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.