14A - Halfway Reflection

14A  - Halfway Reflection

1. I always tried to read the assignments at the beginning of the week. Even if I didn't have time to do them at the time I would at least skim over them to get an idea of what is expected of me. This helped me to stay on top of the assignments because I knew what to expect and could think about it throughout the week.

2. I felt like giving up earlier this week when I had exams Monday and Tuesday. I started studying too late for them not realizing how much information was involved. I had to stay up until 5 in the morning every night for 3 nights and really push myself to get through as much material as I could. I was determined to get good grades on both of them and pushed through.

3. You must be very tenacious in this class. You need to be on top of the assignments and make sure to watch the lectures so you can be prepared for the cupcakes.

13A - Reading Reflection No.1

13A - Reading Reflection

1. The reading I chose was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. I found the reading very interesting. The thing that surprised me the most about was Phil's odd personality. I always imagine successful business owners to have a more outgoing, talkative personality. I admired his perseverance and commitment to build his company. He never gave up even when the going was tough. I least admired that he outsourced jobs to China because the working conditions aren't that great. He experienced both adversity and failure throughout his career and he never gave up.

2. He always pushed on and never gave up.

3. Knight said that he warned his investors that it was likely his business idea would end in failure which is confusing because I don't know what investor would still choose to invest after hearing that.

4. One question I would ask him is why he doubted himself and he was still able to push forward. Another question would be if he ever came close to completely giving up and if he ever had any regrets during his experience.

5. I think his opinion of hard work was that if you work hard enough you'll eventually reach your dreams. I agree with this.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

The three people that I interviewed all had the same unmet need. When they're out walking their dog they would prefer to be made aware when another dog is approaching. They all have this need when they are walking in a populated area, usually around apartment complexes. All three people that I interviewed said that if they are walking their dog late at night this need isn't as prominent because not as many people are out and about. During the day, however, they run into other dog walkers often. They also all said that they haven't looked into solutions for this unmet need because they just assumed it was inevitable to cross paths with other dog walkers. Two of them said they have complained about it to friends and family. One of them has a problem with walking their reactive dog and the other has the problem of running into people with reactive dogs. Her dog actually was bitten by a dog while on their walk when they suddenly ran into another dog walker without warning. My business concept of making an app to alert dog walkers when another dog is approaching would be very beneficial for these people.

11A - Idea Napkin No.1

Idea Napkin

1. I am a senior at the University of Florida pursuing a Management degree. I work at Tijuana Flats and have a lot of experience with customer service and dealing with a wide variety of people. I am also a dog mom to a 100 lb. German Shepherd. My business concept is developing an app that will alert any person walking a dog of another approaching dog walker. I, personally, would use this in my every day life. I walk my dog multiple times a day and with her being so large and reactive to other approaching dogs this would be extremely beneficial to me and would make our walks a lot more enjoyable and stress free.

2. Other people who have dogs could also benefit from this app. If someone also has a reactive dog like me it would benefit them in the same way. It can even help people who have friendly dogs who want to avoid aggressive dogs. Maybe the app could even have a notification on it stating whether the approaching dog is friendly or not so if both dogs are friendly they can greet each other and be friends.

3. My business concept would apply to a very wide variety of demographics and psychographics. There is a very wide range of people who own dogs. It'll be people of all different ages, races, attitudes etc. with the ability to walk a dog.

4. People will pay money for this app because it will reduce stress in their every day lives. Everyone wants to be able to enjoy walking their dogs without worrying about running into other dog walkers who either have a reactive dog or who will set off your reactive dogs.

5. My idea is pretty unique. It's easy to access and will be user friendly. You won't have to go searching for it online or in a store. It will be an easy download.

I believe these five elements fit together pretty well. It reaches a wide variety of people and can apply to any kind of dog. There are a lot of people with dogs and I know first hand that many of these people have similar issues.

10A - Elevator Pitch No.1

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

9A - Testing the Hypothesis

For my five interviews, I went to the dog park with my dog and was able to find a lot of people that had this unmet need. I selected five and asked them a handful of questions. Since we were at the dog park everyone's dogs are situationally reactive. They get along with other dogs at the park, but on a leash it's a whole other story. Two of them said that they live in pretty rural areas where they can walk their dogs and almost never see another dog so they don't run into problems usually. One of those two, however, said she brings her reactive dog to her boyfriend's apartment and runs into other dog walkers a lot more which is stressful and frustrating. The other three people live in populated areas with lots of dogs and definitely feel the need for a device that could give them a warning when another dog is in the vicinity. They all agreed it would take a lot of stress and anxiety out of their walks. Two of those people have very large dogs and said the main reason for this need is that their dog tries to drag them toward the other dog and not usually in a friendly way. They'll pull them into the street with no awareness of their surroundings and they feel unsafe. The third person out of those three has a smaller dog and she said that she mostly gets embarrassed by how her dog acts. It can't drag her, but it barks like crazy and she would just rather avoid the experience altogether.


Inside the Boundary:

Who is in - People with reactive dogs
What the need is - Need a way to avoid other dogs when on walks
Why the need exists - Exists because people who walk their reactive dogs really struggle when the cross paths with other dog walkers and their dog tries to go lunging, pulling and barking at the other dog. This is very frustrating and can create anxiety for the dog walker.


Outside the Boundary:

Who is not - People who don't live near other people with dogs.
What the need is not - Their dog isn't reactive or it doesn't bother them that they are and maybe their dog is small enough that it doesn't affect them very much.
Alternative explanations - Some people who have reactive dogs don't live near other people with dogs and don't run into this problem on a daily basis. If they were to go to a more populated area they might have it, but it's not common enough for them to worry about it. Also, if someone has a very small reactive dog, their dog pulling and going crazy when they see another dog may not be a big deal compared to someone who has a large dog that is harder to control.

6A - Identifying Opportunites in Economic & Regulatory Trends

6A- Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic

1. Global Warming & Climate Change (article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-overview/)
I believe this information on climate change will open up business for eco-friendly products. The prototypical customer would be any environmentally friendly person and the opportunity will be easy to exploit because it is already partially underway.


2. Interest Rates (article: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4321246-q4-gdp-underscores-why-interest-rates-are-low-now-add-coronavirus)
I believe this information on lower interest rates opens up the opportunity for people to make bigger purchases. The prototypical customer would be anyone who's been waiting for the appropriate time to make a big purchase and it would be relatively easy to exploit because why wait for the interest rates to increase.

Regulatory

3. Restrictions on Vaping (article: https://vaping.org/press-release/major-changes-fda-vaping-regulations-announced/)
I believe this information leads to an opportunity because a huge reason why vaping has become so widespread is because it started as a trend. If we can find a safer alternative that seems similar maybe this can replace the vaping trend. The prototypical customer would be anyone who vapes, especially if it's just socially. This opportunity might be hard to exploit because someone would have to come up with a trend that would catch and take off like vaping did. Vaping does have the upper hand though because it's actually addicting.

4. Legalization of Weed (article: https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Marijuana_Legalization_
Initiative_(2022))
I believe this information leads to a huge opportunity. If weed eventually get legalized recreationally in Florida so many job opportunities will open up. You can open up stores and create products for marijuana use. The prototypical customer would be anyone who smokes weed. This would be very easy to exploit because it is already taking place in other locations.

Why I see these as opportunities:

1. I'm someone who is environmentally friendly so this is something I pay attention to.
2. It always hurts me when I make a big purchase and it's so much more because of the interest rates.
3. I have watched first hand the trend and later addiction of vaping skyrocket.
4. I've been to Colorado and seen how many opportunities it has created there.

8A - Solving the Problem

8A - Solving the Problem

I touched on the solution to my problem in my last post. The problem I identified was dog walkers with reactive dogs running into other dog walkers and having to deal with that situation. When you have a reactive dog that means they see another dog and they begin barking, lunging and pulling toward the dog and usually not in a friendly way. Gainesville is a very populated area and many people have dogs so it's almost impossible not to run into other dogs when you're on a walk. My opportunity is creating an app that alerts a dog walker when another dog walker is approaching. This way they can avoid the situation and avoid the anxiety and frustration that comes with it.

7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

7A - Testing the Hypothesis

1. The opportunity I would like to pursue is creating an app to notify dog walkers who have reactive dogs of other people or dogs in the area.

2. The who would be anyone that has a dog that negatively reacts to other people or dogs, the what would be the other people or dogs, and the why would be because people with reactive dogs often have anxiety when approaching other dog walkers and have a hard time controlling their dogs. Their walks would be a lot more manageable and enjoyable if they didn't run into other dogs every couple minutes.

3. There aren't really any boundaries for creating an app to alert dog walkers of other nearby dog walkers. This could only benefit those people.

4. I had to interview some random people because not too many of my friends have dogs, let alone reactive ones. Three of the people I interviewed have reactive dogs and said they would love to have something that would notify them when another dog is approaching. They all agreed it makes them very anxious when running into other dogs because theirs goes crazy and some times it's hard to control them. The other two people I interviewed have dogs, but they are friendly toward other dogs. However, they said they wouldn't mind having an app like this too because they feel bad when they come across a reactive dog and have to watch the owner struggle.