Final Reflection

What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

• The most formative experience for me was definitely the two interviews with the entrepreneurs. This was a good experience because it allowed me to pick the brains of people that had been in my shoes, but were successful in their business idea that they developed. It is always important to take notes from people that have been in your own situation before. The experience that I will remember years later is definitely how dumb I felt after my first elevator pitch video. I did not think it went well and it seemed awkward and not very informative the first time I watched it. Much to my surprise though, I received some good feedback and was able to learn from this experience. The most joyous experience for me was the comments I received on all of my videos. All of the comments were very positive and kept me going even when I did not think my video was necessarily great. I am most proud of myself for my unfair advantage assignment. I really thought this assignment was interesting because you had to really think of what gives you an advantage against everybody else out there. 

At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

• I would not consider myself a "complete entrepreneur" at this point in time, but I have definitely made huge strides in getting there. The final step in my process is going to be finding some success in the business world with one of my ideas in the future. I would definitely say that I have developed an entrepreneurs mindset though throughout this semester. I often find myself looking at situations or problems, but trying to find an opportunity where other people would not necessarily see one. I think this is an important step in becoming an entrepreneur in this day and age. 

What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

• For the students that are going to be in this class in the future, I would tell them to not be discouraged by failure. This class is all about improving throughout the semester and making changes to your original ideas. It is amazing how much better my blog has gotten from the beginning of the semester and it is definitely because I did not get discouraged and kept on persevering. To help with their mindset, I think they need to interview an entrepreneur as one of the first assignments of the semester. This will help get their mindset on the right page from the start. 

Week 15 Reading Reflection

      In this Harvard Business Review article, Business Basics at the Base of the Pyramid, there were a lot of different elements that I did not necessarily expect to read about. The biggest surprise for me in the reading was that SKS deals with customers who almost have no money. Some of their customers earned only around $1 per day, which is shocking from the point of view here in the United States. I do think that it is awesome though that this company offers loans to people who truly do need them in hopes of a brighter future for them and their families. The one part of the reading that was confusing to me was how Microfinance firms are not more successful in this day and age. I am surprised that not more companies try this method, but I guess it is because it is very risky and doesn't always workout in the long run. My first question for the author would be, "What is the most interesting experience you have been involved in working in this area of the world?" I feel like this would be a good story and provide some useful information. My second question would be, "Is this more of a service oriented idea or a business idea?" I feel like there are two aspects of this business and I would like to get the authors opinion. I did not think the author was wrong about anything, but I did think this was a very entertaining article to read and it was something that I really had not heard of until now.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

This is my 4th and final elevator pitch for my mobile car service in Gainesville. I have used the feedback from the first few pitches to adjust the context of this final assignment. 

In this final video, I have tried to include all of the elements of my business idea for the Gainesville community and specifically for the students at the University of Florida. I am hoping that people will understand my business from this video and be interested in the service that could potentially be coming to Gainesville. 

Venture Concept No. 2

For this assignment, I have used the same outline and basic structure for my venture concept, but I have modified the context based on the feedback I have received. 

Opportunity 

     I see an opportunity to help students with a convenient way to service their cars on and around the campus at the University of Florida. As a whole, this class has provided me with an opportunity to think outside of the box and escape my comfort zone. This is important because all good ideas are not necessarily right in front of you, sometimes you have to dig a little deeper and find an opportunity. When I was thinking about an unmet need in the Gainesville area, I thought back to problems I had in the past. I remembered that my car battery had died one day and most of my friends were busy and I was kind of out of luck for a couple of hours. I saw an opportunity for a mobile car service company in the Gainesville area to help out in situations like the one I was faced with on this day when my battery died. The other good thing about this opportunity is that cars are always going to be around, and they are always going to need to be serviced on a daily basis. Cars have been around for over 100 years and it is safe to say that they are not going anywhere. I believe the opportunity in the Gainesville area is huge because there is no service like the kind I am promoting and I really think there is a whole in the market for it. There is an opportunity for this service to be very successful and used by a lot of the more than 50,000 students and faculty in the area. I need to make good, smart business decisions to make sure I am able to take advantage of this opportunity. With this opportunity, I cannot be afraid of failure because I know that there will be some surprises along the way. This is a different service than AAA because it will be a local, student-run group that provides the services and not a corporate chain. Because of this, I will be able to make better connections with my customers and provide a better customer service. I will also not go out into traffic and what not to help people, my service will be for parked cars that need work either at home or work etc. 

Innovation

(This section has mostly stayed the same because my innovation idea has not changed throughout the process)

   The innovation I am bringing to the market is a mobile car service for the students and faculty at the University of Florida. I will have an app and online process where customers can put in a request to have their car fixed at their home by one of my certified car technicians. The jobs I will be able to do include: battery changes, light replacement, oil changes, wiper blade changes, gas fill-ups, minor dent repairs, car washes and some more minor car service jobs. Once the customer puts in the request, the technician will come to them and fix whatever the problem is for the price of the labor and then a small fee for the service I am providing. For example, if a customer's car battery died, I will come to their house with a new battery and replace the existing one for them. The customer will then pay me for the battery and then will pay a fee for the service. The fees will vary on how long the job takes, and the skill that is necessary to complete the request. I am hoping to keep the fee relatively small though because I want to target the college crowd and most students need to stay inside their budgets. Because this is more of a convenience for most people, I want the service to be quick and efficient so people can continue on with their everyday lives. Convenience and affordability are the two keys for my business to be successful.

Venture Concept

    My innovation will solve a hole in the market for a student-run mobile car service in Gainesville. This "hole" presents itself as an opportunity for success. People will be interested in my innovation because it is the first of its kind in the area and it will make a lot of people lives a lot easier if they do not have to go through the hassle of car dealerships or body shops. I cannot communicate how important convenience is for my business idea. I really do not think it will be hard for people to switch to my service because nobody really enjoys going out of their ways to get their cars fixed, so I will bring the service to them. Another good thing about my idea is that there are no other businesses in the area that cater to the needs of students like I am planning on doing. As far as my business concept goes, I want the customer experience to be the best in the area and the customer service to be great every single time. If one customer has a positive experience, they are more likely to go tell their friends and this is how I can expand my clientele through word of mouth. No matter what happens with the business, I plan to continue to make customer service my first priority to help expand my business. As far as employees go, I plan on handling the business and logical aspect of things, and then I will have a couple of certified service technicians on hand to do the actual work on the cars. Luckily, I have a good friend who is a technician and my sister can help me out from the marketing aspect of things. 

Feedback : I only received one comment on my first venture concept, and the person was not exactly sure what my business provided. Because of this feedback, I tried to make my business plan more clear and how I plan to run my business. The comments on my "what's next?" post were a lot more positive and told me that I was on the right page as far as going further. Both people agreed that Gainesville for a great market for this and really any college market for that matter. The only thing I really needed to change was describing my business idea better to make it easier to understand for people reading my blog. 

Changes I made: I tried to make the opportunity I was expressing easier to understand. I want the service I am providing to be clear and out front. I also had a comment asking if my service was similar to AAA services. Because of this, I added a difference in the opportunity paragraph to tell how my services would differ from this corporate chain. 

I chose this picture because it is one of the keys to my business idea. I believe that if my customers are satisfied with the services I provide, they will spread the word about my business and almost do all of the marketing for me. I am a strong believer that word of mouth is one of the most reliable forms of advertisement and future business opportunities. 

Google Gold

1. Search Engine Optimization is a key today in a businesses success. Search results matter and it can create traffic on your website or blog if it is done correctly. The way I was able to maximize the use of SEO was by putting titles and links in almost all of my blog posts. When people are searching for something online, my title will help make connections for whatever they're looking for. I also used my name a lot and I kept on repeating what services my business was going to offer. This is because if anybody is search for a mobile car service in Gainesville, I want my business to come up and be one of the first options on the search results page. I am going to continue to develop my SEO because it is one of the best ways to "advertise" and attract customers to any service or product

2. The key words I used for the most part were: "Gainesville" "mobile" "car" "service" "convenient" "reliable" "affordable". I used these words because if somebody is looking for a mobile car service in Gainesville, they're probably just simply going to search for that on the internet. Most people will put "affordable" or "cheap" before the search just to ensure they're getting the best deal out there. I did not necessarily refine these keywords throughout the semester, but I did see myself using them more as my blog developed because I knew it was important to attract web traffic.

3. I utilized Facebook to let people see my blog. Since it is not completed and still needs to be reviewed, I only shared the post with family and close friends so they could see all of the work I have put in this semester. Most of the people that I opened to viewing all checked the blog out and definitely created a lot more views than I had originally. By just sharing this with a few people, I can see the benefits of using social media to help get the word out. I would have gotten a ton of web traffic on my blog if I would have shared it with the 1,000 plus people that I am friends with on Facebook. I am definitely going to keep this in mind in the future when I need to promote or advertise a product or service. Social media is extremely effective and can be done for free in just a couple of minutes!

4. The post that went most "viral" for me was the first elevator pitch that I completed. I don't exactly know why it was the most viewed, but I think it definitely has something to with the YouTube video that was in that post. I have a feeling that most people were scrolling through the blog and saw a short video presentation and decided to take a minute and watch the video. I think this is interesting because it shows people want more than just written text and they're looking for something that jumps off the page to them. The video was clearly more attractive to people than just paragraphs of information.

5. I did not make it to the first page of google results for my blog, but I think that is because it is not open to the public yet so not everybody has access to what I post. I did find the blog on the 3rd page of results but it was just for one of the posts. I was surprised to see that the blog did not come up on the first page because I had been using the keywords a lot, but I definitely think it has something to do with privacy settings. Once I have completed the blog I am going to allow everyone to view it and see where that puts me as far as google results.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

Looking back on my first interview with Kim from Hip Pops, I really did not know anything about becoming an entrepreneur and everything was very new to me. I did not know what to expect from this class and I looked to her for some answers. I think I now have a better idea of what it takes to be successful as a entrepreneur and I hope to use that wherever the future takes me. 

I was not able to get in contact with Kim on the phone (her business is in Athens, Ga.), but she got back to me via email and answered the questions I had asked perfectly. She is very busy running her own business and taking care of three kids so I am very gracious that she got back to me. Here are the questions that I asked her and her responses. 

1) What was the hardest challenge you have faced up to this point in your entrepreneurial career?

• To be honest with you, starting Hip Pops was the hardest part for me. I did not know if the business idea was necessarily going to be successful in Athens and I had to invest a lot of my own money to help with the initial start up costs. If my idea was not successful, I would have lost a lot of money in the process and would have to move onto plan B (which I really did not have yet). Luckily, I had some great help from employees and support from family and friends and I was able to get the business off the ground and running from the start. 

2) If you could do anything different, what would it be and why?

• I really try not to look back because I cannot control the past, but if I had to pick something I would have waited a couple of years to start my business. All of my children are in elementary and middle school, and I wish I would have been able to participate a little more in their everyday lives. I am always home for breakfast and dinner, but the times in between is what I feel like I have missed out on. Lucky for me, my husband and children have been nothing but supportive through this entire process and now that the business is off the ground I can take some more time off and enjoy time with my family. 

3) What is one piece of advice you wish you had before starting your own business?

• The one piece of advice I wish I would have received is that speed bumps are part of the process. You cannot panic when something does not go exactly to the point, adjusting on the run is part of the job and some of your best decisions can come in a quick impulse without much thought process. Just keep your goals in mind and work hard and nothing can hold you back. 

Later on in the email, Kim said she could tell by the questions that I was asking that I had come a long way since January and that she wanted to know more about my business idea that I have developed. I am looking forward to telling her about my idea and seeing her opinion. I am also going to continue to pick her brain because she has experienced the ups and downs of becoming an entrepreneur. 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

In this weeks reading, chapter 3 and 4 from the text was filled with information about the entrepreneurial world. The part of the reading that I found most interesting was the section on encouraging innovation. Innovation is key to future success for any company or service. If you can offer a service that is new for most people and at a relatively low price then people will bounce on it. The only part of the reading that was confusing to me was the section on economic trade-offs. I do agree that trade offs are a necessity to running any business, but I think you must specifically chose what you want to trade-off with and to make sure that you don't lose any valuable assets in your business. The first question I would ask the author would be, "What impact does running an ethically sound business have on consumers?" I want to know how much consumers value an ethical business and how it effects their spending while shopping for goods or services. The second question I would ask would be, "What step is the government taking to ensure green capitalism?" I want to know what regulations are in place from the government to help promote environmental awareness. The only part of the reading that I did not necessarily agree with was the section on radical innovation. I do not think "radical" is the right word because it can have a negative connotation. I think a better term would have been "unique" innovation.

Celebrating Failure

1. This semester I failed in my attempt to take Intermediate Microeconomics. I am a transfer student from Ole Miss into the Economics department and this was my first higher level course at the University of Florida. It happened to be my teachers first course at the University as well. It is safe to say that I did not respond well to his teaching and I had to drop the class early in the semester. After the first class of the semester, I knew I was already behind because I did not learn some of the math that they were using in class. Despite attempts at office hours and extra hours of practice, I was not able to teach myself the math and therefore I was at a disadvantage for the class. I was either going to fail the class or drop it so I chose the ladder and signed up for the math class that I needed.

2. I learned a lot of valuable lessons from this experience. First of off, I learned that the education at the University of Florida is at a way higher level than Ole Miss. I had the required pre-requisites for this course, but the material at Ole Miss did not correspond with the material at Florida. I learned that I was going to have to adapt to the environment here and truly earn my degree with hard work and staying committed to my education. I also learned that Economics was a lot more math and not as many concepts that I anticipated from my research and prior coursework. All of these lessons that I learned have prepared me to be more successful in pursuing my degree in the near future.

3. Failure is hard. There is no doubt about that, but it is also an important aspect of life. Almost no people are successful with everything they do, so it is important to respond to failure correctly in hopes of making improvements in the future. I believe that all failures can have some positive impact in the long-run. As long as you learn from the failures and use the information to benefit yourself in the future, failures can be a blessing in disguise. I also think that people should not let failures effect them on an emotional level like most people do. It is important to bounce back from failure as quick as possible to not let any lingering effects creep back in. This class has changed my perspective on failure because I have been able to adapt and succeed in this course. After going back and reading my first couple of blog posts, they were not very good at all. They lacked creativity and were the bare minimum. Looking back on this now, I used these examples to improve my work in the future and I think that is what failure is all about.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

In chapter 14, valuation of entrepreneurial ventures, I learned a lot of new things that stuck out to me. The biggest surprise for me in the text was the part about price/earnings ratio method. I did not know that the stock of a private company is not publicly traded. It is also surprising that the stated net income of a private company might not truly reflect its actual earnings. The only part of the reading that was confusing to me was the discounted earnings method. I feel like a lot of the information is estimated so I do not see how it can be completely accurate and a good source of information. The first question I would ask the author would be, "What is the most important asset to evaluate when looking at a corporations value?" I want to know what it is the most important and what I should focus the majority of my time on. My next question would be, "What evaluation can predict future success the best?" I want to know how I am going to make the most money possible. I did not think the author was wrong about anything, but I don't think too many people rely on emotional bias to evaluation a venture!

My Exit Strategy

    This is really the first time I have thought of an exit strategy or really the next move for my business as a whole. As far as my business in Gainesville goes, I will probably be selling the entire company to a friend of mine that I can trust. I would like to sell it to somebody that I know so I can continue to check up on the business and make sure they're still providing quality work to the people in Gainesville. Once I sell the business to a friend, I am going to focus all of my time onto the family car dealerships in Tampa which is where my true passion lies. The good thing about my mobile car service business is that I can use different aspects of the business model and combine them with the day to day activities that go on at a car dealership. I could even have the dealership setup their own mobile car service department for easy fixes that do not involve driving to the store.

   The reason I have chose this strategy is because I see the business in Gainesville somewhat reaching a peak and not being able to take huge steps forward after that moment. On the other hand, I see owning a car dealership as a great opportunity to expand and serve thousands of people. The decisions that I am making today and have made in the past have not really effected my exit strategy because I want to pass down the company in Gainesville to a friend so I want it to be successful. I might even keep a percentage of the ownership so I still have some say in the decision making process.

   Here is a picture of our family car dealership in Tampa. It has so much potential and it is the main reason I am looking to see my business in Gainesville within the next three to five years!

What's Next?

Existing Market

   1. The next step for my company involves detailing the interior and exterior of cars for a small fee. Nobody likes to have a dirty car, but many people are just too lazy to go to a car wash and have to spend that type of money and time. Therefore, I am going to bring the service to the people for an affordable price and offer quality service. I am hoping that once people see the quality of work when their cars are detailed, that they will then turn to me for help when servicing their car and other small tasks associated with cars. 

2. To be uploaded

3. Based on my own expectations and feedback, I have a feeling that this service is going to be a good idea to help grow my business idea from the start. I obviously have some of the finer details to figure out, but I think the idea is going to be a hit and has the potential to spread around Gainesville. As far as the specifics of my idea go, I like the feedback of potentially offering free car washes for the first couple of weeks to people that use the car service portion of my business. I want to be a mobile car service first, with the potential of detailing cars on the side. 

  I think it is important that I offer a couple of free car washes at first because people will see the good job I do and then they will be willing to pay for a detail at another time later on. I am planning on using the free washes to attract customers and then I will hook them on for a long time with great quality service. But I cannot stress it enough that I want to be a service technician business first and then detailing cars second. I think it is a key to my success to make sure I understand where the money is originally coming from. 

New Market

   1. Instead of targeting the college crowd in Gainesville, it would be radically different for me to start offering my service to maybe retirement communities or just older residential areas. Although these two areas are polar opposites, I think the market is somewhat the same. Most older citizens either do not want to drive to a body shop or are not capable of going through all of the different tasks in that process. I think an elderly couple would love for somebody to come to their house and change their oil for a small fee just because it is so convenient for them. 

2. I think there is value in this new market because it is so convenient for people to not have to leave their own homes. Some elderly people are also not able to get out and wash their own cars on there on so that is a service they would be interested in I think. As far as money goes, I think this new market will be willing to pay a little bit more since they're not on the constraints like a college student in Gainesville. People in this new market will value my service for its convenience and quality work.  

3. To be uploaded 

4. As far as the new market goes, I learned that anything convenient is going to work. People in the elderly community want services that are easy to come by and provide good quality work. My expectation was that there is a market for this service and I was correct after hearing the feedback from people in the community. I will do the same strategy with the Gainesville market where I will offer some free detailing for people that want my business from the service aspect of things. Hopefully after they see how well I do on their cars detailing, I can get on a normal routine and maybe even monthly washes. 

   

  On second thought, I see this market to be almost as good as the college market in Gainesville. I think both markets include people with time or other constraints. I just will need to market differently to the people in the older communities who do not have social media. I could go with more classic outputs like posting flyers or even going door to door to have some face to face conversations to tell people what service I have to offer. 

   

Week 12 Reading Reflection

In this weeks reading of chapter 13 in the text, one of the biggest surprises for me was all of the different steps that go into making an entrepreneurial decision. All of the different stages are unique and separate, but they all contribute to the final decision that the people in charge must make. Another surprise for me was reading that planning must switch from informal, to formal conversations and vice versa. This is important because it is important to have informal conversations to try and see what the people truly want, but it is also important to have formal conversations about specific logistics as well. The one part of the reading that was confusing to me was the entrepreneurial strategy matrix with independent variables. I understand how to read the chart and what the different boxes entail, but I think it is hard to judge exactly how hard a "risk" is in terms of a chart. A risk is a risk because you truly don't know the result and you're taking a chance. I think they could have maybe defined risk a little bit better in the text. The first question I would ask the author would be, "What is the most important step in the strategic planning of a new entrepreneurial idea?" I would ask this because I want to know what to focus the most amount of my time on. I would also ask, "Which stage involves the most research to be done to obtain the results you're looking for?" Research is so important for innovations so I want to make sure I am on the right track and have as much prior knowledge as possible. I did not see anything wrong in the chapter, but I do agree with everything about how important the growth stage in the process.

Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity 

     As a whole, this class has provided me with an opportunity to think outside of the box and escape my comfort zone. When I was thinking about an unmet need in the Gainesville area, I thought back to problems I had in the past. I remembered that my car battery had died one day and most of my friends were busy and I was kind of out of luck for a couple of hours. I saw an opportunity for a mobile car service company in the Gainesville area to help out in situations like the one I was faced with on this day when my battery died. The amount of cars flying around Gainesville is crazy and I know that most of them have small fixes that students are either too lazy to go fix, or they just don't have time to go to an auto shop and wait for their car to be fixed. The other good thing about this opportunity is that cars are always going to be around, and they are always going to need to be serviced on a daily basis. I believe the opportunity in the Gainesville area is huge because there is no service like the kind I am promoting and I really think there is a whole in the market for it. There is an opportunity for this service to be very successful and used by a lot of the more than 50,000 students and faculty in the area. I need to make good, smart business decisions to make sure I am able to take advantage of this opportunity. 

Innovation

   The innovation I am bringing to the market is a mobile car service for the students and faculty at the University of Florida. I will have an app and online process where customers can put in a request to have their car fixed at their home by one of my certified car technicians. The jobs I will be able to do include: battery changes, light replacement, oil changes, wiper blade changes, gas fill-ups, minor dent repairs, car washes and some more minor car service jobs. Once the customer puts in the request, the technician will come to them and fix whatever the problem is for the price of the labor and then a small fee for the service I am providing. For example, if a customer's car battery died, I will come to their house with a new battery and replace the existing one for them. The customer will then pay me for the battery and then will pay a fee for the service. The fees will vary on how long the job takes, and the skill that is necessary to complete the request. I am hoping to keep the fee relatively small though because I want to target the college crowd and most students need to stay inside their budgets. Because this is more of a convenience for most people, I want the service to be quick and efficient so people can continue on with their everyday lives. 

Venture Concept

    My innovation will solve a hole in the market for a student-run mobile car service in Gainesville. People will be interested in my innovation because it is the first of its kind in the area and it will make a lot of people lives a lot easier if they do not have to go through the hassle of car dealerships or body shops. I really do not think it will be hard for people to switch to my service because nobody really enjoys going out of their ways to get their cars fixed, so I will bring the service to them. Another good thing about my idea is that there are no other businesses in the area that cater to the needs of students like I am planning on doing. As far as my business concept goes, I want the customer experience to be the best in the area and the customer service to be great every single time. If one customer has a positive experience, they are more likely to go tell their friends and this is how I can expand my clientele through word of mouth. As far as employees go, I plan on handling the business and logical aspect of things, and then I will have a couple of certified service technicians on hand to do the actual work on the cars. For my business to be successful, I need to have a lot of customers and be able to do a bunch of cars every day to help cover the expenses and pay my employees. I see a market that has a lot of potential and I am looking forward to entering the market and making some money in the process. 

Three Minor Elements

• My most important resource is definitely going to be getting return customers because of good quality service the first time I am able to fix their cars. I am a big believer in doing things right all of the time, and I think people will love the experience they receive when they do business through my company. I want return customers and I want my business to spread from word of mouth and social media. I also think that it is important that I have a lot of connections here at UF with Greek life, club sports and people I have met in all of my classes through the years here at UF. 
• The next part to my idea is going to be a mobile car detailing service that comes to you and will clean the inside and outside of your car for a small fee. Everyone likes having a clean car, but nobody likes going through the hassle of going to a wash or running their car through a gas station machine to have it do a mediocre job. My detailing would be second to none and offered for a relatively cheap price. 
• This is a tough question. For now, I see this business idea as something I would just be doing here while I am in school in Gainesville. As far as the future goes, I want to own my own car dealership in Tampa, but maybe I can also provide a mobile car service through the dealership in Tampa. Time will tell, but I know I want to be in the car business when I am older!

Amazon Whisperer

1. The main revenue driver for my mobile car service company comes straight for the fee that I charge for my service. This fee includes the service, experience, convenience and knowledge that I offer my customers when I work on their car. The fee is not going to be a large number because I want the service to be affordable for college students and I am hoping to make my money mostly from having a high number of customers on a daily basis and not from just charging a high fee to a few customers.

2/3. The next thing I want to bring to my customers involves the service of detailing the inside and outside of their cars for a small fee. I want to be able to offer a quality cleaning service for cars that does great work on the interior and exteriors of any type of car. This will be much more convenient than having to drive to a gas station and get a mediocre car wash only on the outside of your car. I believe that this next step in my business will be successful because I can even discount the wash when they make an appointment online for another type of service request. I am hoping to make it an "add on" service that is more of a luxury than necessity for most people. I also hope to get some people on a rotating schedule where I come and clean there cars maybe once a month or whenever it is easiest for them. Everybody loves getting into a clean car, both on the inside and out, so I want to offer this service to my customers!

4. Because my idea is more of a service generated idea, it was not easy to find a product online.

That being said, this full service car care kit would be perfect for my business. I would buy this kit and it would have everything that I need to clean a car besides water. This would make my life a lot easier and I could simply just purchase the package on amazon and have it at my front door in two business days! This package include wax, shampoo, conditioner, towels, foam and plenty of other extras that will help me enhance my service. 

5. As far as customer reviews go for this product, everything is extremely positive. This includes a 4.6 star rating out of 5. This ensures me that it is a quality product and it is trusted by people all across the United States. Some of the reviews thought the product was a little bit too expensive and offered some products that are not a necessity when washing a car. But the majority of the reviews were very pleased with their purchase and would do it again in a heartbeat. The main thing people liked the most was that the products last awhile since you only have to apply a little bit to the car in order for it to work. 

6. I really would not make any changes to the product, but I would maybe include a small little workbook that says how each product works and maybe even which order to use the products in for maximum success. 

7. This product would make a good addition to my service because it would allow me to do better work for a smaller amount of money. Because these products last for so long, I will be able to offer the service for a low fee which is key to my success! Overall, nothing but good things will come from purchasing this product. 

Week 11 Reading Reflection

In this weeks reading "You Need an Innovation Strategy" by Gary Pisano, I was interested in the topic of innovation because it can be so easily applied to almost everything in this day and age. The biggest surprise for me was the part about having a plan and strategy at all times. I knew that companies have plans and what not, but it was surprising to see how all of the decisions are truly made. For Corning to be in business after 160 years, they have had to adapt and change their products to fit the different needs that the consumer demands. The only part of the reading that was confusing to me was how risky a long-term investment on innovation can be. It does make sense that a certain innovation can cost a company a lot of money, but I didnt really realize that it could truly put them out of business so easily. My first question to the author would be, "What was the first company to truly invest in innovation and the changing times in our country?" I want to know who was the ring leader in the movement towards innovation. I would also ask the author, "How much prior research has to be done before committing so much money to innovation?" Being in marketing this semester as well, I know it sometimes takes years of information for a company to make a decision like this. I really do not think the author made any mistakes since everything seemed accurate and it was from a reliable source!

My Unfair Advantage

VRIN scale on 1-10

1. Experience in the car business

• Started by my grandfather in 1969, my family has been in the car business in Tampa ever since. I think over the years I have accumulated the knowledge and skills necessary to run a successful car service business. 
• V- 8
• R-5
• I-6
• N-7

2. Connection to service parts straight from General Motors

• Through the dealership in Tampa, I will be able to order all of the service parts for a discounted price. This will help me not only make a profit, but I will have access to almost every part for cars imaginable and that will be of great convenience to my customers. 
• V- 10
• R- 8
• I-7
• N-3

3. Accountant on hand

• Brian Lee Patterson, my best friend since I was 5 years old, is an accountant right out of college right now and he would be perfect managing all of my books and money. I can trust him and focus on the service part of the business because I know he will have all of the financials handled. 
• V-8
• R-3
• I-4
• N-6

4. Free marketing with the help of my sister 

• My main source of advertising is going to be through social media and word of mouth. Lucky for me, my sister is a PR major at the University of Georgia. She is great at graphic design and would really promote my service in a positive way on all forms of social media. I can also trust her so I will not have to worry about this aspect of the business. 
• V-7
• R-7
• I-5
• N-6

5. Already a solid client base that would be willing to use my services 

• Since talking about my idea for a couple of weeks, I have had a countless amount of friends ask me if I could make these minor fixes to their car if I go through starting the business. It has been enough people that I would have a solid starting point. I would do very quality work on their cars and hopefully they will tell all their friends to give me a call. 
• V-5
• R-6
• I-7
• N-3

6. Have a lot of free time on my hands 

• Besides one class on Tuesday and Thursday, I am somewhat free most of the week and I would be able to focus a lot of attention on my business. This is even more important when I am first getting started to make sure I hit the ground running and put myself in the best position for success. 
• V-3
• R-5
• I-6
• N-3

7. Certified service technician I know that is willing to work for me

• One of my good friends from high school has been working in a body shop for almost 4 years now and I am nothing but confident that he can fix anything and everything. This is huge because there will not be a project I have to turn down because I cannot do it. 
• V-10
• R-10
• I-8
• N-9

8. Ability to think outside of the box 

• If not all things are going as planned, I have the ability to change the course of action and make moves. I think this quality comes from holding leadership positions throughout my life. 
• V-8
• R-5
• I-7
• N-6

9. Time management 

• Growing up playing multiple sports at the same time and still balancing school has always been my life since I can remember. This will help me when I have a lot of things on my plate and I will be able to avoid stress because I have been in this position before. 
• V-7
• R-6
• I-4
• N- 5

10. Competitiveness 

• I think this might be my greatest resource because it is my willingness to do whatever it takes to be successful. I want to do well in everything I do and the business world is nothing new. 
• V-7
• R-8
• I-8
• N-6

The top resource for me is definitely my friend that is a certified technician and is willing to work for me. He can literally do everything that I need him to do and then some. This will be perfect for my clients that want efficient and quality work. 

Growing My Social Capital

Domain Expert

Guy Denig - Service Manager of Century GMC in Tampa

Guy works as the service manager in a large car dealership in the middle of Tampa. He has worked in the service industry for cars for over 30 years and knows everything there is about the service side of the car business. I found Guy because he works at my family dealership, so I contacted him simply with a phone call. I believe that contacting him gave me a lot of information on servicing a car that I did not know. I had never thought about the insurance or warranty aspect of a service fix until I talked to him on the phone. He gave me some advice that will definitely help me be more successful in the future. He told me that the key to my business is doing really minor fixes and making sure I do them quickly and with quality work. This is going to enhance my company because he is experienced in this field and I can trust his advice.

Expert on my market

Tim Moore - Tim's Maintenance Repair Gainesville, Fl

Tim has been in the mobile service business in Gainesville from 2006 and has run a successful business for a long time. Tim does more major repairs and over a variety of different motor vehicles. I was able to get Tim's number off his website and take a couple minutes out of his day to talk to me about my business idea. His advice to me was to make sure I focus on the college students that do not necessarily have time to go out and get their car fixed. He thinks that convenient, quick work is going to be the key to my success.

Advanced Auto Parts - University Ave

I called Advanced Auto Parts and was able to speak to the manager of the store on University. He did not give me any information on his background in the parts industry, but he did say that his store will offer discounts for orders in bulk. This would be beneficial to me because I could buy a lot of wiper blades, or car batteries for a discounted price and then install them and make a profit off of the item. This is good news because I truly did not know the best place for me to get the parts I need in order to run my service business.

Reflection: I enjoyed this assignment because it really made me sit down and think about how I need to network with and who can give me the best advice to be successful. From all three of my phone calls, I realized that every aspect on my company must be organized and efficient if I want to be successful. In future networking events, I will do the same process as I did this time and sit down and really pick out a target audience and then go from there.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

I was interested in this weeks reading because it finally talked about the financials involved with entrepreneurial ventures. In the reading, I was surprised to of the detail that went into the chapter involving all of the ins and outs of accounting. I took financial accounting a couple of semesters ago and it was all the same information I learned in the whole semester. I was also surprised that the book did not talk about having an accountant on staff that usually presents the owner with all of this information to help make decisions for the future. None of the reading was confusing to me because of my history in accounting, but the concept of the cash-flow budget has always been hard to understand. My first question to the author would be, "Why did you include all of the information about financials, but not much text on what all the information means?" I feel like the author could have made it a little less technical. My second question would be, "How does this upcoming election effect the financial situation for a business owner? I would just be interested to see if the election is going to have a large impact on the economy. I did not find any mistakes in the chapter, but once again I wish it contained less accounting information and more practical information.

My Secret Sauce

- 5 ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique 

1) Ability to lead in a group setting. I have always been the one to step forward either during a group project or team event. I have found over the years that I would much rather help make decisions on certain things instead of just being told what the decision is and how to act. 

2) Ability to stay calm in almost all situations. "Whose self control is equal to all emergencies" is a good quote because everyone usually freaks out in emergency situations, but I have always been able to stay calm in stressful situations. 

3) Stay true to what I believe. Throughout my life, I have been able to stay true to most of my religious beliefs that I learned at an early age in school. I think this is a good quality because it is always important to stay grounded and humble at all times. 

4) Help lighten up a room. My friends have told me over the years that I am good at cheering them up when they are down or in a funk. I hate seeing people I care about upset so that is probably why I am good at this. 

5) Generosity. I have found myself to be very generous over the years because I am a true believer in good karma and that everything will work out in the long run. 

Interview the 5 people I know the best

   - To complete this part of the assignment, I wanted to interview my parents, sister, best friend and cousin. None of these people live in Gainesville so I had to call them to ask them questions about what makes me different as a person. My dad quickly answered my question saying that my competitiveness has always made me different throughout my life. He said that it was either in the driveway playing basketball, or on my chemistry test I always wanted to do the best and set high standards for myself. I think this is a good attribute because it makes me continue to strive to be the best in whatever I do. My mom told me that my laid back attitude has made me different from my peers over the years. I do a good job in general of never getting too high or too low in all situations. My sister told me it was my positive attitude that has helped her get through a lot of tough situations in life. My best friend who goes to school in Tallahassee, said it was my ability to balance my time while staying busy with a lot of different things. Last but not least, my cousin said it was my humor and ability to make people laugh. 

I found this assignment very interesting because I had to really reflect on myself as a person and then compare that to the responses of my family and closest friends. I found it a little bit difficult to see what truly makes me different as a person, but now I see what sets me apart from most people. The only difference is the competitive quality that my dad discussed. I would include this in my list of 5 if I could do it again because I think it is important. I always want to compare myself against the best and I think this is a key to success in any industry. 

Week 9 Reading Reflection

In this weeks reading, the biggest surprise for me involved the section on marketing philosophy. I was surprised to read that the production-driven philosophy is based on the belief "produce efficiently and worry about sales later." I always thought that sales were the most important and the first objective when making and distributing a product. I was somewhat that were so many different inhibitors to marketing research. These include cost, complexity, strategic decisions and irrelevancy. This is confusing because I thought most companies just hire their own researchers to do the work for them. If I could ask a question to the author, I would ask "What is the biggest challenge and most complex challenge that entrepreneurs face on a daily basis?" I would ask this question so I could be prepared in the future. I would also ask, "What is the best way to reach customers on the internet?" I want to know the answer to this, because so many people use computers everyday and it is a great way to reach millions of people quickly. I do not disagree with anything the author said. Everything seems up to date and very accurate information wise.

Idea Napkin No. 2

A couple of quick things about me: I am from Tampa, Florida and am the third generation Ghioto to be involved in the owning of a Buick, GMC and Kia car dealership in the Tampa Bay area. I have grown up around the car business and have seen what peoples needs are on an everyday basis. This is why I have come up with my idea to provide a mobile car service company that will come to you to fix minor issues. Instead of making an appointment and waiting at a body shop, my employees will come to you at a scheduled time and make minor repairs such as battery replacements, light replacements and even gas fill ups for a small fee. I hope to spread this idea by word of mouth at first and then different outlets with social media to help reach as many college students as possible. I believe what sets me apart is the experience I have in the car business and how I can use that to present a better service to my customers. 

As far as feedback goes, most of the original comments were pretty positive so I tried to keep the majority of my idea the same. I agree that I need to fine tune some things, but this is just the general idea that I am presenting to the public. Some of the best feedback I received came from the last comment on my first idea napkin, the comment asked how I was going to promote my idea. This question got me thinking and I came to the conclusion that social media would be not only the most effective, but it would be free to me. Because of this feedback, I included my marketing plan in this idea napkin. I also need to keep in mind from the feedback that convenience is the main service I am bringing to my customers and I need to make sure my work is quick and efficient. 

Week 7 Reading Reflection

Market Segmentation is something that is very important and somewhat underrated in the business world. It is important because good segmentations identify the groups that are most worth pursuing for the producer. In you know who to target, you can devise an advertisement plan to suit your needs. The biggest surprise for me in this reading was how precise all of the information is regarding market segmentation. Researchers spend millions of dollars a year deciding on not only how to advertise their product, but also who to advertise to. The only part of the reading that was somewhat confusing was the section on the gravity of decision spectrum. I understand that some decisions are more important than others, but I do think a lot of people spend a greater amount of time on smaller decisions to still save money. I would like to ask the author which market segmentation is the toughest to enter and gain customers in. I am guessing it is maybe the older groups of people in this day and age. I do not thing the author was wrong about anything, all of the information seemed very accurate.

Elevator Pitch 2

This is my second elevator pitch for my mobile car service idea in Gainesville.

I received some really good feedback from my first Elevator Pitch that I will be able to use for my mobile car service idea. I have decided I need an app to make it easier for the consumers to reach me, I will offer a car wash and vacuum with every job, and I am only going to stick to small jobs, so my work can be quick and efficient. Really looking forward to applying these fixes and improving my idea. 

Week 6 Reading Reflection

In this weeks reading, it was nice to jump out of the text and read some material from another source. I would say the biggest surprise for me is that I did not know how many forces went in to creating competition. As far as these forces go, I think the power that buyers have is the most interesting. Buyers can drive down prices, demand better service and quality and control the seller in many other ways. The most confusing part of the reading was when the article talked about defining the relevant industry. This is important because it lets the companies know where they stand and who the real competitors are in the market. I would ask the author, "Why does competition sometimes cause the best results for consumers, but sometimes the worst as well?" I would also ask, "What is the number one barrier of entry in most markets?" I would be interested to hear the answer to both of these questions from a very reliable source. I really do not believe the author was wrong about anything. I found all of the information very easy to read and filled with facts.

Idea Napkin No. 1

A couple of quick things about me: I am from Tampa, Florida and am the third generation Ghioto to be involved in the owning of a Buick, GMC and Kia car dealership in the Tampa Bay area. I have grown up around the car business and have seen what peoples needs are on an everyday basis. This is why I have come up with my idea to provide a mobile car service company that will come to you to fix minor issues. Instead of making an appointment and waiting at a body shop, my employees will come to you at a scheduled time and make minor repairs such as battery replacements, light replacements and even gas fill ups for a small fee. I am offering this service (mainly) to college students in the area who simply to not have enough time to handle these fix its on their own! I believe this idea is very convenient and will be used by heavily by college students who don't always have a lot of time on their hands. The services will be available to all people in the Gainesville area as well.

I believe my business idea is a good start, but that it needs some fine tuning. I need to figure out exactly what services would be provided and for how much of a fee. For a start though, I think it is something that most college students would benefit from!

Elevator Pitch 1

My business idea is a mobile car service in college towns all around the country. My company would take calls from college students and see what they need as far as car service goes. For a set fee, somebody would come out to the caller's home and fix whatever is wrong with their car. This is much easier than having to go to a body shop for minor fixes! Hop on board with "Fix it" auto services.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

While reading chapter 9, I realized we are really starting to get to the meat of this class and this chapter was filled with different information.

1) The biggest surprise for me in the text was how much work goes into the profile analysis while evaluating a new venture opportunity. The evaluation process is extensive, but it is necessary to gather all of the information necessary to make a decision. In this same time, a company must also make sure their venture technically feasibility.

2) The only part of the reading that was confusing for me involved the section on growth of sales. I don't exactly understand all of the work that goes behind the scenes in predicting new-venture sales and profits for a company. There are also ways to predict if a company is going to max out at some point along the way.

3) My first question do the author would be, "what is the main reason you have seen most ventures fail?" I would like to know why most companies do not work all the time and if there is a way to prevent the usual causes. My second question would be, "who are the best people to surround yourself with while creating a new-venture start up?" It is always key to surround yourself with successful people in the business world!

4) I somewhat disagree with the author when he did not talk a lot about marketability. I think this is vital to new ideas because it involves reaching people with your product and getting the name out.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

In reading Chapter 5 "Innovation: The Creative Pursuit of Ideas," I learned how to find opportunities and how to look for them on a daily basis.

• What stood out the most for me in this reading was that creativity is something that can be developed and improved over time. I always thought creativity was something you either were good or bad at and nothing could change that. This reading helped me realize that there are phases and processes to help improve creativity. Exercises and experiences make this process easier. 
• The only part of the reading that was confusing for me was the muddling mind-sets section. I understand the concept and how your mind set has an effect on the work that you can do, but some of the processes are somewhat confusing. 
• I would ask the author how he evaluates his creativity from project to project. I think this is important because once you evaluate your work, you can think of ways to improve it for the future. I would also ask the author his opinion on how innovation is going to continue to develop with the changes in technology we are seeing today. Technology is improving everyday and it is having a serious effect on innovation in multiple industries. 
• I somewhat disagree with the author when he talks about how technology is not the driving force of innovation success. I think technology has a huge effect on innovation and the new products and ideas we see from day to day.

Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 Problems

1. Hunger 
2. War and armed violence
3. Poverty 
4. Obesity
5. Cyber crime

• This was a tough list to put together because all of the problems on my list are important and need to be solved. I picked world hunger as the top problem because it is very simple and crucial to everyday life. Millions of people around the world do not know where their next meal is going to come from. This is something that we need to solve on a global scale. 

Top 5 Solutions 

1. Security systems to stop cyber crime 
2. Strengthening European Union and United Nations to fight the spread of war
3. Educating the young and improving eating habits for people all around the world
4. Strengthening local governments to help with shortage of food in communities 
5. Spreading the wealth in the world to decrease amount of people living in poverty

• All of these problems are hard to solve, and that is why they still exist to this day. I think that cyber crime is the easiest to stop because we have the resources and people in line to create security systems to counter the hackers. We need this security so our personal information and identities are safe on a daily basis. 

Identifying Local Opportunities

1) "Wal-Mart to Shutter 269 Stores, 3 in Florida"

• http://www.tbo.com/news/business/wal-mart-to-shutter-269-stores-three-in-florida-20160115/
• Three stores are closing around the Tampa Bay area, and this is going to effect thousands of people. The stores are closing because of competition from online stores like Amazon. Wal-Mart is working on new ways to combat the newest competition they're facing. 
• The problem with 3 stores closing in Florida is all of the jobs that are going to be lost in these areas. Wal-Mart employs hundreds of people in a single store and provides a lot of workers with an important income in their life. 
• The problem is going to directly effect the current Wal-Mart workers, but also the consumers in the area. Wal-Mart customers are now going to have to go elsewhere and potentially pay more for their every day products. 

2) "Port Tampa Bay Looks to Keep Cruising Despite Restrictions on Mega Ships"

• http://www.tbo.com/news/business/port-tampa-bay-looks-to-keep-cruising-despite-restrictions-on-mega-ships-20160110/
• Without these giant "floating cities" coming into the port, officials think the area can still prosper. Because of bridge restrictions, Tampa is not able to allow the mega ships into their port, but they're researching other opportunities to make money in the cruise industry. 
• The problem with these restrictions involves Tampa missing out on potentially big money from these huge ships. These ships carry thousands of people who would pump money into the local economy. 
• This directly effects those working around the port because they might see a loss in business coming shortly. 

3) "Tourism, Downtown Groups Urge Progress on Go Hillsborough Plan"

• http://www.tbo.com/news/business/tourism-downtown-groups-urge-progress-on-go-hillsborough-plan-20151228/
• Because of the limited transportation options in Tampa, tourism is likely to shrink from its current record levels. "Go Hillsborough" is a plan funded to help improve transportation in the area and has been approved, but not much progress has been made. 
• The problem with the lack of progress on the transportation changes is that economic developers are hesitant to invest in Tampa until they see a better system of transportation in the area. 
• This is going to negatively effect businesses in the area that are looking to expand and develop but are held back by their corporate headquarters. 

4) "Hillsborough Commissioner Oks Deal with Bucs for Stadium Upgrades"

• http://www.tbo.com/sports/bucs/hillsborough-commission-oks-agreement-with-bucs-for-stadium-upgrades-20151216/
• The somewhat outdated Raymond James Stadium is going to undergo around $87 million in renovations. There were some problems with the local commissioners and protests, but the plan was finally approved and will begin this offseason. 
• The problem with these renovations is that $29 million will come from taxpayers in the Tampa Bay Area. Some people see this as a "waste of money" but others see the project as necessary for Raymond James Stadium because it is necessary if Tampa wants to host Super Bowls and other big events. 
• This is going to directly effect the taxpayers in Hillsborough County area. 

5) "Hillsborough County Commits $50 million to Vinik's Downtown Renaissance"

• http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/county-commits-50m-to-viniks-downtown-renaissance-20160122/
• This article discusses how Hillsborough County is going to give up to $50 million to assist on Vinik's Downtown Tampa project. The money will come from an increase in property values in the Downtown Community Redevelopment Area. 
• The problem involves the people currently living in the Downtown Tampa area that are soon going to be left without a place to live because of the redevelopment and new infrastructure. 
• The problem lies directly in the current residents in the Downtown Tampa Area.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

In this weeks reading, Chapter 2 focuses on how entrepreneurs must have a specific mindset in order to be successful. Being an entrepreneur is not just about having a cool idea and starting a business, being an entrepreneur combines sound judgement and planning along with risk taking to ensure the success of a business. 

1) The biggest surprise for me in this reading was the discussion about risk. I did not know how much calculations went into deciding on a "risky" decision. Taking a risk is not a matter of making a decision and just hoping for the best. While you do need some luck sometimes, risks are calculated and debated for a long period of time until enough information is processed. 

 

2) I really did not find anything in this chapter overly confusing, but if I had to pick one it would be about the journey associated with becoming an entrepreneur. Some people say success can come overnight, but others say it takes years of success and failures to truly see what works.

3) My first question for the author would be, "How would you suggest dealing with the everyday stress and grind?" The only way to answer this question would be from experiences so I would like to hear the answer from a reliable source. My second question would be, "What are some risks that you have taken that have paid off and some that have not?" I would ask this just to see examples of what has worked and not worked in his past experiences involving businesses. 

4) I do not think the author was wrong about anything in this chapter because it was all about experiences and mindsets and I think the author gives us good information from his experiences and point of view. 

Very Short Interview #1

For this assignment, I called Kim from Hip Pops in Athens. Like in my post at the beginning of the semester, Hip Pops is a flavored popsicle store in Athens, GA that has become a huge success in the area. Kim was at dinner one night when she realized the popsicles she made had great flavor and were pretty simple to make. She took this idea from the ground up and now has hundreds of customers a day! I asked her:

1) What should I expect from an entrepreneurial class in college?

• She was very honest with me and said she simply did not exactly know because she didn't take this class in college. She did say though that being an entrepreneur is all about putting yourself out there and not being afraid of failure. 

2) What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? 

• Kim said there is no clear cut definition for being an entrepreneur and you have to be able to go with the flow on a daily basis. She did say that being an entrepreneur involves getting it 100% effort in all the tasks you have to do relating to your passion. 

3) Why was your idea so successful?

• She laughed at this question, but then said maybe it was luck or just the right timing. She runs her business the right way so it is no surprise that her business is rolling!

I found this to be an interesting assignment. Kim is a great person and runs a very successful business so it was nice hearing from her. I am looking forward to calling her again at the end of the semester to tell her about all I have learned and the experiences I have been through. 

World's Biggest Problems

Problem 1 - War

• War is a serious problem that effects millions of people on a global stage. War rips apart families, and murders thousands of innocent people every year. 
• War is something that needs to be addressed by nations all around the world. The United Nations and European Unions need to be stronger to help limit wars around the globe.

Problem 2 - Hunger

• Around 795 million people around the world do not have enough food to live a healthy and active lifestyle. That comes out to about 1/9 people on Earth. These numbers are staggering for me to hear. 
• Hunger needs to be addressed by strengthening local governments in the hunger states so they can learn how to survive on their own. 

Problem 3 - Homeless / Poverty 

• More people are becoming homeless and reaching poverty than we have ever seen. Almost half of the world's wealth is now owned by just one percent on the population. 
• Potential solutions to solve this problem would involve opening more homeless shelters and governmental housing. I think we should also try and improve younger education to keep children off the streets at an early age. 

Problem 4 - Armed Violence in US and worldwide 

• There has been an increasing number of armed violence over the past couple of years. More people are able to possess firearms both legally, and illegally. 
• I am not sure how to solve the problem of armed violence in this country. Many people would say to make stricter gun laws, but then some citizens might not be able to properly protect themselves. This is a tough situation that our lawmakers are dealing with at this time. 

Problem 5 - Cyber Crime

• This is one of the most popular forms of crime happening today that we do not always seen with our own eyes happening. Millions of peoples identities are stolen each year and tons of information off of personal laptops and computers. 
• There must be more security systems in place to help fight cyber crime and the criminals that are sitting behind desks on computers. 

Problem 6 - Water deficiency 

• Over the last few decades, the lack of water supply in the world is becoming a problem. Many people suffer from a lack of clean, healthy water and it could eventually cause tensions like the oil shortages have in the past.
• Must find affordable ways to purify water for third world countries. Water is something that we should not all take for granted on an everyday basis. 

Problem 7 - Growing Unemployment Rate

• There are many reasons for the growing unemployment rate in not only the US, but countries everywhere. One politician said, "Lower economic growth and technological changes are likely to keep unemployment high in the future." Because of the changing business world, many people are left without jobs and have been replaced by electronically made products. 
• Must expand and grow as economies to provide more jobs for those who are unemployed. Education must also improve in our public school system.

Problem 8 - ISIS is growing

• With recent attacks in France and other countries in Europe, we must be concerned with the growing treat of ISIS on a worldwide stage. ISIS is moving across national borders and effecting more areas on an everyday basis. 
• The European Union and United Nations must comprise a plan to prevent the spread of ISIS and their terrorist attacks. Individual countries must also do they own part and help limit the spread of members. 

Problem 9 - Obesity 

• Obesity rates are climbing all over the world. Fast-Food is now so easily accessible and available at such a low cost. Because of this, people are straying away from healthier lifestyles and all natural foods. 
• Programs need to be setup for children to get started on the right tract as far as eating healthy and getting the right amount of exercise. Food companies also need to work on making produce and healthier items more affordable to everyone. 

Problem 10 - Increase in Natural Disasters 

• People do not know if it is climate change or bad luck, but more natural disasters are occurring more than ever. We must take care of our planet and try to make it a better place than we found it. 
• I am honestly not sure how to limit natural disasters, but we must take care of our environment on an everyday basis. 

Week 2 Reading Reflection

Reading Reflection Week 2 : Chapter 1

1) In this reading, the biggest surprise for me was (also the most interesting) was the integrative approach to entrepreneurship. I was intrigued by the different amount of resources and inputs in general that must go into beginning the entrepreneurial process. All of these inputs then lead to intensity that begins the thought of innovation, risk taking and productiveness. This was surprising for me because it is a more detailed process of thinking instead of just throwing out ideas. When I hear the word "entrepreneur", I used to think of just an idea that leads to an invention or product. Now I know that a lot more goes into the process of developing an idea.

2) I was a little bit confused with the strategic formulation school of thought. I understand the concept, but the emphasize on "unique" gets confusing in the paragraph.

3) My first question to the author would be, "As a young entrepreneur, without much experience, where would be the best place to start?" This would be a very vague question, but I think it is important since we are all just beginning our careers. My second question would be directed more towards the author and his own personal experiences in the entrepreneurial world. I would ask him some of his own personal failures and success stories. I believe that information is power and knowledge so I would try and get everything I could out of him from his own experiences.

4) I did not find anything in chapter 1 that I disagreed with or thought was wrong. Chapter 1 was mostly informational and all makes sense in relation to what we are studying.

Bug List

Bug List:

• 1) It bugs me that there are only 6 to 7 bars in Midtown that most of the students go to
• There are over 50,000 students in Gainesville, so the bars are going to be extremely crowded when a decent amount of people go out on the same night
• This bugs me because I sometimes cannot even find my friends when I am out 
• 2) It bugs me that when I ordered a new phone online and it said it was going to be delivered by 3 at the latest and it came after 4 
• The shipping companies should not put "at the latest" unless they're positive
• This bugs me because I planned my day around being more before 3 and I had plans after 3 
• 3) It bugs me how slow traffic moves on Museum Road at 5 
• It seems like people are not paying attention and it causes major delays 
• This bugs me because I try to make it on time to dinner on Fraternity Row and it is very difficult
• 4) It bugs me when I call a company with a question or problem, but I only get an automated voice talking to me 
• Rarely can you call a company now and actually talk to a real person
• This bugs me because it is so much easier and more efficient to talk to a person instead of a computer
• 5) It bugs me that my laptop battery is always running low
• Laptops are meant to be used on the go and not always a stationary spot with an outlet
• This bugs me because they should hold a longer charge for the price it costs to buy one 
• 6) It bugs me when people make simple grammatical errors while texting or writing an email 
• The different between "your" and you're" and "there" and "their" are pretty easy to understand 
• This bugs me because people do not give the effort to think about it and get it right
• 7) It bugs me when people throw trash out the window from their car/home
• It is very easy to wait an extra ten minutes and find a trash can instead of just throwing an item on the ground
• This bugs me because nobody wants to live in a place with trash everywhere and it is very easy to avoid
• 8) It bugs me when places have hand dryers in the bathroom instead of regular paper towels 
• It is more efficient to have the automatic dryers, but they don't always work as well
• This bugs me because paper towels do a better job and they're very easy to throw them away after use 
• 9) It bugs me when people constantly talk and make comments during movies 
• It ruins the mood set by the movie and it is hard to pay attention
• This bugs me because I usually want to watch a movie in peace and quiet and not be bothered
• 10) It bugs me when people are too lazy to put DVD's or video games in the proper cases
• This makes it a pain to find what you're looking for
• This bugs me because it takes 2 seconds to find the correct case and to put the item in there
• 11) It bugs me when people are constantly late and you can always count on them to be late
• It is very easy to set a plan to make sure you leave with some time to spare
• This bugs me because it is rude and inconsiderate to chronically be late to events 
• 12) It bugs me that some people still refuse to wear seat belts in a car
• There are hundreds of thousands of studies that prove that seat belts can save lives 
• This bugs me because people are either too lazy or don't think they're necessary, but in reality the seat belts are just there to help us
• 13) It bugs me when I call somebody and they don't answer and then text me a second later, "what's up"
• Unless you're busy, just answer the phone really quickly 
• This bugs me because the person obviously saw you called and chose not to answer
• 14) It bugs me when people do not cover their mouth/nose with sneezing and coughing 
• It is very unsanitary and can result in the people around you potentially getting sick
• This bugs me because it is inconsiderate to not cover your germs when people are around 
• 15) It bugs me when people at the gym sit on one piece of equipment for a long period of time and don't get much done
• It is an unwritten rule to keep moving at the gym on equipment and not to sit on a machine using your phone etc
• This bugs me because people want to get in and out when they're at the gym and not waste a bunch of time
• 16) It bugs me when I walk into a store and get attacked by "pushy" sales representatives 
• Usually when I walk into a store I know what I am looking for, and if not I will ask for help
• This bugs me because I don't want to be pressured or talked into looking at a product I am not interested in 
• 17) It bugs me that there are never any parking spots in Gainesville
• There are simply too many cars and not enough spots
• This bugs me because I hate getting home late and having to park far and walk to my apartment when it is pitch black
• 18) It bugs me when people use things in somebody's house and then do not put it back where they found it 
• It is simply common courtesy to put somewhat back where you found it 
• This bugs me because it is disrespectful and so easy to avoid 
• 19) It bugs me that all of the school exams and projects tend to fall on the same week
• Most teachers are on a relatively similar schedule and it always results in having a couple extremely busy weeks during the semester 
• This bugs me because there are so many other weeks throughout the semester when not much school work is going on
• 20) It bugs me that Florida State fans actually believe their school is better than the University of Florida 
• As far as academics, athletics and everything in between, UF is a better school
• This bugs me because I have grown up in a house raised by two former gators!

I found this assignment very interesting! It took some time to think of 20 "bugs" but then I realized that a lot of things bug me. I found myself looking for solutions to these bugs while I was coming up with different options. Overall, I enjoyed this assignment because it made me think outside of the box.