30 - Final Reflection

1. My most formative experience would be having to collect feedback from potential customers throughout this experience. The experience that I am most proud of accomplishing are coming up with a real fleshed out business concept and not just an idea for a business without any research behind it.
2. I don't necessarily see myself as an entrepreneur, however I do believe that I have moved closer to developing an entrepreneur mindset.
3. One recommendation that I would offer to the students that are going to journey down this path in the future would be to find a business opportunity that you are passionate about and that has potential, because it will make doing the assignments in the class a lot easier. Also, really take to heart the feedback that potential customers give to you about your business, because they can give you great idea for your business that you may not have every considered.

             

29 - Venture Concept No. 2

1. Description: A membership organization that offers rides exclusively to the elder generation of people who can no longer drive themselves.
   
   Opportunity: Older adults currently make up approximately 23 percent of the total population in Florida. By 2020, that number will likely increase to 28 percent—nearly one-third of the state’s population. That number is expected to grow even more substantially by 2030. Given the higher population of seniors in Florida, do we need to think more carefully about older adults and auto accident risks? The highest fatal accident rates are among Florida drivers who are aged 85 and older, but statistics show a significant increase in accident rates when drivers reach the age of 70. Beyond driving risks, some older citizens suffer from various ailments that prevent them from being able to drive themselves.
   
   I have found that older people who cannot drive themselves most notably express this need when they need to go somewhere, such as a doctors’ appointment, and no one they know is available to drive them or public transportation is not an option.
   
   To find a solution to this problem a customer first may ask a friend or family member for a ride. However, these people may have job and family obligations that make them unable to provide them with a ride. Then, this customer may turn to public transportation to get them where they need to go. In many parts of Florida public transportation is very limited and older citizens might not have access to public transportation. Also, they may have safety concerns related to using public transportation. However, these solutions are often flawed because friends or family members may not always be available when needed and public transportation may not be a viable option for a lot of people.
   
   I believe that this window of opportunity will remain open and continue to grow until a proper solution to this problem is found.
   
   Innovation: We are different from any other similar business because we cater to the older community. All of our drivers would be CPR certified and have some Emergency training as well as clear background checks and driving records, so you know you are in safe hands with us. Also, for those who are medically unable to drive we may even be covered by their health insurance. We would also have hubs placed across the city, so that a customer could have a ride at their door minutes after calling.
   
   When I asked potential customers about their preferred method of payment for the type of service that I plan to offer, they cited interest in a monthly member cost for customers who plan to use the service consistently. they also noted that there should be a pricing tier for customers who wish to pay per ride.
   
   What matters most to the people that I interviewed when considering the "rightness" of the purchase are quality of service, timeliness, and safety. Customers want to be able to rely on the service to be prompt, so customers will not be late to any possible appointments. Safety is a big concern with customers, they want to know that they will be safe in transit and safe in the company of our drivers.
   
   Venture Concept: For this business I plan to start in The Villages and grow to be available throughout the state of Florida. I am offering this venture idea to The Villages citizens age 60 and older who can no longer drive themselves or do not like driving themselves but still have places to go and things to do.
   
   I am offering my customers the idea of no more car payment, no more car maintenance stress, no more driving anxiety, and no more relying of other people to get you where you want to go. I am also offering a one week free trial of my service to people who are interested in signing up for the monthly membership so that they can experience my service before they have to sign up.
   
   My customers care because if they cannot drive themselves and they have no one who can drive them then they are stuck at home. Or if they do not like driving they may let that limit them in the things they do. Studies have shown that there are countless benefits of an active social life for older adults, and my business would make that possible.
   
   Some of the alternatives to my service that have been mentioned in my past interviews are public transportation, car services such as Uber/Lyft, and family and friends. Above all the people that I interviewed said they relied on friends of family members to give them a ride.
   
   Future of the Business: I believe that this ventures most important resource will be the quality of service, the timeliness of our drivers, and the level of safety our service can provide to our customers on a consistent, reliable basis.
   
   The next opportunity that I would like to tackle with this current innovation, is to expand to other states across the United States.
   
   In five years with this venture, I would like to be well established in our first city and looking to expand and provide our services to a second city.

2. I received some great feedback on my first venture concept. Some of the things that were mentioned are having a great use of facts about the population of older people over the years, and the idea of adding a free week promotion to allow people to try my service before committing to a membership.
   
3. Based off of what I learned from the feedback I received from the first venture concept I did, I decided to add a free week for people who wish to try out my service before signing up for a membership, because I think that it would be a great way to let people see how our service works before having to commit to a membership.

28 - Your Exit Strategy

1.  The exit strategy for my business venture entails selling my business in the next 5 years for a large return on my investment.
   
2. I have chosen this exit strategy because I don't want a business that I started to become this big inconvenience or hassle for me or my family, I want to get the business started and then get my return when I sell the business to someone that will continue to run it. Then I will be able to shift my focus to my next business venture.
   
3. I think that this exit strategy can influence the other decisions that I make in the business because I will not have to consider the life of the business past the 5 years that I will be running it. It can allow me to be more focused on growth opportunities that will increase the value of the business in the short run rather than focusing on the businesses long future.

27 -Reading Reflection No. 3

Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

1. I was most surprised that Steve Jobs become a billionaire from Pixar's IPO and not his Apple products. His stocks become worth $1.2 billion in 1995 after the success of Toy Story. I most admired Steve Jobs attention to detail. He was so precise and everything had to be perfect in his eyes. He would no put out a product just to make money, but rather he was looking to produce a product that he was valuable and perfect. He was not just in the business to make money. I least admired that Steve Jobs was very difficult to work with and he treated his employees poorly. He would fire them for no reason and would look down on them.

2. As I mentioned above, Steve Jobs' attention to detail is one of his main skills. He wanted everything to be perfect and would work unbelievably hard to make it perfect. His hard work and determination, along with his brilliant ideas is what separated him from the rest of the pack. Steve Jobs was able to build the most successful and dominant company we have ever seen.

3. The part that still confuses me is how Steve Jobs snuck back control over Apple. I'm not sure how he was able to do that, and it wasn't really explained in the book. 

4. Two Questions: What motivates you to be successful? What would you recumbent to a young kid about being an entrepreneur? I want to ask these two questions because as a young kid, I want to know what steps I could take to be motivated and become a successful entrepreneur.  

5. I believe that Steve Jobs really values hard work. He seemed to always be working hard no matter what company. Steve Jobs was a very hard worker and probably resulted in him creating such a successful business. One must always work hard if they ever hope to achieve something in life, it will never just be handed to you.

26 - Celebrating Failure

About two weeks ago I was helping my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins move into a new house. We had the U-Haul for two days to move every thing from their old house to a storage unit for a couple weeks and two more days to move every thing from the storage unit into the new house. It was the last day of moving things into the new house and the last load of boxes and furniture. It was then, loading up the final load of boxes that I realized that the giant step that we had been lugging heavy furniture over for two days out of the old house and two days into the new house, nearly killing ourselves every time, could be eliminated if we had just lifted the ramp up and put it in the notches of the truck. On the left is an example of the massive step up into the truck from the ramp that we had been lugging furniture over the whole time, and on the right is my photo that I took after I had the "Are you kidding me!" moment of realization. Literally, that's what I yelled. Obviously, from this I learned that the U-Haul ramp has notches that it is supposed to go into to eliminate the step up into the truck. In this case there were seven people helping move at one point or another, and it took until the last load up for me to realize this massive failure.

The massive step from the ramp to the inside of the truck.

When the ramp is properly used there is no step.

To top this day off, there's more.  I was tired from two full days of moving heavy furniture and boxes. So when it came to unloading my cousins Razor scooter, you know the ones that kill your ankles, from the truck, I thought it would be a great idea to ride the scooter down the ramp of the U- Haul. I know what your thinking, but I made it down the ramp great, it was when I went to get off of the scooter that I some how managed to trip over it and fall to my hands and knees. Which put a scrape on my knee and a hole in my jeans. This, of course, spawned laughs from everyone who witnessed this laps in judgement.

Failure is hard, and sometime embarrassing, but it's how we learn as humans. From this experience I know to always put the U-Haul ramp in the proper position before moving big heavy furniture and that riding down a steep U-Haul ramp in a scooter isn't a very good idea. The best way that I handle failure is the knowledge that without failure we would never have success. This class has somewhat changed my perspective on failure, because sometimes failure is the only way that you are able to find success, and I think that I am more likely to take some risks now than I was just a few months ago.

25 - What's Next?

• set a course for growth for your business
• develop plans for how you will grow in both a new market and the market that you have already identified

Existing Market:

1. I plan to begin my business venture in The Villages, Florida and plan to expand to other parts of Florida with a higher percentage of older citizens such as Punta Gorda and Bradenton.
2. The three customers that I interviewed noted expansion to more cities as I had planned, but named some other cities where this need exists such as Naples and Vero Beach. They liked the two cities that I had mentioned, saying that those cities also have a higher percentage of older citizens. One of the people that I interviewed even lives in Punta Gorda and said that she would use the service if it was in her city.
3. Based on my thoughts and the input from the potential customers that I interviewed I would, after success in The Villages, expand to Punta Gorda first and then to Naples because of their location and higher percentage of potential customers.

New Market:

1. A radically different market that I would like to consider expanding to would be people with disabilities that prevent them from being able to drive.
2. I think that my venture concept might be able to create value for the people in this new market for some of the same reasons. People that are part of this new market might not have family that is always available to give them rides when they need one and public transportation may not be an option or may pose potential problems.
3. The customers that I interviewed in this new market believe that this business could possibly be able to meet the needs of customers like them. However, they offered some ideas for adaptations to the service that could help to make it more successful in this new market. Some ideas that they mentioned are improving the accessibility for these customers such as possessing cars that are wheelchair friendly, and possibly having staff that are specially trained to assist people with different disabilities.  
4. This exercise to adapt our existing venture into a new market was very eye opening and I learned that the problem I am focusing on solving could exist for more than just the segment of people that I am focusing on. The fact that my concept existed for this segment of people is what surprised me the most. I hadn't previously thought about my venture concept being suitable for this new market.
   Once I learned that my venture idea could be suitable for this new market, I began to think about the different adaptations that could be implemented to help suit this new market. Some of the adaptations that the customers I interviewed mentioned such as wheelchair friendly vehicles are similar to the ideas that I began to brainstorm. This new market does appear to be attractive, however I believe that my existing market has a higher chance of success.

23 - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

10 Resources that makes us special:

1. Cater to the older community
• valuable and non-substitutable but, not rare or unique
2. CPR certified drivers
• valuable, rare, and non-substitutable but not inimitable
3. Clear background checks
• valuable, somewhat rare, and non-substitutable but not inimitable
4. Local hubs for quick service
• valuable, and rare but not inimitable or non-substitutable
5. monthly membership cost 
• valuable and rare but not inimitable or non-substitutable
6. Quality of service
• valuable and non-substitutable, but not inimitable or rare
7. Timeliness
• valuable, rare, non-substitutable but not inimitable
8. Friendly and personable drivers
• valuable, rare, non-substitutable but not inimitable
9. The ability to become familiar with a specific driver and grow trust in that driver
• valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable
10. The amount of flexibility and ease of use with our service
• valuable and non-substitutable, but not rare or inimitable

Through this analysis of my ventures resources and there VRIN capabilities, I believe that my top resource is the customers ability to become familiar with a specific driver and grow trust in that driver. This resource is more important to my venture than all other resources because it meets all of the VRIN requirements and, much like the relationship between a customer and their hair dresser, it is an aspect of my venture that would grow my customer loyalty and my brand equity.

24 - Venture Concept No. 1

Description: A membership organization that offers rides exclusively to the elder generation of people who can no longer drive themselves.

Opportunity: Older adults currently make up approximately 23 percent of the total population in Florida. By 2020, that number will likely increase to 28 percent—nearly one-third of the state’s population. That number is expected to grow even more substantially by 2030. Given the higher population of seniors in Florida, do we need to think more carefully about older adults and auto accident risks? The highest fatal accident rates are among Florida drivers who are aged 85 and older, but statistics show a significant increase in accident rates when drivers reach the age of 70. Beyond driving risks, some older citizens suffer from various ailments that prevent them from being able to drive themselves.

I have found that older people who cannot drive themselves most notably express this need when they need to go somewhere, such as a doctors’ appointment, and no one they know is available to drive them or public transportation is not an option.

To find a solution to this problem a customer first may ask a friend or family member for a ride. However, these people may have job and family obligations that make them unable to provide them with a ride. Then, this customer may turn to public transportation to get them where they need to go. In many parts of Florida public transportation is very limited and older citizens might not have access to public transportation. Also, they may have safety concerns related to using public transportation. However, these solutions are often flawed because friends or family members may not always be available when needed and public transportation may not be a viable option for a lot of people.

 I believe that this window of opportunity will remain open and continue to grow until a proper solution to this problem is found.

Innovation: We are different from any other similar business because we cater to the older community. All of our drivers would be CPR certified and have some Emergency training as well as clear background checks and driving records, so you know you are in safe hands with us. Also, for those who are medically unable to drive we may even be covered by their health insurance. We would also have hubs placed across the city, so that a customer could have a ride at their door minutes after calling.

When I asked potential customers about their preferred method of payment for the type of service that I plan to offer, they cited interest in a monthly member cost for customers who plan to use the service consistently. they also noted that there should be a pricing tier for customers who wish to pay per ride.

What matters most to the people that I interviewed when considering the "rightness" of the purchase are quality of service, timeliness, and safety. Customers want to be able to rely on the service to be prompt, so customers will not be late to any possible appointments. Safety is a big concern with customers, they want to know that they will be safe in transit and safe in the company of our drivers.

Venture Concept:
For this business I plan to start in The Villages and grow to be available throughout the state of Florida. I am offering this venture idea to The Villages citizens age 60 and older who can no longer drive themselves or do not like driving themselves but still have places to go and things to do.

I am offering my customers the idea of no more car payment, no more car maintenance stress, no more driving anxiety, and no more relying of other people to get you where you want to go.
My customers care because if they cannot drive themselves and they have no one who can drive them then they are stuck at home. Or if they do not like driving they may let that limit them in the things they do. Studies have shown that there are countless benefits of an active social life for older adults, and my business would make that possible.

Some of the alternatives to my service that have been mentioned in my past interviews are public transportation, car services such as Uber/Lyft, and family and friends. Above all the people that I interviewed said they relied on friends of family members to give them a ride.

Future of the Business:

• I believe that this ventures most important resource will be the quality of service, the timeliness of our drivers, and the level of safety our service can provide to our customers on a consistent, reliable basis.
• The next opportunity that I would like to tackle with this current innovation, is to expand to other states across the United States.
• In five years with this venture, I would like to be well established in our first city and looking to expand and provide our services to a second city.

21 - Reading Reflection No 2

Book: "The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users" by Guy Kawasaki

1.  What was the general theme or argument of the book? The overall topic of this book is to help build a marketing presence through connectivity and the use of social media. It goes through multiple social media platforms and explains how to successfully market a product through each social media platform. This book also made the argument that social media is one of the most important metrics for reaching potential customers. It is a great book for people who need to build social capital in their business.
   
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? The book really connects what I am learning in ENT3003 because every assignment we have in this class is posted in a blog which is a form of social media. The introduction of the book states, " In a perfect world, however, you would develop better techniques than us, and you'd tell us how to improve our game too." That reminds me of this class because it is so peer based. We try to help each other out and improve each others ideas. This class leaves most everything up to you and that's how this book approaches social media. They give you some tips and tricks but want you to put your own spin on it.
   
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? I think a very fun activity for those in the class could be for the students to pick their favorite content producing account, whether it be a journalist, newspaper, blog, store, restaurant or any other entity, and go down the list and find several of the over 100 tips being replicated on the account. I think that you will find that many of the great content producers will be tapping into at least 30 or more of these tips, perhaps over half of them. Also, the students could find a few tips that aren't already implemented and talk about how that specific account could do so.
   
   
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations? The biggest takeaway that I took from reading this book was how to properly handle the comments section on social media. I have seen business respond to customers in the past, but I never realized that there was a proper way to do it. There was a part in the book that says it's okay to respond to negative comments but to only respond once, otherwise it turns into an argument online and seems unprofessional.

19 - Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You. For this business I plan to start in The Villages and grow to be available throughout the state of Florida. I have personally experienced people with this need and the unneeded stress and anxiety it puts on them.
   
2. What are you offering to customers? I am offering my customers the idea of no more car payment, no more car maintenance stress, no more driving anxiety, and no more relying of other people to get you where you want to go.
   
3. Who are you offering it to? I am offering this idea to The Villages citizens age 60 and older who can no longer drive themselves or do not like driving themselves but still have places to go and things to do.
   
4. Why do they care?  My customers care because if they cannot drive themselves and they have no one who can drive them then they are stuck at home. Or if they do not like driving they may let that limit them in the things they do. Studies have show that there are countless benefits of an active social life for older adults, and my business would make that possible.
   
5. What are your core competencies? We are different from any other similar business because we cater to the older community. All of our drivers would be CPR certified and have some Emergency training as well as clear background checks and driving records so you know you are in safe hands with us. Also, for those who are medically unable to drive we may even be covered by their health insurance. We would also have hubs placed across the city, so that a customer could have a ride at there door minutes after calling.
   
   Evaluation: I believe all of these elements fit together very well. Experts predict that, by the year 2030, the population of Floridians aged 65 and older will grow to 7.77 million. That large number of people would account for more than 37 percent of Florida’s current population. This means that the problem of older drivers on the road is only going to grow and their need to want to stay active is going to grow as well. Also,I am much more confident with the potential of this new idea than the idea that I was previously working on.

"Feedback Memo"
A couple of the points of feedback that I received is to consider how the funding of a project such as this would work and how I would get my employees CPR certified. When it comes to having employees with CPR certification, we would hire employees who are already certified or upon hiring employees would agree to take it upon themselves to get certified. For the business itself, the majority of the funds would come from the customers who use the service through membership fees/ pay per ride. 

18 - Create a Customer Avatar

"Hi, my name is Bill"

Meet Bill Walters, he will be 92 years old in three weeks. He is a widower and he has a younger brother who lives three towns over. He has three daughters, seven grand-kids, and fifteen great-grand kids. Two of his daughters live four hours away from him and come to visit and help take care of him when they can, but that leaves Bonnie, his middle daughter to care for him the majority of the time. However, Bonnie herself has two children and 5 grand-children therefor she does not have the time to chauffeur her father all over town every day of the week. Before his medical condition prevented him from driving himself, he had a full schedule of people to see and places to go. He was a regular at the local diner around the corner from his house, he attended church functions multiple times a week, and was spotted regularly at the town senior center. He can no longer cook himself meals and now that he cannot drive it drastically limits his activity options, but he still looks forward to watching the races on TV during the weekends.

I don't have anything in common with the avatar I created however, when creating this avatar I modeled him, in part, after my great grandpa who had some of the same traits.

15 - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.2

1. Begin with Alternative Evaluation. For these interviews, I found three people who fit the previously identified segment – older citizens who can no longer drive themselves because of medical reasons. Some of the alternatives to my service that the interviewees mentioned are public transportation, car services such as uber/Lyft, and family and friends. Above all the people that I interviewed said they relied on friends of family members to give them a ride.
   
2. How/Where do they buy? When the people that I interviewed run into this problem they rely on friends and family to drive them, therefore no transaction occurs. when I asked them about their preferred method of payment for the type of service that I plan to offer, they cited interest in a monthly member cost for customers who plan to use the service consistently. they also noted that there should be a pricing tier for customers who wish to pay per ride.
   
3. Post-Purchase Evaluation. What maters most to the people that I interviewed when considering the "rightness" of the purchase are quality of service, timeliness, and safety. Customers want to be able to rely on the service to be prompt so customers will not be late to any possible appointments. Safety is a big concern with customers, they want to know that they will be safe in transit and safe in the company of our drivers.
   
4. Report the Findings. Through my interviews I found that people are currently relying on friends/family to give them rides. Also, the three aspects that customers look for most in a service like mine are quality, timeliness, and safety.
   
5. Draw Conclusions. From all the interviews I understand that the quality of the product is definitely a key factor in buyer behavior. Price and style both matter, but they do not play as big of a role as quality. This leads me to believe that I would need to put extra time in when designing and creating my business. Ensuring the service potential and process is up to par is key.

13 - Reading Reflection No. 1

Coco Chanel by Lisa Chaney

1. The way she was raised and her background is what surprised me the most in this book, it was not what I had expected. She was born into a poor family and spent much of her childhood in a convent. Her mother died when she was 12 years old and her father did not support her, so he put her in an orphanage after her mother died. I admired how strong and independent she was, especially for the time in which she lived but I did not admire her drug habits. Gabrielle experienced adversity in her career because of her childhood and the fact that she grew up with no money. Her career also took several years to actually take off. 
2. Her main competency was that she was determined to bring her designs to life, she was very tenacious in the fact that she never gave up until she succeeded. Chanel was a very hard worker and also worked smart which was what ultimately let to her success in the fashion industry.
3. The only part of the reading that was confusing to me was the use of french words and places that were mentioned throughout the book.
4.  If I had the chance to ask two questions they would be, why did you choose to hide your past,  knowing her background allowed me to see how far she came. Also, What advice would you give to someone trying to start their own business? I chose these questions because they are the questions that were most prominent in my head when I was reading this biography.
5. I think Coco's opinion of hard work would be to never give up on your dreams. I believe she would think hard work is necessary to be happy with yourself and your career.

14 - Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency: The best behavior that I have used to keep up with the requirements of the course is to create a schedule for myself. Keeping track of assignments and due dates in a calendar and planning time to work on each assignment has really helped my keep on track and avoid missing deadlines.
   
2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude: By the time I got to assignment 11 is when I really started to have trouble with my entrepreneurship idea. The problem that I was focusing on got harder to continue with and I wasn't very enthusiastic about solving the problem. so, that's when I decided to change the problem that I was focusing on solving to an idea that I have more enthusiasm towards.
   
3. Three Tips:
• If you are really having trouble with the problem that you are trying to solve, then think about changing the problem that you are working on solving to something that you are more interested in.
• The best thing that you can do for yourself is to make a schedule. Write down all of the assignments and due dates on a calendar so that you will never miss a deadline and plan time to work on each assignment, and stick to it.
• Setting time to watch all of the lectures can really help you be successful in the course. Watching them no later than the day after they come out can really make a difference and help you stay on track.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

1. Pick a segment: For this assignment I chose to focus on the segment of my target market that consists of older citizens who can no longer drive themselves because of medical reasons. 
2. Need awareness: Through my interviews with potential customers in my chosen segment I found that during the day when the people in this segment need to get to a doctors appointment and have no one available to drive them because they are working or have other obligations is when this need is most relevant. Also, when people of this segment who still wish to stick to their daily routines and keep a healthy social life even though they cannot drive anymore this need is present. This need is most relevant in Florida cities with a higher percentage of older citizens, such as The Villages.
3. Information search: to find a solution a customer first may ask a friend or family member for a ride. However, these people may have job and family obligations that make them unable to provide them with a ride. Then, this customer may turn to public transportation to get them where they need to go. In many parts of Florida public transportation is very limited and older citizens might not have access to public transportation. Also, they may have safety concerns related to using public transportation.
4. Summary: Through my interviews I have found that older people who cannot drive themselves most notably express this need when they need to go somewhere, such as a doctors appointment, and no one they know is available to drive them or public transportation is not an option.
5. Draw Conclusions: Based on my research I would describe this segment of potential customers as those who are no longer able to drive themselves because of medical reasons and have no one readily available to drive them to the places that they need to go.

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

Disclaimer: Please read my "Quick Note" post before you read this one. I have decided to change ideas and my new idea is explained in more depth in that post so that you can get a better idea of the business I am discussing in this and future posts.

1. You: For this business I plan to start in The Villages and grow to be available throughout the state of Florida. I have personally experienced people with this need and the unneeded stress and anxiety it puts on them.
   
2. What are you offering to customers: I am offering my customers the idea of no more car payment, no more car maintenance stress, no more driving anxiety, and no more relying of other people to get you where you want to go.
   
3.  Who are you offering it to: I am offering this idea to The Villages citizens age 60 and older who can no longer drive themselves or do not like driving themselves but still have places to go and things to do.
   
4. Why do they care: My customers care because if they cannot drive themselves and they have no one who can drive them then they are stuck at home. Or if they do not like driving they may let that limit them in the things they do. Studies have show that there are countless benefits of an active social life for older adults, and my business would make that possible.
   
5. What are your core competencies: We are different from any other similar business because we cater to the older community. All of our drivers would be CPR certified and have some Emergency training as well as clear background checks and driving records so you know you are in safe hands with us. Also, for those who are medically unable to drive we may even be covered by their health insurance. We would also have hubs placed across the city, so that a customer could have a ride at there door minutes after calling.

Evaluation: I believe all of these elements fit together very well. Experts predict that, by the year 2030, the population of Floridians aged 65 and older will grow to 7.77 million. That large number of people would account for more than 37 percent of Florida’s current population. This means that the problem of older drivers on the road is only going to grow and their need to want to stay active is going to grow as well. Also,I am much more confident with the potential of this new idea than the idea that I was previously working on.

Quick Note

Based off my research and my own personal opinions, I have decided to change my entrepreneurship idea. Rather than focusing my efforts on an idea that I didn't feel like was gaining any ground, I have decided to turn my efforts to solving a problem that I am more excited about and believe to have more future potential. Here is a quick run down of my new project.

Problem: Older adults currently make up approximately 23 percent of the total population in Florida and by 2020, that number will likely increase to 28 percent—nearly one-third of the state’s population. That number is expected to grow even more substantially by 2030. Given the higher population of seniors in Florida, do we need to think more carefully about older adults and auto accident risks?

Solution: A car service that is available exclusively for the older community in Florida. This car service will be available to drive citizens wherever they wish to go, Doctors appointments, shopping, visiting family, etc. Feel free to think of it like Uber for old people mixed some aspects of  Rent-A-Car, but better. There would be central hubs located all over the city so that when a customer request a ride, a car could be there in a matter of minutes. All drivers would be CPR certified and have some EMT training in the case of an emergency.

To start solving this problem I plan to focus on starting this business in The Villages with prospects to grow throughout the state of Florida.

Who: The older community in The Villages.
What: Adults age 65 and older were involved in 10 percent of all reported crashes in Florida in 2015, and in 14 percent of collisions in which a fatality occurred.
Why: As a person ages, many abilities a person uses to drive tends to decline, such as eye sight quality and reaction times.

9A - Testing The Hypothesis, part 2

Who: After the process of interviewing five people who would not fit into my target market, I found that not every store has this problem with needing to know how much the items cost that are in your cart before checking out. I found that big box stores such as Walmart, Target, Sams Club, etc. are where this problem exist more acutely. Smaller stores such as convenience stores, drug stores, and some variety stores don't seem to have this issue as wide spread. With this information, I concluded that big box stores are inside the boundary, whereas smaller convenience stores are outside the boundary.

What: Through my interviews, I also found out that some stores may have there own solution to solve this problem and may not wish to use mine.

Why: smaller stores where shoppers tend to buy less items per visit are less likely to possess this need. Whereas big box stores and grocery stores where customers tend to purchase a large number of items per visit are much more likely to possess this need.

Inside the boundary:
Who: Big Box Stores such as Walmart, Target, Winn-Dixie, Publix, Sam's Club, etc.
What: Stores that do not have a solution already in place.
Why: Customers tend to buy a large amount of items per visit.

Outside the boundary:
Who: Small convenience stores, drug stores, some variety stores, etc.
What: Stores with their own solution already in place.
Why: Customers tend to buy a small amount of items per visit.

8A - Solving the problem

The problem that I am going to solve is the problem that I talked about in the previous post which is that local stores need a way for customers to know exactly how much the items in their shopping cart cost before reaching the checkout.

We all know those barcode scanners that employees use and even customers can use to walk about the store and add items to a gift registry. Well, why not  let everybody use them to shop. Customer can choose to use one if they like. If they do choose to utilize this method of shopping they can grab one at the front of the store near the shopping carts and begin shopping. If they find an item that they want to buy they can scan the barcode for the product and the screen on the scanner can show them all of the information on the product such as: product price, specifications, quantity in stock, any discounts that may apply, etc. Then the customer can choose to add the item to their cart both physically and on the scanner. On the scanner customers will be able to see their full shopping cart with a running total cost of items in their cart as well as any possible savings from discounts and sales. Customers can even add any coupons that they wish to use and see them applied to their shopping cart. There can even be a place on the shopping carts to mount the scanner so that customer don't have to hold on to it the whole time that their shopping.

One step further, once these customers reach the checkout, there will be a way for cashiers to check people out using the scanners with all of their items already scanned and totaled. Using the barcode scanners to checkout will make the process faster than ever before.

7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The opportunity that I would like to pursue for this exercise is the problem that local stores need a way for shoppers to know exactly how much the items cost in their shopping cart while they are shopping in the store.

The Who: people who shop in a brick and mortar store.
The What: They are unable to easily track the cost of the items in their shopping cart while shopping
The Why: No current method is in place for customers to do so.

Testing the Who: More specifically this problem affects people who are more financially savvy and wish to know the cost of the items in their cart before check out.
Testing the What: This need is present at many types of stores, such as clothing, grocery, and drug stores. Most notably this problem exist at big box stores.
Testing the Why: This need is present for some people who are on a limited budget and need to be frugal when shopping. This need is present when someone is shopping deals and needs to know the final price of a discounted item.

Interview 1
- Customer 1 agrees that there is an unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping at the store.
- This customer experiences this need once in a while when shopping at the store.
- The customer currently makes a shopping list before she goes to the store and only buys what is on her list in order to keep from over spending at the store.
- The customer is somewhat satisfied with this solution but does note that sometimes she does not or can not make a shopping list and is meet with this need.

Interview 2

-Customer 2 can definitely see how being unaware of the cost of the items you picked out are and how it would be frustrating to add it all up.

-This customer experiences this need on occasion when she buys a significant amount of items at the store, such as when she goes grocery shopping.

-To solve this need for her self this customer uses her phone calculator to add up the cost of the items in her cart while shopping.

- This customer is not very satisfied with her solution because she prefers to purchase items that are on sale and sometimes the final cost of the item is difficult to determine which can make her calculation be incorrect. 

Interview 3

- customer 3 agrees that there is a unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping.

-the customer experiences this need on a regular basis when shopping at the store.

- the customer uses her phone calculator to add up the cost of the items and calculate sales tax for those items in order to limit overspending at the store.

- The customer is not satisfied with this current solution citing that it takes her twice as long to shop at the store.

Interview 4

- Customer 4 agrees that there is an unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping at the store.

-This customer experiences this need on occasion when shopping at the store.

-The customer currently calculates the cost of his items in his head while shopping and includes an estimate for the anticipated cost of tax for his items.

This customer is not satisfied with his current solution noting that his calculations are often wrong from the actual total cost.

Interview 5

-Customer 5 really likes the idea of knowing how much all the items in your cart cost before actually getting to the cash register and being surprised with the sum.

- This customer experiences this problem every time she goes shopping at a big box store or a grocery store.

- To personal solve this need this customer bring a calculator to the store with her and adds the cost of the item to her total every time she picks up a new item and places it in her cart.

-The customer is not satisfied with her current solution because she sometimes forgets her calculator before going to the store.

Summary

I think the need still exist, however I realize that not everyone who shops at the store has this particular need. Because of this fact, I believe that my perception of the need is more accurate than before I began this project. The opportunity exists but its impact may not be as significant as I would have previously believed. 

5A - Identifying Local Opportunity

Article 1

A common mistake puts runners in danger on the road

https://bit.ly/2NbMj2p

This article discusses the safety issues that arise when runners are forced to run on the side of the road when there is no sidewalk or designated running path. The article recommends running towards on coming traffic because "you can't react to something you can't see." The article also suggest that runners take similar precautions as bike riders such as bright clothes and flashing lights. The problem in this story is the dangerous situation runners are in when there is no sidewalk or running path available and they are forced to run on the side of the road. This problem affects the people who choose to run on roads that do not have a sidewalk or running path and the drivers that travel on those roads.

Article 2

State wildlife agency hands out $305k in Central Florida to deter nuisance bears

https://bit.ly/2QymfNd

This article says that the states wildlife agency will dish out $305,000 to help Central Florida communities deter nuisance bears. These funds will enable cities to buy bear-resistant trash cans and adopt a "bear wise" ordinance. Since the use of these bear-resistant trash cans the number of nuisance reports has dropped dramatically. The problem this article talks about is nuisance bears that are being spotted around the city. This problem is affecting the people that are living in the neighborhood where these bears are being spotted. 

Article 3

Put some bounce in your step

https://bit.ly/2p7Q1LW

This article is about a woman who began teaching a class that involved wearing bounce boots. After trying out these bounce boots for the first time she fell in love with them and began teaching exercise classes using the boots. The problem in this article is that older people need a way to exercise because some of the traditional methods of exercising are too strenuous for the elderly. 

Article 4

Man fatally hit by Amtrack train in Seminole county, troopers say

https://bit.ly/2xdqeq6

This article explains that a man was hit by an Amtrak train and died from a head injury. The problem in this story is that a man was walking on the train tracks and never saw the train heading toward him. The people that are affected by this problem are the people who work on the train, ride the train, and people who live near train tracks. 

Article 5

Seminole commissioners hold off enacting new dog ordinance amid questions

https://bit.ly/2p8GyEs

This story informs the public of the county wide ordinance that is meant to crack down on the owners of dogs that lunge at or cause minor injuries to other animals or people. This ordinance would allow animal control to deem any dog that causes an unprovoked attack as "aggressive." The problem in this story is the fact that there is very little city officials can do about an aggressive dog with a history of lunging. The people are affected by this problem are dog owners and city officials. 

4A - Forming an opportunity Belief

1) I believe that an unmet need exists at my local store. one problem that I always run into when shopping is not knowing exactly how much all of the items in my cart cost before
I get to the checkout.

2) The opportunity involves the need to calculate the purchase cost of items while shopping. everyone who shops at a store while keeping a financially conscious mind set suffers from this need. As far as I can tell this need has existed since the implementation of stores. Right now in order to meet this need people are using personal calculators and elementary math skills to calculate the cost of the items in their shopping cart.

3, 4, 5, 6)
Customer 1:
- customer 1 agrees that there is a unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping.
-the customer experiences this need on a regular basis when shopping at the store.
-The customer first became aware of the need when she started shopping by herself and had limited funds to spend.
- the customer uses her phone calculator to add up the cost of the items and calculate sales tax for those items in order to limit overspending at the store.
- The customer is not satisfied with this current solution citing that it takes her twice as long to shop at the store.

Customer 2:
- Customer 2 agrees that there is an unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping at the store.
-This customer experiences this need on occasion when shopping at the store.
-This customer first became aware of this need when he moved and needed to decorate is new place but had limited funds available to do so.
-The customer currently calculates the cost of his items in his head while shopping and includes an estimate for the anticipated cost of tax for his items.
This customer is not satisfied with his current solution noting that his calculations are often wrong from the actual total cost.

Customer 3:
- Customer 3 agrees that there is an unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping at the store.
- This customer experiences this need once in a while when shopping at the store.
- The customer first became aware of this need when she nearly spent double what she had intended to spend at the store due to not tracking the cost of the items that she had put into her shopping cart.
- The customer currently makes a shopping list before she goes to the store and only buys what is on her list in order to keep from over spending at the store.
- The customer is somewhat satisfied with this solution but does note that sometimes she does not or can not make a shopping list and is meet with this need.

Reflection:
I learned that an opportunity does exist and that this unmet need is felt by other shoppers in my area. All three customers have been aware of this need. The most surprising thing that I learned is the different ways that these customers have adapted their habits to meet this need. Like myself customer 1 uses her phone calculator to keep track of the items that she puts into her shopping cart while customer 2 does similar with keeping track of the cost in his head. Customer 3 on the other hand limits herself completely to the items that she had written on her shopping list before entering the store and being tempted by the various deals and discounts that the store offers.

7) Summary:
I think the need still exist , however I realize that not everyone who shops at the store has this particular need. Because of this fact, I believe that my perception of the need is more accurate than before I began this project. The opportunity exists but its impact may not be as significant as I would have previously believed. I would think that having a strong customer focus and adapting the opportunity to customer needs would only serve to benefit the entrepreneur. There is definitely a trade-off between adapting an opportunity to better satisfy your customer's needs and staying firm with an opportunity to better satisfy your own needs. After all, the customers are the ones who are buying, or not buying, what you are trying to sell.

3A - Your Entrepreneurship story "Homemade Jerky"

My parents have been making and selling homemade beef jerky for about ten years know. Every time we make jerky we start with anywhere from 50 to 80 lbs. of meat that we buy wholesale. We slice, marinate, dry, cut, weigh, and bag the jerky right at our kitchen table. The first step is to cut and marinate the meat. Through trial end error my parents came up with four homemade marinade recipes that people love; Original, Honey Teriyaki, Hawaiian, Hot Mustard. Over the years there have been other flavors that they have tried, but none of them were as successful as the first four. When the opportunity presents it's self they even make Jerky using deer meat. After the meat has marinated for at least a day it's time to dehydrate the meat. At the beginning they started with small plastic dehydrators but once the demand increased those dehydrators took too long to dry the meat and didn't hold enough per batch. so, they upgraded to two stainless steel box dehydrators which dry the meat faster and can hold more meat per batch than the previous ones. Once the meat is dried it is moved to a big bowl where it can be trimmed and cut to size. although some pieces disappear before they reach the bowl. After the fat is trimmed off and the pieces are cut to size it is time to bag the jerky. The bags that we sell are 3 oz and fit in a snack size Ziploc bag. The jerky gets weighed, bagged, and a homemade jerky label stuck to the bag. Before we make jerky we take some pre-orders in order to get an estimate of how much meat to buy. These pre-orders are usually for a half pound or a whole pound of jerky. Our jerky sales are limited to friends, family, and coworkers that we know. The last couple of years we haven't made jerky as often as we used to but people still always ask "When are you making jerky?"


Honestly I enrolled in ENT 3003 because out of the limited sports management electives that I need to take for my degree this class sounded far more interesting than that of managerial accounting or the legal environment of business. Also,I love Motorsports and many of my favorite race car drivers are also entrepreneurs.

2A - Bug List

1. When my boss changes daily procedure before we even have time to adjust to the previous way.
• WHY: Because he is trying to find a more efficient way of getting the job done.
2. Bad drivers, riding my ass
• WHY: Because of the amount of time, technology, and people that go into making a new game, the profits from the game need to be able to justify the efforts put into the game.
3. People turning left at a stop sign who block the view of someone turning right at that same stop sign.
• WHY: Because the people turning left are trying to see around the person turning right.
4. People who use the middle turning lane as if it was a median.
• WHY: because there is heavy traffic and they don't want to wait until it is clear in both directions, if it ever is, to turn.
5. When playing Sirius XM in my car, the steering wheel button changes the station to the next consecutive channel rather than to my next preset channel like it does for the FM radio.
• WHY: Possibly because the steering wheel button is set up different for each source.
6. When my sunglasses get all scratched.
• WHY: because I put them in my purse without any protection for the lenses. 
7. When my hair gets caught on my sunglasses when I put them on my head.
• WHY: because of the way that the nose piece is shaped, it catches the hair and gets tangled.
8. I can never fit anything into my jean pockets; I am floored when they are big enough for me to fit my fist into.
• WHY: Because women's jeans are more form fitting than men's which leaves less room for bigger pockets.
9. When the drive thru line at Chick-Fil-A in Mount Dora backs up into the street.
• WHY: Possibly because people are either too lazy to park and go inside for food and get served quicker, or there is a reason that they can't go inside like if they have a dog with them and can't leave the dog inside the car while they go inside to get food.
10. The new Coke fountain machines with the hundreds of different drinks, you know the ones, they taste nasty. 
• WHY: Because all of those drinks use the same tube to dispense the liquid, the drink flavors mix and ends up tasting awful.
11. That my Twitter timeline is no longer chronological.
• WHY: Because Twitter is experimenting with algorithms to put tweets that may interest people at the top of their timeline, similar to that of other social media sites.
12. The new Florida drivers license design is weird.
• WHY: the state created a more secure design in order to cut down on fake IDs.
13. When people criticize NASCAR. I don't hate on you for liking football, or baseball, or basketball, or any other sport; don't hate on mine.
• WHY: Lack of knowledge about the sport today, possibly the people doing the criticizing have only ever heard of the stereotypes that are associated with NASCAR.
14. When there's no right hand turning lane and people use the left hand turning lane to go around the person who's turning right. That's how accidents happen people, trust me I know.
• WHY:  Possibly because they are either too impatient or too lazy to slow down and let the person in front of them turn.
15. When people use the lane ending merge as an opportunity to pass several other cars, which just in-turn slows the whole line of cars down because everyone has to let you into line.
• WHY: Because people are too impatient to wait for other cars ahead of them to go, and want to take advantage and pass as many cars in front of them as they can. 
16.  That the closest aquarium to my house is almost an hour and a half drive away; I love aquariums.
• WHY: Because aquariums need to be in big cities with a lot of tourism to be successful and the closest big city is an hour drive.
17. That my wiper blades are worn out on my car. 
• WHY: Because I have to remember to change my wiper blades, and that I have to stop and get wiper blades in order to change them.
18. That my dogs on occasion get bit by snakes.
• WHY: because we live in the country and snakes are everywhere. Because the dogs like to chase lizards which hide in the same places as snakes.
19. That my mom gives me a hard time on the way that I spend my money.
• WHY: because we have different interests and hobbies and the things that I spend my money on is not something that she would and vice versa. 
20. When we take our dogs to the vet, we are there for hours.
• WHY: Because the vet that we go to does not make appointments, they treat first come first serve.

The biggest problem that I had coming up with the list is that a lot of my original bugs were actually answers to the whys of those bugs so I had to think about my bugs differently and change them.

Test Post

Harry Hogge: All right. While we're still under a caution, I want you to go back out on that track and hit the pace car.

Cole Trickle: Hit the pace car?

Harry Hogge: Hit the pace car.

Cole Trickle: What for?

Harry Hogge: Because you've hit every other goddamned thing out there, I want you to be perfect.