13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

After reading the tale of McDonald's, I can say I really wanted some of those french fries and what surprised me was how much I did not like the story. I'm not sure what I expected, but I at least expected it to make me feel like time flew by.

I wouldn't say I admire anything about Ray Kroc, but I do admit his dedication to his work was impressive. He worked long hours and put his all into improving what he had built. He took risks often. That is respectable.

I could go on for days about this quality I didn't like, but I will summarize it: He is no family man and had no shame in his lack of involvement with his wife and daughter.

Ray Kroc faced failure and he would make sure he got to the answer. Like when he couldn't figure out why his fries didn't taste as good as the McDonald's brothers', he called them, then the potato producers, until he finally got to the conclusion the potatoes must be "aged" and have the air go over them. Those potatoes probably got more of Kroc's attention than his daughter did that day.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

Kroc was dedicated to his work. He strove for perfection. From the way he described himself, he had a knack for picking the right people for the job. He probably isn't the most reliable source, but he was successful so there should be at least some truth to it.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I was confused by the whole franchising description. I understand what a franchise is, but the part where he started talking about his milkshake spinners and other things...I got confused. I'm bad with names, but when there are a bunch of generic names easily found on keychains and mugs, it gets even worse. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

I would probably ask him why McDonald's was successful. I'd ask this to get a summary of the book - or at least the part that I cared about.

Then I would ask him if his wife and daughter were bothersome and if that's why he used work as an escape from them. Men love to complain about their wives - so maybe he felt justified to put her through so much stress.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

His definition of "hard work" is working constantly and doing as much work as possible. It would be okay to neglect healthy sleeping habits and family time as long as it is in the name of working to create something that will pay off.

I do not share the opinion. From the sounds of it, his wife hates him and his daughter married someone else - and it doesn't seem like she wants involvement with her father. When Ray Kroc dies - shocker - the money doesn't go to his grave. It goes to his wife. She ends up with 3 billion dollars. What to do with 3 billion? She gives it away to charities. She doesn't need all that money so most of it is donated to charities in need. In my opinion, working a ton in order to get rich is not worth it if it requires you to miss out on important family moments, causing him to miss his daughter's birthday parties and graduations. Ending up with 3 billion dollars is unnecessary and I support it going to charities rather than pampering the Kroc family for generations. If you can't take the money with you when you die, then there is no point in having a great amount of money.

14A – Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

To do this course, I have had to throw away any desires for perfection. Perfection is the enemy of progress. If I tried to come up with a perfect business with a perfect plan with a perfect way to avoid taking risks, then I would probably have mental breakdowns every day.

I don't hold on tightly to my idea because I agree with Chris on the notion that when an entrepreneur spends a lot of time and love on an idea, they can't take criticism. It would be much smarter to let go of whatever makes you attached to your creation than to hold on so tightly that criticism feels like a personal insult. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

This class isn't hard enough to make you need to reflect upon yourself and make you really wonder what the meaning of life is. I have not developed a feeling of "I need to get myself together and not drop out of college" because this is my first semester of college on campus. Sure, the first weeks ask for a lot of time, but honestly, just don't use up too much of your time on fun, and you will be able to get the workload in check.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset'?

I do not feel qualified to give actual advice on the meaning of tenacity or how to develop it. For me, I must not take anything too seriously. Otherwise, it weighs me down, and I neglect other parts of my life. So I suppose if you relate to that, do not take the assignment too seriously. Chill out. You get the same grade, whether your business is reasonable or not - so you might as well have fun with it.

If you want a higher test score on your cupcakes, here is the hint: watch the lectures all at one time and then take the cupcake. If you need help trying to figure out how to do the assignments, watch the lectures. Instructions to help are usually in the beginning. But here is the schedule I created: Monday-Thursday: Do the assignments. Friday Afternoon: Watch lectures then take cupcake and comment on the post of other students. Don't sweat it if you aren't getting 100's: they're worth so little that you could get 80's sometimes and lose out on maybe 4 pts by the end of the semester.

In my inexperienced opinion, to develop the tenacious mindset, you need to be able to be motivated enough to try and detached enough for failure not to hurt. If you're a naturally self-motivated, energetic kind of person, try try again and put your heart into it. If failure is entirely demotivating, take my advice about trying, but expect failure.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Based on the research of people, I have found PupperRunner products are more like infomercial products that you don't know you need until you see it in action. In one of the interviews, the idea of the PoopPocket would likely not work unless there was more to the product. For example, if it also holds the dog poop bag roll, treats, and acts as a portable dog bowl, there would likely be more of a chance of it being purchased. The pricing point would likely need to be in the lower 20s since any more than that would be perceived to be more of an investment. The keywords would likely be "Poop bag holder".

The need awareness is very low, as most people do not care about holding the dog bags of poop. There are usually trashcans nearby when people are walking around. There is a small number of people who would benefit from the product and an even smaller percentage who would find my product.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically, regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My talent which would be an advantage of this market is my laziness. Bill Gates said, "I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it." An additional advantage I have is the ability to participate in business plan competitions and receive free money. I realize I am replaceable but as a student of the University of Florida, I have an advantage in a way of being more likable to the university so they would like to buy my products and have their logos on them and give them away.

This business idea, in terms of involvement with my life, would probably stress me out a lot. I would probably be obsessed with it since I am either completely dedicated to something or I think about it maybe once every week. It would probably be stressful to compete against other business ideas.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

The business is a line of dog care items, mostly revolving around the walking, active part of the side of things. A majority of dogs love walking and their owners typically love to see them be happy. Also, with more emphasis on exercise, the act of walking dogs becomes more popular. The line of dog products that would improve the walking experience would include no-pull leashes with the ability to clip the belt, allowing a hand to be free from holding the leash. Additionally, a Poop Pocket for your dog's leftovers would allow for another hand to be free. Another popular fad is to have matching accessories. People truly love their dogs, and having matching bandanas with their dogs would be a truly magical experience. This product line would be best sold on PupperRunner.com/products and in stores such as Petsmart and Petco. These things could also be sold to logo companies, which put logos on products and then sells them to be given away. They could be given away to Parks and Rec, Universities, Dogfood Companies, and Dog Poop Bag Companies. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

All my customers have this in common: walking dogs. This would be younger people since they are more likely to care about their health and have the energy to walk their dogs. Additionally, younger people do not have a yard for their dog to poop in and rely on walking their dogs in public places. Young people do enjoy being able to use their phones while they are walking their dogs. Having cute accessories to match dogs is a great thing to get as a present for someone who is known to love their dog, so people who are gifting someone who has a dog would also be within the demographics.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it's valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

People would pay for this product because it allows them to use their phones while walking their dogs. It also is great for people who despise holding poop bags. Having matching accessories with dogs is also a really cute idea.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

All I have that no one else has is my good selling reviews on my eBay account. Additionally, connection with customers is a great thing I would have with consumers. Another core competency I have is my ability to recognize I am not that different from others. This allows me to recognize competition is a true threat.

10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcTyWPjHNZo

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who is In Pet Owners Dog Walkers	Who is Not People Without Pets College Students Children Beginning Adults People who live by a dog park
What the Need Is To have more freedom while walking a dog To make walking a dog more pleasant	What the Need Is Not To have long walks with dog To have a dog To pick up after a dog To take care of a dog
Why the Need Exists Dogs poop People should pick up the poop Poop contains harmful bacteria Stepping on poop is disgusting Carrying poop is gross Poop is warm and has a gross odor	Alternative Explanations Some people do not have dogs to pick up after Some dogs only poop in the yard of the owners Several people are okay with the idea of carrying poop bags Some people do not care about the grossness of the dog bags

Since dorms do not allow for pets, there are few pet owners to be reached on college campuses. The main lot of people who would benefit from the Poop Pocket would be people who have dogs and walk them in their neighborhood. The market is small.

8A – Solving The Problem

1) Selected Opportunity: A place to put dog poo bags while walking

2) A total package of a bag that can be clipped to a belt loop and it has a pocket for the used dog bag.

The customer is not necessarily solely the customers. This would be a great thing to put logos on. Petsmart may wish to put their logos on it and give them away as awards for making of purchase of $25 or more. They can be sold in bundles with leashes. They can be sold as a starter kit with doggie bags. They can come in all kinds of colors and various sizes since some dogs demand more space than smaller dogs. They can be given away with Emotion Support Animal certificates. They can be a prize at a wheel of prizes at a community event where the humane society is involved. There are several uses and opportunities for this product.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1) The lack of places to dispose of dog waste while on walks.

2) People walking their dogs in neighborhoods are unable to easily dispose of dog waste bags during their walks because there is no place to put them.

3)  The Who: The main people who need this are those who walk their dogs in neighborhoods and anywhere else where it is not easy to find a trash can. This usually ends up in the poop being left on the ground.

The What: The need is only there when the person is on a longer walk, which is more in style as people are more self-conscious and wish to "get their steps in".

The Why: People do not want to carry around a dog bag of warm poop. Some people do not believe it is necessary to pick up the poop, because after all, it is "free fertilizer". Also, when on a walk, some people enjoy using it as an exercise opportunity while having fun on their phones. Carrying a doggy bag usually takes up a hand, so by freeing up both hands, the walk is more enjoyable.

4) From the information I received from the interviews, it seems the problem is not prevalent in Gainesville for students. When a student does have a dog, the walk is easy where ever students go because there are constantly stores and trashcans. It seems the problem arises for people in neighborhoods - not the city parts. Additionally, people who live right next to dog parks - or people who have lots of land - would not have this problem. When people do have the problem, they usually go along with their problem. They do not see why things should change and they deal with what they are going through. Overall, this does not seem to be something that consumers would buy for themselves. Everyone is on the same page that poop should be disposed of rather than left on the ground because people might step in the waste. Also, poop often holds bacteria which may have the potential of spreading illness to other dogs.

5) I realized there is an opportunity, though it might not be as easy as someone may perceive it to be upon first glance. My main target would not be college students, but rather a more densely populated dog owner community. Tampa would be a great area.

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Federal Government wants to reduce the regulations the schools are put up to in regards to serving lunches.

a) https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FNS-2019-0007-0001

b) This information suggests there will be a reduction or an increase of parents packing their children's lunches. Either children will be more willing to eat school lunches since they will have better food and be more desirable or parents will see the regulation as a reduction in the quality of nutrition of food served. Depending on the response to this new regulation, there may be an opportunity to create things that would make the lunch packing process easier / more nutritional. This could be in the form of a cookbook or even a service that just ships superb lunches to the house for the kids to take for lunch.
An additional opportunity is selling to the school lunch services. Now that there is a shorter process for adopting a new meal and such, they are easier to sell to and they have more ability to invest in different foods.

c) Parents of schoolchildren and the school cafeteria staff are the customers who offer new opportunities.

d) The opportunity would be relatively simple to take advantage of by companies who sell food. Meat manufacturers would be able to take advantage of this because there would be more flexibility for schools to include more meat options in their lunches. Additionally, the plant-based meat would be able to take advantage of this, since there is more of a demand for this product. For these businesses, this opportunity is easier to exploit, enabling an increase in sales considering the mass of public schools.

I believe this opportunity exists because I have seen the products parents demand for their children. When they have a child, they are searching for BPA free plastics in cute little baby colors and feed their children only organic fruits and hormone-free chicken. And they make up their child has a gluten allergy because of articles they read on gluten. There is nothing wrong with looking after the health of their children, taking all steps possible to protect them from any ailments the world has. Because there are parents who demand these things, I must believe there are parents who can relate to a degree. The in-between belief in organic, grain-free meat and McNuggets. These parents would see the ease of regulations to decrease the quality of the food, based on my experiences.

There will be more regulations on drinking water quality, revising the rule of lead and copper.

a) https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300-0001

b) This information suggests there would be an increase in demand for alternatives to lead and copper piping. Obviously, lead piping is not used anymore, but copper piping is. Copper is a very cheap alternative to PVC, which is a treated plastic piping. No one wants to build their infrastructure out of biodegradable materials, but recyclable materials are not too much out there in terms of what the material should be that is used. Whatever the outcome of the majority of construction companies decide in terms of their infrastructure, copper piping will be much less desirable.

c) Construction workers and owners of older houses will be confronted with this new regulation, making different decisions about what piping should be in the homes.

d) The opportunities posed by the regulations on copper and lead piping include the increase of plumbing jobs available as piping becomes unacceptable in older houses as problems arise regarding the issue. A more recyclable solution other than PVC may be considered, though PVC is recyclable. The issue about the recyclability of PVC is the difficulty involved in finding a place that will take it. PVC is not like normal plastics to be dropped off at recycling centers: it would likely involve more work, like finding a place to recycle it into deck materials.

No house owner wants to rip the piping out of their walls, and as a homeowner, I can assure you if I were going to spend a couple thousand, I would want it spent on remodeling the kitchen - not changing out the piping throughout the house. And as someone who is simply human, there are times when I don't want to walk across the building to get to the recycling can to dispose of my aluminum can. I just want to drop it off at the trashcan three feet away. So, when it comes to someone who has a bunch of PVC and probably has a dozen other more present problems than the environment, they do not want to find someone who will take the PVC piping off their hands. They want to move on with the project and dump all the PVC in the nearest dumpster or body of water. Whichever is closer. Therefore, I believe an opportunity to a LEED-certified infrastructure piping would be in great demand after copper and lead regulations.

LEED Certified Buildings are relatively new and the construction of new buildings strives to be more sustainable.

a) https://www.evergladesuniversity.edu/leed-certification-and-the-future-of-sustainable-construction/

b) Construction companies receive tax benefits from building in a more sustainable way, which means there would be less tax collected and more profit received. Additionally, LEED Certified buildings are of higher demand, meaning they will sell faster and for more money. As more awareness is raised on the harm humans cause the environment, more people demand sustainable building.

c) Construction companies and architects are mostly affected by this new trend.

d) This opportunity is relatively difficult to take advantage of because construction companies try to stick with more reputable sources for their materials and ideas. Additionally, changing LEED standards to better benefit some other idea would be difficult since that's corrupt and it would be a long process.

Part of my Realestate Minor caused me to learn about the History of Construction. It brought to my attention LEED-certified buildings and how they were growing in demand. Additionally, I notice Starbucks tries to make all their new coffeeshops LEED Certified.


The Ocala Star-Banner Printing Press is moving to the Gainesville Sun.

a) https://www.ocala.com/photogallery/LK/20200107/NEWS/107009991/PH/1

b) If the printing will be moved to Gainesville, that means there will be an increase in printing in Gainesville. Also, someone will need to ship all the newspapers to Ocala, so there is an opportunity in the transportation of masses of newspapers since they print a lot of newspapers.

c) The people in the printing and distribution of the Ocala Star-Banner newspaper will need to find new jobs. There will be more being printed in Gainesville, so there may be more people hired to take care of the extra production.

d) This opportunity is difficult to take advantage of because there are few people who want to read the newspaper as the population grows in favor of electronic reading. Additionally, there remains a lot of competition of news on the internet.

I know of this opportunity because my best friend worked for the newspaper in the pressroom, so I heard of the news early. There are a lot of people being laid off who must now find a job for the first time in decades. This trend of newspapers being in less demand proposes the idea there may be something else that has an increase in demand.