14A Halfway Reflection

Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

The behaviors I used to keep up with the requirements of the course include time management, creativity, and better communication skills. To keep up with this class, you need time management the most. This is because you need to always be aware of deadlines and do the assignments before their due date. It is important to notice that assignments are due friday at 11:59pm which means you should have it done by friday morning. I learned early on its best to do the homework before its due and do it on wednesday or thursday. You also need creativity to be able to succeeed as an entrprenuer. In this class you are creating your own business idea. In order to do this it is vital to have a creative mindset going in. Another integral part of this class is the communication aspect. I learned a lot of communication skills through talking with my group. We give each other vital tips and comments on every post and learn what needs to be improved.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

One time I felt like giving up was when having to come up with the first business idea. During this time, I was experiencing a big mental block. I couldn't think of anything and was very fustrated. I really was considering just not doing it and giving up. I decided to take a nap and try to think of it when I woke up. Once I woke up, an idea just came to me. It was such a great idea that I decided to use it. This experience taught me not to give up and to always stay persistant. I learned that by giving it some time I was able to calm down and think of an idea.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. When you are experiencing a roadblock take a nap.

2. Use your group to your advantage by adhearing to their advice in the comments.

3. When feeling un motivated watch some youtube videos about motivation.

13A Reading Reflection 1

Reading Reflection 1 Steve Jobs

What surprised you the most?

-I think what surprised me the most while reading this book was Steve Jobs dropped out of college to travel through India. When thinking about CEOs and people that have a lot of money you assume that they went to an ivy league or other top university. It is very surprising to me how much success Steve had despite not finishing college. Another surprise to me is that he traveled throughout India seeking enlightenment and studied Buddhism. I learned that Steve Jobs is a pretty enlightened individual and probably learned a lot about himself while studying that. It is really interesting to me that he had that experience in India before starting Apple.

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

- What I admired the most about Steve Jobs was his drive to never give up. When he was faced with very difficult situations he kept on working hard and didn't just quit. An example of this was when he got forced to leave Apple in 1985. Jobs lost his job and was put in a position where he was no longer with Apple. Jobs did not just quit and stop working at his goals. He instead went on to create his own new company that was called NeXT. It was Job's drive to never give up that allowed him to be able to eventually make his way up to the top of Apple again. 

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

- What I admired the least about Steve Jobs was his ego. I think because Steve Jobs was so much smarter than everyone else, he saw himself as better than everyone. He was described by many people as difficult to work with because of that. Steve would often share with people how much smarter he was than them and acted like it. I do not like this part of Steve because I think having a very high ego is a bad trait. I do not like when people act as if they are better than everyone else as it makes others feel bad.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

-Steve Jobs encountered a lot of adversity and failure. He did not let anything get in his way of success. Jobs was first placed through struggles when he was placed up for adoption by his mother. She did not want his biological father to know, and placed him up for adoption in San Francisco without his knowledge. Steve was then forced to grow up with his foster parents. Jobs did not see it that way. Jobs loved his foster parents so much that he saw them as his real parents and his biological parents as a sperm bank. 

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

The competencies I noticed Steve Jobs exhibited was his creativity. Jobs was able to create something that no one had ever even imagined before. He continuously was the pioneer for new emerging trends in the computer market. Steve was able to eventually create one of the most revolutionary trends in the world: Portable computers. He was able to create this new virtual network which allowed for everyone to be connected. He was such a creative and unique individual to be able to be the first one to imagine this.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

A part of the reading that was most confusing to me was what happened when Steve Jobs got his job at Attari. I am confused about what happened with pong that allowed Steve to be able to get the job even though he didnt even make the game.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

If I was able to ask Steve Jobs two questions, I would try to ask him about when he came up with the idea of having an Iphone. I would ask him this because I am so interested with how he came up with the idea. It seems like such a revolutionary idea compared to the time before it. Another question I would ask about is what is his biggest limiteation. I am very curious to what holds him back and what he needs to work on.

12A Buyer Behavior

Sketching out the Beginning of the Buyer Behavior Process

Overall, my interviews were very productive in finding out more information about potential buyers. I learned that students who walk to class would rather pay a very small fee for the scooter and be able to get to class much faster. The buyer has a need to get from place to place on campus. This need is complicated one because of the nature of transportation. Someone can choose to get to campus by car, moped, or walk. I learned that customers mostly use their moped or walk to class unless they live very far off campus. This means that my primary market is students living near the campus. This is becasue they would be the ones who would use the scooters the most.

I also learned besides getting to class, a lot of students have a need for transportation to bars and resturants. A lot of students indicated that they currently spend a lot of money on Ubers because of their lack of access to transportation. Electronic Scooters would be a much cheaper option than Uber in general. An issue I learned about while conducting these interviews is that the scooters would need to be easily available. This means that I must have enough scooters to meet the needs and the scooters must be in an area near to where the customer wants to use it. Customers would use the scooters at all parts of the day.

It is evident to me that the customer need of transportation can be met by these electronic scooters. Conducting these interviews further supported my claim by understanding more about their specific needs. The target segment needs to travel around a lot and do not have many means to travel. This electronic scooter option will be easily available to them and cheaper than the alternatives. The need of transportation can be met through this.

11A Idea Napkin 1

1) You. I am a rising Junior at the University of Florida pursuing a degree in marketing. I am a very driven and self motivated type of person. Everything that I denote my time to doing, I do with full effort and energy. My biggest skill set are my interpersonal skills. I am very well trained in de-escalating a situation as well as making sure every party is happy. I have developed superior communication skills and leadership skills through my on-campus involvement in student government.

2) What are you offering to customers? I am offering customers a solution to their parking and transportation problems. I am offering a service by having scooters available for rent. Customers are then able to take these scooters anywhere they want and park at a nearby dock. This allows for customers not to have to worry about finding a ride or parking. The rides are also a lot cheaper than ride sharing services such as uber and lyft and can save customers a lot of money.

3) Who are you offering it to? My biggest demographic is students at the University of Florida. Although anyone is allowed to use the scooters, the scooters can help out UF students the most. This is because the scooters would allow students to get a ride to campus without worrying about high costs or parking. Students have to go to class almost every day and require some sort of way to get from their primary residence to campus. These scooters would allow them to get to where they want to go easily.

4) Why do they care? There is currently a big parking problem on campus. There is a lot more registered cars than parking spots which causes a lot of students to have to walk far or get parking tickets. Scooters are already implemented in Orlando near UCF campus and has been working to fix their parking issues. I think by applying it in Gainesville, the same will happen.

5) What are your core competencies? The biggest difference between my company and the big scooter companies (bird, lime) is they are based on a dock-less model where the scooters do not need docks but rather are picked up and charged. My company has dock-based model which requires the scooters to be placed on a dock after their ride which charges the scooters and allows for a safe place to keep them while they are not being ridden. 

I think all of these key elements work together to create the best solution. There is a eminent transportation problem here in Gainesville, and this service will fix it. I feel as if customers are really interested in this idea and are willing to use them if they are available. Customers are also a lower socio-economic status usually as being college students, and these scooters are very low cost. This allows for a great opportunity in the market.

9A - Testing the Hypothesis

Assignment 9a - Testing the Hypothesis

For the past week or so, I have been collecting data from students I have surveyed passing by Turlington. I asked these students various questions in order to gather relevant data to support my idea. After analyzing all of the resulting information, I have gathered some conclusions regarding my idea of bringing electronic scooters to Gainesville.

Many students say they would use the scooters when going to class, eat, study or whatever various reasons if the scooters are easily available. I think this is a very interesting opportunity I learned because I need to make sure that I have enough scooters so that they are near those that want them. People would not go too far out of their way to walk to a scooter, so they would rather just walk to their destination.

I also learned though the interviews that a lot of people do not feel safe riding scooters in general. A lot of people mentioned liability issues and how many people have been getting hurt on scooters. Although this is a serious claim, every product or idea has some sort of liability or fear going against it. This problem can be solved with getting insurance for the scooters and showing to the people how safe they can be when ridden correctly.

The need for transportation is a very general and broad need. There are currently many options to fit the need; walking, taking bus, driving, carpooling. Each of these needs however all have their own issues that scooters would be able to fix. A college campus is a small area that is very densely populated so there will always be problems with traffic. People indicated they would rather ride a scooter on the sidewalk rather than wait on a car in traffic.

It is evident that a large group would not be inside the boundary. This group is those who need transportation but are traveling long distances. This would include a trip to the springs, wildlife preserve, south florida, or anything that would require a lot of time on the streets or highway driving. This would be nearly impossible to do on an electronic scooter.

8A Solving the Problem

I feel as if creating a local scooter company would be a great chance to solve this problem. I think if I were to do this, I would get scooters that require a dock. This would provide an opportunity for the students to be able to park the scooters anywhere the dock is. This allows for very easy access to campus and around campus for the UF students. The scooters would have to be low cost and lower quality to allow for students to be able to afford it. This would help solve the transportation issue as scooters can be used to quickly get around town.

Testing the Hypothesis part 1

1) The opportunity I am selecting is bringing electronic scooters to gainesville

2) An opportunity I am interested is the need for a better way of transportation on the UF campus. This opportunity would be for student of UF and local Gainesville residents to be able to get around the city of Gainesville. Electronic scooters are a way of transportation that can clear up traffic and allow people to get to where they need to go faster.

3) Testing the who I need to figure out if UF students would ride scooters if they were available. I could also test local Gainesville residents to see if they are interested as well. Testing the what I would need to figure out how often people would use the scooters and how many people do not have other means of transportation. This would help to figure out if it would be worth it.Testing the why I would have to figure out why people would want to take a scooter over other forms of transportation.

4) I have successfully interviewed the first 5 students I passed by on my way to a class. I asked each student the same questions to try to figure out the questions posed on #3. I learned that students would be very interested in riding scooters. Students seem to  need a way to get to class that they can easily park. A lot of students mentioned parking to be the biggest problem with their current transportation situation. I also found out that most students do not have a car, and some of them have scooters. I figured that students mostly need a way to get around and can walk but would prefer a faster way. I learned that parking was an issue and a reason why students would choose to take a electronic scooter over a car or regular scooter.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

One economic opportunity I have found is the rising price of food. This can be an opportunity to create food in a lab synthetically in order to combat the current weaknesses of how food is made. I found this information online on an informational site called the balance. I saw that extreme climate conditions are one of the main reasons why food prices are increasing and finding an alternative way to source food would help to solve that problem. I think this opportunity relates to every customer because of its nature of being something people can't live without. This huge demand causes it to be something easy to exploit given the right products.

I feel like I saw this opportunity because of my increased interest in food. I am a big supporter of food and try to experience as many different restaurants as I can. This makes me believe that food has a big impact in peoples lives as they have to eat to survive.

Another economic opportunity I have found is that the US economy is currently in an expansionary period. This means that it is a very good time to invest in the market and real estate as it will only continue to grow. I have found this opportunity through watching the news and talking with professors. There is a great opportunity to be able to increase your total wealth by investing in the business cycle and the predictability of a expansionary period. I think adults who have extra money to spend would be the target market of this opportunity. They would be the people most likely to invest because of them being able to afford it. This opportunity is relatively easy to exploit as people are always wanting to invest their money at the right times.

I saw this opportunity because of my uncle always preaching to me about having to invest in the stock market. He would always tell me whenever I saw him that its never too early. I think that it is very important to invest your money as it is a great way to increase your funds. This opportunity seems like it is personal from my experiences with it.

One example of a regulatory trend is the increasing laws made against owning firearms. Over time, there has been an increase on rules and regulations regarding using a gun. The source I have for this information is a New York times article on how hard it is to legally obtain a gun. I see there is an opportunity to try to sell guns as people might start to stockpile them thinking there might be a ban on them soon. I see this opportunity mostly for those who are in favor of guns and see their necessity. I think this opportunity might be a little bit harder to exploit as the market is already pretty saturated.

I saw this opportunity as I desire to one day purchase a weapon in order to protect myself. I think that this opportunity appeals to my desire as I am vested in it. I think that this helps to understand why it would be a great opportunity.

The last opportunity is another regulatory trend of prescription medication becoming more regulated with more reporting and oversight. I found this information in a blog by Deloitte describing the 2020 life sciences regulatory outlook. This seems like a good opportunity to try to get the prescription drugs at a cheaper cost or from different pharmacies. This opportunity relates to those who require prescription drugs. I feel like this opportunity is going to be difficult to exploit as it would be hard to get into the market.

I chose this opportunity because in high school, I used to work at a cvs part time. I was always very interested in our pharmacy section and it always appealed to me. I think there is a huge amount of people who require the pharmacy. This is a growing trend in America in my opinion.