30A- Final Reflection

• For me what sticks out as the most formative experience would have to be all the interviews that were taken through the course of this semester. This kind of assignment was done multiple times for different assignments posted on the blogs and it was one of the first assignments as well. It gave us real insight and feedback regarding the businesses we each started up.
• My most joyous experience would have to be the good comments of each of my blog posts that not only provide feedback but also positive commentary that tells me that my venture idea was a good one. This gave me the drive to continue working and thinking on what my business idea is today and how it has evolved from just an opportunity I saw in the world.
• The experience I am most proud of myself for accomplishing I guess would have to be this whole class in general because while the assignments weren't hard in general there was so many assignments and sometimes they conflicted with my other class work that I had for other classes. Not to mention that most of these assignments were long and many assignments also required interviews or in general finding someone to speak with. So after all that with this being the final reflection I can safely say I am proud of this accomplishment.
• Even after everything that I did this semester I don't feel as if I am an entrepreneur mainly because I feel that I need to have a couple more years of experience since this was only a semester long class I feel that no one can can really call themselves an entrepreneur since it was only a semester long. Even though I don't consider myself an entrepreneur I do feel as if I moved closer to developing an entrepreneur mindset because of the experiences I had this semester and with creating a business from an opportunity available. I also think that I am moving closer to the entrepreneur mindset because I feel I can spot an opportunity more easily than I could before.
• A recommendation I would give to future students going down the path of entrepreneurship is that when first beginning a business or creating a product, make sure that the opportunity that revolves around it is something you can really get excited for or at the very least tolerate other wise you'll be stuck with something you'll be bored with and not enjoy doing. To do well in this course I recommend that you get head starts on the homework so that you'll have less due the following week and to take notes on the video course to help with the quizzes (cupcakes as they're called in this class). And lastly, to foster your mindset I recommend that you look into the world and you find something you are interested in and see if there is an opportunity that can be taken from it. I wish you good luck on this course (you're going to need it).

29A- Venture Concept No.2

• Opportunity:
• In the Gainesville area there has been an increase of homeless people. The most likely cause of this increase is that people are being laid off from work or end up losing it in some other way. The homeless being the potential customers of my business, usually have no where to go and end up living on the streets or in some back corner alley.
• It was calculated that in the homeless population in the Alachua County started to around 603 in 2007, then went to 1218 in 2012, after that lowered to 870 in 2015, until finally going down to 819 in 2017. Now while it has been shown above that the homeless population went slowly down, but not before rising up in 2012 by about three times the value of the population in 2007. You may also notice that while the population in 2015 and 2017 is less than the population in 2012 it is still higher than the population in 2007. Even though like I said earlier the homeless population may have gone done in the recent years its still bigger than it was back in 2007 and for all we know it could possibly rise up once again like it did in 2012, if nothing is done soon then we could be looking at a homeless population close to the population of UF students or a medium sized village.
• How the homeless people are satisfying this need is by going to nearby homeless shelters or begging strangers for money. Since every person is different it really depends on the person on how loyal they are with doing what they currently doing on dealing with homelessness. There are some people who would prefer not to go around asking random people for money where most of the time they'll be turned down and as for the homeless shelters there might be some people who would prefer it since it is in sense a traditional way with dealing with homelessness.
• The forces that allow this opportunity to exist would have to be certain factors that occur in companies or workplaces that result in people being laid off from work. With it comes the possibility of people who did lose their jobs not being able to find a new one and becoming unable to pay their bills. It could also result from poorly made financial choices or other factors on the person's part.
• Regarding on how long this window of opportunity will stay open, I think the answer will be for as long as there is homeless people and there are ways to end up homeless such as previously mentioned losing jobs or poor financial choices, this opportunity will exist.
• Innovation:
• What I thought of for this innovation was making two services that were specifically made to help homeless people find a job and return to a normal everyday life. The first service will be one that helps the homeless find nearby jobs that fits their capabilities and skill set. The second one gives them temporary living space until they are able to afford their own.
• In terms of how I will make money from this that later on, once the business stabilizes I will plan on creating a loan type system that once the people I helped have steady lives and steady finances they will be expected to pay that money back. But then again as I said before this will be when the business stabilizes but before that it would mainly be a charity type business starting out, but it could stay like that and could just make some money by partnering up with major companies.
• Different people earn different amounts in their salary, so there isn't a fixed price just yet for the use of my services because there are some people who could end working at some big company compared to people who get a job as a coffee server or a janitor.
• Venture concept:
• Have the knowledge that homeless people have a reliance towards homeless shelters it is understandable that it would be difficult to adjust to a new possible way of living. It still hasn't been decided whether or not the two services will have a loan system implemented or will it be a charity type cause and money will be made y being partnered with big companies.
• I don't see the possibility of a competitor, seeing as these two programs were created to help the homeless and if they are then if they would be willing to help then I would be all for it. But if a competitor would appear it would have to be a business that provides similar services but at lower prices, meaning lower reimbursements to pay back if the loan system was implemented. Which in my opinion is a weakness because that would mean they are earning less money and lower prices doesn't always equal the best quality but on the other hand more people would go to that service more thus getting more money than originally thought.
• The support and experiences of customers would help define my business concept by giving their feedback on the services that are offered to the homeless and could help get more difficult and stubborn homeless people to come on board and take advantage of the services and help get their lives on track.
• I would organize a business to support the ongoing production of my service by creating one that is efficient and simple enough to understand by any person no matter their intelligence. To begin, I would hire maybe eight to twelve employees since its just starting up, one with some help will be in charge of the housing service and another will be in charge of the job locating service and while the rest will be divided between the two groups if there is any.
• Unfair Advantage:
• In my opinion hat my unfair advantage is that other competitors (if there are any) won't have is that my business will be adaptable to change and thus can only get better for the sake of the customers. And since adaptability is more of a way of doing something it is not so easily able to be copied so there won't any need to worry about competitors.
• What's Next:
• I probably would like to expand my services to other parts of Florida and then slowly to other countries in the US, until finally it reaches other countries. As a little side project I would like to add a section where a real life and former homeless person or group of people tell their story on how with these service helped their life for the better and that perhaps these stories could end up becoming printed as a book to sell with the possibility to make even more money.
• Whats next for you:
• As I said before I plan on expanding my services worldwide but as for myself I probably will continue to run my business for a couple more years and then retire from it and have someone else run while I am not there. Next I'll take a look at the world and see if there is anything opportunity out there that I could make a solution out of it.
• Feedback:
• Partner up with big companies: could make money if partnered with a big company that funds my business.
• Make the services a charity type business: loan type business could come with risks and there could be problems with the paying back part involving different people.
• More informative: added more information to this post to make it more clear.
• Spread the service to other countries: start out in Gainesville and slowly go towards other parts of the US and then to other countries.
• How I'll change my venture concept based on the feedback:
• Reading over the feedback I'll choose certain factors that could benefit my business and then implement it.
• I'll go back and view my past interviews and see if any of the feedback is relevant towards improving my business.
• I'll probably try to find a company that is willing to partner up with my business.
• I may need to find more than one company to partner up with if I am in a different country. 

28A- Your Exit Strategy

1. Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?
• What I plan to do for my exit strategy is that if my business helping homeless people does well enough I probably stick around long enough that I have enough money set aside for myself and that is enough to support me as well. I also planned to make my business well known in the world for the work that is done and after all that is done I will probably pass the ownership of my business to one of my longest standing employees that have the skills to keep these services running.
2. Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?
• I chose this strategy because after years of working on something and making it known across the world there just comes a time where you need to let go and pass it on to someone else. And its only natural that when you finish something you've been doing for a while that you start something new until the day comes that you finish that as well. Depending on how long I take to work on business and then exit it I would like to also work on opportunities that are out there in the world waiting to be solved.
3. How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?
• I think my exit strategy has influenced how I will identify an opportunity because knowing that one day I will leave my business to pursue another makes me more observant of the world around me and finding an opportunity will be much more easier compared to the first time. It also makes me look towards the future more often and makes me wonder the next move I will take and how I will do things for my next venture such as getting resources I will need to start my new venture, but I think that for this concern, one of my connections that I will obtain in the future or ones that I might have could recommend someone to help out with getting resources. So to conclude I think that my exit strategy will help me get more observant in finding the next opportunity to pursue. 

27A- Reading Reflection No.3

1. What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme of Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online by Brian Halligan, is with the way of shopping changing nowadays, you as the entrepreneur have to adapt to the changes and find new ways to sell your product to customers in new ways such as the internet, social media, or visual content. Also in this book it mentioned that visitors to your content are slowly pulled into your business by starting out as visitors, then leads, and finally paying customers by getting them to return often to your website, blog, or social media.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• In my opinion this book connects to what I have been learning in ENT 3003 in the sense of creating ways to get our customer to go from just a person visiting to a full fledged customer who is willing to pay money for our product and/or service. Also this book mentions the use of blogs, which its says can "help establish your company as a thought leader in your market". An since for practically all of the homework assignments (not counting the Cupcakes) have all been done using the blogs we created, so having this experience on using blogs could be beneficial for creating a blog regarding our company that shows great content for it.
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book I read, I would have to make an assignment where a student creates either a second blog or a website that is filled with content on their business. By content I mean things like who is the target market, what is your business and its name, how will you create income, feedback from interviewed people, and opinions on their business from other people. Since students have experience with creating a blog, this could be simple enough to do and I would consider making it a final assignment since everyone would already have all the information gathered at this point.
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• My biggest surprise or 'aha' moment in the book would have to be when nearing the end of the book that head of businesses were keeping tabs on the competitors. Now for me when it comes to learning what your competitors does or one ups your business you usually hear it from the news in some form or another like television, the internet, or newspapers. But the way they mention it sounds a bit stalker like with some added paranoia on your part. So basically, I now know that if I ever start a business with the potential of having competitors that I will need to be weary that they won't cause upstarts that could prove to be a problem for my business.

26A- Celebrating Failure

1. Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.
• It was during a time quite recent actually, where I had three exams that were so close to each other that it made studying for them like torture. One exam was on Wednesday, the second on Friday, and a third exam on the following Monday. So at the most I had two days to study for each exam and put that together with the homework for this class and my other classes it was not a good time. So I tried different ways to study and the ways were from the different ways I used for the past exams but none of them really helped me with studying. So in the end I didn't do so well on none of the exams because of the limited amount of time I had to study at the same time as doing the homework I had for my other classes.
2. Tells us what you learned from it.
• What I leaned from this failure is go to the syllabus of your classes and know what days you will have exam and study in advance. I also learned that if I am low on time and I know in the back of my mind that there is a high probability that I won't pass that exam just drop all the studying for that class and get to studying for the exam that is at a later yet close date, because one day of studying can make all the more difference. Also studying ahead of time can prevent frustration and an overload of information that you can't handle in such a short amount of time.
3. Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?
• My thoughts on failure is that its annoying and frustrating and there might be times where you want to punch something or in this case the very thing you failed at which isn't exactly something easy to do since most failure are inanimate objects or something you can't feel such as grades or exams scores. For me I handle failure by first being annoyed and angry, then a couple minutes have passed and I realize there isn't much I can do its all in the past so the only thing I can do is look towards the future and just go through my day as usual. in regards on how this class has changed my perspective on failure by making me feel more at ease since failure is something that happens a lot more often in starting up a business or creating a new product. It's probably thanks to this class that I am willing to take risk now compared to months ago because failure doesn't bother me as me much.

25A- What's Next?

Existing Markets

• What I think is next:
• In terms of what's next for my product and services in my ventures, after the homeless situation is stable or lowered in Gainesville I was thinking of expanding these services to other parts of Florida. What I mean is that I'll go to the next city in Florida that is also suffering from homelessness and to offer my services to help lower it, because I know Gainesville is not the only place in the world that is dealing with it's citizens becoming so poor to the point of being homeless and the same could be said about Florida as well. Somewhere in the world homelessness is a reality for many people, so slowly I plan on expanding my services world wide to deal with this problem.
• Interviews:
• For interviewee #1 I spoke of what my business does and what I plan on doing next in my venture and I asked them what I should do be doing that I wasn't planning on doing, and they suggested I should offer this service to poor people because if they don't receive help soon they'll just end homeless as well, so better to stop the problem before it starts. Next I told them I plan on expanding my service to other cities of Florida once the homeless problem is under control and they said I should go for it.
• For interviewee #2 I told them about my business like the first interview and asked them what I should do that I wasn't planning on doing and what she suggested I do is to a volunteer program where people could gain community service hours or just volunteer because they feel like it. I told them about how I wanted to expand my service to other cities of Florida once the population of homeless goes down and they fully support the idea.
• For interviewee #3 like the previous two I told him about my business and got their input on what they think I should do and what he told me is to spread the word on my service to other cities because if I was planning on expanding my service (which I later told them I was) I could use extra financial support when starting these businesses in other locations. Since I told them I was indeed planning on expanding my service they were all for it to happen.

Reflection:
      After listening to the feedback of the three people I interviewed and placing it with my expectations I got a decent idea in the direction on where to go for my business. Each of these people had similar yet different ideas on what it is I should be doing that I wasn't planning to do and they all agreed with my idea of expansion. Meaning I will have support when the time comes to expand the service to other cities.
      In my opinion what makes the most sense in regard to growing my venture is that like the first interviewee said I should also focus on having these services available to poor people to expand the customer type. I feel like this feedback made the most sense since if I can stop people from becoming homeless in the first place I could stop the problem at its roots.

New Market:

• Different Market:
• Since my original target was homeless people the next market I plan on targeting will have to be regular people or rich people and since I can't really get access to anyone in the latter I will have to choose regular people as my new market. And what I mean by regular people is people who can maintain a job and are currently not in a financial situation.
• Value for People in this Market:
• Since I was mainly focusing on a venture for people who don't have much or anything, finding a venture that is of value for everyday people like you and me is something much more difficult. But if I were to create a venture for this I would have to choose something that could better the lives of the market customers.
• Interviews:
• For interviewee #1 I asked them what kind of venture I could create to better the lives of people. The kind of adaptations they gave me for a venture to better someone's life was maybe start with something that could deal with one of the many minor annoyances in the world. 
• The second interviewee suggested that I could better the lives of people by perhaps create something that makes someone living in their home more secure, perhaps something in the line of a new kind of security system or security service.

Reflection:

      After conducting the interviews I've learned that the general market area of regular people and the venture of making life more comfortable to their needs has a very broad perspective. Meaning that there are numerous amounts of opportunities that could be obtained from this venture and I don't know where to begin. My expectations for this venture was that hopefully I could have found something that the people I interviewed had in common which I did not find.

      What surprised me the most was the second interviewee suggestion of a new security service or system, I found this surprising because there are already so may I don't even know where to begin on improving or creating something new. As for this new market I don't find it as appealing as my current market because at the very least the need and opportunity is obvious. While for the market of regular people compared to homeless people have different wants and needs so I'll have to look into this new market more in the future.

24A- Venture Concept No.1

• Opportunity: 
• There seems to be an increase of homeless people (note the homeless people are the potential customers) in Gainesville. Causes to this increase could be the fault of people being laid off from work or losing their job some other way. With these customers becoming homeless they end up losing their home as well (hence the name) and could end up living in the streets.
• In 2017 in Alachua County it was recorded that there was 819 homeless and while that may not seem like a lot compared to the past years with 2015 being 870, the most in 2012 with 1814, and 603 in 2007, like shown in 2012 there is a chance the homeless rate will skyrocket again so something must be done. If nothing is done sooner or later the homeless population be the same as the amount of students here at UF.
• Customers as in the homeless people, are satisfying this need by begging for money and staying at homeless shelters. It really depends on the person on how loyal they are because to some or most people they don't exactly like begging for money and as for the homeless shelter I am not sure about that one, people could stay in that position or improve.
• The forces that allow this opportunity would have to be the factors that cause certain companies to have to let go a number of their employees who most are unable to find a new job and possibly due to some personal factors to that person or family of people's life are a factor as well.
• Regarding on the duration of time that the window of opportunity will be open for I will have to say that as long as there is the chance people make poor financial choices or ending up losing their jobs this opportunity will exist.
• Innovation:
• What I had in my for this innovation is creating two services specifically designed to assist the homeless and help them return to a normal everyday life. One service is to help people have lost their jobs look for new ones that fit their capabilities and background. The other service gives them temporary housing until they earn enough money to afford their own home. 
• I'll make money from this this way, these services will function similar to a loan from a bank once the people that used these services are back on their feet with a steady job and living situation they will be expected to pay back the service with interest and the customer can choose to pay it back in full if available depending on their job or pay it in separate payments until they pay it off. 
• Since different people earn different amounts of payments in their salary I don't have a fixed price for the services because different people stay using it for different amounts of time, so the price depends on the person. I would like to point out that these services while were created to help reduce homelessness if the money doesn't get reimbursed than there won't be these services anymore.
• Venture Concept:
• I know currently homeless people are mainly relying on homeless shelters and it could be difficult for them to accept this change since its not exactly free but I still think they will switch because unlike a homeless shelter, these two services are made to help someone get their life back on track with help instead of doing it by themselves or nothing at all.
• Since these programs were mainly created to help homeless people I don't really see any competitors competing to help the homeless in fact if they are willing they could lend a hand. But if there were to be a competitor it would have to be a business that does similar work but at lower prices, meaning lower reimbursements to pay back. Which in my opinion is a weakness because that would mean they are earning less money and lower prices doesn't always mean good quality.
• Customer support and customer experience would help define my business concept by giving their feedback on the services that are offered to the homeless and could even help convince rather stubborn homeless people to take advantage of the service and help get their life back together.
• I would organize a business to support the ongoing production of my service by creating one that is efficient and simple enough to understand by any kind of homeless person. I think that for starters I would hire maybe five to ten employees since its starting up one will be in charge of the housing service and the another will be in charge of the job locating service and while the rest will be divided between the two groups.
• First: Unfair Advantage:
• What I will have that other competitors won't have is that my business will be adaptable to change and thus can only improve for the sake of the customers. And since adaptability is difficult to copy that will be another thing that won't need to be worried about by competitors but as previously mentioned I really doubt that there will be any to begin with.
• Second: What's next?:
• I haven't really thought that far ahead and I don't know what other opportunity I would want to tackle, but for my existing business if all goes well I would like to add this special section where real life former homeless people tell their story on how using this product turned their life around for the better and that these stories could end up being printed as a book to sell.
• Third: What's next for you?:
• Like I said before I haven't thought that far ahead but as for me I will probably run my business for a while and then have someone run while I am not there. After that I'll take a look at the world and see if there is anything wrong with it and see if I can make an opportunity out of it.

23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Entrepreneur Experience: I took a class last year during the summer for one of my innovation academy classes.
• Valuable: I feel as if this is moderately valuable because having this experience could be beneficial to starting up my service.
• Rare: This isn't exactly rare, since many people have this kind of experience.
• Inimitable: Many people can get this experience through different ways but it is shaped depending on the person who gains.
• Non-Substitutable: In terms of experience I could always find someone with more experience on entrepreneurship that could help me with this area of the service.
2. Proof: Since my service involves homeless people it is not that difficult to locate them since each time I go out shopping it feels like I always see somebody with a cardboard sign asking for money.
• Valuable: I feel that this is very important because this is what is basically going to start up the business since I will have proof that shows homelessness being a problem.
• Rare: I guess it would consider rare when compared to the amount of normal people but common seeing as the number of homeless people is increasing.
• Inimitable: If there are other people interested in the matter they could end up finding the same homeless people who are seen by people who are taking action.
• Non-Substitutable: Seeing as the resource or in this case the proof is homeless people I don't feel as if it can be substituted.
3. Information: Information gathered on the subject I decided to pursue to start a business on since the first assignment on this matter.
• Valuable: I think this is very valuable since there is very little chance I could replicate three months of information gathering so easily.
• Rare: It is rare since its my own findings as well as some information I looked up so it is very individualistic.
• Inimitable: It really depends, for if I had everything on a flash drive or on paper it could be copied, but since most of the information is scattered across my blogs it could be difficult.
• Non-Substitutable: Unless the replacement or the substitution for the info is as good I don't really see there being a substitution.
4. Social Capital: Domain Expert: Knowing a director for a homeless shelter gives me someone to turn to for advice on how to run my business.
• Valuable: Having someone who has years of experience on this topic is valuable to have on starting up a business where it focuses on their area of expertise.
• Rare: Really depends because I am pretty sure that I am not this person's only acquaintance. But there might be some people who are thinking of doing a business like the one I am doing and it could be difficult for them to have this kind of expert in their social capital. Also it could depend on where they live because someone starting a business might not live near a homeless shelter so it could be rare.
• Inimitable: It is not that hard to be copied by others since it mainly involves getting this kind of person in their social capital but to some that could be easier said than done.
• Non-Substitutable: If I ever lose this person in my social for some unknown reason there is always hope that I find some other director of a homeless shelter that could give me knowledge on how to go for my business.
5. Social Capital: Market Expert: Having someone in this field will be useful because it can give me more insight on homelessness.
• Valuable: This person's connections and knowledge on the matter are very valuable and could become a great asset to what I am aiming for.
• Rare: Its not rare since there are possibly lots of people with this kind of background. When you have the career this person has you make lots connections.
• Inimitable: Since this is person with their own unique experiences then it would be almost impossible to find someone with the exact capabilities.
• Non-Substitutable: It won't be easy but I could always find someone who fit in the slot of market expert, although their background on the homeless matter will be different.
6. Social Capital: Industry Supplier: Having this person in my social capital will be beneficial because it could help provide resources for the homeless that use my service.
• Valuable: I will say that this person is very valuable because having resources to help the homeless on a just starting up business is useful.
• Rare: There are probably many people who work for the company this person works for or there other companies who also help homeless people and there will be people who hold the same position as them.
• Inimitable: Other people could possibly have this supplier as an acquaintance as well so it shouldn't be to hard to copy.
• Non-Substitutable: Since this is a supplier of resources it would be extremely difficult to find another one that would be willing to help the homeless since there may or may not be a lot of these kind of companies.
7. Local location: Since the service will be mainly focusing on the homeless in Gainesville being local is a key factor because it would be much more difficult if the service to eliminate or reduce homeless in Gainesville if the service took place somewhere else.
• Valuable: It is moderately valuable since it would be difficult to run the business if the location was far away.
• Rare: being local is not rare because I could live anywhere in Gainesville to be local.
• Inimitable: It is not that hard to be copied by others since its just a local location.
• Non-Substitutable: If its a location in Gainesville then it could substituted but any where else can't be used.
8. Presenting Experience: I have the experience of presenting a product or service so I can use that to my advantage when presenting my product to potential businesses who are willing to fund this business.
• Valuable: It is somewhat valuable because it could help me convince people that my service could help people benefit from it if they were to use it.
• Rare: If you an upcoming entrepreneur you would probably have this so it might not be rare, but since it is individualistic there is some uniqueness to it.
• Inimitable: Ones own experience isn't something that some random person can easily copy or imitate.
• Non-Substitutable: The only way I see this experience being substituted is if I gain even more experience on presenting that it replaces the old experience.
9. No competition: Since this service is mainly created to help the homeless I don't see there being a competitor to help homeless since its not a competition.
• Valuable: It is very valuable because no competition means no people to get in your way and people who have the common goal of reducing homeless are welcome to bring any assistance.
• Rare: I suppose its rare when a business doesn't have competitors because it leads to who can outdo the other and gain customers.
• Inimitable: Having no competition isn't something that can be imitated, you just have a business where nobody bothers or can't compete.
• Non-Substitutable: Can't be substituted since no competition is needed or required here.
10. Adaptability: Since this business is just starting it up I am open to any ideas that could improve these ideas since there is still much I probably don't know on the matter.
• Valuable: Being able to change to better improve is something that is very valuable in a business because it could only lead to improvement.
• Rare: I suppose it could be considered rare since there are some companies in the world that are resistant to change.
• Inimitable: It could imitated rather easily if a product or service is willing to adapt to improve for the sake of its customers.
• Non-Substitutable: Not exactly something that can be substituted since its just the concept of changing a service or product to better the needs of their customers.

       Once the VRIN analysis was done it was difficult to choose which one of these resources I would consider to be on the top. But if I had to choose one I would think having entrepreneur experience would have to be the one since without it I would be a lot more lost on how to approach creating this service. Its unique because its my own experiences and no one can take that away from me. Your experiences can determine if you can manage to make your business a reality.

22A- Elevator Pitch No.3

Link to third pitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbze5kRMoMg&feature=youtu.be

Reflection on feedback from last pitch:
I got some good feedback on what it is I need to improve in terms of my elevator pitch. One of the feedback was that my last pitch felt as if I were telling a story so I tried to change the format of my current pitch, this feedback I considered important. What surprised me in the feedback I received was the comment of my last feedback being too long, which I thought the pitch was at a decent length but I did shorten it to see if it works better. The feedback that I found rather silly was that I should keep my hands out of my pockets so I decided to ignore that one because that is how I feel more comfortable doing my pitches. Some insightful feedback was that if I were telling a story I wouldn't be able to get to my product faster so this contributed towards me shortening the video.

What I changed:
I made the pitch a bit shorter so that I could get my point across much faster and by that I mean I didn't go into every little detail as if I were telling a story other wise I'd be boring the audience. I also made sure to try to show a bit more energy and to still wear professional attire. Lastly I looked towards my previous pitches for inspirations on what I need to say because I pitched my product with a different script than the previous two. In terms of how I felt during the pitch, I felt okay in front of the camera, I was able to memorize my pitch faster, and I felt overall my third pitch came out okay.

21A- Reading Reflection No.2

1. What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme of the Mindset The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck was depending on the mindset you have it could prevent you from succeeding (fixed mind sets) or help you come back from your failures (growth mind set) and these two mindsets aren't just for business as well they can affect your personal life as well.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• In my opinion connects with what I have been learning in ENT 3003 because in this book it talks about our mindsets and how it makes us who we are and dealing with things such as failure and success. Being an entrepreneur class we learn about how to start a business and the challenges we will face in the process. And since there are many ideas a future entrepreneur might have its good to know what kind of mindset will be best suited for that idea of theirs.
3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to design an exercise for this class I would do something based on earlier in the reading of this book. What the exercise involve is thinking about a time you had a really bad day and after that was all written out, next write how you would cope directly with this kind of day if you were to experience something like this day again in the future.
4. What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• The biggest surprise for me was in an earlier chapter it talks about how many famous people well known in their line of work like in the book it lists Ben Hogan a golfer and Geraldine Page an actress failed in some sort of way before becoming who they are in the future. This surprised me because even though I have some knowledge to this happening to people like Michael Jordan and Albert Einstein but to it being more common than I realize was rather surprising. I know when becoming famous or successful in some sort of way you will encounter some failure but I wasn't expecting failures where its more important in ones career than others. 

20A- Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

• Who are they and what their background is:
• Kent (won't say last name) is the director of a homeless shelter.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot:
• Domain expert because they more or less are doing the business activity of directing the business like I would do.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person:
• Searching the internet and sending them an email.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation:
• It was just a normal exchange of information, I sent them some questions about what it is they do and told them about the business idea I have for this class and he just replied back with his input. No favors were given since this was a hypothetical project.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity:
• It could help me become more experience on the matter and it would be good to have some input from someone who has been doing this for far longer than I have.

Market Expert:

• Who are they and what their background is:
• Meagan (not using last name to protect identity) is someone who works at a nonprofit organization who wrote a piece on putting a stop to homelessness.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot:
• I am placing them in the market expert slot because seeing as they wrote an article on the matter of homelessness, so I was thinking they might have more knowledge on this matter than I do.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person:
• I found them while searching the internet looking for someone that would fit the market slot and I contacted them through email.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation:
• It was just a regular exchange nothing special, I merely asked them their opinion on the matter and they gave me their feedback as well as the new knowledge I could use. being someone I just met I didn't ask for any favors.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity:
• Since she did research for her article I am thinking that she must have sources and connections for that information so with her in my network I could think of ways on how to better my services.

Industry Supplier:

• Who are they and what their background is:
• Jennifer (last name not shown for privacy) Management director for a facility that provides resource for people who are on the verge of becoming homeless.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot:
• Industry supplier because being someone who works at a company that provides to the homeless I feel they could provide for my service idea as well.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person:
• Searching the internet and emailing them.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation:
• A casual exchange of information I asked them questions on what it is they do and told them my idea and she gave me her feedback. There were no favors asked between us because we just met so there isn't any need for that sort of thing right now.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity:
• It will provide resources to provide for my customers when needed.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

• It was a challenge having to find someone who knows about my topic of homelessness as if they were an expert. According to some feedback I received in my previous posts my targeted customers are in a very large group so it will be difficult to find something for every little aspect of the service.This experience might make it easier in future networking events if I know the names of people who could vouch for the service, but at the same time it could be difficult because I had a hard enough time just searching for people through the internet. I never really had any networking experience in the past but because I am someone who doesn't talk to people much even sending these important people emails was something rather big because I wasn't sure if they would pay enough attention to a college student. 

19A -Idea Napkin No.2

• You. Who are you.What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?
• My name is Christopher Denegri as previously mentioned I am a UF student currently in my second year here. My talents include multitasking, organization, and having the ability to not be distracted by the things around me when I have something that needs to be done. My skills includes decision making and time management, as for my experiences I a small bit of experience of entrepreneurship. My aspirations are that I would like to improve upon on the world in any way I would be fine with that. If I were to start this business the role it would play in my life is that I will leave my mark on the world and might be there even in the future. 
• What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).
• What I am offering to customers is a service in the forms of two programs, one that gives temporary living space and the other gives assistance in finding a job for a homeless person that fits their skill set. These services will solve the unmet need of homelessness because it seems as if the amount of homeless people have been growing. These programs haven't changed much since I came up with this idea but there have been some improvements due to feedback I received from the interviews that I have taken such as choosing workers who won't treat the customers rudely and if it works get those same helped people to help out others homeless people who might be too proud to accept help.
• From the feedback I received from my last idea napkin I need to make sure that my services are suited to work for a large market such as this. Because there are many ways on how a person could end up homeless so my service should be able to support this amount of people in a stable way.
• Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?
• I am mainly offering this service to homeless people but to be more specific this includes people who have been laid off from work, people who have never found a job when first starting to live on their own, and people who become unable to pay the bills they need to pay due to low income of their current job and with possible loans or debts that need to be paid. What the customers all have in common is that they all end up homeless due to a certain factors in their lives. Not everyone experiences the same thing but there are some people in the world who are unlucky enough to have something that is mentioned earlier in this paragraph happen to them then they could end up on pathway to homelessness. The targeted customer also has to fall in the line of homelessness and not just very poor that you barely scrape in their everyday lives.
• Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.
• If some or a business were to get involved by funding this service they would care because if word gets around that this company is help fund this cause to help homeless people then they will receive good publicity and depending on what they do, might see better results in their income.
• I believe that my customers would use my service because seeing as they are in difficult situation I don't think they will have much options seeing as its either stay homeless or accept the help that is given to them and hopefully help them get back to a normal working life.
• What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?
• For my core competencies I would have to say my need to actually want to help these people would have to one of them. I think this sets me apart from others because these are people who I have no relation to whatsoever yet I still wish to do something about their predicament. I think what I have that others don't have is being passionate about this issue because I feel like this isn't a very thought of issue.
• In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.
• In regards to these five elements I think they work rather well together, I've improved upon many times in these passing months. The only thing I still think that might be weaker than the other elements would have to be the one on "why do they care". I think this because in my opinion I feel that humanity is by default selfish and only cares about themselves, so it might be difficult to find a business willing to fund this service to homeless people that to some people consider invisible. I am not saying that it is impossible just that it will be difficult because those could be the challenges I could be facing.
• Feedback Memo:
• I included the fact that the issue I am working on does revolve around a large market and that it won't be very simple to do. The reason being is that there several factors on why a person would end up homeless. In my last idea napkin post I got this point from the comment that was left.
• This time I included the core competencies that was in the feedback I received on my last idea napkin because last time I wasn't too sure what made me unique compared to everyone else in the world but with some guidance from the feedback I was able to be completely sure of myself.

18A- Create a Custom Avatar

      For my service that I am providing is mainly targeted towards homeless people and the support from it could be from businesses or companies who are willing to pay, but in regards of this assignment let me tell you the story of just one person to show who can be a possible customer for my service..
      It begins with a man living in the state of Ohio, he is 24 years old and is still fresh from graduating from the University of Akron with a bachelor's degree in accounting. On the weekdays he works as an accountant for some small company and he has the weekends off, his hobbies includes going out for early morning jogs, reading, and learning new cooking recipes. Currently he is living in an apartment by himself that was leased to him for two years and one kitchen, one bathroom, two bedrooms, and a small living room for him to relax at when he gets home from work. They drive a blue 2016 Chevrolet Cruze and he uses it sometimes during the week to get to work but on certain days the traffic tends to be bad he walks to work or takes the bus to avoid wasting gas money.
      Things however aren't as bright as they seem because during his time in college he needed to take out loans to help pay for his tuition and classes. And to this day he is still trying to pay of the college loans, with at the same time paying for apartment bills, and car bills. Even though he is in a way a person who graduated from college lets say a year ago if he doesn't figure out a way to pay off the loans and bills  he owes, he could be going towards not being able to pay his bills on time, become evicted from his apartment, could end up losing his job if he doesn't find someplace to live, lose his car, and becoming the definition of homeless.

What do I have in common with him? Well aside from us both being university students (he graduated though), we both have reading as a hobby, live in apartments, and another thing could be is that we both have something that we need to figure out in our lives.
Do I find this as coincidence? Not really because there are many people in the world who possibly have this in common with this man its not that uncommon.

17A- Elevator Pitch No.2

Link to my pitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEsTT46gC1w&feature=youtu.be

Reflection on Feedback from last pitch:
Based on the feedback I received about my last pitch, I received some minor details on what I could do to improve my pitch was to have some more confidence in my self which I did find important. The feedback that surprised me about my last pitch was that some people seemed to think I was reading my written pitch that wasn't shown on camera, however I more or less had it memorized so there was no need for me to read it, so I tried to look more at the camera for my next pitch. The feedback I felt was silly was the quality of camera I use should be using for my pitches, I found this silly because I am someone who doesn't use a camera frequently so even if did get a new camera I would rarely use it and it would just end up collecting dust. The most useful feedback I received was again on how having more confidence will improve the quality of my pitches.

What Changed:
I tried to add more enthusiasm and energy to my pitch to make it sound more engaging toward the audience and I tried to sound more confident on what it is I am trying to pitch. Also I felt that I spoke a bit longer than last time and lastly I tried to explain how the targeted customer will be convinced to use this service. So to conclude the main changes I did were giving my pitch more energy and to explain my service with more detail.

16A- What's Your Secret Sauce?

Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique:

1. Problem Solving- Whenever I run into a problem I can't help but think of a solution for it, even if the solution is theoretical or non-existent. I feel that most problems of the world have some sort of solution and they can't be impossible to solve.
2. Creativity- When thinking of a business opportunity I usually have to think creatively on what could be made a business out of. Usually this takes thinking outside my normal limits of thinking (or thinking outside the box to be frank).
3. Strategic Thinking- There are times where I can't rashly do something to get results, it is in those times that I need to think of a strategy to get the best results without any problems to have to deal with on the way.
4. Decision Making- I have known myself to make good decisions in my life that usually end up with positive results. So I feel when it comes to making a tough decision I know that I'll make the right choice.
5. Diligence- I am diligent when it comes to the important things that matter at the present and I don't put it off for something I would rather be doing instead.

Interviews:

• https://soundcloud.com/christopherdenegri809/16a-recording-1
• In this interview the interviewee talks about my problem solving skills. He also adds that when I use this skill I am able to solve problems rather quickly and well.
• https://soundcloud.com/christopherdenegri809/16a-recording-2
• In this recording the interviewee talks about how getting my work done on time is what makes me unique. He also mentions that I get the work done before it is due which could relate to my diligence characteristic.
• https://soundcloud.com/christopherdenegri809/16a-recording-3
• It is mention like the previous recording about my diligence towards certain aspects of my life. Mentioning that "I put of things I would rather be doing" is also adding towards how it shows that I am diligent.
• https://soundcloud.com/christopherdenegri809/16a-recording-4
• Mentioning I don't like to fail could be a characteristic I didn't put with my list. It also states I get back up from failure so if I were to choose a characteristic that this represents I would have to say perseverance. 
• https://soundcloud.com/christopherdenegri809/16a-recording-5
• Like the previous recording it talks about my strongest quality being to not let failure get in my way of success. This sound like perseverance and the same time with a bit of persistence.

Reflection:

I see myself as somebody whose responsible and does what is needed to be done in favor of other activities to some or most would sound more exciting. Regarding the feedback I got on my interviews the information obtained was rather similar to how I described myself, so I do feel that they are correct about me. I don't think I would make any corrections towards my list of characteristics but if I had to I could add persistent since my interviews did say I don't let failure get me down and no one in this world is perfect so I am sure everyone has felt failure at some point in their life.

15A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.2

Report Findings
      For the interviews I conducted, I found some insights from the interviewees on how to make the service I am providing more appeasing towards those people who need it. One of the interviews (I believe it was the second one) gave me some good advice I should make a note of is that for the people who are too proud to take the help could be convinced by someone who already went through the works of both programs and have a better understanding on what the stubborn homeless person is going through. If they succeed then perhaps in the future those very same stubborn people could end up helping people who are too proud in the future as well.
      But going back a bit my first interview was not as informative as the other two but I was still able to get some insight on the matter of homelessness at the very least. They suggested when first starting up the business in order to get people to acknowledge that this is problem perhaps something could be done to spread the word. Up until now I didn't think that much on how the service would start except that it would require a lot of money, so creating a way that gets people to know about this problem which at the same time not so much that it would make the target audience (homeless people) uncomfortable. Ways I thought of to spread the word include flyers, social media, creating a website, or writing a blog (like this one but more professional).
      Lastly the third interview I was able to obtain much insight because there were things I still didn't think about yet. Some suggestions they gave during the interview on how I could make this service more friendly towards customers would be that even after all the support they could obtain from it if they are still hesitant could there be any alternatives like for instance if there are people who prefer to stay at the home of a friend or family member would there be a way for them to participate in the job finding program or vice versa with wanting find jobs themselves and only wish to use the temporary living program. I also asked them where or how they would to use this service if they were homeless and they said perhaps someplace locally so that person won't have to go very far, this area will require more information gathering in order to find out the best possible place. They also added as a side note to not hire just anybody for the job of helping people out and that homeless people will be in a dark place so not just anybody can be certified to help them.

Conclusion
      To conclude through these interviews I was able to get a better idea on how to improve my service. I need to make both programs helpful to people that they be willing accept the help. I should also research where most homeless people are located so to have an area they could go to participate in the programs. I should also find an efficient way to spread the word on this matter to get people's attention.

14A- Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?
• To keep up with the requirements of this class I mainly used my time management skills to be able to post the assignments needed to be posted before the due date and to not be rushed at the last minute. I also prioritize the importance of each part of the assignment if it comes in multiple parts like interviewing, looking up information, or reading a book which are more important than typing up the post itself or can't be done without that information.
2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?
• On the assignments that require me to interview people were times that I felt like giving up, for one thing it was difficult enough the first time and it seems like almost every week I had to go talk to some random person to interview and I am not much of a talker. What pulled me through was the thought of failing a supposedly easy class and so I got the work done. I do feel like in these past two months I've obtained a rather tenacious attitude because I haven't been having any issues with my work lately so that's a good sign. The experiences that contributed to this would have to be all the interviews done on different people because it really got me out of my comfort zone.
3. Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?
1. Fostering the skills that support tenacity. There will always be something that you'll be doing something at the same time as your assignments for this class, heck you'll even be studying for an exam at the same time as doing your assignments for this class. But my tip for you is to continue to improve on your time management, any time yous could have done something better with your time remember it.
2. Developing the 'tenacious mindset'. If you manage to get this far without having any problems with this class the it shows that you have a tenacious mindset. You manage to put off stuff you would rather be doing and manage to pull through with the class and all the work that comes with it alongside your other classes. My tip for you for this would be to not stay at this level of tenacity but to rise up as the assignments for the class go by.
3. My last tip for you is to not stress the small things in this class and to just keep up with the work and you'll be fine. Good luck.

13A- Reading Reflection No.1

For this assignment I read the autobiography "Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's" by Ray Kroc. Here are my thoughts on the book:

• What surprised you the most? 
• What surprised me the most was the amount of jobs and moving around Ray Kroc had when he was still young. One of his first jobs he had was selling paper cups and others jobs he had at the same time was playing the piano at different locations. With these jobs came very little time off and small break times until it was time for the next job. He also moved from his home of Chicago to Florida and back to Chicago again. I believed he did this was to help provide for himself, his wife, and child at the time, but reading on I read he was a very hard worker to gain extra money.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I would have to say the thing I most admire about Ray Kroc was when he puts his mind to something he sets out to do it. Then again it could be the endurance he had to be able to handle so many jobs in one day and have little sleep and then repeating it the next day and only having one day off of the week. These factors could be because he was still a young entrepreneur who was passionate on the things he does. Seeing that he did many jobs instead of sticking with one shows that he was determined to earn money to better help his family and himself financially and it was during a time where very little money today was considered a lot back then.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• He seemed to have a bit of an ego, like in the part of the book where he becomes a salesman for a cup company he mentions getting his salary cut due to it being the time the Great Depression, he mentions that hearing that information from his boss was blow to him by affronting his ego. And he literally mentions that he is the best salesman the company has (not to his boss) and that he would not stand for it and began arguing with his boss. Now I don't know how things were in the Great depression but at the very least you should be satisfied with having any job earning any money at that time. Why he almost lost that job but his boss made special arrangements just for him, talk about adding on to his ego.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure?
• Yes he did encounter adversity and failure. One time was during a winter when he was trying to sell paper cups to customers who would buy them for their workplace, business slowed down. See Ray thought of the customer first and he wasn't going to sell his cups to people who were not getting as much business due to the cold temperature of winter, customers he had difficulty selling to included people who sold cold drinks. And there were also times when he worked as pianist the places he work at weren't always the best scene. One place he worked at was a night club for a short period and due to him being uncomfortable with the staff and people who came to this place, when he got his payment he left and never looked backed. Another job he had was as pianist at another night club which happened to be illegal and soon after revenue agents found the place and Ray spent three hours in jail.
• What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
• The competencies I think the entrepreneur exhibited was that he knew ways of making a tough situation better. For instance he found a way to earn more money as a pianist when he found out he had to share his earnings with the rest of the musicians there and he was able argue with his boss of another job to keep earning a decent amount of money even during the Great Depression.
• Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you:
• One part on the reading I found confusing was that he starts the reading with a recap on all the things he has done in his life and how he would eventually start the McDonald's franchise and then the next chapter it begins with his life's story. I found it confusing because why start the reading with "spoilers" and then get to the actual autobiography I feel like it defeats the purpose a bit.
• If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
• The first question I would ask if he regrets any of the jobs he has taken in the past? I would ask this because reading the book I noticed that there were a few jobs that he didn't particularly enjoy and if he ever regretted working for them in the first place. My second question would be if he regretted not taking school seriously because he mentions earlier on in the book that his brother and sister were more studious than he was so it makes me assume that might not have been the best student.
• For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
• I think Ray Kroc's opinion on hard work is that it is important, that you can go far. I do share that opinion because take Ray Kroc for instance would you really expect a cup seller would eventually go on to open a franchise of restaurants that is still popular to this day, so yeah I do believe that with enough hard work you can accomplish something great.  

12A- Figuring out Buyer Behavior No.1

• Choosing a segment:
• The segment I chose was "poor", now finding out if these people are in this segment will be tough to find and is a personal issue for the interviewee so I will have to be discrete about it when finding people to interview. One person I found to interview was a man that was playing his guitar for spare change with a hat next to him to collect that change. The second interviewee I found was a woman holding a sign on the sidewalk asking for financial support. And lastly the final person I interviewed was a part time worker at a convenience store.
• Interviews:
• For the most part of the interviews I found out these people did end up homeless. For the first interview the man who played the guitar for change (lets refer to him as interviewee #1) was laid off from work due to budget cuts and without a job he was unable to pay bills and lost their house. A solution he came up with was living with his parents at their house and to help pay for his stay he plays music for change at the time looking for a job. Interviewee #2 the woman with the sign had a similar situation of losing their job and are currently homeless are trying to get in contact with some friends and family to see if she could do something about her situation. Finally interviewee #3 was evicted from his apartment due to late rent payments and became homeless as well and had to crash at his friends house and earn minimum wage at a store to pay for his stay. What they all agreed on was having someone to help in times a need is great and all but they still would prefer to live their lives how they see fit so they felt the services idea I have was something that many people in similar situations can benefit from.
• What I learned:
• What I learned from the interviews I conducted was that when a person becomes homeless they usually refer to people who they are close with for support, such as friends or family. I learned that perhaps the main reason why there people become homeless is from losing their jobs and unable to find a new one. One of the programs of the service I thought is designed to help people find jobs that fits their capabilities and the the program gives them temporary housing until they are able to afford their own so these programs could fix the job finding situation and the housing to live in and not rely on friends and family.
• Conclusion:
• Describing the segment "poor" can vary because there are different levels of being poor such as the one where a person barely makes enough to live off of, the kind that can't things that range from expensive to regular priced, or not have enough money for food or shelter. So this segment only involves the people who fall under the homeless level of poor. Although I believe that any poor person would support this service because they might feel that they could end up in this situation as well.

11A- Idea Napkin No.1

• Who you are:
• My name is Christopher Denegri, I am a second year UF undergraduate student and I am a political science major. Some of my talents include multitasking and the ability to be organized and punctual. I don't have much experience on the entrepreneur field but I got to start somewhere. My aspirations are that I would like to somehow leave my mark on the world before time comes and to just somehow be remembered in a good way. Which is why that if I were to start my business I would be helping a lot of people and could be on the road to that aspiration. A world where the term homeless is only seen in pictures and not in real life is something I am striding for.
•  What are you offering to costumers:
• What I am offering is a service to help homeless people fix the situation that they are in. What the service I am providing is two programs that are specifically designed to help homeless people get back to living normal everyday lives. One program is for helping people who have become homeless find jobs to help them make a living doing something within their skill set. The second program gives them temporary housing until those people are able to afford their own. With these two programs I hopefully can try to end the homeless situation.
• Who are you offering it to:
• This service is something I am offering to people who lost their jobs and can no longer continue to pay their bills to continue living in their home. It could also be targeted towards people who had trouble getting a job to begin with and have no place to go when they have no money. What each customer has in common is that they have to be homeless and without a job.
• Why do they care:
• I think a business will help by paying me money to start up these programs because there might be some officials who would want the good publicity that doing these services will stir up. It could also help the public become more aware of the situation and could get them to pitch in as well. And if the public is involved then the business could end up saving money on the service as well.
• What are your core competencies: 
• I am not sure what exactly sets me apart from everyone else, it could be that I actually want to do something about this issue or it could be that I might be one of the few people in this world that observes the world around me. Either way I am not sure how I compare to people who make homeless shelters for these people, but I still want to give it a shot. What I have that no one else has is my own ideas on how this service could be like and I can change them any way I see fit.
• I think that all the elements I typed up seem to fit together just fine, although there are some in my opinion that seem to be weaker than others. For instance the element of "Why do they care" I do not have any knowledge of a business that could be willing to help start up this service nor do I know if the public will become aware to this topic because lets face the ugly truth that humanity is selfish. I could be wrong and who knows I could end up finding a business with enough research. As for everything else I think that it fits well together for my business concept and I truly believe that I could make a difference even if its a small one.

10A- Elevator Pitch 1

Here is the link to my pitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-kEzDrA_5s&feature=youtu.be

9A- Testing The Hypothesis Part 2

• Who: For these new set of interviews I am going to conduct, I tried to find people who can relate to the issue of being homeless more than other people can as well as some normal as well, these will be different than the people who I've interviewed in the past. One person that I interviewed was somebody who by the looks of it was sleeping on a bench judging by the covers on the bench. And the shopping cart full of an assortment of clothes and other cloths next to them gave me the impression that they were struggling so, to not impose on them for too long I asked them questions on the matter. They said any help to the homeless would benefit anybody because you may never know if you will end up in this mess. He also mentions as a side note that people need to be willing to accept this help because there are some people who need this help but don't want it, whether it comes from self pride or just refusing the help of others not everyone will want help but do it themselves.
• For my next interview I interviewed a passing grocery store worker who I assume was on break or their shift ended I wasn't sure and I forgot to ask. However here this interviewee told me that the program ideas are something that they would use if they were homeless. Being poor is one thing but losing someplace to live is something far worse is what they told me.
• The third interviewee was someone who was working at a fast food place and earning minimum wage. He told me that the idea regarding having to create programs that will give homeless people a place to live and one that will help them get a job could be of great help to people. He told me that even though he wasn't living off minimum wage there are some people in the world who are and if they were to lose their job it would be difficult for them to pay their bills and lose there their home.
• I decided to interview two college students here on UF on the matter seeing as I interviewed three people who to some extent can relate if certain conditions were met. One of the people didn't have much insight on the matter but did mention that they have seen the issue out in the world with people losing their jobs and the second person gave me a bit more thought on the matter by saying that even with the programs created to help them there is no guarantee that it could fix the homeless issue permanently.
• What: Interviewee #1 made a good point on saying that some people are to proud for their own good so I will have to make the programs seem like something that one can trust and to be easily approachable.
• Why: The underlying cause of the need is different because in the world their are some people who fall on the category of poor and while they may have enough to at the very least sustain themselves they don't fall under the homeless category of having no home. Even so poor people with enough passing time could end up homeless, so the difference between the two is minimal compared to ones with big differences like people with high paying jobs or people of the normal class.

                             Inside the Boundary                                          Outside the Boundary

Who:           Poor or homeless people. People                     People with high paying jobs.

                    care about the lives of those people                 People who don't care about their fellow

                    and wish the best for them.                              man.

What:          To help homeless people get back on              To help people who are financially okay or

                    their feet by getting them a place to                or have a job already find another job or 

                    live and helping them get a job.                      give them a place to live.

Why:           There is an increase in homeless people          People with gambling problems.

                    due to them unable to pay their bills or           People who never could find a job.

                    be laid off from work.                                      People in need of a place to stay yet have

                                                                                             the money to buy or rent a home.

8A- Solving the Problem

• Opportunity: In Gainesville there seems to be a rather big increase in homeless people and the ideas that I had obtained through long thinking and speaking with other people gave me the knowledge I needed to probably solve this problem, delay it at best.
• Now there are some people who actually pay attention to the world around them they may have noticed that there is more people with cardboard signs praying for help or more people begging for spare change. What I hope to accomplish is creating programs that could help deal with the many factors that leads to different people ending up poor to the point of losing their home. I would like for this to not only benefit a homeless person but a family that has been unlucky enough to be in this situation.
• Some of the ideas for the programs I want to implement include:
1. Creating a program whose job it is to help homeless people find a job that fits their skill set and help them get back on their feet. See when a person get laid off from work it is sometimes difficult for them to know where to look for the best option of work.
2.  Second a different program that if a homeless person did manage to get a this program would give them a temporary shelter until they have enough for their own living space. Its sounds similar to a homeless shelter but in reality it would be something like a homeless apartment for them to live at until they get back on track instead of being jumbled up together with other people.
• I want to make any of these programs helpful and to actually make a difference in the world. Currently there is nothing I can do because in order to implement these ideas to become reality I will need money and many workers as well. Also there is no guarantee that these plans will work. But it is a start as good as any.
• I think that somewhere in the world there are people who see this as an issue too. Perhaps if these programs were to not get anywhere on the matter it, what could be done to delay the problem from increasing more rapidly would be to build more homeless shelters so that the ones already exist don't get too full. Now while it may seem like a waste of resources to build another building just to house homeless people I can assure you it could make a difference and if the issue were to be delay maybe the future generation would be able to find an opportunity from this.

7A- Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Homelessness in Gainesville

• Opportunity
• There seems to be an increasing number of people going homeless in Gainesville that can range from different reasons going from losing their jobs to some not being able to pay their bills on time.
• Who: Homeless people in Gainesville
• What: Being victims of losing there home/job.
• Why: People being laid off from work and not being able to pay their bills.
• Testing the who: Not just people in Gainesville but other people in America as well and in other parts of the world. It is also not limited to people who had jobs it could also be people who dropped out of school or people who never obtained a job to begin with due to personal issues (ex. immigrants who just came here or no where that is hiring currently).
• Testing the what: There are times that when a company ends up in a tight situation where it ends up having to let go some or even sometimes all of its employees. Although this is just one reasons on why there is an increase of homeless people, while this may be the most common reason ending up in this situation can also be the cause of poor financial choices, having a job but not making enough to pay for bills, or dropping out of school and resulting in any of the previously mentioned factors.
• Testing the why: Why so many people are nowadays ending up homeless is something that probably has to many answers to. When people lose their job they could sometimes end up in a dark place and are unable to obtain a job and sometimes that goes the same for people who lose their job actually try to get back on their feet but still can't obtain one. There are solutions such as homeless shelters however its not a permanent solution. I believe that the opportunity found in this issue could benefit current and future homeless people for the better and could prevent people from becoming a victim.
• Interview #1:
• In this first interview, I found that this person was rather generous (I won't say their name to protect their identity) because sometimes when he is driving in his car, if he has change with him gives it to any to somebody that look as if they need help, meaning people with signs that are asking for help or prayer messages. He feels that it must be really tough for them being on the verge of living out on the streets and that however they got to this point no one should have to go through this. They know about homeless shelters an he feels that the community could be doing something more to help those in need.
• Interview #2:
• For this interview, this person had some more insight on the matter saying that it seems like every time she goes out to shop she notices someone with a cardboard sign, but she doesn't know if the people she sees are homeless or not she feels it would be rude to ask. She says that aside from shelters perhaps there can be a program or some sort whose mission it is to help the poor get back on their feet. Some of the things that they can do is help those people who are struggling to help them get an available job that meets their skill sets. I found this idea rather interesting so I made a note about it.
• Interview #3:
• In this interview, I decided to go with someone who was much older than your typical university adult to talk with them on the matter to see if I can get a more experienced point of view on the matter. This person did agree that there do seem to be any increase to poor people while he can't really determine if those people are homeless or not like the previous interview. A suggestion he said perhaps there could be more shelters opened if the ones that are already available become filled up or perhaps make charities specifically to help these people.
• Interview #4:
• For this interview, I decided to ask some people around the university to see what their thoughts are on this topic. This one male student I spoke with said the homeless situation seems to be getting worse just by looking around and that any person could end up like this depending on the conditions. Although this student told me that this subject is something that wasn't that he thought of much but he did suggest we could do something more.
• Interview # 5:
• This one person I interviewed had told something interesting regarding a poor person. See when she was at home there came a knock on her door and there was a person who was asking for work because he has kid who he has to take care of along with clothes need to be washed and that they were living near a dumpster. Now she didn't know if the person she was speaking to was in any real problems or not but she did see that the man's main mode of transportation was a bicycle. The women I interviewed unfortunately told the man she didn't have any work to be done and with that man left. So she told me that something must be done otherwise there will be more people like that.
• What did I learn now after these interviews? 
• I learned that this subject was known some interviewees with more knowledge on it then others, but they each have some idea on it. Interviewee #2 had a rather interesting idea on a program that helps homeless people get jobs. Maybe they were putting some thought on this matter, I not sure if this idea exists or not, but creating a new program could be expensive and volunteers or workers will be needed,
• For interviewee # 4 they mainly suggested to just make more of what is already being done. Its not a bad idea I just feel as if it is merely delaying the problem a not solving it. That would of course make it an opportunity for future generations if delayed enough that it can't be solved when implemented. One thing that the interviewees said in each of their interviews is the existence of homeless shelters so at the very least it could be a back up plan.
• I think that even though there are some people who know more about the issue of homeless people than others I feel that it is not thought of very often which could be the reason why I kept on getting the same answers and not that many new ideas. By same answers I mean by the mentioning of homeless shelters and that something more could be done.
• Something that sort of surprised me is that the people I interview didn't have much thought on this subject although some thought about more than the other interviewees it is not enough. I believe that with very few ideas not much thinking is put into this matter despite the fact that just about anyone can end up in this situation depending on certain conditions and the person. However I am certain that there are people in the world who made it their mission to solve this problem and I might meet them to gain ideas for new opportunities for this subject.  

6A- Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

• Economic Trend: Fading Energy Drags
• Source: https://commercial.jpmorganchase.com/pages/commercial-banking/executive-connect/six-key-economic-trends
• I believe that an opportunity exists here because as the article states that even though the efficiency of fuel has been improved in 2018, it could be better and there will be a much higher demand for fuel due to the increase and appearance of new technologies.
• The prototypical customer for this opportunity could be companies who are interested in investing for alternate fuel sources or people who are interested in ideas on how fuel efficiency can be further improved.
• As for exploiting this opportunity it shouldn't be too difficult since there are other people in the world who are looking for alternate sources for fuel or ways for the amount we do have to be used wisely.
• I saw this opportunity because for this economic trend it seemed rather simple to know what opportunity can be found from here just by reading the title, also it just seems like an everyday opportunity many people are trying to solve.
• Economic Trend: The hiring shortage has turned into a hiring crisis
• Source: https://www.inc.com/joe-galvin/5-economic-trends-every-business-owner-should-watch-in-2018.html
• I believe an opportunity exists here because if there is shortage of competent workers then the people who are looking for them are looking in the wrong places or future workers who are looking for work don't know that there are positions available for their skill sets.
• The prototypical customer for this opportunity would be the companies who are having a shortage of workers or the people who are looking for work.
• Exploiting this opportunity could be a bit difficult seeing as there could be many companies searching for workers and the same could go for the workers. With that many many companies plus the amount of workers they are each looking for it could be difficult.
• I saw this opportunity because I found it interesting that there is such a thing as a hiring shortage, I usually hear of there being a job shortage which results in many people being poor. I think if companies were able to gain new employees it would also reduce the amount of jobless people in America.
• Regulatory Changes: Cybersecurity and data privacy
• Source: https://advisory.kpmg.us/blog/2018/rc-ten-2018-regulatory-challenges-for-financial-services.html
• I believe that an opportunity exists here because according to this article it relates to regulatory challenges financial services face. And it the opportunity here is that there could be an improvement to the security relating to financial services.
• The prototypical customer for this opportunity would be financial companies who wish to upgrade their security to prevent any incidents within their foundation.
• Exploiting this opportunity probably shouldn't be too difficult for people with knowledge and experience technology or computers.
• I saw this opportunity because I feel that in order to avoid fraud when it comes to financial affairs greater cybersecurity measures should be placed to protect peoples privacy.
• Regulatory Changes: Paid leave laws
• Source: https://www.benefitspro.com/2018/01/10/top-10-regulatory-issues-for-small-businesses-in-2/?slreturn=20190025160347
• I believe that an opportunity exists here because there are some of those laws that have been passed and some that are proposed and each of them are different in terms of complexity, so there is an opportunity when it comes to the proposed laws.
• The prototypical customer for this opportunity is perhaps pregnant mothers or people who need to take a paid leave due to some emergency in their life of some sort.
• Exploiting this opportunity could end up being somewhat difficult because as previously mentioned these different laws vary in complexity meaning some can be more difficult than others to exploit.
• I saw this opportunity because I was interested to learn more about the different variations a law can have and how that would affect people.