Assignment 5A- Identifying Local Opportunities

Article 1: "Stuart closer to taking Army Corps of Engineers to court over Lake Okeechobee discharges"
Link: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/2020/01/27/stuart-rowing-boat-toward-suing-army-corps-lower-lake-okeechobee/4557499002/

Description:  The City of Stuart Commissioners voted unanimously to sue the Army Corp of Engineers.

Problem:  According to the article, the commissioners are pursuing legal action because they want to hold the Army Corps accountable. The lawsuit claims that the Army Corps is violating the National Environmental Policy Act. 

Who has the problem:  This problem directly affects Martin County residents, although on a larger scale this is a problem affecting the entire Treasure Coast area (Vero Beach to Hobe Sound). The fluctuating levels of Lake Okeechobee can cause discharges, which if too high can lead to the production of blue-green algae blooms. These blooms have catastrophic effects on the health of local residents and animals, can threaten, marine life and have negative impacts on the tourism industry/economy in this area.

Article 2: "Martin County fires OPUS choral director; her actions drew criticism from parents, students"
Link: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/education/2020/01/29/martin-county-fires-kylie-lowe-director-high-school-opus-choral-group/4608602002/

Description: Kylie Lowe, the Martin County High School OPUS (Outstanding People United to Sing) director, was fired on January 29th after an internal investigation was conducted and she was in the center of public controversy.

Problem: According to the article, Lowe was fired after parents expressed their concerns at the last Martin County School Board meeting. They said that Lowe belittled students, and that there were students who already did not want to try out for OPUS next year.

Who has the problem: This directly affects the Martin County High School OPUS members because their choral director got fired. However, this problem also affects their school family and the Martin County School District.

Article 3: "Malware attack targets Port St. Lucie Parks and Recreation Department"
Link: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/st-lucie-county/2020/01/30/malware-attack-targets-port-st-lucie-recreation-department/2859004001/

Description: According to the article, Port St. Lucie officials said a malware attack targeted the Parks and Recreation department on January 29th.

Problem: This is the third malware attack that occurred within the past year. Specifically, this affected the St. Lucie County Sherriff's Office in December and the City of Stuart last April.

Who has the problem: This directly affects the Port St. Lucie Parks and Recreation Department.

Article 4: "Florida Department of Health monitoring China-borne coronavirus"
Link: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/2020/01/26/novel-coronavirus-wuhan-china-florida/4583464002/

Description: The Florida Department of Health is working with the CDC to monitor the Coronavirus outbreak.

Problem: The Coronavirus is a deadly virus that causes symptoms including cough, fever, and shortness of breath.

Who has the problem: Coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China. But, the article reported that five cases have been confirmed in Arizona, California, Illinois, and Washington State as of January 26. Each of the cases occurred after the affected individuals traveled to Wuhan.

Article 5: "Final deal on Pelican Cafe still on hold as Stuart continues internal negotiations"
Link: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/shaping-our-future/growth/2020/01/24/final-deal-pelican-cafe-stuart-not-done-yet-pushed-february/4560878002/

Description: The City of Stuart Commissioners were in the final stages of negotiations, but it is now pushed back.

Problem: According to the article, they are still waiting on an appraisal of the property, which is a crucial aspect of finalizing the negotiation. 

Who has the problem: This problem extends beyond the City of Stuart Commissioners and the Pelican Cafe as they work on their negotiation. It also affects the City of Stuart residents, as they support extending the lease.

Assignment 4A- Forming an Opportunity Belief

Unmet need: For this assignment, I reviewed my bug list to determine if any of these "bugs" would lead to possible opportunities. One of my bugs was when people do not pick up after their dogs. With this being said, I believe there is an opportunity to have "stations" placed within neighborhoods where pet owners can dispose of the soiled bags, or they can grab a clean one at the station so they can pick up after their dog.

Beginning point:

• What is the unmet need? The unmet need for this problem is the two-prong problem of owners not picking up after their dogs. Besides the debate of "common courtesy," this is also a health issue because there are disease-causing bacteria in the stool that is harmful when it comes into contact with humans and other dogs.
• Who has the need? The people who have this need are pet owners, especially those who walk their dogs daily or have multiple dogs to walk. 
• Where did the need come from? This need always existed. There is no specific solution to this problem.
• What are people doing to meet this need now? I haven't seen a solution for this need in my neighborhood, but I still believe this is an unmet need.
• I am 90 percent certain that this need exists.

Prototypical customer: The prototypical customer is pet owners.

Prototypical customer #1: a woman with two German Shepherds

• What is the exact nature of the need? "People are walking their dogs in our neighborhood, and some do not pick up after their dogs."
• When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes? "Most of the time. I walk our dogs twice a day."
• How long have they had the need? "For the past seven months, I noticed it getting worse."
• When did they first become aware of their need? Why? "Within the past seven months. I see people not picking up after their pets, and I noticed more people in our neighborhood moving in with pets. So, the need has become greater. And I recently started walking our dogs into a different part of the neighborhood and saw that there was more dog waste than on the street, so this is a significant problem all around."
• How are they currently addressing their need? "There is none. There is dog waste all over." 
• How satisfied are they with this solution? "Very excited about a possible solution."

Prototypical customer #2: a man who has a Beagle and walks in my neighborhood every morning.

• What is the exact nature of the need? "To keep my community clean from dog waste."
• When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes? "When I noticed a lot of dogs not on leashes and owners being very irresponsible."
• How long have they had the need? "Since I moved into my neighborhood three months ago."
• When did they first become aware of their need? Why? "When I took my recycle bin out and encountered a dog running down the street. I noticed it didn't have an owner and a leash, and I saw it pooping on several different lawns, and no one was there to pick it up."
• How are they currently addressing their need? "There isn't anything being done. I didn't know where the dog lived, I wasn't able to notify its owner to pick up after the dog waste, so I'm very disappointed." 
• How satisfied are they with this solution? "There is no solution. I hope to see one put into place rather than punching the owner if I ever saw them or calling the pound and having dogs be taken."

Prototypical customer #3: a woman with three young children who have lived in my neighborhood for two years.

• What is the exact nature of the need? "Well, there are a lot of my neighbors who have a lot of dogs, and they just don't pick up after their waste."
• When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes? "All of the time because on my street we don't have sidewalks, and my little girls like to ride their bikes, and unfortunately my little girl ran into dog poop."
• How long have they had the need? "Ever since we moved in two years ago."
• When did they first become aware of their need? Why? "Within the past two years. Well, again like I mentioned before because we don't have sidewalks and most of my neighbors let their dogs run all over. Actually, the dogs are super cute, they're not big dogs, they're little dogs. So they'll come over and play with my girls and they're nice dogs but they're not even on leashes so they get to go all over the street, our lawns, my neighbor's lawns, they're just unattended."
• How are they currently addressing their need? "At this time, my husband shovels the poop and throws it in the bush."
• How satisfied are they with this solution? "I mentioned it to my neighbor and she seemed just as frustrated as I was."

Reflection: Throughout my three interviews, I received similar responses indicating there is a need for my opportunity. This similarity in responses shows that they also experience the same need. What surprised me during my interview with the first prototypical customer was when she described the increase in dog waste in our neighborhood and how this affected her walk with her dogs. I was also surprised by my interview with the second prototypical customer and his level of frustration towards the amount of dog waste in our neighborhood. This response indicates an unmet need in this area.

Summary: After completing my interviews, I still believe that my original opportunity is present. I also think that my new opportunity is just as accurate as when I started based on the information I obtained from my interviews. I firmly believe that entrepreneurs should be willing to "adapt" their opportunities based on customer feedback. Considering customer feedback is a building block to creating a profitable product. If this feedback is not utilized, then the entrepreneur's target audience will not be properly identified and tailored to the product.

Assignment 3A- Entrepreneurship Story

My entrepreneurship story is longer than most, but it is one that I will always cherish. Throughout my life, I have been surrounded by many incredible role models who were not only entrepreneurs but also taught me valuable lessons that helped mold me into the person and student I am today. My story begins with my grandparents, who are Armenian, but came to the United States from Romania in 1961. They did not speak any English and left all of their belongings behind, but they wanted to have better lives than they did in Romania. After moving to New York, my grandfather got a job working for Omega Watches and took up a trade as a watchmaker. My grandparents worked extremely hard while raising three children (they had my mom in 1963), saved their money, and eventually opened their own jewelry store. They moved to Vero Beach in 1981, where they catered their jewelry store, Adriane Jewelers, to people who would purchase their higher-end products. In fact, their clients included fellow entrepreneurs like the CEOs of Hanes Underwear and Ragu. When they found out that my mom was pregnant with me in 1998, they retired so they could focus on their family and be the best grandparents. To me, my grandparents are the epitome of the "American Dream."

My entrepreneurship story continues as I was raised by two dedicated and hard-working parents. My mother worked in a variety of professional settings until I was born as a Medical Assistant for a Pediatrician, Sales Manager and Morgage Broker, and an Office Manager for an OB/GYN. My father has his own law firm that focuses on personal injury, workers' compensation, and immigration law. Specifically, my father is a personal injury lawyer who represents injured clients after they get into accidents. He works with a mixture of people to get cases settled, including his clients, employees, insurance adjusters, other lawyers, doctors, and judges, so no two days are exactly the same. But, unless he has a scheduled appointment like a mediation, he has the flexibility to work his own hours, and can even take a day off to spend time with my mom and me... what can I say, he is a family man! One of the things I respect the most about my father is that he always puts his clients' best interests first and uses his career not only to be his own boss but also as a pathway to helping others on a daily basis.

My father's graduation from Stetson University Law School in 1995.

My story is still changing and evolving, but the next page lies in my future as an entrepreneur. When I was in fourth grade, I noticed that my school, Bessey Creek Elementary, was not recycling and decided to take action by creating a recycling club called Team Green. As a middle school student, I regularly went back to Bessey Creek and volunteered by overseeing Team Green. I often noticed that students with Autism and other disabilities were excluded from activities like News Crew and Safety Patrol, so I sought out to include them in this club. The mission of the program evolved to empower and enhance leadership opportunities for all members through a common goal of recycling and becoming involved in our community by protecting our environment. Now known as Team Green Martin, my recycling program is implemented in numerous Martin County schools as part of a district-wide initiative.

When I was in fifth-grade, I had life-saving brain surgery performed by Dr. Ben Carson. While I was his patient, Dr. Carson taught me to "think big." After my surgery, I learned about the global water crisis and how girls in developing nations sacrifice their education to collect contaminated water for their families. They carry jerrycans, which resemble yellow gasoline tanks and weigh 40 pounds when full of water. I decided to take action by asking for donations to charities that provide clean water to people in developing nations instead of receiving birthday and Christmas gifts. To date, I have fundraised over $70,000 to help end the global water crisis.

In 2016, I became the first high school recipient of Seton Hall University’s United Nations Sustainable Development Challenge. As a participant in this challenge, I learned about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations, which work together to end poverty, reduce inequalities, and protect our planet by 2030. My passion for bringing attention to the global water crisis expanded to include the Sustainable Development Goals because the additional 16 Goals have a connection to Clean Water and Sanitation, which is Goal 6.

Getting ready for my presentation to the judging committee!

Later that afternoon, I was so shocked when I found out I won first place!

This experience led me to establish Students4H2O in 2018. Students4H2O is a non-profit organization with the mission is to enhance education, stewardship, and citizenship, beginning with elementary and middle school students in Martin County. One of Students4H2O’s core values is that a sustainable community will lead to a sustainable planet by working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

I know that this post is very long, and I am sorry, but I promise I am getting to the end of the story now. I am currently a public relations major at UF and am taking this course to fulfill my outside concentration requirement in business administration. I took an entrepreneurship course when I was in high school, so I have a basic knowledge of this subject. However, I specifically chose to take this course because I want to expand upon my existing understanding of entrepreneurship and learn how the knowledge I obtain can benefit my future. One of the most valuable lessons my father taught me is that it's better to be the boss than the one who has to answer to the boss. I plan to honor this advice and be the boss. I am grateful to be a student in this course, and I am excited to see what I will learn this semester.

Assignment 2A- Bug List

These are just a few things that bug me...

1. Every morning, my dog barks outside my bedroom at 7:30 while I am trying to sleep.

WHY it exists: This could be happening for many reasons. New neighbors moved into the house next door, so he could be barking to assert his dominance. Or, he could be doing this to wake me up like an alarm clock.

2. When people “like” messages rather than writing a response.

WHY it exists: Apple enabled a feature where users have the option to “like” messages in a conversation.

3. People who talk on speakerphone in public places such as a doctor’s office.

WHY it exists: This could be because they may have trouble hearing the person they are talking to. Or, they may not understand that doing this is considered annoying to others around them.

4. When people misuse your and you’re.

WHY it exists: I think this is because most people communicate by talking and posting on social media rather than writing. So, when they use these words in a writing context, they write based on how it sounds in their heads because both words sound the same. 

5. When people drive aggressively on Colorado Avenue right before the roundabout which takes you towards Downtown Stuart.

WHY it exists: In addition to Colorado Avenue, drivers are coming from two different directions when they come from SE 7th street or SE MLK Jr. Blvd entering the roundabout or making a right to come onto Colorado Avenue. This influx of drivers can cause a great amount of traffic. 

6. When I watch a show on Hulu, and I have to pick which ad to watch in order to continue my program.

WHY it exists: Companies want to tailor their advertisements to specific audiences. 

7. During lunchtime, the drive-through at Chick Fil A on SE Federal Highway is so slow that traffic backs up onto the road. 

WHY it exists: Chick Fil A is a popular restaurant.

8. When people ride their bikes on the road in my neighborhood instead of the sidewalks.

WHY it exists: Sidewalks are not designed for bikes. 

9. When people walk their dogs and don’t pick up after them when they use the bathroom.

WHY it exists: This could be happening for many reasons. I think the main reason why this happens is that they don’t want to carry a bag full of their dog’s feces during the rest of their walk. 

10. Receiving numerous spam phone calls from Robo-callers per day.

WHY it exists: Robocalling programs can dial many numbers at once and play a computer-generated message to people who answer the calls.

11. When I pick up my prescriptions from CVS, I always get long receipts before I leave.

WHY it exists: CVS receipts are very long because they include coupons for their ExtraCare members. 

12. When you are on the phone with someone and tell them you have to hang up, but they keep talking.

WHY it exists: This could be happening for many reasons. If you haven’t seen that person in a while, they could miss you. Or, they could be lonely and are happy to talk to you.

13. When I go to Publix, I often notice individuals standing in the middle of an aisle blocking other customers from coming through.

WHY it exists: A possible reason why this happens is when people are reading the labels on products, and their cart is blocking the aisle.

14. When the WiFi does not work in my apartment, I feel frustrated because the majority of work I do daily is done through my computer.

WHY it exists: The main reason why this bug exists is that the WiFi needs to be reset.

15. When Netflix won’t play a show on my TV, and the WiFi is not down in my apartment.

WHY it exists: If the WiFi works in my apartment then there could be a connectivity issue with Netflix. Or, there could be a Comcast outage in my neighborhood, which would cause the WiFi to run slower.

16. People who text and drive.

WHY it exists: I think the main reason why this bug exists is that people think they can multitask by texting and driving, but this is extremely dangerous.

17. When I finished watching the latest season of Stranger Things on Netflix and found out that the next season would not be aired for another year.

WHY it exists: There could be many reasons why this happened. For example, the cast and crew need additional time for production.

18. When people share too much personal information on social media.

WHY it exists: They want attention from others and seek this validation through social media.

19. When ONE.UF crashes as I try to register for classes.

WHY it exists: There is a large number of students who have the same registration time, and this can cause the system to become overloaded and crash.

20. Having to order jeans online rather than purchasing them at the store.

WHY it exists: I am 5’3, and most stores usually don’t have jeans in a short length available in their inventory. But, they have more options in a shorter length for purchase online.

Reflection: Overall, I found coming up with 20 bugs for this exercise to be challenging. I am an optimistic person and very grateful for everything I have in my life, including my family, clean water, and an education. But, I followed Dr. Pryor’s suggestions in the explanation videos and put myself in different situations where I noticed various “bugs” as I go about my daily activities. When I wrote down each bug, I immediately thought about why the bug was frustrating, and it took longer for me to adjust to the framework of why the bug exists. Overall, this exercise made me sit down, evaluate my life, and have a greater appreciation for it. 

First post!

Test post