Identifying Local Opportunities

Opportunity #1
Title: Campus blue lights not used for emergency situations often, data shows
Link: https://www.alligator.org/news/campus-blue-lights-not-used-for-emergency-situations-often-data/article_18d5adfa-4407-11ea-8944-73d007b022df.html
Description: The Blue Light Emergency poles around campus are not being used for emergencies. There are 330 of these around campus and they have only been used a few times with the majority of those times being hang ups. With that being said, people are not using the blue poles when they feel there is an emergency. 
Description of the Problem: People are not using the poles for emergencies. The majority of the times that people have called in an emergency on the poles have been hang ups.
Description of who has the problem: The Gainesville police department has to file police reports every time someone calls in on these blue poles.

Opportunity #2
Title: UF Sailing Team's Equipment Damaged By High Winds
Link: https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-sailing-team-s-equipment-damaged-by-high-winds/article_dbe2b252-42d6-11ea-ba7b-6741d053fad8.html
Description: During high winds, the University of Florida's sailing team suffered damage to many of their boats. Some boats were totaled and the others were damaged because these boats were not protected from the wind. 
Description of Problem: This semester the boats are not sailable so the team has to purchase new vessels which will cost them about 100,000 dollars.
Description of who has problem: The University of Florida and the members of the UF sailing team.

Opportunity #3
Title: UF Student Dies Days After Being Struck By Vehicle
Link: https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-student-dies-days-after-being-struck-by-vehicle/article_069afbb6-42ce-11ea-b438-d76df92018c9.html
Description: A student by the name of Denise Griffiths was crossing the cross walk on East University Avenue when she was hit by a car. She was then rushed tom the hospital in critical condition where they attempted to save her life. Unfortunately she passed away due to severe injuries to her spine and to her brain.
Description of Problem: The problem is that people are still getting hit on cross walks when cars are supposed to be stopped and waiting. If the procedure for cross walks was followed exactly, then there would be no incidents like this one. 
Description of who has problem: The drivers and the pedestrians crossing the road. In this case, the driver was the problem.

Opportunity #4
Title: UF Health monitors rumors of coronavirus spreading to Gainesville
Link:https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-health-monitors-rumors-of-coronavirus-spreading-to-gainesville/article_69a9b1a0-426c-11ea-86b2-87354e5a2a4e.html
Description: The UF student health care center was informed that a students family member travelled from China to Gainesville before the quarantine for the Coronavirus was implemented. At this time there are no reported cases of the virus in Gainesville, but doctors are keeping an eye out.
Description of Problem: There are no reported cases of the virus but with people being so compacted on campus, a case of the virus could spread very fast and could be deadly. 
Description of who has problem: Students need to be be careful of this virus by being sanitary and washing their hands.

Opportunity #5
Title: Person who died in Sunday’s crash identified as Santa Fe College student
Link: https://www.alligator.org/news/person-who-died-in-sunday-s-crash-identified-as-santa/article_98818db8-faa0-11e9-95b9-0f44db5cf5e5.html
Description: A gas tanker truck crashed in Gainesville causing a massive explosion. In result the driver of this car was identified as a student at Santa Fe college.
Description of Problem: The problem is that these tanks should not explode that easy. They should be made out of a metal that can withstand a crash or else they are basically just bombs being driven around Gainesville.
Description of who has problem: This is a problem because it is dangerous for the driver of this tanker as well as a danger to the pedestrians that walk along the street.

Forming An Opportunity Belief

Forming an Opportunity

I believe that an opportunity exists in the social network Industry. When I go out to a bar or a social setting with my buddies, I often see people are too shy to engage with others even though they really want to meet new people while they are out. In result, they end up doing what makes them comfortable such as talking to people they already know, or drinking so much that everything makes them comfortable. The people that I interviewed with all had very similar answers. The common answer was that when they saw a girl they wanted to talk to they would be too shy and talk to their friends instead, or they would go talk to the girl very nervously and get told that she has a boyfriend. I then decided to interview a girl and get her opinion and she said that when she is out she sees guys that she wants to talk to her but they never do. She also said she gets really nervous and usually just hangs around her friends because that is what makes her comfortable even though she wants to meet new people. With that being said, people are out at a social setting but are not engaging as much as they could be mostly because they are nervous or shy.

I believe that there is a huge opportunity to fix this problem. By human nature we shy away from situations that make us uncomfortable such as talking to someone that we don't know anything about. With that being said, what if there was a way to break the ice and make it easy for people to engage and go up to girls or guys that they don't know. I believe that entrepreneurs should adjust their opportunity based on customer feedback.

My Entreprenuership Story

Exposure to Entrepreneurship

A time that I was exposed to entrepreneurship was back in 2014 when my cousin and I wanted to develop our own bartering website. Growing up my cousin and I would always trade toys, shoes, and basically everything we owned. One day we were sitting on the couch and I had a breakthrough. My vision was that people could use a global platform to trade items through the internet. Soon after getting this idea I told my cousin and we took action. We first made a blue print of our idea and met with a web developer to see how much it would cost to develop this platform. In the process we came across many roadblocks, some of which we were able to fix and some that were a brick wall. The biggest barrier that we faced was security, more specifically product security. We needed to figure out a way to ensure that clients trade what they say they are going to trade. With that being said, this idea was eventually a bust but I learned a lot of valuable lessons that make me a better business man today.

The reason I am taking this class is because I enjoy acting on ideas. When I have an idea, I am not the type of person to sit on it and let it float away. I also find a lot of pleasure in solving problems and most importantly, making other peoples lives better. With that being said, I feel like this class will help me open my mind to different ideas as well as teach me lessons from my other class mates.

Part A: Bug List

Bug List:

1.     When a friend makes plans to hangout then bails on me last minute.

-       This happens usually because people have other priorities.

2.     When I am running down university and I twist my ankle on a default in the sidewalk.

-       The change in geography over time causes sidewalk to crack.

3.     Around 7 am in the morning, the light shines through the cracks of my shutters, waking me up from sleep.

-       The shutters don’t completely cover the window.

4.     When I am listening to music and someone calls me, the music silences and my ringer takes over.

-       The settings on the iPhone cause it to do this by default.

5.     In the winter, my scooter struggles to start up from sitting in the cold.

-       Scooters don’t handle the cold well.

6.     When I am driving around southwest gym, it is very hard to find a parking spot any time after 3:30.

-       After 3:30 the parking is lifted so everyone tried to workout

7.     The drive thru at Mi Apa on 2^nd and 34^th street is always backed up.

-       The food they make is not made quickly.

8.     At southwest gym, people will forget to rerack their weights after use.

-       Some people are either just lazy or forget.

9.     At southwest gym, people will sometimes put their weights back in the wrong spot on the weight rack.

-       Some people are lazy so they put their weights in the first spot they see available.

10.  When I park my car at my house, the pollen from the tree falls on my car.

-       This happens because I park under the tree and there is nothing stopping the pollen from falling.

11.  When I drink a cold water while studying a puddle of water forms under the bottle.

-       This is due to condensation.

12.  When I am running for more than an hour I need to carry a water bottle.

-       This is due to dehydration

13.  When mowing my lawn, my face gets covered in dirt.

-       The lawn mower blows dirt out the sides.

14.  When I get a haircut at style cuts in Gainesville, my head is covered in hair clippings so I have to shower after.

-       They don’t wash your hair after getting the haircut so all the hair clippings are still in your hair.

15.  When I go out to mid-town my shoes get extremely dirty.

-       People spill drinks on the floor and nobody cleans them up.

16.  When I lend people my clothes and they don’t make an effort to give them back.

-       Maybe they simply just forgot or they just want to keep my clothes

17.  When I am reading a book and I lose my page.

-       The book is stiff so it tends to close and there is no bookmark.

18.  When I am at the library and someone is making noise on the quiet floor.

-    They don’t realize they are making noise because they have headphones in.

19.  When people come in my room without taking their shoes off.

-    People don’t want to have to put their shoes back on.

20.  When I drive to order food and I forget my wallet.

-       I am disorganized and left my wallet somewhere else.

Reflection: I found it difficult to come up with this list of things that bug me because I was originally thinking about what is bugging me now, but I need to think about what bugs me in different locations and scenarios. After coming up with all the things that bug me, I found it very easy to explain why these problems exist and how I can fix them.

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