Final reflection

I think my most informative experience was the Celebrating Failure assignment. While there wasn’t much research involved in creating the assignment it really does make you think about how you can accept and interpret failure. Its something that everyone goes through, however depending on how you take your failures will determine if you can be successful or not. I think the thing I am most proud of accomplishing is the venture concept assignments and all the attributing assignment that went along with it. This experience, I think, encourages students to think outside the box and develop a real concept for a potential business or venture. It makes you think about all the things that go into a venture if one was to actually start up and do something with their idea. While progressing through the course I believe that I have developed more of an entrepreneurial mindset through the lectures as well as through the assignments. I think that the assignments encourage students to think more like entrepreneurs and see more opportunities in the real world. The recommendation I would make to students who are going to journey down this path is to never stop learning. While this course does a good job at introducing the principles of entrepreneurship there is an endless amount of resources out there that will help students learn more about in-depth parts of starting businesses and how to become successful. To perform best in this course, I would say to keep up with the assignments. While most aren’t difficult, if you wait until the last minute you can definitely run out of time to turn them in. To further foster the mindset, I would suggest getting out in the world and looking for opportunities where things can be improved. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see ways to make peoples lives easier, all you have to do is look hard enough and recognize opportunities.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

My opportunity is to take advantage of the large influx of people moving into Florida as well as the rapidly growing metropolitan and downtown areas of Florida. The potential customers that I imagine are young families that are looking to relocate to more popular areas of cities where events are going on. However, these typical customers also work in the area as well, allowing them to work and live without having to travel as much to enjoy thing around their residence while also having a short commute to work. The nature of this need is fairly basic. While the basis of my idea is predicated around building and selling a quality residence that supplies the basic need of shelter. The location is also desirable by building in areas that people want to live in. The main driving forces behind the large amount of people coming to Florida is due to climate, beaches and other touristy spots, no state income tax and an abundance of jobs. With these factors not likely to change anytime soon, it ensures that there will likely be a continued growth in the population of Florida with a constant supply of people moving into the state. Based on this, my window of opportunity will stay open for the foreseeable future as long as Florida legislation and tax law doesn’t change. Lastly, this opportunity has a huge potential to make money, which it involves a large upstart and a lot of work it can be turned into a very successful company as well as be able to expand to other real estate markets.

Innovation

The innovation, in part, in what I am bringing into the market would be a company that not only builds real estate, such as apartments and multi-family residential, but also sells them without having to go through another party or company. This will allow us to be able to supply desirable real estate at a lower cost without sacrificing quality. In addition to this, by practicing the most modern and efficient construction practices it will allow us to lower our building costs and allow for more revenue. We can do this by implementing new construction technology and with advances in construction coming out faster than ever before; if we can stay on top of new practices and continually innovating our build process, it will allow us to compete at the highest level. Secondly, our real estate sales would be in direct conjunction with our projects. By also implementing the latest in renderings and modeling, we will be able to pre-sell buildings while they are under construction. In addition to this, by hosting events with brokers and potential customers, this can help word spread fast about new projects. We will make money through sales of apartments within our real estate division as well as having the option to sell to investors to fund the project and save ourselves capital. As far as how much money specifically, it would vary widely. It could be anywhere from several hundred thousand for a building sellout, up to millions of dollars. The amount of money being made is directly proportional to the type of construction, the location, the quality of the apartments and the overall size of the building.

Venture Concept

My innovation will provide the quickly growing population of Florida with housing. By providing a superior product for less money to the demographic of people moving into the state it will make for a successful venture as well as one that has a continuous source of new customers. The reason customers would use my company is because we would be on the leading edge of real estate sales while also creating unique, quality housing in desirable locations. Competitors would be other construction companies as well as other real estate firms that focus on selling similar types of properties. Their potential weakness is that they either do one or the other, build or sell. My company would do both. Providing both of our teams, sales and construction, with knowledge about our products. Price point plays a huge role as we aim to price high quality housing for a lesser price than currently available. The customer experience and business location also play a huge role. The customer experience in building or buying a house can be very stressful so by making this process as easy as possible as well as providing options will help massively with customer relations. Lastly the business location must be ideal since it is hard to build and sell in a location far away from where the company is based.

I think my overall most important resource would be my networks that I already have established in my target area of Florida. This can be extremely helpful in finding subcontractors, information, financing, potential employees and even just general advice.

Second, my next idea for the venture would be to develop entire areas, not just one building at a time. By creating retail and office space in the areas that I am also building apartment building can help me create desirable areas for my company to build in. Instead of having to find areas that are popular, I would be creating the entire popular area itself.

Third, what’s next for me in five years I would like to have at least two building projects under construction as well as one or two already complete and close to sell out. As an entrepreneur I want to take what I’m good at and turn it into an entity that has the ability to successfully redevelop and develop areas of cities that will provide places for people to live work and enjoy. Most of the feedback for my venture concept has been positive, I think the biggest feedback I have received was that this would be a difficult company to start given that there are a lot of start-up costs involved and other requirements to be a licensed contractor as well as to sell real estate. In addition to this I received advice on what I would need to obtain before starting this venture. One of the biggest things was to ensure I have plenty of strong networks in the areas of investors, subcontractors, contractors, real estate brokers as well as teams for operating construction projects. This caused me to change from my originally idea by targeting a more specific market segment and focus on two main areas of my business, building and selling. What I also changed is that instead of trying to develop commercially and build real estate, start with real estate and then move on to other areas of development.

Reading Reflection 3

Elon Musk

I chose to read the biography about the life of Elon Musk. He is one of the most popular entrepreneurs and inventors in the world and is currently doing things that no one has done before. What surprised me the most was to learn that Elon Musk was at the point financially where he would either have to give up on SpaceX or Tesla. However, he was able to secure funding for both companies just in time before he would have had to shut one down. What I most admire about Elon Musk is that he is always thinking to the future. Even when he was a student, he knew that he wanted to make a big difference in the world. Additionally, he has constantly been making strides towards creating solutions for the future of humanity, whether its electric cars to reduce oil dependency or SpaceX to try and start commercial space travel, he is constantly looking to bring futuristic ideas a reality now.  What I least admire about Musk is that he is a big talker. He does deliver on his promises, but he does tend to talk about it a lot. In my personal experience I think that it is better to move in silence and not let people know everything that you’re doing. Elon Musk definitely encountered a lot of adversity and failure in his time as an entrepreneur. Most famously, when SpaceX and Tesla were about to run out of money. To overcome this he found investors, got a government grant and kept moving forward. He didn’t let these challenges discourage him and defeat him, he found solutions to make sure he was able to achieve his dreams.

One competency I noticed was that he finds a way to overcome failure. Through his many ventures he finds a way to make them successful no matter what. Whether is how to start the company or finding money just to keep it afloat he gets it done. While he promises many big things, he finds a way to accomplish them. Additionally, he has a strong vision for the future and is a very forward thinker, making him very successful in his futuristic type companies. The only confusing part to me was what actually inspired Elon Musk to be some enamored with the future growing up. While his family was involved in engineering and flight, I’m not sure where he came up with his inspiration to ensure humanity is ready for the future.

If I could ask Elon Musk two questions, the first one would be: How did you know where to get started? I would ask this because Elon Musk has created such a massive empire of wealth and resources, it is truly impressive what he was able to create. My second question would be: What was your inspiration for SpaceX? SpaceX is one of the most future-forward company when it pertains to space travel. I think that it would be interesting to see what caused Elon Musk to pursue such a risky venture knowing that it could not be successful and would cost a lot of money if it went under.

I think that Musk’s opinion of hard work is fairly simple: do what inspires you and give it your all. The reason I say this is because this is essentially what he does. He creates companies in fields he is passionate about and puts everything into them. Even when he is unsure if he’ll be able to keep the company from bankruptcy, he still does not give up on them and finds a way to make it work. I share this opinion of hard work, as I believe that it is very important to give a venture your all or else it won’t be successful. This is exemplified by the past companies Musk has started as well as the ones that he currently runs.

Exit Strategy

My exit strategy for my venture is to stick with it for several decades and use it as a cash cow. What I envision is creating a company that will provide substantial income for myself and my family while using my income from it to invest into other businesses and other ventures. As I get older I would like to hand over the company to someone else but still retain majority ownership and have a large say in the company without being involved in all the day-to-day processes so that I will be able to focus on other ventures at the same time. Eventually I would like to be able to create something I can pass down to my kids and provide them a means to make their way in life.

I selected this exit strategy because I feel that it would work best for my personality. I like to always keep moving forward, and while this company revolves around something, I’m passionate about, I always like having a new challenge. I think that by taking my income from this first venture and putting it towards others is a great way for me to achieve this. Additionally, I believe that after setting up a successful model I will be able to train people and show them how to run the company successfully while providing me with some time away from the company to focus on starting/managing others.

I think that my exit strategy has influenced me to set a very lofty goal for my venture idea. By setting this exit strategy it encourages me to grow the company for the first 20-30 years and make it something great and then at a certain point, semi-retiring and focusing on other ventures. I think, if anything, it has influenced me to want to grow the company larger and expand more so than if I were only keeping it for a few years. The reason I say this is because I’ll have ample time to grow the company and there won’t be a need to rapidly grow and over-extend the reach of my company. Furthermore, knowing that I will re-invest my income into other ventures this encourages me even more to put my all into my venture concept.

Celebrating Failure

One time in this semester where I failed was in my mechanical systems class. More specifically, it was our second exam in the course. On our first exam I did very well, scoring a 97. In the time leading up to Exam 2 I thought that it would be no problem to do well on it, so I neglected studying until about 30min before the exam. However, this strategy did not work out well at all, I knew very little when I took the exam and ended up scoring a 52. While I still didn’t get the lowest grade in the class, I obviously was not very happy after receiving this grade. What I learned from this was that studying for the first time immediately before the exam is not a successful strategy and if I want to do better, I would need to start studying a day or two in advance.

I think that failure is very important and it the greatest teacher. While failing is never fun and can be very embarrassing, its an important thing to go through because you can learn so much from it. My friend, Joe, from UNF has a saying that he says quite frequently: “you don’t learn from success, you learn from failing and seeing the wrong way of doing things”. Whenever I fail, I don’t necessarily get discouraged, I usually take time to reflect and see what I did wrong. Depending on the scenario I’ll use this information going forward and give it another try. But I don’t let it get me down, while it can be defeating, if you keep your head up and keep moving forward no failure will be able to defeat you. The most positive thing you can do after failing is to find out where you went wrong or what you did wrong and ensuring you don’t do it again. However, if you fail and don’t change what you’re doing or let it keep you down then you won’t end up learning anything and it will be a waste of a failure. I think this class has definitely changed my perspective on failure. I would definitely be inclined to go out and try new things and take new risks since no matter how it goes, I know I will take something away from it. Additionally, I’ve learned that failure is ingrained into the nature of entrepreneurship and there is nothing you can do to get away from it; you must learn to embrace it and learn from it.

Venture Concept

Opportunity

My opportunity is the large influx of people moving into Florida as well as the general metropolitan and downtown areas of fast-growing Florida areas. The potential customers that I imagine are young families that are looking to relocate to more popular areas of cities where events are going on. However, these typical customers also work in the area as well, allowing them to work and live without having to travel as much to enjoy thing around their residence while also having a short commute to work. The nature of this need is fairly basic. While the basis of my idea is predicated around building and selling a quality residence that supplies the basic need of shelter. The location is also desirable by building in areas that people want to live in. The main driving forces behind the large amount of people coming to Florida is due to climate, beaches and other touristy spots, no state income tax and an abundance of jobs. With these factors not likely to change anytime soon, it ensures that there will likely be a continued growth in the population of Florida with a constant supply of people moving into the state. Based on this, my window of opportunity will stay open for the foreseeable future as long as Florida legislation and tax law doesn’t change. Lastly, this opportunity has a huge potential to make money, which it involves a large upstart and a lot of work it can be turned into a very successful company as well as be able to expand to other real estate markets.

Innovation

The innovation, in part, in what I am bringing into the market would be a company that not only builds real estate, such as apartments and multi-family residential, but also sells them without having to go through another party or company. This will allow us to be able to supply desirable real estate at a lower cost without sacrificing quality. In addition to this, by practicing the most modern and efficient construction practices it will allow us to lower our building costs and allow for more revenue. We can do this by implementing new construction technology and with advances in construction coming out faster than ever before; if we can stay on top of new practices and continually innovating our build process, it will allow us to compete at the highest level. Secondly, our real estate sales would be in direct conjunction with or projects. By also implementing the latest in renderings and modeling, we will be able to pre-sell building while they are under construction. In addition to this by hosting events with brokers and potential customers, this can help word spread fast about new projects. We will make money through sales of apartments within our construction as well as having the option to sell to investors to fund the project and save ourselves capital. As far as how much money specifically, it would vary widely. It could be anywhere from several hundred thousand for a building sellout up to millions of dollars. The amount of money being made is directionally proportional to the type of construction, the location, the quality of the apartments and the overall size of the building.

Venture Concept

My innovation will provide the quickly growing population of Florida with the problem of housing. By providing a superior product for less money to the demographic of people moving into the state it will make for a successful venture as well as one that has a continuous source of new customers. Reason customers would use my company is because we would be on the leading edge of real estate sales while also creating unique, quality housing in desirable locations. Competitors would be other construction companies as well as other real estate firms that focus on selling similar types of properties. Their potential weakness is that they either do one or the other, build or sell. My company would do both. Providing both teams, sales and construction, with knowledge about our products. Price point plays a huge role as we aim to price high quality housing for a lesser price than currently available. The customer experience and business location also play a huge role. The customer experience in building or buying a house can be very stressful so by making this process as easy as possible as well as providing options will help massively with customer relations. Lastly the business location must be ideal since it is hard to build and sell in a location far away from where the company is based.

I think my overall most important resource would be my networks that I already have established in my target area of Florida. This can be extremely helpful in finding subcontractors, information, financing, potential employees and even just general advice.

Second, my next idea for the venture would be to develop entire areas, not just one building at a time. By creating retail and office space in the areas that I am also building apartment building can help me create desirable areas for my company to build in. Instead of having to find areas that are popular, I would be creating the entire popular area itself.

Third, what’s next for me in five years I would like to have at least two building projects under construction as well as one or two already complete and close to sell out. As an entrepreneur I want to take what I’m good at and turn it into an entity that has the ability to successfully redevelop and develop areas of cities that will provide places for people to live work and enjoy.

What's Next

What I think I would consider the next step for my venture would ultimately be expanding my service and products to general commercial development as well as residential in the form of subdivisions. The first person I talked to, the VP of Construction at a residential builder said that they believe that is the next step to take in a venture like what I have envisioned but it is a big leap to take and requires many risks. But in the short term, he advised that it would be smart to make the products and services as customer friendly as possible. Whether it is the usability of a website, an app or simply in-person service; all of these are keys to growing and maintaining a successful business. Next, I talked to a superintendent that works for a commercial GC. What he brought up was specifically pertinent to the construction side of my venture. HE explained how finding the most efficient field teams can save large amounts of money during construction by completing jobs on time and under budget; providing larger revenues for the company. Additionally, he brought up how the owner/investors of the building must be treated equally as a customer. The third interview was with a real estate agent suggesting the idea of advertising and holding touring events for upcoming real estate properties. This can be done by open house events or even through the use of virtual reality for tours of projects that aren’t completed.

After receiving this feedback, I believe that there are 2 main areas where my venture should focus. The first part of it is the marketing and advertising part. By getting the word out about new and upcoming real estate projects there can become excitement created about the project which will encourage more interest in the project.  In addition to this, hosting “open house” events with brokers and customer this can provide sales as well as showing my real estate projects to potential customers.

The second main focus area is the actual construction process itself. By streamlining this process and doing it in the most efficient manner can drastically increase revenues and decrease overhead costs on construction projects.  By completing projects sooner there will be less fixed overhead cost as well typically being accompanied by some form of bonus from the owner since they can start selling real estate sooner. Additionally, projects completed with less money than was budgeted, the money left over typically goes back into the contractor’s pocket.

A completely new market would be to create a venture in track-home building. Track-homes are essentially “cookie-cutter” houses that are in a neighborhood or subdivision is which nearly all houses look the same. These houses are built en masse and are sold very quickly for low prices, anywhere from low 100s to high 300s. I think the best way I would be able to create value would be in the construction process itself.  These houses are typically built very quickly and by implementing more efficient building practices as well as an experienced team, we would be able to be built faster than the average builder with higher quality. After my first interview, a construction manger that builds track-homes, he explained that it would be difficult, but my idea is possible. However, he advised hiring construction mangers with experience specific to the types of houses I would be building. My second interview was with an entrepreneur that invests in real estate. His advice was that there is a lot of money to be made in this venture given how quickly these types of houses are normally sold. Both interviewees said that my product/service mix was appropriate for this type of venture.

I think what surprised me the most was that my current product/service mix was already appropriate for changing to such a distinctly different market. While many of the same tactics would be used in the selling and building process, they would just be targeted to a different demographic. About half of my assumptions were correct. Originally, I think my idea was too long term. However once realizing how many things there are to be improved in the short term, it makes you realize that you can always be improving your idea.

This new market appears to be as attractive as the existing marketing that I’m targeting. It provides a large cash flow, quick construction time as well as very fast-paced business. However, given the nature of building track-homes I would not change my venture in commercial real estate to peruse one in much less valuable real estate/property. I believe that while my original idea may need tweaking and reevaluation, I think that it has a high potential of becoming successful if done correctly and with the right people.

Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1)      Access to an MLS system. This is valuable because it provides access to real estate prices. It is rare because not everyone has access to it, and you must pay to use it. It is very hard to copy by others and while there are other ways of getting this information an MLS system is the best way.

2)      Market Experience. This is valuable because it provides the basis for the business and service I am trying to provide. While it is not rare and substitutable, it is still very valuable which outweighs the others.

3)      Real Estate experience. This is valuable because it is required to be successful in the real estate market. While it is not rare and can be copied it is not very substitutable. This value provides an edge and knowledge over those that are uneducated in real estate.

4)      Networks. This is extremely valuable and can be rare. This is hard to copy by others and there are few benefits that can make up for a strong network. This is an extremely valuable resource to have since there are many advantages to having a big social and business network.

5)      Formal Education. This is very valuable because it provides knowledge that can’t be obtained elsewhere. It is also rare, inimitable and non-substitutable.

6)      Real Estate License. This is very valuable because it allows one to buy/sell real estate as an agent and access to a MLS system. It is somewhat rare but not that hard to copy as anyone that is 18 can get one. This is a very non-substitutable resource because there any not many other licenses that allow you to do this.

7)      Building Experience. This is very valuable but not rare or hard to copy. But it is very hard to substitute. This value greatly enhances my ability to be successful in my venture idea since it is predicated around building and selling and a knowledge in building.

8)      Business Experience. This is valuable because it provides knowledge with the business side of my venture. However, it is not hard to copy, rare, but it is hard to substitute for something equally as important.

9)      Business Contacts. This is very valuable because I have owners of companies, I can contact that will provide me information or be able to advise me on work. This is not a necessarily rare or hard to copy resource however there is not good substitute for it.

10)   Perseverance. This is probably one of the most valuable attributes to have in entrepreneurship. This is a trait that other people can have but they don’t necessarily possess ion their own. There are not many other things that substitutes true perseverance.

I believe that my top resource is my network that I have. Between business owners, entrepreneurs, and business professionals I have a full circle of resources that can provide me with information at every stage of my business venture and is the key to being successful.

Reading Reflection

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, Chris Anderson

The overall theme of this book, without a doubt, is this is what the future has in store. Throughout the book the text is always looking forward and into the future of what manufacturing has coming to it. While this point could be seen as an argument, I believe that he backs up his point and assert it as a fact rather than an argument. I think that this book connected very well with what we are ENT 3003. The author is an entrepreneur himself, as well as having a background in the Economist Magazine, giving him a strong knowlege in the area. This book also details the ways that the author believes the way that the future will look in regard to manufacturing and the way that the nature of production is changing. The exercise I would create for the class is a paper/study based on how manufacturing has changed since the start of industrial revolution as well as a roughly 10-year forecast into the future of what we think manufacturing will look like in the near future. What I took away the most is how through devices like 3D printers the traditional sense of manufacturing can be replaced. While not on a massive scale, but for many products this idea is highly successful and profitable. By reading this book I learned about the changing trends in the production of goods and realize that where there are being produced is changing as well as the costs associated with them.

Growing your social capital

Domain Expert:

Eddie Garton, Vice President of Construction for Arthur Rutenberg Homes. Eddie has extensive experience in residential building construction as well as several years in commercial construction. Additionally, he is familiar with the process, from beginning to end, on building construction including permitting, estimating, budgeting, managing construction as well as interacting with customers. I found this person by working with him for three years. This person provided me with information on how to start the building process as well as requirements I would potentially need to start a company like I have in mind. By including this person in my network, it will provide me a resource for information as well as networking in the area since Eddie works with many subcontractors and owners of construction companies.

Market Expert:

Debbie Shagnea, real estate agent for Watson Realty Corp. Debbie is a very experienced real estate agent and has been practicing for over 20 years. She consistently sells a large volume of real estate annually and has the #1 real estate agent/team in Florida six times in the past 10 years. I found this person from working with her in Jacksonville to sell a couple houses. Debbie was able to provide me insight on how the real estate market work and any required certifications I might need in order to sell real estate after building it. She also gave me advice on selling real estate and how to target a specific audience. This person is a great network because she has a very extensive reach in the real estate market, loads of experience and knows many other realtors in many areas that would provide a very large customer base.

Supplier:

Jason from One Stop Kitchens and Bath. Jason is the head salesman for one stop which supplies cabinetry for new construction as well as remodels. This person fills the spot because he has an insight on the logistics of supplying a complicated item like cabinetry. I found this person by working with him over the past 2 years while I was working in residential construction. What he did for me was provide detail on how the whole process works on his end as a supplier/installer and how they typically do business with building companies as well as requirements for what they need to build they products. By talking to this person, he can help me network to other suppliers that will be able to provide me with additional product I will need that go into my final product.

This experience has showed me that networking opportunities are huge. They are extremely important to growing a business as well as simply finding information that can help determine if an idea I feasible. This interaction did differ from other networking experiences because instead of representing a company I was working for, it was my own idea I was working for so it made me more inclined to talk to people as well as ask more in-depth questions in order to figure out information for my idea.

Idea Napkin #2

I am a senior in the construction management program at UF. I’ve worked in the residential construction field for the past three summers as well as commercial for a year. Through this I have gained extensive knowledge about the homebuilding and real estate process both on the construction side and the financial side. I have experience with estimating, budgeting, and managing subcontractors to get custom residential homes built and planned for construction. In addition to this I have worked in the construction industry for the past five summers, teaching me how to build many things myself. I aspire to one start my own construction company or a development company. I want to start working for a company to learn the ropes and gain knowledge in the industry and then eventually start my own business or enter into business with someone else. I see this business playing a huge role in my life, using it as something to gain capital and assets to turn into future investments.

What I am offering to customer is a product, in the form of physical real estate and places of residence, as well as the service of a real estate company. By building, developing and selling housing/real estate this will provide for the influx of population moving to developing areas or relocating within the state.

My target audience is individuals or young families that are looking to relocate to developing areas in cities. By building apartment and multi-family housing in developing areas this will attract people that are moving into these areas due to the location of this housing. The people that I am targeting will be younger people that still like to out and do things on Fridays and the weekends. Additionally, they will probably be a young family with younger kids. They will most likely be moving within the state, possibly relocating for work or wanting to move to an area where there is a lot to do.

Customers would care because since my company would be acting as the developer, builder and the real estate agency, we would be able to sell at much lower prices than other developments without sacrificing quality or location. By doing so, customers would be provided housing in a desirable location without having to spend additional money to live in such location.

What sets me apart from everyone else is that I have the experience as well as the formal education to make a company like this successful. Given my work experience in the construction industry as well as the real estate market I believe this would provide me with some of the tools that would be required to start up this business. BY operating in a geographically desirable area there would be a large customer base willing to move into the area.

I believe these elements fit well together for my business idea. I think what elements I combine together create a successful business idea and will have the right target audience to make this idea successful. One point that I incorporated into my second napkin idea was that I described my target customer more specifically, as well as I changed what this typical customer looked like. The second thing I incorporated was I made my business idea clearer. From when I started the first napkin idea to now, I have a clearer vision of what I believe my opportunity is.

Customer Avatar

My idea of my customer “avatar” is a mid-30s male with a wife and maybe a young kid or two. This person has recently gotten a new job and is required to move for work, or simply wants to be closer to where things are “happening”. My ideal customer wants to live in the city and be near developing areas or areas with lots of things to do. This customer is one who likes to go out with friends on Friday and Saturday nights after a long week of work. While they work an office job, they are holding a higher-level position, possibly a manager or minor executive position. They enjoy things like golf, playing sports they used to play in high school, seeing live music and exercising. They probably drive a small SUV or sedan. They use it for things like taking their kids to school or sports, picking up groceries, driving to work and taking the occasional vacation elsewhere in Florida. I imagine this type of customer not reading a whole lot, but if they do it would be a nonfiction novel or perhaps a biography. While they are older, they have still adapted to use of technology and rely on things such as cell phones, tv, online media, and the internet over things like newspapers and magazines. Additionally, this customer avatar acts younger than they actually are and still enjoys being active and doing things on the weekends over spending it at home. While I expect the avatar to come from many different backgrounds, being located in Florida, they will most likely be a mix of right and left political backgrounds given that Florida is roughly 50/50 between republican and democrat registered voters. Additionally, by being in the city this will probably increase the odds of more left-leaning customers.  With this information, it can be used to market to different customers in different ways.

I think that what my custom avatar and I would have in common is they understand the value of money yet they’re also willing to pay for quality. I think this plays a huge part since the concept of my idea revolves around being a developer and real estate agency, allowing us to solely control quality and price to be able to make it work for what is selling in the market. I don’t believe this is a coincidence because I believe that people that can create a great value will ultimately seek out said value or will recognize it when it is marketed to them. As far as the specific things this customer does, I don’t think I would have a whole lot in common. While I prefer not to live in cites, I can see the appeal to my typical customer. By providing a place to live in an attractive area to my target audience I will be able to connect with them by understanding them, even if our hobbies and activities don’t align.

Whats your secret sauce

What I think that sets me apart from other people are many things. One of the biggest attributes that sets me apart from other is that I am willing to work harder and longer than anyone else. Because of this I am able to outwork other people and set myself apart. Second, what also plays into this is my drive. I don’t give up on things that I want. My drive is what keeps me going and allows me to show that I am different from an average worker. Third is my combination of common sense and book smarts. I’ve always done very well in school, but I also have much experience in the real world, not only from what we are taught out of books. This allows me to avoid the disadvantage of only having book knowledge, which is helpful, but in the real world it is all about experience. Some of the most successful people I’ve ever met have little, if any, formal education. Fourth, I’m very stubborn. While this may not immediately sound like a positive trait, where it comes to play is when people tell me something can’t be done. I usually don’t take that very well and it convinces me to try harder to prove that it can be done. Fifth, I’m very good at connecting with people. While my overall communication skills can still use some work, in a business or personal setting I’m very good at connecting with people which allows me to develop relationships very quickly. From doing interviews with my roommates and close friends I have discovered that the way my friends see me is fairly similar to how I see myself. I am very straight up and honest with my close friends, so I’m not surprised that this was the case. I think what causes the biggest differences between my perception and my friends is mostly just the way I act on a regular basis aside from when I’ actually relaxing and hanging out once I’m done with schoolwork and other things. I wouldn’t make any corrections to my list. My friends know me extremely well and I can be myself around them more than anyone else, so I’m not surprised that their perceptions of me lined up with my own. These group of friends I have surrounded myself with over the past six months have become so of the people I’m closest with and are people I can always be myself around.

Figuring Out Buyer behavior Pt 2

When customers pick from a set of alternatives, the factors of price, quality and style all play a factor. However, with my specific segment that geographic location is also a big factor since my idea has to do with the real estate/development market. Generally, in this market a combination of factors comes into play when customers make decisions. With my idea, price, quality and location are probably the biggest factors that play into making decisions. With my segment of real estate, the start of the transaction typically begins online with the customer looking at potential real estate online. Once finding property that the customer is interested in, they would then proceed to contact the real estate company that is selling the property. From here they can go between meeting in the real estate company’s office or meeting at the site of the property being sold. In this market typically everything is a financed purchase, although paying cash in full is a negotiation strategy used often. What typically matters most to customers in their determination of “rightness” is finding a place that they can call home and are happy living in that also works well for their family. What ultimately plays into determining if their purchase was a good idea is how satisfied they are overall with the combination of factors that play into their property they purchased. Through price, quality, location and style, the combination of these factors and how the customer feels about each one will go to determine how satisfied they are as well as their experience of working with the real estate company. From this new round of interviews, I have found that all three people I interviewed agree with what I have previously stated. With something as big of a purchase as real estate, all three people I interviewed agreed that many factors play into making a big purchase like this. While location, style, price and quality are all determining factors for purchasing property, I heard two of the interviewees note that there are many other factors that can apply to each customer depending on their experience in buying real estate. From interviews, I have learned that there are many factors that go into the real estate purchasing process and can be difficult for people to buy if they’re not being pushed to buy. Post-purchase however, the customer’s decision can leave them extremely satisfied since buying real estate is such a big purchase. Additionally if the customer has a good experience with one real estate company they are highly likely to work with them again should they decide to buy a new home or apartment.

Reading Reflection 1

I chose to read about The Wright Brothers, the founders of flight. What surprised me the most was that unlike most entrepreneurs, they never worked by themselves, they always had each other. They lived in the same house together, worked together for six days a week, ate meals together and even had a joint bank account. Additionally, they both attended high school yet never received diplomas. These two brothers were “inseparable” at birth and had very similar traits to the point where they were hard to tell apart at times. What I admire about this is they essentially had two minds working as one. I feel like this allowed them to be able to work very successfully together while also achieving more than a single man on his own could. What I least admired was that, surprisingly, Wilbur had no knack for business, despite trying to operate them and additionally did not have a college education. In their early years, these brothers did face adversity. They ran a small newspaper company that ended up shutting down as well a bicycle store they were forced to closed down due to a lack of business knowledge and an increase in competitors. Regardless, they never let setbacks deter them and they always moved on to their next project or idea and kept moving forward.

One of the Wright Brothers biggest competencies was the attribute of never giving up. Additionally, they had very creative minds that they used together to make each other more successful. They looked at things that other people did or didn’t do well and used that to fuel ideas. This especially came into play when they first got the idea to developing a machine that could fly. While not the reading specifically, really the only thing that confused me was how these two brothers were able to devise a system for flight in such a time period of antiquated technology. The amount of research and effort spent studying something that had never been proved possible is almost unfathomable.

If I were able to ask these brothers, my first question would be: What drove you to keep trying at something that seemed almost impossible at the time and that no one has ever done? While many entrepreneurs do thing that have never been done, these two brothers were chasing something that almost seemed against the laws of physics. My second question to them would be, how did the ability of having someone very close to you, like your brother, affect your work? I ask this question because I know that working with something can be stressful as well as helpful. Obviously, these brothers became very successful, but it would be interesting to see what they truly thought about having someone so close to them to work with.

I believe that these brothers’ opinion of hard work was that it was something special to them. They clearly loved what they did and weren’t afraid to work hard to attain what they wanted. In addition to this I think that they believed that if you worked hard at something, regardless of what it is, you can make it possible. Without a doubt, I share this opinion, I think that hard work is at the basis of all successful ideas and inventions, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship.

Halfway Reflection

1)  The biggest thing that I have done to keep up with this course is change my habit of procrastination. Instead of trying to complete assignments the day before they are due, I have started working on them early in the week to ensure that I am able to complete them on time without having to cram.

2) When it comes to giving up, its not something that I do. Early on in my time in college I gave up on being an engineering major for a variety of reason however what came of this was seriously letting my father down. I assured him that this would hold me back and subsequently switched to construction management. What I have learned from this over the past 3 years is that there are some things that must be let go. By changing majors, I was happier in school and with my subject that I was studying. However, since changing majors I haven’t let anything slow me down. It was less of having to change what I thought was going to be my life plan and more about how it affected other people. As of my freshman Spring when I changed majors, I had taken a different outlook on life. I put more effort in my work and had a completely different work ethic. I have been closer to failing things that mean the most to me and with how terrible that felt will never let it happen again. I keep that with me today and it is what drives me.

3) Don’t let anyone tell you that something is impossible or that you can’t do it.  There is no one stopping you but yourself; if you want it, go get it. C’est la vie, “that’s life”; its not easy, it’s not fair but if you want to do something: keep your head up, put all your effort into in and never give up; no one will give you what you want, you have to go earn it for yourself.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Segment

The segment that I chose for this assignment is college students that want to stay active/healthy while in college, i.e. going to the gym, eating healthy.

Need Awareness

So, most college students tend to live less healthy than they previously did when they were back at home. The three people I interviewed were all in this same boat. While they did want to make a change to living healthier while up in Gainesville, they felt either they didn’t have the time or ability to do so. This need to be healthier most typically occurs after they had spent the night drinking causing them to feel bad the next day and making them think they need to be healthier. When this need to feel healthier occurs, they most common solution for those I interviewed was to eat healthy. Whether it’s getting a salad instead of a burger or cooking their own food instead of eating out, this was the go-to solution. However, all of them also wanted to take it a step further and actually get into a routine of eating healthy and exercising, not just when they feel hungover and want to feel short-term better. What I learned from this is that while these people want to make a healthier change, they lack a push to actually do it. While their own needs encourage them to make this healthy change occasionally the biggest need here was for these people to have something, such as an app, that can encourage them to workout or help this create a schedule/meal plan for living healthier and making it work within their schedule.

Idea Napkin 1

I am a senior in the construction management program here at UF. I’ve worked in the residential construction field for the past three summers and have gained extensive knowledge about the home building process both on the construction side and the financial side. I have experience with estimating, budgeting, and working with subcontractors to get custom residential homes built or pre-planned for construction. In addition to this I have worked in the construction industry for the past five summers, teaching me how to build many things myself. I aspire to one start my own construction company or a development company. I want to start working for a company to learn the ropes and gain knowledge in the industry and then eventually start my own business or enter into business with someone else. I see this business playing a huge role in my life, using it as something to gain capital and assets to turn into future investments.

What I am offering to customers is a service and a product that will provide them with permanent or temporary housing in an effort to supply accommodation for the influx of people coming to Florida. By offering real estate and development services this will allow me to have a wide range of market I can serve.

The customers that I am targeting are going to be those that are relocating, whether from out of state moving in, or those moving within the state. By operating in a geographic area with high growth and development this will provide a large customer base. All of these customers would be primarily ages of 45+ since that is the largest growing group of people in Florida.

The reason my service of real estate and development will be beneficial to customers is that we would be able to offer real estate services for people looking for places to live immediately. While also working as a developer, we would be able to develop multi-family dwellings and sell them at a competitive price to provide more affordable housing to a wide range of people.

What sets me apart from everyone else is that I have the ability and knowledge to run both a real estate and builder/developer company that will provide affordable housing to all demographics of Florida’s growing population. Through past work experience, real estate courses and formal education I will have the ability to successfully manage a company providing and building housing for Florida’s growing population.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Who: With every opportunity, there are always people that will fall outside of your boundaries. In my case with real estate in a developing area, this is no exception. The group that falls outside my target group would be people that are trying live outside of the geographic location that my business opportunity would operate. Location is a big factor for people when they move or rent, especially to a new area. While in a developing area there will be high enough demand to sustain a business however there will be people that will fall outside of this group. More specifically, people who want to live in a rural area or in a suburban area outside of town.

What: The need is having and developing housing for new people coming to growing areas of cities. This need differs from people that are not trying to live in developing areas. This need would also be for relatively cheaper housing that can be bought and sold quickly.

Why: The need exists due large numbers of people moving to Florida, a good economy, and people moving to and from different locations. This is also amplified by a lot of jobs being created and people being hired so they are either forced or chose to move to be closer to their work.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
People moving to developing areas of cities and high-volume real estate markets	People that intend to live in less-rapidly developing areas or
Having housing available in areas of cities that are experiencing high growth rates, property that can be bought and sold quickly	Slow growth areas of real estate, rural areas, slow moving properties
Florida is rapidly growing, both in population and in economy, people are moving from out of state for numerous reasons	Florida can’t always sustain this growth, not everyone wants to live in cities or developing areas

Solving the Problem

My solution to the problem presented in the previous exercise comes in the form of both a product and service. The problem being solved is the lack of homes for the rapidly growing population of Florida. The construction industry by nature is one that provides both a service and a product. A product in the form of the building or project being built and the service of having a turnkey company you work with that oversees all parts construction.  My solution here is create a company that actively seeks out real estate opportunities in existing construction as well as the new construction and development fields. By targeting these specific fields of construction and real estate development I could capture a large audience of demand that will apply to all people in the market for a new home or rental home. This company would not only build, renovate or develop real estate it would also help people to find the right home for them by providing realtor services as well. This company would essentially operate as a real estate agency that creates its own real estate to sell, similar to how a developer operates but target a wider range of real estate types.

Testing the Hypothesis

In the state of Florida (specific to several major metropolitan areas) there is an opportunity to pursue actions in the real estate market such as buying, developing and flipping properties given the large amount of people moving to the state as well as visiting snowbirds and people vacationing for extended periods of time. The main people with this need for real estate are the ones moving into the state, relocating, or that live in Florida part-time. While most real estate applies, there are certain sectors that more targeted. For instance, most real estate would be smaller single-family homes or large multi-family complexes in a developing area of a city. While the large, custom residential housing market is doing very well, it is a niche market and much harder to get into. The target “what” here are the pieces of real estate that are moving quickly and are being bought by the new or relocating population of Florida. The “why” here is due to the pull factors of Florida. Low taxes, relatively low amounts of restrictive legislation for business, beaches, theme parks, and jobs all play into why this opportunity exists. This need derives from Florida’s rapid and massive expansion in all sectors, especially construction and development.

After conducting interviews, I gained a lot of good insight into my original opportunity. The first interview was with an employee from a large concrete subcontracting company. He generally agreed with all my points but noted the high barriers to entry that can exist in real estate, specifically start-up capital. However, he specifically mentioned from his experience in south Florida that there is currently a “condo boom” going on with numerous high rises being rapidly built in the Ft. Lauderdale to Miami metropolitan area. These condos are being built in hopes of keeping up with the large population growth of these areas. Upon presenting this information to another interviewee, a student in the Rinker program with me, Nathan, he brought up the point that this can cause a lot of competition in the market. While I don’t see a brand-new high-rise as a direct competitor, it does give people a lot more options on where to live opposed to a smaller multi-family complex with less amenities or an older, renovated home. I then talked to my supervisor that I worked under for the past three summers, Eddie. He is the VP of construction at a custom residential home builder located in Tampa. He provided a lot of insight on the way the market is going and more specific trends of population growth and what kinds of real estate is selling. What he told me was that there are a lot of people moving to Florida, we have the 3^rd highest growth rates out of all the states. This means there will be a huge demand for people who need a place to live. What he did tell me that isn’t helpful to my opportunity is that track-home builders are buying and developing thousands of acres with low-cost, low-quality homes that many people can afford and that are typically more attractive than an older, renovated home only because people tend to buy brand new if possible. Talking to a couple other people, they essentially told me the same things. Rich, a trim carpenter from Tampa told me about how he mainly does new construction in homes but does also have some jobs that are remodels for contractors that they intend to sell or use as rental properties. He told me that if the renovation is done right and combined with a reputable contractor, these renovation home can have much greater margins for profit on them than new construction. \

After conducting interviews, I have discovered that there is definitely a huge demand in the Florida real estate market at the time. However, I’m definitely not the only one that sees this opportunity. Everyone that has a part in residential and multi-family residential construction is trying to capitalize on this opportunity. While this makes the competition a lot more, I feel that there is still room in the market for more competitors. I think that but specializing in something that most companies don’t do would be a good way to avoid a lot of direct competition while still allowing plenty of demand. By taking older homes and renovating them, buying properties to rent out or even trying to develop a piece of land in a new developing area can lead to a huge economic opportunity.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

         Upon researching recent economic trends on the internet, I have found that Global Warming is playing an effect on crop production due to rising average temperature. As the yearly average temperature increases, crop yield, especially from corn and soybeans greatly decreases. While advances in modern agriculture technology make it so that fields have higher yields per acre than ever before, plants can still only be grown in certain environments. However, an opportunity that I see out of this is a genetically modified seed for farmers to use that allows plants to have a higher resistance to heat. This is a similar principle to genetically modified wheat seeds that allow wheat to be grown more successfully in the winter and tomatoes have modified seeds to allow them to be hardier. Most likely a customer for this type of product would be a large agricultural company such as Monsanto. They already hold ownership of many GMO seeds and would be able to sell large quantities of seeds to farmers around the country. By partnering or selling out to a company like Monsanto, a roughly 75-billion-dollar company, a large amount of money could be made upfront or by potentially selling patent rights to them. However, this opportunity would be very difficult to fulfill given the requirements it takes to make genetically modified seeds as well as get them approved for use. Regardless, a seed that will stand up to potentially hotter temperatures than ever without losing yield could prove invaluable if global temperatures continue to rise. The reason I saw this opportunity is due to my experience with agriculture and what can be accomplished with GMOs. While the idea is fairly simple actually bringing this idea to fruition is very difficult. But from working with friends in agriculture as well as having family that has worked in the agriculture business, I feel that technology can be applied to nearly all aspects of food production.

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2.       Upon doing more research into Tampa’s recent economic trends I found that there is a good investment opportunity within the area for real estate development and acquisition. From what I found, the current real estate market in Tampa is growing at a very fast rate. There are many people with jobs in the STEM field moving to Tampa for work and with this, they will need places to live. Through buying and flipping houses, buying rental properties or creating your own development, there is much money to be made. Through a growing population, real estate market and houses still at a low price, it is a good opportunity to enter that market. I believe that this is a somewhat challenging opportunity to capitalize on, at least if one tried to do their own real estate development. However, with buying rental properties or flipping houses, these could be achieved much easier and with less experience and capital. Typical customers would be people moving to the Tampa area or anyone in the market for a new home or in need of a place to rent. I saw this opportunity based on my own personal construction and residential experience in the Tampa area. I learned about it firsthand through internships over the past few summers as well as doing research on the Tampa area real estate market.

3.       In a news article I found from Insurance Journal, a Florida appellate court has ruled that the State of Florida’s regulations on medical marijuana are unconstitutional and the state can not regulate the number of dispensaries that can be operated in the state. Should this ruling stand in Florida’s higher court this can be a huge business opportunity to open a dispensary. With the number of registered medical marijuana holders already at approximately 250,000 and growing, there is a large customer base to drive demand. Additionally, with the push for recreational marijuana growing ever year there is the potential for this to be a booming industry. This would be a relatively easy market to get into aside from the licensing required for operating a business of this type. The reason I saw this idea is because company owners and investors have been looking into this market for the past several years. For instance, Morgan & Morgan purchased a large amount of warehouse space specifically for the use of cultivating marijuana once it becomes legalized or they can get he licensing to sell to dispensaries. Many people are already making preparation for it whether they use it or not simply because they know the massive potential this industry and market holds.

4.       Lastly, the other regulatory opportunity I saw was based off of the Florida Building Code (FBC) and its statutes for regulating all licensed construction projects in the state of Florida. In the state of Florida all licensed construction work must abide by the most recent version of the FBC. While many contractors keep up on this, it is a government run code book so the amount of support for keeping everyone on the same page when regulations change is slim to none. I see an opportunity to create an app for construction business owners, contractors, subcontractors and anyone who does construction jobs. This app would provide construction industry professionals any building codes that have been changed so that they can apply them to their work. This would be a valuable tool to provide quick reference on new codes and ensure that their projects are up to FBC. I saw this opportunity through experiencing the changing building codes every year. Having worked in construction it is important to make sure all your work is up to code or it will cost great monetary loss.

Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe that an opportunity exists within Gainesville to provide a better way for students to get to and from class/campus while having a positive impact on the traffic on campus and nearby. This would apply to primarily students living in the vicinity of the University however it could be used by virtually anyone that needs to get around the Gainesville area near, or on campus. This need has always been present, however with a growing university that just reached #7 in the country, its sure to grow larger in the years to come with traffic already a major issue during rush hour. Currently, to combat this, many students purchase scooters to get around in Gainesville or attempt to drive when its not rush hour traffic. However, there are many students that can’t afford to purchase a scooter, renting one isn’t an option, and they are forced to use the inefficient RTS buses that the City of Gainesville provides. I would say that I’m about 95% sure this opportunity exists within Gainesville and has a potential to be a solution for many students.

A prototypical customer would be the age 18-22 undergraduate UF student, especially one that lives nearby campus, makes trips from their residence to campus on a frequent basis. This customer would also typically be travelling when traffic on and near campus is quite busy and can make it difficult to get places in a timely manner.

While performing interviews with three different types of individuals I learned that while this may be a good opportunity for a certain demographic, it definitely would have certain limitations as to who would be using it. While not completely surprising, I did find out that certain group are not affected by the traffic on or around campus and are much more concerned about improving traffic elsewhere around town. For instance, the first and second interview were students and they had similar responses. They are in favor of improving transportation and the flow of traffic in and around campus and would be big supporters of a new way to get around. Transportation in Gainesville, especially during rush hour is very difficult and they experience this very frequently. While public transit and gas scooters are currently a decent solution, they believe there is a better way to be getting around. However, when talking to a professor, their answer was quite different. While he believed getting around campus can be difficult at certain times, he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with the way transportation is set up now. Additionally, he brought up the point that when not teaching during the week, he works elsewhere away from campus and noted that the traffic wasn’t as bad as the stop-and-go traffic frequent on University Ave.

After conducting several interviews and reviewing the answers I received I still believe that there is a good part of my original opportunity present however I don’t think the market is as big as I originally anticipated. I think that my opportunity is more accurate in the sense that I would have a clearer direction on where to go and how to address the issue I’m solving. However, I also think that a lot of my original idea would still work but I need to refine it further and do more research. As far as customer feedback, I think it plays a huge role in developing an opportunity. If an entrepreneur is unwilling to listen to customer feedback this can have a large negative impact on an opportunity. Customers are at the base of most entrepreneurial ideas and without them can completely fail. While holding firm on your idea is what most people tend to do, it can be harmful in the long run if customer needs are not met.

Identifying Local Opportunities

“Smokin’ Tailpipe isn’t good”

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFTUB%21Florida%2BTimes-Union%252C%2BThe%2B%2528Jacksonville%252C%2BFL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=traffic&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/175CF41C10B1CDC0

This article from The Florida Times Union is a story about a man’s car that he has had since new but now has smoke coming out of the tailpipe of his car while driving it. AS he tries to find a quick fix for his problem the newspaper article goes on to explain there is not likely a cheap fix and it will end up costing a decent amount of money to be repaired. In this case its likely he ran the car out of oil at one point, damaged the piston rings, and then now there is no easy or cheap fix for this. The problem in the story is that the owner of this car bought it brand new and its always run fine but dude to a lack of preventative maintenance, his car is starting to give him problems as it gets older. The man that owns the car in need of repair is obviously the one who has the problem. However, the real group of people that have the problem are ones that want to own a car for a long period of time however are not aware enough about maintenance on a car which will lead to big problems down the road.

“Urgency is a must for Downtown development”

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFTUB%21Florida%2BTimes-Union%252C%2BThe%2B%2528Jacksonville%252C%2BFL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=real%20estate&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/175A007C4649D918

In this story it details Jacksonville’s downtown areas and how they need to be re-developed in order to keep up with the town’s growing population and changing culture. The local governments are slow to act toward change and have yet to put a sense of urgency behind revamping Jacksonville’s aging downtown areas. The problem in the story is that the older areas of Jacksonville need to be re-done or re-developed however there is no one that has any sense of urgency to actually do it. In turn, this hurts the people of Jacksonville that live in these areas or nearby them. In addition, it hurts the City of Jacksonville since redeveloped areas could bring in additional income for the city and attract new residents.

“Scooter companies battle logistics issues”

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFTUB%21Florida%2BTimes-Union%252C%2BThe%2B%2528Jacksonville%252C%2BFL%2529/decade%3A2010%212010%2B-%2B2019&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=parking&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/175BF8B5894A4FA8

This story details how scooter companies are doing incredibly well, experiencing large growth and getting investors however they are starting to face major logistical issues when it come to bringing their product to a large urban market in cities. There are many different challenges they face such as charging stations for scooters, rental locations and what people do when they are done using the scooter. The issue here is that these scooter companies have a great product and concept however they are struggling when it comes to solving the problem of hanging them in big cities with thousands of users. Furthermore, local city legislators are not in favor or making a big change to their cities for a company that provides easy transportation. This becomes a problem of the city’s residents when they are either unable to use these scooters or become restricted in their use due to a lack of charging stations, parking and other things necessary for a fleet of electric scooters.

“Internet Cafes are Frequent Site of Violence”

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFTUB%21Florida%2BTimes-Union%252C%2BThe%2B%2528Jacksonville%252C%2BFL%2529/decade%3A2010%212010%2B-%2B2019&sort=YMD_date%3AD&page=2&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=parking&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/1754B7D332F78BE0

This story discusses how there has been a recent spike in crimes involving internet cafes and arcades around the city of Jacksonville. Such violence includes armed robbery, drive-by shootings and homicide. While local authorities are doing what they can, it is clearly not enough to keep these areas safe for their citizens. The problem here is that violent crimes continue to occur in areas where the shouldn’t and even though police are doing what they can, there needs to be some additional protection for innocent people. This problem most effects the citizens that visit these places or live nearby them. However, it also poses a problem to the police force and how they can work to make the city safer.

“Business Owners deal with worker thefts”

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFTUB%21Florida%2BTimes-Union%252C%2BThe%2B%2528Jacksonville%252C%2BFL%2529/decade%3A2010%212010%2B-%2B2019&sort=YMD_date%3AD&page=3&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=theft&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/1724ECDC74883E00

In this newspaper article a small business owner has to deal with her former employees trying to steal from her. The two employees gave their notice to quit, however even after quitting their accounts for the business were still active, allowing them to go into the company database and use it to steal money away from their former employer. By the time they were caught it cost the company an estimated $70,000 to $80,000. The problem here is that for small and medium size business it can be much harder to prevent and detect theft from an employee, especially if there are very few employees and only one owner. In small businesses like this, the owner must be able to trust the people they employ in order to advance their business. In this case the group with the problem is the thousands of small business owners that are vulnerable to theft from within their company since they can’t necessarily afford the protection and financial checks that most large companies operate with.

Entrepreneurship Story

Entrepreneurship Story

Recently this past Spring semester I was exposed to, and partially involved in an entrepreneurial project in Tampa. My friend’s stepdad has recently bought a closed-down bar in Tampa as well as the surrounding property for future development. My friend and I both worked for his stepdad during the renovation part of the bar helping him re-brand the bar with a different style to differentiate it from others in the area. In addition to this he shared his plan for what he wanted to do with the concept of the bar as well as what he had in mind for the property development around the bar. By doing this we were able to meet some of his business partners as well as his manger for the property and construction renovation to learn more about the whole process of buying, renovating and re-opening a business. I enrolled in ENT 3003 for the purpose of learning more about the basics of entrepreneurship and be able to apply this for when I graduate. I hope to get a better grasp on the basis of entrepreneurship that will aid me in being successful post-graduation

Bar in Tampa we helped renovate