Assignment 14

Tenacity

1. Tenaciousness is a competency.

Some tools I developed that allowed me to be successful in this class would be reading the assignments a few weeks beforehand. This allowed me to have a better picture of what was required me and allowed me to time to develop my ideas. Another would be to do my assignments the night before as I never had enough time to complete them in the mornings. 

2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude.

A time I felt like giving up was during our first development of an opportunity as I had chosen an issue I believe is well beyond my control. After shifting perspective and choosing to tackle an issue that was within my abilities. 

3. Three tips. 

- The best piece of advice I can give is reading the assignment guidelines a few weeks a head of time so you can have in mind what is expected of you. This will also allow time for you to develop and refine your ideas. 

- Secondly, I would chose opportunities that are within ones capability and keeping it more local. 

- Lastly, I would re-watch the videos before you take the quiz as I found myself forgetting a lot of the information since I watched them in the beginning of the week. 

Assignment 13

Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

·       What surprised you the most?

He didn’t get married until fifty to Louise Whitfield Carnegie (30) but did not have a child for another ten years making Louise 40-years old. I was also surprised by the fact that he came from a poor immigrant family but went on to become the wealthiest man in the world at that time.

·       What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

He donated about $200 million through libraries and schools. Towards the end of his life, he became heavily involved in world peace and anti-war causes. He sought to donate all is money through charities before he died and set up the Carneige Endowment, which was a dedicated to world peace. When he died all of his wealth went into the trust which would disperse the money to charities even after his passing.

·       What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

He made much of his money by unethical means, floating bonds and shares on companies that were on their way to becoming broke. Along with this he would gamble with shares, he knew in advance whether a company was worth it or not and would sell his bonds ahead of time. He also fought against unions in his company, after winning he raised working time to 12 hours a day and lowered wages to $1.30-1.50 a day.

·       Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

He went against his brother’s better judgement and bought two British patents for creating stronger railway rails. When these failed, he lost much of the family wealth.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

He had many jobs and interests through his lifetime; these included oil drilling, developing metal bridges, steal business, and investments. Carnegie was able to see that steal was going to be a in big demand in the future and took this opportunity to expand his company before most.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I was confused as to why a man who became so charitable could be so greedy at the same time. The money he made would go back into his community or to fight for world peace but was unethical with his bonds and share. Not to mention he created horrible working wages and hours for his employees.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

Do you believe coming from a poor background to achieving great wealth in this day’s economy?

- I would ask this as today becoming successful depends heavily on education and resources. Whereas Carnegie’s time working hard and getting into an industry at the right time was the main way to achieve such wealth.

If you could do things differently, would your business still provide products to the military?

- I would ask Carnegie this as later in his life he became heavily involved in anti-war causes.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I believe Carnegie’s idea of hard work was dependent on the monetary value behind it, his driving force was money whether making it through unethical means or otherwise. My main driving force is being passionate about my work rather than based on wealth, so I would say I do not share the same opinion.

Assignment 12

Figuring out Buyer Behavior      

    For my interviews I chose to speak with students who had rigorous schedules who may not have a lot of time in their schedule to grocery shop or meal prep.  My first interviewee was a third year business major who works about 40 hours a week while also attending school. He finds himself eating after his classes or while studying on campus, he can financially support himself and choosing these options. He remembers before having a job he would try to stay away from eating on campus as he spent a lot of his money just on food. My second interview was with a second year biology student who does not work but spends most of her time studying for her classes. She also does not have a car and finds herself eating food from campus about 90% of the time. She finds it hard to find cheaper and healthier options on campus and since publix is a long walk from campus she eats the food that is the closest option. My last interview was with a second year Psychology major, she has recently become better about meal prepping but struggled a lot her first year and found herself spending over $100 a week on food. 

      I found from my interviews that this problem may target students who are younger or newer to the process of meal prep. This problem mainly affects students who live on campus who do not have a job and means of transportation. Also these students mainly seek their meals in the morning of afternoons. They all seemed to share a common factor that drove them to eat  more meals on campus and that is of times of high intensity work or around exam time.They seemed to be enthusiast about my solution to the problem but I also got some good feed back from my first interviewee. He has concerns about how I will obtain the outsourced food and since I would be essentially a third-party seller, how I will make my prices less expensive than my competitors. He also brought up a good point that the University of Florida may not want to bring in a new market as the P.O.D. already exists here on campus and are most likely making UF more money than mine would. 

     I would describe this segment as students who do not have means of transportation as well as no income. Also students who do not have the time and knowledge of preparing your food ahead of time. 

      

Assignment 11

Idea Napkin

1. Working in the service industry since I was 16 has given me plenty of experience with customers and accommodate their unmet needs. I see a basic need (hunger) being exploited on campus by larger corporations and I would like to create a company that is fairer towards students and staff as well as offering healthier options. 

2. I am offering my customers fairer prices and quicker service to match their busy and frugal lifestyle. I am also offering healthier options than those provided by my competitors while supporting other local farms and businesses. 

3. My target audience is University of Florida students and staff who do not have the means to make food at home. They all share the common feature that they either do not have the time or knowledge of meal prepping quick and healthy meals. This also includes students who do not have means of transportation or financial stability. 

4. Hunger is a basic need that everyone shares, my business is targeting this most basic need and creating a plan to make it the cheapest and most viable option on campus. I am also striving to make the market a healthier option than those provided on campus. 

5. This business is offering cheaper and faster food options than our competitors on campus. We would also be providing healthier options while supporting the local businesses and farms of Gainesville. 

     I believe these aspects do fit together, the problem is strong as well as being a need that most people can relate to. I believe this is a good business plan but I do have worries that it may not be able to work out going to plan. If local businesses and farms are not willing to work with my third-party business then providing healthier and cheaper options may need to be outsourced from different businesses. I have some concerns about how to obtain the outsourced food and since I am a third-party seller, how will I get my prices lower than my competitors. UF also may not want a competitor to the P.O.D. on campus as they would make more money for the University than mine would so I need to find an incentive for UF to want my market on their campus. 

Assignment 10

Elevator Pitch

https://youtu.be/LVgf_iRQzuI

Assignment 9

Testing the Hypothesis 

      University of Florida students and staff spending too much money and time on food due inflated prices and long lines.

 

Proposed Solution: A market much like the P.O.D. on campus except the food is set up buffet style with healthier options such as a coffee bar, salad bar, oatmeal bar, fruit and vegetable stand, etc. 

Inside the Boundary 

Who: UF students and staff who buy food on campus

What: spending extra money and time on food 

Why: inflated prices and long lines

Outside the Boundary

Who: UF students and staff who bring their food to campus

What: The existence of hunger

Why: too many students and staff eating food from shops on campus create long lines. Due to the need to eat for everyone, they can get away with inflating the prices of food. For example, regular 8  oz bottle of water at the P.O.D. is $1.99?!

Interviews

Person 1: A second year business major 

     Since I live on campus without a car, I find myself eating most of my meals on campus. Many times I am looking for a quick breakfast before class and do not have the time to go to the dining halls on campus. I often times go to the hub as this is the closest to my class but the Starbucks line is always at least 10-15 minutes long. As an alternative I go to the P.O.D. but find myself spending at least $8.00 on a snack and a coffee. 

Person 2: PhD student in microbiology and genetics

     Coffee is an essential part of my day, I can not function properly without it. Most days I have enough time to make a pot of coffee at home before classes but on the days I have been running late to class I decided to just go to a Starbucks on campus. The line was ridiculously long that it would have made even more late than if I had just made my own at home. I decided to go without a cup of coffee that day and it completely ruined the whole day for me. Like I said I can not function without and all day I could not for the life of my focus on lectures and ended up having to go back and listen to them the next day because I didn't retain any of the information. I also made so many mistakes on my experiment that it ended up just being a waste of my day. 

Person 3: A first year psychology major

     I live on campus in a dorm and I am still figuring out how to grocery shop for myself and meal prep. I find myself most days buying food on campus and end up spending $10-$20 a DAY on various meals around campus. I know I could go to the dinning halls but many times it takes time out of my schedule to eat there and I am just looking for a quick snack. I am also disappointed in the meal options on campus as they are many times unhealthy. The P.O.D. sometimes has apples or oranges but those always seem untouched and dusty to me. Most days I am just looking for a coffee and a banana but standing on the Starbucks line is insane in the morning. 

Person 4: A second year biology major

    I have a very busy schedule with taking Chemistry with lab and Biology with lab, I find it very hard to find time to go shopping for food. I am constantly spending money on food from campus and honestly I am sick of wasting my money. I find it very upsetting that UF doesn't provide better quality food to their students. I would love to be able to go and get a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and put whatever I want it and not have to spend $5 on one from Starbucks. With the students busy schedules you would think they would provide an option that was easy to pick up as well as good for you. I am tired of Chick-fil-a and Subway, you can also tell from my stretched out pants that that is all I have been eating lately. They told me about freshman 5 but I never thought it would be because I just won't be provided meals that are good for me. 

Person 5: A second year psychology major

    I live off campus and I am kind of getting the hang of buying my own meals and stuff but my biggest problem is breakfast. I am always rushing out the door and don't have time to make myself coffee or grab a snack so I end up going to the P.O.D. The prices always shock me like the other day I needed a charger for my phone because I needed it to help my study and I bought a charger there for $21 and it isn't even a nice one. I don't have a meal pass or anything so I never go to the dinning halls and eat mainly from Starbucks, the P.OD., Croutons, and the shake mart. I try to find meals that are good for my but I find it hard to eat clean meals without buying my own food from Publix.


     I found that a lot of people are unhappy with the meal options on campus, finding themselves wasting time and money. I also found not many people utilize the dinning halls on campus which is interesting to me. I believe multiple markets that serve healthy options in a buffet style would make students much happier with their choices in food.

Assignment 7

Hypothesis

     The United States is unable to provide it's citizens with universal health are due to an ineffective system.

The who: The United States
The what: providing citizens with universal health care 

The why: an ineffective system

     Not everyone in the 'who' faces this problem, health care is provided for many wealthy to middle class citizens. Even for citizens with health care, many times health care companies find loop holes to get out of paying for their consumers. The "why" does not hold true for everyone, many use the president at the time, funding, regulations, etc. 

Person 1

       As a single mother, there have been times where I have been unable to pay for health care and it was very scary thinking what might happen to me and my children. When I first moved to Florida we were on Medicaid which chooses which doctors you are allowed to see. My eldest broke her elbow and the only doctor I could see for this was a two and a half hour drive to Miami. Due to being a single mom and having to work during the doctors office hours it was a very tough experience to getting my daughter to see him.

Person 2

     Working in the medical industry, I find dealing with the insurance companies is one of the most difficult part of the job. Many surgeries have been cancelled due to insurances not covering it at the last minute, this has caused many patients to have to go to the emergency rooms to complete the procedure. Many medications will not be covered as well as MRI scans and other tests. Other patients need a secondary health care coverage for copay and other aspects because their primary heath care will not cover it. 

Person 3

     After struggling with cancer in the past year, I have become very upset with the health care industry. I worked as a New Jersey sheriff for 20 years and four years I retired. When I discovered I had caner I got different opinions from many doctors and finally found a procedure that would be effective in fighting the cancer. Only for the insurance to tell me that the procedure is considered "experimental" and that they would not be covering it. I later found the price of the procedure would be $50,000 out of pocket. 

Person 4

     I have never been covered by health care until recent. I grew up very poor and health care was not an option for my family to pay for our six person household. I never went to the doctors or the dentist well into my adulthood because I was unable to pay for them. As I came into my 50's I began experiencing many health issues; I has liver failure, a rotten tooth that was resulting in gum disease, and no way to pay for it. I began realizing the importance of health care but still found it was out of my reach. I felt hopeless during this time and fell into worse and worse conditions. It was not until I found a good dentist who helped me take care of my tooth and gave me help through the kindness of my heart. 

Person 5 

     I am a 20-year old who does not believe I need to pay for health insurance. I have been provided health insurance through my mom up until the last year and a half. I am worried that I may need health insurance but right now I do not have the means to pay for it in general. I think we should provide universal health care for our citizens as we are the only first world country that do not have it. 

I thought only lower class citizens were effected by the health care system but as I interviewed people I began to see that it affects citizens of all different classes. The lack of coverage for common health ricks like cancer is ridiculous that we do not provide coverage for procedures that will help these conditions. I believe in caring for our citizens,we are the only developed country that does not provide our citizens with universal health. 

Assignment 8

Solving a Problem 

       There is a major problem of there being a lack of initiative and a safe space for rape cases. Much of the public believes sexual assault occurs less than it really does and therefore do not take action on the issue. Many victims are too scared to come forward with their assault due to the trend of discrediting victims as well as the legal process. I am proposing a service for sexual assault victims to get proper testing, counseling and education after their assault. This service will include a safe space to share their story and the resources to take legal action if they are willing. It will provide victims with proper testing for STDs as well as access to pregnancy contraceptives. In the case of pregnancy, they will be offered services in regards to their pregnancy as well as help through abortion if they so choose. I would like this program to also include education not only to the victim but also the public as I do not believe this is a topic we discuss enough.

Assignment 6

Economic Trends

     The unequal distribution of wealth is a major issue in the United States economy, incomes for educated and trained workers has dramatically increased where as incomes for under educated and under trained employees has more over less remained the same. This effects those from lower economic background, minorities groups, and those who have faced discrimination. This does not have a simple fix as many people from these groups face more road blocks when it comes to getting educated and trained. Information provided from

https://www.theusaonline.com/economy/trends.htm

     Baby boomer retirement may become a larger economic issue as many will leave the work force and seek Social Security benefits.  Since social security benefits can be claimed when you turn 66 years old and the baby boom was between 1946 and 1964, we are beginning to see the strain this large population will have on the economy. This may cause a rise in taxes to compensate for the influx of social security claims. This will largely effect Generation Y, X, and Z as we will be the ones who are taxed and left to deal with the repercussions. I do not believe this is something we can simply fix, maybe raising the age of retirement but that also means that the people who worked hard for their retirement will have to unfairly remain in the workforce. Information provided from 

https://www.theusaonline.com/economy/trends.htm

Regulatory Changes

     In August of 2019 Planned Parenthood left Title X as The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule that prohibits the referral and administration of abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency. Title X provides Planned Parenthood with much needed funding, if it were to go unfunded many citizens will not have proper access to sexual health services that are provided through Planned Parenthood. "... it (planned parenthood) serves about 40% of the nation's 4 million Title X recipients, who receive services such as contraception and STD screenings." This rule effects doctor- patient relationship as it does not have the best intentions for the patient in mind but rather brings political ideals into the doctors office. Many pregnant woman seeking abortion consultation and help will be effected by this rule. This is not something that an be easily resolved as many people are strongly opinionated on this matter, either being extremely for or against. Information provided from 

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/19/752438119/planned-parenthood-out-of-title-x-over-trump-rule

     A large quantity of PFOs or perfluorooctanesulfonic acid has been found in the water supply of Albany, New York and The Department of Health has allowed delays in reporting and detecting the problem. This is a major issue for all citizens, we have the right to uncontaminated water and to be protected by the government against outbreaks in water supply. I think this issue has a simple answer, more health regulation on the water supply as well as more maintenance checks. Information provided by 

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/As-another-community-finds-PFOS-in-water-15029609.php