4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief: A Twist on Opportunity Identification

I believe people are annoyed when they must carry dog bags of poop throughout a walk.

There is an unmet need for a solution to eliminate the need to carry a dog bag of waste. People experience this unpleasant occurrence when they walk their dogs for an extended distance in neighborhoods. This problem started when it became culturally unacceptable to leave dog poop in yards since it spreads bacteria and makes an area more susceptible to disease. I am about 20% sure this opportunity exists.

When I went to the nearby park, there were several people, but they were all walkers and no one was walking a dog. I decided to interview some people since I was there, just in case some of them had dogs and might experience the problem. The first people I interviewed were a pair of females. I asked them if they owned a dog. They do. Their dog stays in the backyard, so they don't walk their dog.

I then interviewed a lady who is from Wisconsin. I asked if she had a dog, and she does. In fact, the Shih Tzu was in the truck in the parking lot. The 13-year-old cutie is not suited for a walk around the half-mile loop, but she enjoys chilling in the truck with the occasional walk. The lady said she never considered dog bags to be a hassle, but rather something that just had to be done. She never questioned if there was perhaps a better way. She mentioned her husband puts the dog bag in his pocket.

Next, I talked to a lady who had a labradoodle. When asking the questions, I ended up sounding like I was trying to suggest dog bags are gross so why pick up the poop. But I eventually got it right and she said she never thought of the issue of carrying dog bags. She said several dog parks have stations to drop off the dog poop, so it never was an issue for her. She also thought people who left dog poop around were rude and what they do is disgusting. 

5) Reflect. What did you learn about your opportunity? What was the most surprising thing you learned about your opportunity? (You may reflect after each iteration or you may simply include a single reflection that captures all three iterations.)

It seems like people do not feel like carrying dog bags is an issue. From the information I gathered, if someone didn't like carrying dog bags, they simply would keep their dog in their yard or just leave the dog poop on the ground. Maybe Ocala is not the environment that would have a demand for something that frees up your hands while you are walking your dog. Maybe an area like Tampa is more suitable for it since more people do not have yards and the population is younger and would rather have both their hands free so they can use their phone while on a walk.

I believe entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities as they gather more information from customers. They should definitely consider what the customer brings up unless the entrepreneur knows some technicalities that the consumer wouldn't care to understand. There should be adapting of ideas and freedom to completely start over on the design.

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5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

1. Female Inmates at Coleman Infected with Legionnaires'

https://www.ocala.com/news/20200130/female-inmates-at-coleman-infected-with-legionnaires

Women in Coleman are suffering from poor conditions in their prison. The prison is infested with mold and the complaints of the women are overlooked so they do not receive the attention needed. Multiple women have gotten Legionnaires, which is a disease similar to the flu and pneumonia and are in the hospital.

The complaints of the women are overlooked and they are forced to come in contact with hazardous conditions that put their health at risk.

The women have the issue of dangerous living conditions. Additionally, doctors and hospital staff are tasked with tending to the outbreak. Someone needs to cover the hospital bill, yet it would have been a better investment to use the money to prevent the issue through improving the living conditions. The government is tasked with fixing the issue.

2. Florida Woman Claims Daycare Staff Wrote on her Son's Tummy to Remind Her to Bring Diapers

https://www.ocala.com/news/20200129/florida-mom-claims-daycare-staff-wrote-on-her-sons-tummy-to-remind-her-to-bring-more-diapers

A woman finds her 18-month-old son's teacher wrote a note on his stomach to remind his mother to bring diapers. His mother had not been reading the reports she is given so she did not notice the message of the depleting supply of diapers for her son. The teacher who left the note was fired because of it. The woman tried to find a different place to put her child, but there are no other daycares which will take children that young nearby.

The problem is parents not receiving notifications of what they should pack for their children. Additionally, leaving notes on children's torsos is not an effective way to communicate, especially with the difficult ink on this particular child's stomach. Also, there is a lack of daycare for children in that area.

Parents suffer from the problem of a lack of places which will accept their children who are too young. Teachers suffer as their integrity is questioned since their coworker wrote on a child's stomach. The daycare suffers as their name is looked down upon for their mistakes. Children have the issue because their parents are stressed out trying to read what is actually important in the report and have ink on their stomachs. The mother suffers because what she didn't intend to be a big deal on the news makes her look like she made a big deal out of it for attention so her reputation is damaged.

3. Ocala Police Release More Details About Fatal Shooting On Saturday

https://www.ocala.com/news/20200107/ocala-police-release-more-details-about-fatal-shooting-on-saturday

Police release more information on the shooting which injured three people and killed one person. There was also a vehicle nearby that caught on fire at the same time. The events are being investigated to see if they are related.

There are shootings in Ocala. People are getting injured and are dying from shootings.

The people being shot have problems because of the pain, risk of infections, and the decline of physical ability are all things gunshots often cause. Additionally, the reputation of Ocala is damaged as it is seen to be a place where there are high risks of being shot, causing it to be an undesirable place to visit and live in.

4. Man Killed In Deputy-Involved Shooting in The Villages

https://www.ocala.com/news/20200115/man-killed-in-deputy-involved-shooting-in-villages

At 10:30pm, officers were gassing up their cars when a man came running at them with a knife. They shot him and administered first aid on him until the ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

A man ran at policemen with a knife. The man wanted to cause harm to policemen and thought he was capable of doing so...with a knife? Also, the policemen shot him. He died.

Policemen have the problem of being targeted by violent acts. Policemen are scared for their lives and must make quick decisions.

5. While I don't consider this an opportunity, it is a problem which deserves more attention than it receives:

More and More Americans Are Dying By Suicide. What Are We Missing?

https://www.ocala.com/zz/news/20200130/more-and-more-americans-are-dying-by-suicide-what-are-we-missing

America's suicide rate has consistently increased over time. The amount of money invested in researching cancers and diseases is disproportional to the amount of money invested in research on suicide prevention. Some people attribute the suicide rate to be caused by the lack of money going to preventing it, some people believe discrimination to be the cause, some people believe economic conditions are to blame.

The article brings up the problem of Suicide Prevention not having the money to expand efforts to decrease the number of people lost. Another problem brought up is discrimination against people, whether it be based on race, sexuality, and/or gender.

The families of people lost to suicide suffer emotional damage and the financial struggle of an unexpected funeral. Communities who lost someone struggle to cope with someone leaving in an abrupt way.

3A - Your Entrepreneurship Story

I am the youngest of my family. I just have one brother and he was very talented in the science fair in high school. He went to the International Science Fair for three years and whenever I attempt, it seems like Einstein's incarnation thinks it is a good idea too and I get 3rd place out of two people. So science fair wasn't my thing. I felt pretty bad about it but focused more on volleyball since at least that was something I was good at. Turns out I'm not as good at it as I thought so I was a very experienced benchwarmer. From that very toasty seat on the sidelines, I noticed there always seemed to be a phone charging on the wall and the phone sprawled out on the gym floor as though invincible from God's will. It bothered me.

My phone cracked a month earlier and cost me over $200 to fix it (I had to fix it because even the screen display was blank). So when my Technology and Design teacher said it was time to design something which would solve a problem, I did just that. I made basically a door hanger that hangs from the charger, holding the phone in the pocket. A lot of people were impressed so I thought it was quality enough to submit to a competition I was not aware of until 3 days before the submission due date. The contest was the Marion County Business Plan Competition "Shark Tank" and I was chosen to compete. I earned second place and $2,000 all to myself, so not too bad. Additionally, I wrote a story about what I had done and submitted it to EngineerGirl Competition, a national science academy competition, and I got second place there too. Instead of getting third place out of two people, I was getting second place out of 100's and maybe even 10,000's.

Marion County Business Plan Competition

I realized I felt most alive when I was creating something. So I pursue business, not in hopes of being on Shark Tank (though that would be really neat), but to have a degree which will help me obtain any job I may find. And this class just happens to be one of the classes which will help me obtain that degree.

2A - Bug List

1.       Textbooks cost too much

a.       Pearson is a monopoly and UF is probably in on it.

2.       Dorm beds are not a standard shape.

a.       Creates demand for students to buy Twin XL sheets and comforters for the bed.

3.       Cookbook recipes have too many ingredients.

a.       A dinner requires several things including seasoning.

4.       Phone screens and computer screens have gross oily markings on them.

a.       I have gross oily fingers.

5.       Pant pockets are too small.

a.       Clothing designers have a double standard and expect women to accept it and buy a purse.

6.       Bike rack at Infinity Hall is on the wall and it is difficult to get a bike on when there are already bikes on either side of the available space.

a.       Designer of the building not only decided parking spots are unnecessary for college students, but also that there should be limited space to chain bikes in the small rooms which are one of the few places where bikes can be kept and not left to the mercy of the idiots who enjoy stealing and hammering bike wheels into funky shapes.

7.       I always leave my water bottle at home.

a.       My water bottle falls out of the side pocket of my bag easily.

8.       I must bring trash bags from my room to the other side of the building.

a.       It would be gross to expect someone else to dispose of a bag of dirty tissues.

9.       I must park a half-mile away from my dorm.

a.       There is no Infinity parking lot.

10.   There are a lot of dirty dishes of mine.

a.       I don’t take care of my dishes since I don’t have anything but soap and water to clean them with.

11.   My right earbud keeps falling out.

a.       My right ear is likely slightly deformed so the earbud cannot fit.

12.   There are not enough episodes of The Office.

a.       I probably would never be satisfied with the number of seasons so I would always feel this way.

13.   I have a lot of keys on my keychain.

a.       I need a key for my car, dorm room, mailbox, bike, key fob, location fob, flash drive, and pepper spray.

14.   Pills shake loudly in bags.

a.       They are hard and in a plastic bottle.

15.   The campus is difficult to learn.

a.       The campus is large and there is a lot to try to remember.

16.   It takes a long time to take off bike accessories and put them back on.

a.       They are not meant to be taken off and put back on between each use.

17.   Eyeliner is thick and doesn’t look good sometimes.

a.       I don’t know how to apply it.

18.   Wendy’s on campus won’t accept my rewards free Frosty Keychain and Chick-fil-A won’t give free refills and Starbucks won’t let me do mobile order.

a.       On campus, restaurants don’t need to be convenient to make money so they aren’t convenient.

19.   Phone calls keep cutting out, making talking difficult on the phone.

a.       The building interrupts the signal.

20.   Microsoft earbuds look so cool and obnoxious I don’t know what to think.

a.       The designers want to make earbuds that can compete against Airpods.

Coming up with things that bother me about my day-to-day life was very easy because I try to think of how to fix them all of the time and I enjoy trying to make connections between problems. It was easy because my mindset usually revolves around trying to think of how to fix problems so I can then try to come up with something which would be worthy of Shark Tank.

First Blogger Post

Hello, my name is Mikalee and I love my toy poodle and Checkers swirl cones.