Thursday, May 28, 2020

8A- Solving The Problem


Federal Skills Trades Program – Apply Canadian Immigration in Skills

The problem I identified earlier has to with high schools and how students are lacking the access and opportunity to learn new trades and skills in classes. I would solve this problem by starting a petition that I would get students and parents to sign which would help persuade the school board to bring back these essential electives. I understand that budget cuts are the main reason why school's stopped these classes in the first place, but I think if they see the bigger picture they will realize how much this would help students and our society by allowing kids to get the exposure and learn these skills at an early age. I don't think people realize until they get older how essential construction workers like welders and auto mechanics really are to our community and that every big job requires little jobs in order to be complete. I think a good alternative solution to this problem if the school can't afford to bring it back would be to provide clubs after school that students could participate in so that they can get hand on experience with different skills. One way we could do this is by hosting a donation drive that people could donate their own tools or extra items so that kids could get the access to play with them or learn from them. I also think contacting the local community for skilled workers and asking them to come in and talk to kids about their profession could be beneficial and helpful for students to talk to real life workers in specializations that may be super interesting to them. I think if enough people worked together, we could form a community that makes sure kids get the opportunity to learn trades and skills.

7A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunity: I decided to test the opportunity I chose for Assignment 4A. I believe there is a need for High Schools to provide electives that teach kids skills and trades like wood working, mechanics, and home economics. Many schools like mine never offered these classes to us and I think many people could benefit from this opportunity.

Who: The primary customers would be teenagers about to enter the real world who could benefit from learning new trades they may have never encountered before and are valuable to society.

What: High Schools don't have enough resources to provide these tools and classes, so many kids go their whole life without learning essential trades that they could potentially learn to love or have a natural gift in that would allow them the opportunity to pursue a successful career.

Why: Many public schools have had to go through major budget cuts and since these classes are not seen as academically essential they were the first ones to be cut from the program. Since these skills and trades aren't offered in the curriculum, many students are not exposed to learn these skills which are always in need for the workforce.

Hypothesis Testing:

Testing the who: I think it would be beneficial for most people to be exposed to these types of skills and trade. I believe that if high schools provided these classes that many students can get exposed to these at a young age which would allow them to carry these skills for the rest of their life. 

Testing the what: I believe the boundary of this need is the limited access and exposure that many kids don't get growing up. I think if schools included these classes it could interest a lot of kids who are not as academically driven and could allow them the opportunity to learn about a new field in the workforce.

Testing the why: I think the why kinda goes with what I said in the above point. Many kids in school don't like the academic classes and have the idea that college is not for them. If high schools provided these classes I believe these students and even the ones planning on going to college would take advantage of this opportunity. I also think that exposure to these skills will open up another door for students to go to trade school and get an essential job that is always needed in the workforce. I also think it is important for everyone to learn these skills that could help them in everyday life. 

Interviews: 

Interview #1: The first person I interviewed was my boyfriend who is working in construction. He agrees that he wished he had the opportunity in high school to get exposed to some of the tools he is using now. Many people he works with have never gone to college and agree that school would be more beneficial if it included these classes in the curriculum.

Interview #2: I also got the chance to interview my mom who is a school teacher. She is an active advocate for schools to start including these classes. She has seen first hand many of her intelligent students who are just not interested in academics at all and she thinks this a great opportunity for kids to see the other options of future careers that they could potentially do.

Interview #3: I also interviewed my friend who is a welder and who went to trade school after high school. He said he would of loved if our high school had these classes as options and that he would actually look forward to going to school.

Interview #4: I interviewed a worker who does some maintenance for our yard. He expressed how he wish he had that during school and believes that they should bring those classes back. He is also in need of hiring other workers who know how to use these tools and believes there would be a greater number of these skilled workers if they had that exposure during high school.

Interview #5: Lastly, I interviewed my friends dad who owns his own electrical engineering company. He had these classes when he went to high school and he said that is the reason he is so handy today because he was exposed to these skills at an early age. He also said that there is a decreasing number of people who are going to trade schools or learning the skills needed to execute a big job. 

Summary: After getting the chance to interview all these people I am way more confident that this opportunity is worthwhile to pursue. The only big challenge to this is trying to persuade the government school fund to increase their budget to allow them to implement these classes for students. I think many people would benefit from this idea and allow students the opportunity to learn new skills and trades that will be useful and utilized in the future.

6A- Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Opportunity #1: Ominous News as the Economy Re-Opens
A) Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/miltonezrati/2020/05/26/ominous-news-as-the-economy-re-opens/#2e90dbe81537
B) Many companies and businesses didn't expect the economy to be as drastic as it has been due to COVID-19. At first, many businesses closed down and cut back their cost but not enough to the point of them still being able to run their business. Many of these companies face the decision of whether or not they should downsize or permanently shut down. I could see this as an opportunity to plan always for the worst circumstances and to look at your business from a future perspective. I know these circumstances are unique and no one knows what the future holds but many business owners should look for new customer opportunities that will develop after this pandemic that many people would not see.
C) The prototypical customer is many business owners who have had to temporarily shut-down during this pandemic. With the economy uncertain many people are having to look for new solutions to make money. I know some restaurants are working very hard by hand-delivering food to people's houses and setting deals for family portions at half the price. 
D) I think this opportunity would be hard to exploit, especially during this time when people are struggling to put food on the table. I think that some people though will take this time to discover new ideas or hobbies that they enjoy that could be a potentially new idea for the market. 

I think many people are confused and anxious about what the future holds. Personally, I know many people who have lost their jobs during this time and they seem to have a very optimistic attitude about what their plan is after this. A lot of people are taking out loans to keep their business up instead of actually analyzing how they are going to come back from this pandemic. I think it really unique how many people have picked up other small jobs or hobbies to pass time that could actually be the start of a small business. For example, my neighbor is a chef and started making meal-prep dinners that could be sold in a large quantity that many of my family and neighbors have enjoyed. 


Opportunity #2: How Loosening Regulations can fight Coronavirus and Help the Economy
B) I think that loosening up regulations will give many small businesses the opportunity to keep going and make enough profit to keep up their shop and business running so they don't have to file for bankruptcy. I think these new regulations will also allow consumers the opportunity to go back to their normal shopping habits especially since these regulations are lowering tariffs for other countries to import their products here.
C) I think the prototypical customer will be a majority of the American population who have been affected by COVID-19. Many citizens have their own business and could really benefit from these new regulations that will allow them to start running again. It will also help the economy in general by allowing money to flow back into our accounts for us to spend and help normalize our lives.
D) I think with these new regulations will allow this opportunity to be relatively easier to exploit than before. I think we are all eager to go back to our normal lives and I think these regulations will really allow for businesses and consumers to start this process slowly.

I formed this belief because I really value our economy and I think this is the best option to help us get back on our feet. I understand that it will take a long time for things to get back to normal but I think these baby steps of loosening regulations are the best move forward for many businesses. I believe that this will help us to start getting back into a routine and that it will save a lot of businesses from going bankrupt. 

Opportunity #3: U.S. Regulatory Trends- 2019 and Beyond
B) Online currency has been a growing trend and it has grown even higher recently due to this pandemic. That being said, I believe there is an opportunity for cyber-security to grow and increase in popularity and efficiency especially in the financial industry. As cyber-security gets better so do the masterminds behind the criminal act. I believe that people can sometimes be desperate and since COVID-19 has happened more people are becoming even more desperate for money. 
C) I believe that most businesses are in need of better cyber-security, especially ones in the Financial industry. No company wants to go through that and I think since the government has made more regulations to protect their privacy with new cyber-security it will help lower this threat a lot more. 
D) I think this opportunity will be hard to exploit. New technology is being invented every day and some hackers may always be a step ahead of the game with nothing you can do. I think this opportunity will help lessen that threat but not fully.

This summer I am working as an intern at a financial investment company and I have seen first hand how important cyber-security is to a business. I think sometimes it can be overlooked but it is the protector from the outside world so they can't access important information. I can easily see this trend growing and I was happy to read that the government is doing more by regulating companies' privacy.

Opportunity #4: Stocks Rise on Hopes for Economic Recovery
B) As the economy is slowly opening back up, the stock market has a lot of potentials to flourish again. Many airline restrictions and commerce have been lifted which allows plenty of investors to take advantage of that opportunity by buying stocks in this sector of the economy. Also, with the reopening of new businesses, there is plenty of opportunities for investors to start buying those stocks at a low price with major potential for a profit.
C) I think the prototypical customer for this opportunity would be people who are either investors or follow the stock market to realize the potential that their money could make if they start buying stocks. I understand how this probably is mostly an opportunity for families who were not as financially affected by COVID-19 and have the blessing of having enough extra money to take apart if this opportunity. 
D) I think opportunity will be relatively easy to exploit if you have the knowledge and interest in investing in the stock market. I think for people who watch the economy everyday will have a great advantage to invest their money.

I believe this opportunity is one that I saw relatively easily because I have the opportunity to intern at a financial investment firm where I hear about the new stock market opportunities everyday. I don't think many other people have this opportunity in mind especially during this time in the pandemic. I think the people who are interested should take advantage of this economic prosperity. 

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

5A- Identifying Local Opportunities

1) Coronavirus derails Sunrail plans for local control
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-ne-sunrail-future-post-coronavirus-20200526-qf3cfxqsorauxaro4bcpx2rj4a-story.html
The Sunrail had original plans to expand its operation to DeBary but Coronavirus has withheld those plans. With budget cuts, the city has to find a new way to pay for this public transportation and find a way to regain its popularity. During this pandemic, it will be hard to market public transportation because many people are still wary about traveling in close vicinity to other people in public. For the past six years, Sunrail has grown in the number of rides and locations that people can choose from. The problem is on the city and how they are going to fund and get the Sunrail back up on its feet. Many other public transportation like the Lynx bus have had similar problems due to COVID-19. Not only does this affect the Sunrail business but it also its many customers that relied on its service to go to and from work every day. I really hope the new election in 2022 will allow the commission for the Sunrail to expand and start its operations normally again.

2) With their labs closed, UCF researchers focus on Coronavirus projects
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronavirus/os-ne-coronavirus-pandemic-prompts-dozens-of-covid-research-at-ucf-20200523-us34ktp74rdxne5g7ym6ufuvxi-story.html
I found this article interesting to read. I think it amazing what scientist are doing to try and prevent Coronavirus during their time off of their other research projects. This article focuses on a UCF researcher, Dr. Kinzel who is spending his time trying to come up with a solution to thicken saliva so it doesn't travel as far and infect as many people. The article mentioned how at UCF there is over 25 projects going on focusing on COVID-19 at their College of Medicine. The article also mentions how they are studying the affects of social distances and staying at home and how it has impacted people. I think this study will be very beneficial to everyone that has been impacted from this pandemic. I am glad to read about how people are going out of their way to find solutions to help the community.

3) Florida coronavirus case total approaches 52k, death toll hits 2252
Coronavirus has gone up to 5279 cases this last week which is more than our states previous weeks. Florida's death toll has also increased and this week had 264 deaths. They mentioned an 83 year old lady who has not traveled once during this pandemic has recently passed from being exposed to it. The article also included a graph that tracks the death tolls in all 50 states. I was surprised to see that our nations cases has hit 1.6 million and will continue to rise. I think this article did a great job of highlighting the recent updates on COVID-19 not only in Florida but the rest of the world. At the end of the article they give us a link to a site that list the symptoms of COVID-19. I think it was also really cool of the article to include a list of ways to protect yourself. I think this problem has affected everyone living in Florida. Shop owners and other attractions have been delayed and capacity size is 25% in public places which will hopefully help small business and people get back to their regular lifestyle.

4) Pandemic Portraits: Orlando's frontline workers still show up 
This article focuses on our local heroes who are still showing up to work despite this pandemic. They have been working tirelessly to make sure our city doesn't go hungry and that we can stay safe and healthy. The article interviewed many essential workers which summarized what they are doing to provide us with everything we need. One worker they interviewed was a Mail man who emphasized how important mail is during this time with lots of people unemployed and relying on their stimulus check and or medicine they need while in quarantine. I was happy to read that these people like nurses, teachers, and police officers are finally getting the recognition they deserve and a chance to express themselves. These people are local heroes and we could not function as a society without them. Thank you all for everything you do.

5) Where to find free meals in South Florida during the coronavirus pandemic
Due to this pandemic many organizations like Broward and Palm beach county Public schools are making an effort to feed families for free. Their main concern is making sure that no one goes to bed hungry. I thought this was a very useful article and was glad to see that so many organizations took apart of this trend to help people in need. The article goes on to list many organizations that are giving out free meals and their details and location. Some organizations include, Central Broward Regional Park, Coral Squares Mall, Holy Mackerel Brewery, Launderhill Sports Park, and Pollo Tropical. Many families are in need to put food on the table and with COVID-19 some families need some help to do that because of unemployment. I think these times have brought us much closer as a community and it is exciting to see everyone work together not just for profit but for the greater good. 




Thursday, May 21, 2020

4A- Forming an Opportunity Belief



QUIZ: Should You Go to a Trade School Instead of College ...

1) Your Beginning Point: Schools no longer offer classes to provide skills to learn new trades such as auto mechanics, wood shops, and home economics.

2) Describe your belief: I believe schools like High school should include electives that teach students everyday skills and trades that they are not usually exposed to. I believe there is a shortage now for students and people who know how to change a tire and basic woodworking skills. These skills are essential in the real business world and I think it is sad that this is not a common area that people are exposed to. I think people who are not as successful academically in school or not financially able to go to college should get the opportunity to explore different fields where they may find success and a possible future job. This need is due to budget cuts in school. When my parents went to school they had the option to go to the wood shop and learn how to build things and learn to work on cars. I think these classes should be offered as electives because it would provide opportunities for people who have never been exposed to these everyday skills. The way people are dealing with this now is paying to go to trade school when they could have had this exposure early on in life. Also, since many people have no experience with this they may have not even discovered that a certain trade is their passion or that they are very skilled at a certain practice. I think many people are not exposed to or aware of this opportunity. If schools provided it as an elective there would be a 100% opportunity for students to have access to these new skills and learn what they would probably never have been exposed to. For the people who don't like school or can't graduate, they can be introduced into a new field they would not have known about and go to trade school to get better for just the fraction of cost that going to college would be.

Prototypical Customer #1: The first prototypical customer I talked to was my good friend Jack who never was a big fan of school and ended up going to trade school for welding. He said he probably would have been way more engaged in school if they offered different skill classes which he could explore and try out. He noted how he wished that trade school and skills that don't require a bachelors degree should become more normalized and that people should be exposed to these options at a younger age. He decided to go to trade school while still in high school because he knew college would never be for him. He is extremely successful at construction company and is making a solid living salary.

Prototypical Customer #2: The second prototypical customer I talked to was a guy that works around our house and around our neighborhood for different families. He expressed how he thought there was a desperate need for people who know how to be a carpenter. His business is growing and he is in need to find people with these skills but there are very few people who specialize in this. He said it takes him a lot longer to do projects because he works for himself and has yet to find someone to hire that could efficiently help him. He agreed that high schools should offer these basic skill classes so that more people are exposed to these and have a better idea of how it all works.

Prototypical Customer #3: I decided to interview my mom about this idea and she 100% agrees that high schools should still offer these trade skill classes. She told me that when she went to school they had a wood working shop and an auto mechanic elective that you could choose to take. She was disappointed to see that my generation did not have this option. She has noticed recently that construction and mechanic jobs are always in high demand and that many of the kids she teaches have no interest or have had no prior exposure to these sorts of high demand crafts. She believes that schools should bring these back because she feels it is a lost job route for people and especially for kids who don't know exactly what they want to do with their life.

Reflection: I was actually very happy and surprised with my results after talking to these people. I am glad that people realize how this is a lost art that kids should be exposed to throughout their education. I learned that trade skills will always be needed and utilized wherever you end up. If I hypothetically started a construction company I would need people with these wood working skills to help execute a project. I learned that society doesn't value these skills as much as they should be and I believe still that these skills should be exposed to students. I also was surprised to hear that many high school dropouts may have stayed in school if they knew about the other types of jobs out there that require hands on attention. 

Summary: I believe this opportunity still exists and should be considered to start coming back into the high school curriculum. If budget cuts forbid this I think there is still an opportunity to educate students about the different skills and trades that many of them probably haven't thought twice about. I think it is really important to start normalizing going to trade school and teaching kids real life skills that will always be needed in the workforce. I don't think my opportunity changed much from this exercise but I gained a lot of insight into why it is important. I think entrepreneurs should adapt accordingly to customer feedback. For this specific example, I gained a lot of knowledge about how other people feel about the subject and it fit in really well with my belief. If this was a brand new opportunity I think it is a good idea to do trial and error to see how the customers respond and adapt to a new product. 

Monday, May 18, 2020

3A -Your Entrepreneurship Story

Service Complete Electric | Service Complete Electric
I have not had the opportunity to meet many entrepreneurs, however my boyfriend's father Anthony Scruggs is probably the most hard working and dedicated entrepreneur I know. He started his career by graduating with a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from the University of Clemson. He moved down to Florida because of all the opportunities he had there with theme parks and tourist attractions. He started working for a Universal company and after working there for a few years he realized that he knew more about what he was doing than his boss. After this realization, he decided that he wanted to start his own company which is now known as Service Complete Electric. He is extremely successful now but that is not how it always was. He was a hard worker who managed to work from 9 am to 5 pm, sleep a few hours, then go out to Universal when the attractions closed and work from 10 pm till 4 am in the morning and sleep a few hours and start his day again. He did this for about 4 months and all the hard work paid off. He also never ran his own business before and has had to file for bankruptcy twice throughout his career. He never gave up though and learned from his mistakes to make the company stronger and more successful. Anthony Scruggs is one of the most independent and hard workers I have ever met. There is never an obstacle that he won't face or try to fix himself. He enjoys learning new things and almost all of his house was built with the help from him and his two hands. He still works almost 12 hours a day but he has helped build many popular attractions like Volcano Bay, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, as well as the Men in Black Alien Attack ride at Universal Studios. His hard work has definitely paid off and I love hearing about his progress and his next project that he is working on.

I chose to take ENT3003 because I think entrepreneurship is the coolest job route to take. You become your own boss and can pick a career field that you are interested in and good at. I took this class because I would love to learn the way an entrepreneurs mind thinks and the steps they take to create their own business. In a perfect world, I would love to just work for myself and no body else and I think this is a great class to stick my foot in the water. I hope to learn about different entrepreneurs and the routes and steps they took to get where they were today. Some of the richest people I know are entrepreneurs and I also think I can say some of the smartest as well. I would love to have my eyes more open and aware after this class of all the different opportunities in the world that could use improvements or a better system that would produce effectiveness.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

2A Bug List

What's the Difference Between Bugs and Insects? | Mental Floss

1

1. At the beginning of COVID 19 all families were in a rush to stock up on toilet paper and hand sanitizer and many other families like mine were left without any supplies.
Why? This pandemic was very scary and new, and many people did not know what to expect so they were looking out for themselves to make sure that they had enough supplies without thinking about the rest of the population going through the same thing.
2. My neighbor always parks his truck right in front of our house instead of his garage and when the street cleaner comes, that spot on our street never gets clean.
Why? My neighbor is an active fisherman who prioritizes his garage and driveway for his boat and trailer without caring that his truck is always in our space.
3. If my whole family takes a shower before me there isn’t enough hot water for me to have a pleasant shower.
Why? For some reason, my family thinks the best time to shower is right before I come home from work because that is a typical time to shower and they don’t think about how that is my only prime time to shower.
4. Hot dogs come in a pack of 6 but hot dog buns come in a pack of 8 so we always waste 2 hot dog buns.
Why? Hot dog buns are cheaper to make than hot dogs themselves so they can make more of a profit by increasing the number of buns in a pack because they know that it is a necessity when making hot dogs.
5. The Starbucks line in the morning before work is always excessively long but I need my coffee in the morning and waste an extra 20 minutes in the morning to get it.
Why? Starbucks is the most common coffee brand and many people like me have the same idea of wanting that every morning and prioritize buying instead of making coffee even though we give up time and money to get it.
6. My dog always barks in the morning when my mom leaves so, she gives her a treat which stops the barking for only 1 minute and once she leaves for work my dog will continue to bark while I am trying to sleep.
Why? My mom thinks that giving her a treat will make her stop barking but, I think my dog has learned that if she barks in the morning, she will get a treat.
7. Chick-fil-a breakfast ends at 10:30 instead of going all day.
Why? Chick-fil-a already has an edge on their competitors like McDonalds and Burger King and they don’t see a need to keep breakfast all day like other fast food restaurants because their food is always in popular demand regardless of their delicious breakfast.
8. Buying a plane ticket for cheap but then realizing all the extra fees make it so at the end you really didn’t get a deal at all.
Why? This promotes business because when people see cheaper flights, they are more willing to travel. Once you buy the ticket you are more likely to keep it because of the travel plans you made even though you end up paying way more than expected.
9. My cat wants the most attention while I am sleeping.
Why? Cats are naturally nocturnal, so we have different sleeping schedules which interfere with my sleeping in.
10. My iPhone immediately becomes slower and has more glitches right after a new iPhone comes out.
Why? Apple is a genius and wants you to keep buying their new expensive phones even though you bought the newest generation 2 years ago for $1000.
11. Many of my core classes at UF have just consisted of three exams for the whole semester. This has always bothered me because some people are not the best test takers and you have no other assignments to show otherwise.
Why? I think this is because they are weed out classes that want to make sure you know everything, but I think there are better ways of doing this. I also believe it makes the professors life a lot easier only having to grade three assignments per student the whole semester.
12. When buying a nice bathing suit, they come in separate pieces, top and bottom, so you must buy both to have just one outfit.
Why? They advertise it smart so when you are looking at just the top piece you see the whole set which makes you want both. They also make the price of just the top piece looks like it would be for both, so they trick you into buying both.
13. The radio channels always seem to be playing ads at the same time.
Why? They know what time that people are listening to the radio the most like rush hour, so they choose to place their advertisements during those times.
14. My Bluetooth headphones always hook up to my phone when I am trying to hook them up to my laptop.
Why? I mostly use these headphones for my phone, so my Bluetooth is used to connecting to my phone first because I forget to turn off Bluetooth.
15. Going to the DMV is always at least a two-hour experience.
Why? The DMV is used for many different services which almost everyone I know has gone to one at least once. I also think the workers are in no rush to get through people since there is a constant line no matter what.
16. My cat chooses to play with my hair tie instead of the many cat toys I have bought for her.
Why? Cats are easily entertained and can find a toy with anything. Suppliers of cat toys make the toys so cute and fun that cat owners want to spoil their cat even though the cat would be content with just about anything.
17. My boyfriend sleeping peacefully and sleeping in while I must get up early and go to work.
Why? His internship got cancelled due to COVID 19, so he has become a night owl playing video games while I must get back into a routine which is very hard.
18. People who litter on purpose.
Why? They just want the trash out of their hands at that moment and are lazy and have no regard for the environment and how it effects the planet.
19. People who cut in front of you at music festivals because “their whole group is up there” and they end up just standing alone 10 feet in front of you.
Why? They are being selfish and want to get as close to the stage as possible even if it means pushing and shoving your way up through all the people just trying to enjoy the concert.
20. When people go in the 10 item or fewer grocery line with more than 10 items.
Why? They still have fewer items than a normal shopping trip and don’t want to waste their time waiting in a long line with people who have 50 items.
21. My jeans are always too short on me.
Why? I am a 5’10 girl with long legs and most companies make jeans that fit more average sized females because that is more of the popular demand.

Reflection: This assignment was a bit more difficult than I thought because every time I see something that bugs me it doesn’t stay in my memory that long and I forget. I tried to pick bugs that were related to me and my personal experience. After thinking of 10 the last 10 for some reason came very easily to me and I had way more examples come to mind right after I finished the 20th.  I thought this assignment was a great way to critically think of why this stuff bothers me and the reason it happens. I get why entrepreneurs must think this way because without knowing the root of the problem there is no way to fix it. 

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Kendall's First Blog Post!

Hey everyone this is my very first time creating a blog. Can't wait to use this and interact with everyone in class.🌛🌞🌜