Practicing Opportunity Identification, Cont.

Economic

11. Tax Reform

·       I found this opportunity after hearing President Trump talk about the possibility of reforming the tax system. I think that there is an opportunity to improve here because we currently have a problem with our tax system. I believe that there is opportunity here because many people have problems with the current tax system and want it to be changed. Some people believe that we have a serious problem with taxes. They believe that the poor are getting too much money taken from them, and that’s why they are struggling. The customer that would think that tax reform would be good would be the poor and middle-class people. This is because these two groups of people are getting taxed very heavily and think that the government should ease back on them. I think that this opportunity will be difficult to exploit because there are a lot of people that would be affected by the changes. In addition, I do see a clear problem with tax reform because no matter how the tax system is, not everyone will be happy. If it is changed from the current system, you will see the government get mad because they won’t be collecting as much money. Also, the rich people will be mad too because they will have more money taken then anyone that pays taxes.

22. Minimum Wage Change

·       I found this opportunity from seeing online and on the news that many states and areas will attempt to raise their minimum wage. I think that there is an opportunity here because many people believe that they aren’t making enough money off the current minimum wage in some areas. It is clear that if people are making more money, they will hopefully be more stable and be able to contribute to the economy in a more positive way. The people that would appreciate this the most would be younger people that aren’t making a lot of money and can only work for minimum wage. Also, people that can’t get jobs other where because of criminal records or limited experience would appreciate a raise. I think that a raise would be difficult to exploit because with increased pay comes inflation. If everyone raised minimum wage, it would just lower the value of the dollar and make it more difficult to buy things.

Regulatory

11. Alachua County raising age to buy tobacco to 21

·       I found this opportunity when my friend sent me an article saying that Alachua County just recently passed a law that no person below the age of 21 can buy any tobacco products. I think that there is an opportunity here to prevent minors from becoming addicted to nicotine because there is currently a big problem with younger people becoming addicted to nicotine through things like e-cigarettes. I think that this opportunity is for younger people because it hopefully will prevent them from becoming hooked on nicotine products at a young age. Because of this law, it will make it more difficult for kids to be able to purchase products that can be harmful to them. Hopefully this law will be easy to exploit so the early addiction can be prevented, however I feel as though it may be easy because minors can still get alcohol easily although they may be far underage.

22. Cyber Security

·       I came up with this opportunity after seeing all the attacks that have recently been happening with large companies. This is a serious problem because as we grow as a country, we become more dependent on the fact that technology is growing and becoming way more important in our day to day lives. I think that this opportunity exists because people that may feel unsafe with their information online may feel safer if they are ensured the safety by companies. If more people can feel safe online, then they will be more willing to buy things or put their information in. The people that would benefit this are the customers and the companies. This is because the customers would be more willing to put information online if they knew it was secure. For companies, they would be able to ensure their customers information is secure. I do think that this would be difficult to exploit because there is always going to be someone that is going to be able to get into the system and potentially steal or tamper with the information online.

Identifying Local Opportunities

Shutdown is costing our economy billions. But the cost in lost faith in our democracy is incalculable.

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0123%21January%2B23&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17124FD477B8ADD0

This article is about the economy crashing a bit because of the government shutdown. The article gave specific details that showed that not only are we losing a lot of money, but people are getting frustrated with how our democracy is today. The problem that we are facing is that we are losing money because there is disagreement in our government. This also leading to people not trusting our democracy. The people that have the problem are government workers and everyday people. A lot of workers are currently not getting paid, and the everyday people are losing confidence in the government.

‘No information' on motive in Sebring bank shooting that killed 5 women, cops say.

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0124%21January%2B24&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17127C117B3C4A98

This article gives a rundown about what happened in the bank robbery that occurred in Sebring. The man that was robbing the bank ended up killing 5 people after robbing it, and then shortly after turned himself in after a little while. The problem that was presented in the story was that the people’s money and safety were at risk during the intrusion. The problem presented effected the people that were in the bank at the time, because they were in danger.

Coast Guard searching for cruise line crew member who went overboard.

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0124%21January%2B24&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1712732954905BC8

This article talks about the possible death of a cruise line worker who likely went overboard during a 5-day trip to the Bahamas. They ended up needing the coast guard to help them look for the overboard worker. The problem is that a worker went overboard, so they have to go and look for him, which spends a lot of resources. The problem applies to the people that have to look for him, because the responsibility is almost entirely on them to find the man lost at sea.

Mom spanked other parents' kids with a belt, wooden spoon at sleepover, Florida cops say.

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0123%21January%2B23&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/171227B173573FE0

This article is about how at a kid’s sleepover, the kids were beat with wooden spoons, belts, and even shoes. They were beaten bad and didn’t know what for. Apparently the one kid’s mom that was beating them had been drinking that night. The problem presented was because the mom was beating kids that weren’t hers and they were defenseless. The problem was presented to the kids because they were in danger and didn’t know what to do.

Florida really is among the worst states for highway safety.

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0123%21January%2B23&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17125038515E1350 

This article is about how unsafe the highways are in the state of Florida. This was found to be true after the ratings for the 50 states came out from the Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety. This is a problem because it makes people feel more unsafe while driving the highways in Florida and may even make the roads more unsafe for people. The problem is presented to people that use their highways because they are in more danger than any other state.

Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe that there is an opportunity for on campus food places to make more money. There is an unmet need for places to eat on the weekends because of shorter hours and limited openings. Students that live on campus and nearby that would like to stay on campus for some of their meals are the ones being affected by this. This idea comes from my own personal experience at University of Florida so far this year. Because of my meal plan that is through my fraternity, I only have meals served for me during the week days. Since I must get my own meals on the weekends, it makes sense for me to get them at places on campus so that I can walk to them. Currently, the lack of places to eat during certain times have been making students walk a far way or even forcing them to find a mode of transportation to get to a place off campus where they can get food. I am pretty sure that this idea can pass through, because although the companies may have to work tough hours, there is a good opportunity to make some more money and please the students. Hopefully they would be willing to change up their hours a bit to be more flexible with the students’ schedules here on campus.

1. First Year student in a Fraternity who lives on campus

• ·       Have you experienced issues with finding places to eat on campus on the weekends?

o   Yes I have. I do not have a scooter or car, so I rely on walking to places near my dorm for food. Many places are closed or have short hours which makes it hard for me to get a convenient meal.

• ·       When did you first experience this need, and does it occur every weekend?

o   I first experienced this need when I joined my fraternity because we do not have meals on the weekends. I have had to get my meals from random places around campus or of campus since.

• ·       How are you currently dealing with this problem and are you attempting to address it at all?

o   I am currently trying to get people in my fraternity to drive me or scoot me to places on campus or off. I have not really tried to address the situation with the school but I have just tried to make it work for myself.

• ·       Has your solution been working for you?

o   It’s been going alright, but I have been finding that I’ve been spending more money on off campus places to eat and also paying the fee for delivery.

2. First Year student not in a fraternity who lives on campus

• ·       Have you experienced issues with finding places to eat on campus on the weekends?

o   Yes. It is difficult having to find something else when Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays and is barely ever open on Saturdays.

• ·       When did you first experience this need, and does it occur every weekend?

o   I would not really consider it a need, but more of a want. Every weekend I do indeed look to treat myself instead of getting the dining hall food, and it is difficult to find something instead of it. But I always have the dining hall to eat as a backup.

• ·       How are you currently dealing with this problem and are you attempting to address it at all?

o   I usually just eat at the Dining hall if I can’t find any better places to go. I have not addressed it at all because it doesn’t bother me too much, but I could see how other people could get angry about it.

• ·       Has your solution been working for you?

o   Yes, it has. I can balance my meal plan and flex bucks very well and I haven’t had too many problems with it.

3. Employee at the on-campus Chick-Fil-A

• ·       Have you seen students experience issues with finding places to eat on campus on the weekends?

o   Not really. Our restaurant is not open very much on the weekend, but when it is, it’s packed.

• ·       Does it occur every weekend?

o   Yes, every weekend we work for a few hours or so, it is very busy, and we do make a lot of money.

• ·       How do you think they are currently dealing with this problem and are you attempting to address it at all?

o   I would assume that they are going to other on campus places to eat. I have brought up stuff to my co-workers and they agreed it could be a good idea, but for the moment we are just going to stay closed for most of the weekend.

• ·       Have your weekend closings been working for you?

o   I think they are nice for a little break on the weekends, but I feel like we could be making a whole lot more money.

Reflection: Through interviewing different people about the topic, I have come to realize that it was a good idea that people thought could be possible. The most surprising thing was that I was not alone. There were other people that had the same struggle I had in finding food on campus.

Summary: There is a good amount of original opportunity left because a lot of people probably agree with me that they need to change hours of some of the food places on campus. I believe that a new opportunity would be the same as my original, because it is more of a take it or leave it kind of thing. Entrepreneurs should adapt very often when they are doing something because if the people don’t like it, the product won’t succeed, and they need to be ready to change it up to improve it for the customer.

My Entrepreneurship Story

Although I am most certainly not an expert, I have had some experience with being an entrepreneur myself. In high school my good friend and I ran a fishing club and the two of us recruited members and raised money in order to keep the club going. I can kind of think of the club as my own company, and my friend and I were the co-owners. The product that we were known for was our shirt. With a big American flag composed of fishing

poles and bobbers on the back, everyone knew where the shirt was from. We ended up selling hundreds of shirts to students and family and before we knew it, we couldn’t walk to our next class without seeing our white long sleeve shirts on people we didn’t even know. Although this seems like a weird thing to tie into entrepreneurship, the comparisons were clear. We came up with a revolutionary idea to sell our brand. We wanted people to know about our club, and in doing so we chose to develop a product that people would be able to know us by. It took a lot of work to create shirts that people would want to wear, and that would be able to get our name out there.

This process taught me a lot of what an entrepreneur has to do on a day to day because there are so many things that go into the process that are not recognized. I wanted to take this class to learn more about the process of being an entrepreneur because I found the whole process very rewarding and would consider doing it for a living if I found I had a lot of interest in it. I hope to gain some knowledge about the process, and what kind of people end up being entrepreneurs.

Bug List

A list of 20 things that bug me:
1. Why do people think I should be impressed by their tricked out fast car?
-Because they spent a lot of money and time on it to look cool so that it will impress people.
2. Why is my internet so slow?
-Because internet speed is not universal across all locations.
3. Why does that little kid have no manners?
-Because their parents are not strict enough on them, and don't correct their behavior.
4. Why did that small car take up two parking spots?
-Because the driver is lazy and doesn't want to re park.
5. Why do people cough without covering their mouth?
-Because they don't care about the health of others around them.
6. Why are these employees incompetent?
-Because they are young and not educated enough or older and can't work anywhere else.
7. Why do people only leave a little bit of milk in the jug?
-Because if they had used the last drops it would have overflown the cup.
8. Why are some people hypocritical?
-Because they are ignorant.
9. Why do some people post so much on Facebook?
-Because they want everyone to know what they are doing at all times.
10. Why is the word "ironic" used incorrectly so often?
-Because people don't know the actual definition. 
11. Why do some people not care about their spelling?
-Because they are lazy and want to rush through it.
12. Why is "New Year New Me" not an all year thing for the people that say it?
-Because they get tired of the grind and go back to their original ways.
13. Why do some people not have good hygiene?
-Because they don't think they smell bad when they actually do.
14. Why do some girls use excessive makeup?
-Because they think that it makes them better looking when in reality it looks fake.
15. Why are some phrases overused by people?
-Because they think that the phrases are funny when in reality they get annoying.
16. Why do people bully each other?
-Because they want to make themselves feel better about themselves.
17. Why do people get offended so easily these days?
-Because we are not taught to be able to just take it.
18. Why do some people let their rooms get so messy?
-Because they are too lazy to do clean it themselves.
19. Why are some ceilings not tall enough for me to walk under?
-Because they are meant for people that are shorter than I am.
20. Why do some people talk over the professor?
-Because they don't want to learn about what the professor is saying and they don't care about other people learning the material.

When writing my 20 bugs, I had some difficulty coming up with all 20 bugs. It was a little difficult because I don't get too mad at things, so I don't have a lot of pet peeves. I think that pet peeves are easier to see when they are happening in front of you, and they are just harder to think of randomly when doing an assignment like this one. Once I figured out a solid list of pet peeves, I found it relatively easy to answer all of them. I think that it was interesting thinking of the pet peeves and how much they make me angry when they happen. Once I thought of them it was clear that they bothered me a lot.

1st Blog Post: Test

This is a test post to make sure my blog is working.