Final Reflection

1. This course over the summer has flown by faster than I expected. Reading back to the first few posts that I did, I can really see a change in how I approach new ideas and how I formulate thoughts to fit into this entrepreneurial mindset that this class has been teaching me. This class definitely had its ups and downs. From the thought-provoking assignments of creating your own opportunity, to the dreadful interviews with tons of people, this class has definitely been an experience that has made me a better student and person.

2. The most formative experience was the actual process of identifying an opportunity and someones unmet need, and slowly develop that into my own business idea. One experience that I will for sure remember is practicing my elevator pitch to my family. A joyous experience was all the positive feedbacks I received from my peers at the end of the class where I presented by finalized business concept.

3. I definitely think I have developed more of that entrepreneur mindset. I have learned to think things outside the traditional way and to embrace failure. Overall I have developed a way of thinking that I did not have before taking this class.

4. Some recommendations for future students in this class is to be prepared. There have been times where unexpected events pop up that will hinder you from doing the assignments. Since this class is structured in a unique way where everything can be done beforehand, use that to your advantage. Also, to have fun and don't be afraid to be unconventional with your ideas. One thing I enjoyed the most about this class was that most of the assignments gave the students the freedom to take it to whichever direction they wanted. This class provides you with opportunities to receive feedback on your wildest ideas, so definitely free feel to think outside the box.

                                            

Venture Concept 2

Venture Concept for EZPark v.2

Opportunity 

• The group of people that has the need that my idea is seeking to meet are people that drive on college campuses are often run into the issue of having a hard time finding parking spaces. This can be students, professors, staff, faculties, etc. The nature of the need is based on the person's desire to spend time and allocate the time spent looking for open spots on something that they find more meaningful. 
• The forces in the environment that are creating this need are the increasing amount of population and the limited amount of land for parking spots to be created. 
• Geographically, the market will be defined within the boundaries of populated areas, specifically college campuses. Demographically, the market will cater towards typical college students age from 18-28.
• The customers are currently satisfying the need by doing short cups such as risking a ticket to park somewhere illegally, or paying a lot of money for a spot near by the school and walking. They are not loyal to their current situation and are very willing to look and adapt if new ways occur. 
• The opportunity is fairly big as the issue of parking will only continue to get worse if the status quo remains the same and nothing changes.
• The window of opportunity will be open as long as people are still struggling to find parking in the traditional way.

Innovation 

• My innovation that seeks to meet the customers need about parking is an application that allows the users to see near by vacant parking spots that are most recent. By utilizing locational services as well working with the school to log all the parking spots on campus, the app will have a system where users can mark a spot as either taken/vacant. The app will also utilize a time stamp as to how long ago the spot was marked vacant to provide users the most accurate and updated version of the parking spots. Users to encouraged through a reward system to mark the spots as they use to app as a way to self-maintain the system and keep it updated. I have surveyed the main group of people that I want to cater this app to, and overwhelmingly the people liked the idea but they said they wouldn't want to pay for the app. The way for my idea to make money is to have brands such as Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Nike, Chipotle; brands that are popular among college students to have their ads as well as their brand being part of the rewards to pay the business to advertise as the main source of income. Although it might be difficult for a start up business to gain the attention of big brands like those listed, that is where my social capital in having connections would help.

Venture 

• My innovation will address the opportunity I identified because people are tired of looking for spots by just driving around and wasting their time. It provides the users with a faster and easier way to find parking. Especially in a period of time where technology is so accessible for everyone, an application that seeks to solve one of the most common yet traditional issue in a modern way that also provides the users with rewards is the reason why customers will want this application/ 
• Customers will want to switch to this method because it will save them time and is overall a more conventional way to solve their problem. It won't be hard for them to switch at all because all they need to do is download the app. 
• The competitor could possibly be the city of Gainesville and their street parking decal. The weaknesses for those is that is costs quite a bit of money and street parking is sometimes far from campus. 
• Only customer experience play in my business concept because the application is reliant and the users to follow the mechanisms. 
• I would organize the business in a small but cohesive way. Few technician and programmer to ensure that the application is running efficiently at all times, as well as a few people catered towards getting sponsorships. When hiring, I would prefer those people to have access to cars and be able to drive just for the times where we need the application to be accurate. 

Reflection 

• I think my most important resources are the human/social capital, the large amount of customers that are ready and present for the idea to launch, as well as my personal connections that will make the process of branding and reaching out to other businesses so much easier.
• I want to tackle cities if the idea works well first at college campuses, and then keep moving on to larger populations.
• I want to continue to develop ideas despite if this current one succeeds or fails. This first venture provided me with great background and backbone to how businesses work and what mindset is needed to do well.

Feedback reflection/Changes 

• One major feedback I received from people was that my approach of hiring drivers to go around campus and help the application be as accurate as possible in terms of parking spots wasn't the most cost effective approach. I thought this opinion was extremely valid so I reflected that change it in the business structure part. I took out hiring drivers but instead would prefer to hire people in the positions that I need such as programmers to have the ability to drive. This way if I really need people to drive around campus, I wouldn't have to spend an extra paycheck just for people to drive.
• Another concern that was voiced was that although my idea of having sponsorships and ad was a good idea, it will be hard to get those brands to work with a new business. To fix that, I added the social capital that I had listed for the growing your capital assignment where one of my experts had direct connections with big corporate brands.

Reading Reflection 3

1. The book I chose for this assignment is How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. The book discusses many common concepts within businesses and life that he thinks is wrong. For example, Adams believe that instead of setting goals, like what most of us are taught to do, set up a system that creates the process of obtaining your goal. Another main component of Adam's book discusses the importance of self-maintenance. He argues that the top priority to focus on for yourself is yourself. As you maintain your health, family, and relationships, then you will do a far better job at your business and/or employment.

2. It connect with what ENT3003 has been teaching me by both preaching the concept of prioritizing elements whether it is in your life or your business, we tried to find out which resources is your 'secret sauce' in which Adam's book points towards the fact that is yourself that is most important.

3. If I were to create an assignment for the class that relates to this novel, I would have the students create a system for their goal. Have them first set a goal that want to accomplish, then create a detailed process that explains what they have to do on the daily basis as well as general tasks that they need to do and accomplish that will eventually help them achieve their goal.

4. A surprising element of the book to me was the part where Adams discuss how success creates passion, and you shouldn't really prioritize passion in your employment. This really caught me by surprise because I've heard so many times, from successful people to my own parents, that if you chase your passion, you will be successful. However, Adam's approach to these two concepts was dramatically different from what I was used to.

Your Exit Strategy

1. My ideal exit strategy for my business would be to hold on to it for a while and see how things are. There wouldn't be any reasons that I can see now where I sell the business in the foreseeable future. Unless the workload becomes unbearable or it interferes with my personal life and goals, I would like to keep the business and tell my children about it.

2. The reasons for my strategy is because my business is an application that doesn't require a a large amount of human capital, and it is very unlikely for the business to expand into something huge where I am incapable of being in charge of it. However, I am not against the idea of selling the business if it gains momentum and I feel like that part of my life is done.

3. I think my strategy of hoping to keep the business by my side has influenced my decisions about the opportunity in a way that I am not so concerned about the application making a huge profit, but more so just solving peoples needs. I'd be making decisions to maximize my businesses chances of making a lot of profit if I had the goal of selling it in the future.

Celebrating Failure

1. An example of failure that I experienced recently was my inability to find a job during the start of the summer. I had the goal of working during this summer to try and save up some money for the future. When summer started, I began to apply for typical job positions that a freshmen college student would fit for (retail, restaurant, etc) However, I wasn't able to get any of the jobs that I had applied for, mainly due to the fact that the employers told me that they aren't really looking for seasonal workers. I was fairly discouraged at all my failed attempts.

2. I learned the importance of not giving up after your failures. Soon after my first couple attempts fell short, I found a great opportunity in a summer camp working as a counselor. It taught me how crucial and important it is to keep trying and reaching for the goal even if failure happened.

3. I typically don't like to deal with failure, after all, who does. However, I have realized that failure is inevitable and it is far better to treat it as a lesson and room for improvement rather to shy away from it. This class also showed me that failures are common especially in businesses, and how you respond to it can mean the difference between total failure or succeeding.

What's Next

Existing Market 

I believe the next step for my venture concept is to improve on the mechanism behind the application. The whole concept of being user-driven has some flaws within it. Also to finalize on the programming part and have the technology created. Once that is done, it will be to reach out to brands to make agreements on advertising.
After interviewing people within the market, the general feedbacks I received were that the application should take into account scooters and scooter parking. The reason behind this they said is because on our campus, there are more people that own and ride a scooter than driving an actual car. Scooter parking is something I haven't thought of including within the app.
It makes the most sense to establish contacts with the school to register to parking spots on campus within the system, and to also have programmers program those spots within the algorithms. I believe the technology part is at the forefront of the business plan.

New Market 

A different target from what I am trying to target would be older generation of people that also have the problem of parking but don't necessarily have the same availability or usage of smart phones and apps. This is a completely different market because my venture concept relies heavily on the people using technology. This market presents a huge hurdle to get over.
An initial idea I had to cater to those people is to set up a phone line where they can call and receive the same updated version of parking map instead of having to utilize the app itself.
The result  of the interviews were in line of what I expected, most older people would rather just look around for parking spots instead of calling a number and asking for directions. They also presented a good problem for the venture itself of how will the company make profit off those callers. This is a huge problem that makes the new market far less attractive than the existing one.

Venture Concept

Venture Concept for EZPark

Opportunity 

• The group of people that has the need that my idea is seeking to meet are people that drive on college campuses are often run into the issue of having a hard time finding parking spaces. This can be students, professors, staff, faculties, etc. The nature of the need is based on the person's desire to spend time and allocate the time spent looking for open spots on something that they find more meaningful. 
• The forces in the environment that are creating this need are the increasing amount of population and the limited amount of land for parking spots to be created. 
• Geographically, the market will be defined within the boundaries of populated areas, specifically college campuses. Demographically, the market will cater towards typical college students age from 18-28.
• The customers are currently satisfying the need by doing short cups such as risking a ticket to park somewhere illegally, or paying a lot of money for a spot near by the school and walking. They are not loyal to their current situation and are very willing to look and adapt if new ways occur. 
• The opportunity is fairly big as the issue of parking will only continue to get worse if the status quo remains the same and nothing changes.
• The window of opportunity will be open as long as people are still struggling to find parking.

Innovation 

• My innovation that seeks to meet the customers need about parking is an application that allows the users to see near by vacant parking spots that are most recent. By utilizing locational services as well working with the school to log all the parking spots on campus, the app will have a system where users can mark a spot as either taken/vacant. The app will also utilize a time stamp as to how long ago the spot was marked vacant to provide users the most accurate and updated version of the parking spots. Users to encouraged through a reward system to mark the spots as they use to app as a way to self-maintain the system and keep it updated. I have surveyed the main group of people that I want to cater this app to, and overwhelmingly the people liked the idea but they said they wouldn't want to pay for the app. The way for my idea to make money is to have brands such as Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Nike, Chipotle; brands that are popular among college students to have their ads as well as their brand being part of the rewards to pay the business to advertise as the main source of income. 

Venture 

• My innovation will address the opportunity I identified because people are tired of looking for spots by just driving around and wasting their time. It provides the users with a faster and easier way to find parking. Especially in a period of time where technology is so accessible for everyone, an application that seeks to solve one of the most common yet traditional issue in a modern way that also provides the users with rewards is the reason why customers will want this application/ 
• Customers will want to switch to this method because it will save them time and is overall a more conventional way to solve their problem. It won't be hard for them to switch at all because all they need to do is download the app. 
• The competitor could possibly be the city of Gainesville and their street parking decal. The weaknesses for those is that is costs quite a bit of money and street parking is sometimes far from campus. 
• Only customer experience play in my business concept because the application is reliant and the users to follow the mechanisms. 
• I would organize the business in a small but cohesive way. I want to have a few drivers that will be hired to go around the campus and mark spots as open/taken just so the map stays updated even if users aren't marking them. As well as having people that seek to connect with brands in terms of advertising. 

Reflection 

• I think my most important resources are the human/social capital, the large amount of customers that are ready and present for the idea to launch, as well as my personal connections that will make the process of branding and reaching out to other businesses so much easier.
• I want to tackle cities if the idea works well first at college campuses, and then keep moving on to larger populations.
• I want to continue to develop ideas despite if this current one succeeds or fails. This first venture provided me with great background and backbone to how businesses work and what mindset is needed to do well.

Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. The best solution compare to the alternative.
V: Extremely valuable as people want an easier way to find parking and that's what the service is for.
R: Rare because there are currently no new ways to find parking besides just driving around.
I: Would be easy for others to create a similar application with the right resources.
N: Non-substitutable as of now.

2. A wide range of targeted audience to sample the idea.
V: Valuable because getting feedbacks about the idea is crucial to improve and adjusts.
R: Not rare because others can access this same group as well.
I: Won't be hard for others to do the same thing and gain feedbacks from a targeted group.
N: Cannot be substituted because other groups of people would not have this need.

3. The reward system incentive.
V: Very valuable because it encourages users to follow the mechanism that allows the application to work smoothly.
R: Not rare because other applications and businesses have utilized this.
I: Won't be hard for businesses to do the same thing as long as they have connections with brands that can offer them the deals.
N: Can be substituted with other rewards.

4. Knowing people with programming capabilities.
V: Extremely valuable as the application itself need to be programmed for it to become a business and I can save cost
R: Not rare because others can program as well.
I: Won't be hard to imitate because programming is common.
N: Can't substitute the programming otherwise the app won't exist.

5. Having brand connections to provide the rewards.
V: Valuable because this will path an easier route to gain sponsorships for the app.
R: Not rare because most businesses look to gain sponsorships.
I: Inimitable because anyone can look to businesses for sponsorships.
N: Can't substitute the connection.

6. Customers that are already willing to buy the service.
V: Valuable because the application is user driven, having customers at an early stage of the app is crucial.
R: Rare because sometimes it is very difficult for an application to launch at the start.
I: Won't be able to copy the customers as each of them are individual and unique.
N: Can't substitute customers.

7. More and more people are having access to smart phones.
V: Valuable because as more people have access to smartphones, the likelihood of them being exposed to the application goes up.
R: Not rare because technology is moving at a fast pace and everyone is being exposed to technology.
I: Easy to intimidate as everyone has equal access to people with smartphones.
N: Can't substitute as the people with smartphones is an essential part of the application.

8. Enough start up capital to create the business.
V: Valuable because there are costs that is crucial for a business to start up and having the financial ability to cover that is important.
R: Not rare because every business requires money.
I: Other businesses can have the same ability or even more capable financially to start.
N: Can't substitute what is financially necessary for a business.

9. Ability to put in the time necessary to work on the idea.
V: Valuable because as a college student I have more time to put into the idea as compare to if I was older with a job/family and other obligations.
R: Rare because sometimes ideas fade because not enough attention was given.
I: Other businesses can achieve the same result by putting in equal amount of time or more.
N: Can't substitute the time and effort that is needed to put into a project.

10. Ways to promote the application on campus.
V: Valuable because exposure is very important for a start up business to gain momentum.
R: Not rare because others have the same platform.
I: Can be imitated due to the variety of ways to promote on campus.
N: Cannot replace the promotion and advertising part of business.

I believe my top resources are my social capital ones, all the connections I have that can help me make the idea more efficient and cohesive. Those are extremely important than others because it is very difficult to get a business started with just one person, with more people the idea's capability to expand and become successful increase exponentially.

Reading Reflection 2

1. The book I chose to read for this assignment is Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson. The overall argument of the book is that the society is going to enter a "Makers Movement" in the future. Anderson claims that as technology advances, we are soon going to enter another industrial revolution. This time, the revolution revolves around individuals producing products in their own homes through digital softwares.

2. The content of the book connected with what ENT3003 is teaching me in the way that it shows the endless possibilities of thinking outside the box. By breaking free from the conventional way of thinking or conducting business, you are able to achieve far more than you can imagine. In the novel, Anderson talks about how a printer is often viewed as a one-dimensional tool. However, he views it also as a revolutionary act, a political statement, and so much more.

3. If I were to create an exercise around this book, I'd probably have the students possibly draft up a design of their own production business and what type of products they would manufacture and a brief explanation of their customers and industry.

4. A part of the book that surprised me was when Anderson described the new movement as similar to Second Industrial Revolution. I found this out of line with my expectations because I thought that so much has changed not only technology wise, but as a society in general. That for this futuristic movement to have many similarities to one that happened a century ago caught me by surprise.

Elevator Pitch 3

1. https://youtu.be/AcH9eEH8m2s
2. The feedback that I got from Mario in my group really stood out to me. He pointed out a potential flaw in my mechanism about how the opportunity will fall apart if the customer simply doesn't utilize the system. That is something I haven't thought about before and really provided me with insight on how to approach my idea in the future. The other feedbacks were mostly on voice fluctuation and facial expression which i will continue to improve.
3. I changed my pitch to follow Mario's feedback by talking more about the unmet needs that my idea will satisfy and what extra services the application will provide to the users, and less about the mechanisms itself. This way, the potential hole won't be as obvious to the investors.

Growing Your Social Capital

1. Christopher Relyea, a law teacher in Broward County for the last 15 years.
2. This person is under the domain expert because prior to his teacher career, he owned a large fashion apparel that targeted the same demographics as my business idea. While doing so, he has established networks with major clothing brands such as Nike, Addias, etc, as well as technological brand like Amazon. All of which are brands that my audience would be interested in getting rewards from.
3. I contacted this person through email. We remained in contact after graduating and I sent him an email explaining the assignment.
4. Mr. Relyea provided me with general business insights that everyone could benefit from, as he was once a business owner. He explained the importance of knowing your numbers in terms of everything that your idea is related to. He wishes to be kept in touch as my idea progresses.
5. Including him in my network is a huge benefit as he has many business connections for me to establish networks. He is overall one of the smartest person I've known and is great to ask advice from in anything.

1. Aaron Algave, a second-year finance major at University of Florida.
2. He fits under the market expert because he is extremely adapt in customer researching. The reason for this is because he had worked for Brooks Law Group, he was a legal blog writer for them that had to survey the audience of the topic he had to write about. He said he had learn the different methods and resources it required to effectively gather feedbacks.
3. Mr. Algave is a friend I met in college and I contacted him through text messages.
4. The exchanges were very informative as he told me that busy college campuses are among one of the easiest location to gather customer opinions. He also taught me the most approachable way to have the highest chance of successfully interviewing a stranger.
5. Having Mr. Algave in my network would give me great confidence in my ability to gather feedbacks about my idea. He is also someone that fits in my demographics.

1. Matthew Redler, a third-year business major that has a start up business, Ankor.
2. This person is the supplier due to the fact that his start up is selling services to a similar industry as me. people that are in college or post-graduates.
3. I met Mr. Redler at a career convention at my school, and we exchanged contact information and I emailed him about this assignment.
4. His responses were very helpful. He gave me a brief explanations on the basics of starting your own businesses, provided me with what he needed for his own start up and what he wished he had known. He also critiqued the opportunity behind my idea.
5. Having him in my network will provide me with a possible route to incorporate my idea in, especially if his start up gains momentum.

Overall, this assignment was a great step in making the idea a reality as it provided new feedbacks and possible networking opportunities. This experience was different from past ones because this time it was with an actual business idea rather than general networking.

Idea Napkin 2

1. I believe I am well-resourced in the field of getting feedbacks and possible improvements from my idea. Since my application targets mostly college students, I have plenty of ways to get opinions and objective criticisms for my idea to be improved. I want to business to play a rather large role in my life, specifically for the remaining time I am at college. I want myself as well as my peers to utilize this app to make the process of parking on campus easier.

2. The service I am providing is a more modern as well as easier way to find parking. The app will have registered most of the parking spots on campus, and by utilizing a user-driven mechanism,  where users log on and mark parking spots as taken or empty once they leave. When someone is trying to find a spot, the app will use locational services as well as time stamp to show the user the most recent vacant spot that someone has marked.

3. The targeted audience for my application are students, facilities, and staff that run into the constant problem of struggling to find parking spots on campus. Those demographics would also have an easy access to smart phones.

4. This idea is valuable for them for two reasons. One, it will provide them a more convenient route to find parking on campus, especially during rush hours. Second, by using the app and following the mechanism for a certain amount, they will receive promotional prices such as BOGO coupon and gift cards with the app's reward system.

5. I believe I have the ability of of motivating and relating to those around you. Through coaching high school debate for a few years, I have realized that in a tough journey like starting a business, it is essential to be able to work cohesively and efficiently with others, and lead that group when necessary.

I believe most of these elements fit well together for my business idea. The extensiveness of my resources with the targeted audience means very well for the public opinion side of the idea. A weak side of my idea would most likely be the developing phase. I'd need to find someone with a different set of skills that focuses on the technology side which I lack.

I did not receive much feedback from my previous idea napkin. However, from what I can gather from the comment I did receive the person made it clear that this application would be extremely useful during the rush hours on campuses. I have incorporated this feedback to the time-stamp element of my idea. The time-stamp will give the users the most accurate and recent update of open parking near you, which is crucial when there are an extra influx of drivers around that time.

Create a Customer Avatar

The prototypical customer for my segment is most likely a college student with the age range from 19-25. This is a typical college student, enjoys going out occasionally and just hanging out with friends.  Just like most students, sometimes the customer struggles with waking up for class. They often run late, and the problem is worse after a nights out. They drive their car across campus, and almost always have their smartphones in their hands.

I have a lot in common with the prototypical customer. I fit most of the demographics in the segment, I'm a college students who struggles with getting to class and always have my phone on me. I don't think it's a coincidence that I have so much in common as my customer. I believe the reason for this is because I am able to realize the needs of myself as well as my peers and that is reflected upon the audience that is targeted with my idea.

Elevator Pitch 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvZs3DI8-QI&feature=youtu.be


I was not able to complete the first elevator pitch assignment, so I did not have feedbacks to reflect upon. However, I did go through a few of my classmates videos and all their feedbacks prior to doing this assignment. A lot of the critiques I read were about having more vocal variation and make the pitch sound more alive. With that in mind, I tried to make my tone throughout the pitch more exciting and have vocal fluctuation. I also read that gesturing is a helpful tool when giving a presentation like a pitch, so I attempted to add hand movements at points that I want to have emphasis on.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

After interviewing a new set of people that fit under my segment, I have found out that they value price as well as convenience above all else. When it comes to the possibility of struggling to find a parking spot on campus, they are willing to forgo their original plan of driving their own vehicle and instead rely on private services as Uber or Lyft as long as the price isn't too high. This is all attributing to their plan of getting to their destination as soon as possible.

In the case where they did go with the plan of using a service and paying for the transaction and trip, it's all paid through credit/debit cards. After the transaction, most of the people I interviewed said their decision to use private transportation services are usually good decisions and rarely viewed back on as a poor choice. There are some instances where this person I interviewed said that after ordering the service, it showed that the driver was completing a trip prior to picking her up and that took way longer than the estimated time. It ended up taking more time with the combination of waiting for her driver and the actual trip than if she had took her own car or even take the bus route. As a result, she viewed that as a poor choice.

The interviews provided me more in-depth perspectives on what the though process is of people, specifically college students, in dealing with the difficulty of parking on campus. This assignment shed light on the fact that convenience and time-saving is the number one factor for them and they are willing to pay for services that get them their destination as soon as possible.

Halfway Reflection

1. One major behavior that I have developed to meet the requirements of this course is that I have been more observational and keen to the details around me. A lot of the assignments in this course so far have required me to really take some time and ask questions and observe about my surroundings and the people in it.

2. I felt like giving up when we were asked to do a third set of interviews about our opportunity idea. At that point I was quite bored with asking people if they have time for an interview and I was running out of people that I can interview. However, I pulled through because I thought about the possibility of my opportunity actually becoming reality, as well as the fact that the grading system in this class is entirely dependent on me so I shouldn't slack off. This experience has definitely helped me gain a sense of tenaciousness.

3. The three tips I would offer future students of this class are to keep an open mind on things you think you know, listen to the opinions and advices of others, and to work smart.

Reading Reflection

The book that I chose to read for this assignment is "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough.

1. The thing that surprised me the most about the entrepreneur brothers is that they had successful businesses prior to creating their famous flyer. It is curious to wonder what would happen if the Wright Brothers were just content with what they have done in terms of entrepreneurship and didn't pursue their passion.
    I admired the cohesiveness and how well the two brothers worked together. Having a brother myself, we always never agree on a topic much less work together on a project.
    I didn't really like the fact that they were so eager to give up on their businesses. When their printing business were being edged out by a larger newspaper, they just willingly gave up. I feel like when you're an entrepreneur, your business is something you take pride in and fight for.
    The two entrepreneurs did encounter adversity. When they had successfully invented their flyer, their invention and idea were disregarded by the U.S government as well as the general public. They responded to this failure by pushing forward and taking their creation to France where the invention as well as themselves were formally recognized.

2. The competencies that the two brothers exhibited was their ability to think outside the box, the willingness to be unorthodox. They were able to incorporate the flight pattern as well as the physical shape of the birds that they observed to their creation, and that was a major point in the creation of their flyer.  In a time where people believed traveling is only two dimensional, the Wright Brothers truly had to think outside the box to show the world that it can be more than that.

3. One part of the reading that I found confusing was the part of the book where the brothers first creating the flyers and had to pick a location to a a test fly. It said they were did research to find out which locations had the best conditions for their flyer. I was curious as to how such research existed at that period of time and how do they know what qualifies as "good" conditions for flying an object as no aircrafts have been present then.

4. "Do you think you would've been as successful if you did not have your brother by your side?"
     "What went through your mind when the government ignored the idea and creation that you guys worked so hard on?

5. I think the two entrepreneurs opinion on hard work is perseverance. They faced multiple obstacles with Wilbur's accident and being ignored by the government as well as the media. It is with their determination and how they truly believe they have an incredible invention on their hands and they continued to work towards recognition. I believe that persistence is crucial for any businesses to become successful.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Segment: People that are frequent drivers on campus, whether it is to class or to other locations such as grocery stores or restaurants.

Need-awareness: After interviewing three people that fit the segment, I learned that the need exists more frequently around noon, where the campus is the most busy. This makes sense as there are going to be more parking spots early in the morning or at night where not as many people are on campus. I also have found out that the need exists more in popular places on campus. One person told me from the interview that it is almost always harder to find parking going to the gym or the bookstore compare to classrooms.

Information search: The three people I interviewed didn't really have a direct source of information which they looked up how to solve their unmet need. The closest thing that came to an information search was one of the people asked his older sibling who also attends the school where parking are usually easier to find and less packed.

Summary/Conclusion: After the interviews, I was generally surprised to learn about the information search aspect of the need. I realized that although difficulty finding parking spots on campus is an annoyance for everyone, people usually just put up with it and keep looking around without thinking or searching for a viable solution to the need. That is why I think my service would work because it fits into the process and provide something that would save people time.

Idea Napkin

I believe that the elements that I put on my napkin fit together rather well. My targeted customer are mostly college students, and the vehicle for my business idea is through a phone app, which is extremely accessible and heavily utilized in that demographics. The incentive of using my business idea of having a reward is also very common within the college community. The aspects of my elements that are weak are my skills in terms of creating such app. I have little to no experience with code writing and creating an app, which can definitely be an obstacle for me to turn this opportunity into a reality.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

After conducting new interviews, I've discovered:

Who: The people that have most characteristics as people that have the need of finding parking spots faster on campus, such as owning a car and driving to class, but does not have the actually need itself are ones that usually have purchased a parking spot in a particular location on campus (fraternity/sorority houses).

What: The need is the goal of minimizing the amount of time spent searching for parking spots around campus. The need isn't just the ability to be able to park the vehicle and go to your destination, but to do it in a efficient and fast manner

Why: For someone who isn't in the parameter of my opportunity, the causes for this need are still similar to my boundaries. The lack of parking spaces and the abundance of people driving.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
People that drive on campus but have a hard time finding public parking spots.	People that drive on campus but have a designated parking spot.
The need to save time and find parking spots easily.	The need isn’t just the ability to park the car and get to the destination.
The limited amount of spots and the exceeding amount of people driving.	The cause isn’t because there are no parking spaces.

Solving the problem

The opportunity I want to pursue is the vigorous process of finding an open parking spot on college campus. The product that could potentially solve this issue is a phone application that registers each parking spots on campus, and users that download this app have the ability to see which spots are open. The mechanics behind this app is to have it be user-driven. Those who download the app would be able to mark down the spot that they are parked in as taken, and mark it back to vacant when they leave. The app would potentially reward the users for doing so as an incentive. Possibly a point system where if the user accumulate a certain point, they are able to redeem a free drink at a certain coffee shop, or a coupon at a popular restaurant. The app would be catered towards college students, as almost every one of them has access to a smart phone, and they also would enjoy the award system that provide free products/coupons.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1. I would like to further pursue my opportunity of creating a way, such as an app, that makes the process of finding parking spots on college campuses easier.

2. The who: College students that drive
    The what: The difficult and often time consuming process of finding an open spot to park in order to get on campus.
    The why: The limited amount of parking spots on campus and the abundance of students driving.

3. Testing the who: Other people who might have this need are staff/faculty members that also drive, or in general people that drive into an location with limited amount of parking spaces.
    Testing the what: The boundaries of the need can be extended to parking spots in other populated areas, such a big cities, the places near stadiums before an event, etc.
    Testing the why: The range of whys for people that have this need are limited, as it is mostly due to the fact that there are more students driving than parking spots available.

4. After interviewing, I have realized that the boundary of my opportunity is wider than I thought. A person I interviewed brought my attention to the fact that the problem of limited parking spaces not only exist on campus, but also in the grocery stores and markets by campus, such as Publix and Target. This showed me that the extent of my opportunity is not only limited to on campus. I also discovered a solution to the need that I haven't thought of previously, that there are students that utilizes private transportation companies, like Uber and Lyft, to get around campus. 

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1. White House looks to impose metal tariffs on E.U, Canada, and Mexico
    I found this opportunity in the business section of the New York Times.
    I believe an opportunity exists because once the tariffs is in place, it is going to be more expensive to import metal. As a result, consumers such as production companies will look for other alternatives to get their metal.
    A costumer for this opportunity will be domestic metal producers that won't be affected by the tariffs.
   This opportunity will be fairly easy to exploit as the consumers of metal will naturally look for cheaper options, and leading them towards domestic producers.
    I noticed this opportunity because I had experience researching about tariffs and the impacts of it when I did debate during my high school years. I retained the information I had learn and realized what raising the tariffs on metal will do. 

2. How marijuana businesses pay taxes
    I found this opportunity in the entrepreneur section of the New York Times.
    I believe an opportunity exists because the article articulates the struggles and obstacles weed dispensaries in states where it is legal are going through to pay federal taxes. The article uses an example where the owner of a weed dispensary has to carry bags of cash to a governmental building and that's how he pays his taxes. The opportunity would be an easier way for these stores to pay their federal taxes
    The costumer for this opportunity will be the weed dispensaries that currently struggle with paying taxes for their business.
    This opportunity will be tough to exploit as there are going to be changes and new laws put in place with the federal regulations that align with the new marijuana businesses.
     I noticed this opportunity because I am a firm believer in the benefits that legalizing marijuana businesses will bring to both the economy as well as the society. So I think by cooperating with those businesses and making it easier for them to follow the law will make the industry better.

3. Public pushing for more affordable tax-funded drugs
    I found this opportunity in the politics section of the New York Times.
    An opportunity exists because the article explained that new drugs and treatment are being approved by the FDA that targets cancer and other illnesses. However, the problem is that those drugs are currently priced extremely high. The opportunity would be for the government to lower the prices on those drugs which their research is being funded by the taxpayers.
    The costumers for this opportunity will be people that need those newly approved drugs.
    This opportunity will be hard to exploit as the major pharmaceuticals companies as well as out government is very profit-driven, so to advocate for lowering the prices of drugs that would cut the profits for companies will be tough.
    I noticed this opportunity because I've read the news about Martin Shkreli, the person who spiked the prices of a drug that cancer and AIDS patients uses. Ever since them I've noticed the problem of high prices of drugs that make them sometimes extremely inaccessible for patients.

4. Teachers as well as public pushing for higher wages for teachers.
    I found this opportunity in the politics section of the New York Times.
    This opportunity exists because as more tragedies happen on school campuses and more teachers are being remembered as heroes, a national movement started advocating that teachers are not being paid enough for the important job that they are doing of raising our youth.
   The costumers for this opportunity will be teachers across America.
   This opportunity won't be hard to achieve as the public opinion for raising teachers' wages has already reached around 70% according to the article, which will eventually be reflected in the voting booth as they are going to vote for officials that stand with teachers.
   I noticed this opportunity because my aunt is a teacher at a technical college and I believe that teachers are such an important job for the future of the nation, and their salaries should reflect that. 
   
 

Identifying Local Opportunities

1. Rising sea demands that South Florida do more to address the threat
    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-viewpoint-rising-seas-demand-south-florida-action-20180530-story.html
    This story describes the problem of continuous coastal development without thinking about the future implications of climate change and rising sea level. As projects continue to be approved to be constructed on the beach, it is not only damaging to the beach itself, but put the properties and the people living in it in the future in danger.
    The problem presented in the story is the possibility of the beach as well as the properties near it to be destroyed in the future due to rising sea level and the continuous projects that are messing with the land.
    The people that has this problem are the people that are currently living in coastal areas and the future residents.

2. Hurricane Irma powers sharp increase in lawsuits against insurers
    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-hurricane-irma-suits-on-rise-against-insurers-20180502-story.html
    This story talks about how the amount of lawsuits against large property insurers has gone up tremendously in the beginning of this year due to hurricane Irma.
    The problem about this is as the lawsuits continue to flow in, this will potentially force the insurers to up their prices for the upcoming year to offset the loss.
    The people that has this problem are the insurers fighting the lawsuits currently, as well as homeowners who are looking to purchase property insurance in the future.

3. The latest front in Miami's "living wage" battle runs through Starbucks
    http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/16C386B122150190?p=WORLDNEWS
    This story describe how a bill to expand living wages was veto. A labor union used a Starbucks in Miami as an example and how the workers can't pay the bills with the low wages. 
     The problem is that the Mayor of Miami vetoed a bill that would expand living wages. 
     The people impacted by the problem are people that are working and receiving the minimum living wages. 

4. From Disney to Big Sugar, Publix isn't the only big-name Florida business backing Adam Putnam. 
    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-disney-putnam-contributions-20180530-story.html
    The story talks about how Publix, an iconic Florida market, has supported the campaign of Adam Putnam. This has stirred up many outrages as Putnam has proclaimed himself as an "NRA sellout"
    The problem with this is that Publix now face many public relations strains due to the sensitive time following the Stoneman Douglas Shooting, and many are advocating for boycotting Publix. 
     The people who has this problem is the organization of Publix as well as the people that shops as Publix. 

5. Hollywood defends $23 million Margaritaville deal amid outcry
    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-sb-margaritaville-hollywood-city-says-20180530-story.html
    This story discussed the initiative that Hollywood officials approved of establishing Margaritaville to the city. The project costs around $23 million and it is projected to bring back $1.9 million in revenue.
    The problem in the story is how shady the process was. According to a commissioner, during the discussion of the deal, there was a lot of fluff and parts of the deal that was not mentioned. As well as the developer making money off the deal when they claimed they didn't. Also, the developer can be reimbursed for the grants when it was the resident's tax money, not money out of the developers pockets.  
     The people who has this problem are the residents of Hollywood as well as the public officials of Hollywood. 

Opportunity Belief

1. Being a driver on my college campus, the process of finding parking spots is always troublesome for me. That is where my opportunity stems from. I believe there is an opportunity for the process of finding parking spots on college campus easier. The opportunity I thought of is creating an app that register all the parking spots on campus. Students that parked in spot would go on the app and mark it as taken, and mark it as empty as they leave. This would speed up the process of students finding open spots.
2. -The unmet need is people being able to find a parking spot fast and easy and be able to move on with their day without wasting time.
    -The people who have this need are typically students who drive while in college and are in rush to get to a certain location.
    -This need stems from the limited amount of parking spots on school campus as well as the abundance of people that drives in college.
    -Some things that people are doing to meet this need now are to park outside of campus and walk to their destination, or simply to not drive and take the public transportation.
    -I am 75% sure that this problem exists.
3. The prototypical customer is someone who usually struggles with finding a parking spot on campus.
4. -Iteration #1: This individual does have this need. He started to realize this need exist when they started school and was driving to class. He have this need sometimes when he is driving to class during peak time. They have yet to find a feasible solution that works all the time to their need.
    -Iteration #2: This individual does not have this need. She walks to class or takes public transportation.
    -Iteration #3: This individual does have this need. She realized this need when she was considering about bring her car up to campus. The solution she found for this need was to lease a scooter instead, as there are more spaces for scooters than cars on campus.
5. After interviewing people about my opportunity, I realized that I had overestimated how popular this need was. There are a lot of ways that people do to satisfies the need, such as walking and taking the bus. I believe my original believe is still viable, but should take into consideration the other factors such as the different methods of avoiding this problem. I think it's important for entrepreneurs to adjust and amend their ideas and beliefs based on feedbacks. After all, they are catering their products and services to costumers and their opinions should be evaluated.

Entrepreneur Story

The experience of me being exposed to entrepreneurship would be my time being active at my high school's microfinance club. The club's purpose to was for students that are interested about economics to gather together and discuss and learn about the how businesses and banks operates with individuals with the help of our economics teacher, as well as to talk about current events. While none of the members were entrepreneurs, the club exposed me to entrepreneurship in the way that it gave me, along with some other members, the opportunity to attend a high school conference in Massachusetts where bankers and entrepreneurs are the guest speakers.
The speakers gave their insight on how they got started in their respective field, what are the responsibilities in their current job, and general advices for students that are interested in what they do. That conference gave me a better insight in the whole business field and was overall a pleasant time.

I enrolled in ENT3003 because I feel like this course would provide me with a lot of reflections and experience needed to have a mindset of someone looking to start or be in a business. I hope to learn the fundamentals of being an entrepreneur or at least what it takes to be one, and in general to have a good time during this course.


The picture attached is me and my high school classmates after the conference.

Bugs

Here are the lists of daily things that "bug" me:

1. When my shower takes long to heat up so I have to stand outside waiting.
    After doing some research, I found out that this problem exists because the flow rate of my shower head is slow. Therefore it takes longer for the cold water to flow out.
2. When my laptop computer overheats after using it for a while and it starts to slow down.
    This is most likely due to the fact that my laptop is an older module and I've done a poor job          with maintenance.
3. When I order something online and the package arrives later than the estimated delivery date that the company gave me.
    This could be caused by numerous reasons. It could be weather delays, traffic with transportation, or simply mistakes with the carrier.
4. When I am at the self-check out line at a store and the item doesn't scan correctly preventing me from moving on.
    This could be because of me scanning the bar code incorrectly, or errors with the technology.
5. When I call someone immediately after missing their call but they don't pick up.
    This is probably because of them leaving their phone after making the call, or they went on to call someone else.
6. Having to talk to an automated machine when calling a company.
    This happens because most companies probably don't have enough workers to be on phone duties 24/7, so the machines are set up to filter out callers.
7. When my headphones get tangled up after putting them in pockets.
    This happens because the physical attributes of headphones, skinny and lengthy, makes it susceptible to being tied up when in a small enclosed space.
8. When only one or two register is open when a store has over a dozen registers.
    This problem exists probably because the store does not have enough employees to work all the registers.
9. When the ketchup bottle squirts out water instead of ketchup.
    This is due to the fact that the ingredients of ketchup contains quite a lot of water, so the product itself is bound to contain water. Also, the way it is placed beforehand also has to do with whether or not water comes out.
10. How hard it is to get toothpaste out of the tube when it is almost finished.
      This is probably because as less and less content exists in the tube, the space that you can apply pressure to get the toothpaste out decreases.
11. When public bathrooms runs out of napkins so I can't dry my hands.
      The employees at the place probably have not gotten the chance to restock the napkins.
12. When I am on the highway and drivers on the far left lane are driving slow.
      Some people don't like to drive too fast because it can be dangerous.
13. When the zipper on my jacket gets stuck and how hard it is to fix it.
      This is probably because the way I placed the zipper to start was wrong.
14. Being put on hold when calling a company/place.
      The receptionist most likely have to direct me to the right person, and that takes a few minutes.
15. When my dishwasher flips over bowls so the dish water collects in it. Now the dish is still dirty.
      This is probably because the bowls weren't placed in a secure spot so the dishwashing cycle rotated it.
16. The faucet at my bathroom sink is too close to the edge that whenever I wash my hands the stomach part of my clothes gets wet.
     This is probably because the contractors that furnished the house picked a faucet that was too long for the sink.
17. How easy it is for the Amazon-Fire TV remote to get lost in my couch.
      This is because of how small and slick the remote design is, and also that the couch has a lot of open slots and cracks for the remote to fall through.
18. When I am driving and waiting to turn and a car that I am waiting on to pass end up turning but they did not have their turn signal on.
      Some people are just lazy drivers sometimes.
19. How slow the traffic light is at the crossroad between University Drive and my neighborhood.
      This is probably because University Drive is a main road so more time is dedicated for that traffic life.
20.  When I purchase something that require batteries only to realize that the batteries are not included.
     This happens because I usually fail to notice the labels that companies put on their product that the costumers need to purchase batteries on the side.



Reflection:
I was extremely surprised at how much trouble I would have thinking of 20 things that bothers me in my daily life. After reading the instructions for this assignment, I thought it would be an easy task as I get annoyed easily. However, after listing just a few obvious ones, I started to draw a blank. This is probably because I don't usually make much effort to remember the little "bugs" so I can try and fix it. I usually just notice it, be bothered by it, and move on. Also, I think thinking back retroactively and trying to remember small details is just a hard task in general. That is why I found it easier for this assignment to write the things down as I notice them.
     

Test Post

This is a test post for assignment 1D.