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Showing posts from September, 2018

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Interviews: Anthony In talking with Anthony, he told me that he doesn’t really have a problem with parking on campus. He told me that for the most part he doesn’t really move his car that much during the school year except to go home. He usually tries to tag along with other people when he goes places that way avoiding having to move his car. He said that he has always been able to find a spot in the lot he wants coming back to school from weekends at home. He said he probably wouldn’t use a parking app just because he wouldn’t want to waste his time when he knows he’s most likely going to get a spot where he wants. Jacob In talking with Jacob, he told me that he does sometimes have problems with parking on campus. He told me that most of the time when he goes shopping he has a hard time finding a spot. He told me that he usually has to circle around the lot a couple of times to get a spot near his house. When I asked him whether or not he would use a parking app he said that he was u

Solving The Problem

The opportunity that I have chosen to pursue is tackling some of the parking problems that on campus students experience. Through my interviews I have come to realize that many students on campus spend lots of time searching for open spots because all the parking is full. The solution I have identified to solving the parking problems on campus is creating an app for people to identify whether there are spots available in the lots on campus. The app would show whether lots are full or not and would provide students the opportunity to see historical times of when lots have filled up so that they can make sure to get a spot early. This would require creating an app for students to use to track which lots are filled or not and would require sensors to be installed on the parking lots on campus. I think that by having a tool that allows students to see where there are spots available will make parking on campus much more efficient and easier.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1) The opportunity I have chosen to pursue is that parking on the University of Florida campus is very inefficient for students. It is hard for students who live on campus to find spots in the lots that are closest to their housing. The lots are small and there is no way to tell whether a lot is full or not unless you go directly to the lot. Off campus students also have no way to tell whether lots are full or not. 2) a. The who: Students who live and park on campus and students who commute and park on campus b. The what: They are unable to efficiently find parking. c. The why: The lots are too small and there is no system for students to identify whether a lot is full or not except by driving to the lot. 3) a. Testing the who: There are other campuses that have this need besides the University of Florida. I think some on campus students don’t really have this problem if they live in areas with lots of student parking near them. Some examples of areas

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Opportunity #1: This first regulatory opportunity I found is a need for an increased number of accountants due to the new tax law passed under the Trump administration. This opportunity was found in the news and on the TurboTax website. I believe that the information in the news suggests this opportunity exists because with the change in regulations it is very important to have a large number of accountants to deal with that. I think the most likely customer is every large corporation as well as individuals who need help navigating the new tax law. I think the opportunity is easy to exploit if you have an accounting degree because many people will need help interpreting the new tax law. I saw this opportunity because I have done a lot of recruiting with accounting firms and have experience through the people I’ve talked to there. Opportunity #2: The second regulatory opportunity I found is the need for an increased number of people skilled in tariff law because of the new tariffs imp

Identifying Local Opportunities

1) Title of Article: SunRail: Promise or peril? Central Florida's transit crisis - Local Viewpoint Link to Article: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AORLB%21Orlando%2BSentinel%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0912%21September%2B12&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E63B592D72DB70 Story Description: Even as Interstate 4 has gotten more gridlocked and dangerous, ridership on the SunRail has not risen. The SunRail runs parallel to Interstate 4 and provides an alternative to travelling on the crowed roads in Orlando. The main reason that the SunRail is facing stagnant ridership is because of uneven bus connections and lack of weekend and evening service. Description of Problem: The problem is that the SunRail has poor bus connections and lack of weekend and evening service. Who has the problem: The main people that have the problem are the tourists that flock to the Orlando area

Forming an Opportunity Belief

1)   Beginning Point: One opportunity that I have seen exists in the Gainesville Publix on 34th street. Currently the lines to check out are often very long and I think they are missing a good opportunity to put some self-checkout lines in to speed up the checkout process for those with few items. 2) Describe Your Belief: The main unmet need involves people that only need to pick up a few items from the store and don’t want to wait in the long lines behind people that have a lot of items. Even though there is a ten items or less line, it is often crowded by several people making it equally as slow as the regular lines. The need has existed for a while. Many college students and Gainesville locals’ shop at that Publix. Right now, those with a small number of items typically go to the 10 items or less line but once again that line has a lot of people and still takes a lot of time to check out. I am about 75% sure this need exists because many people in the Gainesville Publix are only

Your Entrepreneurship Story

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Growing up I had a lot of exposure to entrepreneurship. The main exposure has come from a couple of members of my family that own their own business and work to give back to their community. My Aunt and Uncle own a lakefront landscaping business that I got the opportunity to work at. The company is very small being made up of only 3 people. Working there and seeing what it is like to own your own business has shown me the struggles of having your own company and running it effectively. Balancing the books and making sure to follow every regulation can be very difficult for a small business that doesn’t have a team of lawyers like big companies do. Seeing my Aunt and Uncle grow their business into a success has really shown me how hard work and dedication can lead to a great entrepreneurship success. The reason I enrolled in ENT 3003 is because I want to understand the leadership qualities that make a great entrepreneur. I honestly don’t know whether I would want to start my own busin

Bug List

Bug List: 1.) There is long check out lines at the Gainesville Publix starting at 3pm. I think the main reason for these lines is people starting to pick up dinner. Publix also doesn’t open all their lines during the day. 2.) Even if you make an appointment at Randys it sometimes takes 15 minutes after your appointment for them to get you in.  I think the main reason for this is that they fall behind with their appointments as people show up late to their appointments earlier in the day. 3.) The Mcdonalds on University takes forever to get the food out starting at around 5pm.  The cause for this is that the workers are poorly trained and busy with many customers. 4.) The Mcdonalds on University often forgets to give you a smoothie if you order one.  I think the cause of this bug is the fact that the workers close out orders before they are completely delivered. When they close the order it goes away and they forget to give you the rest of what you ordered. U