Taylor's Blog

Entrepreneurship: - The opportunity for my business was to create a valet parking service for the the students and staff at the University of Florida, in order to make parking easier and for everyone. - UF continues to create new parking garages, however, these parking garages are made for the people that do not need it. - This businesses will be used to accommodate for everyone at UF, it will require a one time membership fee.  - This business has to potential to become very large and spread to Universities, all around the United States. Innovation: - The University of Florida has many parking lots, however, many of them are only for certain decals and the other parking lots, do not have enough spaces. - This is a business that offers a service, rather than a product. - My competitors in this situation would be the University, as well as the bus and shuttle service that they offer. The busses are available, however, it is not convenient for most people. - I will contin...

1. After looking back at my assignments from this semester, it is amazing to see how far I have come since the beginning of the semester. I feel like the semester has gone by so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday I was struggling to make my bug List, and I had no idea what this class had in store for me. 2. I have to say that my elevator pitch was the assignment that I am most proud of myself for completing. One of my favorite experiences were the reading reflections, I feel like I learned a lot of new information from the books that I chose to reflect. Another assignment that I enjoyed was the exit strategy. It was really interesting to think about the future of my business. 3. I definitely feel more like an entrepreneur than I did at the beginning of the semester. All of the assignments in this course made my understanding of entrepreneurship a lot better. At the beginning of the semester I did not ever see a problem and think of a way to fix it, now that is all I see. ...

Exit Strategy - I do intend to continue to grow my business for many decades and then eventually retire. I am interested in furthering my business and making it the best that I can be. I want to be in control of that, I do not want to sell it to someone new, so that they can make it better.  - The reason that I have decided to stick with my business is because,I believe that people will continue to need the service that I am offering for many years to comes. I want to be involved in the growing of my business.  - I think that this exit strategy has influenced some of the decisions that I have made when it comes to my business. After thinking about it, I have decided to stick with my business for many decades, so this has made me only want to expand my business and make it better in the years to come. 

Thinking, Fast and Slow By: Daniel Kahnman 1) what was the general theme or argument of the book? The general theme of this book discussed the different ways that people think and make discussions. This book give tips on how to get better at decision making. This book goes in depth and explains why people make decisions differently. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? I think this book helped me in ENT3003, because this class requires you to be creative. In this class there are many different assignments that require you as an individual to think outside the box. It was interesting to see in this class to see how each individual chose to complete their assignment, everyone was very different in how they chose to pick their problem and solve it.  3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? If I were to make an assignment...

1) For this specific assignment, I would like to think outside the box. I want to think outside of this class, because although I have failed and made mistakes in this class, the world is bigger than just school. At the beginning of this semester I was failing a lot when it came to finding a place of employment. I went from place to place with a resume just begging for an interview. I tried for many weeks for someone to just give me a chance. Eventually an opportunity came up and I am very grateful for that. 2) I learned a lot from this failure that I experienced. When I was in high school and living at home, I had jobs but I never had to put myself out there to get them because they were friends of friends and I had never even had to sit for an interview. I learned from this experience that finding a place of work can be extremely difficult, because not everyone is looking to hire at that particular moment and not everyone is going to like you. While, yes it was nice to be able to w...

What's Next? Existing Market I would like to be able to make the parking at UF more convenient for everyone. After successfully doing this I would then like to expand my company beyond UF. I think there are many other schools that could use a change to their parking situation as well.  After speaking with my interviewees, I realized that I will need to expand. Everyone agreed that if I were to stay in one place then my company would be stagnant and eventually die out.  I had never thought about doing this before. When I first cam up with this idea, I was only thinking about making my service available for college students.  New Market I have been specifically targeting college students on college campuses, this does not have to be the case. I can expand and offer my service to many other companies as well.  I think this will be very beneficial for people all over. My service can be of great value to many people, offering a parking service that ma...

What makes me special? 1. Determination V: This is important because it proves the hard work someone is willing to put in R: This is not rare, I think a lot of people are very determined when they are working towards something that they really want. I: This can be imitated if an individual truly sets their mind to something N:I think this can be substituted, however as the owner of a company, I think it is very important for the owner to have determination. 2. Time Management V: This is very valuable because time management can make or break someone R: This is not rare, I believe you need to have time management in order to be successful I: This can be imitated, many people have very good time management N: This can be substituted, other employees may be able to make up for someone else's lack of time management. 3. Creativity V: This is very valuable because it can make one company better than the next R: This is something that can be rare, many people do just n...

Elevator Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4NmBMogE0c&feature=youtu.be Reflection: I did not complete the last elevator pitch, however, I have pitched this idea to multiple students before and some of the feedback that they gave me was that I need to make what my idea is more clear. I think in this elevator pitch I did just that. I think I made it short and sweet, while still giving my customers a good idea of what my plan is. What did I change? I think I changed a lot of things in this elevator pitch, the lighting was better in my video and I think I had more personality in my voice, I think that my elevator pitch was short and sweet, but still very informative.

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? This book discusses the Scott Adams and how even if you continue to fail you can remain a winner, because failing can lead you to success. He discusses his life experiences and describes how failing is a main reason that people become successful, people need to fail and learn from their mistakes in order to succeed.  2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? I think what I learned from the book related a lot to what I have learned so far in ENT3303. We have heard the professor say this again in again that failure leads to success because it is all about trial and error. In this book the point is made that people have certain skills that they are good and bad at. Everyone has something that they are naturally talented at, however, I  think anyone can ...

Growing My Social Capital New Friends 1) Who they are and what their background is. I have met  someone that has never been one of my strong ties, however, she is someone that I have spoke with in the past.  2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. Market expert, This individuals is someone that has done a project in this market before and I think this person has a lot to offer when it comes to my idea.  3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I reached out on facebook and got many replies, this is actually how I filled all of my slots.  4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation?  iI have offered my advice to this individual and this individual has given me advice back.  5) How will including this person in your network enhance your abilit...

1) Right now I am a college student that has come up with an entrepreneurial idea, if I am being completely honest, when I started this class I had no idea what I was doing. I do have some experience when it comes to being an entrepreneur. I do think that this experience has helped me in this class. I enjoy helping people and the idea that I have come up with is definitely going to be able to do that. 2) The product that I am trying to sell is more of a service rather than a product. I am trying to get the University of Florida to purchase my service, where we help them make their parking situation at UF. As of right now students and faculty find it very difficult to park on campus. 3) I am offering this service to the students and staff at the University of Florida. This will be appealing to individuals who are very busy and find it difficult to get to and from campus by bus or scooter. 4) These individuals care because they are not the only ones with this problem. These individual...

Today I am going to be showing and describing my customer avatar. As I have mentioned in my earlier posts my customers range from average college students to professors and other employees at UF. I am going to be describing who I think most of my customer population is, which is college students.  For the service that I am trying to provide, I think the customer that is going to be most excited about it are the freshman and sophomore college students. These students live off campus and they find it very difficult to get to and from school everyday. These are the students that have brought cars with them to college but are not really able to drive them to campus. These students will range between the ages of 18-20. This might not seem like a wide range of individuals, however, there are always new students coming in to UF, and these students will continue to have problems like this. My average customer is a 18-20 year old male or female. These individuals will drive all different ...

Secret Sauce  5 Things that I think make me unique - I can be both an introvert and an extrovert at the same time. I like to meet new people and learn new things, however, I enjoy sitting at home alone by myself as well.  - I have a very big heart, although I might not always show it.  - I am very understanding until I can't take it anymore, I have a lot of patience but once I am at a certain point there is no going back - I try to have fun in everything that I do, I try to keep the stress levels to a minimum  - I think I have a good competitive side to me. I like to be competitive, however, it is not to the point where people do not want to hang out with me.  Interviews -I first spoke with my grandmother, one of the main things that she said was different about me was that I am very determined, if I want something I am going to go after it no matter what.  - The next person I spoke with was my best friend, she said that she would alw...

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior  Alternative Evaluation When speaking with my interviewees I decided to dig a little deeper and try to figure out what was holding people back from doing something about the parking situation at UF. The main reason that these individuals wanted a change in parking was because it is very inconvenient to have to wait for a bus or walk 2 miles to class because the bus is running late. The individuals that I spoke with made if very clear to me that they made their decisions based on convenience, if something was going to be easier for them, then they are willing to try it.  How/Where do they buy? When it comes to what I am trying to sell, it is not necessarily a product, it is more like a service. This company of mine will go into schools that have parking issues and just try to make it easier on everyone. I spoke with one of the parking services individuals and expressed to me that if the university were to look for a solution to the problem...

1) when trying to complete assignments for this course you really have to step outside of your comfort zone and tackle the assignment. I have definitely learned to think outside the box when it comes to the assignments in this class. Thinking of solutions to problems is not as easy as it looks 2) There have definitely been times in this class when I have wanted to give up because coming up with ideas can be very tricky. Entrepreneurs see the world through a different lens and it has definitely been challenging trying to think like an entrepreneur. When it comes to thinking of a problem and a solution it is very easy to just say that it will work, however, a lot of ideas end up failing so this class really makes you think, will this work? will people buy this idea? 3) Some tips that I would give next semesters students would definite be to keep up with the lectures, if you are not attending class. Everything is taught in lecture so without those you have nothing. Another tip ...

I have chosen to do this assignment on  The Wright Brothers, David McCullough. I found this to be very interesting to me 1) -What surprised you the most? I think what surprised me the most about the Wright brothers was how determined they were to make their aircraft fly, they did not give up and that shows that they were truly passionate about their work -What about the entrepreneur did you admire? What I admired most about the Wright brothers was also what surprised me the most. There are many people in the world that will just give up when things do not go exactly as planned, however, the Wright brothers did not give up on their project. I also loved the fact that because they watched birds they were able to figure out how to make the plane turn. - What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? I don't think that they was anything the Wright brothers did that gave me a bad taste in my mouth. The only think that I could say some people might not ha...

The segment that I have decided to use is employees and students at the university of Florida, this age range is about 18-60 years of age. I conducted three different interviews all with very different individuals. I spoke with a UF student, a UF employee, and a Shands employee. In each of these individuals interviews it was very clear to me that they were all aware of the unmet need. I discovered that the UF employees did not always have this issue because they are all issued orange decals and there is plenty of orange decal parking lots. The individuals that had the most issues with his unmet need are the students living on and off campus as well as the Shands employees. These individuals are constantly struggling to find parking and get to work and school on time because of the extra commute time that is added onto their day due to the parking at UF. These people expressed to me that the parking at UF is the worst during the week, which makes a lot of since. during the week is when ...

1) You: I am a student at the University of Florida who is experiencing the same problem that all of the people I have interviewed are experiencing. I have always loved to help people in any way that I can and I believe that this business idea will significantly help a lot of people. 2) What am I offering to customers: I am offering my customers a service that will make their lives easier on their commute to work. I will ask the University to enforce that the parking lots change every few months. This will make it easier for a lot of people for at least half of the year. I am requesting that the University of Florida changes some of the parking lots to a different decal every few months. 3) Who am I offering this service to? I am offering this service to students at UF, as well as employees at UF and Shands Hospital. 4) Why do they care? These customers care because they are constantly worried about how long it is going to take them to get to and from work or school everyday beca...

Who: - After interviewing 5 people that definitely have the unmet need I am discussing, I have a little bit more clarity. There were some people that I interviewed that noticed the need for a change in parking regulations at the University, however, they said that they are used to it by now and changing anything might cause more problems. Majority of the individuals that I spoke with thought that something definitely needs to be done, they just wouldn't know how to go about doing it. After all was said and done I think these individuals are thinking the same way I was before this class, that its just the way it is and nothing can be done to fix it. What: -I feel that people will definitely benefit from my solution. This is an unmet need that people know they have and they want something to be done about it. I think that my service would outshine my competitors because to my knowledge the University of Florida has no done very much to try and accommodate for parking for everyo...

The opportunity that I have chosen to work with is regarding the parking circumstances at the University of Florida. Although everyone might not express their concerns about the parking, after interviewing many different people it has become clear to me that many individuals find the parking at the University to be difficult for both on campus and off campus students. The solution that I want to propose is simple. After driving around Gainesville and looking at the parking lots the solution seemed pretty clear to me. Here at the University of Florida there are many students, staff, and even hospital employees. Each of the parking lots is assigned a decal and if you do not have this decal and you park there you will receive a ticket. There are about 5 or 6 different parking decals at the University. There was one summer semester here at the University that I noticed the Norman Garage on campus was changed to every red decal instead of just red one. I think the University should chan...

Today I am going to be testing a hypothesis. 1) pick and opportunity and stick with it The opportunity that I have chosen to use for the reminder of the class is the parking issues at the University of Florida. This was a bug on my bug list and I truly believe that something can be done to fix this issue. 2) Who, What, Why Who: The students and staff at the university of Florida What: Parking lots at the University of Florida not being beneficial to everyone Why: Students and staff members are having longer commute times because of the parking and transportation issues. 3) Testing The Who: - There are many people at that find the parking at the University of Florida to not be very good. For example, new students visiting the campus or even their parents. I sat down with a freshman and spoke with her about what her first impression on the parking was. When I spoke with her she stated that is was very difficult on move in day because you could only park in front of your dor...

Hello everyone, Today I am going to be finding entrepreneurship opportunities in social and economic trends. 1) Find Four Opportunities 1- Baby Boomers Are Not Retiring 2- Climate Change Is Causing More Natural Disasters 3- Marijuana Legalization 4- Sexual Harassment Prevention 2) List Each Opportunity One At A Time 1- Baby Boomers Are Not Retiring a) I found this trend on https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666. b) I believe there is an opportunity here because the article specifically states a problem. Millennials are having a harder time finding jobs because the baby boomers are not retiring, due to financial reasons. c) I think the individuals that will be looking for a solution to their problem are the millennials, as well as the baby boomers. The baby boomers need more out of their retirement in order to survive without working. The millennials need to start making money so that they can eventually retire. d) I do not think this will ...

Local Opportunities  The news paper that I have decided to use is the Gainesville Sun. I am going to talk about some of the local issues and identify some opportunities that may come from these stories  1. Gainesville PD: Contractor steals elderly woman's jewelry. https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200130/gainesville-pd-contractor-steals-elderly-womans-jewelry This story explains that an elderly woman was having some remodeling working done in her home. After the contractor had left she realized that $400 dollars worth of jewelry were missing. The contractor then went on to sell the woman's jewelry, which she identified was hers.  The problem in this article is that this elderly woman trusted that this man was going to go into her house and do what he was there to do. Instead this contractor stole from her and I am sure she feels violated.  In this situation the individuals with the problem include the resident of the home, the thief, the police departme...

Hello Everyone, I am sure you all remember my list of 20 bugs. Today I am going to be going back over that list and trying to identify one of my personal bugs that many other individuals might be able to relate to. The bug that I believe a lot of people can relate to is #6. This bug states " Parking at UF. There are so many students at the University of Florida, however, I do not believe that there is enough parking for students who do not live on campus. It would make more sense to me to have the students that live on campus not be able to park on campus in the school parking lots because they can walk to class." I believe that this is a serious issue for many of the students at the University of Florida, including the on campus students. I am a student at the University of Florida that lives off campus. There have been many times where I have wanted to go to the library to study, however, it was nearly impossible to make it to campus during school hours without ...