1. The most formative experience for me was when I was finally able to nail down one thing that I wanted to use as my idea for the rest of the semester. Though it does not feel like it was that long ago, I believe that we got these 'long term' ideas set within the first 3 weeks or so of the class, so 12-13 weeks ago, and have been posting about them in at least two posts per week since then. That is probably also the experience that is most memorable for me. The most joyous is writing this, final post, knowing that after this and my finals next week, I only have one semester left of school. That is also the same moment that I am most proud of accomplishing; in the classes that I have taken this semester, my lowest grade SHOULD be an A-.
2. I still do not see myself as an entrepreneur yet, however I do feel that through both the posts and the lectures in this class, I have developed more of an entrepreneurial mindset.
3. My recommendation for what must be done to succeed in this course is make a schedule and stick to it. While my personal schedule is not the best (all of my initial posts have been done on Friday night and all of my replies on Sunday or Monday, the day that they are due), I have been able to stick to it and only missed one deadline the entire semester using it. I would recommend to decide on your schedule for getting these assignments done in the very beginning and stick to it for the entire semester, as a way of making sure that you use it. If you switch between different schedules, you may forget if you did a particular assignment or simply think that you did it the week before and get a 0 as a result.
The people who have this need are the exhibitors of show animals and their parents. This is a need that is currently under-met, with a very limited supply and high demand. This need is located in Central Florida, particularly Polk County. Currently, the customers are meeting this need by shopping for brand name show feeds that are expensive and limited in terms of options. This opportunity could be very big, expanding from the current local area to the state and at least the region. The window of opportunity could close at any time.
The innovation that I am offering is a new animal feed that will serve as a show animal feed. It will be more inexpensive than the current feeds and will serve as a complete ration, not requiring customers to mix the feed with other products to meet their animals' needs. The exact price will be determined by the cost of manufacturing the feed, however the plan is to cut out the middleman and therefore keep the price lower. This will be done by selling directly from a mill; most feed stores mark prices up at least 20%, in my experience. Cutting this markup out will keep prices down.
The main two reasons that customers would switch are to receive a ration that is complete and because the new feed will be more inexpensive. It will be hard to get some to switch and easy to get others; it will depend on the particular person. All in all, most people will be likely to start out buying a few bags and trying the feed before they commit to switching all of their animals over to it. The competitors are Purina and Nutrina, the current two brand name feeds that have show feeds. They both have one main weakness; their prices are very high and customers do not appreciate that. If the business were to remain local, less than five employees would be needed. It would be made about two to three times a week in the mill and the same people would be able to serve the customers when they come to pick the feed up. As the market expands and the feed sells in new places, more people would be needed. The roles would basically be the same, as long as only one main feed was sold. If this expanded, a sort of feed store could be started, complete with managers and lower level employees.
The advantage that I would have in this business are my contacts. From feed representatives of 'rival' companies to the people that would actually be buying the feed, I know many people in the area that are involved in the industry.
Next for this venture would be expanding. This can be done in two ways. The first is expanding to new areas/markets. The second is expanding to new species; if we start out with only swine and cattle feed, we could expand to chicken or sheep feed in the future. One possible and very large way that this could be expanded into other breeds is by marketing it for pets, as well. By developing a new dog and cat food, for example, this would reach out to a much larger group than simply those that own show animals.
In five years, this feed company could easily expand to cover the entire state, either all operating out of one location and customers coming to me or by having different locations spread about. The main thing that I aspire to be in the next decade is successful and profitable; this company has the ability to make me both in at once.
2. I received one comment on both of the posts that relate to this one. They both explained that they liked my idea and thought that it was very thorough, with one piece that the individual felt that could be added.
3. There were no changes to my idea from the first to the second draft of it; instead, one item was added. The concept of not only expanding to other show animals, but also to begin to go into the pet food area is one that I had not thought of, but am glad to add to the potential future plans of the business.
1. I would stay with the company for several years and continue to expand it throughout the region. I would then plan to keep it in the family and pass it down to the next generation, probably by the time I was in my fifties, and then retire in the future.
2. I have chosen this strategy for several reasons. I would pass it down to the family because I feel that doing so would give the next ownership a true sense of pride in the company not simply as a thing or as a title, but in the fact that this is something that their family began and has always run. My stepping down and letting my children take one by the time I am in my early fifties also serves three purposes. First, they would have time to work under and with me in leadership roles and begin to learn how things have been run. Second, they would still have me working under and with them as they take over and I can guide them as I see fit, while also giving them some freedom to try new things. Lastly, it will keep people that are younger, more up to date with the current (or in this case, the future's current) technology, and therefore allow the company to remain innovative.
3. My exit strategy is something that I had not thought much about, specifically. I do not truly consider it an exit strategy, in my case. I would be here for the long haul. With that in mind, it did have some effect on my business plan. I was not thinking of this as something that I would try to make worth a lot of money fast so that I can sell it for a maximum profit and move on; I was considering it something that would, theoretically, be my and my family's life work.
1. The thing that I found to be most surprising was actually the first thing that was talked about. Musk said no and did not cooperate with the biography for several months, and only changed his mind to cooperate by getting to be the one that got to read through it first, make edits and add footnotes. To me, that was most interesting. The thing that I admire most about Musk is that he is not a rich person who is surrounded by what the author calls 'handlers'; he is speaking his own words/thoughts and does not have someone to buffer between him and those around him. I believe that this is admirable. The thing that I least admired about him was the way that he talked about women. While it could have been a joke or could have been serious and I am looking into it wrong, he talked about the 'minimum' amount of time that a woman would want for someone to spend with them when they are in a relationship. To me, this is something that should not be a set number. It should be something that is simply natural for both people involved. Elon Musk has definitely encountered adversity and has been able to push through it. He has, in most recent memory, done so by coming clean publicly and apologizing for actions that he has taken. In the past, he has simply not given up and continued working hard in order to succeed again.
2. The entrepreneur exhibits a vast amount of competencies, with some of the most obvious being that he is very intelligent and hard-working. Pairing those two things together without many other things would make someone successful; however, Musk has those plus many more. Those are simply the two that I view as the most important, personally.
3. I got a bit confused reading about his life goal of dying with humanity having a bright future. He plans to do so by helping make it possible for humans to migrate to Mars.
4. What should I do with any money that I have to invest, and what is your one start up idea that will make me a billionaire? The first would be something that I would ask in order to invest more of the money that I would like to buy stocks with. This is because, while his portfolio became very risky very fast, he has become a very rich man based on those risks. The other is because he has already started and sold two businesses for large sums of money; large enough that I could sell one and never work a day in my life beyond that.
5. He views hard-work as mandatory. This is obvious through the fact that he profited $22 million on his FIRST (and significantly smaller than his second) start-up company, and turned around and used that money to start another. He could have retired and been comfortable for life after that first company, but did not. This shows that he is a hard-worker. I share that view.
1. I failed one specific shift at work several times this semester. I was hired to work in one department (seafood), and have done well in my own opinion in each and every one of my shifts inside of that department. However, sometimes I am asked to work in the meat department, which is what I actually applied for when I applied for a job. However, the meat department shift that I work is one that is relatively busy and that I was never well-trained for in my store. With that in mind, my first time I did not get to make all of the products that I was supposed to, and at the end of the day I had to leave most of the things that I was supposed to clean for the next person to finish. Each time following this, I got slightly better but still failed to do all of the tasks that I was assigned.
2. I learned that what you think you want to do is not always what you really want to do. When I started, I was disappointed to learn that I would be in seafood and wanted to work in the meat department more and more. As time went on and I got comfortable working seafood, this completely changed and I began to want to work in the seafood department.
3. Failure to me is not succeeding in anything. In some cases, failure on a test could be getting a B, while in others it could be that you literally failed (got a C- or less). In different situations, failing can be different. I feel that I handle failure relatively well. I am a person that is usually pretty confident and I do not react much in terms of emotions very often. I hide from others that I have failed by doing this, even when I know that I have and they do not. I am no more or less likely to take risks after this class. I have always been someone who feels that I can do things well. While this class strengthened my viewpoint on this and made me see that some risks are more worth it than others, I do not think that it made my risk taking preferences any different.
I believe that the future for this business is expanding beyond the local area that it will begin and serving new customers, as well as the original ones.
Once I talked with my potential customers, I felt that I was right. One person in particular's response strengthened this idea; he told me about a friend in a neighboring county that he felt would appreciate the idea and would be glad to buy the feed, if it were available near them. He also told me about the people in the area that this friend of his knew, and therefore the domino effect could take place in terms of new customers in that particular area beginning to buy the feed, if the opportunity was given to them.
This would be an example of growing the existing market because it would be the exact same product in both areas. Essentially, the goal here would be to establish a name for the brand. By mastering one type of feed for the state's climate and then moving to a county or area that has essentially the same climate and same needs, the feed will appear to do well from the start for any of those who have not heard of it before and try it. Doing this will give a good reputation to the brand and help grow it further in the future, by exploiting other areas of growth.
New Market
The new market that I can see becoming available for this company would be different species of animals, with sheep and chickens being the particular species that come to mind for me.
I found out through my interviews that this is actually not as much of a need as that of the swine and cattle industries. It turns out that most sheep feeds are not very expensive, and most chickens do not eat enough feed to make it necessary for people to worry as much about the amount that they spend on each bag. However, that does not mean that the market would be impossible to enter. Like the other two areas, there are a very select few options that are available to those who raise show sheep and show chickens.
Taking advantage of this area of the market, simply trying to enter the product in as something new that the customers have never seen before and keeping the price of the product just below that of the competition's similar feeds would make the feed something that could possibly sell. In my opinion, that paired with the (hopefully) good reputation that the company will have built from its swine and cattle feeds in the same areas will make it something that people would at least be willing to try. Pairing that with changing the formula and attempting to perfect it early on based on customer feedback, and I feel that this is a new area of the market that the company would excel in, in the long run. However, especially in the short run, the existing market will be more successful.
The people who have this need are the exhibitors of show animals and their parents. This is a need that is currently under-met, with a very limited supply and high demand. This need is located in Central Florida, particularly Polk County. Currently, the customers are meeting this need by shopping for brand name show feeds that are expensive and limited in terms of options. This opportunity could be very big, expanding from the current local area to the state and at least the region. The window of opportunity could close at any time.
The innovation that I am offering is a new animal feed that will serve as a show animal feed. It will be more inexpensive than the current feeds and will serve as a complete ration, not requiring customers to mix the feed with other products to meet their animals' needs. The exact price will be determined by the cost of manufacturing the feed, however the plan is to cut out the middleman and therefore keep the price lower. This will be done by selling directly from a mill; most feed stores mark prices up at least 20%, in my experience. Cutting this markup out will keep prices down.
The main two reasons that customers would switch are to receive a ration that is complete and because the new feed will be more inexpensive. It will be hard to get some to switch and easy to get others; it will depend on the particular person. All in all, most people will be likely to start out buying a few bags and trying the feed before they commit to switching all of their animals over to it. The competitors are Purina and Nutrina, the current two brand name feeds that have show feeds. They both have one main weakness; their prices are very high and customers do not appreciate that. If the business were to remain local, less than five employees would be needed. It would be made about two to three times a week in the mill and the same people would be able to serve the customers when they come to pick the feed up. As the market expands and the feed sells in new places, more people would be needed. The roles would basically be the same, as long as only one main feed was sold. If this expanded, a sort of feed store could be started, complete with managers and lower level employees.
The advantage that I would have in this business are my contacts. From feed representatives of 'rival' companies to the people that would actually be buying the feed, I know many people in the area that are involved in the industry.
Next for this venture would be expanding. This can be done in two ways. The first is expanding to new areas/markets. The second is expanding to new species; if we start out with only swine and cattle feed, we could expand to chicken or sheep feed in the future.
In five years, this feed company could easily expand to cover the entire state, either all operating out of one location and customers coming to me or by having different locations spread about. The main thing that I aspire to be in the next decade is successful and profitable; this company has the ability to make me both in at once.
Valuable- Being dedicated to anything is extremely valuable; it determines the limit to your success, in my opinion.
Rare- In today's society, I consider this relatively rare. Most people seem to find it hard to show dedication towards things today.
Inimitable- If people were to dedicate dedication, this is something that I feel could be easily imitable.
Non-substitutable- I have heard "nothing can take the place of hard-work" my entire life. Dedication and hard-work go hand in hand. Therefore, I consider this something that is not substitutable.
Responsible
Valuable- This is extremely valuable. Being responsible takes effect by both determining your customer satisfaction as well as whether or not you can find business backing in the form of investors.
Rare- Again, this is something that I think is very rare in people that are my age.
Inimitable- I feel that this is also somewhat imitable. If someone focuses on being responsible, over time they may be able to become more responsible but it is harder to find naturally.
Non-substitutable- In some instances I feel that it is substitutable for a time, but over time being irresponsible usually comes back to bite you.
Contacts
Valuable- This is possibly my most valuable item on the list. Both the contacts that I have in the industry and the contacts that I know as potential customers would make a huge difference for this business venture.
Rare- These are extremely rare contacts. No one else has the exact list of people that I do on my list; others may have better people, but my set of contacts is unique nonetheless.
Inimitable- This is something that is virtually impossible for someone else to imitate. Their own list may be very similar to mine, but it would take a very similar upbringing and set of life experiences to compile the same list.
Non-substitutable- A set of contacts is not substitutable. All of the other things on the list could help one try to make up for this, but even then it would not be the same thing.
Experience with animals
Valuable- This is something that is very valuable. It is one of the major reasons that I have the idea and have the desire to follow through with it.
Rare- This depends on the group that you are considering. For those close to me and potential customers of mine, it is not that rate. For others, it is very rare.
Inimitable- It is not difficult to gain more experience with animals.
Non-substitutable- A great deal of education can replace this, but it will not be as effective.
Experience with industry
Valuable- This is very valuable. My experience with the industry gives me a sort of insider information when it comes to things such as feed prices and markup amounts, as well as the science in the feeds.
Rare- This is somewhat rare. Not many people have spent the amount of time that I have inside of the industry.
Inimitable- This is not imitable. Without spending 3-4 years in the industry, another person cannot get the same experiences.
Non-substitutable- This cannot be substituted. Learning what formal education says is one thing, but the actual hands-on experiences of the industry are always different.
Hard-working
Valuable- This is very valuable. Without hard work, nothing will succeed.
Rare- This is another trait that I feel is very rare in today's society, but it is still present.
Inimitable- This can be imitated. Like responsibility, continually making yourself work hard can make it a habit, but it is easier if you start at a younger age.
Non-substitutable- As explained above, this CANNOT be substituted in my opinion.
Formal education
Valuable- This is relatively important. My understanding of business and economics would help in this business, but it is not as valuable as some of the other information that I have gained from things such as work experience.
Rare- This is not that rare. Many people go to at least some college. It is more rare that I am getting a masters degree, but still formal education as a whole beyond high school is becoming more common in society.
Inimitable- This is imitable. Someone could go and get the same degrees and take the same courses that I have.
Non-substitutable- I feel that while it is relatively common, this cannot be substituted. Things such as economics would be virtually impossible for most people to learn on their own. With that in mind, any role that this would play in my venture are not substitutable.
Market
Valuable- This is extremely valuable. Without a market for my product, there would be no product.
Rare- This is not rare. There is a market in most places, at least in Florida. In other states, however, a market for show feeds is extremely rare.
Inimitable- This can be imitated. In other regions of Florida, there can also be markets.
Non-substitutable- This cannot be substituted. As explained above, I understand that there is a market and can therefore exploit it. Without one, there is not a need for the product.
Area
Valuable- This is very valuable. This product would be for the central Florida area, which has a decent need for the product. If I were in another area without a need, it would not be successful.
Rare- This is relatively rare. Not that many people in central Florida would think about solving it, they would simply note the issue.
Inimitable- This is imitable. Somewhere else, others could have an area with the need.
Non-substitutable- This is very similar to market in the sense of if you are in an area without a need, you will be unsuccessful.
Personal gain
Valuable- This can be very valuable or invaluable. I feel that it is valuable, because I have a reason beyond making money to want this to work. On top of the business making money, I could save my own operation money if I were to develop a show feed that actually works.
Rare- This is not very rare. For the people that I know, anyone that would follow through with this plan has the same personal gain to achieve.
Inimitable- This is not inimitable. Anyone could theoretically achieve it.
Non-substitutable- It is not substitutable. Either you have personal gains to attain or you do not.
The top thing that I have to bring to the table is my contacts. It is better than the rest because it is the one thing that I have that no one else can get, under any circumstances. The probability of someone developing the exact same contacts and having the same exact relationship with all of them that I do is virtually 0.
2. The feedback that I received on my last post was all positive. The things that I fixed in between the first and second pitches seemed to improve it a great deal in my group's eyes. I noticed that both of the people felt that the picture that I painted in the opening of the pitch was very effective and made the pitch better, so it was something that I tried to leave mostly the same between pitches, with some minor adjustments and attempting to get it out with a more smooth flow and less pauses.
3. I changed essentially nothing between the second and third pitch. There was nothing that my group outlined as things that they thought that I should change, so I tried to take their advice and leave it mostly the same between submissions. I did, however, try to polish my delivery a bit more. While this was not something that was given to me in the feedback, as I watched the video before beginning this one, I noticed that I paused a bit more than I would like. I still did have some points in this video that could have been better, but I feel that the delivery was much smoother this time around.
I read Innovation and Entrepreneurship, byPeter Drucker.
1. The general theme of this book was to explain some of the methods that Drucker followed in his work. Essentially, this is the closest thing that he has ever come to explaining that exact methodology. One of the largest arguments that I see being posed throughout the book is the importance of change; it explains that some changes are good and others are bad, and that people/organizations must know how to utilize change.
2. There are many parellels that can be drawn between the book and the course. Two of the main ones that I saw were that both explained entrepreneurship to be something more and different than most people view it as and that it is important to look deep into the target audience for a company, into things as personal as demographics and political views in some areas.
3. I feel that the exercise that I would design would be one very similar to this one. By asking pointed questions about the book but giving people the option to read several different books both a) gives students some freedom to pick what they do the assignment on and b) allows each of us to get at least a little bit of up to three of the selected readings (the one we read for our initial post and the possibility of reading posts about at least two different readings from our peers).
4. The portion that I found to be the most interesting was the one discussing the different growth rates between large and medium sized companies. Though this reading is from over 30 years ago (it was written by Drucker in 1985), it explains that in that time the Fortune 500 companies were experiencing a steady decline in terms of employees that they had working for them, while 'mid-sized' companies were steadily becoming larger and creating new jobs, while paying their employees well and being profitable.
1. I talked to Jim, a co-owner of J&J Tack Shack. He has been a horse owner his entire life and has been an owner and operator of the feed store for over a decade.
2. He is a domain expert. As a person who owns his own feed store, he knows firsthand the prices that are charged for the current brand name show feeds. As an animal owner, he also knows firsthand how hard it can be to pay for these expensive show feeds.
3. Jim is someone that I used to work for, so I have known him for years. I contacted him by calling the main store of the company, where I know his office is located, and asking to speak with him for a few minutes.
4. I presented some of the ideas that I have had towards this plan so far to Jim and asked for his opinion. The return that was implied is that if anything were to come of this company or feed type, that he would be one of the first to know so that he could either prepare to counter it or try to sell some of it in his stores as a vendor.
5. Having someone who has been around the feed industry longer than I would be valuable in many ways, with one of the main ways being having access to more stores across central Florida that I could potentially sell feed out of if a deal were struck.
Person 2
1. The next person that I met with was Jeff. He is a Purina show feed representative.
2. He is a supplier. As someone who has helped create and sell show feeds for at least the last 15 years, he has met with people around the southeastern portion of the country and helped them with their show animal feed concerns.
3. I have met Jeff several times over the last 12 years at various cattle shows. For this particular occasion, we ran into each other at a show that my siblings were at two weekends ago and I talked with him about this idea.
4. The favor that he did for me was give me constructive criticism about the plan and what he would change if he were me. There was no real agreement for how I would repay the favor to him.
5. Jeff is someone that I would be able to talk to about this plan all the way through. Even though he would technically work for a form of a rival company, he is someone that realizes that a small company or mill in one portion of one state is not going to have a real impact on him and Purina, as they are a global brand.
Person 3
1. The third person that I spoke with was Derrell. He is the owner and operator of a custom feed mill that he has run since 1974.
2. He is an expert on the market. In the past, I have worked with him to make custom blends of show feeds for my cattle and have bought other people's custom feeds for swine that he blended.
3. Over the years of buying feeds from his mill, he and I got to know each other relatively well. This initial contact allowed me to reach out to him easily enough and present the idea to him.
4. He gave me more contrastive criticism and told me the things that would be hard to make the plan work. He then told me that if I were to follow through with this plan, he wanted to be my mill. Therefore, the returned favor would be making his company my partner if this venture became real.
5. Derrell is now the person that I would use to manufacture this feed if this plan were to become an actual business and there became a way for me to go about following through with it.
Reflect:
I did not network any different than I have done in the past for the assignment. Instead, I used contacts that I already have and reached out to those people. This will change how I network in the future by simply giving me the experience to approach these types of situations with more confidence and possibly be more effective as a result.
1. I am experienced with raising and showing animals of different species. In my life, I have raised small animals such as dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits, as well as large animals including horses, cattle and hogs. With that in mind, I have had many experiences with feeding animals. On top of that, I worked at a feed store for over two years, and was able to talk to various feed representatives in that time, as well as see how much the feeds are sold to the stores for and how the markup on these feeds works. In the future, I aspire to be a sales representative for a veterinary pharmaceutical company.
2. The product that I would like to offer is a new, more complete and more inexpensive show feed ration for both show swine and show cattle for 4-H and FFA members and their families to use on their animals. This is something that I will expand on in the future, if this hypothetical idea/company was to come to fruition, to try to include more and more types of show animals and in turn benefit more people.
3. The specific customers that this will be directed at are animal owners, with the vast majority of the consumers being those that own animals that are intended to be shown or intended to have offspring that are shown.
4. There are three main reasons that people may be interested in buying this product. First of all, the goal is to make it more inexpensive than the existing products. Second, it will give them a way to get away from the large brand name corporations that some people have had bad experiences with and give them another option. Lastly, this will be a way for people to feed one feed as a complete ration, rather than having to mix in different feeds and supplements to make it cover everything that their animals need.
5. The first thing that I feel sets me apart from other people is my background. I have tried different feeds, including some that are not available locally that I was required to drive nearly 100 miles each direction once every two weeks in order to get the feed. On top of that, I have worked with feeds in a feed store and feel that this informed me more of the available options. Lastly, I have gone to UF and been educated by professors around the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including several that are in the animal sciences department. Therefore, I have a solid formal education foundation as well. In addition to these experiences, I feel that I am an honest person who people would enjoy doing business with. Through showing my animals, many people already know my name and who I am that are involved in this industry. I feel that these people would be willing to do business with me, simply because they know that I am going to treat them well and because they have watched me participate alongside them.
I feel that all of these points flow together relatively well. The problem that I am setting out to solve is very similar to the way that my idea is a solution, which is reflected by the fact that the points are nearly identical between the two. On top of that, the things such as my background and education are both the reasons why I understand the need for this solution and the reasons that I am confident that I could solve the problem. All in all, I firmly believe that my entire background and all of my experiences mean that this is something that I am well-rounded enough and well-prepared for.
Feedback:
I did not change my post much from what I initially said. In fact, the only change that I made is adding a new aspect to the plan for potential growth in the future. This is because in the feedback that I received, I did not really have anything new that I feel I needed or anything that I needed to change. The only reason for the growth being added to the idea now is due to the ultimate goals of this plan; to make money and to help FFA and 4-H students have a way to feed their show animals affordable feed. By expanding from just swine and cattle once the business is up and running, I would both open myself up to new clients and therefore more income and be able to help a growing number of people find affordable show feed.
2. I received a good deal of feedback from the initial post. Some of the things that I found beneficial were the ones that were pointing me towards more of the marketing side of my product rather than the side of talking about nothing but the problem. I also appreciated that some of the people enjoyed my idea of throwing my own experiences in. There was not really any feedback that I did not think was beneficial or warranted.
3. In this video, I tried to make the first half a condensed version of what my first pitch was. In the second half, I used the feedback and talked more about the specifics of the product that I would be offering. The only thing that I feel had some value that I had to cut out in doing this was the personal experience piece of the pitch; however, this is not something that is only able to be shared in the elevator pitch, I feel that I would be able to work it into the discussion with certain potential customers in the future.
This is a sample of the avatar that I created. A generous portion of the people that shop for my product will be men, as from my experience most of the time when the parents are shopping for animal feed for show animals, the dad does the shopping. A good deal of these customers will also drive trucks. My customer's main hobbies include being outdoors and raising animals. The vast majority of them supported Adam Putnam as the Commissioner of Agriculture and again in the governor race, and he is their main favorite politician as he is from Central Florida and has an agricultural background. Most of them are in their 30's and shopping for their young children, showing for the first few years.
Many of the views and hobbies that this customer has are similar to mine. Adam Putnam, for example, is someone that I have met in person and hold a great deal of respect for. I also enjoy doing things outdoors and raising animals is one of my main hobbies. This is not a coincidence at all. I had this idea because it is something that I have had an issue with in the past, and is something that I wanted there to be a solution for in those time. These people are similar to me, because they are in the same position that I was for the last 10 years.
1. The five things that I feel make me different are my ability to lead, my confidence, my drive to succeed, my focus and my hard-work.
My ability to lead is something that I have used since I was a freshman in high school. Since I have been in college, I have used this less than I did in high school, but it is still something that is important for me. Any time that I am put into a group situation, I strive to be the one that 'takes charge' and leads the group. While this is not always the case, it is something that happens more times than it does not, and without it I do not think that I would be in the same position that I am today.
My confidence allows me to follow through with being the leader as I explained in the first point. If I was not such a confident person, I would not want to put myself in a situation where others are listening to me. However, I also use that confidence as a strategy for school. In situations such as a major test, I have always used the technique of answering any question that I have some sort of idea on the first time through the test. After that, I will not look at any of those questions again. I go back and make my best answer on the rest of the questions and turn it in. The majority of the time, when I look back at tests where I did this, I would have likely changed my answer and would usually have changed it to the wrong answer if I were not confident in myself the first time.
My drive to succeed is what pushes me to learn the material and continue to further my education. If I did not want to succeed in my future, I would have simply gotten a degree from my community college and gone into a low level career immediately. Instead, I have spent the past four years getting a degree from UF, where classes are undoubtedly harder than they are at a community college. I have even returned for a graduate degree, where classes are even harder still. Without my drive and desire to succeed in life, I would have taken the easy way out a long time ago.
My focus is what allows me to balance my hectic schedule. On any given day, I either have classes to attend, homework to finish or a shift at work; the past several weeks, I have had all three most days. At points in my life, I would have been unable to focus on each task at the appropriate time and get everything done. Now, however, I have further developed this ability. I will note that I have homework to do at work, or that I have work after class, but while I am performing any one of those tasks, I focus on it and complete it to the best of my ability.
Lastly, I feel that my hard-work and work ethic make me unique. Much like the last two, this is something that allowed me to get my first degree at UF, come back for my graduate degree and allows me to keep up with a busy schedule. However, it is something that I feel I have not developed, rather I was taught at a young age and have used it from grade school on. I can remember watching my dad go to work at 6 am before the sun was up and not be home until 8 or 9 pm, after the rest of us had eaten supper and were about to go to bed, at least once a week most weeks while I was in elementary school. How hard I knew he was working made me look up to and respect him during that time. It also taught me the importance of working hard and working until your job is done; these are both qualities that I feel I have gained from these experiences.
2.
a. My girlfriend - She outlined the determination that I possess. She explains that I have used it during my time in school, as well as in the job that I hold. I feel that this is something that relates well with both the drive to succeed and the hard-work that I explained above; they are all relatively similar to one another.
b. Keitha Hall; former teacher and scholarship mentor - She outlined many different skills and abilities that she feels I have. She elaborates on the ability to work as a teammate that she feels I possess. I feel that this relates well to the leadership abilities that I explained above, as sometimes being a teammate means being the leader of the team. In other situations, it means allowing someone else to be a leader.
c. My stepdad - He explained that he views me as someone who is hard-working and able to achieve things that I set my mind on. He also talks about how I am able to focus on those certain things. I feel that his interview is one that all of the points I made about myself relate to.
d. My college best friend - He outlined the memory that I have for things. He described (and always has described) my memory as 'photographic'. This is something that I did not use as one of my answers for what makes me different. However, it is something that I know is a strong point for me. While I do not have a truly photographic memory, I do have a very strong short term memory for educational material and long term memory for small things such as pieces of conversations. These things all play into the amount of confidence that I have.
e. My grandmother - She explained my desire to succeed. She also explained that I tend to not stop until I reach goals that I have set for myself. These match up exactly with one of the points that I explained above, which I find comical as I typed all of those areas out before conducting a single interview, and her interview was the final one that I completed.
3. There are not many differences or variations for how I view myself and how others view me, or at least there were not in the interviews that they gave me. Personally, I feel that my list above is a relatively complete list, as I know that these are things that have helped me get through life thus far. I also feel that the list that I compiled based on the interviews is accurate, and that they are a good representation of the person that I am.
1. The first person that I interviewed felt that price was the most important thing. He explained that when he is picking between show feeds, he will usually try the cheapest one first; if it seems good enough, he keeps using it. If it seems to be inefficient or lacking in quality, he will change it up and start feeding the one that is closest in price, and so on. The next person also picks their feeds by price, but they have a different method of picking which feed to keep. Rather than basing it on whether they like the feed or not, they go solely on price; every few weeks, she looks at the different prices and whichever is the cheapest is the one she gets that time around. The third said that his method is to find the best all-around feed; he looks for one with a middle of the pack price and quality and feeds it as long as it seems to be effective and the price stays about the same; this allows him to feed a little bit more than he would if he were to feed a higher price feed, but not need as much as the ones that are the cheapest.
2. All three potential customers were forced to buy their feed in the store, and all three agreed that if my idea worked out (the school that they or their children attend buy the feed and they in turn buy it from the school), they would be very interested as it would save them the drive and time going to the feed store every week.
3. The first customer reviews the 'rightness' of the product often and focuses on finding the right balance between quality and lowest price. The second customer focuses entirely on price, and therefore feels that they made the right purchase any time that they get the most inexpensive feed available. The final customer is similar to the first in the fact that they aim for a comparison between quality and price, but they are different due to the fact that the final customer is willing and able to move up into the middle tier of price in order to find that superior quality whereas the first customer is either not willing or not able.
4. I would aim to satisfy the idea of evaluating alternatives by keeping track of the other brands and the prices that they are selling for. Keeping my price right around or just under these brands at the very highest makes my feed a feasible option for every exhibitor, and keeping the quality at a comparable level becomes the focus for those that are able to purchase the more expensive brand name feeds. By keeping a good balance between these two areas, I will likely get more people to buy my feed over time, as the reputation for a cheaper and equal quality feed spreads. I will evaluate the post-purchase mindset of the customers in two ways; first, I can keep track of who continues to come back and buy the same amount of feed or more, as well as those that buy smaller amounts over time. This is a possible way to see those that are growing to like the feed more and those that trust in it less, with the obvious pitfall of changing numbers in animals also changing the amounts of feed sold (if someone has 10 cows and sells 9 of them, they will purchase less feed by a large amount buy also may completely love the feed). In order to avoid those pitfalls, I will also have informal surveys with customers in order to determine what they think about the feed, what they want to change and what they want to stay the same moving into the future.
1. The main behavior that I have used for this course is setting up a rough schedule for myself to follow. Between classes and work, I mostly do the assignments for this course in the evenings and on the weekends, which lines up well with the structure (cupcakes are only open on the weekend). Therefore, my schedule includes starting the assignments for the class on Thursday's and finalizing them either later that day or Friday, and then doing the replies and cupcake either Saturday or Sunday after work. Following this schedule has allowed me to spend the necessary time on this class, as well as keep up with my other classes, where most of the work is due during the week.
2. The time that I most felt like giving up and not doing at least one assignment occurred a few weeks ago. As I sat down to work on the replies and cupcake for the week, a storm hit and the power went out. I had already worked a 9 hour shift and was tired, but it was Sunday night and I worked again the next morning, so I HAD to do the cupcake before going to bed or I would get a 0 on it. After about 5 minutes of thinking about quitting, I decided to use my phone as a personal hotspot long enough to pull up other blogs and find posts to reply to, and simply did the cupcake once the power was on and I had wifi to use. With that in mind, I do feel that I have not developed a tenacious attitude, but rather strengthened the tenacious attitude that I came into this course with.
3. My three tips are short. The first is the answer I gave in question one; set up a schedule. The second is to develop a business idea that you feel you can talk about a lot at the beginning of the semester. Finally, do not give up and try your hardest, and you will succeed!
The thing that surprised me most and the thing that I most admired were the same thing; he was someone who was born into poverty, yet became one of the richest, most well-known and most successful businessmen of all time.
Something that I do not admire about him is the way that he lied to his investors, while I can understand why that might seem necessary from an owner's point of view. As someone who likes to watch the stock market and invest in stocks, I know that I would be very disappointed even as a very small investor if a company was to feed false information.
Carnegie experiences a HUGE amount of failures. Some of his failures were personal, many professional. All in all, his way of overcoming them to me was simply by pushing on and not giving up. For example, he made many great business decisions, but he also made many that turned out very poorly and cost him a great deal of money. These failures did not force him to quit, however, as is evident by his ultimate success.
2. Carnegie was had a great deal of natural intelligence. While he did not receive much formal education, he was someone who was still quick thinking and described as quick-minded. Another key competency that he had was a mind for business. This is again evident through the success that Carnegie Steel had throughout the years.
3. The part that I got the most confused in was actually during the beginning of the book. Going over the history of Carnegie's family was something that I knew nothing about beforehand, whereas I knew a little bit about his business ventures. Also, the names Andra and Andrew were used interchangeably in the beginning only, something that I had to reread the beginning of the book to understand better.
4. What stocks should I invest in today, and if you could restart your life today, would you go into the same ventures?
The first question because making money through investing was how he made a name for himself, and he may still be effective in determining where to invest today. The second is for many reasons, with the main being that he decided to change his life entirely near the end of it, going from worrying about making money to selling his business and literally giving money away.
5. I feel that his view of hard-work was just that; working hard in everything that you do and never giving up. This is something that is very closely in line with my own views.
1. I decided to pick the segment of middle-aged parents who's children are close to being of age to show animals, with a background in showing animals themselves. This group of people would be strong potential clients who would have no strong loyalties to a brand currently, as they have been disconnected from showing for some time, but they have enough knowledge from their own experiences to make educated decisions and to offer critique towards my plan moving forward.
2. I completed my interviews of three new people.
3. In all three of my interviews, I asked the parents what their plan was for feeding their children's show animals when they began to enter into that venture. All three of them were somewhat skeptical, and gave answers that reflected that. One said that she had not thought about that yet. She basically has the plan of going to the feed store the day before they get their hog and buying whatever is available then. The second explained that she has looked but has not come up with a definitive answer yet; all of them were expensive, and when she had time to do more research, she would decide which appeared to be the best value and use it. The final said he did not feel he had much choice, but that he would probably use Purina Show Chow, as it is a brand name and one that he remembers being effective when he showed his own steers. Next, all were asked if they would be interested in a local brand of show feed that was a complete ration for their animal in each stage of its development, was comparable to the brand name show feeds in terms of quality and was more affordable than other show feeds. All of them said that they would definitely be willing to try it at the beginning of their projects. The first explained that she would trust the brand because of it being locally operated and smaller; the second explained that the price being lower is her selling point and the third explained that while Purina was a brand he remembered, he was always willing to try something new and liked the sound of not having to integrate supplements on top of the feed for it to be complete.
4. In terms of looking for information, there were again three different approaches. The first answer was essentially just to go with whatever looks and sounds the best the day that they go. In other words, her plan is to not have much of a plan, at least for this first year. The second idea was to google and look at the information on the different show feeds in the area. However, she did inform me during the interview that she was disappointed and underwhelmed with how little options there were. The third said that he has gotten prices and feed labels from the different feeds that he is considering. In doing so, his plan is to compare prices and the quality that he expects the feed to contain based on the label.
5. The summaries are above.
6. There are three different approaches that would need to be used for these three different potential customers. For one, it is simply getting the name of the feed out there where she can hear it, and she is likely to at least give it a shot for no reason other than hearing about it. For the second, it is important to establish a way for people to be able to read about the feed online; having some sort of Facebook or website for the feed could suffice, if it were to reach enough people as a result. Finally, I would need for the feed to have a set price or a limited price ranges and a complete label, with ingredients and percentages, in order for the final person to be interested. This will allow customers such as this gentleman to research the feed in a way that could be considered more old fashioned by some, but that allows customers to look at what exactly they are buying and find any differences in the feeds.
1. I am experienced with raising and showing animals of different species. In my life, I have raised small animals such as dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits, as well as large animals including horses, cattle and hogs. With that in mind, I have had many experiences with feeding animals. On top of that, I worked at a feed store for over two years, and was able to talk to various feed representatives in that time, as well as see how much the feeds are sold to the stores for and how the markup on these feeds works. In the future, I aspire to be a sales representative for a veterinary pharmaceutical company.
2. The product that I would like to offer is a new, more complete and more inexpensive show feed ration for both show swine and show cattle for 4-H and FFA members and their families to use on their animals.
3. The specific customers that this will be directed at are animal owners, with the vast majority of the consumers being those that own animals that are intended to be shown or intended to have offspring that are shown.
4. There are three main reasons that people may be interested in buying this product. First of all, the goal is to make it more inexpensive than the existing products. Second, it will give them a way to get away from the large brand name corporations that some people have had bad experiences with and give them another option. Lastly, this will be a way for people to feed one feed as a complete ration, rather than having to mix in different feeds and supplements to make it cover everything that their animals need.
5. The first thing that I feel sets me apart from other people is my background. I have tried different feeds, including some that are not available locally that I was required to drive nearly 100 miles each direction once every two weeks in order to get the feed. On top of that, I have worked with feeds in a feed store and feel that this informed me more of the available options. Lastly, I have gone to UF and been educated by professors around the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including several that are in the animal sciences department. Therefore, I have a solid formal education foundation as well. In addition to these experiences, I feel that I am an honest person who people would enjoy doing business with. Through showing my animals, many people already know my name and who I am that are involved in this industry. I feel that these people would be willing to do business with me, simply because they know that I am going to treat them well and because they have watched me participate alongside them.
I feel that all of these points flow together relatively well. The problem that I am setting out to solve is very similar to the way that my idea is a solution, which is reflected by the fact that the points are nearly identical between the two. On top of that, the things such as my background and education are both the reasons why I understand the need for this solution and the reasons that I am confident that I could solve the problem. All in all, I firmly believe that my entire background and all of my experiences mean that this is something that I am well-rounded enough and well-prepared for.
1. The first person interviewed was John Maples. He has a large show cattle operation near the Alabama-Georgia border. When asked about his thoughts on the prices of animal feeds, he was relatively unfazed and did not seem to mind paying the higher prices for show animals feeds. When asked why, he explained that he is able to compensate for it. His animals sell for an average of $4,000 as a minimum, and a maximum of up to around $20,000, as six month old calves. With that in mind, he is able to overcome the expensive feed prices by simply selling his animals for more than your everyday rancher.
2. The second person that I interviewed was Mr. Jimmy Sweeney. Sweeney is an agriculture teacher and father of two sons that lives in Lakeland, Florida. When asked about the price of show hog feed as it affects his family or his students, he reacted indifferently. Sure, it would be awesome if the prices were lower, but that's true for everything; that was the reaction he gave. When asked how he keeps it from affecting his students or sons, he explained that he has a mandatory meeting for any child who wants to buy a pig from the load that he brings in. In that meeting, he gives the student and the parents the estimated amount that the project will cost from start to finish, including feed and vaccinations, and he always uses a high estimate. Those that still wish to participate understand what they are entering into, and many of them are pleased when they do the math at the end of the project and find that they spent less than their teacher thought they would. For his sons, he has worked with them to find buyers willing to purchase their hogs for a higher price than the average at the fair, and has made their project profitable in that way.
3. The third person interviewed was Steve Black. He has a small show cattle production also in Lakeland. Black explained that his method for getting around the high costs has been to buy his feed in bulk. He explained that while he has a smaller number of cattle than some of those around him, he has built a special room on his barn that is a climate controlled feed room. By keeping the temperatures in this feed room lower than the heat outside and closer to a true 'room temperature', his feed can last several weeks without beginning to mold unlike those that try to do the same thing without controlling the temperature. When asked if this is feasible when considering the added electricity that he is using, he replied that in his findings, it still saves money. While he does pay to run the air in the room during the day, it does not have to run nearly as much at night, and the room is well-insulated. Adding in the factors that he does not have to get feed more often and does not have to pay for the fuel in his truck to drive to the feed store, he finds that this is a much more efficient way that makes less work for him.
4. The fourth person that I interviewed was Hunter Maxwell. He is a senior at Kathleen High School in Lakeland and has shown steers, bulls, heifers and hogs. When asked how he manages to afford the show feed for all of his animals, he explained that he works to find sponsors. By reaching out to contacts that he has made over the years of showing, he is able to bring in enough money to cover the costs of the feed up front. In turn, he helps promote people going to that person for business, and in some instances he does odd jobs for the people and is given money that he uses to purchase feed. While it is something that has created challenges for him with organizing his time, he said that he has been successful with this method for the last three years.
5. The final person that I interviewed was Coleen Jackson. She has a small number of show cattle that she owns in Webster, Florida. For her, the way to make up for the high feed costs is to own less animals and feed less per animal. At the same time, however, her animals are very healthy and possibly more well-fed than some of the others that I spoke with. She manages to do this through a strict vaccination protocol every year and by rotating the animals on her fields. By leaving them in one place for less time, she is able to feed them less grain and simply allow them to eat more grass and hay. She then moves them to another field and does the same thing again. Though this produces a good deal of work on her part, she explained that it really does not add much time over what it would be if she were to be required to feed more strictly every day. By doing this, she only feeds her animals grain one time per day and simply spreads it out in a small area for all of them to share. If her plan were different, she may have to separate animals and feed them individually so that they can all get proper nutrition.
Inside the boundary
Outside the boundary
Who is In: Kyle Carlton, Laura Lee Taylor, Maddie Dvorak, Dale Locke, Payge Nichols
Who is Not: John Maples, Jimmy Sweeney, Steve Black, Hunter Maxwell, Coleen Jackson
What the Need Is: Paying for high quality show animal feed and finding the best complete ration
What the Need Is Not: Paying for high quality show animal feed and finding the best complete ration
Why the Need Exists Tighter profit margins, unable to find complete ration that fits their animals, Very limited options
Alternative Explanations Strict rotation and vaccinations, Higher sale prices, sponsors, Prior expectations, Bulk pricing
The problem that I addressed is the hard time that many 4-H and FFA members and/or their parents seem to struggle through as they feed the livestock that these students show. The issues that people battle seem to be high costs, either too few or too many options and rations that are incomplete requiring several feeds to be fed daily.
The way that I propose ending this issue is to simply develop new feeds. When I was in high school, one of my agriculture education teachers worked with another teacher to develop their own hog feeds. Once they had the ingredients and amounts that they wanted to be in it, they took it to several feed mills until they found one that was willing to produce it. For the next several years, the feed that we all fed our hogs was this 'homemade' blend from a local feed mill that was significantly less expensive (about $13-15 per bag, depending on the price of the ingredients, versus $20-25 per bag). There were two issues that came about with this; eventually, the mill started charging more and more per bag either due to how popular the feed was becoming or due to ingredients becoming even more expensive, and the hogs were consistently a little bit worse than their littermates that were receiving the name brand show feeds. As a result, most people stopped using the feed mill and simply continued purchasing the name brand products again.
In order to battle this problem, I propose pairing with a feed mill and working to agree upon a maximum price that they will charge for a new feed. From there, the product can be sold through schools. I know several middle and high schools that, rather than students purchasing feed on their own and bringing it to the school, have a feed plan where the advisor purchases all of the feed with the department's money and the students have to essentially pay the school back for that feed. By contacting local teachers and getting them to try either hog or cattle feed for one show season at a lower price, the feed mill would get more business and the students would be able to turn a higher profit margin on their animals for the year. Doing this would be a win-win scenario. After that season is up, the schools would be likely to return to a similar agreement the following year if they felt that the feed was good enough to continue buying, and any students that have animals at home are likely to begin purchasing the feed as well if they see how much lower the cost per bag is.
1. The opportunity that I picked is limited show livestock feeds.
2. 4-H and FFA members, as well as their parents, across the state of Florida find it difficult to find a feed for their show animals that is a complete ration, readily available and has a low enough price to make it feasible because there are so few options to choose from.
The who: 4-H and FFA members and their parents in Florida
The what: They have a hard time finding a livestock feed for their show animals that is a complete ration, readily available and has a low enough cost to make it feasible
The why: There are so few options to choose from.
3. My hypothesis is listed above.
4. a. The first person that I interviewed was Kyle Carlton. An FFA advisor and father of three daughters that have all shown hogs at one point, he has a strong background in the area. He explained to me that prices of the hog feeds has fluctuated throughout the years. Several years ago, he remembers them going up about 50% over their past normal value, and the following year they were down about 20% lower than their normal value. Other than that, they have remained steadily rising at a rate similar to what he expects inflation to be. For him, he has come to expect the prices of the feeds and does not struggle to find a good feed. He knows what he is getting into every year when his youngest daughter, the only one who is still showing, gets ready for her pigs to come in. He did explain, however, that for the first several years he could not get over how expensive the 'good feeds' were and thought that it was something that was a bit ridiculous.
b. Next, I interviewed Laura Lee Taylor. She is the mother of two children, one of which is able to show animals. Her daughter did her first market steer this past year. As someone who has been involved in producing beef cattle her entire life, Taylor knew before the steer project got underway things such as about how much feed would be needed and she had a general idea on the supplements that the steer would need in order for it to finish out well enough. What she did not foresee, however, was the price of these things. She explained that she remembers show quality feeds being no more than a couple of dollars more expensive than standard feeds when she was in school. Now, they are nearly double the value of those standard feeds. Using her experience and background, she was able to find the best feed-price ratio that she could establish and selected her feeding plan based on that, but she was clear that if she did not have a solid understanding of the importance of a show feed for the steer going in that she would have definitely gotten a regular ration instead.
c. I interviewed Maddie Dvorak, a senior at Kathleen High School. When asked her opinions on the availability of feed options that she has for her show hogs, she gave a burst of laughter and asked what options I was referring to. She then explained something that I knew from my own experiences there are essentially two companies that make show hog feeds that are available in Florida, and on a good year the cheaper of those types of feed sells for upwards of $20 a bag. She felt that the burden relates more to her than her parents, but she also said she knows some of her friends that their parents pay for the feed and therefore feel the burden more than the students. For Dvorak, however, the issue is definitely the price of the feeds that are available.
d. I interviewed Dale Locke, a cattle breeder as well as father and grandfather. When asked the challenges that he faces with his cattle now that he is producing them for grandchildren rather than just his children, he was quick to point towards the feed costs. When his sons were showing, he was able to afford all of the cattle that they could handle. Feeds were much more inexpensive back then, he explained. Now, there are many different options of 'livestock' or 'all-stock' feeds that are fine for people who are producing cattle for the market, but are useless for someone raising show cattle. Shuffling through these market feeds versus the show feeds is something that he says he has spent a great amount of time doing and must continue to do in order to determine what to use each time he weans a new set of calves.
e. I interviewed Payge Nichols, a middle school student who has shown hogs, steers, heifers and bulls. With regards to the hogs, she expresses the same concern as Dvorak, saying that she would continue doing hogs every year if the cost was not so much to feed them, and she is someone who admits to her parents paying for her feed. In terms of the cattle, however, she walked me through the process of mixing different types of feeds together in order to make the ration that she feeds the cattle complete. Rather than giving one type of feed, there are three feeds and at least three supplements that each of her animals receive every day. When asked if she would rather simply give one feed to her animals and not have to mix everything together to feed them, she replied with an emphatic yes and said that it would literally save her an hour per feeding, per day, if she did not have to mix the feeds for each animal.
5. I learned that there are different opportunities for different types of livestock. For hogs, the main issue seems to be lack of competition between providers, with two companies seemingly dominating the market and therefore controlling the prices between them. For cattle, the availability of different options is high, but the prices are high as well and the goal of a complete ration appears to be something that is lost to some.
Four opportunities:
1 - Sell cattle
2 - Property
3 - Start a corporation
4 - Get involved with/start a farm
1. The first opportunity that I found was to sell cattle. I found this opportunity specifically because I was looking for it. I have a small number of cattle myself, so I periodically look at some of the market trends in the state to determine when would be the best time to buy or sell animals. This particular website (Drovers) is one that I have frequented in the past and found to usually be relatively accurate for my area. The customer for this opportunity would likely be smaller scale cattle producers. They will want to seize the opportunity to make a slightly higher profit margin than their normal one, because this is an industry that has very narrow margins. I feel that the opportunity is relatively easy to exploit. If someone is already in the industry and owns cattle, they can take animals to the market any given week and sell their animals. If they knew that on a specific sale day was going to yield higher prices than another, they would be able to bring animals that day rather than the sale before or after.
I feel that I found this and believed it because of the fact that the particular site and person that wrote the article have been correct in my past experiences. The first time that I tried to follow the trends to sell a calf at the right time, I was skeptical that any of the 'experts' online would likely not have any real world practice. However, I have found this site to work well, and will continue to read through it in order to have a guideline for what to do with my animals.
2. Another opportunity that I can see is buying property in the rural portion of Sumter County. I feel that this is a venture that could prove very profitable in the long run. I found this idea by simply driving to and from Gainesville to UF for the last three and a half years. There are always properties in this area that are for sale, and the construction lining the roads in a good deal of the area shows that it will do nothing but continue to grow. I feel that an opportunity might exist here because of the areas that it surrounds. Ocala is not very far north of here, and already has begun to show sprawl into the surrounding areas as people move 'to Ocala' but are actually 20-30 minutes from the technical city itself. Prototypical customers for this will range. Some people, such as my grandparents, may buy property here with the knowledge that the land may be worth more in the future, and they may stick with their one ten acre piece. On the other hand, a company such as LandSouth may come in, buy all of the land that they see for sale (and make offers on some that are not for sale) and sit on it for the next ten years, until they feel that the price is at its peak. The work involved with this opportunity is completely minimal, meaning that it is very easy to carry out. However, it is also very hard to get the funding necessary to do this on a large scale.
I feel that I have a unique perspective because I can see multiple uses for this land. For some people, they would look at it and expect nothing but apartment complexes. For others, they expect one house per at least 10 acres and animals to be spread across 9.75 of those acres. I fall somewhere in between. If I were given enough money to buy the land, I would want to prepare it into different increments. For some of the plots, subdivisions or apartment complexes will be built and people will feel as if they are living in a city. In other areas, one house will be built every so often and the rest will have fences for cattle. Lastly, some will be left with nothing but fences, so that people can use the land to farm, have a pasture or to build their own home. This ability to view the land from more than just one perspective makes me feel that I have an advantage over some others in this venture.
3. Another potential opportunity that I found is to start a corporation. In the past, there have been many pros and cons to having a corporation rather than other forms of businesses, such as sole proprietorships and partnerships. However, the main con of corporations has always been the fact that they were taxed more harshly. Now, however, the corporate tax scheme has changed. They are still taxed differently than the other forms of businesses, but they are taxed a flat rate now, making it easier to keep track of how much you will pay in taxes at the end of the year. I learned this information in an introduction to finance course this semester. I believe that this may pose an opportunity because in the past, taxes were the main thing that would keep a business from going corporate. While corporations are still taxed twice (once as a business, once as employees receiving a paycheck), the complexity of the system has been demolished, making it simpler and easier for accountants to follow. The most likely people to take advantage of this are companies that are larger partnerships and could already be on the brink of becoming a corporation. I feel that this could be very easy to exploit in some cases and very hard in another. For groups that are already large and similar in size to smaller corporations, it will be an easy transition. For groups that are small and not the prototypical customers, it would be more challenging.
I feel that I understand how this could be an opportunity more than someone else simply because of the things that I have learned at UF. Beforehand, I would not have believed that having some debt was considered a good thing for a business. Now, I have worked through scenarios and had it explained to me the possible amounts of profit made with and without debt, and I can see why it CAN be a good thing now. In this situation, while you are still not going to save money on your taxes by going corporate, now that it is simpler I understand that it could still make you more money. By bringing in more outside investors and getting rid of all liability that individual partners had before, it can spring a company to a whole new level.
4. Recently, tariffs were imposed by the US government on various goods, making many wonder what would happen to our country's imports and exports. Since then, the price for many of the crops that we grow has gone down to lows for the last year. As things such as this begin to happen, some people will begin to get nervous while others will jump the gun and sell out immediately. As people begin to liquidate their land and their farms, the prices will go down to levels lower than you would see on a normal day. I have been taught in several different classes about the new tariffs imposed and their potential impacts, which is what brought my attention to this matter. I feel that an opportunity might exist because after the things that I have learned, I did more research and found the information above about the prices of crops such as corn reaching their lowest price for the last year in recent weeks. I feel that if new players do not enter into this market, the prototypical customer will be larger farms in the areas of the small farms that begin to sell. As the corn prices go down, small farmers will not be able to afford the loans that they took to begin the farm and will therefore be forced to sell. This is an opportunity that can be VERY hard to exploit. If one has the money to be able to afford such a venture, however, then it simply relies on dedication.
I feel that I am again specifically prepared to view this as an opportunity because of the recent education that I have received on matters such as this. One of the classes that I am currently taking is an Agriculture Policy course. In that class, we have spent a good deal of time discussing these tariffs, the fluctuations that agriculture follows on its own and many other things such as this. Without that, I would not view this as an opportunity right away, so I would expect that to be the difference maker for me.
1. a. Andrew Gillum is so liberal he's in space, new tv ad says
b. ANDREW GILLUM IS SO LIBERAL HE'S IN SPACE, NEW TV AD SAYS Tampa Bay Times September 12, 2018 Wednesday
c. In this article, the entire thing explains a tv ad in words and expands on it. The point is to bring to attention an ad put out by republicans as an attempt to attack a particular democratic candidate within Florida.
d. The problem that I have with this story is determining where the truth lies. Is it in the attack or the defense? Or could it fall somewhere in the middle? There are obviously people against Gillum from the party opposing him, but are they the ones that are telling the truth pointing out information about him, or are the democrats that are backing Gillum and shooting down the ad the ones being honest?
e. Any potential voters in the state of Florida.
2. a. Time, red tide wait for no one
b. TIME, RED TIDE WAIT FOR NO ONE Tampa Bay Times September 12, 2018 Wednesday
c. This article discusses the ongoing and worsening problem with Florida's red tide. The article interviews Floridians who planned vacations within the state and had their trips ruined by red tide, making the beaches unenjoyable and not allowing them to do the fishing that they planned on. It also explains the time period of the red tide, with it starting nearly a year ago but continuing to get worse in recent months.
d. The issue here is one of economic and environmental significance. Economically, people are NOT going to vacation in Florida and benefit our leading economic industry (tourism) if the beaches are ruined. There are things such as Disney to do still, but the beaches in the state are still one of the major tourist hotspots. Environmentally, aquatic life is continuing to die from an algae bloom in our waters. This is something that we have played a major role in causing and should find a way to help correct.
e. Potential tourists to Florida as well as aquatic life in the state and Floridians.
3. a. Hurricane cancels UCF-UNC
b. HURRICANE CANCELS UCF-UNC Tampa Bay Times September 12, 2018 Wednesday
c. This article explains that UCF and UNC's football game has been cancelled due to the hurricane that is currently hitting North Carolina. The article goes on to explain the other football games that could be effected by the storm, as well as the fact that UCF had a game cancelled when Irma hit Florida last year.
d. The issue here is environmental. The hurricane that has been brewing in the ocean for the last week and a half is making landfall and bringing strong winds and rains to the area where the game was scheduled to occur. Beyond that, the game cannot be simply moved to UCF's stadium and played in Florida likely due to funding; UNC has already allocated their funds for the year and cannot get their team to the game for free.
e. This issue will change plans of anyone that planned on watching these cancelled games. In addition, it has had a major impact on the Carolinas and other states north of Florida as citizens prepare supplies or evacuate for the storm.
4. a. Felons make case to vote
b. FELONS MAKE CASE TO VOTE Tampa Bay Times September 12, 2018 Wednesday
c. The article explains the system that is currently in place regarding felons rights to vote, and the potential for change. It explains that the current system forces each felon to wait 5 years before petitioning to have their case reviewed by the governor and a cabinet of other elected individuals, where it is decided if they will be able to vote again or not.
d. The issue here is whether or not the system should be changed. Some feel that the best approach is to continue with what has been being used, while others feel that they are being held accountable for things that they did so long ago that they might as well have been in another life.
e. Directly, any person who is a registered felon in Florida is effected by this ruling either way. Indirectly, any person who hopes to enter into an elected office is effected, as they may have more or less people able to vote in their election depending on the decision that is made.
5. a. Huge sewer line won't be buried on Harbour Island
b. HUGE SEWER LINE WON'T BE BURIED ON HARBOUR ISLAND Tampa Bay Times September 13, 2018 Thursday
c. The article explains the controversy surrounding a sewer line that must be replaced on Harbour Island. The old sewer line was installed in 1951, but the island was nothing more than a landfill at the time and is now a wealthy area.
d. The issue here was whether the line should be run underwater or underground. Underwater, if something goes wrong with the pipe the aquatic life will be harmed but people will not be as directly effected immediately. Underground, the people in the area would have to deal with construction crews tearing up roads as they installed the new pipe. The decision was announced in this article to run the pipe underwater.
e. The citizens of Harbour Island were directly impacted by this decision.
1. The unmet need is providing Coca-Cola on UF campus.
2. The opportunity that I identified is that of providing Coca-Cola instead of Pepsi exclusively on UF's campus. While I understand the background of Pepsi and UF's relationship and realize that this is the reason that Coke has not been present at a single vendor on campus, there is still the potential to make more money if that good is provided. This need is felt most days by students of UF anytime that they eat at the various food vendors on campus, as well as by alumni and visitors when they come to campus to attend events such as football games. Currently, some people bring their own Coke from home when they come to campus. Others tough it out and drink Pepsi on the days that they come to campus. Lastly, some people avoid soda altogether and drink things such as water or sweet tea instead. I feel that there is a 90% chance that this would prove successful and profitable if it were able to be implemented in some form.
3.1. Customer 1 - Alumni of UF from 15 years ago who comes to most football games every season; Keitha Bennett.
4.1. Bennett explained that she prefers Coke to Pepsi every time that she is given the choice. While she admits that this is not necessarily a need with the fact that she can drink other, more healthy beverages than soda, she is liable to do that when she comes to campus in order to avoid drinking Pepsi. She said she first became aware of the need her first time back at The Swamp for a football game after she graduated. When she walked up to the concession stand and asked for a hot dog and a Coke, she was disappointed when they asked her if Pepsi was acceptable. When asked how she handles this now, she said that she usually drinks water at games and enjoys Coke that she brings with her right before she walks in. She admitted that she would much rather be able to drink a cold Coke while she watches the game and eats her hot dog, so she is not entirely set on the solution that she has made work for her for now.
3.2. Customer 2 - Alumni of UF that graduated May, 2018; Josh Berko
4.2. Berko was very involved at UF, serving as an RA all four of his years here. Along with that, he ate in the on-campus residence halls often, as free meals in those halls were part of his pay for serving as an RA. He noticed the absence of Coke from the campus within his first two weeks, saying that he does not drink soda often but was excited to have free refills and get Coke during one of his first trips to Gator Dining, only to feel let down when all of the soda machines had nothing but Pepsi products. For him, this need was not felt all that often, as he tended to simply stick to Gatorade and water more often than drink soda; however, when asked if he were offered Coke instead of Pepsi if he would have drank soda more often, the answer was an emphatic yes. With that in mind, while he felt satisfied with his solution to the problem at the time, Berko would have been even more satisfied if offered Coke instead.
3.3. Customer 3 - Current student at UF; Shelby Carlton
4.3. Carlton is in her second semester at UF. During her first day of classes, she decided to take advantage of her break in her schedule and go to Chick-Fil-A at the Hub. As she ordered and prepared to ask for a Coke, she realized that the only thing available was Pepsi products. Since then, she has stuck to sweet tea while on campus and drinks any soda she consumes in the form of Coke in her apartment. Again, she stated that the desire to drink soda was not a need for her, and she admitted that many days she would rather have water or sweet tea. However, when the desire to drink soda with her lunch on campus does come up, the lack of Coke and presence of Pepsi quickly pushes the desire away for her. When asked about her satisfaction with her solution of sticking to sweet tea and water, Carlton says that she is happy that she is less likely to drink the beverage that is the least healthy for her, but at the same time there are days that she is very annoyed when she remembers that she still cannot buy a Coke anywhere on campus.
5. All in all, the three people that I interviewed all had different viewpoints on the campus wide lack of Coke that UF experiences. However, all three of them gave very similar answers in most of the areas; they universally felt that they would be better served if Coke were offered to them instead of or in addition to Pepsi. This consensus amongst them was the most surprising thing that I found in these interviews. I learned that while the addition of Coke would not necessarily supply every person on campus with what they want everyday or bring in more money from each person everyday, it would be something that would be well worth the time and effort. More people would be pleased to see both options present rather than just one or the other.
6. See 3.2, 4.2, 3.3 and 4.3.
7. After conducting these interviews, I feel that all of my initial opportunity is still present. I spoke with three people and all three of them would, at some point, be willing to purchase this good. I feel that my initial belief that this venture had a 90% of being successful is still a reliable number, or it may be a little bit lower than the actual value. 100% of the people interviewed were interested, but this was a very small sample size and would have to be much larger before the population parameter could be accurately assumed from the sample statistic. In terms of changing your plans due to customer feedback, I feel that this is something that is very touchy. On one hand, without customers you are out of business and literally nothing. On the other, you must make a profit in order to make a living and keep the doors open, so to speak. With that in mind, there are some instances where you must remain firm and not listen to the customers. UF has done that in the example talked about above; they signed a contract with Pepsi when Gatorade was created and have stuck with Pepsi ever since. While they could make more money on campus by providing Coke as well, Pepsi's agreement with them outlaws that and they make MUCH more money by selling Gatorade worldwide than they would selling a few more sodas on campus, no matter how much the student body wishes they would review the policy. On the other hand, if the customers have a legitimate complaint that the business can address without detriment to them, this is a great way to prove that you hear your customers and care about them. Balancing these two things in my eyes is what separates the bad businesses, the good businesses and the truly excellent businesses.
