Identifying Local Opportunities

Title: Virtual reality training helps humans spot mental health woes

Link: https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200123/virtual-reality-training-helps-humans-spot-mental-health-woes

Description of story:

A virtual reality system has been training students and teachers how to handle individuals dealing with mental health problems. Users are learning the best ways to communicate and act towards individuals experiencing these issues, as well as detect possible occurrences of these issues. The system is from a company named Kognito and is available for use in the wellness center at the University of Florida. 

Problem:

Individuals are having mental health problems and no one is aware enough to help them. Now, there are technologies that help people understand what they should be looking for in potential mental health issue cases.

Who has this problem?

All individuals surrounding current patients and potential patients of mental health issues. This could include many students, teachers, and workers on school campuses. This is an issue seen by almost everyone in our country today, and can be assisted with the technologies introduced this century by Kognito. 

Title: Lucky’s Market among Florida stores to close Feb. 12

Link: https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200121/luckyrsquos-market-among-florida-stores-to-close-feb-12

Description of story:

The Lucky’s Market on 23rd Ave. will be closing down at the beginning of February. This location has been open since January of 2015 and many are saddened as the Ohio-based grocery store chain has a lot of products that they love. The information implies that they may have expanded too quickly and are now seeing the drawbacks of this. Also, Kroger has decided to divest its ownership share in the market chain, which can be assumed to cause great problems. 

Problem:

Many are concerned that they will miss the things that they bought from Lucky’s after closing. One woman says she goes to the store specifically for their lollipops lacking Red 40 dye and their large selection of gluten-free products. Another customer says that he goes to Lucky’s once or twice a month to take advantage of their produce sales. Now, they will have to revert to local Ward’s Supermarket and Walmart, which do not have some of the specific items that customers went to Lucky’s for.

Who has this problem?

Frequent shoppers at Lucky’s Market are concerned about these issues. 

Title: Cafeteria bed showroom raises money for Buchholz band

Link: https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200118/cafeteria-bed-showroom-raises-money-for-buchholz-band

Description of story:

57 students, along with six chaperones and two directors, were chosen to travel to Indiana for a music festival in March. The band auditioned and after receiving an invitation to attend had to find a way to raise nearly $100,000. The band decided to hold a mattress fundraiser in their cafeteria which sold mattresses, pillows, box springs and bed frames. Kids stood outside of the school in mattress costumes and promoted the fundraiser. It wasn’t long before there were many inside the cafeteria to buy these items at discounted prices of about 50% off. 

Problem:

A need for money for a program at a local high school. 

Who has this problem?:

The Buchholz band has this problem as they are trying to raise nearly $100,000 before March.

Title: Health experts: Human-to-human spread of the new virus worrying

Link: https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200129/health-experts-human-to-human-spread-of-new-virus-worrying

Description of story:

A new form of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in China. The virus first appeared in Wuhan, China in December and has since then affected 5,974 people (according to January 29, 2020). The spread of the virus has been mostly contained as 99% of all reported cases have been in China. There have been many people evacuated and kept in holding for 14 days in the places that they arrive in order to confirm that they are not affected by the virus. There have also been isolations of cities where the outbreaks are the worst, as officials are trying to keep the spreading of the virus to a minimum. The current death rate of the virus is 2%. Many are worried that the spread of this virus could possibly be occurring with no symptoms. 

Problem:

A form of the coronavirus is spreading among China and officials are trying to keep it contained in the cities that it has been reported to prevent greater spreading. 

Who has this problem?:

Everyone in the world currently is affected by this problem as the virus could spread to any country where people traveled to from China or any other currently affected area. There are already people that have died from this illness, so everyone is currently worried, just as they would be for any rapidly spreading virus. 

Title: Central mental health facility plea to be heard

Link: https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200111/central-mental-health-facility-plea-to-be-heard

Description of story:

Officials of both Gainesville and Meridian are asking to receive state funds to build a single drop-off location for those who have been admitted under the Baker Act. This will assist those experiencing intense mental health issues or a substance abuse crisis. Currently, these people are receiving their help at many different facilities which is resulting in much more money being spent than needed. With this bill, officials are asking for $250,000 to cover the needed payments to build the facility. 

Problem:

There is not currently a single place where patients with mental health issues and/or substance abuse disorders can seek the help they need all at once. 

Who has this problem?:

This is a large problem to the patients with mental health issues and/or substance abuse disorders. This is also a problem to their families, as they are in the facilities for longer due to the transportation between place to place to provide help for different issues. This is also a problem for those working with these patients as they are constantly in and out, not having a known plan as to which place they will go next and if it will be beneficial to their exact issues.

Forming An Opportunity Belief

Opportunity Belief:

I believe that there is an opportunity to add a restaurant on campus that serves healthy food. The unmet need is healthy food options on campus for students. Many students at the University of Florida have this need as college is a time to fend for yourself. Students make decisions on what to eat on campus based on what is around them, and with no healthy food options, students are bound to constantly eat unhealthy foods. The need has existed since these unhealthy restaurants, such as Chick Fil A, Panda Express, Pollo Tropical and Wendy’s, were added to campus. To meet this need today, people are making their own food at their homes when they want to eat healthy. I am 70% sure that this opportunity exists because I know that many people would like healthier options for food on campus, but I’m not sure if the people that constantly make food for themselves at their homes feel that this need exists. There are a few “healthy options” for food at each restaurant on campus, but there is not a restaurant that you can visit with the mindset that you will for sure be eating healthy and you will have many options. 

Questions:

1. When looking at a food menu, are you at all inclined to look for healthier options?
2. Have you had an issue with the lack of healthy food options on campus?
1. If yes, is this issue experienced very frequently or only sometimes?
3. How long has it been since you first realized that you would enjoy a restaurant with healthy food items on campus? If you have not ever had this realization, why do you think that you have not?
4. How are you currently eating healthy foods (if you are at all)?
1. If you are choosing to eat healthy foods outside of on campus options, do you feel that you are satisfied with your current situation? 
5. If there was a healthy restaurant on campus, how often do you think you would visit it?

Prototypical customer #1: First year student; lives on campus; no meal plan

1. I am definitely inclined to look at healthy items on food menus. I try to eat healthy as much as I can. 
2. Yes, I hate that there are barely any healthy food options on campus
1. I notice this all the time. Every time I walk home from the library or a class, I have to pass Chick Fil A. It’s killer. 
3. Since I moved into my dorm in the fall, I have wished for healthier food options on campus. It’s never not been an issue for me.
4. If I eat healthy food, I buy it from the grocery store. I make my own food in the kitchen at my dorm when I want to eat healthy. 
1. It’s not the worst thing ever to have to make your own food, but having healthy food options on campus would make my life so much easier. I wouldn’t have to cook at all and I would always be trying something new at the restaurant. My parents give me money for food and I would rather spend it on a healthy place instead of all of the Chick Fil A that I buy. 
5. I think that I would visit the restaurant at least 3 times a week. I eat on campus at least 3 times a week, so I would be changing out those restaurants with the new, healthy one.

Reflection:

After talking with the first prototypical customer, I see that students like this would really take advantage of a new, healthy restaurant. I think three times a week is a lot to potentially eat at this place, which would solidify at least some customers. Although this person said that they eat healthy food when they make it at their dorm, it is apparent that it is easier to eat out if you’re going to spend the money anyways, especially when analyzing how this person gets money from their parents for food. 

Prototypical customer #2: First year student; lives on campus; has a meal plan

1. Yes. I know that I should be eating healthier, so a lot of times I look for healthier options.
2. It does not really bother me because I have a meal plan. There are a few options in the dining halls that are better for you than Chick Fil A, which is right next to it, so I eat those. I don’t really eat at other places on campus other than the dining hall.
3. I have never really felt that campus needs a healthy food option, but I like I said, I never really go to eat anywhere other than the dining halls. 
4. I choose the healthy-ish options at the dining hall rather than the pizza or french fries. 
1. I eat almost every meal throughout the week at the dining hall. Sometimes I go to the store and buy lettuce and vegetables to go into a salad, but it’s rare. 
5. I don’t think that I would really ever go to a healthy restaurant on campus because I do not eat outside of the dining halls. I have flex bucks that go with my meal plan, but I save those for days when I need coffee before class. 

Reflection:

After talking with the second prototypical customer, I realized that the students with meal plans would not really utilize a new, healthy restaurant on campus. Although many of the meal plans come with flex bucks, there is no guarantee that a student will spend it on a new restaurant if many of them are already not spending them at the restaurants that are on campus. This changes the amount of potential customers that I have because a lot of students that live on campus have meal plans. If meal plans weren’t so popular among students living on campus, I wouldn’t be so worried.

Prototypical customer #3: Second year student; lives on campus; no meal plan

1. Honestly, I just find what sounds good to me, but the majority of times the things that sound good to me are healthy options because I do not like most of the basic foods like pizza, spaghetti, salsa, ketchup, etc. (I don’t like tomatoes/ tomato sauce).
2. I have kind of had an issue because I am frequently in Reitz Union and almost everything there is unhealthy, but I mainly eat at my dorm and cook my own food. 
1. I only experience this sometimes. 
3. I always knew there was not really healthy food on campus, but it hasn’t been a huge issue to me. I would like to try it if there was a healthy restaurant added to campus. 
4. I make most of my meals at my dorm, mainly because I am so picky. I like having the option of making my own food because I know what is going into it. I guess I eat a lot of healthy foods at my dorm.
1. I am fine with my situation of cooking my own food because it’s not that difficult to make your own food and it saves a ton of money. 
5. I would maybe try the restaurant a couple of times, but I wouldn’t go there a lot. I never eat at restaurants because I don’t want to spend the money on it, so I wouldn’t really need a new restaurant added to campus. 

Reflection:

After talking with the third prototypical customer, I realized that more people are making food at their homes and dorms than I thought. I had the mindset that everyone eats on campus, but now I am realizing that might not be the case. It does cost extra money every time someone eats on campus, so maybe people only eat on campus due to the convenience at the moment. 

Summary:

Overall, my opinion on this specific opportunity has changed. I thought that it was completely necessary for a new, healthy restaurant to be added to campus, but after talking to three people with slightly different eating habits and situations, I see that maybe it wouldn’t change student’s lives that much. Of course, I only talked to three people and to get a full understanding of the student population’s overall opinion, I would need to talk to a lot more people. 

My original opportunity is still slightly there, but I would not invest in a new restaurant on campus because of the responses that I received. I believe that I have a more accurate representation of the opportunity because I am not basing it off of just my opinions and views. I was making the opportunity based off of what I thought that campus needed, but I realized that it might not be that beneficial to the majority of the students that go on campus. I think that entrepreneurs should definitely ‘adapt’ their opportunities based on customer feedback. If I would not have gotten these new opinions from the interviews, I would have thought that everyone felt the same as me, which is not true. Customer feedback seems to be very important because without it, an entrepreneur could think that everyone looks at a situation like they do.

My Entrepreneurship Story

I was quite the entrepreneurship in my growing days. My interest for creating my own gadgets and jewelry had always been apparent from a young age. My earliest memory of selling my own creations is 6th grade. I used to make objects out of duct tape, such as wallets, bracelets, bookmarks and binder inserts.  I would sell each item at school and although I sold the objects for only $1-$3, I felt like a very successful businesswomen. The children at my school would use their lunch money to buy my handmade items, which gave me a huge sense of pride. I later got into selling jewelry, but that didn’t work out as well as the duct tape items. The bracelets would either be made out of rubber bands or string. Although I was still in middle school, I got a great sense of how business works by watching one of my businesses prosper and one practically fail. Looking back, I think that I was unable to sell the bracelets because almost everyone around me was making them for them self when they got home from school. I have always been aware that you live through experiences to learn from the outcomes. During my senior year of high school, I created an Instagram account where I sold clothes. These clothes were either from resale shops, thrift stores, or my own closets. Many of the pieces were remodeled before they were sold, even though I did not have much skill in that aspect of the business. The account ended up gaining a few thousand followers and almost every piece that I posted sold within 48 hours. This gave me another sense of pride because I felt like people were getting to see what I was doing and they enjoyed it. I also really enjoyed being in this business because upcycling clothing is great for the environment and a lot of people have been diving into second hand shopping. Although I no longer sell the upcycled clothing pieces, I learned a lot from the experience and realized that I enjoy being a part of the business world. 

I enrolled in ENT 3003 so that I can learn more about the determination that is needed to be an entrepreneur. I am a small business owner myself and although there are many differences, both entrepreneurs and small business owners take risks in order to pursue their own vision. I own a photography business in my hometown, Naples, FL. I mainly keep my work in that city, so I go home pretty frequently. Overall, I would love to learn the ways of entrepreneurship for the future of my business. I think it will be very beneficial to learn more about how to keep a business running smoothly. 

If you’re interested, check out my work here! :)

https://darraghcarlie.wixsite.com/photo/my-work

Bug List

1. When people don’t have manners with strangers in public.

• Why? Some people were never taught how to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ when they were young, so when they are old they come across as a rude individual.

2. When people chomp their gum with their mouth open.

• Why? I once read that people who chew with their mouths open have the mindset that they are powerful. They think that rules, even ones as common as manners do not apply to them. Although this may not be everyone’s motive, it makes perfect sense. The others that do not fall into this category were most likely raised with a slight lack of manners. 

3. When there is a line for the two- or three-stall restroom and class starts in 60 seconds (one example being the women’s restroom by the vending machines in Turlington).

• Why? People think that it is better to walk into class late rather than leaving in the middle of a lecture. Do I agree? Honestly, not really. But sometimes a girl has to go. 

4. When people get very competitive in even the smallest of competitions. 

• Why? Everyone knows that winning is a great feeling. Many strive for it a little too often. Many people that I surround myself with have developed a competitive nature over their lifetime, and I have noticed the main reason why they are so competitive is that they think that there is no point in doing the activity if they are going to lose. 

5. Sentences where full words or phrases are replaced with emojis.

• Why? People think that they are so tech-savvy that they should show their skills to the people that they talk to. I see this most frequently in the comments on my mom’s facebook page. In reality, it makes Karen look like she just learned what an emoji is. 

6. At least one of the Beaty Towers elevators is always broken.

• Why? I am not sure of the last time that the elevators in Beaty Towers (specifically the west building) were replaced. To be honest, I’m not sure if they ever have been. These elevators constantly break and when they do, the time it takes to fix them is between three days and a month. I’m not sure why there is not someone getting paid well to fix the elevators in a timely manner. It seems that one is always broken because the building managers see no need to fix the broken one if the other one is working. 

7. When people get on the elevator and get off at the 2nd floor (specifically in Beaty West).

• Why? Some people just do not want to take the stairs. I would understand this if they were unable, were carrying groceries or laundry, or the stairs were closed. This is never the case. The extra 30 seconds that it takes to stop at each floor truly makes a difference when you’re trying to get to class on time. 

8. Not being able to get rid of a cough after an entire semester of being told that it’s from allergies.

• Why? My roommate and I have had a cough since the beginning of school in the fall. When we go to the clinic, they tell us that we have allergies and prescribe us with allergy medications, rather than specific sickness medication that we look for. They do this over and over again. There is a possibility that the symptoms are from allergies, but it leads us to ask why we have had them for so long.

9. Dried up toothpaste on the mirror of my dorm bathroom.

• Why? Somehow people spit out their toothpaste and it gets on the mirror. I honestly don’t know how this happens. My guess is that they get so excited to finally finish brushing their teeth that their final spit goes in all directions.

10. The constant surrounding of fast food on campus.

• Why? The school finds it easy and convenient to give us the fast food options such as Chick Fil A, Panda Express, Subway, Pollo Tropical, and Wendy’s. Although these are all quick options, they are most definitely not healthy. Of course each individual can choose what they eat, but it bugs me that these are the options that I am surrounded with. 

11. Not being able to go to the beach without getting a sunburn, regardless if I apply sunscreen or not. 

• Why? Sunscreen does not work for me. Coming from Naples, FL, I’m sure that it has something to do with the UV index. Even when I apply once or twice an hour, as directed, I always leave the beach with a sunburn. Tanning is never an option.

12. When someone is aware that you are coming but they let the door close behind them (common in Beaty West).

• Why? The only reason that I can think of of someone doing this is stranger danger. Maybe they have never seen me around, and although I look like the average freshman girl, they do not want to let me in their building. This ruins my day because I have to dig into my backpack to find my building key when they were three feet in front of me and could have saved me the time. In the worst part of all of this, I then have to awkwardly stand in the elevator with them, in which I find out that they are usually a 2nd floor resident. *eye roll*

13. When people in front of you in line don’t move as the line moves forward.

• Why? Many times they are not paying attention. They go on their phones or talk to someone and don’t realize that the people in front of them moved. 

14. When people arrive extremely early to an event or meeting and text you that they are waiting for you. 

• Why? With good intentions, the person is just trying to inform you of their arrival. They are not trying to bug you, but if they are 45 minutes early and you arrive 10 minutes early, this type of person makes sure you know. The notification makes you feel like you’re running behind, even if you’re not.

15. When people go on their phone during an important time.

• Why? Sometimes these people legitimately have something to do on their phone. Sometimes it’s even urgent. Many times it is not, though, and the action comes across as rude. The worst experiences of this for me is when I’m catching up with someone at dinner. I know they don’t mean to make me feel like they don’t care about me, but they do exactly that. 

16. When people, especially the ones with their arms extended straight toward the sky, record entire concerts.

• Why? I totally get it. They are trying to record every moment so that they can look back on the event and relive it over and over again. They are bugging people now for their own happiness later, but many times they are not even aware. 

17. When the toilet seat is left up.

• Why? People forget. Men who use the toilet with the seat up forget that the person after them does not always do the same. Maybe it's a mindset of mild narcissism. It’s most likely just because people forget things sometimes. 

18. When people use the wrong form of 'your' or 'there'.

• Why? Some people were never taught the proper forms of the words. Some people were taught, but they don’t remember the things that they find unimportant to them. 
• You need to get your butt in there before their lions eat you like you’re some kind of divine meat. I heard that they’re very hungry.
• It’s not that hard. 

19. When people use 'LOL' and 'OMG' in an in-person conversation.

• Why? I am assuming people do this because they are so used to typing it on their phone that it just comes out of their mouth. People find this as an easier way to talk over text, so many think it would be easier to say the terms in an in-person conversation. For the record, it comes off as purely unnatural because no one would say “laugh out loud” when something is funny; they would just laugh. 

20. When people say “no offense” before they say something offensive to someone. 

• Why? People tend to think that by prefacing their offensive comment with a warning, it makes the situation better. One day, people will learn that adding two almost-meaningless words before a comment does not make it any less offensive.

Reflection: I found it strangely easy to make this bug list. I began to question if I was just easily irritable, or if this was normal. I remembered that this “bug list” was assigned for us to make. In conclusion, everyone has their own “bugs” that irritate them. If I hadn't worked on the assignment for multiple days, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make the full list. Many things bother us as humans, but we don’t see many until we look for them. I realized that the majority of these “bugs” spur from human interactions. Many things that humans do “bug” me. This makes sense to me as everyone has their own perception of how one should be living. When we see people living in a way that we were not raised to understand or do ourselves, it many times irritates us. This assignment made me think about how I could fix these actions that I saw as issues. Many times, there is no way to fix them unless everyone around me lives just like me, which will not happen.