ENT3003 Assignment 29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Venture Concept No. 2

1) Venture Concept:

• My product will prevail mainly because of it's features that make for an improved pencil. Plainly put, the Capable Pencil is a superior product to it's competitors but doesn't charge a price similar to a premium brand. This results in the best of both worlds including a premium, quality product with a price point that is competitive with the inferior products available. Customers will switch from standard pencils, pens, and current mechanical pencils as they will receive the many benefits discussed in the innovation section while paying the same or slightly greater/less amount. All other things equal, paying the same price for a better product is always the better choice. Current competitors on the mechanical pencil market include BiC, Pentel, and paper mate. Additionally, competitors exist in the arena of substitute products, these products include #2 wooden pencils, colored pens, iPads, laptops, and "smart pencils". The exploitable weaknesses in my competitors are the fact that their prices are significantly above the costs, leaving room for my product to be initially made a smaller margin while providing features that none of them offer. For production of my product, I believe that it will steadily grow from a small family business into a large company with factories around the world.

2) Feedback Summary

• I didn't get much feedback, but I did ask other friend of mine to tell me their feedback which I then tried to use to make adjustments. One friend said I needed more information about production whereas another said my opening was weak.

3) What I Changed:

• I made slight adjustments to my production and overview in my venture concept. I did this because I learned from my feedback that I didn't have enough detail in my production and I needed a stronger introduction to my venture concept.

4) Picture:

ENT3003 Assignment 27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

The Last Book!

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, Chris Anderson

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

• This book was discussing the "third" industrial revolution. Primarily, this revolution takes into account the digital age and automated manufacturing in the modern-era. Anderson focuses on the idea of robots manufacturing for businesses allowing for improved labor that operates 24/7 and eliminates the need for country-specific labor.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

• I believe this book made a good connection to businesses in general. All industries will likely be effected by this "new" industrial revolution, as all businesses have inputs in some way that effect their costs and/or profits. In ENT3003 we learn how to create a business and perfect our business plan and operations, these operations will be largely effected by the changing times. This is especially true when it comes to a revolutionary industry change as discussed in this book.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

• I would make an exercise where you have to adapt your business based on the future idea of the world. This would require the student to make hypothetical changes to his business that allow for it to capitalize on the industrial revolution as well as educate them on how it can effect them in the future, perhaps in a way that could be beneficial.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

• When reading this book I was most surprised by the certainty Anderson expressed in this new industrial revolution. By this I mean that Anderson seems convinced we're living in the age of only the third ever industrial revolution. Such revolutions only take place every couple centuries and have a lasting impact for a long time to come, but Anderson's take on this currently occurring revolution was quite a surprise to me.

ENT3003 Assignment 28A – Your Exit Strategy

Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

• Ideally, I would like to grow my company to a multi-million valuation and then sell it. I would foresee this occurring in somewhere between 2-5 years as the product will almost surely takeoff due to consumer demand or it will fail off the jump. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

• I'm not too invested in being an entrepreneur for my entire life due to the time constraints and work it takes. I hope to make a good living and then enjoy my life with family and retire young. If my business is successful enough that it can be sold in a multi-million deal then I would be very pleased to enjoy my time building the business and then enjoying my time with the money from selling it. 

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

• I believe some decisions I've made were made with the intention of selling my business because I've focused on making a useful product that can take off quickly and change the game. However, I did this knowing that there are a lot of companies currently dominating the market that would be very likely to buyout my product and make it their own. Similarly, it has made my ability to use resources a little adapted because a lot of the market works through economies of scale, which forces me to use resources potentially premium and becoming a premium brand or cheaper and focusing on the features.

ENT3003 Assignment 26A – Celebrating Failure

Let's Fail, A Lot!

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

• When I tried dieting in the beginning of the semester I had multiple failures. Every week I'd set calorie goals of my food intake as well as exercising plans, however between school and a general lack of motivation I never really succeeded in that endeavor. I'd like to think i've come around some recently, but I certainly had a multitude of failures throughout the semester.

2) Tell us what you learned from it. 

• What I really learned is how hard self-motivation can be sometimes. You can want something so badly but just slip up on the steps it takes to achieve that goal, which is something now I've worked on a lot more. When it comes to dieting specifically, I find that a consistent set of meals that I repeatedly eat make it significantly easier for me to stick to my diet. 

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

• I really hate failing, I'm sure that everyone does but I just especially struggle to deal with failure at anything I do. If I fail, I use that as motivation to make sure I never fail again... I will do anything repeatedly until I'm capable of succeeding at it. I would say this class hasn't altered my perspective on failure too much, I've never really been risk-averse but I always take calculated risks, which I think my current perspective is about to the same extent.

ENT3003 Assignment 25A – What’s Next?

What's Next?

Existing Market. 

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.

• I believe my products future is based on an expanding customer base that's achieved by finding issues with similar product lines like sticky notes, pens, etc. These products are similar stationary work/school-related items that are quite basic in nature yet still lack features that could improve them greatly. 

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next.

• Interview 1: He told me that I should try to find a way to make my pencil accessible to more than just students. He said that what I had in mind to go after similar product items made a lot of sense but that a lot of them are already in established markets.
• Interview 2: This interviewee explained to me how I should try to promote and make my product more accessible to the target audience through promotions, advertisements, and social media campaigns. When I gave my ideas, I was told that it could also be another avenue but that I should focus on my current product before going onto other product lines.
• Interview 3: My final interviewee said that she believed my venture would be best off selling and profiting off of what I've already created. After giving my idea, I actually considered myself the idea of selling as it somehow never came in mind before.

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

• I want to grow in my market and I want for the Capable Pencil to be one of the most successful stationary innovations that we have faced in recent history. Based on my feedback, I believe that this can be possible by first advancing my product's outreach and growing the consumer audience. After this, I think the best possible step would be for me to come up with other product lines that could benefit off of improvements similar to that of what I did with the mechanical pencil.
• With all that was said, I think I could take quite a bit from the feedback given to me today when direction what makes sense for my venture's future. Growth in the existing market would be ideal and therefore discount the idea of selling, however potentially selling off stakes to investors could create more capital for the business that would help also promote the product more and therefore take into account a lot of the recommendations I was given.

New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

• A market I haven't yet considered that would be radically different is the demographics of older people, those long-gone from college in their 40s and over.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

• People in this market could have value from my product as for one, they're less likely to use technology and therefore have more need for writing utensils like mechanical pencils that I'm selling. The value created would be the same as for the students though, in that they can get an improved pencil that offers less flaws and premium features.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market?

• Interview 1: I interviewed my father, who says he never even uses mechanical pencils or that he doesn't choose to and rather picks whatever is closest to him when he needs to write something. More often then not, he says that he's writing with a pen. Having learned this, my product could be adapted in some ways to work for pen improvements too.
• Interview 2: My 2nd interview led to discussions about why my pencil was better, leading me to believe that the improvements in my pencil won't be as noticeable to those of the elderly age. Taken this into account, I may need more promotional materials about my product that make its benefits clear to the consumer in this market.

Step 4: Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on.

• I learned that this market is not the common user of mechanical pencils. Furthermore, I would anticipate the most of these people are not even particular at all about what they use when they're writing and focus more on convenience. With that said, my product creates more convenience for the consumer which allows it to still be an added benefit to people in this market.
• I believe this market is not as attractive as my existing market, although the fact that they're less inclined to use technological devices does make them slightly more appealing that I initially anticipated. Above all though, it seems that older people prefer to write with ink-pens, and that even those who don't aren't too picky when it comes to pencils, much less the niche of mechanical pencils specifically.

ENT3003 Assignment 24A – Venture Concept No. 1 - Capable Pencil

Venture Concept - Capable Pencil

Opportunity:

• I believe my product's opportunity lies in the inefficiency of the current marketplace. Specifically, for mechanical pencils there's a highly diluted market with a variety of different branded pencils, pens, and other writing utensils. However, all of these products are relatively similar to one another without much room for competitive advantage. This changes when it comes to the Capable Pencil, my product will be something new that the marketplace hasn't seen and it will hold many capabilities that the current products on the market lack. With all of this said, I believe my opportunity will be found with the consumer demand for a high quality product that offers features they wanted and never knew while providing these benefits at a basic cost similar to that of our competitors. This opportunity is advanced even more because of the technological advancements we're facing that's driving more people to use electronic devices, however this means a more niche audience is created for hand-writing utensils which my product will provide. I believe this opportunity is large enough to gain investments from big time sources while having the ability to last for decades to come if we instill constant improvements that keep up with times.

Innovation:

• The Capable Pencil, my business idea, is similar to that of a mechanical pencil that writes using lead inserted into a plastic pencil. The innovation for my product comes with its many features that offer benefits that consumer's hadn't before thought of, while also removing the annoyances that current similar products offer. My product will use the best available lead that's thicker in size resulting in breakage while writing becoming a much more rare occurrence. Furthermore, the pencil will a built in limit on it that only allows for lead to go an optimal amount out of the tip, therefore there's even less chance of lead snapping or going dull while you write. The final feature of the product lies in the clip on the side, while most mechanical pencils already have a clip on the side, they're not being used for any other purpose. This changes with the Capable Pencil, as the clip on the side of the product will also have a  compartment that holds additional lead inside of it that the user is able to put back into the pencil when they run out. This will effectively reduce the amount of wasted pencils that get thrown out as soon as they've run out of lead. Finally, I believe this product can be made at the same cost of current products on the market, likely with an initially higher price to makeup for the scale of economy it will possess to start. This price is likely to be somewhere around the range of five pencils for $10, offered in packs of five, ten, or twenty, while also selling individually for 3$.

Venture Concept:

• My product will prevail mainly because of it's improvements on current available products. Plainly put, the Capable Pencil is a superior product to it's competitors but doesn't charge a price similar to a premium brand. This results in the best of both worlds including a premium, quality product with a price point that is competitive with the inferior products available. Customers will switch from standard pencils, pens, and current mechanical pencils as they will receive the many benefits discussed in the innovation section while paying the same or slightly greater/less amount. All other things equal, paying the same price for a better product is always the better choice. Current competitors on the mechanical pencil market include BiC, Pentel, and paper mate. Additionally, competitors exist in the arena of substitute products, these products include #2 wooden pencils, colored pens, iPads, laptops, and "smart pencils". The exploitable weaknesses in my competitors are the fact that their prices are significantly above the costs, leaving room for my product to be initially made a smaller margin while providing features that none of them offer. For production of my product, I envision a consistent growing business that likely will begin with myself and around five employees, but that could quickly grow if we receive the proper investments. 

Three Minor Elements

Unfair Advantage: 

• I believe my most important resource will be a high-quality product. Above all, I think consumers want a product that satisfies their needs, and the Capable Pencil will do this and much more. Quality products will win out against inferior products almost every single time when the price point is even and the accessibility is at par.

What's Next for this Venture:

• With the existing customers of the Capable Pencil, there are many other products that could be targeted at them with similar improvements to everyday products. These products include sticky notes, pens, highlighters, and a number of other stationary products that can be produced cheaply and lack significant features.

What's Next for Me:

• I hope to be successful in the future, if that comes in the entrepreneurial fashion than I will be more then ready to tackle several projects to earn my success. However, I can't see myself full-on committing to the time it takes to be an entrepreneur and dedicate my life and sanity to creating products and running everything about them.

ENT3003 Assignment 23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

What Makes You So Special?

• Generate a list of all of the resources in your venture (produce a list of at least 10 resources that you already possess). This can include your human capital, social capital, financial capital, and capabilities. You may also discuss the organizational culture you intend to create (but, obviously, it's not a resource that you have, now.) 

1. I have significant financial capital although below $100,000.

2. Social capital with connection across the University of Florida
3. Connections among businessmen in metropolitan Orlando
4. Social capital with Family and graduate students in the Miami area
5. I hold myself an expected degree from Uf's business school
6. I have the passion and drive to commit 100% to whatever i put my mind to
7. I have housing and support from family
8. Information about my audience gained from ENT3003 course
9. Information about my business idea gained from feedback throughout ENT3003
10. A good business idea that is advanced in it's design

• Conduct a "VRIN" analysis for each resource. That is, describe, for each resource, how it is valuable, rare, inimitable (how hard it is to copy by others), and non-substitutable (are there other resources that can provide the same benefits?). 

1. This resource is not too rare in the sense anyone CAN have it, and it's not substantial.
2-4. My social capital is quite rare as I know people that most do not, and what I can get from them is much different than what others can.
5-6. These personal factors are all things unique to me and collectively are extremely rare to have my particular passion, support, and education.
8-10. My final points are all based on this course itself and are rare to the extent of only UF students, but others that are in this course or have taken it can compare.

• After conducting the VRIN analysis, determine what your top resource is. Explain why it's more important to your venture than all of the other resources.

I believe my top resource is my social capital as it's extremely rare and holds more significance, in my opinion, then all the other ones I've listed. I believe this is especially true because of my wide range of connections and ability to benefit from these people. I additionally find myself capable of receiving useful information and support via my social capital.

ENT3003 Assignment 22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://youtu.be/ScYKw5X_FkQ

• Based on my feedback, I tried to incorporate more straight forward information into my approach as well as being more relatable with my product and why it's useful/important. In this elevator pitch I tried to recreate and actual spontaneous pitch that I could make if I ran into a situation where I could realistically pitch by my business idea on the spot. I attempted to provide useful information about my products attributes all while quickly getting to the point and doing it without a script or too much pre-planning.

ENT3003 Assignment 21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

• How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, was a book based mainly around the theme of patience, expressing the fact that everyone has failed in their lives and that instead of dwelling on it you must be patient with your failures trusting that you will win big in the end. By this, Adams meant that many people weren't successful on their first try at things yet still became a success later on after an eventual chance of luck or with their entrepreneurship project that final worked out.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

• I believe this book connected well with ENT3003 because it's extremely relatable for the everyday entrepreneur. Earlier in the semester we learned how most entrepreneurial ventures fail and furthermore that most will never make a large income. With that said, these people can still keep on working and go through 3, 4, 5, or an endless amount of products/opportunities before they find a success or reach happiness. On a personal level, I could strongly connect with what Adams was trying to express in this book and I believe it will be quite an enhancer for me in this class going forward. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

• I would make an exercise where the entrepreneur (students) should focus on themselves rather than their work. Not connecting any of the products or ideas to their character but rather just having an assignment where you make personal goals for yourself, whether that be weight loss, weight gain, improved grades, improved social-life, whatever it may personally be. I believe Adams would find this to be truly relevant for an entrepreneur and much more capable of advancing someone to reach a fulfilled life/career than any other assignment could. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

• When Adams discusses the idea of selfishness it really connected with me as the idea to focus on yourself is quite anti-American in the fact that as children we're raised to be caring, compassionate, and to put our family and others over ourselves. This can be quite a detriment to our personal success and happiness though. I believe Adams made a great collection of points in how we should prioritize our focus on ourselves and our health first (including our fitness, stress, sleep), then on finances (a home, investments, occupation), and then after all of that finally on our family, community, and the world. When I first looked into this book I understood the entrepreneurial idea of dealing with failure and pushing onward to find success, however I was not expecting such insight about personal selfishness as a route to success.

ENT 3003 Assignment 19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

Second Shot at Idea Napkin No. 2

1) My name is Jared Narzissenfeld, I’ve spent most of my life in the Orlando area including my first 2 years of community college at Valencia. I have since transferred to UF as general business major. I believe my best skills lie in learning and adapting, I find myself capable of adjusting to whatever scenario I’m placed into and learning quickly to become the best I can be at whatever it is I set my mind to. I have large aspirations in terms of success, I hope to become better off than my parents and peers, I hope to let nothing get in my way of being the best person that I can be. I believe that if I were to start this business that it would become something mainstay to my daily life, in such a way that I expressed earlier by my skills. I could easily see my business being something I put full effort into as a means of being as successful as it and I can be, realizing the idea’s full potential.

2) My product will offer customers a substitute to what is currently on the market, and I believe these current products are inferior. I plan to make a mechanical pencil that solves the issues currently found among the major brands, these include problems with lead, reusability, and convenience. My product will have more durable lead with a more structured pencil so that excessive breakage will be prevented. Additionally, this pencil will have features never before seen that will allows users to refill their pencils with minimal effort, saving money for not only the consumer but for the environment too.

3) I believe the characteristics of my customers can be best described by their demographics, to which I would say is primarily 14-24-year-olds in some level of education from middle school up to university. Furthermore, I believe this product isn’t going to be weighted strongly to other ethnicity’s and such but more focused on age and occupation. I believe most of my customers will be primarily writers rather than people who type on a computer, that is people who prefer to frequently write out their notes and do their work with a pencil as opposed to other options such as a laptop, pen with ink, or just not being much of a writer at all. Ideally this product will be designed for people that prefer writing on paper rather than using electronic devices.

4) I think customers should be willing to spend money for my product as they’re already currently paying for inferior products. Any student that likes to write and chooses lead often uses a mechanical pencil, these pencils can be gone through extremely quickly, I know from personal experience I’ve used anywhere from 5-10 in a single month. Due to the large amount of turnover with pencils I believe people will have a desire to have a pencil they don’t go through as quickly, due to the additional lead in my product, users will choose to purchase it more often as they will be getting a longer-lasting product for a similar price point that will simultaneously be keeping all the thrown away pencils out of the landfills they inevitably end up in, therefore also supporting the environment. My customer market will care about this product as it will be made at little to no more additional cost but with significant benefits.

5) I believe what sets me apart from everyone else is determination, I truly believe I could have an inferior product but with my relentless effort and work I could still make it perform better than any more “superior” product. Furthermore, I truly do believe the product I’ve come up with is like nothing on the market and offers a benefit to users in a way that no other product does in its form of improving reusability, allowing one pencil to last longer than any competitive product on the market right now.

Feedback Memo:

I believe that my five elements do fit together well as my skills and capabilities are represented in my product and the demographics of my customer audience represent people of the same characteristics that my product appeals to. Based off my feedback, I tried to incorporate the fact that the changing times of society with more technology has resulted in a shift away from users hand-writing in favor of using electronic devices. With that said, I believe my target audience will be those people that still prefer to write by hand. Additionally, I believe it's important that I make my product affordable for students and children in my target audience so that they can make the purchase of the product themselves that they may be unlikely to do at a higher price point.

ENT3003 Assignment 17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

Elevator Pitch Practice! (Part 2!)

1) The pitch. Same as last time, about 90-seconds long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link.

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. 

• I believe I gained useful feedback from lecture regarding introductions and avoided introducing myself, opting for a more product-focused pitch. I think this is important because I want my pitch to be all about why my product is great and why it's worth an investment or interest, while my personal information can be gathered more easily and can be redundant. I believe I was given some good advice regarding concrete numbers and facts and tried to focus on the objective qualities of my product this time around. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

• During this elevator pitch I made some alterations based on feedback. For one, I jumped right into my pitch to start as opposed to introducing myself. I also focused more on facts and and information about my product than I did the first time around.

ENT3003 Assignment 18A – Create a Customer Avatar

Customer Avatar

My product can be nailed down to a primary demographic of 14-22 year olds that are also students, it's not particularly suited for a specific gender or some other attributes but for the sake of this assignment I'll try to specify all the characteristics that are more likely.

My customer is a 19 year old female attending university as an English major. She enjoys hobbies such as partying, watching football, and socializing with friends at local restaurants. She drives a green 2010 Toyota Corolla that her parents purchased for her to use up at school. She typically watches Netflix as opposed to traditional TV, watching shows like Orange is the New Black, Friends, and The Office. 

I have a lot in common with this avatar as far as characteristics. I don't use traditional TV, I can be found at local restaurants, and i'm a university student with a car purchased by my parents. I don't think this is a coincidence as my reality is skewed by what I believe and see and I assume everything I see is as likely or as common as everyone else's life. 

ENT3003 Assignment 16A – What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Know Thyself

Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique.

1. Determination – When it comes to accomplishing a task, I’m extremely strong-willed and will work on a task tirelessly until I’m able to complete it to the best of my ability.

2. Adaptability – No matter what situation I’m put into, I’m extremely quick to adapt and learn how to be successful in the position I’ve been placed in. In an atmosphere where stuff is always changing, I’m able to keep up effectively.

3. Reliability – My consistency in work and mindset is superior to most, I feel like if something needs to be done you can always count on me to either get it done to the best of my ability or take the appropriate steps to ensure the best result.

4. Independence – I have a sense of independence that allows for me to operate on my own with less social contact and with less help needed than that of most people, while also still being able to interact and communicate with people effectively.

5. Problem Solving – When faced with an issue or assignment, I put my all of my effort into solving the task at hand and normally I’m able to figure out how to succeed in most situations, finding the solution to a complicated issue.

Interview the five people who know you the best.

1. Naomi Interview (https://soundcloud.com/user-368372101/naomiinterview/s-hNqFL?in=user-368372101/sets/ent3003-assignment-16-interviews/s-NazKF)

• Naomi, my girlfriend of 4 years now described me as having great insight and care for others. I think this makes sense as I've been there for her throughout many problems in her life and she's seen a supportive side of me that most don't get to see. 

2. Dad Interview (https://soundcloud.com/user-368372101/dadinterview/s-2JtOe?in=user-368372101/sets/ent3003-assignment-16-interviews/s-NazKF)

• I think my dad's answer was the most similar to what I believe about myself. My dad has been a great influence in my life with saving/financing and being good academically. These things were expressed in what he described as self-motivation and being able to do everything I put my mind to quickly and effectively.

3. Rachel Interview (https://soundcloud.com/user-368372101/rahcelinterview/s-N3MgJ?in=user-368372101/sets/ent3003-assignment-16-interviews/s-NazKF)

• My sister who is really just a sweet girl, described me as being attentive and a knowledge-seeker. To her point about learning, I definitely think I have a  genuine interest in school that most truly don't have.

4. Jason Interview (https://soundcloud.com/user-368372101/jasoninterview/s-V7uc5?in=user-368372101/sets/ent3003-assignment-16-interviews/s-NazKF)

• Being my best friend, Jason knows me in a lot of ways that family don't. His description of me was different from everyone else's in the way that he described my energy and humor. My family and girlfriend described me as kind and intelligent whereas he focused more on why i'm a good guy to "hangout" with.

5. Mom Interview (https://soundcloud.com/user-368372101/mominterview/s-qnl33?in=user-368372101/sets/ent3003-assignment-16-interviews/s-NazKF)

• My mom, who I initially started my interview by saying knows me best had one interesting take on what differentiates me. That point I think is something quite admirable in that I like to do everything to the best of my ability, kinda like a perfectionist as Naomi mentioned.

Reflect on the differences. 

I see myself as an independent and reliable person who is a hard worker and a quick learner with an abstract intelligence that allows me to be an effective problem solver. Others seem to see me in similar ways, primarily with the hard working and quick learning attributes. However, I was also seen as caring to my girlfriend and fun to be around by my best friend which I didn't quite instinctively think about myself. With that said, I think my interviewees were correct about me, everything sounded right, I think the differences are simply because of what side of me I express to each person. I don't think I would make any corrections to my aforementioned list, I think it covered my main five differentiating attributes.

ENT3003 Assignment 15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Evaluating How Your Customers Evaluate Stuff

Report the Findings and Draw Conclusions:

My three interviews were again with people that were a part of my selected segment of students with a hand-writing preference, and particularly those with a mechanical pencil preference (I did however settle for one student in my three interviews who primarily used a pen when hand-writing.) My first Interview was conducted with a 19-year-old, Female Student attending UF as a Psychology major. My second interview was with a 21-year-old Male Student that’s is studying Finance. My final interview was with a 19-year-old Female at UF attending UF’s college of nursing.

When it comes to alternative evaluation, my interviews have led me to believe that the primary substitutes to my product are current mechanical pencils, wooden #2 pencils, ink pens, and an array of technological replacements to writing such as laptops, PCs, iPad’s, etc. My first interviewee described how she chooses which product to use based on the situation, saying that she’s much more likely to use her laptop in content-heavy classes, whereas she’s always using a mechanical pencil when taking hand-written notes for her math classes. I had similar responses in terms of subject determining utensil among my other interviews on this occasion and previously.

Among my three interviews, they all happened to say that they had brought their writing utensil from home and that it was purchased by themselves or a family member in-person never online, at a typical supermarket like Walmart or Publix. My third interview further described how her family tends to load up on school supplies right before the school year (July/August) and that this is when her current ink pens were purchased. My general impression across all three interviews is that they’re quite pleased with the purchases of their pencils/pens but that it’d be rare for them to be unhappy with a similar purchase.

To conclude, I believe the segment I chose to interview is highly interested in the convenience of purchasing and using their respective writing utensils. With that said, I think that they’re not too concerned with the price or effectiveness of their pencils, as the purchases are not thought about too extensively and are most likely not even purchased by themselves.

ENT3003 Assignment 14A – Halfway Reflection

Tenacity & Paying It Forward

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

I would say that when It comes to this course, you have to be consistent, aware, and well organized. There are so many assignments due each and every week that you must stay on top of the coursework. I think this can be best done by setting a schedule and sticking it to it week in and week out, while also being continuously aware of your upcoming assignments and what they entail. Overall, I believe this class really comes down to just staying on top of the work and getting ahead so that you have sufficient time to do everything as required.

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?

When I first started dealing with the assignments of this class I ran into a lot of moments where I wanted to stop and just quit. The workload appeared like too much and not worth my time. However, the more lectures I watched and the more I learned, I quickly started to appreciate the hard work it took to get everything that I needed done. From this, I think ENT3003 has really prepared me for a work-like amount of assignments that will keep me more tenacious in the future, allowing for me to be more experienced with an intense amount of work.

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' ?

1. You should keep up with all of the work given to you and persevere through and complications you find, these can be even more simplified by preparing ahead of time.

2. Stay mentally strong, with anything in life this is quite applicable. No matter what you’re dealing with in the moment try to always keep your strength emotionally so that you’re able to be your best at all times.

3. Finally, make sure you’re doing something you enjoy. I personally believe that tenacity comes easier when you have something you WANT to be tenacious about. The attitude and mindset will come a lot faster when you’re passionate about your craft.

ENT3003 Assignment 13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Reading Reflection: Steve Jobs, By Walter Isaacson

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

· What surprised you the most?

I never knew that Steve Jobs was adopted, which was brought up early on in the book, and was quite a surprise as I feel like that would be something more widely-known. Furthermore, he was given up for adoption because his biological mother’s family was not supportive of her relationship with Jobs’ biological father who was Muslim.

· What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

He didn’t allow himself to fall into a pit of failure despite experimenting with drugs like LSD and marijuana, getting into trouble at school, and just dealing with his odd life of adoption and having 2 sets of parents. He began to make himself self-motivated while growing up and it resulted in a passion that lead to his success.

· What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

Steve Jobs was too motivated by money, even when he had opportunities to make a product more popular or give It away as a free service, he always resented. Wozniak originally wanted to give away the apple design for free but Jobs found a way to make money off of it, and while he was successful at that it was just the start of his many money-focused tendencies.

· Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Steve Jobs faced one specific encounter that was of great adversity, and that’s when he and his friend Steve Wozniak made a product called “Blue Box” that allowed you to make long distance phone calls for free using frequencies, they started selling it but this led to one being stolen from them at gunpoint. However, despite this experience, Jobs continued to follow his imaginiation and created more and more products until he became a success.

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

Persistence. Steve Jobs was very persistent in getting what he wanted. I can recall at one point he went into Atari’s offices and stayed there until they would offer him a job and sure enough, he got one. However, as common throughout his life, his personality rubbed people the wrong way and created issues but even with these personal issues he still excelled in doing whatever he was asked, including creating a one-person “pong” game when asked, in just 4 days.

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

I feel like this book didn’t address Steve Jobs’ relationships well enough. Chapter 7 described his relationship when he started dating Chrisann Brennan including the birth of his first child, Lisa. Lisa was later described as the possible reasoning behind the initial computer invention Jobs came up with, named the lisa. I feel like the author could have done a better job explaining Jobs’ intimate relationships and specifically his relationship with his daughter.

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

If I could ask Steve Jobs two questions I’d ask first: “Why didn’t you care for your relationships as much?” And secondly, I wonder “What was your life like when you were rich, was it better?”
I’d ask these 2 questions specifically, because he maintained such an odd relationship with his family that I can’t really understand, and I wonder if he regrets it, or if he’s not much of a family-man. I feel like this could also be related to how money changed his life, I’m interested if all the money was just too much that he felt like a superior person to everyone else.

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

I think Steve Jobs was an extremely hard worker, he was relentless in being a success. Despite being your typical “hippie” Steve Jobs still wanted to be rich, to be famous, to make the next big thing. I share his passion for wanted to be a success that’s for sure, and I hope I can maintain the work ethic that he had. Jobs’ hard work was indescribable as he was a strange man that went all over the place, even to India for a year that seemed quite random, but if one thing is for sure… it’s that he’s was hard worker.

ENT3003 Assignment 12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Sketching out the Beginning of the Buyer Behavior Process

1) Pick a segment:

I chose to interview students that all fit into a segment of hand-writing preference and with a specific preference of using mechanical pencils when doing work or taking notes. To figure this out I went around UF Reitz Union and inquired from people that were already doing work with a mechanical pencil as they fit perfectly into the segment, I then asked if they'd be available for a short 10-15-minute interview and went from there. The students I interviewed were of different genders and between the age of 18-21 but were told they'd remain anonymous for the assignment.

2) Interview Summaries:

1. My first interview was done with a female, age 18. She was from Orlando, FL and told me she always prefers to write notes by hand as it helps more with her memory, while also opting for mechanical pencils over standard wooden ones whenever possible. 

2. My second interview was conducted with a 21-year-old male from Jacksonville, FL. He is currently a business student at UF and told me he likes to take lecture notes by hand, primarily using a mechanical pencil. Furthermore, he also told me that he chooses to use a mechanical pencil when writing out practice problems for classes like finance and business statistics in the past.

3. My final interview was with a 20 year old male from Miami, FL who's attending UF as a Statistics major. This student said he does a lot of his work on his computer but that whenever it comes to writing something he chooses to do it with a mechanical pencil, whether that be notes or problems.

3) Need Awareness: 

The unmet need my product hopes to solve is the current issues with mechanical pencils, primarily with the lead used inside of them. Throughout my interviews I received very similar responses for some parts and a lot of varieties with others. Similar among all the interviews was that the primarily usage time occurred during school seasons (Fall/Spring semesters), and especially during the daytime when lectures were occurring either digitally or in-person. My first interviewee explained that she primarily was writing when she has lectures to watch online, doing so in the Reitz Union. My second and third interviews gave similar responses in that they mainly only wrote with their mechanical pencil when doing work for the courses, primarily for problems in math/business classes. However, they explained when they go home they tend to just use their phone and/or laptop to do any other work that doesn't involve hand-writing.

4) Information Search: 

For the most part I believe my problem isn't talked about too much, which leads me to believe that perhaps my product needs to take a creating demand approach by first showing the audience what's wrong with their product prior to making the demand, which is inherently more difficult. With that said upon questioning all my interviews lead to the same answer that they do face issues of running out of lead with no backups, and they've all said that they've been guilty of replacing a completely fine pencil with a new one simply because of lead shortage. With that said, I'm not sure any information can easily be search on google, when people face these current issues with mechanical pencil most people claim that they just ask a friend or nearby person if they have a spare pencil as a means to finding the solution to the problem. Often this pencil doesn't even get returned from what I've heard in my interviews and personally experienced. 

5) Draw conclusions: 

I believe that the segment I interviewed is essentially just my target audience that I've had similar previous interviews with. The need awareness for this group seems to be with people that like to do their work on-campus but this is clearly gonna be a little biased to my study method due to the fact that I chose people to interview based off of finding them doing work on-campus. With that said, I was able to learn a significant amount in information search as I think many people I plan to target simply aren't too experienced with the main issue my product hopes to solve, meaning a primary obstacle to my idea will be getting awareness for the issue.

ENT3003 Assignment 11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

Piecing It All Together

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 name is Jared Narzissenfeld, I’ve spent most of my life in the Orlando area including my first 2 years of community college at Valencia. I have since transferred to UF as general business major. I believe my best skills lie in learning and adapting, I find myself capable of adjusting to whatever scenario I’m placed into and learning quickly to become the best I can be at whatever it is I set my mind to. I have large aspirations in terms of success, I hope to become better off than my parents and peers, I hope to let nothing get in my way of being the best person that I can be. I believe that if I were to start this business that it would become something mainstay to my daily life, in such a way that I expressed earlier by my skills. I could easily see my business being something I put full effort into as a means of being as successful as it and I can be, realizing the idea’s full potential.

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

My product will offer customers a substitute to what is currently on the market, and I believe these current products are inferior. I plan to make a mechanical pencil that solves the issues currently found among the major brands, these include problems with lead, reusability, and convenience. My product will have more durable lead with a more structured pencil so that excessive breakage will be prevented. Additionally, this pencil will have features never before seen that will allows users to refill their pencils with minimal effort, saving money for not only the consumer but for the environment too.

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?

I believe the characteristics of my customers can be best described by their demographics, to which I would say is primarily 14-24-year-olds in some level of education from middle school up to university. Furthermore, I believe this product isn’t going to be weighted strongly to other ethnicity’s and such but more focused on age and occupation. I believe most of my customers will be primarily writers rather than people who type on a computer, that is people who prefer to frequently write out their notes and do their work with a pencil as opposed to other options such as a laptop, pen with ink, or just not being much of a writer at all.

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

I think customers should be willing to spend money for my product as they’re already currently paying for inferior products. Any student that likes to write and chooses lead often uses a mechanical pencil, these pencils can be gone through extremely quickly, I know from personal experience I’ve used anywhere from 5-10 in a single month. Due to the large amount of turnover with pencils I believe people will have a desire to have a pencil they don’t go through as quickly, due to the additional lead in my product, users will choose to purchase it more often as they will be getting a longer-lasting product for a similar price point that will simultaneously be keeping all the thrown away pencils out of the landfills they inevitably end up in, therefore also supporting the environment.

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

I believe what sets me apart from everyone else is determination, I truly believe I could have an inferior product but with my relentless effort and work I could still make it perform better than any more “superior” product. Furthermore, I truly do believe the product I’ve come up with is like nothing on the market and offers a benefit to users in a way that no other product does in its form of improving reusability, allowing one pencil to last longer than any competitive product on the market right now.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

I believe these 5 elements actually work together very nicely. There’s a type of synergy built between my personal strengths and competencies and my products capabilities, not to mention the primary target audience for my product is looking for the features that I hope to implement. Moreover, I believe my skills and determination will also allow for a product to be created at minimal costs that will allow for a competitive price point matching the desires of my customers.

ENT3003 Assignment 10A – Elevator Pitch #1

Practicing Your Pitch:

Elevator Pitch #1

Hi, my name is Jared Narzissenfeld, creator and founder of Capable Pencil and i'm here to talk to you today about a brand new pencil that's changing the way people think about all mechanical pencils.

Now... you may ask what do I need a new pencil for? I already have a mechanical pencil. Well... I'm here to tell you those pencils aren't right, they're a way of the past, they do so many things wrong. I'm gonna focus on the two biggest issues my pencil will solve: 

1. When people are writing with a pencil the lead at the top snaps all the time 

2. Replacing a completely capable pencil with a brand new pencil every time the original one runs out of lead.

Most people likely have this inefficient turnover because of the tedious process of carrying and replacing additional lead. 

Capable Pencil aims to change this mindset. To do this we've created a pencil that solves these aforementioned issues by having a maximum limit that the user is able to press their lead out of the tip, this makes sure that no lead comes out that isn't needed, therefore preventing the excessive lead that constantly breaks while writing. But the real edge to Capable Pencil is the innovative clip on the side that comes stocked with additional lead so that when your pencil runs out of lead, you're able to refill it immediately without wasting the completely "Capable Pencil"!

Now tell me, don't you want a more Capable Pencil? 

ENT3003 Assignment 9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Continuing My Opportunity Research

Who:

I've learned throughout my previous and more recent interviews that there are a significant portion of people that don't relate with my opportunity even though they share almost all of the same characteristics. I believe this exists because some people that fit the right demographics and lifestyle as a mechanical pencil user choose substitute products that get the same job done. Many of the people I interviewed said they primarily use only their laptops to take notes, quizzes, etc. while others claimed they preferred standard pens/pencils rather than mechanical alternatives.

What:

I believe the need I'm trying to solve is based purely on issues with mechanical pencils and unfortunately I think that need is stopped at mechanical pencils. It appears that through my interviews , Laptop users and Pen/Wooden pencil suers just prefer their own things and are not apart of my audience as much so as people that prefer to use mechanical pencils. 

Why:

The people inside the boundary of my opportunity simply use mechanical pencils, it's seems to me that users of mechanical pencils prefer them to wooden pencils, whereas wooden pencil users are aware of mechanical pencils but choose not to use them under most cirucmstances. When it comes to pencils, it seems that personal preference is the driving cause for most decisions.

             Inside the Boundary:                                       Outside the Boundary:

Who:    High School and college students                     Primarily non-Students and people

             who frequently choose mechanical                   that don't frequently find themselves
             pencils over other substitutes.                           writing using a pencil a lot.

What:   These students wish to have a writing              This opportunity does not solve anything

             utensil that is effective and reliable                   for laptop/computer users, it also doesn't

             while being offered at a cheap price.                benefit the users of substitute products.

Why:    This need is formed from the failures               People don't all have problems with  

             experienced by current mechanical                  their current writing device. Additionally, 

             pencils and the preference of such                   most people are content with the "issues" 

             pencils over pens and wooden pencils.            that my product is hoping to solve.

ENT3003 Assignment 8A – Solving the Problem

Solving The Problem: Product Solution

Opportunity: 

The problem I’m hoping to solve is with Mechanical Pencils, I hope to create a product that can address several issues. Of the issues that exist with current mechanical pencils, I will primarily be focused on fixing the problems regarding lead.

Three Existing Problems and their Respective Alterations:

Problems: Most mechanical pencils have a solid surrounding that prevents the user from seeing how much lead they have left to write with. Another issue occurs when the lead coming out of the pencil breaks easily while writing, this is sometimes due to too much lead coming out but I also believe it could be due to the thinness of the lead. The final problem my product will solve is with the storage of lead, currently the user must carry separate "containers" that carry additional pieces of lead. The need to carry an additional item for your one mechanical pencil can be rather tedious to the user, which results in most people choosing not to carry any extra lead at all. Instead, the majority of people choose to use a completely new pencil when their original one runs out of lead.

Solutions: I plan to create a product that alleviates all of these issues. To begin, this product will take advantage of a transparent surrounding that allows for the pencil be to seen through its outer covering effortlessly, making it easy for the user to realize when they're running low on lead. The second improvement will prevent the lead from breaking as easily, this is due to the pencil's thicker and more durable lead source. Additionally, this pencil will have the ability to limit lead from exceeding a set maximum length out of the top. Finally, the product is finished off with a small compartment on the side of the pencil that acts as a "clip" just like standard mechanical pencils have. However, instead of just acting as a clip, this piece will double as a storage device that is capable of holding more than a dozen pieces of lead.

ENT3003 Assignment 7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

You Have An Opportunity, Now What?

1) The opportunistic venture I’m choosing to pursue:

• A modified mechanical pencil with alterations that improve the Lead/Covering. 

2) The opportunity (who, what, and why?):

• Mechanical pencils that use plastic materials instead of wood are extremely common in the United States and from my experience are used even more often than a standard #2 pencil with students in middle school and above. As common as these pencils are they have various deficiencies, these include: no way to easily see how much lead is remaining, constant breakage of lead while writing and lack of additional lead when the pencil is emptied. These issues are due to the typical solid covering on the outside of mechanical pencils, weak lead thickness and strength, and finally, the usage is limited because of the small amount of lead that can be held in a pencil and the hassle of carrying any additional lead. 

3) Hypotheses of my opportunity (Testing the who, what, & why):

• I believe that people that have this need primarily include students aged 12-20 but certainly, this grouping could be expanded. Everyday working adults could all benefit from this product, particularly if they already choose mechanical pencils that are currently inferior. Additionally, this pencil could be more useful to people that would typically choose a wood pencil. I find this to be true because the increased benefits of this pencil may be appealing enough to encourage these consumers to switch. I believe that almost all mechanical pencils have faults but there are some better than others. Pencils that already have a clear surrounding allow for some sight of lead, but I believe it’s not to an effective level that makes it clear how much longer you will be able to write for. Moreover, there’s not any popular pencil out right now that allows for storing of additional lead while the pencils that have thicker lead aren’t standardized enough for everyday usage. I believe that most people will concur that current mechanical pencils on the market are simply not up-to-par with this idea for an improved one. I anticipate most people agreeing that pencils on the market right now break too easily, don’t last long enough, and/or don’t properly show how much lead is remaining. As aforementioned, some pencils do currently include some benefits but there’s not one that I’m aware of that contains the integral aspects of my idea for a mechanical pencil.

4) My 5 Interviews:

Interview 1:

• The person interviewed is a male student at UF who frequently uses mechanical pencils to take lecture notes. He says that the most frustrating aspect of mechanical pencils is the lead breaking when you’re trying to write for a long time. He brought up that to avoid this, he keeps the lead coming out the top to a minimal amount, resulting in it breaking less often. 

Interview 2:

• This interviewee is a female UF student studying abroad from the UK. She informed me that before coming to the U.S, she did not frequently use mechanical pencils, instead opting for a standard wooden #2 pencil most of the time. With that said, she said she doesn’t frequently experience problems with her mechanical pencil. Upon further questioning, she did say that running out of lead is an annoyance as she does not keep extra on her, but that when she does run out she chooses to use a completely new pencil. 

Interview 3:

• In this interview, I spoke with a high school student living in Orlando, FL. He said that he frequently uses mechanical pencils when in class and that almost everyone else in the class also uses mechanical pencils (not wooden ones). He detailed to me a few annoyances included: lead breaking while writing, clogging of the pencil when trying to press on the eraser, and losing lead when taking off the eraser. According to the interviewee, these problems exist because the lead can only be taken out/put in by removing the eraser. 

Interview 4:

• I met this person in the Reitz Union at UF when I actually saw them using a mechanical pencil to do some school work. After talking for a while and explaining my assignment, this person explained to me that he uses both wooden and mechanical pencils, but he hates having to have a normal wooden #2 pencil with him at all times. He told me that he did this because between lead breaking and the mechanical pencil running out of lead there’s always an uncertainty as to whether he’ll be ok for a test, essay, or any other assignment that requires a pencil. 

Interview 5:

• This interview was rather brief with the individual explaining to me how she almost always uses her laptop for assignments since coming to college. She told me that she hasn’t had a real writing assignment since high school, choosing to write type notes on her laptop alongside PowerPoint slides. Furthermore, she explained that when a test does come around she normally opts for a standard wooden pencil to not risk any faults in the detection of a mechanical pencil.

5) What I've learned about my Opportunity from the Interviews:

• I feel that after my interviews, a lot of my opportunity is based on the wrong area. No one seems to bring up how the covering of a pencil is solid which is originally what I thought the main problem was. However, given their insight, I believe this opportunity is only stronger than I anticipated, but that I should instead focus on the capabilities of lead in a mechanical pencil as opposed to the mechanical pencil itself. Almost everyone I spoke to had complaints related to the lead breaking, running out of lead, or losing lead when putting it into or taking it out of the pencil.

ENT3003 Assignment 6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends:

1. Trend: The U.S. Federal Funds Rate is Rising

• Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/interest-rate
• Why Opportunity Exists: The rising interest rate offered by the Federal Reserve effects how consumers can get credit they need. With the federal funds rate rising, banks offer high interest rates which leads to more people saving money and less people borrowing money.
• Prototypical Customer: This opportunity allows for banks to pursue more people’s money. When people are saving their money in banks it allows more money to be loaned out to people or businesses, which should draw people to banks and banks to people.
• Difficulty to Exploit: This opportunity is relatively simple to exploit as an average person, if you’re the consumer that is saving you can exploit the trend to have a more stable investment in a bank while the bank’s role is relatively difficult as they need to get more people to save and find more businesses willing to take on higher loan rates. 
• Why I see this opportunity: I believe this opportunity exists because federal reserve rates have been so low for so long. I think that people will be significantly more willing to save their money in banks now than they would have been in the past.

2. Trend: Rebounding from Natural Disasters

• Source: https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/six-key-economic-trends
• Why Opportunity Exists: Natural Disasters cause an absurd amount of damage to both buildings and the environment, they were especially disastrous in 2017-2018. Florida and Texas both faced hurricanes that left major cities in ruins but while this was unfortunate for the overall economy it will be very beneficial to the construction industry as buildings need repairs with some requiring complete overhauls.
• Prototypical Customer: This opportunity will primarily effect businesses in the construction industry including companies that work with electrical wiring, home building, and all in-home service areas such as plumbing, A/C, etc. 
• Difficulty to Exploit: This opportunity is relatively easy to exploit as most of these businesses already exist and simply need to take on the increased demand by completing more projects and hiring off the duties that will benefit other businesses.
• Why I see this opportunity: I have seen this opportunity through my own experiences as areas across Florida were ripped apart last year by Hurricane Irma. Many people are still without a proper home to this day, as they wait for an available or cost-conscious construction company that will inevitably take on this great opportunity.

Regulatory Changes:

3. Change: Increased promotion, funding, & simplicity for Career and Technical Education

• Source: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr2353
• Why Opportunity Exists: This bill passed the house and senate and was enacted by the president a little over a month ago. The bill allows for CTE courses and teachers to receive more funding and should yield more innovation within CTE programs all with a limited federal role. 
• Prototypical Customer: This opportunity will mostly be available to schools with CTE programs, as well as schools that were considering adding such courses. 
• Difficulty to Exploit: This opportunity is relatively easy to exploit as nothing new is being added, rather most things involved are just being improved to benefit education.
• Why I see this opportunity: Having spent my 2018 internship looking into a lot of CTE courses and trade schools I’m very familiar with these programs. It seems that a lot of improvements will come from this new bill, with at the bare minimum resulting in simplified processes for schools and teachers to go with additional funding.

4. Change: Act providing CBP with support for better chemical screening devices

• Source: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr2142
• Why Opportunity Exists: This Act will allow for CBP to spend large amounts of money on improving chemical screening devices that they hope will lead to reduced illegal trafficking of deadly drugs from Latin America to the U.S.
• Prototypical Customer: This opportunity while connected to CBP will mostly benefit businesses that work in the scientific field that will receive government funding to gather further research on dangerous chemicals. Additionally, the companies that create and maintain chemical screening devices will also greatly benefit from this Act.
• Difficulty to Exploit: This opportunity is relatively difficult to exploit as the businesses benefitting from the Act are extremely scientific and specialized in their field. However, those who are specialized in chemicals and the production of screening devices will almost surely exploit the higher demand for their products. 
• Why I see this opportunity: Having multiple relatives in the customs field, including a lot of experience with CBP I feel quite confident that this act will be used to help support CBP through the funding that is given to scientists and companies product chemical screening devices.

ENT3003 Assignment 5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

Identifying Local Opportunities

All 5 Below are Orlando Sentinel Stories:

1. Jacksonville gamer wants better safety after shooting at event

i) Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F16E2499D76D02E48

ii) Article Summary: Chris Cantrell, a pro gamer from Jacksonville, explains what the gaming community is like and why he thinks security at professional gaming events needs to be improved. This coming in the aftermath of a shooting at a professional Madden event in his hometown of Jacksonville, where two participants were murdered.

iii) The Problem: The point that Chris Cantrell was trying to make is that there is insufficient security at a lot of the professional gaming events.

iv) Who has the Problem: This problem is primarily focused on professional gamers and their safety at gaming events they compete in.


2. Ill-conceived SunRail eventually will fail

i) Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F16E0F182C5558638

ii) Article Summary: The much “anticipated” SunRail that travels all throughout Florida has been running into a few issues mainly that of not many people actually using it. Due to this, the article author predicts that it will eventually fail.

iii) The Problem: The author goes on to describe how the SunRail isn’t positioned near enough populated areas and has no perpendicular access points, therefore only people that live nearby the rail are using it.

iv) Who has the Problem: This problem is a big blow to the Florida Department of Transportation that operates and pushed for this rail. Additionally, it is a significant problem to the people of Florida that had hoped to use this rail to travel, commute, or otherwise benefit off of it, as they have had no efficient/convenient way to do so.


3. Low-income residents lose ground to luxury - Upscale push makes vouchers unwelcome

i) Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F16E0A06ADFB61290

ii) Article Summary: This story details a personal experience familiar with many low-income families. These families have been renting their properties for years but because less “cheap” properties are being built, the rates rise. However, at the same time, Luxury properties are being built at an increasing rate.

iii) The Problem: The reduction of properties for lower-income residents is causing a housing shortage while properties that families aren’t buying, are turned into office space.

iv) Who has the Problem: This problem is affecting whole populations that are classified as lower-income. These poor families are struggling to find housing with reasonable rates as the most manageable properties are either taken or being converted.


4. Make voting easy for Florida college students

i) Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F16E04C76AE532568

ii) Article Summary: This story explains how students are generally unlikely to vote due to a number of factors. These include the lack of vehicles, time, parking, and many more other issues. The article does however bring up that UF is one of the very few universities that offers voting on campus.

iii) The Problem: Young people are not voting at nearly as high a rate as older people. This is said to be because of the many factors prohibiting young people such as lack of time or transportation.

iv) Who has the Problem: This problem specifically is impacting College students in Florida that are of age to vote (18+).


5. Andrew's impact still felt 26 years after its landfall - The hurricane that changed Florida

i) Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F16E04C7598356B10

ii) Article Summary: Hurricane Andrew, which hit in 1992 is said to still have its impact seen to this day. The article goes on to explain the damages that occurred out of Hurricane Andrew, how horrible the storm itself was, but also how the catastrophe has allowed for positives such as improvements in hurricane tracking.

iii) The Problem: Hurricanes in Florida are still just as dangerous as they were 25+ years ago and in some ways just as unforeseeable. Hurricanes are very hard to track and although our technology has improved, weather experts still can’t predict just how destructive hurricanes will be.

iv) Who has the Problem: This problem is felt the most by Florida residents that experienced hurricane Andrew as well as those currently living in the state that will likely face many more hurricanes in their lifetime. Additionally, this problem serves as a challenge to weather experts on their path to improved forecasting of storms.