ENT3003 BLOG!

1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread. There were not that many fun moments from this passed year. The weirdly specific grading policies and deadlines were difficult at times. However, it may seem like a "necessary evil" with an online class of this size. The lectures did have a fun quality to them sometimes and were informative (my hometown even got shouted out once, yay Ponte Vedra!). Either way, I'm glad to have taken this course because at the very least, it taught me not to miss a deadline, even if it is at noon.  2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing? The most formative expereince was interviewing other people and be...

Opportunity.  An opportunity may be defined as a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs. When you describe the opportunity you have identified, you need to be sure to describe  both  (1) who has the need (i.e., who are the potential customers?) and (2) the nature of the need. Other questions you should address in this section:  The customers that have this potential need are those in areas where plastic straws have been banned due to environmental concerns. This need is physical, as a substitute for a plastic straw is required. The immediate alternative is a paper straw, which is incompatible with the plastic lid. Because of this, there is a need present for a lid that is compatible with both plastic straws and paper straws while also being able to function as a sip-style lid.  This is a geographically defined market as it is determined by location. Counties that have banned plastic straws have a greater need. This is a medium sized oppurtunity th...

For both ideas that I've had for this class, I intend to sell to a larger company and exit as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence. It is only a matter of time before another company can do what you do cheaper, and at a lower cost. Because of this, it is essential to build a large following of loyal customers quickly, then sell to the highest bidder once this is established. I have selected this exit strategy because I believe it will result in the largest return with the lowest amount of time. This exit strategy has had a large impact on the formulation of my business concept and idea. Both ideas are inventions, not processes or services, so I believe they are more easily copied. Because of that, it is necessary to sell and exit as quickly as possible.

For this assignment, I read Phil Knights' memoir, Shoe Dog. I thought this would be an interesting read because I am not the biggest fan of Nike, as they are an extremely unethical organization, and hoped maybe the backstory could shed some light on the situation. After all, is said and done, I respect 's drive but do not think a shoe brand justifies the underpay of thousands of workers and immense pollution from fast fashion. What I most admired about Knight was that he took a chance on a crazy idea, and flew halfway across the world to pitch his idea. He didn't expect success but was given a shot anyway. He turned a small idea into a global empire, with its own unique spirit and identity. Against all odds and large players that tried to wrangle in their companies' success, they maintained the original mission of the company while selling shoes on a massive scale. 

This past semester I failed several times at meeting deadlines. Usually, I am prompt with my assignments and responses, even turning some things early. However, with the COVID crisis and several other external factors, I have been distracted and sometimes missed deadlines for classes and extracurriculars, this class included. I've learned that I need to be more organized. In order to keep these odd deadlines in check (why are the assignments due at noon), I have to create a system through which I keep aware of upcoming dates. This includes a reminder system on my phone and sticky notes all through my room. In the future, I hope to be more on top of things and giving  100% in all that I do.

For any venture, it is key to know when to exit the market. With the current market, potential customers include business owners who operate restaurants or specialty beverage shops. With that in mind, their need will continure for as long as they serve beverages, espceially in straw restircted areas. Next in terms of product is introducing a paper straw companion to the lid so that they may be sold together. Upon interviewing three customers who are already apart of this market, they believe what is next is moving more rapidly into the reusable and eco friendly market for these products. Two of these customers insisted that they have seen a rise in customers bringing in their own straws and cups in response to the backlash against single-use plastic. However, with the prevalence of the coronavirus, these services have been restricted. I expect to enter this market and then exit when a larger conglomerate wants to purchase the device/company. The payoff for the idea is worth the loss ...

There is a certain set of resources that set this venture apart from other efforts in the past. In this list are the: Financial Resources: Money is scarce. Having this revenue and reducing start-up costs is valuable to the business and the future success of this venture. Organizational Culture: Having low costs with a small team will provide useful when justifying expenditures. This can be copied and is on a daily basis, but is helpful to our company. Social Capital: As a college student, working with other students and faculty, there is a wide audience through which we can cast our net. Especially considering the product targets towns similar to Gainesville and will start in Gainesville. Lots of other college students have this resource, but maybe not the willingness to utilize it. Idea ingenuity: As far as I can tell, no one has come up with a biodegradable lid alternative that features both a sip lid option as well as a paper-straw friendly docking point. Because this is a uniqu...

A venture concept that combines both oppurtinity and innovation is the invention of a beach to beachfront-property stair that is durable and removable. On the coasts and especially in Florida, we face a lot of hurricanes and high intensity storms. These storms frequently result in the loss of stairs from beach front property that give access to the shore. These replacement stairs are costly and take time to source, especially after a crisis. This oppurtunity is a geographically defined market, as it is most helpful for people who need replacable staircases in areas such as lakes and ocean-front. Customers currently satisfy this need with wooden stairs that are sturdy, but do wash away in a large storm. Considering these stairs are high quality, they are costly to replace. Considering this, an alternative to conventional stairs is anticipated and needed. This window of oppurtunity is available until someone else sells a removable, reusable set of stairs. However, in the future, this nee...

I thought that this attempt has been my most cohesive yet. I changed the background of the video as I am now in a stable environment following the covid crisis. I also was able to source appropriate attire. I also met the 90 second mark with the extra two seconds as extra start and stop time. I reviewed no feedback on my previous two posts so I am unable to day I followed the direction of my peers. However, I believe the adjustments they would’ve suggested are the adjustments I have made.

For the last assignment, I read Guy Kawaski and Peg Fitzpatrick's "The Art of Social Media". Reading it helped me understand the valuable tool that social media is in marketing and brand recognition, and how it can be utilized for various products and companies. I was shocked to find out that Kawaski was actually on the team for Apple and fathered their business social media for some time. This built ethos and my trust in the author to offer a valuable perspective. As a gen z, I feel fairly confident in my understanding and dexterity in social media. This book helped me realized the dynamic that comes with apps and companies, and how social media is soon to be the place to be to build a presence for your product. If I could create an assignment based upon this book, I would ask my peers what social media platform they would use for building a presence upon. Say for example I have a product directed at late/middle-aged women. I would most likely use FaceBook to reach my t...

Contact #1 Mr. Leiheiser  This person owns a small ice-cream shop that offers drinks. As the owner of this small business, he is familiar with the supplies he requires and the laws he must be in compliance with. As such, they fill my domain expert bucket. I found this contact as he is an old school mate's father and his shop is in my home town. I contacted him by going to the shop. His favor was providing me with feedback. For now, our hometown is plastic straw friendly. However, Ponte Vedra is a beach town and I anticipate that a ban is in our future. I returned the favor by recommending the shop on my Instagram story, which around 500 people see. Mr. Leinheiser is a friend of our town and is friends with many of the important execs that take up residence in PVB. Contact #2 Mr. Murphy Mr. Murphy is a high up exec of a distribution organization. He is an expert on supplier relations and the process of sourcing and distributing materials. As such, he fills the important ...

My name is Kelly Shields and I am a freshman at the University of Florida. I am a Finance major and hope to one day work in the financial sector. I enjoy swimming, the outdoors, reading and meeting new people. I consider my skills to be helpful in this course, as I am a people-person and enjoy networking and listening to people. I am offering a biodegradable plastic lid with a unique key-hole design that allows for the use of your beverage for both sipping and securing paper straws in the lid. Previously, paper straws would degrade quickly due to outside pressure of the traditional, pronged lid. That traditional lid was made to function with a plastic straw, and as the straw evolves, so must the lid. I am offering this product to businesses that sell drinks in areas with a plastic straw ban. They care because straws are convenient. When customers lose this convenience they're used to, it could reflect poorly upon their business. For this reason, they want a solution to paper straw...

Based on the feedback of my last post, I was more interactive. Because of the COVID-19 diaspora,  I was unable to locate proper clothing and had to make do with the most unobtrusive shirt I had. In the future, I will dress in a business fashion.

If I can imagine a prototypical customer for my product, it would be either be a mom and pop shop with a more nutritious/eco-friendly mentality or an eco-warrior Millenial/gen z. What do  you  have in common with the customer avatar? Although I am a zoomer, I am unfortunately not very environmentally proactive. I am conscious of my own impact on the environment and my pollution contribution.  If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why? It's not a coincidence. We are similar because we faced the same customer need. If I experience this discrepancy on a day to day basis as a young person in a single use straw banned county, then others have too. 

In being an entrepreneur, I think there are several factors that are advantageous. Of these advantageous traits, I believe that I am a hard worker, engaging, personable, resourceful, and curious. Willingness to put in the hours is necessary to be a successful entrepreneur and provides many advantages moving forward. Without drive, nothing gets done and the wheels of the business don't turn. Furthermore, being able to listen to those around you and make them feel heard is a great way to get people to listen to you in turn. Investors and potential customers appreciate someone who isn't just going through the motions but is actively participating in and enhancing the flow of dialogue. When I asked my friends, peers, and family members what traits of mine they thought were advantageous in being an entrepreneur, I received a mixed response. My father detailed upon hard-work and resourcefulness, as these were traits he instilled upon me and all my siblings since we were young. My fr...

In this instance, I further investigated the customer opinion toward my product and the behavior process surrounding this segment. From these three interviews, I was able to assess the attitudes of potential buyers as well as the attractiveness of the product. I inquired to each person how they approach the plastic straw alternative issue. Two out of three conveyed that they would not bring around a metal straw, because it is a nuisance and is unsanitary. The third elaborated on concerns of cleanliness. A reusable straw alternative being toted around by an individual can easily become dirty and unsanitary. Following recent concerns surrounding COVID-19, cleanliness and sterile products are of utmost necessity, especially with a straw or lid that comes in direct contact with your mouth. Under these conditions, a disposable product is optimal, considering the single-use need and sanitary packaging. Other alternatives include simply not using a straw for sipping. Upon ques...

I decided to read Walter Isaacson's authorized biography,  Steve Jobs,  because I interested in the world's fascination with apple products, and want to see how its founder rose to the top.  I learned of several new facts about both Apple and Steve Jobs that shocked me. First, was that Jobs didn't go to an ivy league school, and insisted to his adoptive parents that he wanted to go to Reed College (a private, liberal-arts college). Also shocking was Jobs's addiction to LSD. As a successful, powerful man, he had always been painted to me as straight-edge and entirely dedicated to his craft. Seeing this adherence to the 60s/70s counterculture makes him more human, and the enormous success he had feels more attainable. Jobs understood the value of failure. For a while, his computer product was considered a failure, and drastically worse than other market alternatives. When he encountered this failure, he did not let it discourage him and moved forward despite the appa...

Moving forward in this course, I have gained new skills and traits I didn't utilize previously that make my journey as an entrepreneur more clear. To keep up with the requirements of this course, I have developed awareness and consciousness of my surroundings that keep me looking for things and phrases that will help my plan. Keeping this awareness and always mulling over ideas helps me think like an entrepreneur, so I am better able to complete my assignments. There were some moments during this course where it seemed I had lost all motivation to get things done. During a particularly busy week, I pushed all work to Friday because I knew it was due Friday. However, because I was not practicing my 'awareness' i forgot it was due at noon instead of midnight. Upon being jolted from my sleep when I realized all my assignments were due in three hours, I wanted to give up. there was so much to do, yet so little time. I quickly came to my senses, calmed down, and realized that I...

For this market segment, I believe it is more geographically based. counties near water or in banned counties are banned from using plastic straws. Also, in places where people are more educated on the impact on the environment, they are likely to want eco-friendly alternatives. I interviewed three people in Alachua county (banned county) to understand customers need awareness as well as how they conduct information searches. All three people I interviewed faced issues with paper straws, which is the root of the issue that resulted in our modified lid product. I asked each of the three persons when their need becomes most apparent. The first and third detailed on the need for straws whenever they visited local eateries. The second is from California, where plastic straws are heavily restricted, so she faces the need almost constantly (at restaurants, fast-food, beverage shops, etc...). Although they are all aware of this need, only the second (California resident) has taken steps to r...

My name is Kelly Shields. My talents include swimming, networking, problem-solving. I aim to be in the financial sector working to help people wisely spend and invest their money. I see this business idea as a way to progress my interests in preserving our local environment, especially in ecosystems proximal to water. I'm offering a product to local businesses that is a lid compatible with paper straws. Paper straws disintegrate quickly with plastic-style lids because the prongs puncture the paper. With this modified lid, paper straws would be more effective while still performing their eco-friendly function. This is targeted to eco-conscious businesses and businesses in recently banned counties (such as Alachua County). They care because they need to accommodate the law and/or because they have concerns about the environment. We are set apart because the product we offer works in tandem with another environmentally savvy product. We have a concert for the environment and the bus...

In this exercise, we are exploring beyond the "who", "what", and "why" into the specifics of my opportunity. As an opportunity, there is an unmet market need in Gainesville and other banned counties for a product that is conducive for use with a paper straw. The current solution, using plastic straw lids, is inefficient and needs modification. This product would just be the lid, not beyond into paper straw territory, as that is an entirely different commodity. I interviewed five people with an unmet need in a paper straw county, but have not realized it yet. Product: Commercial plastic drink lids that are compatible with paper straws, so that the straw is not rendered ineffective by the sharp prongs of typical lids. Interview #1 Alivia: Alivia is an environmental sustainability major. She keeps a plastic, reusable water bottle with her wherever she goes. Because of this, she doesn't encounter the issue of needing a lid. The only commercial place s...

Paper Straw Friendly Lid This is a product in response to the recent plastic straw ban that is taking place in several counties across the United States. The current solution, paper straws, degrade on contact with pronged lids. These lids were intended for plastic straw use, as the straw was durable enough to withstand the pressure from the pronged lid, while also keeping it in place. This product would be a plastic lid without pronged plastic pieces in the middle so that the plastic straw alternative won't degrade. Because the circular lid would not interact negatively with the straw alternative, this would solve the degrading issue for the straw.

The opportunity I am going to pursue is biodegradable straws in post-ban counties. Businesses in certain counties are required to use non-plastic, ecosystem compatible straw straws in response to a plastic straw ban. The who: Businesses in plastic straw banned counties The what: They need non-plastic straws for drinks The why: Recent legislation change requires them to find an alternative to plastic straws There may be others who would use the potential product, including other ethically conscious individuals. There are other options for these consumers but the solutions are either very expensive or ineffective. The boundaries of the need include all businesses that are under the restrictions of these bands. The why holds for all businesses as they are all under the implications of the ban, even commercial businesses in the county. The only other "why" for this need stems from the desire to be a more eco-friendly business without the presence of a ban. I interviewed fiv...

4 Opportunities: #1 Vape Quitting Service for Eighteen to Twenty-year-olds after Tobacco21 Ban I found this information in the news and from word of mouth. I formed a belief from what I have seen in my peers and what I have researched in relation to the topic. This is in response to a regulatory change that has taken place nationwide.  I think this opportunity exists because of the rise of disposable vape products. The prototypical customer would be any person who is addicted to these products under the age of twentyone. I think this is a relatively easy opportunity to exploit through the use of social media and web services. I saw this opportunity because the prototypical customer fits within the age range of my peers at college. I see the struggles that my peers face without any aid and this presents an opportunity. This impact and experience is the reason why I think it is prudent to pursue an effort for helping those addicted to nicotine cope with their newfound loss. #2 A...

UF student dies from injuries after getting hit by car https://mycbs4.com/news/local/uf-student-dies-from-injuries-after-getting-hit-by-car According to the article,  Denise Griffiths passed away leaving school after being hit by a car on University, one of the main streets surrounding campus. She was pronounced brain dead after a severe injury to her spinal cord.  The problem is vehicle and pedestrian safety in the Gainesville area, and especially on campus. Pedestrians should be able to cross the street without risk to their life. Ensuring the safety of students like Denise when they cross the streets in and around campus is crucial. Students, faculty, visitors, other pedestrians, police, EMT, and drivers all are stakeholders in this issue. Gainesville and Jacksonville ranked as top 100 cities for STD cases https://mycbs4.com/news/local/gainesville-and-jacksonville-ranked-as-top-100-cities-for-std-cases A recent study by the Center for Disease Control has named two ...

I believe there is an opportunity in the Gainesville area to produce an alternative to plastic straws. this is due to the recent ban on plastic straws for commercial use. The current solution, flimsy paper straws, are ineffective and leave people unsatisfied. If a customer in Gainesville orders a drink, they will have to use a cheap paper straw that degrades during use. I am nearly 90% sure this problem exists, as the standard product is faulty and is required for drinks in Gainesville. The typical customer would be, for now, a consumer in Gainesville. This is because Gainesville has a plastic ban which gives a wider customer base. In the future, we may expand to a wider market. I spoke to two Gainesville residents about their thoughts on the plastic ban. Both were vehemently against the current standard flimsy paper straws. The first was seeking an alternative for her drinks that was in the store for her own use. She became aware of the need in the new year when seemingly p...

I have been exposed to entrepreneurship my entire life. When my parents saw an opportunity in the market, they took it. Some of these ventures were a bust, but for the most part, worked out well and resulted in a prosperous undertaking and a learning experience. Most recently was my father's journey into the roofing business. To give clarification, my father is a medical salesman and has been his entire life. Although it may not make sense to undertake such a different avenue for a business, he worked hard and took an opportunity that was present. Our family is very familiar with a set of remote islands in the Bahamas called the Abacos. They recently made headlines as being in the direct path one of the worst hurricanes on record. A category five (hypothetically a cat six) tore through the island and was even directly in the eye of the storm. The wreckage was immense and the community needed resources and skilled workers to rebuild. This mission was time-sensitive because the econ...

These are a list of things that bug me on a day to day basis: 1. Paper Straws in Alachua County. They exist to replace plastic waste from normal straws but are ineffective and always disintegrate before I'm done with my drink. 2. People skipping the line at restaurants/establishments. They exist because there are ineffective line structures and impatience. 3. Charging cords. There are five different cords for all my devices and they constantly tangle/get lost. 4. Air pods. They're massively uncomfortable, but newer phones are moving toward Bluetooth headphones. 5. Dog waste on the sidewalks and in parks. People are too lazy to pick up their dog's waste or don't remember to bring pick up bags. 6. Loud vacuums. No sound is more irritating then loud vacuums, and older models generally make more noise because of the high powered suction. 7. Disposable razor heads. Razors are extremely expensive and go dull very quickly. With innovation, they may be more efficient and...

This post is a tester for my ENT3003 class at the University of Florida.