8A- Solving The Problem

1.) Like previously stated my problems was that programmers in America are way to expensive and often charge $15+ an hour. This is an outrageous number because you can get the same virtual service for $5 an hour. This problem is only with the lower level programming and not like advanced algorithms like IBM Watson, but simple things like building a website. 

2.) The solution to the problem of expensive labor in programming is to use cheaper freelance programmers from outside the United States. What my solution would be is to provide a service as a "middleman" to smaller companies and people who want access to cheap website building and charge them $7-8 an hour for these programmers. They are saving $5-6 an hour while I'm making $2-3 profit. This will be an ideal "Win-Win" situation for me and the client. 

I can also add a product to this service like a "How to build a perfect website with our service" book and maybe an e-book to help people utilize the programmers. I think getting the right balance of product and service would be successful. I do believe this would be a service heavy business. 

7A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The opportunity I have come up with is to use VA's to do work for people in the United States. While in the US minimum wage is over Seven dollars an hour the average American programmer is making over fifteen an hour. Someone in the Philippines or in Pakistan can do the same computer programming work for $2-5 an hour while doing the same skilled work as the Americans. I suggest using freelance websites like Upwork to achieve this arbitrage goal. 

The Who- Computer Programmers in the United States

The What- These freelance American Programmers charge $15+ an hour for simple skilled programming work virtually, while an international one will do the same virtual work for $5 an hour. 

The Why- Freelance American Programmers are way too expensive and you can charge clients $15 an hour and use $5 an hour programmers and keep the profit. 

• Testing the who: Are there others who have this need? Or, does everyone in your current 'who' share the need? 

Almost everyone would be happy with having cheaper labor without sacrificing work quality. This need for better and cheaper is always needed in the marketplace. 

• Testing the what: What are the boundaries of the need? 

A good use of communication virtually is needed and the only boundary I could see. 

• Testing the why: 

The why is because many people are unaware of how highly skilled international programmers are and how inexpensive they are. Many small companies are trapped in a bubble of only Americans can do virtual work for them. 

Interview summaries

1. Interviewer one owned a marketing business and was a friend of mine back home. He was very aware of this opportunity and said he uses Virtual assistants  for tasks and programming. He says he uses freelancers and understands the boundaries that occur when dealing with international workers. 

2. Interview 2 was with an older woman in a Starbucks. She was surprised to learn about virtual workers and didn't quite understood the concept until I went into greater detail with her on the topic. She agrees that having someone do work for better and cheaper is always a better option for business. 

3. Interview 3 was with a Finance major at UF. He thinks this is a great opportunity and was interested in the opportunity. He thinks its a great idea but understood some of the issues at hand. He says many clients would be extremely opposed or offended if someone didn't use American workers for their business and as long as I wasn't misleading there shouldn't be a problem at all. 

4. Interview 4 was with an CS major who knew an extensive amount about the topic of programming. He understands the opportunity I told him and thought it was a great idea if the programming wasn't an extremely challenging where a high skilled programmer would know with a great CS education. I learned a lot about this opportunity from him and he showed me how to fine tune my opportunity. 

5. Interview 5 was with a woman at the public library. She thought it was an interesting idea but thought only American workers should do programming. She thinks if we changed minimum wage my opportunity could have been futile. I learned a lot from her and will use her input on the what, why, and who's from her 

Overall I learned a lot from these interviews and will use all of the inputs to fine tune my opportunity.  

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

6A- 4 Opportunities 

1.  Regulatory Virtual Assistant Opportunity 

The opportunity I have found due to regulatory practices in the US is to use VA's to do American work. In the United States the minimum wage is $7.25 and the average programmers hourly wage is $15+ and hour. What I suggest is to use Virtual Assistants from other countries where minimum wage is $1-2 and hour through websites like Upwork.com since they only charge $5 and hour for highly skilled programers from around the world and profit on the difference of $15 and $5 an hour. 

(a) I found this opportunity from using freelancing websites to do programing work for the company I work for's website and programs. These freelancers are making over 2-3x more than their peers in their home countries. The freelancers also have a suburb work ethic and skill set


(b) Companies pay freelancers in the US $15 and hour for basic programing that cheaper freelancers can do. 


(c) The prototypical customer would be a mom and pop shop or a local business that is willing to pay $15+ for a programer to build them a simple program or website. 

(d) This opportunity is as simple as hiring a freelancer from outside the US and using them for jobs in the US. 

Why did you see the opportunity? I found this opportunity from using freelancing websites to do programing work for the company I work for's website and programs. These freelancers are making over 2-3x more than their peers in their home countries. The freelancers also have a suburb work ethic and skill set


2. Buying a bulk of items before a tariff takes place

I have an opportunity to buy a bulk of items before a tariff takes place on them. For example if the United States decides to slap a tariff on Graphic Cards made in China. Since this item is heavily imported the price of used and new graphic cards will sky rocket due to the price it will cost to buy a brand new one. If you buy a large quantity of graphic cards from China before the tariff takes place on December 31st and the 10-30% tariff takes place on the 1st of January you can make money selling them on January 1st. The value would have gone up by 10-30% after the tariff. 

(a) I found this opportunity while reading the news about the tariffs being slapped on items that we import in great quantities 

(b), I believe this opportunity exists because of the increased use of tariffs on goods that we heavily import from other nations with cheap labor. 

(c) The prototypical customer would be the consumer or a someone you can wholesale the items you just bought for a profit. 

Why did you see the opportunity. I saw this opportunity from watching and seeing trends in the news from a regulatory stance. 

3. Day Trading during these highly volatile times 

Day trading has the highest rate of success when the stock markets are extremely volatile. Historically the VIX index which measure volatile has been the highest numbers since 2008

(a) I found this opportunity while reading the Fed chair speak and reading indicators like the VIX

(b) I believe this opportunity exists because of the wild swings of the stock market lately 

(c) You could short a stock during these times and borrow against a stock and sell and keep the profit (Shorting a stock) So you would be selling to someone who wants to buy the stock and buying it back when it goes down. 

or you could buy "low" and sell high to someone who is willing to buy your share of stock usually through an exchange. 

(d) This is an easy opportunity to exploit but experience could be a factor with day trading 

Why did you see the opportunity. I believe I saw this opportunity because many people now see a stock market correction and panic sell and freak out, but I see an opportunity to make money. 

4. Arbitrage freelance workers due to a tightening job market 

I see an opportunity to arbitrage a workers whoever its construction or freelance contract workers due to economic data that shows the job market is tight which means wages go up due to the increased need for workers and the shortage of unemployed workers. 

(a) I found this opportunity from reading and seeing job market data Bureau of Labor Statistics  

(b), Data from the Bureau of Labor statistics points to lower then ever an unemployment rate 

(c) The prototypical customer would be a company in desperate need for workers. 

Why did you see the opportunity. I believe I saw this opportunity because I read federal stats for economic trends. 

5A- Identifying Local Opportunites

Opportunity 

1. Title-New cruise ships need thousands of workers. Here's how's companies fill those jobs

link- https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0121%21January%2B21&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/171176097785D630

Story- Basically cruise ship companies like Royal Caribbean and Carnival are having major issues finding lots of workers. The increased need for workers is because of the explosive growth of these cruise ship companies. 

Problem- The problem presented in this article is about how cruise ships are in a short supply of workers

Specifically cruise ship companies like Holland America has the problem of finding English speaking hospitality workers. 

2. Title- More than 68,000 pounds of chicken recalled after wood was found by some customers

link-https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0119%21January%2B19&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1710FDC49C6E2AF0

Story- One of the largest food companies in America Perdue was forced to recall over 34 tons of chicken because it was found to have wood in their chicken nuggets. 

Problem- There is multiple problems that Perdue has with this dilemma. One problem is the inedible wood in the chicken and the other is the PR nightmare and the lost of trust from the consumer. 

Perdue Farms has the problem but more specifically the parent company FPP Family Investments, Inc. is the owner of the brand so they technically have the problem. 

3. Title- Carnival passengers say they were hurt when ship tilted, lawsuit says

link- https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0118%21January%2B18&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1710AA6C32D9F5A8

Story- When a Carnival Cruise ship titled which resulted in some passengers getting hit by heavy items in the vessel at the time. 

Problem- The problem here is that Carnival's ship hurt and injuries passengers which means there is an issue with the cruise experience. This could mean bad publicity for the company which might result in less sales. Carnival Cruise Lines could get sued for a lot of money

Carnival Cruise Lines is the ones having the problem with their ships tilting 

4. Title- This company kept it simple in trying to cheat workers out of almost $50,000 in pay

link-https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article224612625.html

Story- Stone World Imports and Manufacturing  refused to pay worker overtime benefits which will result in punishment in wage violations by the department of labor

Problem- The stone imports company is getting fined and sued for not paying workers and breaking the law when it comes to overtime pay. 

Stone World Imports and Manufacturing has the problem because they are being charged in a wage violation case. 

5. Title- The next possible victims of the shutdown: Your food, flowers and toys 

link- https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article224745985.html

Story- Due to the partial government shutdown many business could and is currently being effected. The local import inspectors in Miami are backlogged in imports like fresh produce which could effect the quality of items being inspected in the backlog

Problem- Due to the shutdown there is a shortage of federal employees inspecting at the Miami Airport which results in a slowing inspection process. This is not good because 89% of all flower imports come in through Miami Airport

Any stakeholder in perishables or anyone in the flower business is being effected by this problem with the shutdown. 

4A- Forming An Opportunity Belief

1.    I believe with the aging population of “Baby Boomers” in America and around the globe the need for medical care will sky rocket. 

2.    Since 2000 Baby Boomers have been by far the largest generation. After World War II there was an unprecedented growth of babies. This generation has historically in the 1980’s, 1990’s has been the working generation but now in 2019 this generation is aging. I believe this will change a large portion of the American population and consumer to change consumer habits and needs. I believe one of the biggest needs is more nurses and doctors. I also believe there will be an increased need for nursing homes and retirement services for baby boomers starting to retire. 

3.    The prototypical customer would be someone born in the 1940’s to the mid 1960’s. 

4.    I decided to go by the local library to interview some people born from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. Most of my beliefs came out true. One woman I interviewed said her and other of her friends are looking for ways to put money saved up for their retirements accounts so that their money will be safe just in case of an economic crash. All of these people were all concerned about finding supplemental insurance with the Medicare they are receiving. This will cause an increased need for Insurance companies to set up more Medicare insurance packages. 

5.     This exercise really helped me think about the way entrepreneurs think about problems and a way to find opportunities from the problems or trends. I was mostly surprised on the amount of baby boomers who didn’t have anything saved for retirement and how many of them who are veterans. 

6.    Another Baby Boomer married couple I interviewed said they lived very frugally so they could have enough saved to retire and live very comfortably. This means they can “Splurge on things” like a couple nice dinners and a European vacation they always wanted to go on once they retired.

7.         How much of your original opportunity is still there? 

A lot of my original opportunity is still there. The more and more I think about the issue of our aging population the more opportunities I can think of. 

        Do you believe that your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started? 

                  After doing more and more research I found my opportunity to be more accurate than when I started. 

How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback? (In other words, is there a trade-off between adapting and staying firm?)

I think customer feedback is very important and entrepreneurs should adapt to feedback. The old saying “The customer is always right” is still true. 

3A-Your Entrepreneurship Story

I would like to think all my life I have been exposed to entrepreneurship. My great grandparents opened up their own barbershop business when they came to America over 70 years ago escaping World War Two. A lot of my friend’s parents owned their own business and would always talk about being an entrepreneur to me. My parents have also dabbled in entrepreneurship. Mostly all of the entrepreneurs I have met have instilled values of entrepreneurship that have resonated with me ever since I could remember. 

The idea of taking on risk and not working a 9-5 job and being my own boss always excited me. This is what excited me about taking this class. I hope this class will help me think and understand entrepreneurship better. I can already tell even after the bug list assignment this class has helped the way I think about problems and show how entrepreneurs think. The attached picture below is my favorite entrepreneur that I look up to the most Elon Musk. My favorite part of the picture shows the part of entrepreneurship people like to overlook, which is the hard work and dedication it takes to be successful. Elon Musk has been on record working over 80-100 hours a week. 

2A- BUG LIST Zachary Ginn

1.    The parking at UF is so crowded in the fall I can’t ever find a parking spot on campus.

This is because UF’s student population is growing faster than parking spots being created on campus

2.    Southwest Rec is so crowded every afternoon at 6pm there’s never any basketballs left to use on the basketball court. 

This is because most students are done working and classes end so this is the only time most students can play basketball during the day and there is only a limited amount of court space. 

3.    Whenever I drive back home during school breaks to Palm Beach and if there’s an accident on the turnpike my drive takes an extra hour or two longer.

This is because when there is an accident, they have to block one lane which causes congestion which slows everything down a lot. 

4.    Airplane seating is very crowded and always cramped very tight together. 

This is because airplanes consume a lot of fuel and airline operations are expensive, so they have to pack seats in to get extra revenue to pay for the expensive upkeep of air travel. 

5.     TSA security makes flying inconvenient and adds additional hassle to going to the airport.

TSA is here for the passenger’s protection and safety and they save countless lives by added an extra layer of security at airports. 

  

6.    The bleachers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium aren’t comfortable and start to hurt when you sit on them after a while. 

The bleachers serve a purpose at the stadium so more people can go to football games and enjoy the game while making tickets cheaper for the fans. 

7.    Long advertainments and commercials during tv shows   

Commercials are very important for television shows because they help pay for the programming and tv shows that the viewer is watching

8.    When I stub my toe on my couch and its very painful and annoying

It hurts so bad when I stub my toe because my body is telling me don’t do that again its damaging and it hurts to help tell myself not to hurt myself again. 

9.    Drivers especially young drivers on the road who text and drive putting everyone at risk when they are distracted. 

Most young people do this because most of them are trying to communicate on their phones or trying to figure out directions on their phones. 

10.  Movies especially ones with multiples sequels like Star Wars having cliff hangers at the end of the movie which leaves the most suspenseful part of the movie “To Be Continued” 

This is because they want the next movie in the series to be hyped up and to have a large following so when the next movie comes out it will do very well and make a lot of money. 

11.  Dollar bills that get wet and become almost impossible to use at stores 

This is because dollars bills are made of paper and paper is very fragile when wet.

12.  Getting thousands upon thousands of junk emails on my Gmail that fill up my email storage space.

Advertisers who send the junk emails don’t send them unless they make money, so they send the emails because they have a positive ROI on the emails. 

13.  When I wake up I usually have really bad “bed head” and my hair is all over the place and its very messy and takes a while to comb it back to look professional.

Bed head is creating by sleeping in weird positions that mess up someone’s hair  

14.  Getting an injury from working out like shin splints or a sore back that lasts for months

Injuries from working out usually occur from over doing a workout or improper technique or form

15.  Drivers and people who drive who don’t follow the laws for driving and compromise safety.

People who don’t follow laws like speeding usually do it to “save time” or when people are running late. 

16.   Literal bugs like cockroaches getting into people’s houses 

Bugs find a way into people’s houses because there is sugary food in houses where bugs can eat. 

17.  Sometimes the power goes out in my home and I can’t use my computer to do school work or have air conditioning 

The power usually goes out because a power line connected to my house becomes damaged from the weather. 

18.  Professional musicians who “lip sync” over their actual music or over the national anthem. 

Singers do this so there is no issue during the song, and everything is predictable and smooth. 

19.  When the Miami Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game in over a decade. 

The Miami Dolphins football teams hasn’t won a playoff game in over decade due to talent and coaching issues in the organization. 

20.   The Chipotle on University is always so busy at nights that the line spans out the door most nights. 

Chipotle is very popular and there is long lines at the one by UF because the dining options on campus aren’t very good and very expensive which is a contrast to the cheap and delicious food of chipotle. 

This list was extremely hard to create and put together. I was thought I could do this list sitting done in one sitting. I was being very foolish, and Dr. Pryor was right, I couldn’t do it in one sitting. After doing 2-3 after going out and about I saw things differently and this list started coming easier for me.  This assignment was difficult but defiantly helped me gain a new perspective on things.