Identifying Local Opportunities

After looking through the Aligator I found a story titled: "UF Sailing Team's Equipment damaged by High Winds", which grabbed my attention. Link below this paragraph. Over the winter holiday, high winds totaled most of the vessels that the UF Sailing team had and left the remainder with damaged masts. The UF Sailing Team needs all new vessels to be able to compete this year and go to nationals like they are planning, but this could cost around $100,000. 

https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-sailing-team-s-equipment-damaged-by-high-winds/article_dbe2b252-42d6-11ea-ba7b-6741d053fad8.html

Another article that I found interesting was: "Future of Gainesville Lucky’s Market remains unclear." Link below. Here it is discussed that a supermarket will be closing with rumors that Aldi's will be buying the store, while all of the employees are currently searching for jobs in the city. With the loss of the store, its associates are trying to get jobs in the competitive metropolitan area while it is unclear if more jobs will be made readily available with the opening of another store. 

https://www.alligator.org/news/future-of-gainesville-lucky-s-market-remains-unclear/article_158d3cc4-426f-11ea-9004-cffc3a103c6e.html 

"UF Health monitors rumors of coronavirus spreading to Gainesville" was another headline that caught my attention. Link Below. Here it talks about how the UF affiliates might have come into contact with the coronavirus. While there are currently no confirmed cases of the virus in Gainesville, the Chinese association on campus is having to postpone events out of fear of an outbreak.

https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-health-monitors-rumors-of-coronavirus-spreading-to-gainesville/article_69a9b1a0-426c-11ea-86b2-87354e5a2a4e.html

One story that concerns me is "UF student dies days after being struck by vehicle," because it happened on campus. Link below. It says she was crossing a street in east Gainesville around 8 pm. This shows that Gainesville drivers can be irresponsible and put the pedestrians at risk. This an issue that every student who crosses a street on and near campus needs to be aware of at all times. 

https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-student-dies-days-after-being-struck-by-vehicle/article_069afbb6-42ce-11ea-b438-d76df92018c9.html

In this last article, "GPD continues use of highly-criticized facial recognition program," we can see that the Gainesville Police Department is using a program to help identify individuals through advanced searches that some would say are an invasion of privacy. The GDP is taking some heat for their decision but they are helping other Police departments with their searches and claims to have plenty of security so that no unauthorized searches can be made by the deparment. Link below.

https://www.alligator.org/news/gpd-continues-use-of-highly-criticized-facial-recognition-program/article_fda52c94-424a-11ea-a379-5f6e784062d8.html 

Forming an Opportunity Belief

 I believe that clubs in Turlington Plaza shouldn't just limit themselves to the preset concrete tables already there. There are so many clubs and companies on campus that are constantly tabling but only so many tables on possibly the most traveled part of campus. With all the clubs and events being put on the waiting list, getting peak recruitment times will be difficult at the start of every semester.  Most of the clubs are just sending out people to stand in front of Library West with flyers instead of being apart of the heart of campus. This is an issue I have seen and heard organizations complain about in the past. I have seen one club set up a plastic table that they own to overcome this problem and I think more organizations would be willing to rent tables to set up in Turlington.
 My prototypical customer would be smaller organizations that have trouble getting optimal tabling times in Turlington.
 After talking to a few clubs, a UF start-up company and an on-campus ministry I found that their need was very specific. They needed an area to set up a display to attract people's interest during the morning and noontime rushes in Turlington Plaza. Most are only concerned with tabling for the first month or so when students are looking to try new things before exam season starts.
 From the feedback, it would have to be a seasonal opportunity that was flexible to the clubs time frames. Otherwise, many sound like they would be interested in something like this. While this idea would have to be flexible to individuals' timelines, but otherwise is still the original basis that I noticed. I think entrepreneurs shouldn't have to adapt their ideas but should want to provide the best service and be open to improving their methods.

My Entrepreneurship Story

My father started his career in construction but throughout years of dedication and learning new skills he has become a successful businessman who direct one of the largest alcohol distribution centers in the world. Along the way, he has taken a few ventures into entrepreneurship, he started an online shopping website before Amazon and would flip boats once a year.
My parents started an online shopping website for clothes that my aunt would buy from companies' excess product that hadn't sold. This was when I was about six or seven years old. They were able to keep the business running for about a year before eBay and Amazon later became the giants that they are today. While the business wasn't overly successful it was an opportunity for my parents to learn more about finances and marketing strategies. They are currently looking to try their hand at owning another business and are looking for marketing opportunities in Florida as something to do when they retire.
While we lived in Missouri my dad, Grandpa, and I had never missed a weekend of fishing. However, keeping up a fishing boat becomes increasingly difficult as it gets older. So my dad started buying boats right around November and December when we could not use them for the next three or four months for really good bargains, then we would sell them when the next tax return season came by for more than we paid after we had used the boat for an additional year. It wasn't always easy though, now and then we would have to do some serious detail work, and once replace an entire motor, in these boats. To me, this was just part of the fishing experience and was the beginning of my mechanical tutelage.
Entrepreneurship has always been in the background of my upbringing, so I hope that I can learn some unique skills that this field fosters. My life goal is to become an astronaut but to get there I will need skills that set me apart from everyone else with the same goal. I hope that in this course I can learn some interpersonal skills and goal setting and management systems that I can use in my daily life.
[picture of my brother (right) and me (left) 2014]

Bug List

1) How you can see what items a store has online, but not where in the store the item is.
2) Autocorrect on mobile devices stops working once you accidentally type a number.
3) Making lists
4) The pedestrian lights at University and 13th take a long time to get across
5) Prepackaged food that offers multiple servings not being resealable
6) Smart TVs still have multiple remotes instead of a universal remote.
7) Making list
8) Redundancy
I) Inconsistency
10) Youtube has multiple different apps and all of which have their own premium costs
11) Drivers on the interstate who do not use their blinkers while changing lanes.
12) On-campus parking costs $80 a semester but for Red 1 parking there are no good parking spots.
13) Canvas has a calendar function but does not auto upload assignment due dates onto the calendar
14) Youtube has begun to change its rules without letting creators know what those changes were?
15) When bookmarks fall out of the book and you can't remember what page you were on.
16) When you need a few more things for a list but don't know what to add
17)  When headphones get tangled up in your pocket
18) Shopping carts being left in parking spaces at the store
19) Bike lanes only on major roads
20) When a Google search won't pull up the answer you want

These things are basic inconveniences that annoy me while making my overall day just go by slower. Nothing here is overly awful, but some items can be quite tedious. These are all things that I have experienced recently. This assignment was difficult, I am not used to looking for the negative things in my life.

Test Post

Work please