Identifying Local Oppurtunities

1) Gainesville Sun

2)  a) 20th avenue is not monitored enough so people are reckless. I propose a camera surveillance system by contract with the city or police department

      b) selling health products at a local talk about "How Florida is trying to Kill You"

     c) Have a coffee shop with better coffee by gathering customer opinions on what could be better and styling the shop to be themed in a very different way than most coffee shops.  Whether it be dark and relaxed, or bustling and active with alot of networking. 

     d) hold an event explaining the solar system and the stars. people can get tickets for event

     e) There should be training programs or linking programs between high school sports and UF

      

3) -title of article

     -Link to article

     -Description of Story

     -Description of the Problem

     -Who is affected by problem

a) Pedestrian, 16, dies after being hit by car

         https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200130/pedestrian-16-dies-after-being-hit-by-car

        A kid walking home after school was hit by a car that swayed off the road in front of my house, ended up dying in the ICU.

       That road gets crowded or busy and is not monitored much by police officers. It should have more control on it.

       The city and the police department have the problem, and so do the residents. The fatalities affect all of them.

 

     b) Is Florida trying to Kill me?

https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200129/is-florida-trying-to-kill-me

         At a museum in Gainesville, a researcher from the entomology department is giving a talk about the importance of mosquitos, wildfires, and other nature related topics.                                       There a lot of things in florida that can harm you from bugs, to the sun. Being educated about it can help you greatly                                       Every Florida resident that does not know how they are affected by these factors.

c) Espresso, yourself. How to get the best brew at home.                                                                https://www.gainesville.com/lifestyle/20200131/espresso-yourself-how-to-get-best-brew-at-home                                                                        People do not go to coffee shops for the coffee and that they go for networking and studying.                                                                    Coffee shop coffee is not good enough to go there just for coffee, and you can make a better espresso at home, here's how.                        Coffee shops and their customers experience this problem.

d)  Looking up: Betelgeuse, dimmer but no less awesome.                                                                   https://www.gainesville.com/lifestyle/20200131/looking-up-betelgeuse-dimmer-but-no-less-awesome                                                                    A very beautiful star in the sky has dimmed and people all over cannot see it as well.                     Gainesville is a beautiful place to see the stars when far away from the university and downtown, but there is not much to aid people in doing so or appreciate the sky.                                     People who like stargazing or appreciate how clear the Gainesville sky is have this problem.          

                                                                                                                                                        e) GHS boys soccer rolls into district finals            https://www.gainesville.com/sports/20200129/ghs-boys-soccer-rolls-into-district-final                     The boys of the gainesville soccer team roll to distric final but many high school teams in gainesville are inspired by the University presence and strive to play there.                            The problem is that they do not recive much attention from a lot of these kids work really hard and need attention                                            Students and family have this problem

Opportunity Belief

          1) I believe that Gainesville could be a lot more green by establishing some kind of recycling program.
          2) There is no efficient and effective recycling program and that is evident by people randomly tossing objects in the garbage bin without second thought and not enough recycling bins. Apartment complexes, and restaurants have a need for this service. This need existed because populated areas produce a lot of waste and we do not want it to get worse. Entities like the university of Florida are trying to help by placing recycling bins around campus and the city of Gainesville picks up recycling I am pretty sure. The problem with those is that there is no incentive for people to actually recycle, which I guess is important for college kids. Maybe partnership with local restaurants and bars would give incentive. Coupons or vouchers given for the waste recycled. I am less than 50% sure this is an opportunity as of now but I would have to think it through more.
          3-6) a) Student living at Canopy Apartments (asked to keep name private). She cares about doing her part with the environment:
Q1: Do you feel like there is waste problem in Gainesville?
A1: Yes I feel like the people who are not involved with the university do not really care and even those who are involved only recycle when they directly see a recycling bin.

Q2: Who is aware of this problem and can awareness be increased? How long do you think people have been aware of this issue and how long has it been around?
A2: I feel like students are mainly aware of this problem because they see it around, and they are more educated about the waste issue on earth, but I am not sure residents of Gainesville around where I live care, or can afford to care. I definitely think an initiative can be taken to bring awareness to people through education and extension of programs to areas where this waste is abundant. This issue of increasing waste has existed in any developed area but has become addressed more in the recent years as global warming and destruction of habitats and species of animals increased.

Q3:  Is anything being done about this need?
A3: There are things being done about this need but not in Gainesville in an effective way.

Reflection: I did expect people overall to not be very attentive to this problem because I myself at times find myself throwing away a water bottle in moments of hurry. I do think incentives would help more.

           b) Student living in a townhouse in a normal neighborhood (asked to keep name private). This is a Santa Fe student.
Q1: Do you feel like there is waste problem in Gainesville?
A1: There is somewhat of a problem, but not very serious. Gainesville is not as large as other cities which have it a lot worse.

Q2: Who is aware of this problem and can awareness be increased? How long do you think people have been aware of this issue and how long has it been around?
A2: To be honest I do not think anyone, or very few, are aware of this problem. People in Gainesville either do not care or are worried about so many other things that the waste production is worth the time it saves. You can definitely educate people about the issue, but it does not mean they will care. This issue has been around for quite a while but I do not think the average US citizen notices it in their daily life.

Q3: Is anything being done about this need?
A3: Outside of Gainesville, yes. Where I come from in Michigan they used to pay people for recycling plastic water bottles, and they might still be doing it.

Reflection: I guess whether people are aware or not, they may not care enough to do anything about it.

           c) Gainesville local working in multiple food service stores (name private):
Q1: Do you feel like there is waste problem in Gainesville?
A1: Definitely. In the places I have worked and still do work, there is a crazy amount of trash. Much more plastic than people think. I heard that's the worst.

Q2: Who is aware of this problem and can awareness be increased? How long do you think people have been aware of this issue and how long has it been around?
A2: I mean, to be honest, I wasn't even thinking about it until you ask. I kind of just do my job. It would be cool if recycling happened more. I believe that until people are told they really are not giving it thought. The incentive you talked to me about is a good idea thought. For just throwing a bottle in a recycling bin someone can save money. Sounds good to me. Trash and global warming have been a problem for a very long time. It would be good for something to be done. Every action helps.

Q3: Is anything being done about this need?
A3: I have not seen anything in Gainesville being done but I think there are recycling services. How good they are, I cannot tell you. In my neighborhood on 75th street no one recycles at all.

Reflection: As I thought, locals care about recycling very little. An incentive can help people think about it more often and try to commit more to recycling.

          7) Summary:
The idea has good intentions, and after talking to people I think it could work with good leadership and design. Getting funding would have to come from sponsors, in exchange for bringing customers to them. I do not think the margins of profit are large, and on top of that, companies would really have to buy into the idea. Most of my idea is still intact, but there are more problems with it than I thought. (means of picking up the recycling or partnering with services to carry the idea forward.) These problems have decreased the percent chance of it working, but it is not so unlikely. I think examining the view of potential customers is so important to changing to design of a plan because the success of the idea is largely due to their participation and investment in it.
                 

Brush of Entrepreneurship

  I do believe that entrepreneurship and ideas come up to us in times of need. When a problem arises, we need to create a solution. For me, the first brush with the concept of entrepreneurship arose during my first year of high school. As I began approaching 15, and getting my permit, I realized that I needed to begin saving up for a car. I ran through many ideas in my head, but I could not figure how I was going to raise a significant amount of money to get a good car.

          The idea came to me one day while my friends and I were sitting on the bleachers during gym class. My friend looked at my shoes and asked me how much I wanted for my shoes. I didn't realize I had been wearing very coveted shoes. I always buy my clothes and shoes at outlets, and I do not really care about what I wear. The guys around me offered me prices far above my cost for them and that's when it came to me, I realized how I was going to make the money for my car.

          I started with shoes. After doing research on desired brands and versions, I would go to multiple outlets and buy what I could with my revenue at the time. I would then sell them at my school, online, or anywhere I could effectively and safely market them. I eventually moved onto some clothes, speakers, and anything that offered me good margins. When is was time to finally buy my car, 2 years later, I had amassed over 5 thousand dollars I had put aside for the car.

          This experience opened my eyes to the importance of understanding product and audience. The skills and knowledge I gained carried on with me and I continued this model with more risky ventures, such as technology and cars.

          I took this class because I am an entrepreneur at heart and would like to see a more in depth view on the lifestyle and ideologies. I hope to learn good habits and views on life (like having a bug list and the who what who when how).

This is salesman suitcase. Kinda oldschool.

The Bug List

The following 20 items are bugs in my life and I attempt to explore why they exist. They vary from small personal issues to a broad view of the world. The underlined sentence is the bug and the explanation of WHY is under it. After this list, a reflection on making this list is discussed. Here it goes:

1)  Maintaining and keep fixing different parts of my car.
 My car is about 13 years old has over 160k mile in it. On top of that I am broke so I can't go out and get another one or just do everything in one shot.

2) I keep having to charge my phone.
 I should probably learn to let it charge all the way before I take it off and get carried away and forget to put it back on the charger.

3) The super creaky chairs in some of the lecture halls.
 Some of the chairs and desks are really old and there is no maintenance on them so the problem continues to develop and get really bad over the years.

4) My closet becomes a mess at times and organizing it is annoying.
 I do not get rid of old clothes as much as I should and I have clothes that have been there for many years.

5) Pools are always way too cold whether it is super hot or cold outside.
 The heat capacity of water is very high so it takes a lot more to warm a pool, even when there are heaters.

6) The process of getting into medical school in the United States is overdoing it.
 I have no idea why this problem exists, but people say it has to do with seeing whether you really want to be a doctor or not. I think there are other ways in achieving that than gladly becoming a slave during undergraduate years and stressing like crazy.

7) Staying and eating healthy in college becomes a bit difficult at times.
 While maintaining a busy schedule and many responsibilities, making time to cook and exercise becomes difficult and constricted.

8) Plastic and trash is generated so much in college areas.
Students like to deal with situations the easy, cheap, and quick way, so plastic and garbage is produced copiously. (ex. parties with solo cups, students using water bottles and paper plates, etc)

9) Lists of cooking ingredients give measurements that require a measuring tool, like "one cup of spinach".
 I feel like the people sharing this ingredient are people who actually cook a lot and have many measuring tools and just make the statement without thinking twice.

10) The WiFi in my apartment is horrible and a lot of videos are interrupted and buffer.
I actually contacted my WiFi company and they came and told me that the wires that run through the building that supply the WiFi are old and outdated. They need to be replaced but I would have to take that up with management.

11) People pointing fingers and blaming others for their problems.
Some people just have that bad trait and cannot accept or take the responsibilities of their mistakes.

12) The route 20 bus is so packed in the morning and sometimes it cannot even pick me up.
 This route is very important and runs through very important and busy stops.

13) A lot of people are horrendous drivers and are more of a danger when given a car then anything else.
 The drivers exams vary all over the country and can be ridiculously easy at times. There is no real experience needed to drive a car and it cannot really be tested and/ or quantified efficiently.

14) People either do not re-rack their weights or put them back in the wrong places.
The gym is a hot spot of "the bystander effect" and some people probably never cleaned up after themselves as kids.

15) Sidewalks that was extremely uneven. How does that even happen when cement is liquid first?!
 The creation was either flaw or the integrity of the design was horrendous.

16) When doing research and a useful article is restricted and you need to pay a ridiculous amount of money to be able to use it. 
 I assume the journal needs to make money and so does the author.

17) The printing fee at UF libraries.... in all that tuition and patents I guess colored ink puts a serious dent in the accounts.
 If printing was completely free then people would probably abuse it and it would become a problem. It is annoying when printing a lab report and it ends up costing an insane amount.

18) News sources are not trustworthy. 
 Politics is too strong of a force.

19) Constant lateness.
 Bad timing and apathy for what is going on and others' time.

20) Bad grammar in everything.
 Some people do not know and then some are too lazy to type out the correct grammar and it ends up a habit.


I didn't find this list very difficult to make because interacting with so many people and things in college gives me a very large repertoire. Whenever I hit a block, I walked around or thought of how my day goes and the thoughts that come to my head throughout. 

The Startup

My name is Hassan Moussa and welcome to the blog.