which only makes the rest of campus road even more congested with motor vehicles. It's better to solve the main problem at hand then to just spread the congestion across campus.

Customers will see this pedestrian bridge located across Museum Road and understand that this is their safest way of getting across the street in an efficient amount of time. A competitive idea that could be used to solve the traffic flow issue in this area could be to install another street stop light, but this will only frustrate people further as they still have to stop and wait in this area for the light to change green. Everyone will enjoy my concept because they will not only be able to walk from class to class in a safe manner from the pedestrian point of view, but also for the operators of motor vehicles- they will no longer have to worry about being constantly held up from groups of students crossing.


The Three Minor Elements

1.) I believe that my most important resource for this concept is the fact that I am a credible source of information in regards to the problem as a University of Florida student who deals with the same issues as everyone else. It is easier to get someone on board with you when they have the same lifestyle as you do.

2.) I am unsure of what my next venture would be because I have only focused my efforts towards the University of Florida's traffic issues. Maybe I could look to other college campuses that have the same type of traffic flow issue and try to install more pedestrian bridges to keep everyone safe.

3.) Assuming that I have launched and it has been 5 years, I will be doing something that has no connection to my pedestrian bridge opportunity. I am more focused on this now as a student, but 5 years later I will hopefully just be an alumnus who is happy that they have left a helping mark on the university.

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.) Human Capital- I came up with this idea and have been planning many details regarding this pedestrian bridge on Museum Road

• V- Valuable because if I did not bring up the opportunity, nothing would be said
• R- it is a special concept for the University of Florida Campus
• I- another UF student could copy my idea and build the bridge in the same place
• N- other students could try and plan this with recognition of the problem at hand

2.) Attention to Detail- I have a high attention to details in order to form perfection

• V- important to make sure that all aspects of the bridge are top notch
• R- rare because not everyone cares enough to pay enough attention to detail
• I- imitable because there are many smart students at UF that could also have this talent
• N- non substitutable because not everyone pays that level of attention to detail 

3.) Credibility within concept- I am a student at the University of Florida who is very familiar with the problem that is at hand

• V- I have witnesses the issues firsthand on almost every occasion that I travel down this road
• R- not rare because there are 50,000 students at UF which many travel down this road too
• I- easily imitable given the fact that there could be engineering students who know more about the difficulties involved in building a pedestrian bridge 
• N- again, another UF student could solve this problem given their credibility

4.) Management Skills- I am a business management major with experience in helping people work together for a common purpose

• V- valuable in regards to being able to coordinate all the moving pieces to complete the task at hand
• R- rare because not everyone has the management skills that I have personally developed
• I- definitely
• N- yes

5.) Leadership Skills- Going with my management skills, I have developed leadership skills essential for leading people

• V- valuable because in order to build something you need to have a leader at hand or there will be no understanding of what is happening
• R- rare because my leadership skills are better than other people
• I- imitable because other people can act as leaders too
• N- can be substituted with someone with even better leadership skills

6.) Networking skills- I am very good at connecting with people and getting along with them

• V- valuable because this will help me connect with various individuals that are essential to the completion of this project
• R- not rare because there are plenty of people who have much better networking skills than me
• I- easily imitable because you can try to fake it till you make it
• N- substitutable with a good LinkedIn profile

7.) Beneficial to everyone- this best part about this opportunity is that it solves problems for many people

• V- valuable because I will not go through as much difficulty with everyone realizing how it benefits them in some way
• R- not rare because many people do things to benefit others
• I- no
• N- non substitutable

8.) Fundraising Background- I have had to fundraise for different organizations and projects in this past so this will help me fundraise for a pedestrian bridge

• V- valuable because I know how to be persuasive enough so that people will want to help a cause
• R- rare because it can be very difficult to fundraise if you do not know the right people to target
• I- not imitable
• N- substitutable with a person that has a deep check book

9.) Smart Decision Making- I pride myself in being analytical enough to make smart decisions

• V- valuable because the leader of a project should be the one that makes the smartest decisions
• R- not very rare because there are also many people that also have this skill
• I- imitable if someone else can convince others that their decision is this smartest one to make
• N- substitutable with the addition of a construction company being in charge 

10.) Large Base of Customers- there are many students, faculty, and alumni who would love to see a change in traffic congestion along Museum Road

• V- valuable because many people would be for my idea
• R- not rare because this idea only really benefits the University of Florida and not any other college campus or road
• I- very difficult to copy a large base of customers
• N- non substitutable

My top resource is a combination of my fundraising background with my management skills. One of the biggest concerns that I have realized in regards to this opportunity is the cost, so I think that I could easily address this with my ability to raise money towards a purpose. In addition, I believe that with my management skills, I will be able to organize the process to build this pedestrian bridge, given that I will have to coordinate with someone that has building experience. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1.) https://youtu.be/T18JatuE2U4



2.) Based on the feedback from the last elevator pitch, I found it most important that I slightly adjusted my camera angle so that I looked professional in my presentation with the clothes that I was wearing. I was surprised to learn that people thought I used hand motions well because I still think that I can work on not being so stiff and loosening up. Lastly, I was most happy to learn that people enjoyed my use of statistics to help make my pitch more persuasive.

3.) For this new elevator pitch, I tried focusing on adjusting the camera angle because it makes me look more professional when you just see my jacket suit top. I also made sure to keep my presentation of statistics as a vital piece of the pitch because this is what gets the audience hooked on what I am saying. Lastly, I tried to make my presentation look more comfortable coming from me, but I think that there is still some room for improvement.

Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big


1.) One of the main themes that was communicated through this book, is the idea that creating goals comes with issues, so that if people use systems they will better succeed. It is argued in this book that the two basic problems with goals are that they are in the future and that they are too specific. Scott Adams, the author of this memoir, was traveling on an airplane when he ending up meeting a man who was the CEO for a company that was a believer in these idea. He helped illustrate to Adams about how much more beneficial it can be for people when they keep things simple instead of creating these goals that can ultimately lead people to so many small failures that they never succeed. On the other hand, when you have a system, you can easily adjust your schedule accordingly, so that time is no longer an issue, but it is rather focusing on wins whenever you deem necessary.

2.) In my opinion, this book connected most with all aspects of ENT 3003, but most importantly with the completion of the assignments for this class. For example, this book made me realize how the days where I complete my assigned blog posts are days that I can consider "wins" and every day that I do not complete an assignment should just be viewed as a rest day that will help me succeed in the future.

3.) Based on this book, if I had to design an exercise for class, the exercise would involve learning how to be comfortable to take risks. One of the other themes that is addressed in this book is the idea that people should strive to find jobs where they feel at ease with taking smalls risks within until they find their most ideal one. So, I would demonstrate the class to brainstorm about how they can take a safe proposition and stretch it out so that there is some risk and uncertainty involved. Doing this will allow students to realize how involving some risk can lead to rewards, while also developing students to realize wins are only important where they see them.

4.) One of the biggest things that most differed from my expectations of this book was the idea that things do not always have to be perfect in order for you to succeed. When people focus on systems rather than goals, then they will not worry about the potential failure, but instead see the full picture that is ideal. I was surprised to learn this because the most successful people that I know always seem to have such tight schedules that it seems must be followed or their day will be messed up and emotions will not be well. However, after this book I have realized that sometimes you just have to let things play out and try to focus on being successful in the biggest picture.

Growing Your Social Capital

1.) One person must be a domain expert in your industry

In this section, I chose my friend's dad, Chip, who is an Project Manager for Ajax, a building construction company in Tallahassee. Given his profession, I presented him with my opportunity of building a pedestrian bridge across Museum Road to see if it seemed feasible. He quickly notified me of how expensive a project like this would cost which startled me, but after taking more time to analyze he liked my idea. As he is just a project manager, he would not actually be the person responsible for physically constructing something like this, but would rather have the contacts to contract engineers to design this.


2.) One person must be an expert on your market

For this person, I decided to choose my friend Shane who is a 5th year Civil Engineering student here at the University of Florida. Shane has had to travel down Museum Road very many times during his tenure as a student here, so he is very familiar with the area as well as understanding what is good for the flow of traffic on campus. He also told me that he could see the project being very costly, but overall thought it was a great solution to clearing up the mayhem that occurs on this road.


3.) One person must be an important supplier to your industry

For this person, I decided to choose my friend Libby's dad who works for Columbia Forest Products. I am not sure that this pedestrian bridge would be constructed using wood, but I figured it would be good to bring up my idea given that I could get many other resources from him as a supplier. He quickly assured me that there would be lots of materials required to build this bridge, so it would be costly to construct.


Results: This experience has changed my perception on networking because it made me realize how different pieces need to all fit together. My networking experiences while trying to get somewhere were different than before because of how I had already done a lot more planning for this pedestrian bridge idea than for what I would do to get ready for something else.

Idea Napkin No.2

1.) You: I am a student at the University of Florida studying Business Management with a minor in leadership. I believe that I am talented at being a leader within a team as an encourager so that everyone is successful. I enjoy helping other people solve their problems, which is why I am motivated for my opportunity of building a pedestrian bridge on Museum Road. In the future, I want to work in some career where I truly feel like I am making a significant impact on peoples' lives.


2.) What are you offering to customers? I am going to construct a pedestrian bridge to go across Museum Road between the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building on campus. This will solve customers' unmet needs by fixing the problem of traffic congestion along this road, as well as ensuring the safety of students trying to cross the road to get to class. This idea is something that I am going to be able to present as beneficial for everyone.


3.) Who are you offering it to? This biggest similarity that will be between all of my customers is that they will all have some relationship with the University of Florida. Whether the customer is a student, a professor, a faculty worker, or a parent on campus visiting their child, all of my customers will benefit from the construction of my pedestrian bridge. This is an area where many people walk around because it is so close to the Student Union, so it is difficult to say that there is one specific demographic that will benefit the most. In addition to the pedestrians, people driving along this road such as bus drivers will benefit because they will not have to worry as much about keeping an eye out for people trying to cross the street.


4.) Why do they care? Customers will want to pay towards the construction of a pedestrian bridge because it will lower stress levels, increase safety for pedestrians, and sort out traffic. To begin with, the construction of this bridge will lower stress levels for drivers because they will no longer have to worry about the 3 crosswalks that are located in this small area. In addition, this bridge will ensure safety for pedestrians because they will no longer have to worry about drivers paying full attention to the road because the bridge will take them above the cars and busses on the road. Lastly, this bridge will sort out traffic because cars will not get backed up waiting for people to cross the road, so they will be able to efficiently drive through this area and get to the destination intended. Overall, it is clear that my idea would benefit everyone in this situation, so they should care about it no matter what type of customer they are.


5.) What are your core competencies? As a current student at the University of Florida, I experience the difficulties of Museum Road on a daily basis. This being said, I think that it sets me apart from someone with the same idea that is not directly related to this University. Experiencing the problem on a first hand basis just motivates me even more to want to develop a solution. Also, as I am a student focusing on business management, this gives me the abilities to be able to manage companies as it would be needed to complete this idea.


I think that all of these pieces fit together really well and that there are not any clear weaknesses. Before, I had brought up that my clear weakness was the fact that I have no experience in engineering, which would be required to build a pedestrian bridge, but after thinking I realized that I could use my business management skills to coordinate so that someone else builds it.

After reading my feedback, there were not really any suggestions about changing my content, but rather just mentioning a few more things. Most importantly, I added in this idea napkin about how my idea is something that would be beneficial for all people. Making this realization shows me that it should be pretty easy to make my idea a successful thing. I also made sure to use my credibility as a person who studies business management that I would be able to coordinate all of the people and tasks required for completion.

Creating a Customer Avatar

Here is a good representation of the prototypical customer that is in my segment as a college student and for the purposes of this assignment, he is a college student named Tim here at the University of Florida. As the prototypical customer for the pedestrian bridge that I want to build on Museum Road,  Tim enjoys going to classes at the University of Florida, which requires him to walk a lot. Sometimes stressed out with the curriculum, Tim decides to play games on his mobile phone or listen to music with his head phones as he walks from class to class. Doing this, Tim is often not paying too much attention to the cars driving by him on the road. He often relies on the good will of the drivers that they will pay attention to where he is walking when he decides to cross the street. 

Similar to my prototypical customer Tim, I am also a student here at the University of Florida. Additionally, I know that there have been plenty of times when I have been walking around on campus while I am distracted by using my mobile phone or talking with my friends. With this, I will often find myself crossing the streets around campus and relying heavily on the fact that drivers will see me and recognize to slow down and stop their vehicle while I cross. This similarity that I have with Tim is not a coincidence, but is rather a common attitude that is expressed by college students here at Florida. We are easily distracted, but when the time comes that our safety is potentially at risk, we rely that others will not commit any actions that will cause harm to us.  

Elevator Pitch No.2

1.)   https://youtu.be/d_MdrYnjLtE




2.) After reviewing the feedback from my first elevator pitch, I learned that I needed to be a little more relaxed in my presentation so that it looks like I am having fun and very interested in what I have to offer. I also realized that the presentation of statistics in my pitch could make the overall effectiveness much better as it makes people really start to think about how my opportunity could impact them. I found it important that people recognized how professionally I dressed and presented myself because this is essential for establishing my credibility.

3.) The difference between this elevator pitch and the last pitch is that I was able to utilize statistics this time to make the pitch more effective. After researching more about college students and their tendencies to get in accidents because of distracted driving, I decided to present these statistics so that viewers will be captivated to hear what I am saying. I also tried to act more relaxed in this elevator pitch, but I know that it could still use some more help.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Alternative Evaluation

Interview 1: I continued to interview students who go to the University of Florida regularly travel around campus. The first person I interviewed was Chris, who is a junior here at the University of Florida studying Computer Science. I talked with Chris about the choices he has to make when dealing with traffic on campus. He told me that he travels around on campus mostly with the use of his scooter, but that traffic still frustrates him when trying to get to class. When I specified about the traffic congestion resulting from the crosswalks between the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building he immediately lit up with the fact that he has actually been late to class because he had to travel through this backed up area. He told me that he would appreciate any type of solution that can be done to clear up this traffic, no matter if it was the construction of a pedestrian bridge or just another stop light.


Interview 2: The next person that I interviewed was James, who is also a student at the University of Florida, but is studying Mechanical Engineering. Given James's studies, I thought that it would be a good idea to question him about the difficulties of implementing a pedestrian bridge. James told me that depending on the materials for the bridge, this concept could be very costly. He also informed me about the construction process that would be involved because he believed that this portion of the road would have to be blocked off for quite some time which could cause even more traffic on campus. James believes that the most efficient and cheapest way to clear out traffic on Museum Road is to create one pedestrian stoplight where all people would be directed to cross through. He also told me that he is very surprised that no one has spoken up about the mayhem that happens on this road as a result of cars trying to travel, but so many people trying to cross the road does not allow the cars to get anywhere.


Interview 3: The last person that I interviewed was Mike, who is an architecture student here at the University of Florida. When I asked him about the circumstances regarding Museum Road and the constant traffic on it, he rolled his eyes and expressed how annoying it is when he tries to travel through this area. He told me that he has even tried to find alternative routes to get around on campus, but the issue is that some roads have restricted travel during the day. I then questioned Mike about potentially building some type of structure to safely allow students to cross Museum Road and he was very for it. He even jokingly told me that if I were to wait a couple fo years, then he could be the person to design such a structure. Lastly, I questioned Mike about the costs that would be associated with building the structure I had in mind and he told me that this is an area where concern could be raised, but that he believes that the University of Florida would be able to find some kind of economic support. Overall, Mike urged me that the sooner something happens to fix the traffic in this area the better because once he graduates from the University of Florida, this will not be something that he has to deal with.



In conclusion, I think it is important to realize that my opportunity is one that only concerns students or faculty at the University of Florida. Outside of the school, I think it would be very difficult to find a customer that is even credible to answer on the idea of building a pedestrian bridge. However, in regards to the people that I did interview, I would say that people are very interested in "purchasing" some kind of solution. Whether the solution is my idea or a mixture of ideas, I think that is it is safe to say that people would be satisfied with anything that gets rid of traffic.

Halfway Reflection

1.) Tenaciousness is a competency. Since this course requires students to complete a number of assignments, one of the behaviors that I have developed over time is project organization. What I mean by this is that this class has required me to be organized with my given tasks, so that I am able to manage completing the weekly assignments along with the rest of work to be completed in other classes. I have worked on arranging my schedule to make sure that I have a comfortable period of time during the week to complete my discussion posts and peer reviews. In addition to developing my project organization, I have also developed my efficiency as a student. After getting used to the format of the weekly blog assignments, I have become more efficient in the time that it takes me to read, research, brainstorm, and then actually write my blog posts. At times, it can seem overwhelming with the number of assignments that is required of this class, but with my better development of project organization along with my increase in efficiency of working, I am finding efforts to pay off.

2.) Tenaciousness is also about attitude.  Last weekend, I had friends coming into town for the football game and had not yet completed my blog posts. I found myself low on motivation to get my work done because I was excited to see my friends and wanted to show them a good time. I wanted to just give up and say that I would take the fall for not completing my assignments, but this was a time that I decided to pull through. I feel like I am a person that prides myself in getting all of my work done, so I had to dig deep for motivation and lock myself in my room so that I could focus and get my work done. I feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude during my time in this course because at first I was hesitant to complete my work after looking at prompts, but now I am in a groove that makes sure that I complete everything on time. 

3.) Three tips. The first tip that I would give to a student that was getting ready to take this class is to organize your schedule to guarantee that you have plenty of time to complete the assignments. The second tip that I would give a student is to do a lot of internet research for developing the opportunity that we have been discussing so much in order to ensure that they will have plenty to talk about and learn. A third and final tip that I would give is to try and knock out the peer reviews right after completing your blog posts so that you do not forget about getting easy points when the deadline comes. 

Reading Reflection No. 1

1.) For this assignment, I decided to read Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight, who was one of the founders of Nike. I really enjoyed this read because it gave me a much better insight of life of Phil Knight as well as his experiences as an entrepreneur. One of the most surprising things that I learned from this book was Phil Knight's business relations with Japan and Onitsuka. Prior to reading, I had no clue about the struggles that Knight endured through as he tried to get working relations established for his company Blue Ribbon Sports. It was surprising and upsetting to learn about the shady things that occurred such as trying to cut the other team out of the business contract, failing to establish exclusive dealer rights, and then trying to come after Phil Knight for his business practices. On the other hand, reading this gave me a great admiration for Phil Knight's character as a businessman and entrepreneur that struggled to stay afloat financially, yet seemed to find ways to hurdle over any obstacles thrown his way. I am not a big fan of Knight's business personality where he never expresses gratitude towards his employees, even amongst changing their roles and working locations. Lastly, it is very clear that Phil Knight encountered adversity and failure with his experiences with Japan. At first, Knight tried to deal with Onitsuka and having them manufacture and then ship the shoes across the world, but these shipments were often delayed and not the right orders. So, after Phil Knight spent years dealing with this struggle, he then decided to start Nike, which would create more adversity for him. As Nike was created, the Japanese businessmen saw this as a breach of contract and tried to sue Phil Knight, but in the long run Phil Knight ending up receiving money for damages.

2.) One of the competencies that Phil Knight exhibited most impressively as an entrepreneur was persistence. At times, there were many doubts about the financial endeavors that Phil Knight was experiencing, but he used persistence to not settle for failure. Phil Knight constantly tried to contact Onitsuka to develop better working relations and get orders figured out, but when that did not seem to do the job he even found himself traveling to Japan multiple times. He would get hit with constant obstacles, but this did not deter him from finding success. Additionally, Phil Knight also exhibited strong problem solving skills to keep his company afloat. He would often find himself having to ask the bank for loans and even made a last effort to ask the community to support him and always seemed to find a solution even when he did not know the answer to the problem.

3.) There was one part of this reading that was confusing to me and that had to do with Phil Knight's relationship with his kids, Matthew and Travis. He worked hard to make money for his family and continue his financial endeavors for the company, but on the other hand the kids did not seem to support him. It even mentioned that Matthew's character developed as one that countered the morals and ideals of Phil Knight. I don not understand why his kids were not supportive of him. It is evident that Phil was not around a lot to be a good father to his ids, but I am confused with why his kids did not try to get involved in their father's life more. Instead of trying to help their father out or even learn his business practices, they turned away from him and hated sports.

4.) The first question I would ask Phil Knight would be why did he rely on the support of the Japanese businessmen so much? At times, it seemed like Knight was relying too much on Onitsuka to come through on their side of the deal, whereas at some point, preferably earlier than he did, it seems that you need to find another company to conduct business with. A second question I would ask Phil Knight is what did people think about your use of a waffle machine to create your Nike shoes? This is something that was never heard of before, so I think it would be interesting to learn from Phil Knight about his experiences people talking about the creation process of his shoes.

5.) I think that Phil Knight definitely realized the constant hard work that was required for his company to be successful, but I do not think he minded doing it as much when sales started skyrocketing. He was bound by the idea of "Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." This is a now famous quote from Phil Knight that I believe really embodies the character that he displays as a businessman and entrepreneur. Whether it was hard work that helped him create Nike after the Blue Ribbons Sports company or hard work that helped Nike become one of the leading companies in the retail industry in the world, Phil Knight definitely displayed it. I admire this hard work and believe that while hard work can get you to the successes of Phil Knight, it definitely takes more if you want to get on the same level as him.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

My segment for this assignment will focus on students at the University of Florida who regularly drive on campus as their main mode of transportation.

1.) For the first interview, I asked my roommate Wesley Biddle many questions about his experiences traveling through the University of Florida Campus. He described to me how frustrating it is for him to drive on Museum Road because of the constant congestion that occurs. He is aware of the struggles that everyone else experiences too on this road because he has many friends that always have the same travel habits. To solve his problem, Wes said that when he knows he has to travel through this designated area he has to leave 5 minutes earlier to give time to get through this traffic congestion.

2.) For my second interview, I asked my friend Robert Schulte about his difficulties as a student trying to travel through this area. Robert primarily uses his scooter to get around campus, so he believes that it is easier to avoid the pedestrians walking across the crosswalk. However, he understands how frustrating this experience still is because he often has to wait behind cars and busses who are not able to easily get through the flow of pedestrians. He expressed interest in getting rid of one of the three crosswalks as a solution to clear up some of the congestion. He also mentioned that he has notified some of his student government associates about this issue, but has not gotten anywhere with the problem at hand.

3.) For my third interview, I asked one of the bus drivers for the 120. This bus route goes through Museum Road, so he is one of the people that experiences this difficulty of traveling the most. He mentioned that as a bus driver he is very aware of how important it is to keep an eye out for pedestrians on campus while driving. He also expressed frustration with how it takes a while to get the bus through the first crosswalk and then he has to wait in the middle for the next crosswalk to clear up. Although he is prepared to deal with constant traffic congestion as part of his job, he suggested that he would definitely enjoy some kind of solution for this area to make his life less stressful on a daily basis. When I suggested my idea he was actually impressed with the concept, but was worried about the significance of cost that would be associated with constructing this pedestrian bridge.


After conducting my interviews, I have learned that there is definitely an expressed concern with traveling on Museum Road and there seems like there has been no work to create a solution for it. It was interesting to learn the different emotions from the people I interviewed because of how this opportunity would benefit some people more than others.

Overall, I believe that this segmentation was effective. The need awareness seems to be growing from the time I started school here to present time. The information search seems to struggle a bit because this concept is not something that could be easily accomplished. People did not seem as able in this area because this is a municipal concern, so it would take more than just one person expressing troubles to actually accomplish getting rid of the problem.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1.) You: I am a student at the University of Florida studying Business Management with a minor in leadership. I believe that I am talented at being a leader within a team as an encourager so that everyone is successful. I enjoy helping other people solve their problems, which is why I am motivated for my opportunity of building a pedestrian bridge on Museum Road. In the future, I want to work in some career where I truly feel like I am making a significant impact on peoples' lives.


2.) What are you offering to customers? I am going to construct a pedestrian bridge to go across Museum Road between the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building on campus. This will solve customers' unmet needs by fixing the problem of traffic congestion along this road, as well as ensuring the safety of students trying to cross the road to get to class.


3.) Who are you offering it to? This biggest similarity that will be between all of my customers is that they will all have some relationship with the University of Florida. Whether the customer is a student, a professor, a faculty worker, or a parent on campus visiting their child, all of my customers will benefit from the construction of my pedestrian bridge. This is an area where many people walk around because it is so close to the Student Union, so it is difficult to say that there is one specific demographic that will benefit the most. In addition to the pedestrians, people driving along this road such as bus drivers will benefit because they will not have to worry as much about keeping an eye out for people trying to cross the street.


4.) Why do they care? Customers will want to pay towards the construction of a pedestrian bridge because it will lower stress levels, increase safety for pedestrians, and sort out traffic. To begin with, the construction of this bridge will lower stress levels for drivers because they will no longer have to worry about the 3 crosswalks that are located in this small area. In addition, this bridge will ensure safety for pedestrians because they will no longer have to worry about drivers paying full attention to the road because the bridge will take them above the cars and busses on the road. Lastly, this bridge will sort out traffic because cars will not get backed up waiting for people to cross the road, so they will be able to efficiently drive through this area and get to the destination intended.


5.) What are your core competencies? As a current student at the University of Florida, I experience the difficulties of Museum Road on a daily basis. This being said, I think that it sets me apart from someone with the same idea that is not directly related to this University. Experiencing the problem on a first hand basis just motivates me even more to want to develop a solution.

I believe that most of these elements fit together, but there is one thing that worries me. I am trying to offer this product to customers, but I do not have an engineering experience that would be needed to actually construct this pedestrian bridge, so that is clearly a weakness that is on the table. Other than that, I believe that with my credibility as a student at the University of Florida, I will be able to easily sell this product because I have heard many other students who have agreed with me that they would be all for a pedestrian bridge.

10 A Elevator Pitch No. 1

9A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

For the assignment, I tried to focus on people who do not travel around campus that much, which would mean they would not experience the traffic that is created between the New Physics Building and the Reitz Union. After interviewing a different array of consumers including some of my grandmas' neighbors here in Gainesville, I realized that outside of the people that go to the University of Florida, my opportunity is not a need for others.

Inside the Boundary

• University of Florida students, faculty, and staff who have classes around the area or work in the Reitz Union
• The need is a solution to clear out the congestion along Museum Road on campus between the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building
• This need exists because people want to travel easily and efficiently on campus without dealing with the traffic created from cars, trucks and busses having to wait for many pedestrians to cross the street

Outside the Boundary

• People who do not go to the University of Florida or never find themselves traveling through this part of campus
• They are not worried about traffic that is created on a road that they do not drive on
• Why should you worry about congestion stemming from lots of pedestrians crossing the road in an area that you do not go through? For example, I do not have to worry about pedestrians causing traffic in New York City because I have never been there before and if I worried about that I would worry about way too many things

8A Solving the Problem

Build that Bridge

After recognizing that there is indeed a problem with congestion of traffic in the area between the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building, I have decided that the best solution is to construct a pedestrian walkway bridge. Similar to the DNA Bridge located by Shands Hospital, students either walking or riding their bike could travel across Museum Road much more efficiently. The bridge could be built so that students would easily be able to get right to the Reitz Union from the south side of campus. There is another similar type of pedestrian walkway that is built from the dorms to Norman, but this one goes underneath the road. I think that instead of having to tear up the road and dig underneath the road, a bridge would suffice much better, as long as it is tall enough for all types of vehicles to travel underneath. Not only would a bridge ensure that students could cross the street without relying on the good will of vehicles traveling to stop for them, but it would also help the vehicles. People transporting in cars, trucks, buses, or scooters could benefit from this bridge because the majority of the traffic that is generated in this area is due to the fact that cars have to constantly wait for people to cross. I understand that constructing a pedestrian bridge could be costly, but I think that in the long run it would benefit everyone. Money could even be made back by allowing advertisements being posted on the bridge since this is such a common area to travel through.

7A Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The Opportunity

The flow of traffic on the University of Florida Campus is easily backed up, no matter what time of the day, in the area between the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building. This creation of traffic is primarily caused by the multitude of students trying to cross the street between these two places. To fix this problem, I think that there is an opportunity to build a pedestrian bridge over the road similar to that of the DNA Bridge, so that people can safely and efficiently cross the street without slowing down traffic.

The Who: Vehicles traveling between the area of the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building

The What: The area is commonly congested with vehicles and pedestrians making it difficult to get around on campus

The Why: Many students use the crosswalks in this area when going to class, which makes vehicles have to wait for them to walk across


Hypothesis

Testing the Who: Anyone who drives through this part of campus during the day experiences the difficulties of getting to their destination on time, dealing with cars stuck in the intersection of the walkways, and ensuring that no pedestrians are hit as they cross the street. Not only are drivers in need of a pedestrian bridge being built, but so are student pedestrians so that they can more quickly and safely travel to to their classes.

Testing the What: The need of a pedestrian bridge is quite specific only to this area on campus. All vehicles find it difficult to pass by when there are hundreds of people walking in random clumps to cross the street.

Testing the Why: The vehicles traveling through this area would find it easier to get to their destination because they would not have to wait in the traffic line that is created from people crossing the street. Pedestrians would not have to worry about being hit by a car or bus as they pass because they would be elevated above the vehicles.


Interviews

I asked a few important questions regarding a pedestrian bridge to the 5 people that I interviewed. For the first question I asked how often these people travel through the area of the Reitz Union and the New Physics Building to ensure that they are credible people to question. The next question I asked was if they have ever experienced difficulties with traffic as a driver or a pedestrian in this area. I then asked them if they thought that constructing a walkway bridge would be beneficial. Finally, I asked them if they had any other ideas for how the flow of traffic could be better maintained.

The first person I interviewed was my friend Nate Johnson who travels through this area everyday. He told me that he has many times suffered being late getting to somewhere when driving through this area, but never when he was walking across. He only was slightly worried that he might be hit by a car as he tries to cross. I then asked him about a pedestrian bridge and he thought that it would be a lot easier and cheaper to just have a stoplight at this location.

The second person I interviewed was Alex Dluzneski another student at the University of Florida. He told me that he does not travel through this area every day, but when he does he has experienced quite the congestion. He thought that the idea of a pedestrian bridge would be very beneficial, but was worried about the costs that would be associated with constructing said bridge.

The next person I interviewed was Jimmy Wheeler, who travels through this area multiple times a day. Jimmy said that when he drives through this area he often struggles with trying to avoid hitting pedestrians. To further back that, he was very supportive of the idea that a bridge could be built in this area and belives that they money would be well spent because of how many people are in this area of campus.

The fourth person I interviewed was Wes Biddle, who primarily drives his scooter through the area. He did not seem as concerned with the congestion because he often found it easy to maneuver his scooter through the path of pedestrians. However, he supported the idea of a bridge because he said that this could help the flow of traffic for buses and cars.

The last person I interviewed was Chris Nickas, who walks through this area almost everyday. Chris told me that he can tell how frustrated drivers get in this area as they try to pass by and thinks it's dangerous because it creates road rage sometimes. He agreed with me that the construction of a bridge would be impactful to helping the flow of traffic as well as ensuring the safety of our students trying to get to classes.


Summary

After testing my hypothesis, I have found mixed results. The people I interviewed were all aware of the congestion that is in this area, but some interesting points were made that I had not before considered. I now know that there could be a cheaper alternative to my opportunity with the creation of a stoplight in this area that could potentially solve the congestion problem. Altogether, I believe that everyone agrees that there needs to be something done in regards to the traffic in the area. We need to make sure that students feel safe when they are trying to cross the road on campus as well as make sure that people can travel in vehicles on campus and get to their destinations in a timely manner.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

1. LinkedIn is a popular social media website that is utilized to connect people with companies looking to hire. According to Freight Waves, the #1 source for navigating the freight markets, data from LinkedIn shows that there has been an economic trend in an increasing number of people being hired for the transportation industry. This means that there is an opportunity for people looking for work to be hired if they have the skills to fill a transportation or logistics sector job. I believe that this opportunity exists because LinkedIn in presents data in the article that states that hiring in the economy is now 2.9% higher than at this point nationally last year. This increase may seem small, but when looking at jobs nationally this shows that there actually is an opportunity out there for people to find work. This opportunity is relatively easy to exploit given that people are capable to hold these types of jobs. With the U.S. population growing, this means that more people are trying to travel across places, which correlates with the fact that people working for the transportation sector are in high demand to ensure that people's needs will be satisfied.
I see this opportunity existing because I have noticed first-hand the increasing demand of people traveling around the United States. With the number of people increasing as they want to get places, this opens the opportunity for people to find jobs in the transportation sector as they try to control traffic and make the process go as smoothly as possible for consumers of the roads. \


2. According to Eater, a media outlet website for various types of stories across the United States, American Farmers are in a crisis. It was reported that small farmers are struggling to maintain their lifestyle, and more famers are becoming suicidal due to the increasing pressure. This information leads me to the belief that there needs to be an opportunity to better protect our farmers, so that we can collectively sustain ourselves. The median farm income has declined over the past years, to it's lowest level since 2002. This opportunity to support our farmers is most likely to start with a focus in aid coming from the government, followed by making consumers aware of supporting their local farmers. This is a relatively difficult opportunity because if we could just go out there and make sure that farmers were not struggling to provide support for their families then the process would have already been completed. In other words, we must work in our communities to stop this trend of farmers experiencing crises and ensure that everyone sustains their lifestyle for the best.
I see this opportunity existing because of how I am a consumer and have noticed that people do not support their local farmer these days. Many times people buy commercially rather than at local markets, which means that they do not understand the impact that farmers are experiencing.


3. According to a new book titled Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards in American Cities, we have often overlooked the environmental destruction that businesses have been creating. This means that we need to have regulatory changes to ensure that businesses properly dispose of the waste that they create. There are plenty of databases out there about the Toxic Release Inventory, but loopholes have been created to let businesses squeeze by under the radar. For example, if a business releases less than a certain amount of pollution annually, then they are exempted from reporting any type of releases that they made. The customer that is most likely to pick up on this opportunity to make regulatory changes for the disposal of waste that businesses create are citizens that care about are environment. Many of the actions we do daily have some type of environmental destruction, but this is an idea that we can not just let business sweep things under the rug. This is a relatively difficult idea to exploit though because making these regulatory changes would require lots of politics and that means that lots of time and discussions would need to take place before any type of law was created.
I see this opportunity existing because I realize how businesses are growing in Gainesville, but there is no broadcasted information on what they do with their waste they create.


4. According to the Washington Post, injuries from scooter crashes are increasing across the country. Scooters are a very popular form of transportation here in Gainesville, but I think that there needs to be some regulatory changes with them. I believe that an opportunity presents itself for more training to be required when people first get their scooters so that they can better understand the dynamics of the vehicle. Things such as safety classes, driving tests, and helmet requirements should be installed so that we can ensure the well-being of our citizens. Students at the University of Florida are most likely to be the prototypical customer of this opportunity because of the popular mode of transportation that scooters are on campus. I think that this idea is relatively easy to exploit because many parents want to make sure that their children are safe when they ride their scooters, so support can be quickly found.
I see this opportunity because I am a student at the University of Florida, where scooter transportation is so popular, but so are the number of injuries that occur from it. I know many people that have experienced injuries from riding their scooter on campus, so I believe that regulatory changes need to be made to require people to take scooter training courses.

Identifying Local Opportunities

Why The Student Debt Crisis Hits Black Borrowers Harder

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F169F6335CD43E3A8

Taking out loans is a common action for students to do in order to pay for higher education. More specifically, it is statistically shown that black people borrow at a higher ate than any other group. Many parents do their best to support their children through college years, but often times finances can cause families to seek support in the method of college loans. When taking out a loan, there is an expectation that the money will be paid back in a certain matter of time. For African American families, this theme of taking out a loan is commonly seen with future financial hardships as they struggle with many societal obstacles to pay back the loan. Families are encouraged to contact their loan servicer in if in need of help even though this is somewhat ignored. As a result of missing payments, new payment plans are no longer available leaving many black students with a wholesome amount of debt.

There are many problems that are presented in this article. First, it is stated that black families experience less generational wealth so they began with different hardships than other students. Also, statistics show that that 1 in 7 black students are the first in their family to attend college, so families are not prepared to pay for the high costs of college. Another problem is that black students are more likely to attend graduate school which is more costly than undergrad. After this, it is calculated that black people make less money in their jobs after attending college, so it is harder to pay off the debts. 

Altogether, this is a tragic problem that many black families experience with family members attending college, but this is also a societal problem. With the societal obstacles that black people experience like being paid less in there jobs after college, it causes a debt crisis to hit hard. 

Flying the Furry Skies? How to Take Your Dog on a Plane

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Flying in itself is already challenging, but flying with your dog can become a crisis. However, if it is essential that your dog flies to the destination with you, then there a many steps that you can take to make the process go as smoothly as possible. Depending on if your dog is a service animal or an emotional support pet, then the process can differ. Owners need to be aware of the choices they have to make ahead of time like whether or not you want your dog to fly with you in the cabin or as part of the cargo hold.

One of the first problems that arises when flying with your dog deals with the size of the dog. If the dog is is under 20 pounds then it can usually fit in the under seat space or the top baggage storage, but not for bigger dogs. Another problem is the charges that come with flying with your dog, like most large airlines in the U.S. charge $125 for a one-way trip reservation. Pet owners must also pay for pre-flight veterinary visits to make sure their dog is safe and healthy which is just another cost that adds up to the whole process. Lastly, another problem that arises is that airlines have different specifications that must be abided by for transporting their dogs in containers, so owners must research the specific airline they are flying on.

This problem is one that concerns a small niche of people who decide to travel in the air with their dogs. As a dog owner, it can costly to pay for their lifestyle and regular veterinary check-ups, but it is even more costly to try and fly with your dog. 

Auto Bits: Worn tires versus new tires, the difference isn't always clear

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Tires are essential for car owners to utilize the abilities that they bought their car for. There are obvious ways that car owners can recognize that their vehicle might need new tires, but then there are also some bits that are not as clear. When you drive with tires that are worn out, they are more likely to slide in in-climate weather putting drivers at serious risk of injury if they crash. It is well known across dealers that once the tire tread reaches 2/32 inches depth then it is time to buy some new tires. With expensive gas prices and car insurance, tires are just another factor that car owners need to be financially prepared for so that they can ensure maximum safety when on the road. 

People understand that tires do not last forever and need to be replaced, but the problem is the information for how tires perform over time is not out there. Tires have different lifetimes depending on the actions of the driver, the roads driven on, and the vehicle being driven. People may resort to buying more expensive tires thinking that cost matches quality, but tire makers do not release worn tire data so the statistics and actual performance are hard to calculate. 

This problem of not having data about worn tires is a problem that directly impacts drivers who are looking to buy new tires. With so many selections to choose from for your vehicle, it can be difficult to choose the proper tire especially since you do not know if the performance of the tire will keep as you drive over time.

Why Free Life Insurance at Work Might Not Be Enough

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When people accept jobs, there are many perks that can come with it. One of these perks that many people enjoy is free life insurance. Once people gain their employer-covered life insurance, statistics show that 44% of the people never change their coverage. When companies give their employees life insurance as part of their benefits, the coverage is usually equal to the annual salary that is being made. There are two different types of life insurance- term, which covers people only for a certain amount of time, and permanent- which lasts your whole entire life. 

The problem with receiving this free life insurance with a job is that many employees do not understand how much coverage they actually have. Whether it is more or less than what people think, this can put people in uncomfortable financial decisions when something happens. Another problem is that coverage usually ends when people leave that job, which can be a serious issue if something happens between jobs. Lastly, if people have a family then the coverage usually is not enough to pay off a house or send the kids to college.

This problem is very important to those employees that have families or do not make that much money from their salary. Employees need to consider the actual benefit of having free life insurance from their work because most times it is just not enough.

Why Swiping Your Card at the Table Lags in the US

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When people go to restaurants in the United States they are usually required to give their card to the server so that they can go swipe it at the transaction station. But, in Europe the server usually comes up to the table with a handheld device so that people can actually do the transaction rather than letting go of their card. In the United States, we utilize EMV, which means that chipped cards only require a signature and not any type of pin. But, diners feel more comfortable when they are not separated from their cards as they are trying to pay for their meal and leave. 

The problem with this concept is that hand held devices to pay at the table are costly for restaurants. These devices are bluetooth enabled which allows servers to come to the table to complete transactions rather than taking the card to the machine in the restaurant. Another problem with this is that research shows that their is a higher turnover rate for diners to bring more customers in to dine when a handheld device is readily available. Many people have experienced that painful time of trying to get in contact with their waiter to pay and then it takes longer to complete the process and get their credit card back. Paying at the table seems more secure for consumers, but it is hard to change the habits of Americans.

This problem most directly impacts American consumers who are worried about being separated from their card while trying to pay at a restaurant. In Europe, people can pay at their table and experience secure transactions that take a lot less time to complete. 

Forming an Opportunity

1. I have a belief that with AGR moving onto fraternity row, trucks will soon consume the parking lot making it very difficult for other students to park along row. Parking on UF campus is already limited, so many students experience difficulties in this process. To solve this problem, I believe that parking spaces should be created behind the houses on fraternity row where the woods are.

2. With AGR moving in, students will now have the need to find parking spaces that they are able to fit in because trucks are rather large for the parking spaces created by the University of Florida. The need will come from other students that are trying to find parking in the fraternity row parking lot, but are unable to find spaces when they need it. This was not a need last year because Pi Kapp was still in the process of building their house and TEP had just been kicked off campus, so students could easily find spaces readily available. Now, students have to find other places to park their cars or adjust their schedule to a time to park their car when spaces are available.

3. After talking to Michael Harrigan, a student at the University of Florida that also parks his car in the fraternity row parking lot, he expressed his concerns about not being able to find parking this year either. He did not realize that parking would be so difficult to come by when first hearing the news of fraternities moving on to row, but now knows that he must be strategic in his time to park his car. He noticed that many of the trucks are oversized and therefore commonly cross over the parking space lines.

After talking to Wes Biddle, another student at the University of Florida, he also expressed his concern with parking on fraternity row. Wes drives a very large truck too, so it is even more difficult for him to find a parking space that is large enough to park his truck. He saw how empty the parking lot was last year, but did not drive his truck on campus at the the time, so he never got to experience the ease of parking. Wes believes that if parking was built behind the houses, then students would have better access to park their cars without having to vigorously search for an open space.

After talking to Joey Guay, a student at the University of Florida, he did not seem as concerned about parking on fraternity row. Joey's concerns are limited because he rarely ever drives his car, so never experiences the difficulty when parking during popular times. However, Joey does agree that if there was more space created for parking cars behind the fraternity houses then this would help the flow with things for students, but does not want to see the environmental destruction that would result from building more spaces.

4. After speaking with students about this opportunity, it is interesting to learn about students concerns with parking their cars on fraternity row. Fraternity row used to be a parking lot that could always be relied on to have plenty of open parking spaces, but now seems to be usually full. It was most surprising to learn that students will often look to park in the UF Law School spaces located right across the street even though their decal does not match the parking lot making the vulnerable to get annoying parking tickets.

5. To conclude, I think that while creating another parking lot behind the fraternity houses would be helpful, it would also be very expensive to clear out that land which would also have a negative impact on our environment. As an adapted opportunity, I believe that this need can be satisfied if people take more care when they park their cars so that they are in the lines and available to have other cars park next to them. I believe that my new opportunity is a better and more economic approach to satisfying these needs. I think that it's important for entrepreneurs to adapt their beliefs based on customer feedback because at they end of the day we are focusing on needs of customers being satisfied.

My Entrepreneurship Story

Before attending the University of Florida, I did not know much about business, and more specifically nothing about entrepreneurship. I would soon be introduced to a guy that is part of my fraternity by the name of Isaac Hetzroni. He is the same age as me, but started his own company when he was in high school following the footsteps of her entrepreneurial father. Isaac has been very successful in his entrepreneurial attempts as his company Imprint Genius was named one of the best student run companies at the University of Florida. Over time, I have learned about Isaac's motivations to create products that consumers are in need of. He deals with a wide array of products, but I know him best for designing and creating T-shirts for our fraternity.
I decided to enroll in ENT 3003 mainly because it helps me get credits for completing my business degree, but also because it seemed interesting and different from the mainstream classes that I have taken already. I hope to get a lot out of this class because I am not sure what my future holds as a businessman so it could be helpful to learn about entrepreneurial skills. I also hope to learn about other successful entrepreneurs and what specifically they did that made them so successful. Sometimes I get thoughts about products I could invent that would satisfy the needs of some people, but I have never found enough motivation to actually go through with my thoughts and turn it into products. This summer I studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland, and it gave me a new perspective on entrepreneurs because I saw how many ideas and concepts were taken from things I was used to seeing in the United States. By the end of this class, I hope to develop my entrepreneurial skills and potentially look more internationally with them!