My solution is a dog-door that is opened by a code. This way, the dog-walker only has access to open the dog-door and does not have to enter your home.There would be an app to alert the pet-owner that their dog-door has been opened and this would also trigger a "nanny-cam" where they could view the entire walk if they wanted to at a later time or just check in to see how their dog is doing. I believe with this level of security and visibility, more people would be willing to hire a dog walker while they are at work or gone for the day for an event/activity.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Solving The Problem
For this exercise, I will be focusing on a solution for the opportunity I outlined in my Forming an Opportunity Belief post. In that post (linked) I discussed the need for new puppy house-training tools and a secure way to hire a dog-walker. Many people are hesitant to hire a dog-walker if it entails giving them access to their home as well as not being able to verify the quality of the service and treatment of their dogs.
My solution is a dog-door that is opened by a code. This way, the dog-walker only has access to open the dog-door and does not have to enter your home.There would be an app to alert the pet-owner that their dog-door has been opened and this would also trigger a "nanny-cam" where they could view the entire walk if they wanted to at a later time or just check in to see how their dog is doing. I believe with this level of security and visibility, more people would be willing to hire a dog walker while they are at work or gone for the day for an event/activity.
My solution is a dog-door that is opened by a code. This way, the dog-walker only has access to open the dog-door and does not have to enter your home.There would be an app to alert the pet-owner that their dog-door has been opened and this would also trigger a "nanny-cam" where they could view the entire walk if they wanted to at a later time or just check in to see how their dog is doing. I believe with this level of security and visibility, more people would be willing to hire a dog walker while they are at work or gone for the day for an event/activity.
Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
The theory I would like to test is: People ages 55-75 are not ready for retirement because the cost of living has increased, but the median income has stayed relatively the same. People are accustomed to living the same lifestyle they did 20-30 years ago, however their purchasing power has gone down, resulting in minimal saving.
Who: People ages 55-75 still in the workforce.
What: They are not ready for retirement.
Why: Their relative purchasing power has decreased as their income barely increased with rates of inflation, however, they have maintained the same lifestyle.
Interview 1: M. David (Co-worker- 37 years at company; Lower-level position)
Mrs. David is past the average age of retirement, however, she does not have plans to retire for another 5 years (she said hopefully). She does not have enough saved to retire. While she admits to having a shoe-shopping problem, she also blamed this issue on the economy as well as the changes in our company pension program. Her husband is retired and both of her working children live at home with her to split the cost of living.
Interview 2: D. Hosier (Co-worker- 39.5 years at company; Mid-level position)
Mrs. Hosier is past the average age of retirement. She is her mother's care-taker and her medical bills are very expensive. Her husband is also retired, however, she was not planning on spending so much of her savings on her mother's care so she plans to work another 2-3 years. She has retirement savings, but not quite enough to retire yet. She also really enjoys her job and considers herself a "workaholic".
Interview 3: R. Jenkins (Supervisor- 32 years at company; Middle manager)
Mrs. Jenkins plans to retire in 3-5 years, which would be slightly early or on-track for the average age of retirement. Her husband just retired this past year. While she has enough to retire, she said she is accustomed to a certain level of living and does not want to have to cut on spending just to retire early. She loves shopping, vacations, and renovating her home without worrying about the cost. She also love leading her team and is still working towards another promotion before her retirement.
Interview 4: J. Fisher (Director; 29 years at company)
Mrs. Fisher's husband is disabled and cannot work. She plans to retire in 3-5 years and has enough saved to do so. This would be an early retirement by a few years. She also has additional income from rental properties. Once she retires, she plans to invest in a few more properties.
Interview 5: C. Morris (Co-worker- 38 years at company; Mid-level position)
Mrs. Moore is not sure when she will retire. Although she is almost to the average age of retirement, she does not feel old enough to retire. She also went through a very expensive divorce a few years ago and would have to support herself through retirement. She also brought up the change in company pension. She does not have enough saved to retire.
What I did not realize until I typed up the summary of my interviews is that all of the people I interview are women whose husbands are already retired or unable to work. I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence or a trend that women retire later than men. Also, none of the individuals who are not ready to retire took personal responsibility for their situation. Also, the only people who were ready for retirement are managers or above in the company.This leads me to believe that it is increasingly more difficult for the middle-class to save and that people would rather work longer and keep up their ideal lifestyle than cut back on spending to retire on-time or early.
Who: People ages 55-75 still in the workforce.
What: They are not ready for retirement.
Why: Their relative purchasing power has decreased as their income barely increased with rates of inflation, however, they have maintained the same lifestyle.
Interview 1: M. David (Co-worker- 37 years at company; Lower-level position)
Mrs. David is past the average age of retirement, however, she does not have plans to retire for another 5 years (she said hopefully). She does not have enough saved to retire. While she admits to having a shoe-shopping problem, she also blamed this issue on the economy as well as the changes in our company pension program. Her husband is retired and both of her working children live at home with her to split the cost of living.
Interview 2: D. Hosier (Co-worker- 39.5 years at company; Mid-level position)
Mrs. Hosier is past the average age of retirement. She is her mother's care-taker and her medical bills are very expensive. Her husband is also retired, however, she was not planning on spending so much of her savings on her mother's care so she plans to work another 2-3 years. She has retirement savings, but not quite enough to retire yet. She also really enjoys her job and considers herself a "workaholic".
Interview 3: R. Jenkins (Supervisor- 32 years at company; Middle manager)
Mrs. Jenkins plans to retire in 3-5 years, which would be slightly early or on-track for the average age of retirement. Her husband just retired this past year. While she has enough to retire, she said she is accustomed to a certain level of living and does not want to have to cut on spending just to retire early. She loves shopping, vacations, and renovating her home without worrying about the cost. She also love leading her team and is still working towards another promotion before her retirement.
Interview 4: J. Fisher (Director; 29 years at company)
Mrs. Fisher's husband is disabled and cannot work. She plans to retire in 3-5 years and has enough saved to do so. This would be an early retirement by a few years. She also has additional income from rental properties. Once she retires, she plans to invest in a few more properties.
Interview 5: C. Morris (Co-worker- 38 years at company; Mid-level position)
Mrs. Moore is not sure when she will retire. Although she is almost to the average age of retirement, she does not feel old enough to retire. She also went through a very expensive divorce a few years ago and would have to support herself through retirement. She also brought up the change in company pension. She does not have enough saved to retire.
What I did not realize until I typed up the summary of my interviews is that all of the people I interview are women whose husbands are already retired or unable to work. I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence or a trend that women retire later than men. Also, none of the individuals who are not ready to retire took personal responsibility for their situation. Also, the only people who were ready for retirement are managers or above in the company.This leads me to believe that it is increasingly more difficult for the middle-class to save and that people would rather work longer and keep up their ideal lifestyle than cut back on spending to retire on-time or early.
Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends
Regulatory Trends:
#1 Banning Plastic Straws: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/news-plastic-drinking-straw-history-ban/
I work in Finance for a restaurant corporation so I often hear updates on plastic straw and plastic packaging regulation from our sustainability and purchasing teams. I believe this opportunity is rather easy to exploit. We have seen plenty of single-use plastic straw alternatives hitting the market, however, there are still many caveats to the common alternatives. I think the largest customer opportunity would be selling a plastic-straw alternative to restaurant companies. While many states are beginning to ban single-use plastic straws, most major restaurant companies are simply changing their procedure (only giving straws upon request) rather than switching to a plastic-alternative. I believe this is because a high -quality competitor has not come into play yet.
#2 Texting and Driving: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2019/06/28/floridas-new-texting-driving-law-10-things-you-need-know/1557610001/
A law recently went into effect in Florida, restricting cell phone use. In certain areas, it is illegal to even touch your phone. I think we will see more states passing laws on this matter. This is an opportunity for cell phone manufacturers, app developers and cell phone consumers. No offense to "Siri", but I think she could use some improvements. I would be happy to switch to a different hands-free-assistant as Siri never understands what I say and I also have issues with the talk-to-text feature on my phone. I believe this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit; Consumers are always willing to try new apps and software.
Economic Trends:
#1 Are we in a Baby Boomer retirement crisis? https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032216/are-we-baby-boomer-retirement-crisis.asp
According to the article 45% of Baby Boomers have no retirement savings and only 55% of Baby Boomers have "some" retirement savings. I work in a very large corporate office, with co-workers who have worked there for 25-40 years. While many of them say they have not retired yet because they love working, many have also shared that they simply cannot afford to retire. This can have massive economic impact as the new job force will have trouble finding an open position, the boomers may be displaced, or millennial may struggle to support their parents and grandparents. I also hear from younger coworkers that they are simply waiting for other to retire in hopes of getting a promotion. The decline of retirement has also limited upward-mobility within companies. I think this is a somewhat difficult opportunity to exploit.
#2 US Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates https://abcnews.go.com/US/fed-expected-cut-interest-rates-means/story?id=65690102
While the economy is "in pretty good shape", the government worries it is slowing down too much. This interest cut should help stimulate the economy. It would be cheaper to get a mortgage, car or business loan right now, which can encourage consumers to borrow and entrepreneurs to start a new venture. I am interested in this opportunity because I need to buy a new car. This is also a great opportunity for mortgage brokers, realtors, and car salesmen. This opportunity is rather easy to exploit.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Forming an Opportunity Belief
Beginning Point: I recently adopted a puppy. As a full-time student with a full time 8-5 job, I am stretching myself very thin in order to take him outside 7-8 times per day until he is house-trained, specifically during the work day. Luckily, I live very close and can go home during my lunch break. I am hesitant to pay a dog-walker because I am concerned about giving someone access to my apartment and trusting a stranger with treating my puppy properly. Some people hire a dog-walker, install a "doggie door", or use training pads in their house. I believe there is an unmet need for new puppy house-training tools and a secure way to hire a dog-walker. I believe this issue affects 90% of working puppy-owners.
Prototypical Customer #1: Working, Single Mom (Supervisor)
How old is your dog?
"I have two dogs. Dennis is 4 years old and Charlie is 4 months old."
Is Charlie fully house-trained?
"She's been doing pretty good lately, but she still has an accident here and there.'
How did you house-train her? Was it difficult during the work week?
"I just tried to take her out as much as possible. Honestly, most days I just knew I was coming home to a mess...or my son was when he got home from school. When we first got her, my son was still on summer break so it was easier having someone at home almost all day."
Would you ever hire a dog-walker?
"Not unless it was a friend or neighbor."
Why not?
"I would be worried they would steal something from my house. I'm not really sure how that even works. Do I give them a key? What is they steal my dog? There's too many risks."
Did you ever use training pads?
"Definitely not...just teaches them to go inside."
Prototypical Customer #2: Married working professional (co-worker)
How old is your dog?
"He is pushing 12 years old."
Do you have any issues with his house-training?
"Now that he's getting older, he is having trouble holding his bladder for long stretches of time. In his prime, he was perfectly behaved."
How do you let your dog outside during the day?
"Well my wife works from home so she is almost always there to let him out. I don't really worry about it too much. If we are going on vacation, I drop him off at my parents' house."
How did you house-train him?
"To be completely up front, he was already house-trained when I adopted him. We never had any issues."
Would you ever hire a dog-walker?
"Maybe if my wife didn't work from home. I would probably sooner just leave the patio door cracked. We live in a really safe neighborhood."
Would you feel less nervous if you had some way to monitor like a camera or tracker?
"I guess...I probably still would not do it."
Prototypical Customer #3: Prospective Puppy-Owner (friend)
How old is your dog?
"Technically...I don't have her yet. I'm going to get her on Sunday..but she's 8 weeks old."
Do you live in a house or an apartment?
"I live in an apartment in Downtown Orlando."
How are you planning on house-training your puppy when you get her?
"I'm sort of nervous about it. My boyfriend and I work almost opposite schedules so there would only be like three days out of the week that one of us isn't home the whole day. Those are the days I'm worried about. I know you go home at lunch, but even without traffic I would only have like 5 minutes at home before having to turn around and come back to work."
Would you ever hire a dog-walker?
"If they had references and were established, yeah, I don't see why not. As long as it wasn't an unreasonable rate."
Are you going to use training pads?
"I am planning to crate train her. I may put one in the bottom of the crate just in case of an accident, but I won't use them for training."
Reflection: I learned that my problem is a little more specific than the average working pet-owner because I also live alone. Prospective Customer #3 was the youngest person I interviewed and also the only one who was immediately open to the idea of a dog-walker right away and was the only one who brought up the price of the service.
Summarize: While I believe the opportunity is still there. I think the affected group I assumed is much smaller than I initially would have expected. While there is definitely still an unmet need, it may be secluded to 90% of working dog-owners who also live alone. I still think a safe and secure way to let your dog outside while you are away from home is an opportunity. Instead of immediately changing a product based on customer feedback, sometimes it may be prudent to consider whether that is truly your customer. Also, while a business must adapt, it is not necessary for every single customer-request but more an adaptation that would benefit the majority of your customers.
Prototypical Customer #1: Working, Single Mom (Supervisor)
How old is your dog?
"I have two dogs. Dennis is 4 years old and Charlie is 4 months old."
Is Charlie fully house-trained?
"She's been doing pretty good lately, but she still has an accident here and there.'
How did you house-train her? Was it difficult during the work week?
"I just tried to take her out as much as possible. Honestly, most days I just knew I was coming home to a mess...or my son was when he got home from school. When we first got her, my son was still on summer break so it was easier having someone at home almost all day."
Would you ever hire a dog-walker?
"Not unless it was a friend or neighbor."
Why not?
"I would be worried they would steal something from my house. I'm not really sure how that even works. Do I give them a key? What is they steal my dog? There's too many risks."
Did you ever use training pads?
"Definitely not...just teaches them to go inside."
Prototypical Customer #2: Married working professional (co-worker)
How old is your dog?
"He is pushing 12 years old."
Do you have any issues with his house-training?
"Now that he's getting older, he is having trouble holding his bladder for long stretches of time. In his prime, he was perfectly behaved."
How do you let your dog outside during the day?
"Well my wife works from home so she is almost always there to let him out. I don't really worry about it too much. If we are going on vacation, I drop him off at my parents' house."
How did you house-train him?
"To be completely up front, he was already house-trained when I adopted him. We never had any issues."
Would you ever hire a dog-walker?
"Maybe if my wife didn't work from home. I would probably sooner just leave the patio door cracked. We live in a really safe neighborhood."
Would you feel less nervous if you had some way to monitor like a camera or tracker?
"I guess...I probably still would not do it."
Prototypical Customer #3: Prospective Puppy-Owner (friend)
How old is your dog?
"Technically...I don't have her yet. I'm going to get her on Sunday..but she's 8 weeks old."
Do you live in a house or an apartment?
"I live in an apartment in Downtown Orlando."
How are you planning on house-training your puppy when you get her?
"I'm sort of nervous about it. My boyfriend and I work almost opposite schedules so there would only be like three days out of the week that one of us isn't home the whole day. Those are the days I'm worried about. I know you go home at lunch, but even without traffic I would only have like 5 minutes at home before having to turn around and come back to work."
Would you ever hire a dog-walker?
"If they had references and were established, yeah, I don't see why not. As long as it wasn't an unreasonable rate."
Are you going to use training pads?
"I am planning to crate train her. I may put one in the bottom of the crate just in case of an accident, but I won't use them for training."
Reflection: I learned that my problem is a little more specific than the average working pet-owner because I also live alone. Prospective Customer #3 was the youngest person I interviewed and also the only one who was immediately open to the idea of a dog-walker right away and was the only one who brought up the price of the service.
Summarize: While I believe the opportunity is still there. I think the affected group I assumed is much smaller than I initially would have expected. While there is definitely still an unmet need, it may be secluded to 90% of working dog-owners who also live alone. I still think a safe and secure way to let your dog outside while you are away from home is an opportunity. Instead of immediately changing a product based on customer feedback, sometimes it may be prudent to consider whether that is truly your customer. Also, while a business must adapt, it is not necessary for every single customer-request but more an adaptation that would benefit the majority of your customers.
Identifying Local Opportunities
Opportunity #1
Title of Article(link):
Title of Article(link):
Tropical Storm Humberto expected to form and skirt by Florida Saturday, forecasters say
Summary:A tropical storm warning is expected to be issued in Central Florida Saturday, September 14.
This issue affects Floridians as well as Central-Florida retail and grocery stores. Central Floridians have the problem of always being unprepared for Tropical Storms and Hurricanes and then rushing local supermarkets to find all of the necessary supplies they need at the last-minute. Most stores cannot meet this spike in demand and run out of stock.
Opportunity #2
Title of Article(link):
Summary: The city of Casselberry is considering stricter regulations for hotels. They want to be able to ensure that all hotels are of high enough quality to attract tourists visiting Orlando's theme parks. This is an opportunity for hotel-owners in Casselberry as well as local businesses. Increased tourism would have a positive effect on local businesses.
Opportunity #3
Title of Article(link):
Summary: There was a crash between the SunRail train and a sedan, resulting in the injury of the Sedan's driver. The cause of the crash is unknown.
This is an opportunity for automotive developers to improve vehicle safety features (for the train, sedan, or both). This could also be an opportunity to competing modes of public transportation.
Opportunity #4:
Title of Article(link):
Summary: There is not crosswalk on Michigan Avenue in Kissimmee, however, many public and school buses stop there. A pedestrian was struck and killed in 2015 and a crosswalk has still not been added.
This issue affects pedestrians and drivers in the Kissimmee area.
Opportunity #5:
Title of Article(link):
Apple takes on Netflix with new $5-a-month streaming service
Summary: In the ongoing war of streaming services, Apple is introducing a cheaper option than Netflix.
This issue affects streaming consumers, cable companies, existing streaming services and prospective new streaming services. With new services splitting up networks, many consumers are either missing out on a large chunk of the content they once enjoyed or having to pay for multiple services. If this trend continues, it may become less expensive to "un-cut the cord" and sign up for a cable provider.
My Entrepreneurship Story
I was exposed to Entrepreneurship at a young age. My older brother, sister, and I were home-schooled throughout much of elementary school. My mother worked part-time at our neighbor/family friend's plant nursery. She would bring us along most of the time; One day we started a snack and beverage stand, targeting the landscapers who had been out working in the sun all day. Our mom would take us to Costco and we would buy large packs of chips, candy, Gatorade, sodas, water bottles and other snacks. She would have us take inventory ever day and figure out how much we were selling of each product. She also taught us how to figure out how much profit we were making. Later on, my mom started her own landscaping business. This business was, ultimately, unsuccessful as she was diagnosed with cancer and could not manager the growing business.
I enrolled in ENT 3003 because it sounded interesting and I would love to own my own business one day. I also think the skills learned in this course would make someone a better employee, who can think outside of the box and contribute more than just following orders.
I enrolled in ENT 3003 because it sounded interesting and I would love to own my own business one day. I also think the skills learned in this course would make someone a better employee, who can think outside of the box and contribute more than just following orders.
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