14A - Halfway Reflection

1. I have a certain mind-set that leads me to not miss any assignments. I know that the more I do the better grade I will get, so that motivates me to finish every assignment. I also have a list of every assignment printed out that I cross out every time I finish one. These things help me stay on track to finish all the assignments.

2. I have felt like giving up and not doing an assignment, but I always do it. It is not about motivation, because motivation comes and goes, it is not always there. Discipline is the thing that will help you complete everything you need to complete. If you have great discipline you can do anything.

3. A. Focus on discipline rather than motivation, you will see amazing results if you are disciplined in this course.
    B. Print out or write out all the assignments due and their due dates. This way it is easy to see what is due that week and you can have the satisfaction of crossing out the assignments you do.
    C. Set a schedule, managing your time in this course is huge because of all the interviews and brainstorming you have to do. Having a set schedule will help you have enough time to complete these assignments.

13A - Reading Reflection

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

1. The thing that surprised me the most was how smart Elon Musk is. He has a photographic memory and is not just a business owner but a designer and engineer for his products.

2. The thing I admired most about Elon Musk was his main goal. It is not to make loads of money or obtain many material things. In his own words he says that he wants to save humanity anyway he can, and he really believes he can do this.

3. The only thing I least admired about Elon Musk in this book was how he gives advice and life lessons that lead him to where he is now that are supposed to help his readers also succeed. I believe these lessons could maybe work for others, but if you are not incredibly smart like Elon Musk you will probably have a different outcome.

4. Elon Musk had a hard childhood, where he was bullied a lot. His parents splitting did not help him either. Also, when he started his first company Zip2, he rented an office that made him so broke he slept there on the floor.

5. Elon Musk is a businessman, but his really talents are in his engineering and design skills. He can write code and also develop rockets which has allowed him to make these amazing companies. He may be the CEO and owner, but he really loves being on the ground floor and creating new and innovative things with his engineers.

6. There were a few confusing parts in the book, like how Elon Musk was pushed out of the CEO role in a few of his early companies, but did not say why he was or give much detail on what exactly happened.

7. I would ask Elon Musk, if he was in my shoes, getting my degree, what he would do after he graduated from college. I would also ask him if he is currently hiring for any positions in marketing or advertising.

8. I think Elon Musk loved hard work and still does. He throws his whole self into his work and it shows. No matter if he is living in his office like in the early days, or being very successful now, his work mind-set has not changed in my opinion.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

1. The segment I have chosen for this assignment is the main one my product is meant for, teenage and college-aged kids who wear white shoes. Luckily I go to the University of Florida where there are thousands of these kinds of people. The interviewees I have found all live very close to me in my apartment complex and all wear white shoes. One is a boy while the other two are girls.

What I learned: My questions stuck to the theme of "need awareness" and did not drift from that by much. Most notice the problem pretty soon, as they have to look at their shoes when they go to put them on or take them off. They say they are most noticeably dirty about 3 weeks into constantly wearing them, but could be even sooner depending on where they wear them or situations that occur while wearing the shoes. When two of them noticed, they said they try to wipe them down to remove dirt, or if they are really bad they will run them through the wash. They all admitted to at one point YouTubing ways to clean their shoes better. I am also starting to see a trend in the people that I interview about this problem. It seems as though 1 out every 3 people I talk to about white shoes either likes their shoes dirty or simply does not care enough to get the product. That was the case with one of the girls I interviewed.

Conclusion: I feel as though I already knew this information from past interviews, and did not learn much more. The trend I am starting to see is interesting though, how about 1 in every 3 people I interview just do not care as much about their shoes as other people do or how I thought they would.

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

1. My name is Garrett Mullenax, and I am a third year here at the University of Florida. This is only me second semester here as I was at a community college my first two years of college. I am advertising major and really enjoy the program here. If there was one thing about me that would help me create a business or be a better entrepreneur, it would be that I am a perfectionist. I want whatever I am doing to be the best and I rarely settle. I have no problems asking people for help, ideas, or criticism about anything I am doing because I know it could help make it better. If I started this business I think I would throw all of my energy into it making it the best it could be.

2. I am offering a product that easily cleans your shoes, specifically white ones. The product does all of the work for you, and just requires wiping away after a few minutes. The fact is this type of shoe gets very dirty and there is no great solution to this problem. People struggle to clean them, or in general to not want to take the time to clean them. These are the problems this product is solving.

3. The people this product is meant for young people who are in high school or college. This group seems to care the most about how they're shoes look. They also do not have a lot of time to spend cleaning their shoes, or even a lot of money to spend on a new pair of shoes when their old ones get too worn out looking. This group also wears the most white shoes out of any other group of people.

4. This group really cares about how they look and what they wear. They all notice what their peers where and are almost hyper-aware of how each other looks. As the group that wears the most white shoes, they have a stake in keeping them nice, as a way to keep their whole appearance looking great.

5. To my knowledge there is no other competitor that is doing what I am doing with this product. The only other products available that try to solve this issue are "restoring whiteness" products that do not clean the shoe, it is almost like they paint the shoes a new white that just comes off later. The other products are basic shoe cleaning kits that make you scrub and toil over the shoes to get them clean.

I believe all of these factors work very well together. If this product was available I think many people would buy it. The only people who really would not are the people who do not care how dirty their shoes get, or have the money to just buy new shoes. This product should be easy to use, should not take up a lot of time, and be not too expensive for it to do well in the market space.

10A - Elevator Pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PVuTtC9Z0E&feature=youtu.be

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: High school and college-aged people are not the only ones who wear white shoes. There is also a large segment of middle-aged and older men who wear white shoes. Specifically white tennis shoes like New Balance and Nike. I know this through observing people, and through my own dad and grandfather. Even their friends wear the same shoes. When asking them why they wore these shoes, some said that it was the style when they were growing up, and they did not see the need to change. Others said they were the most comfortable and cheapest shoes to buy. But this group of people did not care about cleaning their shoes. They did not mind if they were dirty, some even mowed the lawn in the shoes. Some even said that the shoes they were buying were so cheap they did not care about buying new ones when the shoes go too worn out.

What: White shoes will get dirty no matter what at this point with no real solutions. This means that people who buy the shoes know this, and it is up to them if they would like a solution or not.

Why: Each group of white shoes wearers have the same problem, it is just a matter if that group cares enough to do something about it. 


                                  Inside Boundaries                                        Outside Boundaries

Who:           High school and college aged people                   Middle to older aged men


What:         People who care about their white shoes              People who do not care how their white

                    being too dirty or looking bad                              shoes look


Why:          Care bout how they look to others                        Do not care about appearances

                    or how nice their things are









 

8A - Solving the Problem

Problem: The problem I have chosen for this assignment is the same opportunity I have been working on for a while in this class. The problem of white shoes becoming too dirty too quickly.

Solution: I have two ideas for a solution to this problem. One is a preventive while the other is a cleaner. The preventive would be a sort of coating that would go on the shoes immediately after buying them. The coating would repel dirt and grime to keep the white shoes looking great. I would like it to be as easy as possible to apply, maybe in the shape of a deodorant like stick that you rub onto the shoes. The second solution could be a cleaner that would also be very easy to use. A cleaner specifically for white shoes that would make them look as good as new. The cleaner would remove the dirt and grime while also having a whitening element just like a toothpaste would do to your teeth. The product would also smell great to make your shoes smell brand new. Both of these solutions would be priced at a rate that would target the biggest demographic of white shoe owners, teens and college aged girls and boys.

7A - Testing the Hypothesis

Hypothesis: White shoes get dirty too quickly with no great solutions
Opportunity: I believe that people care about keeping their white shoes clean
The Who:  High school and college aged students of all genders who wear white shoes
The What: White shoes getting ruined by being dirty with no real solution
The Why: No one has created such a solution or companies who make white shoes do not care to make solutions as it drives profits to keep selling the shoes

Testing the who: College aged kids and teens all around the world wear white shoes. They are some of the most popular colored shoes among this group of people. Other groups of people wears white shoes as well but this is just the majority of white shoes wearers.

Testing the what: These people buy these shoes for their white pristineness. Sadly these shoes get dirty very quickly and lose their whiteness which is the main appeal to them. People do not want to buy these shoes only to have to constantly maintain them or have to buy new ones very soon after wearing them.

Testing the why: There is no great solution to this problem. The solutions are timely like hand scrubbing, or using a washing machine and letting them dry on their own hours after. The color white also shows dirt and grime more easily than any other colored shoes.

Interview Summary: I interviewed five people for this assignment. All of which are from my classes. My criteria for picking these people was that I have had to have seen them wearing white shoes at least once before. I asked them all the same basic questions so that there were no discrepancies with the answers. I asked them what they liked about wearing white shoes, and they all said they looked the best and were most popular among their peer groups. I asked them all how much they cared about their shoes getting dirty. The answers were almost split with three people saying they cared a lot and two saying they did not care that much. Out of the two that did not care, one said they didn't mind them dirty and the other would just buy new ones. I then asked if they were happy with their solutions if they had any to combat this problem. Most said no they were not happy with the current solutions while one said they had no solution. I then asked if there was a great solution would they seek it out and pay for it. Three people said yes they would while the other two were hesitant because of factors like price and if it would really work.

Conclusion: I found that the majority of people I interviewed would like a better solution to the opportunity I have listed. I thought more people I interviewed would like one too, but I was wrong. I still believe there is an opportunity here even if not everyone cares about their white shoes getting dirty as I thought. Also, I now know price will be a major factor in the solution because this demographic does not have a lot of money to spend on things like this. My hypothesis was not completely correct but it is far from being wrong. There is an opportunity here among college aged students and teens.

6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

 Economic Trend 1:

US Trade Deficit Falls In 2019, First Drop In 6 Years

The United States has been in debt to other countries, specifically China, for years. Recently however, the trade deficit held with China has decreased for a few reasons. One being President Trump's trade policy, and the other being America is now starting to import goods from other countries like Canada and Mexico rather than the U.S. The opportunity that resides here is that of other manufacturers in other countries selling goods to America. Because America is now looking for goods in other countries, this could mean a big growth for manufactures that produce in those countries other than China. I found this by doing a quick search on how the U.S. economy is doing and what has been changing.

Economic Trend 2:

Wednesday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise On Hopes For Coronavirus Vaccine, Oil Prices Jump 

After the news from China and the U.K. that scientists there have been making advancements towards a cure for the Coronavirus, stock prices have increased. There is now an opportunity here for people with stocks or that are looking to buy stocks. Now that the stock market is rising, stocks have more value that can be sold for more money or held onto as their value increases. I found this opportunity because I like to play around with stocks, so I know a little about the markets.

Regulatory Trend 1:

Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Regulatory Changes 

Some regulatory changes are in discussion that would affect the citizens in the state of Kansas. These changes would increase the length of certain hunting seasons. As well as the allowing of night vision and thermal cameras to be used for hunting animals valued for their pelts. The opportunity here is that longer hunting seasons means a greater chance more people will be hunting which would lead to an increase of purchasing hunting gear and ammo. Also, the allowing of night vision and thermal cameras means there could be a jump in sales which would affect the manufacturers of those products. I saw this opportunity because I have family in the hunting community and understand that hunters vigilantly watch for regulatory changes that could affect them.


Regulatory Trend 2: 

Blockchain Regulatory Trends Impacting Crypto Trades Now  

This article is all about regulatory changes effecting the crypto currency market place. Finally, law makers and judges are making rulings about cryptocurrency. This is giving crypto currency more clarity about the companies they are investing in. Also, the SEC is still enforcing these regulations making it a better space for consumers who purchase cryptocurrency. I saw this opportunity because I actually have some money in crypto currency and can see how these regulatory changes effect my money as well as others.