Customer Interviews No. 1

For my customer interviews I came up with a business idea that mirrors Craigslist but on a smaller scale. This opportunity would allow customers with day-to-day tasks (such as helping paint a house or picking up coffee from Starbucks) to find other people that are willing to complete these easier tasks.

I believe that homeowners and college students would have the most need for this idea. Homeowners often need help with short tasks, like moving around furniture, that could easily be fulfilled by getting another person to help on a short term basis. College students, while not having much capital, could also pay someone for a ride to the grocery store or something as simple as pickling up coffee from the Starbucks at Marston Science Library.

All of my interviews were done after having explained the business idea to potential customers. These questions were asked during each interview:

1. How often do you find yourself with a task that someone else could do easily?
2. Would you be willing to undertake tasks for others with money as a form of payment?
3. Is there any reason why you would oppose using this service to give out tasks or to get paid for completing tasks?

Interview 1:

Interview 2:

Interview 3:

Interview 4:

Interview 5:

After having the opportunity to go out and ask customers on their input I've learned that phrasing is very important when looking for feedback. If the question is too vague customers will be unlikely to give a direct answer and it'll be more likely that I have to ask for clarification. I've also learned that people are much more approachable than they often seem, you just have to wear your best smile. I had a great time completing this assignment.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

After reading Chapter 5 of Donald Kuratko's Entrepreneurship textbook, I was most surprised by the "idea killer" phrases that were detailed. Most of the phrases that were included in the chapter could easily be heard in a conversation between two co-workers at a company. However, the fact that they can be said in such a common way that neither party realizes they are stifling creativity is very interesting to me. In hindsight, it makes sense that these phrases stifle innovation and creativity, but the way they are used in common dialogue makes this hard to see.

During the course of my reading I found myself confused by the statement that the parts of the creative process described in the chapter could be completed in different orders. It would seem logical to me that background/knowledge accumulation tends to occur at the beginning of the creative process as some background knowledge is generally needed to make a more developed idea.

Given the opportunity to ask two questions to Dr. Kuratko, I would first ask what is the best way to support the sharing of creativity in a professional setting and secondly I would ask what kind of innovation is seen most commonly in practice. These two questions serve to better support creativity in the work place and allow for creative channels of communication to easily flow.

Overall the author did a great job of explicitly stating how innovation is a process, rather than an act of magic. I did not disagree with what was stated.

Top 5 World Problems

Previously I listed out what I thought were the world's top 10 problems. You can find that blog post here. Today I'll be picking 5 problems and solutions from that list and ranking them separately.

Top 5 problems:

1. Species around the world continue to go extinct or become endangered due to human involvement. Habitat loss, pollution, and poaching all contribute to the increased rate in which we see species disappear from our planet.
2. Not enough emphasis is placed on the role factory farming has on the environment. Many people are not aware that factory farming creates 1 million tons of manure per day (3 times the amount created by the U.S. human population) or that methane levels have increased dramatically due to the emission of the gas from farm animals (Source).
3. Our societies dependence on fossil fuels leads to an increase in the harmful compounds that cause global warming. Contrary to popular belief, the automobile industry is not the largest contributor of greenhouse gases (this industry only accounts for 1/5th of emissions in the U.S. Evidence). Global warming affects natural events, such as the timing of seasonal events (flowing of plants for example) and agricultural productivity.
4. Poorly controlled refugee influx in Europe. Refuge resettlement and planning is handled by local officials instead of the federal government.
5. The cost of a university education is approaching a bubble that will inevitably burst (Source). Very few college students receive enough financial aid to fully finance their education, leaving most students with no other choice than to take out loans (both private and federally subsidized). In 2012, 71% of students graduated four-year institutions with student debt and Americans as a whole owe more in student loan debt than credit card debt (Source).

Top 5 solutions:

1. The easiest action that people can undertake is stop creating a demand for products that are produced from endangered species. Tortoise-shell and ivory souvenirs create a large amount of demand for poachers to continue hunting down more species. Herbicide and pesticide use also contributes to this problem. Alternatives exist (such as using plants that naturally ward off pests to keep crops healthy) but the most important factor is in changing the perception of what a "good looking" yard looks like. While it may be nice to have green grass in one's front yard, non-native plants require constant upkeep which drain resources and negatively affect species in the area.
2. A much greater emphasis should be placed on plant-based diets. Low fat, plant-based diets not only help in treating/preventing deadly diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes) but they also reduce the demand for meat from the factory farming industry. 
3. Increase the intensity of the screening process, both in Europe and in the U.S. (if we are to allow a large number of refugees to come into this country). A greater amount of help (economically and militarily) needs to be provided to the Syrian refugees in Syria and their surrounding nations. When examined from a long-term and realistic point of view, the influx of refugees found in Germany and France will eventually have to leave as they inevitably put pressure on the culture and infrastructure of the country.
4. More funding and importance should be contributed to the development of clean energy, not only in the U.S. but all over the world. Solar and nuclear energy are two prominent fields that could help turn our cars, factories, and homes greener.
5. College education rates must be dramatically lowered before the debt bubble bursts and most students are left without way to pay off their loans. I personally believe that (assuming a student has good grades), at least a quarter to half of the cost of education (including housing, tuition, food, etc.) should be paid for by the school or the federal government. While some states, such as Florida, do offer scholarship programs that can greatly help with the burden of paying for educations (Bright Futures), funding for these programs has declined in recent years. A greater emphasis on finding relevant internships and paying positions while in school (not just during the summer) should also be expressed by more four-year institutions to help students pay the other half of their education on their own.

My reasoning behind the "top problem" from the five problems listed above was that this problem, in my opinion, has the most urgency. If habitat conservation and species protection is not taken seriously, we will soon be living in an empty planet. The extinction of a species extends beyond that species due to the fact that other species often depend on each other.  We owe to the other living beings on this planet, as well as to future generations of humans, to keep the environments these species live in alive and well.

I believe my "top solution" is the most implementable because it involves education and consumer demand. When consumers are made aware of the impact that buying products made from endangered species (or that directly affect them) has on the ecosystems of these species, it is much easier to make a difference. This is especially true in markets that hold the greatest amount of demand for these products, such as China, where rhino horn is still used in traditional "medicine" (Source). Many of the other solutions included in my top five also require significant action to be taken by the U.S. government (or the governments of other countries). While the government definitely has the power to induce change, this change often comes far too slow to address problems in a realistic manner.

Identifying Local Opportunities

Below are 5 opportunities to fill local unmet needs.

1. Title:  Garbage, yard waste woes still evident, street by street - County says it's improving service, though
• Link: http://www.pressreader.com/usa/orlando-sentinel/20160122/281479275427310/TextView
• Story Description: Infrastructure issues with Orange County's waste disposal system has led to trash not being picked up, information not being distributed efficiently (with respect to new trash pickup schedules), and new waste containers not being delivered. While problems were expected with the new automated garbage pickup system, an increasing number of households report problems with waste disposal. 
• Problem Description: The Orange county waste disposal office has had trouble in recent days with the implementation of new garbage bins and a new fleet of garbage trucks. Garbage crews sometimes fail to arrive on their assigned pickup days, mainly due to changes in schedules and the positioning of the new garbage bins on resident property.
2. Title: County targets merchants' unsightly signs
• Link:http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/lake/os-lk-lauren-ritchie-snipe-signs-20160122-column.html
• Story Description: Orange county residents continue to be frustrated with the proliferation of cheap, illegal "snipe signs" that advertise local businesses. These signs are usually placed alongside major roads and come at little to no cost to those who place the signs. For now all residents can hope to do is to remove the signs themselves.
• Problem Description:  Orange county code enforcement offices have trouble keeping up with the number of "snipe signs" in the area. This problem mainly stems from the fact that the office cannot afford to actively search areas for these signs and is limited to responding to a sign only once a complaint has been made. If a cheap solution to local advertising were proposed, perhaps these "snipe signs" will begin to disappear on their own. 
3. Title: Seminole residents push for a new cellphone tower
• Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/seminole/os-seminole-county-sweetwater-cell-tower-20160119-story.html
• Story Description: Residents in southwest seminole county are strongly requesting a county board to allow a telecommunication company to build a cellphone tower near the resident's homes. Most of these residents have had to install cell-phone boosters in their homes to have adequate reception, many of which have resorted to using their landlines to make phone calls.
• Problem Description: Seminole county residents do not have enough cell phone signal near their residences and are actively requesting a cellphone tower be built near them. 
4. Title: Residents seek exclusion from bear rules
• Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/seminole/os-seminole-county-bear-ordinance-woodlands-20160118-story.html
• Story Description: Seminole county has recently implemented a new ordinance that requires many residents living west of I-4 to take a variety of measures to prevent bear activity in their neighborhoods. These measures include securing trash, storing bird feeders at night, and bringing in pet food bowls. Some of these residents feel the new ordinance is unnecessary and will negatively impact their property values as they cite never having seen bear activity in their area. Residents who do not comply risk being fined $100 a day. 
• Problem Description: Residents of The Woodlands and other neighborhoods west of I-4 find a new county ordinance designed to reduce bear activity to be unnecessary. They ask that the county re-draw the map that enforces the new ordinance to exclude them. 
5. Title: Deaths show need for better bus safety
• Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-school-bus-passing-scott-maxwell-20160105-column.html
• Story Description: After Don Mair's daughter, Gabby Mair, was killed in 2010 by a speeding car while exiting her school bus he calls for better bus safety. More than 1,600 illegal passings happen in Orange County alone on a daily basis and there are few measures to punish those who break the law in this regard. While the technology to include cameras on the side of buses has been implemented in other states, Florida legislators have been non responsive on taking action to introduce a bill that could allow for this technology in Orange County (as well as the rest of the state). 
• Problem Description: Don Mair, of Orange County, finds that there is not enough of an emphasis placed on the dangers that illegally passing school busses bring. He seeks to bring change to state law and to implement measures to catch those offenders that pass busses illegally. 

Week 3 Reading Reflection

After completing the reading for week 3 I was most surprised by the different ways that entrepreneurs can reduce stress caused by entrepreneurial activities. Most of these ways of dealing with stress involved making slight adjustments to the daily business life of an entrepreneur and were as simple as networking or communicating with employees on a more frequent basis.

I was most confused by the entrepreneurial styles that were detailed in the reading. These styles are characterized by the level of financial risk the individual is willing to assume, alongside the motive to make a profit. However, some specific examples of the different entrepreneurs these personality styles create would have been helpful.

Given the opportunity to ask two questions I would first ask which source of stress is seen most common in studies and secondly, which form of dealing with stress has proven to be the most effective. When dealing with a risk of failure and pushing the limit of what can be achieved, there is sure to be a great deal of stress that should be lessened as much as possible.

Overall, I greatly appreciated this weeks reading. Learning about the common characteristics entrepreneurs exhibit alongside how those characteristics can be put to use is important in living an entrepreneurial life.  

Very Short Interview No. 1

To complete my short interview with an entrepreneur I reached out to a friend and mentor, Tyler Parker.  Tyler is the President and CTO of Spin Chill Corp., a company he co-founded that specializes in a small device that can warm a can of beer (or soft drink) in under a minute. Since the creation of the company, Spin Chill continues to grow and Tyler finds himself working on other entrepreneurial projects, such as ToutLoud. ToutLoud focuses on delivering targeted marketing campaigns on Instagram that leverage the marketing power of popular social media pages. Even when progress is being made with one business, Tyler continually looks for ways to improve and branch out into other business ventures, befitting of a true entrepreneur.  Links to Tyler's projects can be found at the bottom of this post.

SpinChill Demo 

Below you will find the questions and answers from my interview with Tyler:

SH - In your opinion, what are the most important skills to take from an entrepreneurship class?

TP-  I’m not sure how a class would teach these two things without direct hands on experience but here are two:

1.           The ability to deal with absolute uncertainty – Most people have had a lot of structure in their lives since birth.  Everybody goes to school for 12 years and then goes to college for a certain amount of time and takes certain classes for a certain major and gets certain grades on certain tests on certain dates.  Most people then get a job or join the military where the structure is basically exactly the same: someone tells you what and when to do something and if you do it well enough and on time you get a raise or promotion or good review. With entrepreneurship, however, nobody tells you what to do or when to do it.  This sounds great, and it can be, but there are literally millions of different decisions you could make that could completely change the outcome of a business.  Or are you even starting the right business?  Or should you hire people or get investment or sell or franchise?  Obviously one metric for success is making a profit but what constitutes a successful profit and when should you expect to see it?  How long should you keep pushing forward with a certain idea before you decide to try something else?  Entrepreneurship can be very fun and rewarding but it’s definitely not stable or structured so beginning entrepreneurs have to be able to handle complete uncertainty and be able to maintain a clear vision of where they want to go and how to get there.

2.           Salesmanship – Many engineers, myself included, want to make cool products and have someone else handle all the “dirty work” of sales, marketing, and management.  This works really well in a large corporation where someone else is specifically hired to handle all those things.  As an entrepreneur, though, you are the salesperson and you have to be able to sell your product directly to clients, especially in the beginning when you’re trying to tweak the product to fit the needs of a user.  You also have to be able to sell your idea and vision to employees, potential founders, and investors.  There’s really no way to learn salesmanship without getting out there and doing it.



SH-  What are some common mistakes that you or other entrepreneurs you know have made when creating a personal businesses?

TY- I think a big mistake is getting excited in the beginning and not building a strong foundation for the business to be built on.  Similarly, a mistake is thinking that a business will be something that you do for the next few months or so.  This can include bringing on co-founders prematurely, not defining goals and plans, taking investment from the wrong person or for the wrong amounts, and a bunch of other issues that can arise.  Thinking short term can cause you to do things like work with the wrong people because “who cares, it will only be for a few months”.  The reality is that the whole idea is to build a successful long lasting business so that means whatever you do in the beginning carries on forever or the business has to restructure or fails.  Peter Thiel’s law says that “A startup messed up at its foundation cannot be fixed.”


Another, much smaller problem, is that many people with a college degree want to focus on something that pertains to that degree because they spent the time to get it.  That’s not necessarily bad if you are an expert in your field but don’t discredit businesses that have nothing to do with your degree. You may be a mechanical or electrical engineer but if you find out that you can buy and sell products online and make huge profits, who cares if there’s any engineering involved?


SH- What helps you stay on track with your business goals and identify good potential business ideas?

TP- I think a constant sense of running out of time or money keeps entrepreneurs motivated.  Also, most businesses are seasonal in some way so there’s always something that needs to get done before a certain date to be successful.  I personally find business ideas by solving problems in my own business.  When I have a problem I look for a solution and if I can’t find one I usually build a way to solve it for myself.  If it looks like something that many other businesses would pay to use, it’s probably a decent business idea.  Most of the best business ideas come from someone using cross disciplined skills (human resources + software development or almost any other combination) to solve a real problem.  This is because most problems that can be solved with a single discipline have probably already been solved.  For instance, the practice of law doesn't change much when looking at it from a laywer's perspective and most computer programmers don't know of the inefficiencies in the legal practice.  However, a lawyer who also happens to know how to write software might be able to totally change parts of the industry. 


Reflection:

My interview with Tyler went well and definitely opened my eyes as to how a successful entrepreneur handles themselves. The most important point that I took from my interview was that successful entrepreneurs are jacks of all trades. As Tyler stated, an entrepreneur needs to know how to sell themselves and their product, all while coming from a background that may not necessarily include marketing/salesmanship. I also found myself pleased with the point that Tyler made in that entrepreneurs need to know how to plan ahead and make decisions in the context of the long-term future, even amidst uncertainty. A business based off of short-term thinking will be a short-term business (with no chance of long-term success)! I thank Tyler for providing his time for this interview and I'm excited to get back to him later on in the semester (hopefully I'll have some more entrepreneurial skills by then). 

Links:
Spin Chill
ToutLoud
Tyler Parker

What I Think are the World's Biggest Problems

In this post I'll be detailing 10 problems that I feel constitute the world's biggest problems with a practical solution for each. Note that these problems are not presented in any particular order of importance.

1. Our societies dependence on fossil fuels leads to an increase in the harmful compounds that cause global warming. Contrary to popular belief, the automobile industry is not the largest contributor of greenhouse gases (this industry only accounts for 1/5th of emissions in the U.S. Evidence). Global warming affects natural events, such as the timing of seasonal events (flowing of plants for example) and agricultural productivity.
• More funding and importance should be contributed to the development of clean energy, not only in the U.S. but all over the world. Solar and nuclear energy are two prominent fields that could help turn our cars, factories, and homes greener.
2. The cost of a university education is approaching a bubble that will inevitably burst (Source). Very few college students receive enough financial aid to fully finance their education, leaving most students with no other choice than to take out loans (both private and federally subsidized). In 2012, 71% of students graduated four-year institutions with student debt and americans as a whole owe more in student loan debt than credit card debt (Source).
• College education rates must be dramatically lowered before the debt bubble bursts and most students are left without way to pay off their loans. I personally believe that (assuming a student has good grades), at least a quarter to half of the cost of education (including housing, tuition, food, etc.) should be paid for by the school or the federal government. While some states, such as Florida, do offer scholarship programs that can greatly help with the burden of paying for educations (Bright Futures), funding for these programs has declined in recent years. A greater emphasis on finding relevant internships and paying positions while in school (not just during the summer) should also be expressed by more four-year institutions to help students pay the other half of their education on their own.
3. Not enough emphasis is placed on the role factory farming has on the environment. Many people are not aware that factory farming creates 1 million tons of manure per day (3 times the amount created by the U.S. human population) or that methane levels have increased dramatically due to the emission of the gas from farm animals (Source).
• A much greater emphasis should be placed on plant-based diets. Low fat, plant-based diets not only help in treating/preventing deadly diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes) but they also reduce the demand for meat from the factory farming industry. 
4. Poorly controlled refugee influx in Europe. Refuge resettlement and planning is handled by local officials instead of the federal government.
• Increase the intensity of the screening process, both in Europe and in the U.S. (if we are to allow a large number of refugees to come into this country). A greater amount of help (economically and militarily) needs to be provided to the Syrian refugees in Syria and their surrounding nations. When examined from a long-term and realistic point of view, the influx of refugees found in Germany and France will eventually have to leave as they inevitably put pressure on the culture and infrastructure of the country.
5. A lack of retirement savings amongst workers in the private sector will lead to a large disrupt in the economy in the not-to-far future. As of 2013, close to one third of non-retired U.S. citizens had no retirement savings/pensions (Source). 
• If more individuals learn about the benefits of saving and restricting personal expenditures then there will be an increase in savings. Education on personal finance should also include an emphasis on investment and contributing to 401k/Roth-IRAs as these include a greater opportunity to increase savings. 
6. World hunger and food distribution imbalances create situations where citizens of developing countries do not have the means to obtain food. 11.3% of the world is undernourished and while there is enough food to feed all 7 billion people on this planet, many times the food does not get to those who need it most (Source). Additionally, meat-based diets (in the U.S.) require 10-20 times as much land as would be needed for a plant-based diet (Source).
• Once again, a reduction in the demand for meat produced by factory farming would free up food that could then be sent abroad. By transitioning to a practice of farming that grows seasonal foods (instead of an emphasis on corn and soybeans which are then used to feed livestock) the health of the land can also be preserved. 
7. Genocides in 3rd world countries such as Sudan. The conflict in Sudan came about as the government's reaction to rebel fighters that took up arms in response to economic marginalization and insecurity (Source). More than a million people have been displaced from the fighting in the country and the countries government has simply made problems worse. 
• Increased interference from international agencies, such as the U.N., should be practiced in order to assist in a peaceful resolution. Aid should also continue to be delivered to these countries in order to help in resettling displaced people.
8. Sweat shops and unfair labor laws continue to propagate poverty and child labor. Sweatshops do not help people get out of poverty and instead force them to work long hours only to use most of their paycheck to pay for food. 
• The wages of the people who are found working in sweatshop suffer from unfair labor policies. If wages for sweatshop workers were doubled, the price of an item would only increase by 1.8% (Source). By raising wages and implementing stricter labor guidelines in other countries a large number of workers would see an improvement to their daily lives.
9. Species around the world continue to go extinct or become endangered due to human involvement. Habitat loss, pollution, and poaching all contribute to the increased rate in which we see species disappear from our planet.
• The easiest action that people can undertake is stop creating a demand for products that are produced from endangered species. Tortoise-shell and ivory souvenirs create a large amount of demand for poachers to continue hunting down more species. Herbicide and pesticide use also contributes to this problem. Alternatives exist (such as using plants that naturally ward off pests to keep crops healthy) but the most important factor is in changing the perception of what a "good looking" yard looks like. While it may be nice to have green grass in one's front yard, non-native plants require constant upkeep which drain resources and negatively affect species in the area.
10. Mexican cartel growth has led to assaults against the Mexican government, the rise of vigilante groups, and the destabilization of security in parts of Mexico. As anti-drug organizations continue to focus on taking down the heads of cartel organizations the fighting rages on.
• Recreational drugs, such as marijuana, should be legalized and taxed. Black market drug distribution is what currently allows Mexican cartels to thrive and if the presence of the black market in the U.S. is lessened, so will the power of the cartels. The justice system in Mexico should also be heavily scrutinized in order to reduce corruption and bring back order.