Week 5 Reading Reflection

For the week five reading I didn’t really find anything surprising because in previous chapters it went over ways to get around these failures. This chapter didn’t really have anything that was confusing besides the difference between the two approaches. They both are the same criteria just a different way of approaching it. I do have a couple of questions about the “technical feasibility.” Other than that I agree with what the author had to say about all the different obstacles that can get in the way when you are trying to start a new ventures.

Interviewing Customers No. 1

Interviewing Customers No. 1

The opportunity that I came up with is: an app that allows people to sell or rent their home/apartment/dorm décor. I am currently trying to sublease my apartment for the summer and then intend to move into a different room. However, I don’t want to keep any of my room décor and the Facebook groups and other sites that allow me to sell my stuff are too clustered with other things to make it easy to sell my things fast. Another problem with other websites are that I have to ship the things to really far places and packing this stuff could be really tedious.

The people who I believe will have this unmet need are students that attend college that move from dorms to apartments or vice versa. For example, the décor that you decorate your dorm might be really cute but it is very unlikely that you will ever have a twin bed or a need for a mini fridge ever again (fingers crossed).

Questions for “customers”:

1.       Where do you currently live?

2.       Where do you plan to live next year?

3.       If you are moving to a new place, what do you plan to do with your old stuff?

4.       How do you plan on decorating your new place?

5.       What do you think about an app that lets you rent, buy and sell décor within the University of Florida?

Outcome:

By interviewing people I learned that my idea needs to be more specific so that it doesn’t seem like other opportunities. The interviews also taught me that I am extremely awkward when it comes to asking strangers questions.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

I think for this reading the topic that stood out the most to me was the fact that there are so many different ways to think of new things to create. The first part about this chapter talks about eight different ways to come up with innovative ideas. I really just thought it just came natural to people. The part that I found most confusing was “Eliminating Muddling Mind-sets.” I guess it’s more of a naïve realism but I don’t understand how someone can have great ideas be shut down by everyday life.  My two questions for the author would be: 1. Do you actually believe any of this? 2. Do other people believe this? Therefore I disagree with this part of the text.

Top 5 World Problems

                                                                            Top Five Biggest Problems:

 

   1.       War

   2.       Poverty

   3.       Climate change

   4.       Water Use

   5.       Increase Population

I ranked the biggest problems like this because I believe that they all have an impact on the other problems. I believe that war is the largest problem because it causes poverty by creating war zones which then leads to pollution and increase of CO2 in the environment that then leads to climate change which effects the amount of water that is usable. While the increase of population shows a lack of education in the world and more people to create wars.  

Solutions:

1.       Water Use Solution: Creating a device that is affordable, that cleans and allows access to water for the areas that cannot reach it easily.

2.       Climate Change Solution: Producing less CO2 in the air by cutting down the use of such things and creating new ways to create energy.

3.       Poverty Solution: Educating the population about this problem and ways to fix it by creating more sustainable ways of living.

4.       War Solution: Get a better understanding of the difference in the world so that conflict doesn’t arise.

5.       Increase population solution: Educate the current world population about this problem.

 

This is the ranking of the most implementable solutions because I believe that water and climate change are brought up more in society because they seem like easier solutions. Everyday people are beginning to cut down on water and carbon use. This is mostly because they are more tangible subjects. The other solutions however, deal with people and emotions that are caused by a thousand different factors.  

Week 3 Reading Reflection

While reading this week’s reading I came across nothing that was confusing but I did find it surprising about all the cons that come along with being an entrepreneur. I understand there is always a risk that comes with trying to be successful but is it worth it? The majority of this chapter talked about the risk and the stress that comes along.  If I were to ask the author two questions, they would be about how does someone bounce back from the “dark side?”  I am not sure that I agree that someone should risk their family, friends and all their savings on an idea unless they are 100% positive that the idea will be successful. I guess it’s good to understand all the cons that come with being an entrepreneur but I think the book went a little too far.  

Identifying Local Opportunities

Identifying Local Opportunities

1.       Asheville downtown group: Improve parking, cleanliness, walkability

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/01/21/asheville-downtown-assoc-improve-parking-cleanliness-walkability/79094094/

 

In this article, the city officials of Downtown Asheville have decided that even though the conditions are “okay” they could be significantly better. The plan is to meet later this week and find out ways to improve the conditions. The problem in this article is that the city is becoming more and popular which brings in a lot of tourist; however, there isn’t enough parking, cleanliness is lacking and walkability is low. The people visiting downtown have the problem because they cannot park their cars, walk to different locations and feel clean.

 

2.       Weather-related event, business cancellations

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/01/21/weather-related-event-business-cancellations/79104146/

 

In this article it goes over the business closing due to the snow storm. The problem is that the snow storm in Asheville is causing multiple important business, such as family medicine offices, to be closed for the next couple of days. The business owners and the customers who need this business are the ones with the problem. The business owners are losing income and the customers are not able to get to what they need.

 

3.       Possible Haywood school closing renews budget debate

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/01/20/possible-haywood-school-closing-renews-budget-debate/79062336/

 

Haywood county school officials are discussing whether or not they should close an elementary school due to a recent budget shortfall. The problem is that the school district is currently having a budget shortfall which is forcing them to close down an elementary school that they cannot afford to run. This effects the whole district as the students and staff will have to find new schools to either work at or learn at.

 

4.       Heavy snow hits mountains, with more to come

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/01/22/heavy-snow-hits-mountains/79157550/

The Asheville area is currently receiving ten inches of snow which is bringing a lot of problems to the area. Currently Interstate 40 and other smaller roads are closed. The snow has caused multiply car accidents and power outages. This is a problem for everyone living in the area.

5.       Center for homeless to expand, serve more needs

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/01/21/affordable-housing-homeless-transitional-needs/78859560/

 

The article begins with the story of a young mom with nowhere to go other than the homeless shelter in downtown. The homeless shelter use to be over populated and not much of a help. However, it has recently been undergoing renovations and coming up with new ways to help the homeless. The homeless people are the one with the problem because without this shelter they have nowhere to live or eat.

Very Short Interview No. 1

Interview:

(I apologize in advance for this being extremely short. She was on a time crunch and could only talk on the phone for a short amount of time.)

I interviewed Paige Morris, she is an entrepreneur because she started and ran a landscaping business for 24 years in North Carolina.

Question 1:  What should my expectations be in this course?

To learn how to start a company that will make a profit. Gain an entrepreneur’s attitude.

Question 2: What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who works for themselves. They run a company that is based on their own core values.

Question 3: What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?

You should learn how to always be looking for new opportunities to increase your value or change the way of doing things.  

Question 4: What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

I wish I would have been taught to keep going even after I accomplished my goal of having a company. I made sure that it continued to grow but I wish I could have change directions completely and sold it and started a new one.

What I learned is that you always need to be pushing yourself even after you reach your goal. I also realized that I need to really appreciate this class and what it has to offer because it can help me in the long run and a lot of people don’t get the chance to learn ways to enhance their skills with more than just common knowledge.