Identifying Local Opportunites
1. Lane Ranger: Why are four lanes slower than two?
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200126/lane-ranger-why-are-four-lanes-slower-than-two
On State Road 20, the newly renovated 4 lane section of the road has the speed limit abruptly lowered to 45 from the 55 mph allowed on the 2 lane section of the road. This has lead to many people being pulled over and people questioned why this was changed.
The problem presented in the story is an abrupt change in speed limit leads to way more people getting pulled over than on a road where the speed limit is consistent.
Anyone driving on State Road 20 who does not notice the change of speed limit could be potentially impacted. This could happen to anyone driving on any road where the speed limit has been recently changed for only a small section of the road.
2. West End fades away
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200125/west-end-fades-away
The West End golf course which opened in 1969 recently closed its doors in December after not being able to maintain a significant demand and amount of play on the course. The course had been on sale but had to permanently close after lack of funds rendered the course unplayable.
The problem presented in this article is that the local owners of a golf course were unable to keep the course open due to lack of upkeep resulting in less play year after year.
The specific problem in this story is faced by the owners of West End and any golfers who frequented that course.
3. Virtual reality training helps humans spot mental health woes
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200123/virtual-reality-training-helps-humans-spot-mental-health-woes
A program called Kognito has recently been adopted by many schools in Florida which uses virtual reality to help kids learn to spot signs of mental health distress in their peers. UF's counseling and wellness center offers a free version of Kognito to students.
The problem presented in this article is that many students and teachers do not know how to accurately detect the presence of mental health distress in fellow students so they can not get them professional help.
This affects all students and teachers as well as anyone with a mental health illness.
4. In the Know: Aldi, Publix deals with Lucky's include a Naples store. What else does it mean for Collier and Lee?
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/columnists/in-the-know/2020/01/27/in-the-know-aldi-cuts-deal-with-luckys-for-some-storefronts-will-it-add-more-locations-collier-lee/4592077002/
With Lucky's market set to close all stores as it files for bankruptcy, Publix and Aldi have made deals to buy several of their locations. They have not fully announced which locations are going to which stores or how their creditors will be paid, however.
The problem presented in this article is that as Lucky's files for chapter 11 bankruptcy, they are looking to sell some of their real estate which could pose interesting opportunities for other companies.
This problem affects the Lucky's creditors who are in line to be paid off as the company liquidates their assets as well as other companies who may be interested in purchasing their real estate.
5. Naples developer order to clean up home sites in Royal Harbor, or pay fines
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/money/companies/2020/01/24/naples-developer-harry-zea-faces-code-enforcement-actions-royal-harbor/4553892002/
A local Naples developer was found to have projects that violated multiple city codes on unsightly and unsafe conditions. He will have 10 days to fix the violations or face fines on each property at a daily rate of 250 dollars.
The problem presented in this article that sometimes real estate developers do not comply with certain ordinances that can present problems for both their workers and people living in the vicinity of their projects.
This problem affects real estate developers, construction workers as well as the general public.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Forming an Opportunity Belief
1. I have a suspicion that an opportunity to make money exists with a service that identifies open parking spaces both on UF campus/surrounding area.
2. The unmet need is people needing to spend a lot of time driving around to look for a place to park their car. The need is had by anyone with a car in Gainesville that either a) doesn't have a reserved parking space or b) wants to park their car on campus or in a different part of Gainesville. This need has arisen from the lack of parking in Gainesville, coupled with the absurd prices for private parking spaces. Currently, to meet this need, people are just spending additional time driving around looking for a place to park.
3 a b & c. For the purposes of this assignment, I will assume the prototypical customer is a UF student. For the interview, I talked to 3 of them: Matthew Fagliarone, Dylan Parker, and Janelle Barghout.
4a. Interview 1 Matthew Fagliarone
Matthew said he faces this problem almost every day. He does not have a reserved parking space and simply uses a city decal so whenever he moves his car he never knows how long it's gonna take him to find another parking space. Matthew has had this need since he first brought his car to Gainesville almost 2 years ago. He currently addresses the problem by trying to move his car more sparingly and consolidate things that he has to do with it, however, that isn't always a feasible solution. Due to these factors, he says that he is not satisfied with this solution.
4b. Interview 2 Dylan Parker
Dylan said that he honestly would not rank this as a top problem in his life. While he has a car and uses city parking, he told me that he does not move his car frequently enough to consider this a major problem for him. He told me he typically has plenty of time to find a place to park and has never had to spend a significant amount of time doing so anyways. He told me that a larger problem is not finding a place to park, but rather how far away he will have to park from his apartment as it is a pain to have to walk back especially if it is after doing something like getting groceries for example. However, Dylan did agree with me that in general, there is not enough parking in the city of Gainesville and that many other people probably face similar needs.
4c. Interview 3 Janelle Barghout
Janelle commutes to school so while she obviously does not face the problem of having to find parking at her house, it is more difficult for her to obtain parking close enough to her job or classes in order for not to have to walk a long distance or face getting a ticket or getting towed. While she could look for parking on the street, that can potentially take significant time lengthening her commute. Currently, in order to meet this need, Janelle simply spends additional time looking for parking or parks much further away and either walks or takes the bus to work or class. She has had this need for her entire time she's been going to UF and says that she is not satisfied with her current solution at all.
5. After performing these 3 interviews, I have gotten slightly different perspectives on the problem, but overall I feel that they all further cemented my initial hypothesis albeit in different ways. I learned that the location of the parking is just as important as the existence of parking in general. The most surprising thing I learned was that Dylan claimed to have never spent more than 5 minutes looking for parking as I know people that have definitely spent more.
7. I still believe my original opportunity is definitely still there and in fact, it may be able to be increased by adding other services. I feel that I have a much better sense of people's true thoughts and responses to this problem so my view of the opportunity is definitely more accurate. I do think that in order to be a successful entrepreneur you have to listen to the customers, however, there may be cases where you have a better sense of what the customer needs than the customer themselves so I suppose you have to consider the scenario and make a trade-off.
1. I have a suspicion that an opportunity to make money exists with a service that identifies open parking spaces both on UF campus/surrounding area.
2. The unmet need is people needing to spend a lot of time driving around to look for a place to park their car. The need is had by anyone with a car in Gainesville that either a) doesn't have a reserved parking space or b) wants to park their car on campus or in a different part of Gainesville. This need has arisen from the lack of parking in Gainesville, coupled with the absurd prices for private parking spaces. Currently, to meet this need, people are just spending additional time driving around looking for a place to park.
3 a b & c. For the purposes of this assignment, I will assume the prototypical customer is a UF student. For the interview, I talked to 3 of them: Matthew Fagliarone, Dylan Parker, and Janelle Barghout.
4a. Interview 1 Matthew Fagliarone
Matthew said he faces this problem almost every day. He does not have a reserved parking space and simply uses a city decal so whenever he moves his car he never knows how long it's gonna take him to find another parking space. Matthew has had this need since he first brought his car to Gainesville almost 2 years ago. He currently addresses the problem by trying to move his car more sparingly and consolidate things that he has to do with it, however, that isn't always a feasible solution. Due to these factors, he says that he is not satisfied with this solution.
4b. Interview 2 Dylan Parker
Dylan said that he honestly would not rank this as a top problem in his life. While he has a car and uses city parking, he told me that he does not move his car frequently enough to consider this a major problem for him. He told me he typically has plenty of time to find a place to park and has never had to spend a significant amount of time doing so anyways. He told me that a larger problem is not finding a place to park, but rather how far away he will have to park from his apartment as it is a pain to have to walk back especially if it is after doing something like getting groceries for example. However, Dylan did agree with me that in general, there is not enough parking in the city of Gainesville and that many other people probably face similar needs.
4c. Interview 3 Janelle Barghout
Janelle commutes to school so while she obviously does not face the problem of having to find parking at her house, it is more difficult for her to obtain parking close enough to her job or classes in order for not to have to walk a long distance or face getting a ticket or getting towed. While she could look for parking on the street, that can potentially take significant time lengthening her commute. Currently, in order to meet this need, Janelle simply spends additional time looking for parking or parks much further away and either walks or takes the bus to work or class. She has had this need for her entire time she's been going to UF and says that she is not satisfied with her current solution at all.
5. After performing these 3 interviews, I have gotten slightly different perspectives on the problem, but overall I feel that they all further cemented my initial hypothesis albeit in different ways. I learned that the location of the parking is just as important as the existence of parking in general. The most surprising thing I learned was that Dylan claimed to have never spent more than 5 minutes looking for parking as I know people that have definitely spent more.
7. I still believe my original opportunity is definitely still there and in fact, it may be able to be increased by adding other services. I feel that I have a much better sense of people's true thoughts and responses to this problem so my view of the opportunity is definitely more accurate. I do think that in order to be a successful entrepreneur you have to listen to the customers, however, there may be cases where you have a better sense of what the customer needs than the customer themselves so I suppose you have to consider the scenario and make a trade-off.
My Entrepreneurship Story
While I have obviously been exposed to many forms of entrepreneurship throughout my life, whether it be by observing new businesses opening and closing around me, or by choosing whether or not to use a new product, one particular experience I had really opened my eyes to the power of being an entrepreneur. One of our close family friends and neighbors was a very multi-talented person, and what you might call an inventor. In the past, he had tried to create and market a couple different products to little success. However, one product he created actually grew to have a decent demand and made him a good chunk of change. He created a towel for people who are working out, that you wear around your wrist like a wrist band called the flip towel. He also was behind a lot of the marketing efforts and sales. Seeing him accomplish this, made me reconsider the power of being an entrepreneur.
I enrolled in ENT3003 because I want to know some of the more technical steps to being a successful entrepreneur. While I understand there can be a lot of luck/art to having a successful idea, I hope this class can provide some of the more concrete pieces of knowledge necessary to get started on the right foot.
While I have obviously been exposed to many forms of entrepreneurship throughout my life, whether it be by observing new businesses opening and closing around me, or by choosing whether or not to use a new product, one particular experience I had really opened my eyes to the power of being an entrepreneur. One of our close family friends and neighbors was a very multi-talented person, and what you might call an inventor. In the past, he had tried to create and market a couple different products to little success. However, one product he created actually grew to have a decent demand and made him a good chunk of change. He created a towel for people who are working out, that you wear around your wrist like a wrist band called the flip towel. He also was behind a lot of the marketing efforts and sales. Seeing him accomplish this, made me reconsider the power of being an entrepreneur.
I enrolled in ENT3003 because I want to know some of the more technical steps to being a successful entrepreneur. While I understand there can be a lot of luck/art to having a successful idea, I hope this class can provide some of the more concrete pieces of knowledge necessary to get started on the right foot.
Friday, January 24, 2020
Bug List
1) During rush hour traffic backs up on SW 8th Ave. with people trying to either cross to museum or turn right onto 13th.
One of the main reasons this problem exists is due to the lack of a right turn lane in addition to the inclusion of the "no right on red" signs.
2) Some ethernet to USB adapters are only designed to work on specific devices. I.e. despite having the same functional ports, one might not work on a specific device.
I do not understand the full technology but I assume this is due to either brands wanting to sell more adapters or a true fundamental difference in technology.
3. Gainesville has a problem with not enough parking spots both at the UF campus, and within the city.
This exists due to the rapid growth of the city due to UF's rising presence as a top university while infrastructure and available land lag behind.
4. If I order a package and it is not delivered by USPS, the company does not have access to the PO boxes at my apartment building and is forced to leave it at my door with the risk of it being stolen.
This exists due to some apartment complexes not investing in appropriate mail delivery facilities for valuable products.
5. At many casinos nowadays, blackjack tables (especially lower limit ones) are switching from using regular shoes to CSM's (card shuffling machines) eroding the player's edge.
This exists due to casinos wanting to raise the house edge.
6. When I go to Outback with a large party and the waiter only brings you one loaf of bread to start.
This exists because restaurants want to take any chance to save money.
7. Nintendo Wii shut down their online services so if you want to play online games you have to install mods.
This exists due to Nintendo not wanting to support the online infrastructure for an older generation console.
8. If I want to use Bluetooth headphones on multiple devices, I have to go through a lengthy process of disconnecting Bluetooth on the first device and then connecting to the second device and vice versa to switch around.
This exists due to the headphones being programmed to automatically connect to whichever system they were previously connected to.
9. My phone battery is always draining quickly even when it feels like I haven't used it that much.
The battery health is likely depleted from overuse.
10. When I forget to turn my a/c back up after turning it down at night and my electric bill goes up.
This problem exists due to my forgetfulness as well as not being able to program the a/c for different times.
11. Going to the gym when it's packed and having to wait forever to use any equipment.
This exists because there are more UF students than the facilities can support.
12. Lack of consistency with original programming on many online streaming services today.
This exists because streaming services are stepping into the role of production companies and have to churn out many more shows and movies than the did in prior years.
13. When my devices disconnect from UF wifi on campus and I have to take the time to reconnect them.
I'm not sure if this is the fault of the school or my devices but I think even more so now with the addition of eduroam that this is becoming a bigger issue.
14. When I am at a restaurant and the person in front of me is taking forever to make up their mind on what to order.
This exists due to it possibly being a person's first time (less likely for large chains) or just not thinking about it before.
15. It bugs me that fewer and fewer businesses are dealing with cash and it is becoming more common for a business to not be able to make change for a larger bill.
This exists due to many consumers simply using a credit or debit card for everything.
16. Sometimes it is difficult to order food online due to the online interfaces not having all the options or availabilities for customizations and add ons.
This is due most likely to an attempt to streamline the web building process.
17. When you go to look for a particular piece of clothing but you realize you still haven't washed it yet.
Due to a busy lifestyle and the tendency to forget to do certain chores.
18. It bugs me when different websites all have different qualifications for your password so you end up having a ton of different passwords making it hard to remember.
This is due to the increasing prevalence of security concerns online and some sites being more secure than others.
19. How the libraries become so packed around exam time and it is impossible to find a table.
This is due to more UF students needing to study and not wanting to do it in their homes.
20. It bugs me that my printer is very difficult to connect to and seemingly work at random.
I'm honestly not sure the cause of this but it is possibly due to the USB cable used to connect to my computer.
I found this assignment very difficult. I am not used to thinking about the "problems" in my life in this manner. However, I found that once I came up with the first couple it got slightly easier and brainstorming some of them, lead me to find others. I also found that for some of my bugs I actually didn't know the precise cause of why they occurred. This showed me that I had never really dug deeply into the roots of these problems.
Friday, January 17, 2020
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