14A- Halfway Reaction

1. To keep up with the requirements of this course I have had to make sure that I read the assignments about a week ahead of time. At first I did not do that and I had to rush through my interviews and was not able to take the time to make sure I interview the best people. Now I am able to plan farther ahead of time to see if it is a longer assignment.

2. One moment I felt like giving up was when I had three exams one week and three assignments to complete in this class. I thought about skipping some of the assignments and taking the hit on my grade but I decided to face the challenge of completing everything. I was able to time manage and stay focused in order to ensure that I do well on the exams and complete the assignments to the best of my ability. At the end of the week I was proud of my ability to accomplish all the tasks at a high level.

3. Tips for future students.

Tip #1- You get out of this class what you put in. You can pass this class by just doing the minimum requirements, but if you take the time to try your hardest your entrepreneurial skills will really grow.

Tip #2- Pay close attention to the lectures. A lot of times at UF the material does not seem to be applicable in your life so you focus on just getting good grades. If you pay attention to Dr. Pryor you will leave each class with life skills that will help grow your career.

Tip #3- Be creative. This is a time to think outside of the box and see if you can create something great. And if you have a few bad ideas, there are no consequences.

13A- Reading Reflection No. 1

Shoe Dog Phil Knight

1. I was most surprised with how many challenges he went through. When I think of Nike I think of one of the most well established, popular companies in the world. I never took the time to think of how it was made and the struggles that he went through to create it. He was able to build a business with under 100 dollars.

I most admired his ability to think on his feet and his fearlessness. To start his business he set up a meeting with a Japanese shoe manufacturer and convinced them that he owns an established company and he can distribute their shoes across America effectively. He then ordered a large set of inventory even though he had very little money and no set way of distribution.

I least admired that he did not invest enough in the staff in the beginning of his business. It seemed like he was trying to do everything himself and not looking for a lot of employees to help him out. I understand employees are expensive, but working alone in such a major industry adds a lot of unnecessary busy work when he should be out building his business. Later on he found great employees that loved the business just as much as he did.

They had issues with his factories and he was unable to trust them but he still needed them. When his relationship with his Japanese factory fell through, he had to quickly find new shoe designs and new factories abroad in order to make sure that the business did not take a hit. Financial people would tell him that he struggled with growth and it was not smart to just keep buying more shoes without investing any money.

2. I noticed that Phil Knight was very intuitive. At first he would go to track meets and talk to experienced runners to see what they want in their shoes. This was very smart because he did not want to waste time making a shoe that nobody wanted. He then was smart enough to make his company private. This move made him make a lot more money. He also knew that if he did not make a profit, and reinvested every dollar in the early stages, it would allow exponential growth for Nike.

3. I was confused when the book talked about how running was not very popular back then. There had to be commercials to advertise running in general, and just when Phil Knight was starting there happened to be a rise in popularity. This was surprising because running is not an innovative concept to me, I just assumed people had been running since the beginning of time.

4. If I were to ask Phil Knight two questions I would ask what the biggest mistake he ever made was and how many times did he think about giving up and what made him persevere.

5. From reading the book it seemed like Phil Knight believed in hard work but that you have to love what you do. If you do not have a passion for your business it is going to be miserable every day, even if you are successful.

12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

The segment I chose was college students. I interviewed two seniors and one junior in college who have grocery shopped in Gainesville for a long time. They identified a need for a new grocery store. They say Publix is great but it is too expensive and if they try to save money at Walmart the quality is not good. The Junior I interviewed said that they would like a grocery store with a bigger parking lot that is close by to campus because, especially at dinner time, the Publix parking lot is very crowded. The seniors seemed apathetic about changing the Gainesville grocery scene since they are graduating in a few months. One senior loved the idea and said that they would shop at that store all the time and that it is a great marketing strategy to give away free groceries to 1 out of 100 customers. The other senior was not convinced that it would work and said that he probably would continue just shopping at the grocery stores he shops at now. However, he did mention that he does need a way to start saving money on food. To fix their need now, when they need to save money they just do not eat as good as they normally do. They eat ramen noodles or pasta instead of having a balanced, healthy meal. They also said that they search for any food deals going on by using certain apps or asking their friends if they have any ideas where they can buy food for cheap. I think these interviews show that college students are constantly looking to save money. This should motivate them to want to shop at my store because there is a chance that all the food they buy will be given to them for free. I also think a college town will be good for this store because college students are usually just buying for themselves and not whole families. Therefore, the amount of free food we give away will most likely be less. Overall, I think this is a good segment to target and I will continue to gain feedback so that I can make this grocery store successful in a college town.

11A- Idea Napkin

Who you are- I am Eric Frank and I am graduating from the University of Florida in May with a degree in business administration. I will be starting dental school in July. I have experience in the food industry as I had a summer internship working pricing and sales for the largest privately owned food importer in the country. I understand what goes into the food industry and the logistics behind making sure you have the best food quality possible. If I were to truly start this business, it would obviously have to be my number one priority and be a big part of my life.

What are you offering to customers- My idea is to open a grocery store where groceries are randomly given out for free to encourage more people to shop at the store. Originally I thought every 50 customers was a good number, but through the peer reviews I am starting to think that maybe every 100 customers is a better idea. I will still make sure that the food is of great quality, and with all else being equal to the top grocery stores in town, I think customers will choose my store for the chance of winning free food.

Who are you offering it to- Since everyone buys groceries this is pretty much useful for anyone. I  think this store will be popular in college neighborhoods because students are always looking for the best deals.

Why do the care- Customers will choose my store because there is a small chance that they do not have to pay anything. If my store is next to a Publix and I make sure that the food quality and customer service is the same, I expect the customers to choose my store just because there is a chance at free groceries.

What are your competencies- It is obvious what will set my store apart from other grocery stores. We just have to develop a system of randomly generating who wins to make sure people are not taking advantage of the system. At the end of the day, one in every 100 people will get free groceries, however, it will be randomly scattered throughout the day so people can't count themselves.

Summary

I think these aspects fit together. The toughest part is to make sure that the quality of food and prices match everyone else. This plan will only be successful if all else is equal or better. I think people will really like shopping at the store and if they win once they will be a guaranteed customer in the future because they know that they can actually win. I would have to do more research, but I am confident that the amount of customers we bring in will off-set the cost of giving away free groceries. We will have to make rules such as not being allowed to return items at the cashier just because you don't win. We will also have to develop a random generator to make sure the winners are random and consistently 1/100 customers. When doing my interviews for the other assignments people had their concerns about this plan. If I want to make it successful I need to sell the idea in a better way for people to understand and to take their feedback seriously.

9A. Testing The Hypothesis Part 2

For this assignment I am going to propose a new idea. My idea in the previous assignment would require an incredible amount of knowledge in technology and sustainability so I decided to move on. My new business plan is to start a grocery store where every 50th customer gets their groceries for free. It may seem crazy at first, but I believe giving away groceries would cause many customers to want to come in and that would actually increase business. On top of that, so much food is spoiled at the end of the day anyway so the losses will hardly be noticeable. I have always wanted to run a grocery store, however the barriers to entry are very big because it would be impossible to compete with the big chain stores. However, this plan would make my store have a competitive advantage and make people want to come and shop with the chance of getting their food for free.

For my interviews I told 5 people my plan and asked them what they thought of it. I got mixed reviews. 4 of the people were college age students and one was a 50 year old. Two people loved the idea and said that they would always shop there, especially if the food is still of good quality. The other three thought it was a great marketing strategy but mentioned it is not really a business. From the interviews I realized the biggest struggle is that there is not a real big need, it is more an added bonus to an everyday task. These people were outside the need because they could afford groceries. However, people who struggle financially will find having a chance to gain free food as a major benefit. One of the people I interviewed works at Publix and he said the amount of people who buy the scratch off lottery tickets is shocking and people are always looking for ways to get big deals at check out. This shows how much the public enjoys games of chance in order to win big money, which shopping at a grocery store that gives 1 out of 50 customers their food for free will provide. I did not get quite the positive feedback that I expected, however these interviews revealed major flaws in my idea that I can work to fix.



                        Inside the Boundary                                                Outside the Boundary

Who is In Pretty much anyone who grocery shops can be helped by this business model.	The people who are not in are people who think they have no chance of winning the free groceries or are already loyal to one store that they go to.
The need is people want excitement in their lives even during the most mundane activities such as groceries. People could use help paying for their groceries. People these days also love gambling and betting, especially with the increase of online gambling and legalized sports betting. This can just be another way people have a chance of winning big.	The need is not that this is a necessary thing to have in life, but it can make a boring task exciting.
The need exists because groceries are expensive and there are so many places to choose from. People tend to lower their quality standards so that they can get cheaper food. In this store you will be able to save money and we will strive to keep the food quality the best that it could be.	Alternative Explanations This business plan can backfire, mainly because it is an incredibly competitive industry that takes a lot of time to get into. As stated above, it is not really a dire need, it would more just be an added thing that people may enjoy.

10 A Elevator Pitch

8A- Solving the Problem

My selected opportunity is finding more environmentally friendly shipping practices. The most obvious one that comes to mind is finding electrically powered trucks so that the country can move away from our reliance on fossil fuels. My service would be owning electrically powered trucks that I rent out to larger companies that do a lot of shipping. For instance, if a company needed a large shipment sent from Florida to California, they can call my company and rent one of my trucks so that their long trip will be more energy efficient and less harmful for the environment. Clearly this idea has some questions that need to be answered. I am not sure how much money an electrical truck would cost, and how many trucks I would need to buy to make this business idea worth pursuing.

7a. Testing the Hypothesis

1. I would like to pursue an opportunity dedicated to using cleaner energy when shipping goods. A trucking service that uses electric power instead of fossil fuels.

2. The Who: Trucking Companies
    The What: They cause a lot of CO2 emission as they drive across the country
    The Why: There are thousands of trucks that drive every day going long distances to deliver
                      groceries, packages, and any other needed items. The fumes that trucks emit cause
                      serious damage to the environment.

3. Hypothesis: If there is a trucking company that uses cleaner energy like electricity and limits our dependence on fossil fuels, more companies will want to use it to significantly lower their carbon footprint.

Testing the Who: Mainly large companies that use trucking directly have this need. However, we are all invested in the well being of the environment so everyone should be motivated to change our reliance on fossil fuels.

Testing the What: Are some models of trucks worse for the environment than others? How much more expensive would an electric trucking service be?

Testing the Why: Would trucking companies be motivated to make the change for the reason of it being good for the environment or for the reason of it making their company look better?

4. I interviewed 5 people on this topic asking if they would use an electric powered trucking service. One was the owner of a construction company that has 10 trucks and one was an employee of a company that uses many trucks to ship their items. The owner of the construction company said that he would love to use electric powered trucks if the price was right. He mentioned that he looked into having some of his vehicles run by electricity but the cost was astronomical. It did not make sense for him to spend that type of money. The employee of the other company stated that they are always trying to make their processes more environmentally cleaner. If it was a comparable price, he believes his company would use a cleaner method of shipping. They both mentioned that it would look great for their company and it would also make them feel better to be a part of a company that cares for the environment. I then asked three consumers, they spanned from 18 years old to 26 years old. Two of them said they would definitely order from a company that uses cleaner shipping methods even if it was a few dollars more expensive. One of them said they do not really care and that they believe electrically run cars are also not great for the environment, so it does not make that much of a difference.

5. The results of my interviews were not surprising. People care about the environment, but the means of installing less harmful practices is too expensive. Overall, it confirmed that there is an enormous opportunity in finding ways to lower our carbon footprint, however it is costly and difficult to come up with alternative energy methods.

6a. Identifying Opportunities

Economic Trend #1: Energy demand and harmful emissions are rising

Most people would think that with the increased awareness we would be moving in the right direction and not the wrong one. However, 2019 was believed to be our largest year of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. I believe there are two major ways this trend can pose as an opportunity. One way is advertising that your company is energy efficient and another way is finding a way to use alternative energy. I found this information from a report from the International Energy Association. This opportunity could have anyone as a customer since almost every company uses energy. I saw this opportunity because I am very confident in the fact that scientists can find alternative energy methods if enough attention and funding go into it. However, it is challenging to exploit this opportunity because it requires the advanced knowledge of technology and how to figure out an alternative energy method.

http://www.strategicthinking.eu/5-economic-trends-that-will-influence-your-business-in-2019/

Economic Trend #2: Global Trade Crisis

The past year the country has been involved in multiple trade wars, including one with China which is a major trade partner. There is an opportunity for American firms to supply more business to major importers. I learned about this opportunity through the news. There are a lot of industries that can be affected but I think the construction and food industry can capitalize the most. The hardest part of exploiting this opportunity is keeping the prices low since companies are used to buying products abroad because the price is better. I saw this opportunity because I worked in the food importing business during my summer internship and I have also worked for a construction company. Both businesses are affected by this trade crisis. 

http://www.strategicthinking.eu/5-economic-trends-that-will-influence-your-business-in-2019/

Regulatory Trend #1: Increased regulation of healthcare

The increase of technology in medicine is changing the healthcare field. Insurance companies are setting many rules that require doctors to see as many patients as possible in a short amount of time. There is an opportunity for insurance companies to provide care for a lot of people, however it is at the expense of the doctor's well-being and quality of care given. I found out about this regulatory trend from Deloitte's website. This is a good opportunity if patients are looking to save money, however there are lots of complaints that doctors are unable to spend sufficient time with each patient. I saw this opportunity because multiple people in my family work in healthcare and are unhappy with these new regulations. This would be a good opportunity to exploit because people are very angry with this situation.

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/regulatory/articles/center-for-regulatory-strategy-outlooks.html

Regulatory Trend #2: Privacy and Data Protection

Focus on privacy is a major issue as our technology is becoming more advanced. Consumers are worried that all their personal information will be stolen because hackers are becoming more creative and more common. I found out this was an opportunity through my everyday life where it seems I have to give my social security number for something everyday. This can be an opportunity for technology companies and consulting companies who tell different companies how to protect their clients' personal data. This will be an easy opportunity to exploit if you are well-versed with technology, however, if you are not it will obviously be very challenging.

https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/newsletters/2019/february/14/global-regulatory-trends-to-watch/dentons-pick-of-canadian-regulatory-trends-to-watch-in-2019