Assignment #5: Identifying Local Opportunities

#1-To curb flooding, Jacksonville eyes rules limiting impervious surfaces 
https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190530/to-curb-flooding-jacksonville-eyes-rules-limiting-impervious-surfaces
What? Flooding in the local Jacksonville area

Who? Homeowners, business owners, property owners 
Summary- Jacksonville's Storm Resiliency and Infrastructure Development Review Committee is looking to push a bill that would lessen the probability of flooding in local areas. The bill would further limit how much of a property could be covered by fixed structures. The problem described in this article is flooding in Jacksonville city limits. As Florida is hurricane-prone, flooding affects many Jacksonville residents, specifically home and property owners. 

#2- Jacksonville’s Clarke School helps bring deaf children into the ‘hearing world’
 https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190530/jacksonvilles-clarke-school-helps-bring-deaf-children-into-hearing-world
What? Deafness
Who? Deaf children and adults, teachers, schools, public establishments, parents
Summary- Jacksonville is known for its state of the art specialty medical facilities. This article portrays the a breakthrough story for a deaf child who grew up within these facilities. The problem described in this article is the struggles of deaf children in the community. Deaf children and their parents, schools, and teachers encounter this problem. However, Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech have offered a hopeful solution for those that are deaf. 

 #3- Northeast Florida community health assessment spotlights lack of access to care

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190531/northeast-florida-community-health-assessment-spotlights-lack-of-access-to-care

What? Lack of access to primary care providers

Who? Jacksonville residents, veterans, seniors, children, minority groups

Summary- After a 2019 Community health assessment, it has become apparent that Duval County has a lack of primary care providers. This stems from several factors such as demographics, location, and transportation availability. People that specifically have this problem are Duval residents, veterans, children, seniors, and several minority groups. Jacksonville has some of the top medical care facilities but the problem lies in accessing these facilities. 

#4- High-performing Duval charter schools mimic nearby high-performing public schools

 https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190528/high-performing-duval-charter-schools-mimic-nearby-high-performing-public-schools

What? Education quality across Duval County

Who?  Charter schools, public schools, students, parents, teachers

Summary- Charter Schools across duval county are starting to out preform that of regular public schools. This becomes an issue when it comes to perks and funding. The problem is the quality of education that students are receiving across the board in each school break down. The people who are affected by the problem are charter schools, public schools, parents, students, and teachers.

#5- Coast Guard crew returns to Mayport after seizing $41 million worth of cocaine

 https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190527/coast-guard-crew-returns-to-mayport-after-seizing-41-million-worth-of-cocaine

What? Cocaine trafficking into the US

Who? US citizens, jails, hospitals, judicial system

Summary- A Coast Guard crew out of Mayport seized $41 million dollars worth of cocaine from entering the country through our waterways. This article shows that cocaine trafficking is still a very relevant issue today across the country. Examples of those who are affected by this problem is the US as a whole, jail, hospitals, and the judicial system.  

Reflection: It was interesting to read these local newspaper articles to identify a problem. In my opinion, it almost seems like there is an underlying problem in many of the articles that are published in general. Whether it be subliminal or obvious, problems motivate people to write. I actually enjoyed this assignment because it made me think about the reasoning behind why these problems exist today.

*Note: I used the Florida Times-Union newspaper as the source for my articles.

 

 

 

 

Assignment #4: Forming an Opportunity Belief

A. The opportunity: Being in an aviation community, flying has become a huge part of my life. I often ponder on how to make flying commercially a little more enjoyable or enticing. As a pet owner, I always find myself torn between driving long distances with my 2 dogs, or leaving them behind and flying. I believe that an opportunity exists for a commercial airline to specialize in transporting pets with their owners comfortably. Instead of dreadfully flying pets in the cargo areas with the suitcases, travelers would be allowed to take their pet along with them in the cabin. The market that this would appeal to would be not only specifically military personnel, but people who travel often whether it be for work or for pleasure. After assessing the need for these travel arrangements, we would be able to further narrow down the target market. At this point, I am 75% sure that this opportunity exists.

B. The interviews with prospective customers:

1. Non-military member, pet owner- After a series of questions, it was apparent that this individual did not travel very often due to her pet. She owns a pit bull, so it is very hard to find pet care and she will not put her dog into the cargo part of an aircraft. She said that if she had the opportunity to travel with her dog in the cabin, she would travel more. Currently, her job does not require much travel so she does not necessarily have to find alternate solutions. 
2. Commercial airline pilot, pet owner- This was a unique interview because not only could he be a potential customer, but an employee of the airline as well. A lot of technicalities were discussed such as how the aircraft would be boarded, what pets are allowed, and how to keep the pets restrained for safety reasons. He also mentioned that many people already do travel with pets. I brought up the several incidents of pets being mistreated in cargo spaces or the accidents that occur and he said that they are very rare. From a customer perspective, he would consider bringing his pet along flying, as long as it was very controlled and safe to do so. 
3. Military member, pet owner- After very similar dialogue as interview #1, the member was very excited about the idea of flying with her dogs. Although most of her travel was within the state of Florida for leisure, she said she would be able to consider going new places. She has used pet-friendly hotels in the past and was happy with her experiences and would do it again. She said she would rather bring her dogs along than board them for an extended period of time and that it would most likely be cheaper to do so. 

C. Reflection: It was very interesting talking with people about this potential opportunity. I learned that pets do, in fact, hold people back from traveling in some cases. The military creates a need to travel for pets but for civilians, it is more of a leisure or want to travel. I learned that people would have many questions if the opportunity became available and that the rules and regulations would have to be pretty stringent to make people feel comfortable flying. The most surprising thing that I learned from the interviews was that people were very eager to hear more about the idea. This opportunity sparked people interest, but again there were many questions that I still have to consider.

D. Summary: I believe that a good part of my original opportunity is still present. Since there already are arrangements that can be made for traveling with pets, it is more of a want rather than a need. However, people are held back from traveling due to pets so it would have a positive impact on all travel businesses such as hotels and pet-friendly venues that already exist. My new opportunity is more accurate but there are still some questions to be answered that are out of my area of expertise such as laws and regulations. I do believe that entrepreneurs need to somewhat flex based on customer feedback to make an opportunity more appealing. In the end, the more interest the better. As long as entrepreneurs stick to their foundation, an opportunity could be very rewarding for both them and the customer. Society is always changing so it is very important to be able to adapt to new demands in order to be successful.

Assignment #3: My Entrepreneurship Story

My exposure to entrepreneurship began after I made the best decision of my life to join the United States Navy. During the past 6 years of service, I have had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of experienced people. Talking with my peers is what sparked an overall interest in business.

The Navy has given me the opportunity to expand on my interest and continue to provides a whirlwind of opportunity. Last year, I was elected as the Vice President of the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation committee in my squadron. As a board member, it is my job to make decisions on behalf of an entire command of about 400 people. And as always in the military, there is always someone to report to and a high level of scrutiny. On a large scale, I am responsible for planning to raise funds, and then expending those funds by means of activities to keep a positive command climate. A few big events that we have pulled of this year was a Command holiday party, which was a formal event for the entire command, and a command picnic, which was a fun day for all of our service members and their families. At first, I thought my role was very minute and my decisions did not really affect people. But as time continues to go on, I've learned that each decision myself and my committee has made really did make a difference within the command. I look forward to more growth and to continuing my entrepreneurial journey.   

I enrolled in ENT3003 to hear about other peoples journeys and to learn more about the entrepreneurial journey as a whole. I am very interested in business and I have always felt that entrepreneurship is the backbone of any successful business venture. I find it very interesting to see what makes businesses tick and I enjoy comparing experiences to my own. Aside from my business aspirations, I am currently serving as an acoustic operator on the mighty P-3 Orion out of NAS Jacksonville. I love what I do and am thankful that I get to share some of my experiences. I am very excited to share this journey with each and every one of you!

Assignment #2: Bug List

Below is a list of things that bug me-

1. Sitting in traffic every day after leaving work
Why? Everyone gets off at the same time and there are only 2 lanes of traffic leading to the highway

2. Slow walkers in busy, crowded places
Why? People are easily distracted or are not efficient at multi-tasking (i.e. walking and talking)

3. Neighbors that mow their lawn in the early morning on a weekend
Why? It is often much cooler in the morning, which makes the job a little easier and people like to get chores done before enjoying time off

4. When people send their food back at a restaurant
Why? The order is sometimes incorrect and customers are not willing to pay for errors

5. Paying for cover charges at bars during the busiest times
Why? Establishments want to make sure they are making money from every single customer, whether they are buying drinks or not

6.  Telemarketer phone calls
Why? Companies get phone numbers from public records and seek to promote their services

7. Long red lights
Why? Traffic lights aren't always timed or in sync to effectively control traffic

8. People on the phone at the gym while using a machine during the busiest hours
Why? People get distracted by their cell phones all the time or need a break from their workout

9. Slow internet connection 
Why? Connectivity varies throughout the day, depending on location and how many users are on the network

10. People who lick their fingers after eating
Why? Some people believe that its a shortcut to washing their hands

11. Loud Televisions
Why? Viewers are so into what they are watching and don't realize the excessive volume

12.  When the ice cream machine at McDonald's is broken when you want it most
Why? I can only assume technical difficulties on this one

13. People parking too close in a parking lot
Why? Some of the spaces are really small and drivers underestimate the size of their vehicles or have difficulty parking in general

14. Being interrupted when talking
Why? Not everyone is aware of their surroundings at all times or lack manners

15. When people don't return their shopping cart at the grocery store
Why? People could be in a rush, too lazy to return it, or assume someone will do it for them

16. When dog owners don't pick up after their dog
Why? Owners don't carry bags all the time or expect their pet to go

17. Being honked at for no apparent reason
Why? Other drivers feel that you are in the wrong or that their driving skills are superior

18. Low phone battery
Why? Phone battery life deteriorates over time when you use and charge it often

19. Excessive amounts of cologne or perfume
Why? Everyone has different levels of sensitivity to certain smells, or are unaware of how strong the scent actually is

20. When drivers block intersections during rush hour trying to get through a light
Why? People think that getting through an intersection is more important than obstructing the flow of traffic and potentially put their vehicles in an unsafe position instead of waiting for another light cycle.

Reflection: This exercise was surprisingly rather difficult for me in the beginning. It is really easy to come up with things that bug me, but hard to identify why they exist. I am a very particular person, so there are many things throughout the day that bug me. But I found that they bugged me due to personal preference. However, there were several things that existed due to external forces and society. Towards the end of the list, I started shifting towards more of a self evaluation and started to question my own judgement. Overall, this assignment was a very eye-opening experience, as we continue to ask why the problem exists in the first place.

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Hello Everyone,
I am looking forward to spending this semester with y'all! Go Gators!