Solving the Problem

My problem is there is limited parking on and around campus making student have to find alternative methods to get to classes on campus.

My solution is creating a parking app that allows people to see where around and on campus where spaces are available. This would help people who drive on campus to find a parking spot without driving all over to find the available spaces. The app would stretch to show parking available on campus but also around campus near midtown and downtown. The app would be for scooter and cars making it useful for majority of UF students. For scooters the app would say what percent full the scooter parking area is to allow that to go to a spot where they do not chance getting a ticket because they are not in a space.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

My Opportunity

Who: UF/Gainesville Parking 

What: There is limited parking on and around campus making people waste time trying to find parking

Why: There is such little parking and the available spots are scattered around campus making people drive all around to find an open spot, 

Interview 1 (a girl living off campus in an apartment)

She does not drive for class because there is no where to park that is convenient for her classes so she rides the bus. At night she has club meetings to go to and for those she drives because parking is lifted. She think Gainesville city parking convenient and if she did not have a pass with her apartment complex she would get a city parking pass because it would allowed her to park in various spots around town and closer to campus. She believes that there has to be a quicker way to solve this problem besides putting up a parking garage that will take a whole year.

Interview 2 (a guy who lives on campus at a fraternity house)

He is only a sophomore so he has only lived on campus at his time here at the University of Florida. He think the parking is not hug problem partly because he has a scooter and it does not affect his time getting places as he does not have a car at school. When he drives with his friends and comes back to park on campus he says they have to park in the garage behind Hume sometimes because parking on fraternity row sometimes runs out. He has no real opinion on Gainesville city parking just because he does not have a car.

Interview 3 (a grad student living far off campus)

She lives off campus and farther away because she wanted cheaper rent. For her graduate program she does not have many classes on campus and the ones that she does only are two days a week. She says she has trouble getting there and just takes the bus because it is free and the most convenient options with parking out the window. She says the bus ride takes her about 30 minutes so she definitely believes there must be a solution to this parking problem. She is did not go to UF for her undergraduate program so this situation is all new to her.

Interview 4 (a guy living behind midtown)

He lived on campus for the first year and these past two years have lived behind midtown. He said he realized how bad of the parking is on campus so that is why he specifically moved to a location convenient for him to get to his classes. He has the city parking decal and he raved about how useful it is. He said he can go to other places behind midtown to visit his friends and he can park his car close to them. He said he never taken a bus even when he was on campus so he was not sure how efficient they are as a way of transportation for commuting students. 

Interview 5 (a girl that lives south of campus)

She lives far from campus because of the rent prices and her financial ability only allows her to be far from campus because of the rent prices increases. She has a car and can only drive it in the evening time which she complained about because she wants to take her car to campus to make it more accessible to get to campus. She says the bus has a stop by her apartment complex  just the bus schedule is hit or miss with the time she has to leave. I asked her about Gainesville city parking and she said she has thought about the option but did not want to pay for a decal she would use like 3 days out of the week.

I see a opportunity in the parking situation at the University and I am realizing the solution has to be immediate rather than a whole year for another garage that is place in a location not really useful for student commuting to campus.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Regulatory Opportunity #1
Legalizing of Marijuana for Recreational Use Across America:

The legalization of marijuana has been all over the news for the past few months as many states has approved it for recreational use. This is a huge opportunity for anyone that is in the medical marijuana field as some of their business can increase as their customer base expands. I believe that the customer with this opportunity is anyone currently smokes marijuana. This customer base is a lot of college students and middle aged people. I think this is a rather easy opportunity to exploit if you are looking to enter into the business of selling recreational marijuana.
I saw this information and saw this as an opportunity because I am surrounded by people would be a customer if marijuana was legalized. Since I see how big of a market this opportunity can have, I believe you can see it as a opportunity rather than another changing trend in society.


Regulatory Opportunity #2
Data Privacy Law

I found this on pwc website a new law has been passed in California called the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA). This act allows consumer to get a copy of all their personal information collected about them, allowing a new breakthrough when it comes to personal privacy. This a potential opportunity for technology companies to help develop a copy of peoples information that has been collected. I think the technology industries are the many customer than can capitalize on this opportunities as they are able to obtain reports about protection privacy in a quick fashion. I feel like this is a fairly difficult opportunity to exploit because with this law I feel like it would be government employees help regulating this law. I see this as an opportunity because we are reaching the age of technology where everyone is worried about their privacy as technology invades every aspect of their life,

Economic Opportunity #1
Tax Cut and Jobs Act

This happened a couple years back but it takes awhile to see the effects of a bill that is passed. This act was passed back in 2017 which was on of the first things Trumps did when he got in office. I found this story from thebalance.com which broke down what the act was and what it meant for different groups of people based off of financial status. This might be a potential opportunity for any potential entrepreneur as with the tax cut people have more disposable income to spend on their wants. I feel like the customer of this opportunity is any one with more disposable income due to the tax cut.

Economic Opportunity #2
Stock Market Predictions

The stock market has a lot of change throughout the year but is always a hot topic of discussion during the beginning of the year about what experts predict will happen. I read about the predictions on Forbes to grasp a deeper understanding of the opportunities for investment this year. Experts say that the market has a two-thirds of a chance of a 10% increase. This is a potential opportunity for investors or novice investors to get their feet wet in investing. I feel like this opportunity is easy to exploit if you read up on where you are trying to invest and the predictions experts have made.

Identifying Local Opportuity

Opportunity #1

Name of article: Task force warns against illegal prescriptions

Link: https://cdn.newseum.org/dfp/jpg30/lg/AZ_DC.jpg

Description of story and problem: With the increase in the amount of illegal drugs out on the streets the has been a rise in the amount of drug overdoses. Prevention leader are seeking help from medical professionals like pharmacists to help educate the people about the different types of drugs and  how they affect people. With the growing amount of drugs on the black market, pharmacies see a decrease in the amount of people looking for drugs as the are getting them from other unreliable sources. The drugs from the black market can be laced with a number of things making the effects horrible when the drug is used.

Who has the problem: medical professionals (pharmacists), prevention leaders, cops, hospitals, doctors, insurance, black market

Opportunity #2

Name of article: Increasing Traffic

Link: https://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/?tfp_page=3&tfp_id=FL_GS

Description of the story and problem: The Gainesville Regional Airport traffic has been increasing over the past year as they just added my routes to fly directly to like Fort Worth Texas. The growth will come with an increase in security line waiting time as well as traffic to and from the airport. Everyone loves to fly when the airports are small because they like how convenient it is to get through security and onto the plane. Gainesville is wanting to expand and increase the number of people going through the airport.

Who has the problem: airport employees ( security, baggage, ticket people) , commuters in the Gainesville city, travelers, visitors

Opportunity #3 

Name of article: Rays to City: Trop land isn't for use

Link: https://cdn.newseum.org/dfp/jpg30/lg/FL_TIMES.jpg

Description of the story and problem: The Tampa Bay Rays home field, Tropical Field, is going to get renovated as the team looks to stay there until 2027. There was an idea of splitting home field time between St. Pete and Montreal to increase their revenues. The Rays do not see much love from their fans at their home field as they never sell out of a game. The current location is not ideal but with limited space in Tampa to move to the stadium is going to have to do for now. The city does not want to lose their home team so they are looking for any reason to make them stay.

Who has the problem: Rays players and fans, St. Pete City council, Rays owners and staff, St. Pete residents

Opportunity #4

Name of article: State tries to ease impact of toll lanes

Link: https://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/?tfp_page=3&tfp_id=GA_AJC

Description of the story and problem: Atlanta is a big city with tons of traffic from commuters to travelers. They want to make the traffic lighter and easier travel for many but that comes at the expense of the residents along the interstates already. With the toll lanes expansion covering 22 miles route, current residents are worried about the the noise and impact on their travel with the construction.

Who has the problem: Atlanta commuters, current residents close to the interestates, Atlanta transportation employees, travelers through Atlanta

Opportunity #5 

Name of article: Hawaii tourism arrivals top 10M

Link: https://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/?tfp_page=3&tfp_id=HI_SA

Description of the story and problem: The tourism in Hawaii has just top 10 million which to some residents might be too much tourism. The tourism stimulates a great economy for the residents as it opens up so many jobs for them. However, they do not think the money they get from those jobs is enough to compensate for the amount of tourism they see. 

Who has the problem: hotels in Hawaii, residents and tourist of Hawaii, companies in Hawaii, tourist locations in Hawaii

Forming An Opportunity Belief

1.
Beginning Point: The problem that I think exists is University of Florida's small amount of parking hinders students who need/want to drive to campus.

2.
What is the unmet need?
Limited amount of parking on UF campus especially by the business school.
Who has the need?
UF students, faculty, tourist/visitors
Where did the need come from?
The need has been around ever since I have been attending UF so 2 years but could be longer than that amount of time.
What are people doing about this need?
People have to use alternative methods to get to campus. Some people have to take the bus, walk or park their car close to campus and walk the rest.
Opportunity Exist: 75%

3.
Prototypical customer: I would say any student that attends the university with a car living farther than 0.7 miles from campus.

4. 
Interactions with Prototypical Customers 
#1 - The first person I interviewed said she does not feel that the problem of no parking exists during the day for her because she either rides the bus or walks. However, she sees the problem at night when she has extracurricular activities on campus in the evening. She said they start before parking is lifted so she has to ride the bus but when they are over it is dark out and she does not want to be waiting for a bus in the dark by herself. This is the time in which she finds the real practical use of having parking close to the business school. She seemed satisfied with how she is dealing with it because most of the time her friends pick her up, but believes their is a better solution than having to nag her friends for a ride.
#2 - The second person I interviewed believes that parking is a huge problem for him as it puts him at an inconvenience. He believes that parking close to the business school or anywhere around the school perimeter would help him out a lot. He says right now he has to plan to leave so early for class because the timing of the bus would either put him to class 30 minutes earlier or 10 minutes late. He says the bus is sufficient but a parking garage of some sort would be worth the money. He said he lived on campus last year and did not have a car so he never really understood the parking situation until now. He says he lives off campus with a car and no scooter so the problem escalated as most of his classes are in person rather than online.
#3 - The last person I interviewed sees the problem of no parking because of lot of his friends complain about it to him but for him he does not mind it because he has a scooter. He said even with the amount of scooter parking it is still hard to find a spot sometimes so he can only imagine the pain a person has trying to park on campus with a car.

5.
Reflection
After speaking with potential customers, I was not really surprised by their responses. I feel like it makes sense that someone with a scooter does not find the parking situation horrible because there is parking for scooters spread out all around and through campus. They never even see the problem as it is does not relate to them. In the same way, I am not surprised that the people that just have a car at school find the parking situation horrible and inconvenient. I learned that there really is an opportunity with this situation whether it is building a parking garage or some other alternative method to solve this problem.

6.
Summary
My belief did not change from the time I started and after the interactions with the potential customers. I realize that there is still the unmet need of parking but maybe not all students have it especially if they have a scooter. I believe most of my original idea is there and there is something to deal with when it comes to the parking situation at the university. I think customer feedback is huge when an entrepreneur is looking at their idea and how successful it can be. I definitely think the entrepreneur should adapt their idea to tailor the needs of the customer.  If the customer is telling that their honest opinions about a situation that is valuable help that needs to be noted. The entrepreneur should not make their idea about what they want but rather the customer wants because they are the people with the money and unmet need.

Entrepreneurship Story

In my life growing up, I did not have interactions with entrepreneurs; no one in my family invented anything nor did any of my family friends. However, my family thoroughly enjoyed watching Shark Tank at night. With Shark Tank on 11 seasons now there are plenty of different episodes to watch. My dad and I were the main people in my family that enjoyed watching it and we always think to ourselves 'that is such a simple idea why couldn't we think of that.' This is little exposure a to entrepreneurship, has definitely allowed me to learn that not everyone is successful on their first, second or even tenth try but it is those people who keep trying that will be successful.

Why ENT3003?
Upon signing up for class to take this semester, I knew I had to take business finance so I needed to be pair it with low demanding classes. I heard great things about this class and about Professor Pryor leaving it an easy choice to pick and take this semester. At the beginning of the semester I watched the lectures online for a week because I know it was going to be a race to get a seat. Now I go in person because I think this is the most interactive and funniest class I have taken so far at the University of Florida. I hoping to learn more about the process of entrepreneurship and hear more about real stories of entrepreneurs and their story to success.

Bug List

1.  The intersection of University Ave and 13^th street going north and south on 13^th street and there is no right-hand turn lane.

WHY: This bug exists because there is so much traffic through that intersection making the right-hand lane slow as it is a mix of cars are turning and going straight.

      2. Drivers that are in the left lane (passing lane) that go the speed limit.

WHY: This bug exists because people do not pay attention and are distracted as they drive

3. Fast food restaurants not asking how many sauces you want and only give you one or two when I asked for extra sauce.

WHY: This bug exists because that is the normal amount they give out and forget or get lazy when putting an order together

4. When one of my roommates leaves the apartment, door unlock when no one is at the apartment.

WHY: This bug exists because I do not one random people coming into our apartment and taking stuff

5. When one of my roommates leaves or comes homes when I am sleeping and slams the door.

WHY: This bug exists because I am light sleeper causing me to wake up in the middle of the night or the morning and have a hard time going back to sleep.

6. When the trash builds up in the trash can and no one takes it out.

WHY: This bug exists because I like things to be clean and neat.

7. Paper straws instead of plastic straws

WHY: This bug exists because when I use a paper straw it becomes limp.

 8.When people do not fill up the Brita after they emptied it

WHY: This bug exists because when I go to get more water, I have to get water from the sink because no water is in the Brita

9. When people leave dirty dishes in the sink for a long time and do not wash them.

WHY: This bug exists because when I go use a pot or pan, I have to take it out of the dirty dish pile and wash it.

10. Very limited parking at UF in general and none of the commuter lots are near the business school

WHY: This bug exists because I have to walk home and depending on the time leave campus, I would feel much safer driving home.

11. People who drag their feet when they walk.

WHY: This bug exists because we learn to pick up our feet when we are taught to walk.

12. When people do not have manners when talking to a person that has authority over them.

WHY: This bug exists because I believe people should be respectful to others and using manner really shows respect towards others.

13. When people interrupt you when you are speaking.

WHY: This bug exists because I find it impolite to speak over or cut someone off when they are talking.

14. When I make simple mistakes in doing a problem for homework or on a test.

WHY: This bug exists because I understand the topic just went too quickly on solving it.

15. When the rider app says a bus is coming in like 5 mins and then readjust several times and the bus does not come for another 15 minutes

WHY: This bug exists because I get ready super-fast to catch the bus and then stuck waiting there for a decent amount of time.

16. When people make the grammatical error of using the wrong form of a word, like its vs it’s and their vs there vs they’re.

WHY: This bug exists because they grammatical errors are so elementary but people still use those words interchangeably.

17. Chewing with their mouth open.

WHY: This bug exists because it is gross to see what is in other people’s mouth and the sound is agitating.

18. Drivers who cut in front of you but do not accelerate.

WHY: This bug exists because you do not change lanes and cut someone off unless you are going to accelerate to the speed of which the flow of traffic is in that lane.

19.When people are driving on the on ramp to a interstate and are going slow and not accelerating to merge.

WHY: This bug exists because it is very difficult to merge onto an interstate if you are going 20mph the speed of the rest of traffic.

      20. Pens that bleed through the page

                  WHY: This bug exists because if I use that type of pen I can only write on one side of the                     paper.

Reflection:

        This assignment for me was relatively hard. When I first started the assignment the first five or so cam pretty quickly; however, as time progressed  I struggled to think of things that bug me. I found this difficult partly because I try to let go of the things that bug me and not hold any type of grudge. I found that if I took this assignment and spend multiple days on it, then I could come up with things that bugged me over those couple of days. For me to come up with 20 bugs over the course of a couple days, I wondered how long the list would be if I kept track over the entire semester.