Friday, September 27, 2019
9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2
Who: From doing my interviews, I learned
that although some people have a lot in common with others in my opportunity,
they fall outside the boundary due to various reasons. Two of the people I
interviewed are college students who consume nicotine, but only when they are
in a social setting. This means that they only consume it when offered. While
these people do in fact enjoy the feeling they get from nicotine, I would not consider
them addicts, which is why they fall outside the boundary for my opportunity.
What: When I was interviewing people, I
asked everyone whether or not they believe they are a nicotine addict. Of
course, most people denied this even if they are in fact an addict. Two guys in
their mid-twenties that I interviewed told me they consider a nicotine addict
as someone who consumes it almost every day. They also explained that people
who are addicts purchase the nicotine products themselves and they constantly
crave nicotine. I completely agree with them.
Why: I do believe the underlying cause of
the outsiders’ need is different than people who are in the boundary. Another
college student I interviewed said that most nicotine addicts grew up around
people that used a lot of nicotine products. Because they were always around it
growing up, they eventually began consuming it as well. People outside the
boundary may not have been heavy exposed to nicotine until they came to college.
Inside
the Boundary
|
Outside
the Boundary
|
|
Who
|
People who consume nicotine daily
|
People who only consume nicotine when
they are in a social setting
|
What
|
People who purchase nicotine products for
personal consumption
|
People who only use nicotine products when
offered
|
Why
|
People are were heavily exposed to
nicotine at a young age
|
People who were not exposed to nicotine
until they came to college
|
Friday, September 20, 2019
8A - Solving The Problem
I am going
to create a product the helps people stop their nicotine addiction. Because I
do not have the expertise to create such a product, I am going to have to
consult with someone who does. I hoping the formulate some sort of pill that
addicts can take. This pill will release different things into their body that
will relieve addicts of their constant nicotine craving. This is going to be
something that the individual will have to take daily until they feel they are
fully ridded of their addition. Another product I am thinking about creating is
a tablet that dissolves on the tongue. This product will be for people that are
addicted to chewing tobacco. While I know products like these are currently available
on the market, none of them are very effective. My goal is to create extremely
effective products that nicotine addicts want to take.
7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
Ending Nicotine Addiction
Opportunity:
People all over the world are addicted to nicotine. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t see someone smoking cigarettes. Finding a way to end this addiction would instantly help out millions of people.
The who: People addicted to nicotine
The what: They are at risk of all kinds of health related issues
The why: They need help to end their addiction
Testing the who: Everyone who is addicted to nicotine has this need.
Testing the what: People are rushed to the hospital daily because they are suffering from heath related issues due to the constant smoking of nicotine.
Testing the why: More and more people are becoming addicted on a daily basis and we must do something to help them.
Interview #1
This person that I interview also knew a lot of people who are addicted to nicotine. She does not smoke, but you knows a lot of people that do. She has a friend that had to go to the hospital because she had pneumonia due to constantly smoking. She is worried that if her friend doesn’t get help soon, she may not live that much longer. This lady sees this as a huge opportunity.
Interview #2
This guy that I interviewed also knew a lot of people who are addicted to nicotine. This guy also smokes occasionally, but does not consider himself to be an addict. He does know a lot of people who suffer from health issues due to smoking. He believes that nicotine addition is getting out of hand and that something needs to be done about it.
Interview #3
This guy I interviewed thinks nicotine should be completely banned. He has had family members almost die because of their nicotine addiction. He has never smoked before because he knows how bad it is. He doesn’t want to see anyone have to go to the hospital because of their addiction. He also thinks it is crucial that we find a better way to end this addiction.
Interview #4
This girl is in college and doesn’t think smoking is a big deal. She didn’t say she was an addicted, but from the way she was talking, I think she might be. She hasn’t had any health issues from smoking, but knows people who have. She didn’t seem very interested in trying to find a way to get people to end their addiction. She doesn’t understand this opportunity.
Interview #5
This guy is also a college student. He has been addicted to nicotine since high school and has had multiple health issues because of it. He has been to the hospital before with heart related issues. The doctor said that if he didn’t change his lifestyle soon, he might not live many more years. This guy is genuinely worried for his well-being and recognizes this as a big opportunity to change peoples’ lives.
Conclusion
From doing these interviews, I learned that there are a lot of differing opinions regarding this topic. Some people understood the opportunity at hand, while others did not. Some of the people I interviewed have been personally affected by nicotine addiction. Some of them have had health issues directly linked to nicotine, while other know people that have had health issues as a result on their addiction. Four out of the five people I interviewed acknowledged that something more effective needs to be done to help people fight their addiction.
6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends
Economic Trend:
Climate change is causing more natural disasters
· An opportunity definitely exists
here. The opportunity is to find better ways to fight climate change. There are
so many things we can do on a daily basis that would help prevent climate change,
therefore decreasing the number of natural disasters.
· Everyone living on planet Earth would
benefit from this opportunity.
· This opportunity may be relatively
difficult to exploit because it is very hard to get be to change their
lifestyles and the things they do.
· I saw this opportunity because I know
how bad climate change is becoming. Global warming is at an all time high. This
increases the chances of hurricanes and other storms.
Economic Trend: Baby boomers aren’t retiring
· I see an opportunity here to help the
baby boomer generation retire. This generation is taking away jobs from the
current generation of workers. If we can get them to retire, there will be a
lot more available jobs out there.
· Anyone in the workforce would benefit
from this opportunity.
· This opportunity many be relatively
difficult to exploit because there is such a large number of people to deal
with.
· I saw this opportunity because I know
how difficult it is to find a jobs. Getting the baby boomer generation to
retire will result in a huge increase in the number of available jobs.
Regulatory
Change: Entry-level driver training
· I see an opportunity here to increase
the required training for beginner commercial drivers. This will make the roads
much saver by hopefully decreasing the number of accidents.
· Anyone who drives on the road would
benefit from this opportunity.
· This opportunity will probably be
relatively easy to exploit because it wouldn’t be difficult to provide more
training for people.
· I saw this opportunity because I know
how dangerous commercial vehicles can be on the roads. I seen people get killed
because the driver of a big commercial truck was not properly trained.
Regulatory
Change: Increased cybersecurity
· I see an opportunity here to further
increase the level of security in the online world. Preventing people from
hacking in to private online information in a priority.
· Anyone who uses the internet would
benefit from this opportunity.
· This opportunity might be kind of
difficult to exploit because cybersecurity is very complicated and requires the
skills of extremely knowledgeable individuals.
· I saw this opportunity because it
seems that more and more people are figuring out how to hack into cyber space. Private
information is being accessed by dangerous people. It is time to put a stop to
this.
Friday, September 13, 2019
5A - Identifying Local Opportunities
·
Volusia under Tropical Storm Watch from approaching system
· This article is about a new storm
that is approaching Florida. Right now it is labeled as a tropical storm, but
it has the ability to grow stronger in the coming days. However, we are still
uncertain of the direct path the storm is going to take.
· The opportunity is to create a system
that is much better at predicting and tracking these storms. The current
systems in place are just not accurate enough. With a more accurate systems,
people will know much farther in advance if they are going to be effected by
the storm.
· Everyone that is within a relatively
close distance to where the storm is projected to hit has this problem.
·
Volusia schools work hard to offer shelter during storms like Hurricane
Dorian
· This article is about people that are
in need of shelters during large storms. The issue is that there is a lack of adequate
shelters to house people during violent storms like Dorian. This leads to
schools having to open up their doors for all these strangers to come live in
for a number of days. This could delay the return of students back to school.
· The opportunity is to build more
designated hurricane shelters so that people in need always have a place to go
in the advent of a large storm. This would keep people out of the school and
would allow students to return back to school in a much more reasonable amount
of time.
· Anyone who might need to live in a
shelter during a storm has this problem.
·
Florida beach lights reportedly cause turtle deaths
· https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20190905/florida-beach-lights-reportedly-cause-turtle-deaths
· This article is about sea turtle
deaths due to the negligence of people living on the coast. When sea turtles
see light, they become instantly attracted. So when people leave their
ocean-facing lights on, sea turtle hatchlings begin the go towards the light
instead of the ocean. This leads to the death of a large number of baby sea
turtles.
· The opportunity is to create specially
designed light blocking window shade that would be required for all windows
facing the oceans. People would be required to purchase these window shades. Failure
to do so would result in a large fine.
· People who live on the coast have
this problems. Furthermore, the sea turtles have this problem.
·
Don’t add plastic to storm debris
· This article is about the large
amount of litter that fills our oceans and beaches. Dealing with hurricane debris
is already bad enough, but you add in plastics and other trash, the situation
becomes much more intense. Large amounts of plastic are washing up on shower
which can lead to many different environmental issues.
· The opportunity is to create a better
system of garbage cleanup on beaches. Some beaches have no one picking up
garbage which causes the trash to build up into large clusters. Having designated
people to pick up trash daily at all beaches would be very beneficial.
· Anyone would goes to the beach has
this problem. The environment also has this problem.
·
Shark bite frenzy in Volusia: What’s going on in the water?
· This article is about the growing
number of shark attacks at Florida beaches. It seems as though these shark
attacks are becoming more and more common over the years. This is causing people
to be afraid to go into the ocean.
· The opportunity is to create a systems
that is much better at spotting sharks in the ocean. The human eye can only see
so much. If there were some form of technology that could spot sharks from a
lot farther away, people would feel much safer going in to the ocean.
· Anyone who likes to swim in the ocean
has this problem.
4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief
I believe an
opportunity exists in regards to nicotine addiction. Nicotine addicts struggle
with their addiction on a daily basis, yet there are not very many effective
tactics to overcome this addition. Yes, there are all sorts of patches and
pills that claim they are able to stop nicotine addiction, but none of these
treatments are as effective as they claim to be. Nicotine addicts have an unmet
need for a drug that will actually reverse their addiction. This need has been
around for centuries, but has become more widespread over the last 20 years.
Ever since the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes were discovered, addicts have
been trying to figured out how to be cured of their addiction. I am 100% sure
that an opportunity to create a more effective drug to fight against this
addiction exists.
#1. College-aged
male:
· How old are you?
o
I
am 19 years old.
· Have you ever consumed any form of
nicotine?
o
Yes.
· How many years have you been
consuming nicotine?
o
Since
10th grade.
· How much nicotine would you say you
consumer on a daily basis?
o
I
use about 1 can of chewing tobacco every week.
· Would you say you are a nicotine
addict?
o
I’m
not really sure. Maybe I guess.
· Have you had any health issues
directly related to your nicotine addiction?
o
Not
that I know of.
· Ever you ever tried to end your
addiction?
o
Not
really.
· What methods have you used to fight
this addiction?
o
None.
· Have any of them been successful?
o
N/A
· How important is it for you to find
an effective method to fight your addiction?
o
Right
now, not very important.
Reflection:
19 year old
males in college do not have much of a desire to stop using nicotine. I am sure
many of them won’t even admit they are addicted. I was surprised to find out the
guy I interviewed first started using nicotine when he was in 10th
grade.
#2.
College-aged female:
· How old are you?
o
I
am 20 years old.
· Have you ever consumed any form of
nicotine?
o
Yes.
· How many years have you been
consuming nicotine?
o
I
think since 11th grade.
· How much nicotine would you say you
consumer on a daily basis?
o
I
smoke about 2 Juul pods per week.
· Would you say you are a nicotine
addict?
o
Not
really. Everyone in college Juuls.
· Have you had any health issues
directly related to your nicotine addiction?
o
Sometimes
I have shortness of breath.
· Ever you ever tried to end your
addiction?
o
Once.
· What methods have you used to fight
this addiction?
o
I
used a nicotine patch, but it didn’t do anything.
· Have any of them been successful?
o
Nope.
· How important is it for you to find
an effective method to fight your addiction?
o
I
guess somewhat important.
Reflection:
20 year old
college females also find it difficult to admit they might be addicted. The
girl I interviewed has already had health issues related to her nicotine use. The
patches she tried did not do her any good. I am surprised to find out that she
smokes a whole Juul pods every week. That is an insane amount of nicotine.
#3. Mid-thirties
female:
· How old are you?
o
I
am 34 years old.
· Have you ever consumed any form of nicotine?
o
Yes.
· How many years have you been
consuming nicotine?
o
Since
high school.
· How much nicotine would you say you
consumer on a daily basis?
o
I
smoke about three packs of cigarettes per week.
· Would you say you are a nicotine
addict?
o
I
think I am. My friends always tell me I am.
· Have you had any health issues
directly related to your nicotine addiction?
o
Yes,
I’ve had pneumonia two times and my lungs aren’t in great shape.
· Ever you ever tried to end your
addiction?
o
Yes,
many times.
· What methods have you used to fight
this addiction?
o
I’ve
used patches, oils, pills, etc.
· Have any of them been successful?
o
Not
really. Only for a short period of time.
· How important is it for you to find
an effective method to fight your addiction?
o
At
this point in my life, it is extremely important for me to find an effective
method to fight my addiction.
Reflection:
My product
would probably be most effective for someone like this. This lady has be
smoking cigarettes for about 20 years. She acknowledged that she is an addict
and she has had major health issues as a result. She has tried many different
methods to stop her addiction, but none of them have really worked. I was
surprised to learn that she smokes three packs of cigarettes each week. She
definitely needs some help.
Summary:
After
conducting my interviews, I believe my opportunity is still very much alive. While
my product might not be very useful for college-aged people, it would be very
helpful for older individuals who fully acknowledge their addiction. My
opportunity is just as accurate as it was before I interviewed people. I think
customer feedback is extremely important for entrepreneurs. They must adapt
their opportunities to what the customer wants and needs. If the customer
doesn’t want or need their product, they won’t make any money.
3A - Your Entrepreneurship Story
I was
first exposed to entrepreneurship at a very young age. I got the privilege of
growing up with a father who owned his own business. It wasn’t until I was
around ten years old that I actually understood what my father did for a
living. I remember sitting in the car with my dad on long trips and we would
talk about his business the entire time. I was also they type of person that
liked to ask a lot of questions, especially when I didn’t know much about
something. We’ve had conversations ranging anywhere from hiring employees to filing
tax to selling products and everything in between. My dad owns a weekly
newspaper in Orlando, Florida. Of course, as a young child I knew nothing about
what it meant to own a newspaper business. However, over the years I began to
learn more and more about what it takes to run a successful business. I have
seen my dad struggle during bad years and I’ve seen him be very successful
during better years. The most important thing I have learned through these
conversations with my father is that hard work is the key to success. I’ve seen
firsthand how much effort is required in order to run a successful business.
I enrolled
in ENT 3003 so that I can gain more knowledge on what it takes to be a
successful entrepreneur. In addition, I hope gain a better understanding of how
to run a business.
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