Week 15 Reading Reflections

After reading “Business Basics at the Base of the Pyramid”, I very intrigued by the borrowing processes that SKS has created for the women of India through microfinance loans. The way that SKS began and saw the need to expand the processes through standardization, scalability, and the inclusion of technology has truly re-energized its industry. The only part I found confusing was the how they collected customer information from the villagers. I understood how they used the information to determine where the highest need was; however, I did not understand how they went about developing their product assortment for these new potential customers. If I was able to ask two questions to the author they would be: 1) Given the soaring increases in growth, how long do you think this will sustain in the Indian marketplace? 2) Has SKS looked into creating similar programs in other parts of the world, if so where would they see the next venture being the most impactful? Throughout the reading I did notice the focus of SKS to focus on making microloans to women and I was curious to know if they had tested this process with men also. Overall, the article was very insightful and gave a fresh look at how an emerging business can have social responsibility while maintaining strong incremental margins of growth and profit.

Final Reflections

Throughout this course during the semester, I have found myself looking at some of our assignments with the lenses of “what are we truly getting out of this?” To answer that question that question in particular would be to examine my experiences. I will say the ENT3003 class was challenging for me because I had did not embrace all the learnings as I should have with an open mind. The most formative experience I can gather is that the course as a whole was an opportunity for me to be more open-minded, cope with change more fluidly, and bounce back from my failures versus letting them get the best of me. My most joyous experience would be completing my venture concept. It took me a moment to really lay out and structure what the purpose of my venture was. After I had a friend read it, she commented as to how this could be a real venture. I felt not only proud, but excited to know that I could have that type of impact through the organization of my thoughts.

                As far as seeing myself as an entrepreneur, I still have a ways to go with reinforcing the mindset necessary to be truly successful. I do feel as though this class has helped me, not necessarily through the assignments, but through the lessons of the experiences I have gained…and should have gained if I would have been more forthcoming with each assignment given. The best advice I could give to excel in the ENT3003 course would be to give every assignment your best shot, truly go outside of yourself to create an experience, and if you put in the effort the rest of the assignments throughout the semester will get easier for you. To sum it up, in order to be the best entrepreneur you can be develop that mindset through taking every challenge head on and get uncomfortable to become comfortable.

Venture Concept No. 2

DRYlivery—Dry Cleaning delivery on your time…

Opportunity

            My opportunity comes from the need to be able to pick up my dry cleaning at a time that is convenient for myself. Upon thinking about this need further, I began to realize that there are many people who undergo the same experience of not being able to pick up their dry cleaning after work because their provider is closed. This is where the opportunity for DRYlivery comes into play.

            The need for DRYlivery is simple…utilize a mobile based app to schedule pick-up and delivery of your dry cleaning to you at your convenience. The additional need is also steams from local dry cleaning providers to offer additional amenities to their current customers without having to sacrifice more overhead expenses on their existing business. With the expansion of easier care fabrications to garments and the insurgence in washing/dryer technologies at home, dry cleaners have been seeing a slight decline as these two innovations continue to develop. According to IBISWorld, there is a decrease of 0.2% annual growth during 2011-2015 for professional dry cleaning services.

·         Who is the DRYlivery customer?

The DRYlivery customer actually two different customer bases. The first being the professional dry cleaners we partner with, and the second customer base being their customers we deliver to. The market is preexisting and already define geographically and demographically. This is one of the strong suits for DRYlivery because we do not have to establish a new customer bases entirely on our own.

·         How are we satisfying this need? How loyal are they now to their current service?

Current customers generally have this need being met by the dry cleaning provider. However, the provider is adding expenses to its business through labor cost for delivery drivers, maintenance/repairs for vehicles, and cannot always have deliveries being made at the customer’s convenience. Most customers may not take this current amenity as it normally cost the customer additionally per delivery. Also, customers trying to find time to make it to their provider while trying to fit everything into their day seems to be the current way they fill this void.

·         How big is this opportunity and how long will the “window” be open?

This opportunity can be pretty big. Seeing as how many cities do not have a specific national chain or franchise running most of the dry cleaners, local providers are always looking effective and cost conscious ways to expand their business and gain new customers. The window of opportunity I know could be pretty long standing considering that we are building upon existing businesses and customer bases. Through marketing and provider partnerships, we have the ability to continue market growth and expanding customer bases for providers with convenience for their customers.

Innovation

DRYlivery is a concept based off of Uber. A customer uses their regular dry cleaning provider, who partners with DRYlivery. The customer then uses a mobile application to schedule a pick-up and delivery of their garments to a location and at a time that is convenient for them. DRYliery’s purpose is to make the lives of their customers easier through taking a task off their list and making it easy for them. The pricing for these services are $300 to business partners per month and $25 per month to customers.

Venture Concept

            The concept for this venture is very straight forward. The opportunity we want to address is being able to provide more time to customers and lower overhead costs to dry cleaner providers through the use of DRYlivery. For both dry cleaning providers and their customers, switching to DRYlivery would be rather easy and convenient for them. There are no competitors at this moment and this service could be easily copied though. Through providing exceptional service that is consistent and world-class, we can set the expectations high for competitors to try to replicate…not easily though. The only organization we would need or production or package would be consistently updating and innovating our mobile application to provide more services to customers.

·         How does DRYlivery make it easier for dry cleaning providers and assist them in growing their business?

o   DRYlivery partners with dry cleaning providers to provide deliver services to the provider’s customers. How customers benefit is the ease of this amenity because the dry cleaner does not have to operate longer hours to make deliveries, keeps overhead cost at a fix cost per month with no surprises, and the ability to be marketed through DRYlivery’s application.

o   User Ratings also make it a great tool to gain more customers as well as define their business amongst the best by being able to focus on what they do best every day without having to worry about deliveries or other amenities outside the four walls of their business.

·         What are the costs involved for DRYlivery?

o   For business partners, the cost is only $300 a month. What this includes are: delivering to customers, storage for after business hour deliveries, and marketing. This cost is minimal compared to the upkeep for a delivery fleet, labor, and additional marketing that they may spend for their business.

o   For customers, the cost is only $25 a month. This service fee includes unlimited deliveries during the month and the ability to deliver on their schedule. The pricing of this service should be considered by estimating how much time one spends trying to pick up their dry cleaning times how much they make per hour. Most customers would pay for this in two deliveries alone.

Three Minor Elements

            For DRYlivery our secret sauce would be utilizing my experience in retail management to provide an exceptional customer experience. Many people can make an application or create a service that would be similar to DRYlivery, but at the end of the day it is the people that make the brand that customers want to stick with. Also, our philanthropy is what would set us apart from any competition. Our focus would be to collect gently worn business attire to help those in need who may not be able to afford newer clothing for job interviews or helping support their new job. Creating a brand that cares for others is very important to many customers these days.

            What would be next for DRYlivery would be to create a platform for creating job training and education to help develop those in need to acquire work experience, job related training, etc. The mission would be to build our workforce to potentially build their self-esteem and skills to be able to continue to develop a career path for a sustainable future for themselves and their families.

            Within five years of the venture, I would like to build the concept in order to sell it. As an entrepreneur I would like to be continuing onto the next challenge and be developing a new business. This venture would help me start by creating a solid foundation for me to be seen as a leader in innovation and expanding my partnership network for the next venture I choose.

Feedback on the Venture

Most of the feedback I received was positive. The one thing I did change was the tactic on the pricing schedule for customers and business partners. I needed to expand the selections for business partners to add in the marketing theme to assist in growing their businesses outside of the delivering service alone. Another person suggested that I rethink the cost per month for customers, but I feel like the price someone would pay for this service as a convenience would be perfect because they would be saving so much money by not having to shift their schedules.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

Elevator Pitch No. 4 Reflections

     After reviewing my recording, on this pitch I should have been more dynamic. I felt as though I was having a conversation versus pitching a fantastic idea. Also, I needed to include pricing for the vendors and customers. Overall, this was one of my better pitches because I was not as frantic as others I have done in the past. The reflections I have had also incorporated the feedback I received from others as well. What I did change was being more personable and creating a need around the use of the app through my dialogue. 

Google Gold

Blogging in class this semester, I will be honest I was not aware of that having a strategy for search engine optimization (SEO) was a condition. However, after doing some research and creating a strategy for what my approach would have been has really made me more aware when I am blogging for the future. (I honestly had no idea that there are people in companies that SEOs are all they do.)

My search engine optimization approach should have started from day one. This approach would have included:

·         When beginning each blog, I should have planned out specific themes including titles, specific phrases, and additionally a hook phrase to be repeated within each blog to link them together by the chosen theme.

·         Selecting my medium for my blog is very important. By using Blogger, for instances, I will have better chances for capturing Google’s webcrawling bot’s attention. Also, the content I provide needs to be fresh and utilizing the multiple phrases I have chosen to capture a consistent measure that the bot typically looks for. (The overall thing is that I want to make sure that the bot doesn’t think my blog is just reposting other’s work undermining its legitimacy.)

·         User experience is important to ensure that the information search is accessed quickly and looks professional. Users would take what information, weighing it more academically if I am very conscious of how I format the site’s layout, theme, and content.

·         Using social media effectively is extremely important. Keeping the keywords consistent amongst all my social media platforms, as well as my blog, will keep my opportunity more likely to be amongst the highest results for the search engines. Another added benefit would be to have users trained to look for those key words, potentially creating brand awareness.

Speaking to social media and its benefits, the media platforms I would have utilized would have been Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Having multiple types of content that are reflective of my keywords and consistent will allow me to be most effective for SEO results. Creating unique hashtags and images that correlate to my blog, its content, and brand will push the overall results for branding and SEO.

The main keyword that I would have chosen would be the title of my blog, which is #Entrepernu-whaaat? Other keywords that I would have associated with my brand would have been hashtagging: #entrepreneurship, #lifeofanentrepreneur, #entrepreneurialstartup. These three reflect the most general to more specific topics covered on the blog itself.

My most viral posts were my Interviewing Customers No. 2 and Idea Napkin No. 1. These two posts received equal number of comments and traffic compared to my other posts. As far as making it to the first page of a Google search, I was not successful and could not find my blog on any search result pages. However, with a plan like I have outlined in place from the beginning of the semester, I would have had better chances of being effective in doing so.

Week 14 Reading Reflections

From this week’s readings, I had the opportunity to piece together how the entrepreneurial mindset can be applied in corporate settings. What fascinated me the most was the need and understanding to not punish failures. Working for corporations most of my life, I always saw a punishment to negative results…even if the results were produced with the most available resources given and market demands. Combining social enterprising into the entrepreneurial mindset was discussed as well. Many brands and companies are finding being socially aware and committed to a cause not only helps their bottom line, but maintains their customer bases to be loyal. There wasn’t really anything confusing, questionable, or disagreeable about the readings this week, as I found them rather direct on the subjects presented. Two questions I’d like to ask the author would be: 1) How do you thing introducing corporate entrepreneurship will change many established companies within a market? 2) With ecopreneurship being a focus of many companies today, how do you think this will affect venture costs compared to past business ventures?

Week 13 Reading Reflections

This week from the learnings I found that the P/E method was quite fascinating. Taking the earnings expectations and calculating it out versus calculating a direct method can make a better argument for the price of your venture if you are going to sell or estimating the value itself. Some of the calculating was a little confusing to me at first, but made sense after reading over the terms several times. Two questions I would ask the author would be: what do you foresee as the future for ventures…selling quick to larger companies or holding out to make it as a small enterprise? Secondly, how will the role of larger firms in the marketplace affect the valuation of new start-ups when selling (i.e. Instagram being bought out by Facebook)? I really do not feel there was anything I would disagree with this week’s readings.

Celebrating Failure

This past semester has been a whirlwind for myself. Balancing between work and school engagements has been a real challenge for myself. One thing that I tried several times this semester was focusing on working full time this semester while taking two classes. I had done this in the past and done so with flying colors. Working 40+ hours a week and then managing to get all my assignments completed while I was in community college was no sweat at all. The difference in this semester versus then was the fact that I was taking a more challenging course load than what I was anticipating. Taking a statistics and the entrepreneurship class had many engaging assignments, unlike the courses I was taking in the community college. Managing my time to give the most quality to the assignments is what I was faced with this semester. The assignments that were the most demanding were the interview assignments which definitely put me out of my comfort zone. I did skip a couple of the interview assignments because I was feeling extremely uncomfortable. After attempting them several times, I found that I should have just pushed through and allowed mistakes to happen. What I found through taking this class is that blunders are going to happen and perfection is the mother that doesn’t allow you to grow-up. Even though you can plan for everything imaginable, the plans may not work out as you had hoped and you need to just go with the flow. Looking back to look forward, I will absolutely continue to be pushing myself to allow mistakes and failure to happen. I know I could have done much better within this course if I would have allowed for more mistakes to happen. I will be taking more risks to create failure to work though my awkwardness in the moment.

My Exit Strategy

What is my exit strategy for Drylivery?

Thinking about my exit strategy for Drylivery would be to build the business over a period of time maybe 5 years in specific markets and try to sell it for a larger return. My mindset for doing so would be to give enough time and energy to make the vision come through and ensure systems are in place for its success. After the venture has seen success and growth year over year, then I would sell. Selling the venture would be best because I would be able to focus on the next opportunity that arises for a new venture.

Why is this my exit strategy?

                The venture of delivering dry cleaning to customers and assisting professional dry cleaners in growing their amenities to their clients, the venture has a shelf life on it. With a general decline in dry cleaning services being used, it would only be a matter of time before the opportunity would not be appealing to customers. Also, selling the business at its peak would give me to opportunity to fund my next venture and/or give me more time to develop.

How has this strategy influenced you?

                The decisions I have made for the concept have been in mind with a five year plan. For example, utilizing existing businesses clientele would allow for a quick start up and the targeted demographic that we would need to facilitate the venture. Another key decision was the use of business leasing fees to generate higher cash flow to create a more appealing venture to investors and potential buyers alike. Knowing that I wanted a five year plan, I knew this opportunity could exist for only so long.

Week 12 Reflections

In Chapter 13, for this week’s readings, I was intrigued with the focus on how many ventures may not be as successful without proper planning. I found that planning is a necessity and the time spent one moment truly does save one from many hiccups along the way of any venture. I did not quite understand what the author was meaning by “moral failure”. Does moral failure mean that there is lack of trust between the entrepreneur’s vision and their trust in their team’s ability to carry out the vision? Also, another question I had was, is it possible for the venture’s typical life cycle to follow that of the economic business cycle? I did not find anything necessarily wrong with the author’s view points in the readings. I did, however, wonder why he used the term “managerial leadership”. From my experiences, many managers do not possess the leadership qualities it takes to be entrepreneurial. What I mean is, a manager does what they are told and reacts to the environment versus an entrepreneur who is consistently seeking out new ways of doing things and always trying to figure out how to adjust to a situation before it happens.

Idea Napkin No. 2

DRYlivery—Dry Cleaning delivery on your time…

1.       About Myself:   Who am I? I am a former retail store manager, with over 12 years of managerial experience in the corporate retail field. I have a passion for people and am driven by meeting customers’ expectations. “It begins and ends with the customer” is my mantra. My aspirations are to develop concept services/products that customers not only will find as time saving, but will be able to easily incorporate them in their day-to-day life. The role I want to play in DRYlivery is simple…own a service that delivers not only garments but world class service, exceeding customers’ expectations creating a more streamlined lifestyle.

2.       What am I offering:  DRYlivery is an extension of your current professional dry cleaning services. Customers can arrange dry cleaning pick-ups with delivery to their home or office at their convenience through our app, for a membership fee of $20 per month. For our professional dry cleaner partners, we are offering the opportunity for their business to grow with additional amenities while being able to focus on what they do best for their clients, for a partnership fee of $200 per month.

3.       Who are we offering DRYlivery to:  Our core customers are dry cleaning business owners and their customers. The focus is to add an additional service for both groups so they can focus streamlining their lives.

4.       Why do DRYlivery customers care:  DRYlivery is about creating a need for our professional dry cleaning partners to have the accessibility to stay competitive within their market, keeping their operational cost in-line, and attract new customers through our partnership. For DRYlivery customers, they get the added benefit of delivery on their time table while saving time and scheduling inconveniences.

5.       What is DRYlivery’s core competencies:  Our core competency is all about service…creating a powerful connection to our customers is what drives our business philosophies. Our goal is to recreate a “milk man” style delivery service where our customers feel connected to our brand. Philanthropy is an important service expectation to our company. Not only do we delivery customers’ dry cleaning, we will pick up garment donations which go to local charities.

·         Feedback Memo: Five main takeaways from peer feedback…

·   Creating a membership fee structure in order to be clear about the pricing of our services.

·   Being specific as to who is our clientele. Focusing on existing businesses’ need to stay relevant to their customers and expanding their opportunities to convey on such.

·   Adding a charitable initiative to our company. Giving back to our community creates stronger ties to customers.

·   Focusing on a service competency to drive customer loyalty keeping competition in check.

·   Utilize my retail management background to drive client partnerships and customer expectations.

Idea Napkin No. 1

DRYlivery—Dry Cleaning delivery on your time…

1.       About Myself: I am a retail field management veteran with over 14 years of experience. The talents I possess are being resourceful, figuring out other’s strengths, and taking difficult situation and transitioning them into more streamlined moments. I am customer-centric focused and believe that is the root for any business model to be successful. My aspirations for Drylivery is to create a service that its focus is making the lives of its customers easier by giving their time back to them instead of running daily errands. The role the business would play in my life would be to contribute giving time back to others. Time is a valuable resource and assisting others in having more of it gives the opportunity for a simpler healthier life.

2.       Drylivery is a dry cleaning delivery service. The inconvenience of forgetting to pick up your dry cleaning, not making it before they close, or wasting a lunch break by picking it up will be eliminated through Drylivery’s services. Similar to Uber, Drylivery will us a mobile application, in partnership with local professional dry cleaners, for customer to schedule pickup and delivery of their garments to their home or work place. For the owner/operator of the dry cleaner, their partnership cuts down amount of staff making deliveries allowing them to focus on what they do best for their customers.

3.       The demographics we would be offering these services to would be all customers whose dry cleaners have established partnerships with Drylivery. The dry cleaner partners of Drylivery benefit from lower operating costs by cutting back their expenses on delivery expenditures (such as gas, labor costs, workforce management, etc.); overall supporting better Profits/Losses.

4.       Customers and dry cleaner partners would care about Drylivery because it supports their goal of having more time to focus on what they do best. Delivery customers get a friendly convenient service that is an extension of their favorite dry cleaners. With the dry cleaner being able to keep their operational costs lower through phasing out in-house delivery services, Drylivery gives them the ability to optimize their operations more efficiently and effectively.

5.       Drylivery’s core competencies are customer experience, inclusion of the community’s businesses, and utilizing technology to help streamline day-to-day tasks. Another key competency is that we do not want to start a dry cleaning business, yet offer a service that will enhance businesses that have established their reputations as a community inspired business.

Business Evaluation

                After examining the element of the business, the one area that I cannot seem to piece together is whether customer would pay a monthly fee or on a per usage basis. Both have their advantages with monthly fees, we have cash flow up front for business operating expenses, while with per usage we have the opportunity to gain more customer through a no-commitment mentality. Another item to figure out is for our dry cleaning partners. With each dry cleaners’ business operating differently how easy would it be to incorporate user friendly technologies in their business to assist and potentially grow their business through our services. I feel like the big picture of having both businesses and customers benefit from our services is realistic. However, breaking down the specifics of how much Drylivery wants to invest in partnership technology and payment options is where there is a slight blur. 

Interviewing Customers No. 2

Takeaways from Interviewing Experience

·         I think now I have a better idea of who my clientele base is for my opportunity. After the first round of interviews I do not think I was asking the right questions to have anyone think why they do not use dry cleaning services. Now asking the question and diving deeper into the root of the issue, I can gain more insight into what customers are thinking.

·         I felt like last time I did not speak to the right customers. This time I think my questions were better so I received more well-rounded answers. How I adjusted “who my customer is” was to think through every customer has a different opportunity/reason for using or not using dry cleaning services. By using better questions I was better able to figure out those reasons and allow them to tell me what I needed to hear versus what answer I was looking for.

·         The changes I made to my questions were I incorporated the use of app usage versus dry cleaners usage. The results lead this round lead to an untapped customer base because of pricing and convenience of time.

·       What is different this round of customer interviews versus the last were that I found that all my interviewees had never or rarely use dry cleaning services. With this knowledge and knowing their reasons why they have rarely/never used a professional dry cleaner, I can tailor my opportunity to capturing an untapped customer who may not normally use these services by enticing them with promotional pricing and/or limited time upgraded services to create more value in their day to day lives.

·         Three Tips for Other Students:

o   I recommend having someone come with you to hold the camera or use a tripod. The flow of conversation wasn’t as easy from my perspective because I couldn’t focus on the customer as much as I’d like.

o   Have more questions that I can ask each person. By having a variety of questions, I would have had the ability to get more responses on different areas.

o   Choose a specific day and time to do the interviews. I chose different days and times. It would have been easier to do it all at one time frame to create consistency of mindset and interviews.

Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 Ranked Problems

1. Modernization of developing market—Shifting from a developed market to an emerging market can move jobs from one area of the world to another. With outsourcing being the main concern, preparing a developed market for this shift is imperative for continued growth and prosperity.

2. Water Pollution—Pollution of the oceans has taken a devastating toll on the quality of food sources from the ocean and the quantity of species ability to repopulate.

3. Air Pollution—Depleting the Ozone layer and increasing world temperatures, with shifts in global weather patterns, air pollution with continue to be an issue in the future.

4. Distribution of natural resources—With newer technologies and other advances, natural resources are needed to create these products. The issue is that some countries around the world control the world’s supply of specific resources.

5. Socio-political-cultural migrations—Migrations of people from their home countries to others can put a strain on their temporary hosts. These migrations can create housing issues and strain on food resources.

Top 5 Ranked Implemental Solutions

1. Modernization of developing market— Using job market research to create an education program that will impact high school students thinking of what future jobs may be exhausted by the time they graduate college. Utilizing this program can give a developing market the opportunity to prepare for those occupational shifts because of outsourcing due to technological or educational developments in emerging markets.

2. Socio-political-cultural migrations— Building in areas with ease of access to transportation and waterways in preparation for such events. Partnering experts in creating small-township like communities with convinces of their homeland.

3. Water pollution— Creating a need for change in regulations around oceanic pollutants and their clean up. The cleanup can create opportunities for job growth and development.

4. Air pollution— Utilizing cleaner technologies in developing countries first since costs are lower initially with lack of switching costs.

5. Distribution of natural resources— Creating an alternative way to produce or utilize a different resource to create these products.

Why were my first world problem and solution my first choices out of my top 5 list?

The reason I chose modernization of developing/emerging markets as the top problem I foresee is due to the increase of competition and push for lower cost labor. With this in mind, many emerging markets can come to a screeching halt if, like established markets, are not continuing to push the reaches of innovation and education. As we continue to see technology shift and mold new niches for every market set, we will find that emerging markets have the opportunity to adjust faster given their weaker infrastructure when it comes to education and job training. This is why my solution for the modernizing emerging market is the most implementable. With the right people and vision, creating an educational structure to meet market demands, while forecasting new opportunities, will ensure that outsourced jobs do not continue to become outsourced to the next emerging market because the current market is prepared for the rising occasion.

Week 3 Reading Reflections

Week 3 Reading Reflections

Through this week’s readings, I found the study of and examination of the dark side of entrepreneurship interesting. The various types of risk associated with maximizing an opportunity to create value around the solution can have risks financially, on a career track, for family, socially, not to mention the psychic risks that can all lead to stress on the individual or the other aspects of their life. The reading overall this chapter I felt was rather straight forward focusing on the pitfalls of risks and while balancing ethical dilemmas. Two questions I would like to ask the author would be:

1.       What role does the obstacle of controlling stress play in the longevity of successful entrepreneurs?

2.       How has the incorporation of ethics in entrepreneurial decisions effected the innovation and playing field for entrepreneurs versus larger corporate entities?

There wasn’t anything that I’d disagree content wise with the author. I felt as though the content in the chapter helped shape a new perspective on how things have changed since the financial collapse of the early 2000s and how that has shaped entrepreneurial decisions.

Identifying Local Opportunities

Identifying Local Opportunities

·         “Andres Oppenheimer: The future of our jobs.” –Miami Herald, Miami, FL

o   Synopsis: This article discusses the potential technology has of wiping out over five million jobs over the next five years. Data examined at last week’s World Economic Forum showed that many of jobs (like sales persons, cashiers, assembly workers) will be phasing out with the new advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology.

o   Issue: With many countries continuing to develop and utilize technology more daily, many people who do not have the technical skills cannot keep up with the job market demands. It is estimated that 65% of children entering primary school today will be working in jobs that do not exist yet. The root of the issues is how each country’s education system is going to redevelop itself in order to produce more mathematicians, engineers, computer scientists, and architects for the future job markets.

o   Whose problem: Every country around the world will face this problem. The sector that is most involved with the issue is each countries’ education system, both public and private.

·         “Misconceptionsof holes population lead to challenges for some”—Dothan Eagle, Dothan, AL

o   Synopsis: A human interest story that discusses the misconceptions of what defines homelessness. The focus of the article is centered around a man who holds a job, seeks financial advice from his local bank, and yet is homeless. Looking past his story and into the bigger picture you find that there are many misconceptions of who and what homelessness is. Also, homelessness could comprise of those who are incapable of holding a job due to mental illness, single parents that cannot afford child care or have access to child care services, and people with substance abuse afflictions.

o   Issue: Many rural areas do not have accurate counts or statistics to provide federal agencies on their homeless population to receive adequate funding to support charities or assistance programs. Without proper funds communities cannot provide the support or service needed to assist their homeless population.

o   Whose problem: In this article the city of Dothan and the Alabama Rural Coalition for the Homeless are the entities citing the problem; however, this is an issue for many rural cites and areas that have a misunderstanding of the new look of homelessness.

·         “Rapetest kits; Rapists must be identified”—The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, FL

o   Synopsis: The state of Florida has a back log of over 13,000 rape kits that have not been tested. With so many rape kits untested, 1,300 alone in the Jacksonville area, rapists and serial rapist can continue to commit these crimes.

o   Issue: Florida has no statutes or laws on record stating a specific time frame for when a rape kit should be processed. Also, there are no procedures on record on how to prevent future back logs of untested kits. One point the article does not bring up is what are the resources the state has available to test these kits, or is there the opportunity for the state to source an independent lab to do the testing of the kits? Another problem not mentioned in the article is funding of the testing of these kits and would tax payers pay for the processing…if so, how can the state keep costs down.

o   Whose problem: The problem lies within the state of Florida and its laws that do not require for testing.

·         “FreeParking—In 2014, Sarasota’s parking manager was prepared for a seriousconversation about the need for paid parking — so why have officials continuedto delay that discussion?”—The Sarasota Observer, Sarasota, FL

o   Synopsis: The city of Sarasota is having issues creating revenues for its parking fund, which is running a deficit. City officials are now addressing the issue once again, however not able to come up with any alternatives that make sense.

o   Issue: Since the city is having issues creating parking policies for funding, the city’s parking fund is creating a deficit. Also, the recommendations that have been made do not make logical sense according to city officials appointed to resolve the issue. For example, a suggestion to only have people pay who use the street for parking, while people who use parking garages remain unchanged.

o   Whose problem: The citizens and city official of Sarasota.

·         ” PanamaCity Beach urges court not to delay new Spring Break rules”—The News Herald, Panama City, FL

o   Synopsis: The city of Panama City Beach has provisional ordinances that would prevent drinking alcoholic beverages on the beaches during the month of March, the primary month of Spring Break. With its history of having a strong insurgence of college students ready to party off their semester blues, the city is tired of the overstretching of resources, increase in criminal activity, and increase in first responders calls Spring Break has created.

o   Issue: Locals are fed up with the excessive partying college students have during spring break and all the problems it creates. The city has created protocol to address the citizens’ concerns, but not without its objection. A number of business have entered a class suit against the city saying it is infringing on their rights and pursuit of commerce.

o   Whose problem: The city of Panama City Beach, surrounding communities, citizens, visitors, and business owners of the City of Panama City Beach

*Article titles are hyperlinks to news articles.

Bug List

Bug List

1.       The traffic light at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 23^rd street takes too long to change if you’re trying to go across 23^rd street. If a vehicle pulls up to the traffic light on 23^rd street, the traffic light on Michigan Avenue changes almost immediately.

a.       Why: The City views 23^rd street as a main roadway to get traffic in and out of the town onto highway 98 or onto highway 231. 23^rd street would be considered more of a priority than Michigan Ave.

2.       Trying to find the right product on Amazon.com through using product reviews written by other purchasers. (Example: buying bedding)

a.       Why: Amazon.com welcomes the feedback of its customers; however, when a customer gives a review they may not have followed the care instructions properly or did through research on the product before purchasing it themselves. Also, you have customers who have never used the product giving a review being paid by the manufacturer to give a higher rating, equating to higher orders for the product.

3.       The possibility of a ban on plastic microbeads used in facial and body cleansers, like Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Exfoliating cleanser.

a.       Why: The plastic microbeads used to give a person a gentle exfoliation are leading to waterway pollution. These tiny microbeads are being eaten by fish, clogging up water treatment facilities, and do not break down in the environment; thus, leading to a ban on them being used in body care products. (I need a gentle exfoliate though…)

4.       WOW cable provider changing its channel programming creating few channel packages for customers at higher prices.

a.       Why: WOW has been having issues keeping costs lower to customers because they are saying television stations want more money for using them in their cable packages.

5.       Trying to find men’s denim that does not have stretch in it at American Eagle Outfitters.

a.       Why: The merchandise buyers foresee a trend of stretch denim being the next “big” thing in men’s since women’s denim sales have increased with the addition of the material into the denim fabric.

6.       A water, sewage, and garbage bill over $90.00 a month from the City of Panama City.

a.       Why: With the addition of adding city water to outlying areas, the City of Panama City has lost money on the venture trying to make up losses through charging citizens more.

7.       Finding help at a Kohl’s department store during the middle of the week.

a.       Why: Most retailers have been doing minimum scheduling of labor to cut expenses during the week, saving most payroll expenses for the weekends. Also, cutting positions and delegating those responsibilities among other employees.

8.       Not enough checkout lanes open at Walmart on 23^rd street during mid-afternoon.

a.       Why: The supervisors are not making the employees take their breaks during the first rush of customers, so when an unexpected rush of customer come through multiple cashiers are on break creating longer check out times.

9.       Trying to remember to bring loyalty cards to retailers when shopping.

a.       Why: There are so many different stores I frequent and keeping them all in one place is difficult because some are so small.

10.   Collared shirts becoming too tight in the neck, yet fitting through the body of the shirt.

a.       Why: The fit I need is slimmer through the body of the shirt, but a wider neck size because of having board shoulders.

11.   Keeping up with all my email accounts.

a.       Why: Between work, school, and personal email accounts, there are so many that I have to check. Always wish it was easier to check them all at once.

12.   Trying to dispose of paperwork with sensitive information.

a.       Why: I always let paperwork pile up that has sensitive information. Home office paper shredders cannot handle the capacity of documents without overheating.

13.   Having to search for the right gift for someone you do not know that well.

a.       Why: With very few clues to go based off of, trying to find the most appropriate gift for someone, that you do not know that well, can be very difficult and stressful.

14.   Bags inside of cereal bags

a.       Why: They are not re-sealable bags, which makes the cereal stale quicker over time.

15.   Chrome by Google has stopped supporting internet Flash.

a.       Why: Google stopped the use of supporting Flash because of the lack of internet security that software feature offers.

16.   Breaking in uncomfortable men’s dress shoes.

a.       Why: Men’s dress shoes are typically made with hard leathers or structured with plastic shapers making them uncomfortable, not to mention no traction on good leather soled dress shoes.

17.   Grocery shopping at different stores to find the better deals.

a.       Why: Grocery stores offer different deals or have better pricing on particular items. By the time you go from store to store picking up what you though was the better price, your spending more time and money which makes it the same price as its competitors.

18.   Having to wait for a server to bring the bill to the table or walk off with my debit/credit card to charge the card.

a.       Why: Many times you’re ready to leave the restaurant your server may be busy with other guests or side work that has to be completed before the end of their shift. Also, not allowing a card to be within eyesight of the customer allows the opportunity for overcharging, fraud, or identity theft to happen.

19.   Paying more at the gas pump for fuel using a debit/credit card versus paying cash.

a.       Why: Many gas retailers try to offset the cost of transaction fees incurred by their merchant service provider.

20.   Not having more options for public transportation or private transportation services in the Panama City/Panama City Beach area.

a.       Why: With the lack of options of public and private transportation services increases the amount of traffic on road ways and can make it difficult for those who seek employment but cannot afford a personal vehicle. The lack of private options also leads to higher transportation rates for customers who use their services.

What I found difficult about this particular assignment was finding things that bug me that I could provide positive solutions to or create a value out of the need formed. It was quite difficult to come up with a list of 20 things that specifically bugged myself.