Halfway Reflection

1) A behavior I developed to keep up with this course is definitely consistency and assessing my target to see whether my idea will work or not. These together helped me to stick to my overall goals this semester whether its in this class or my others. An entrepreneur has these behaviors and tenacious attitudes that help them succeed everywhere in life.

2) With this course comes alot of work, and with my heavy school load, I had to deal with alot. Sometimes I got angry and wanted to drop but I stuck through because medical school is around the corner. My tenacious attitude made me drive hard toward the end goal.

3) I would tell next semesters student to have a goal in mind that means alot to them, sticking to it, and making sure to always learn from you surroundings and people around you. I took these and turned them into my drive to stay ahead of the game.

Reading Reflection 1

Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

1) I would have assumed Elon Musk to have a very outgoing and loud personality, as I have seen with many entrepreneurs. I was surprised to see that they described him as sheepish. I was also surprised to see that he was not the top of his class and his mentality was to apply himself to get where he needs to go. I admire the way he applied himself where it it gave him maximum benefit. He had to also overcome the struggle of being from a foreign place.

2) Elon Musk does not give up and shows that willpower means the most. When he learned to code and what was important in his goals, he took them to the next level and made them into a fortune.

3) The book is vague in describing other ventures that Elon Musk took part in, while describing his main escapade, Tesla, very thoroughly.

4) 1)  Were there times when this plan seemed like it was going to fall through?
    2) If you were given the chance to go back and redo something is there something you would want to redo the most?

5) Elon Musk focuses on hard work and dedication, but he looks for the most effortless way to succeed and get where he needs to be. I share in that because I like efficiency.

Figuring Out Buying Behavior 1

My business plan is to make partnerships with local businesses around Gainesville to be able to gather recycling and give residents coupons for businesses as a form of marketing and advertising. 

After interviewing people, I realized that they mainly thought those off campus would use it, and that it could possibly be extended further out of the general radius I was planning on holding it. The need exists all over. Both recycling and advertising is so important. Also, a large amount of college students look for where to eat by checking if they can find deals on apps or in coupons books, showing me that these will be used. Although there are other places to look, sometimes the deals were sub par and also were for places that they knew were not that good. 

Overall, people know that they have the need and when they look for ways to solve that need, it is not enough. This can help the resident get deals to desirable places, and also is direct marketing to all kinds of people for the company. 

Idea Napkin 1

1) My talents range widely. I have great social and interpersonal skills. I can get close to people with ease. I also have a lot of experience with buying and selling with maximum profit in mind, as well as customer relations when working at metro PCS. I could see this business establishing itself in Gainesville and taking off and hopefully spreading around to other university areas while I finish medical school and begin my career. I would want it to become an opportunity for kids to get involved and take bettering the world. I would also like to provide working opportunities or scholarships to those in need in college towns.

2) To the health in the area, we are providing a service that is immortal and stays with them forever, while also providing people with coupons are a product. To companies, we provide them marketing and brand promotion.

3) On the side of residents, we are providing to everyone because everyone can use coupons to save money, especially students and the poorer areas around here. Also, the companies that are smaller and need better, more direct marketing would partner with us.

4) Residents care because they can save money in a very easy way and the small companies care because they need help with the marketing because they may not have the money to spread their brand out, while also being seen as doing good for this world.

5) My skills to sell my idea and connect people from a large diversity of backgrounds sets me apart from everyone else. Also, we as a company are doing this from a morally good and beneficial angle, so support is both capitalistic and idealistic.

All these together is why my business idea should work and has good traction. I would wanna think of more ways to generate revenue though.

Elevator Pitch

https://youtu.be/VOlOGX8TleI

Testing the Hypothesis part 2

I realized that I do not have to include what all the interviews said, but I will summarize it all.

The Who: The university of Florida, although they do generate the most waste, and are not thinking much about recycling,, fall outside the boundary. Some trash generated that is plastic is a biological hazard and cannot be dealt with like normal plastic waste. Also, they generate a large amount of waste that would require a way to move and process insanely large amounts of trash. Also, they probably already have those needs met by some company. Large companies will also fall outside the who. They also would not have incentive because they would not care about coupons or vouchers.

The What: The point of the need differs in terms of amount and type of trash generated, and whether there are options for dealing with it or not. Big companies or entities with a lot of waste cannot be satisfied efficiently and will have the resources to contact other companies to meet those needs for them. 

They Why: The underlying cause for the need for those inside the boundary vs those outside the boundary is mainly on amount of waste and their resources to reaching larger companies to deal with their waste.

In the box:

Residents

Students

Small restaurants and companies based here

Hotels?

Outside the box

The university of Florida

Large companies that are corporate

Departments tied to the city or to the university 

Solving the Problem

So we found the problem

Now the solution:

I have spoken about the solution in the past with my other blogs, but I will reiterate my solution. I propose a service in which recycling bins are disbursed around gainesville at locations with college and residential housing. This way, we can target multiple kinds of people. Those who generate decent amounts of recycling and reduce trash, will be given vouchers or coupons of some kinds for companies and restaurants all around gainesville. To advertise and hand out the coupons for specific restaurants, they can sponsor us, or form a partnership. This way, they pay to have mobile and direct advertisements, and people get in the habit of tossing out recycling and trash. It both helps businesses and communities. On top of that, collection would be done with volunteer or efficient vehicles that do not require much maintenance or power. As a startup, it could help to enlist volunteer help through working with campus organizations. Finally, the recycling would go to a large recycling business like Waste Management or Republic Services.

Testing the Hypothesis: Part 1

1) I feel like the recycling idea is an important aspect that I would like to pursue and monitor.

2) The city of Gainesville (Florida's city of trees) does not have a very efficient or powerful recycling program to decrease waste because overall, communities in America do not have one. People do not care enough.

3) People that have this need are all over the industrialized world, because we need to world to live and not having a sustainable or green lifestyle will accelerate the process of losing the planet. Focusing on Gainesville though, a wide variety of people can benefit from recycling. People can be rewarded for recycling per my plan, and businesses can get advertisement for those that partner. On top of that, helping the environment helps create a better environment for residents, students, professors, and researchers that base their work off of Gainesville wildlife. The needs extend to past just recycling, but also having the option of biodegradable or reusable material. This is a need because every attempt to try and clean the world helps us. Establishing a good environment in Gainesville could be the first step of many to do good around the world.

Below are the interviews of the 5 people. They were asked if they think this problem in Gainesville exists and how big it is, who it influences and why, and what they would like to see being done:

1) I do think this problem exists in Gainesville, and especially where I live, there is a lot of waste produced that all goes in a trash bin. There is not a single recycling bin in my neighborhood or nearby neighborhoods. I have seen trash bins overflowing with garbage before, so I know that people definitely produce a significant amount of waste. Having an efficient recycling program could possibly make the trash bins fill slower and use less plastic for trash bags on top of having plastics recycled. It makes garbage mens life easier too because they deal with a less packed trash bin and less mess. I really just want to see them start off with a recycling program and place recycling bins wherever they can.

2) I think its a problem because first of all, students are careless, and two there are not many bins. This adds together to complete waste. This hurts environment in and outside of gainesville. Its not a crazy severe problem, maybe because I do not see much in the way of waste management. I think it is safe to say that this problem influences all of us and everything on this planet. If we continue to go how we are, we will end up killing so much of life and ending the beauty we see around us. The main thing I want is to see a plan set in action and possibly distribution of recycling bins around for apartment complexes.

3) I think it is a huge problem because I know that corporations here will fight to keep their nongreen practices. Publix filed a lawsuit because they were told to switch to paper bags and it would not be good for their overall profits to switch. So if the some of the largest sources of plastic do not want to help us, maybe the people of US will help. Having a recycling program would only help all of us, from businesses to the resident. I would love to see education take place so that people understand what a problem they are causing and what they can do to help. With the education, I would also like to see implementation of what is spoken about in terms of collecting recycling and so on.

4)I personally do not see it as a problem because gainesville is producing less trash than other places. It is smaller and less populated, so we do not actually toss much out compared to a big city. Recycling would sure help though, and it could set an example for others to do the same. This could branch out from just Gainesville, which would make this effort a lot more fruitful. Outside, it could effect whole states and attitudes. Like I said, I would like to see this effort outside of gainesville for sure.

5) Recycling is a problem worldwide, not just in Gainesville. People still do not seem to pay it much mind, which is a little depressing. Incentives would surely help, but I think the intrinsic motivation is lacking a lot. When that is lacking I doubt this has a solid foundation. I think people everywhere should realize it is affecting them, but until they do, I do not think it is effective. I would like to see education on this topic spread around so people really understand the importance and depth of a project like this.

What I learned:
I did not learn anything that I did not know, but I did get some new insights. Someone said that this problem is bigger outside of Gainesville, and that maybe outside it would effect people alot more. Application outside or growth to other cities should help tackle an opportunity like this to the max.

Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory trends

1) Marijuana legalization in more states is still under way.
a) https://www.mpp.org/issues/legislation/key-marijuana-policy-reform/
b)I believe that an opportunity exists because Colorado passed a $1 Billion mark of state revenue of taxation in June of 2019. I think a venture into sales or an investment in companies involved in sales.
c) The prototypical customer is the vast majority of adults living in the united states.
d)I think venturing to sell it directly is relatively difficult, while investing in those who will or those established in its sales is easier.

2) Robots and AI is becoming very popular and getting more attention
a) https://www.vistage.com/research-center/business-financials/economic-trends/121202-technological-trends-in-business-2020/
b) I believe and opportunity exists because the AI can take the place of humans and you do not have to pay them. They can also be more efficient due to lack of human error and daily problems. Creating efficient and customizable robots with distant control.
c) The customer of this would be companies interested in providing robotic services.
d) Venturing to sell directly would be difficult without a team for creation and design, or capital to buy material. Investment in established companies would be easy.

3) There is a trend toward green material and biodegradable products
a)https://www.greenamerica.org/blog/green-and-eco-friendly-trends-reflecting-2019
b) I believe the opportunity exists because the world is on high alert that we do not have much time left to reverse the destruction we have caused. Every company now also tries to advertise any type of "green" behavior they use. Materials made from recycled parts and ones that can be recycled or degraded would be desirable.
c) Customers would be anyone who uses the variety of materials that would be provided (water containers, alloys for building different materials, etc). Businesses would also buy to incorporate in their products to create a better image for themselves.
d) Venturing to sell directly would be difficult without a team for creation and design, or capital to buy material. Investment in established companies would be easy.

4) The regulations protecting privacy and data still have some areas where companies can use some of our information.
a) https://iclg.com/practice-areas/data-protection-laws-and-regulations/usa
b) I believe this opportunity exists because the regulations updated still do not protect data that is used to advertise products to us. I think a browser or VPN that encrypts everything could be useful.
c) customers would be anyone who uses the internet a lot and likes privacy.
d) Venturing to create would need a team but that is the hardest part because it would be a software to sell. Investing in a company that specializes in these products would be easier.


2) Seeing these opportunities are probably easy for anyone that can look up the news and information. I am good at reading into these things so it opens doors. I also like the option of investing because it is a way to get profit off of valuable ideas or products I believe in without having to manage.