Identifying Opportunities Based on Economic Trends and Regulatory Changes

Economic Trend Opportunities 

1.) There's an insanely fast-growing global market for pet care services

• I found this trend from a daily newsletter I read called "The Hustle"
• I was lead to understand this opportunity exists because Softbank just invested $300 million in a pet care service called Wag. After the investment, a Softbank senior investor explained that the investment made sense based on the growing industry
• I believe the prototypical customer for this economic trend is the increasing amount of pet owners that struggle with making enough time to give enough attention to their pets
• I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because there are so many people that want to own pets and people are getting busier and busier. This can be exploited by creating even more local dog walking services, food delivery services, grooming-on-the-go services, and anything else to make the pet owner's life easier
• I personally saw this opportunity because I have seen how more and more college-aged students are getting dogs. Five of my friends alone this past semester have gotten puppies and I know they are pressed for time and could benefit from a pet service

2.) Rising interest rates in the United States creates a greater emphasis on saving & personal finance

• On a web listing on thebalance.com, they list rising interest rates as one of the US's top five economic trends. Through Investopedia.com I was able to discover more information about this
• I was lead to believe this opportunity exists when reading through Investopedia and learning that savers benefit from higher interest rates and that because the interest rate is higher, it is more beneficial to save money for purchases rather than to take loans if possible
• The prototypical customer to learn more about how they can optimize their income and wealth would be those in comfortable to high paying jobs that have an excess of money to put toward savings
• This opportunity is rather difficult to exploit because it deals with changing people's day-to-day habits. I believe the best opportunity is to target youngsters recently graduating from college that are about to make money for the first time but have very little personal finance knowledge
• I personally saw this opportunity because I know how lost I felt about my own personal finances until I took the initiative to speak with my elders about it and read books on the topic.

Regulatory Change Opportunities 

1.) Portable benefits policies could lead to easier lives for independent workers and thus more people seeking to live the "gig lifestyle"

• I found this opportunity after googling new US regulatory policies and reading through businessnewsdaily.com
• I am lead to believe this opportunity exists because of the rapidly increasing number of Americans working as gig workers or independent contractors. The unmet need exists with these people not having access to a 401k or traditional employer healthcare.
• The prototypical customer would be someone looking to live as a gig worker that doesn't know how to get access to essential services and is willing to pay for a guide to help them
• I believe this opportunity is moderately difficult to exploit because these types of people often do not want to be affiliated with any other parties but they could use the help
• I personally saw this opportunity because I just spoke with a student that told me he was interested in living the #VanLife and noted that there weren't very many services available for these types of people.

2.) The new tax law's effect on small businesses. There's a huge drop in corporate tax rate

• I discovered this opportunity through businessnewsdaily.com through a link explaining how the new tax law will affect small businesses 
• This opportunity exists because it provides several aspects that make it easier to start and continue to run a small business
• The prototypical customer would be someone interested in starting a small business or small business owners that don't know how the new law can help them with their current business and where they can allocate the funds they saved
• I believe this opportunity is easy to exploit because of the millennial trend of wanting to be independent. I think that with these benefits to small business owners it will be easy to propose to interested small business owners or those looking to own a small business how they can benefit from owning a small business 
• I personally saw this opportunity because of my own interest in starting a small business and speaking to others about it. Most of my peers that I tell I am interested in starting a business explain that they would like to as well but feel they don't have the experience or money to do so

Local Lucrative Opportunities

The Opportunities 

1.) 

Title: "The Shape of Fitness; Survey says...These Will be the Most Popular Trends for 2018

Link: http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/article/GALE%7CA522106335/0f30fd981cc9c4ec7ca142dc86efd267?u=gain40375

Description: 

With only a small introduction explaining that lots of "resolutioners" are currently in the gym, the rest of the article lists the top 10 trends in fitness for 2018. The trend that ranks at the top of the list is "HIIT" training, or High-Intensity Interval Training. Other trends listed in the article include wearable technology, group training, and body weight training. 

The Problem: 

The problem lies in the first two sentences of the article where it points out that people are only in the gym because its a new year and asks if 2018 will be big for fitness. I believe these are problems because fitness needs to be a lifestyle for people and not just a trend. Every year there is an issue with people setting fitness goals and not following through with them.

Who Faces the Problem:

 The people that face this problem are often the ones that don't have motivation to get in shape. Most of the time people deal with the problem of only staying in the gym for a month because they don't realize that the short-term sacrifice has long-term benefits.

2.)

Title: "Keep Options Open on Transit"

Link: http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/article/GALE%7CA521939519/a67091043c7db1250ed59ab20dd2efe6?u=gain40375

Description:

This article is focused on improving Tampa Bay's old transportation systems. There is a big focus in the article on reallocating railway funds toward "alternative transportation systems". Currently there are issues with legislation about getting bills passed to help Tampa Bay achieve their goal of moving the greatest number of people in the least amount of time.

The Problem:

Tampa Bay's transportation system is outdated 

Who Faces the Problem:

Those affected by the problem are people that frequently use public transportation or are looking for an inexpensive alternative to traveling.

3.)

Title: "Hurricane Focus: Harden Buildings"

Link: http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/article/GALE%7CA521897674/4d642b21f342cd1f712c8c8215d0273b?u=gain40375

Description:

The article discusses the costs associated with Hurricane Irma and insurance claims stemming from it. The article continues to discuss solutions for people when hurricanes are nearing and emphasizes the importance of building hurricane-safe buildings.

The Problem:

Hurricanes come through cities and leave them with massive financial problems and citizens with destroyed homes

Who Faces the Problem:

People directly hit by hurricanes in Tampa Bay and also those who have to worry about evacuating to stay safe during storms.

4.)

Title: "School Survey Angers Parents; The Mitchell High Fundraiser was Killed and Results Destroyed by the end of the Day"

Link: http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/article/GALE%7CA522245904/9be97b6346485af68da0a938ed92b45a?u=gain40375

Description: 

The article outlines a fundraiser started by a student at Mitchell High School that prompted students to fill out a survey that asks several questions about preferences in other people to attempt to match you with someone in the school. Some parents were rather upset with this survey and the school eventually had to kill the fundraiser.

The Problem:

A student-run fundraiser that has occurred for several years is now being shut-down because technically under law personal surveys like the one in the article must receive parental permission to be filled out.

Who Faces the Problem:

The students hoping to benefit from the fundraiser and the parents offended by the survey.

5.) 

Title: "Survivor Speaks out Against Trafficking; A number of sexually-oriented businesses have closed"

Link: http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/article/GALE%7CA522618534/d5be6087f2f072e6f5152fc6a171d0f1?u=gain40375

Description:

Due to a survivor of human trafficking speaking out there was a mandate in Pasco county that required all sexually-oriented shops to have signs warning of the risks of human trafficking. Since then six of the seventeen shops in the county have closed.

The Problem:

Because of issues with human trafficking legislature has deemed it necessary to promote awareness of this at sexually-oriented shops but it has caused several to close

Who Faces the Problem:

The main people that face the problem are those that run sexually-oriented businesses

This Opportunity is Fat

So What is the Opportunity?

This opportunity stems from something that can be completely avoided. In fact, so many people seek a solution to this problem but usually cannot find a sustainable one. What if I told you, that with time, this problem could nearly disappear? How is this possible? Because it is entirely preventable. And yes, those that have already encountered the problem can fix it now by taking advantage of this same opportunity.

The Details

The unmet need is developing a sustainable solution to help others lose weight, stay in shape, and not become overweight in the first place. There are countless amounts of people in the world that struggle with being overweight and have tried to lose weight but can't stick to anything that gives them results. The reason there is such a big need is that of the average increase in daily caloric consumption among humans compared to other years. The reason this has happened is because of the popularity of high-calorie convenient foods like fast food and frozen dinners, among many other reasons. To meet this need now, people are developing "weight loss programs", "crash diets", and "healthy meal replacement snacks" as "solutions" to fat loss to people that are overweight.

I believe the real opportunity lies in developing a sustainable solution to fat loss that specifically focuses on the nutritional aspect of physical fitness. I think there is such a great opportunity to create classes and educate people about how to use basic knowledge about nutrition to control their own weight. Currently, most "solutions" do not teach anyone about nutrition and instead provide thoughtless templates about what people should eat without informing them why. I know that if the consumers of products aimed toward fat-loss bought a program that taught them a true informational understanding of how your eating habits control their weight they would see much better long term results.


Information Learned from the "Prototypical Customer"

I learned from interviewing three different people that the idea I have about emphasizing nutrition education is a great idea, but there were a few aspects I missed that could have helped solve the unmet need. One of the people I interviewed loved the idea but he said that in his personal weight loss journey one of the most beneficial aspects was having a workout partner that he could rely on to keep him motivated and hold him accountable throughout his journey. This made me realize that the system I could create to solve this unmet need could be a mentee-to-mentor relationship model in which the mentor presents the necessary nutritional information and is also available for weekly calls to hold the mentee accountable. If the mentee is able to successfully achieve their goals through the program they can apply to be paid as a mentor and share the knowledge they learned and act as the new motivator.


So What Changed?

Most of the original opportunity is still there, however, the way I want to go about tackling the opportunity is now slightly different. I believe my new opportunity is still the same as it first started, but now I have a more optimal way of matching the unmet need by providing mentors as a source of motivation.

I believe that there is a trade-off between adapting to customer feedback and staying firm to your idea. Chances are, if you've created an idea and worked on it for a long time you know more about the category than most customers so you know what is fundamentally right and wrong. On the flip side though, if you are given feedback multiple times about how you should improve something then at that point it is probably good to listen to the customer.

Ben's Entrepreneurship Journey

The Entrepreneurial Journey

My entrepreneurship journey started to really become evident in my senior year of high school. To back up a little though, for as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with money and thought it was so cool that you can create something and make money for it. For me, and as for most other children, my first exposure was the classic cliche lemonade stand. Because this childhood experience for most people is pretty common, I don't consider that the real start of my entrepreneurial journey.

In my senior year of high school I created the weightlifting club at my school. I did this because I was very passionate about bodybuilding and also because I wanted something fun to do with my friends during our club period on Tuesdays at school. What I did not expect, however, was an interest for entrepreneurship to arise from this. When forming the club, I was able to get over 200 students interested in the club I was forming. I thought it was fascinating that my idea was already becoming tangible and had caught the interest of so many students. Upon selecting thirty members for the club and leading meetings throughout the year I loved the experience of being able to run an organization with people I enjoy and being able to help others simultaneously.

The next chapter of my entrepreneurship journey began this past summer when I interned in London. With an hour and a half commute to work everyday I had lots of time to do some thinking and reading. I had heard from a friend that he listens to Podcasts on his way to work and that's how I discovered "How I Built This", a podcast about the founders of successful companies and the stories of how they built them. I began to look forward to my commute everyday so I could listen to my Podcast and fell in love with the idea of eventually starting my own company.

Along with the inspiration from the Podcasts, I also gained further interest in being an entrepreneur from working at my internship. This inspiration primarily came about from the conversations I was able to have with Andreas, the founder and CEO of the small conference company I interned with. After working with the entire company's workforce of about fifteen people for a few weeks I was given the opportunity to sit down and talk with Andreas. I explained to Andreas how I was interested in Entrepreneurship and how I thought it was so cool to see the entire company functioning on our floor of our building and this was something he had started only seven years ago. From our conversation one of my biggest takeaways was that he explained that he didn't invent conferences and that you don't need a brand new idea to start a company, you just have to be a little better than a successful competitor. Additionally, I thought it was amazing that he was so invested in his company that he told me it felt like a child to him.

Throughout the entire fall semester following that summer, I spent many hours thinking of how I can start my own business, read several entrepreneurship books, and watched many informational videos for inspiration. I also teamed up with one of my best friends from back home who is also interested in being an entrepreneur to work on an idea that we thought of.

After recently attending a meeting at UF in which an entrepreneur named Chris spoke to us, I realized that it was time to stop thinking about it and start taking action. Chris explained that he truly believes being an entrepreneur is actually less risky than having a corporate job because your fate is in your own hands.

While I still do not have a real business, my goal this semester is to start one and start taking actionable steps to achieve my goal. I know if my business turns out to not succeed, the experiences I have along the way will be invaluable.


So why did you Enroll in ENT3003?

The reason I enrolled into ENT3003 and picked up an entrepreneurship minor is mainly meet people that have a similar passion for entrepreneurship that will be able to help me through my journey. In addition, I am very interested in the subject of entrepreneurship and knew I would enjoy working on the assignments given to me. Throughout the course I hope to learn more about myself through the assignments and also learn some useful tips to have a more successful entrepreneurial journey.

Ben's Bug List

The Bugs 

1. Whenever I have had a pair of Apple headphones for longer than a few months one of the ear buds stops working
2. Some auxiliary cords for phones have a really thick base and because of this you have to take off your phone case to plug in the cord to your phone
3. Whenever I have had an iPhone for a while the phone speed slows down when I update the software, but the main bug is that Apple never admitted to doing this intentionally until recently
4. Showers that have a very fine line between burning hot and icy cold when you slightly turn the handle
5. Doing laundry and most of the time having clothes wrinkled when you finish before you have a chance to fold them or put them away
6. Going to the grocery store knowing exactly what I need but still having to take the time to walk around the entire store to select everything instead of having an option to pay a slight premium to have it gathered before I get to the store
7. Shopping carts that have wheels that turn to the side and stores not fixing them, this is something that is easily preventable but leads to a negative experience at the store 
8. At the new Target by The Standard the elevator from the parking lot does not connect to the store itself so you have to carry all your groceries to your car because you cannot take your cart out of the store
9. You have to pay to park at the standard parking garage if you want to shop at Target even though Publix had free parking right across the street
10. Publix's price for raw chicken price is extremely inflated and is only comparable to other stores when its on sale buy one get one free
11. Most portable speakers not being able to hold a battery charge as long as most other electronic devices even though they're a mobile product that are often used away from chargers
12. "Non-stick" pans that end up turning into "stick" pans soon after you use them
13. Companies advertising their granola bar as "high protein" when in reality it only has six grams of protein compared to a similar bar right next to it having twenty grams and the same amount of calories
14. The Lenny and Larry's "Vegan Protein Cookies" that they advertise as having sixteen grams of protein in bold letters on the front (this is sixteen grams for the entire cookie) but when you read the calories on the back people think there's only 210 calories but the serving size is only half a cookie...WHO EATS HALF A COOKIE?!?!
15. Promoters of fitness on social media advertising their self-brand and supplement products as "natural and steroid-free" when lots of them clearly take PEDs
16. Not having the option to stop getting notifications on your laptop about software edits and other things I do not care about
17. The fact that products such as cereal and chips do not have zipping or resealable bags when the technology exists
18. It is nearly impossible to not get a standard tube of toothpaste messy because of how it drips after you pour it
19. Going to the dentist and having them slash your gums with metal tools then have them tell you that you have sensitive gums and have to purchase a special (and extremely expensive) toothpaste that they definitely are given money to refer
20. Personal trainers not doing everything they can do to help their clients out at the first few sessions

But WHY?

1. Planned obsolescence perhaps? I would hope that this isn't the case and that it is just a technological issue they have never been able to solve...who knows
2. The thick base of the cord possibly protects the cord from ripping which also proves to be an issue sometimes so maybe this isn't so bad after all
3. So the answer is released, Apple slows your phone to prevent it from shutting down entirely when it can't handle the new software. But the main bug, why didn't they tell us?!?! My speculation is that they thought they could get away with it, and when they got caught they realized they had to own up to it and offer a discount on new batteries to their users
4. Although one of the most annoying issues, at the end of the day usually you can find a correct temperature. This problem probably arises from a design flaw in which there is often not a decisive temperature you are selecting but rather an ambiguous range so lets just add a marked scale to it right?
5. The wrinkles are often a result of user error. For example waiting too long to take them out of the dryer. More affordable laundry services sounds fantastic to me
6. Why? Probably because it would be a loss in productivity for the store if employees spent time doing this. Also, if you were allowed to do this the store wouldn't benefit from you impulsively buying Zebra Cakes that you did not want before arriving to the store
7. This is from overuse or miss use of the carts. With so many carts its probably too annoying for stores to keep trying to fix this problem
8. Architectural failure in design and the idea that they expect you to buy a CVS-amount of items and not a typical Target amount I'd assume
9. They know people will pay for the convenience of the garage and it's the Standard's garage so they need money to pay off that massive building
10. This is so people think they're getting a great deal when its BoGo (Hint hint, not true, you're just not getting ripped off when its BoGo)
11. I believe this is just a result of not using the best technology and wanting to save on production costs by not buying the best battery
12. User-error by not treating the pan right and also if it works for a little bit people won't complain as much if it didn't work from the start. Probably some engineering flaws as well
13. This is an issue that the FDA allows to happen by not regulating companies well-enough on their packaging. They add things like this to get misinformed consumers to buy their evidently "healthy" product
14. Marketing scheme. Technically they're not lying but its extremely deceiving. This marketing tactic definitely has dieters feeling like its ok to eat cookies, even if this monster of a cookie has twice the calories of a normal cookie (because adding protein makes everything healthy right???)
15. Obviously these people's businesses would take a hit if they admitted to taking PEDs to get jacked and not their own supplements
16. Maybe these software notifications are actually important? Also, the company that worked on the updates probably wants them being used to keep users happy with new features
17. Production costs and everybody owns chip clips at this point
18. Design flaw but very cost efficient I would imagine. I say out with the tubes and in with the "as-seen-on-TV" toothpaste dispensers 
19. To keep their cash flow from the sensitive gum toothpaste company coming in for referrals they suggest
20. This is so the clients don't see immediate results right away so that they have to keep coming back and paying until they're eventually in shape

Challenges in Coming up with Bugs?

Surprisingly I did not have too big of a challenge coming up with bugs since I am the type of person that is constantly thinking about how something can be better. However, a challenge I faced was keeping the bugs focused on primarily companies and products that were bugging me and not just things that bug me in general, like certain things people say. Other than a slight delay in ideas at Bug number seven I was able to brainstorm this list rather quickly. I think the main reason I didn't find creating this list too difficult was that I have been told before to be conscious of my surroundings and look to see how I can improve things so many of these Bugs have been on my mind for a while.

 

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