Testing the Hypothesis

The opportunity I’m pursuing is the problem of the lack of parking on the University of Florida, and even thought they pay for parking, students and staffs cannot find the parking spots.

The who: Students and staff of the University of Florida
The what: It is very difficult to find the parking spots for students and staffs during the day.

The why: There is no convenient way to find open spots and nobody want to be late for class or work.

Testing the who: Students and staffs of the University of Florida.
Testing the what: Try to find the way to find open spots in the garage or parking lots on campus or close to campus through the smartphone.
Testing the why: A lot of people drive and walk to class or work and need parking spots.

Interviews:
1. This male student has this problem but not often. He says he drives scooter and parking spots are always packed but since scooter is not big, he can find small space and tries to fit in. He said he will definitely download the app if it existed.

2. This female student did not have this problem. She has morning class so she always come to school around 8 so there is still enough space to park. She said she likes to wake up early and get things done, so she probably never has this problem.

3. This male graduate student has this problem almost every day. He goes to school by car and he is always arriving at class few minutes before. He said he knows he need to wake up earlier, but he has a lot of things to do so he always goes to bed late in the night. He said he download this app for sure.

4. This staff did not have this problem. It is because he always uses bus to go to school. He said he works here so he cannot be late. Students can be late a little (depend on the professor) but for work, he cannot be late because of responsibility and he does not want to get fired. He is satisfied with RTS bus transportation very much and he had an app called “Rider” which tracks buses so he can see when the bus is coming.

5. This male student has this problem but not often. He takes many online classes and couple in-class ones. He said he always gamble on this situation. He has morning class and he drives scooter, but he does not have any decals because he doesn’t want to pay. He said parking people don’t check in the morning, so he parks just in the morning because he only has one or two classes early in the morning. He said sometimes he gets a ticket but he always appeals it.


In conclusion, people have this problem and looking forward to use this app if it existed. It helps people being late for class or work and I think it builds good time management skills. Being on time for class or work help efficiency and productively and people don’t have to feel stress about it. Most people who has car or scooter paid their decal so there should be enough space to park for people who bought decals.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

·         Economic trend: High Competition in Phone Industry

o   Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/07/tech/pixel-3a/index.html

o   what leads you to believe that this information suggests an opportunity might exist?

I have my smartphone since I was in high school. Every year, phone companies such as Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and so on, have introduced their new product. I believe this is a big opportunity for industries who make phone chargers or headphones. For example, 1/8 phone plug is not used for apple’s recent products.

o   who do you think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity?

I think all customers who uses smartphone.

o   is the opportunity relatively easy or relatively difficult to exploit, and why do you think so?

I think it is easy to exploit because there are not a lot of famous charger company that we can trust. So as cheap headphones that we can buy at gas stations, it could break quick so we cannot trust them.

o   Why did you see the opportunity?

I saw this opportunity because every time I buy a new phone, I need to buy a new phone case and screen protector because sizes are different compared to old ones. So as headphones and changers. You will need a new charger if you change your phone from android to iPhone.

·         Economic trend: Nursing Home and Nursing-Care goods

o   Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/325261

o   what leads you to believe that this information suggests an opportunity might exist?

In the developed countries, due to medical development, aging has advanced. So there is a lot of opportunities for nursing home and nursing-care goods.

o   who do you think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity?

I think old people will be the customer for this opportunity.

o   is the opportunity relatively easy or relatively difficult to exploit, and why do you think so?

It easy to exploit because there are a lot of fraud to elderly people. Bad people sell nursing-care goods by extraordinary price.

o   Why did you see the opportunity?

My grandmother used to live in nursing home because her sons (my dad and my uncle) have work and they are very busy. The nursing home took care of her very well and she seemed happy. I was surprised to see many old people were in nursing home and number of nursing homes in my town, so I realized there are demands in industry for the elderly.

·         Regulatory changes: Trade Friction between the US and China

o   Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-huawei-not-sold-in-united-states-2018-12

o   what leads you to believe that this information suggests an opportunity might exist?

As people know that a lot of products in the US such as clothes, electrical machinery and equipment, and so on. Due to regulate Huawei’s entry to America’s industry, trade friction between the US and China has started. I thought there are some opportunities for other countries because now it is hard for China to export to America because of high tariff, it is other countries’ chance to send export their stuff.  

o   who do you think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity?

Any countries that can be alternative substitute for China.

o   is the opportunity relatively easy or relatively difficult to exploit, and why do you think so?

It is difficult to exploit because American customs are very strict.

o   Why did you see the opportunity?

I saw this opportunity because China used to be a great place to build factories because land was cheap, many workers, and labor cost was low. However, due to development of China’s economic last years, it is getting expensive to locate factories in China.

·         Regulatory Changes: Tattoo culture in Japan.

o   Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/asia/tattoos-japan/index.html

o   what leads you to believe that this information suggests an opportunity might exist?

It was not good to have tattoo for Japanese for a long time. However, many young Japanese people started getting tattoo as a fashion recently. So, there is an opportunity for tattooist.

o   who do you think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity?

Young generation in Japan because we don’t hate tattoo like our parents or grandparents do.

o   is the opportunity relatively easy or relatively difficult to exploit, and why do you think so?

I think it is difficult to exploit because a lot of tattooist is well-trained.

o   Why did you see the opportunity?

It is not illegal to have tattoo in Japan but because of a lot of yakuza (Japanese mafia) have them, people have prejudice that people think you are bad person if you have tattoo. However, it is common to see people with tattoo now because number of tourists from foreign countries have been increased year by year and there is a lot of famous actors or singers or artists with tattoo. Tattoo is more familiar than the past.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1.       Gainesville to reach record-high temperatures during heat wave.

·         https://www.alligator.org/news/gainesville-to-reach-record-high-temperatures-during-heat-wave/article_71d6c21a-7f48-11e9-9abc-c719e29ab15e.html

·         All gator fans are too hyped about UF softball team. The temperature of Gainesville is 13 degrees above the average temperature this year. Gainesville has hit 100 degrees in the month of May five times in the past 129 years so you can tell how crazy this is. People need to aware of heatstroke. All people especially children, old people, and people who play sports outside need to aware of this problem.

2.       Alachua County STD rates rise with national trend.

·         https://www.alligator.org/news/alachua-county-std-rates-rise-with-national-trend/article_59968f20-baca-11e8-9458-2734e945ca41.html

·         Sexually transmitted diseases on the rise nationally and Alachua County is not an exception. The health center found that many incoming UF students lack the knowledge that they need to practice safe sex or understand the risk. If you infected with sexual disease such as chlamydia, there is the possibility of being sterile or miscarriage. If you feel something wrong after sex, Gatorwell offers free HIV testing at its main office location in the Reitz Union through a collaboration with the Alachua County Health Department so must go. Everyone who had sex without protection have this problem.

3.       Meal prep: a college student’s saving grace.

·         https://www.alligator.org/the_avenue/meal-prep-a-college-student-s-saving-grace/article_35276954-8620-11e8-96aa-6fe3bf4be9dc.html

·         It explains why we should do meal prep, how and how to love meal prep. We should meal prep because we can save money, time in a pinch, and make the week more productive. Not doing meal prep can be a problem because it gets lazy to cook at home after school because you are tired. People tend to go buy fast food instead which is not healthy and good for you. All college students could have this problem.

4.        Marston Science Library third floor flooded.

·         https://www.alligator.org/news/marston-science-library-third-floor-flooded/article_dd4ae2b4-bf96-11e8-aa24-078cd4f03b97.html

·         There was a puddle of water coming from the bathroom. The puddle was about 1,000 square feet and about six rows of bookshelves had their walkways immersed in roughly half an inch of water. It is kind of a big deal because this accident stopped everyone’s focus who was studying in the library and also, there are many important books in the library so cannot be wet. What caused the flood was overflow of the toilet and the toilet was stuffed toilet paper. I think all student have problem. All students need to realize how to use toilet proper way because sometimes I see brown paper (supposed to wipe your hands you cannot flush this) in the toilet and it will clog the toilet.

5.       Taco Bell across campus stripped and shut down

·         https://www.alligator.org/news/taco-bell-across-campus-stripped-and-shut-down/article_2c573904-7787-11e9-876f-6bd02a8fd964.html

·         The Taco Bell at Midtown closed abruptly. Taco Bell corporate could not be reached for comment, and local Taco Bell franchises declined to comment. The problem of this happened is this Taco Bell had high demand from UF students. It was located at midtown and surrounded by many apartments so I can say it was a great location. It was very busy especially weekends, I saw many people go there after drinking at midtown. We do not know the actual reason why they closed but I think customer’s behavior could be one of the reasons. I have seen people throwing up at this restaurant so I would say drunk students were the problem.

Forming An Opportunity Belief

1.      Opportunity belief

I think college students do not have enough time to eat well and cook healthy meal.

2.       Unmet Need

Food delivery service that provide you pre-cooked healthy meal.

-College students have this need and I think this need is always existed because this is such a convenient service. To meet this need, people are eating cheap, fast and unhealthy food because they do not have time to cook.

3.       Prototypical customer

·         Male Student

·         Female Student

·         Graduate Student

4.       Iteration 1: Female College Student

1.       What is the exact nature of the need?

She eats more protein and carbs than veggies and fruits. She knows eating veggies and fruits are very important, but they are too expensive to eat daily.

2.       When are you aware of this problem?

As soon as I told her.

3.       How long have you had this need?

Since she came to college.

4.       When did you first become aware of the need and why?

Since she came to college because her eating habit changed after she left her home.

5.       How are you currently addressing this need?

When she eats out, she tries to order vegetable for the side.

6.       How satisfied are you with this solution?

She is not satisfied with the solution. She said she would use the food delivery service that I addressed depends on the price.

7.       My reflection: I learned it is hard for college students to have time to prepare for the meal. I was surprised she was senior at college and kind of giving up eating healthy food.

Iteration 2: Graduate Student

1.                   What is the exact nature of the need?

She does not have time to meal prep and tend to eat out a lot.

2.                   When are you aware of this problem?

When she is home.

3.                   How long have you had this need?

Since she came to college. Her parents always cook healthy meal for her.

4.                   When did you first become aware of the need and why?

First year of college because she realized she was eating out often.

5.                   How are you currently addressing this need?

She is trying to cook healthy meal at home, but it does not last. Usually it last 2-3 days.

6.                   How satisfied are you with this solution?

She is not satisfied with this solution and if there is a food delivery service like I addressed, she said “Definitely I would use it”.

7.                   My reflection: I learned how parents were working hard to feed their kids to eat healthy. Life is completely different with parents or not with parents. It could be better not having parents around you sometimes but foodwise, definitely it is better to have parents near you.

Iteration 3: Male College Student

1.                   What is the exact nature of the need?

He does not eat out a lot and he cook at home. However, he cooks carbs and protein most of the time since vegetables are expensive and not make him full.

2.                   When are you aware of this problem?

Every time he cooks. Or when he is talking with vegan friends.

3.                   How long have you had this need?

Since I came to college.

4.                   When did you first become aware of the need and why?

When my body weight got higher.

5.                   How are you currently addressing this need?

Take multi-vitamin. Eat salad for the side when he eats out.

6.                   How satisfied are you with this solution?

He was not satisfied with this solution and if there is a food delivery service like I addressed, he said “I would but it depends on price”.

7.                   My reflection: He was willing to eat healthier but eating healthy everyday could be very

expensive. He was taking multi-vitamin as an alternative solution for eating healthy. But I think taking nutrients from actual food is better.

5.       Summary

How much of the original opportunity is still there?

·         The original opportunity is still there. Most college students are not eating well and cooking healthy meal. It is because they do not have time to do it.

Do I believe the new opportunity is more accurate than when I started?

·         Yes, I understand the college students’ situations and I know it is more accurate now.

How much should entrepreneurs “adapt” their opportunities based on customer feedback?

·         There is trade-off. It is better-off to adapt opportunities because it will increase customer’s satisfaction mentally and physically. Entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities because there is demand and our job is to satisfy customer’s need.

My Entrepreneurship Story

When I was 18, right after I graduated from high school, I had a chance to meet my dad’s friend who is a Japanese American entrepreneur. He lives in San Francisco and has three offices in San Francisco, Miami, and Tokyo. He does international trade and he mainly exporting canned seafood to Japan. He owns Japanese restaurants in the US and, he does transactions in real estate too. He talked me about his story and how he became a millionaire. He inspired me a lot and that’s why I started studying business. He told me the most important thing when you start business is 4P(Place, Price, Product, Promotion). 

The reason why I enrolled in ENT 3003 is I want to start business in the future. Hopefully, after I get out of this course, I know basic of Entrepreneurship and find what kind of business I want to start in the future.

Bug List

1.      There are terrible drivers in the US.

A lot of people in the US start driving at the age of 16. And most people do not go to driving school and driving test is too easy.

2.      Speed limit on museum rd is 20 mph, which is too slow.

It is the road in the school so must be low speed limit due to safety aspect.

3.      UF’s parking decal is too expensive.

There’s a huge demand for it so even though its expensive, people buy it. Also, I think UF is trying to control the number of cars because there are not enough parking spots.

4.      Southwest rec closes early on weekends.

People have work in the night or people want to work out in the night. However, I understand employees need to have rest and they have right to enjoy their weekends.

5.      Price of Uber is way too expensive on gamedays. Especially football games.

Prices go up to more than twice of usual prices. People still use it because high demand of Uber since people are drunk and buses are packed.

6.      Sidewalks of University Ave is so dirty.

People get drunk at midtown and vomit no matter where which is very disgusting.

7.      Police hides between trees.

So, people will not slowdown and they can give us tickets.

8.      Police make us wait so long in the car when we got a ticket.

Police must type in all the information about the car and driver to the ticket.

9.      All games such as baseball, basketball, softball is free for students but football.

The seating capacity of the football stadium is very high, and football is the most popular sports. Thus, a lot of people will show up and can make huge profits.

10.  Sometimes tips are already included but the server doesn’t tell us anything so accidentally double tip.

We are college students. We cannot pay more than we need.

11.  People spoil about Avengers End Game on twitter and YouTube.

I was lucky that I watched that movie on the first day it came out, but I felt so sad people who accidentally saw spoiler before they watch movie.

12.  When I go grocery shopping and there is only one register open and there’s a long line, but no other workers open other registers.

It usually happens at the Walmart. I think the employer does not expect people coming late in the night but there are many customers late in the night too.

13.  When two huge trucks are driving both sides of my car on the highway.

Trucks are huge and have high pressure. It is uncomfortable to drive next to big trucks on high speed.

14.  When Uber eats or Bites squad drivers cannot get to my house.

Sometimes drivers get lost or gone wrong way and take extra time to receive food. When it happens, the food is already cold.

15.  People ask to borrow something and don’t return such as juul and iPhone charger.

It happens at the parties. The borrower forget he borrowed from me and I forget that I gave it to him.

16.  Huge line in Chick-fil-a at Hub and Starbucks at Marston during lunch time.

A lot of students take lunch break at the same time so those area get packed.

17.  Being a driver at the bar.

Because it is totally different when you are having fun drunk or sober.

18.  When all the electricity is down at my apartment on the assignment due day.

Because “My WiFi was not working” is not a valid excuse.

19.  When I cannot find parking at UF.

Because people will be late for the class.

20.  Advertisement on YouTube.

It is fine with advertisements which are 5 seconds long but hate to see advertisements last more than 15 seconds and cannot skip.

This assignment was not too difficult for me because those bugs are daily concerns that I have in my mind. I always trying not to think about small things but this was good opportunity to write down those bugs and think about reasons.

Test Post

This is my first post and hopefully it works!