30 Final Reflection

1.) The first assignment, Bug List, was the most fun for me. I liked being able to write about the things that bother me and then later expand on them and turn them into a business. The most dreadful assignments were probably the elevator pitches. It's hard videotape yourself and have everything go well. It was time consuming because I had to gather enough material to make the time limit, find a good place to record, and the worst part was probably taping it. It was difficult for me to watch myself while maintaining a good volume, having proper body language, and not speak to quickly due to nerves. I also wasn't fond of interviewing people but I think it got easier with time and overall made it easier to talk to strangers.

2.)I think the halfway experience was one of the most formative and joyous assignments. I found it to be very useful to analyze myself and discuss what keeps me going when I feel like giving up. Identifying your prime motivations is important and I really enjoyed reading what keeps others going for the peer reviews. Not only is it heartwarming to read about the little (or big) things that keep others going, but it also gives us other potential motivators. For example, I wrote about how I keep a picture next to my desk where I study and someone said that they would start doing that themselves. I was personally proud of my ability to interview people as well as record my elevator pitches well. I am normally pretty shy and don't enjoy speaking in front of people but I feel that these assignments really brought me out of my comfort zone.

3.) I don't think I'm 100% there, but I do feel that I'm very close to having an entrepreneurial mindset. I feel that it's easier for me to identify potential opportunities and I often find myself looking at opportunities and trying to find a solution for them. I honestly think everyone should take this class because it does change your mindset and really allows you to think like an entrepreneur.

4.) I think to be successful in this class you should really manage your time or at least try to get your assignments done ahead of time. I found myself stressed at times because I felt that I had more on my plate than I could handle due to not completing the assignments in a timely manner. I would also suggest paying close attention to the lectures for the sake of the quizzes. I've watched every lecture but for whatever reason the details that are in the quiz seem to escape me. I think the best way to get into the entrepreneurial mindset is to think as if your business is something you're actually going to invest your time and money in. It allows you to really pay attention to your opportunity and everything you could possibly do to be successful with it.

I chose this illustration because the book I read about Steve Jobs also stuck out to me and I found it very motivating. He was a man with an entrepreneurial mindset.

29A Venture concept 2

1. Venture Concept
Opportunity
More and more people are doing what they can to eat healthy foods without breaking the bank. The target market consist of college students (since they usually look for ways to improve their diets and don't have a ton of money), vegans, and vegetarians because a lot of restaurants don't have a wide variety of alternatives for those who don't eat meat or any sort of animal byproduct. College students currently satisfy the need of being healthy by cooking themselves or by going to healthier places such as Chipotle or Bolay but they can get expensive and neither of them have a drive-thru. Vegans/vegetarians also solve the need by cooking or going to restaurants that do offer alternatives that they can eat. Chipotle and Bolay both offer vegetarian alternatives but there isn't a lot of variety. I think this opportunity has a lot of potential and will be prevalent until there is a fast, cheap way to have a healthy diet as well as cater to vegans/vegetarians. Another potential group of customers are parents. Parents often worry about what their families eat and want their kids to be as healthy as possible. Many parents settle for unhealthy fast food because it is cheap and easy, but imagine having the same opportunity, except much healthier. 

Innovation
The process used to keep the food healthy, cheap, and fast is a simple one. Most restaurants get their food delivered to them 1-3 times a week but those places freeze their ingredients. Ordering from Florida Food Service every day will allow the food to be fresh and the delivery costs to be cheap since having every day deliveries discounts the overall price. All food will be made on a daily basis, multiple times a day in order to keep it fresh. Prep employees will come in around 6 a.m. to prepare food for the day (e.g. premake veggie burgers/nuggets, prep low-carb bread dough, spiralize zucchini for noodles, etc.). Prices on the food items will be slightly more expensive than your traditional fast food places based on our high quality combined with our speed. For example, a ten-piece of nuggets at McDonald's is $4.49 and our veggie nuggets will be around $6 but will be given to the customer in the same amount of time. Prices for rice and veggie bowls are generally $7 to $8 at Chipotle but will be around $6 to $7 at my restaurant. I would also like to provide heathier beverages such as fresh juices, teas, and maybe healthier sodas rather than sugary drinks like normal sodas and lemonade.

Venture Concept
My business will allow prospect customers to save time and eat healthily on a budget. Customers that want to improve/maintain their diet will choose my food over competitors' because it is healthier and just as quick, if not quicker. Those who don't eat meat or any animal byproduct will also choose my restaurant because we will have a variety of options to cater to their needs and it won't be too expensive. I don't think it will be hard to get consumers to switch to my product since many people only eat fast food out of convenience and not for the nutrition. I think they will switch because it meets the needs of quickness, affordability, healthy, and we offer vegetarian options. My competition for quickness consists of local fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. but their weakness lies in their lack of nutritional food. Competitors for healthy food are Chipotle, Bolay, and Whole Foods but they don't have a drive-thru option and they are more on the expensive side. Gainesville is a good location to have because there are a wide variety of college students and families here which makes up most of my customer base. On top of that, more and more people are switching to a meatless diet. Price is also a major factor because because half of the selling point is it's one of the cheapest health foods around. In the mornings, the restaurant would have 4-5 employees for prep-work from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. From 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. I would have around 7 employees working and around 8 employees for the evening. The business will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. or until supplies run out for the day. There will be 2-3 cashiers, and 4-6 cooks in the kitchen.

Three Minor Elements
I have to very important resources. The first is my ample amount of funds and advice my former CEO grandfather will be willing to give me. Most start-ups aren't lucky enough to have a surplus of funds nor proper advising, raising my chances of success. The second is the fact that the food will be fast, healthy, and pretty affordable. The combination of these three elements will be hard to replicate because of the unique deal I have worked out with the supplier as well as the hard work it will take to keep the high quality of freshness and affordability.


The second opportunity I would want to tackle would be opening more locations and/or changing the menu based on customer desires. I think more locations will give a broader audience the ability to have the food and changing the menu based on customer wants will give more people a reason to purchase and enjoy the food.


In 5 years I'd like to have 2-3 successful locations with this restaurant and I'd like it to be very popular with the Gainesville crowd. In the next decade, I'd like to be working on expanding this venture even further or working on a new and innovative venture to assist people further with being healthy and/or improving their lives. The first venture will teach me a lot about customer likes and dislikes, allowing me to tailor future ventures to meet the needs of the people.

2. Feedback Summary
Everyone seems to love my idea and discusses how they think there is a big need for this restaurant since kids our age are always looking for something new to eat, something healthy, and don't have a huge amount of money. People also question how easy it will be to keep my prices low and still make a profit. Everyone loves the idea of targeting vegans and vegetarians since this is a growing trend as well as the idea to provide healthy drinks that are more than just water and Powerade. They also liked my 5 year plan. I was also told I should expand more on my opportunity section.

3. How I've Changed
Based on my feedback, I expanded more on my opportunity and added a new target market. I also incorporated my idea for healthier beverages in the innovation section. I continued to address my prices and how they compare to my competitors as well. I kept everything else the same because my feedback was very positive about elements such as my 5 year plan.

4. I included this photo because I think it's important for entrepreneurs to shoot their shot otherwise you'll never know if you'll succeed.

27 Reading Reflection 3

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

1.)Theme: The type of mindset one has greatly impacts their ability to succeed. One could even learn how to switch between mindsets in order to broaden their span of ideas because your mindset truly affects every day life.
2.)This class really emphasizes having the ability to identify and expand on opportunities. This book relates to that by discussing how having the right mindset will allow you to increase your chance of finding the right opportunity and ultimately allowing you to succeed. It talks about how you can have various mindsets and utilize them to identify opportunities.
3.) In this class specifically, I would have students perform a self-evaluation to identify their current mindset. Then ask them based on the results of that evaluation, how they think their mindset has affected their business idea(s) and if they would do anything differently. I would ask how they think they should improve their mindset and have the make a plan to put their mind where they want it to be.
4.) It really surprised me how much your mindset can have an affect on your every day life. It is something so obvious yet so overlooked. I think it's crazy that people can easily change their mindsets and the outcome could be so much different just based on the attitude they have and the way they approach things.

28 Exit Strategy

1.) My exit strategy depends on where the business is at in the next 5-10 years. Ultimately, I would like to sell the business for a larger profit, but if it is thriving beyond expectations then I will continue to let it grow and thrive under my ownership. If I feel my financial standing meets my expectations, then I will give it to my children and if I'd be better off with the money, then I will sell it.

2.) I chose this strategy because being financially stable is something I value highly. I want to be sure I have enough money to cover the necessities and do hat i need to do. Once my family and I are covered, I can then think about leaving it my offspring because I don't want to be running the restaurant forever and I want to be sure they have something to keep them afloat.

3.) I think this exit strategy has influenced my need for a healthy growth. I'm hoping that it will be so popular that I can open a second or even a third location eventually. This will allow the business to grow in popularity and hopefully maximize my profits. My need for profit has also influence how I go about looking for ways to cut costs, allowing me to keep the food cheap and the profits still decently high.

26 Celebrating Failure

This semester I have been trying to perfect my mac n' cheese recipe. A good mac generally consists of flour, milk, butter, cheese, noodles, and sometimes spices if you're feeling it, but it's all about finding the perfect balance. The first time the cheese was too soupy and didn't cling to the noodles well due to an excess amount of milk. The second time, it wasn't flavorful most likely because there wasn't enough cheese and/or spices. The third time it was too thick because I didn't balance the flour and milk properly and after that I messed up the noodles.

Last time I made it, it was really good but I also made enough to feed a small army which isn't necessarily a bad thing because my roommates loved it. It really sucked failing so many times because I was making the mac n' cheese for my friends and I felt like I was disappointing them more than myself. First and foremost I learned how to make a bomb mac n' cheese, but I also learned many ways to not make mac n' cheese or to make various types of mac. The trial and error process gives you a whole new way of thinking.

Failure is more beneficial than not and it's an important part of life. Yes, it can be embarrassing and it can get you down but I think people need have a more open mind. Failure allows you to learn from what you did wrong and modify your methods which will inevitably bring you closer to success. When I face failure, I'm generally very quiet and kind of embarrassed. I will either not admit my failure or over exaggerate it so it doesn't seem as bad. I know I'm not great with handling it but this class has taught me how to learn from it. I think Thomas Edison had a great point and this class showed me a whole new way to look at failure.

25A What's Next?

Existing Market
After this venture is already established, I would like to look into selling merchandise in the restaurant. Many of my prospect customers seem to also work out so I'd like to sell items such as water bottles, T-shirts, and card holders that stick to the back of your phone. My interviewees found this to be a good idea but two of them suggested I look into delivery as well. They said it sounds like my food will be much higher quality and people would like to get it delivered as well as get away with charging more money despite that the whole point is to keep it cheap. Another interviewee suggested I look into partnering with Bitesquad which wouldn't be a bad idea but would defeat the purpose of me offering delivery so I would have to choose one or the other. Another thing they brought up was what I offered for beverages since this is a healthy restaurant. This is something I hadn't considered but it would probably be in my best interest to offer drinks with less sugar than sodas. Finally, they asked me to consider creating a rewards program that will encourage both new and existing customers to give me their business.
It makes sense to look into delivery if the restaurant is popular enough. I would have to create a cost analysis to determine whether or not I should partner with Bitesquad or hire delivery drivers but either way I think this is a good concept to go after. I also think I should offer online ordering as well and customers can either come in to pick up their orders or go through the drive-thru.

Instead of traditional beverages like soda, it makes sense to offer healthier type beverages such as Gatorade, Vitamin Water, juices and teas. I think most of my customers will prefer to drink these rather than sodas since they are primarily focused on their health. I would also like to offer products to compliment workouts so I do plan on offering products like water bottles and shirts since my interviewees found this to be a good idea. I would also like to incorporate a rewards program that would allow customers to get free stuff after a certain amount of points.

New Market
A new market I would like to look into marketing towards is vegetarians/vegans. I think this is a growing target audience and it would be wise to tailor some foods for them. I think it would be easy to create value for vegetarians/vegans because many places don't have options for them and it's not difficult to make a few substitutions or even create new items for those who don't eat animals or products made from them. There is potential to even make the restaurant 100% vegetarian since I am an advocate for saving animals but I could lose customers if I do this due to there not being enough protein and/or having some people that just love meat.
Both of my interviewees thought this was a great idea, especially since there's not many restaurants that have a lot of options for them, even more so in fast food. One of them suggested I have three separate menus, a normal one, vegetarian one, and vegan one.The other one gave me some of her favorite foods to eat and suggested told me she would be happy to help with recipes if I needed it. They both told me that I should put a lot of effort into advertising so that local vegans/vegetarians will know that the offer is available.
I think this new market is a good idea to pursue but not as attractive as my primary market. I found it surprising how many alternatives there are for vegetarians. Grocery stores are offering more alternatives like veggie burgers and nuggets that people can just throw in the oven. Burger King just introduced the impossible burger which has become popular with the vegetarian crowd. In this case, I would have more competition than I thought.
My assumption that it wold be a popular industry to get into still holds to be true. Vegetarians are always look for new and better options to replace meats. I don't think having three separate menus is the right way to go, but rather identify every item on one menu and whether they are vegan, vegetarian, or neither. I think having a wide variety of vegetarian/vegan will create more consumer traffic within the business. Overall, I think this is a wise direction to take the business but it's not as big as I thought it would be.

24A Venture Concept 1

Opportunity
More and more people are doing what they can to eat healthy foods without breaking the bank. The target market consist of Gainesville college students since they usually look for ways to improve their diets and aren't the richest people in the word. They currently satisfy this need by going to healthier places such as Chipotle or Bolay but they can get expensive and neither of them have a drive-thru. I think this opportunity has a lot of potential and will be prevalent until there is a fast, cheap way to have a healthy diet. Another potential group of customers are parents. Parents often worry about what their families eat and want their kids to be as healthy as possible. Many parents settle for unhealthy fast food because it is cheap and easy, but imagine having the same opportunity, except much healthier.
Innovation
The process used to keep the food healthy, cheap, and fast is a simple one. The restaurant will have daily deliveries which means the supplier will cut us a deal since we order so often. Food will be made on a daily basis in order to keep it fresh. Prep employees will come in around 6 a.m. to prepare food for the day (e.g. premake veggie burgers/nuggets, prep low-carb bread dough, spiralize zucchini for noodles, etc.). Prices on the food items will be slightly more expensive than your traditional fast food places based on our high quality combined with our speed. For example, a ten-piece of nuggets at McDonald's is $4.49 and our veggie nuggets will be around $6 but will be given to the customer in the same amount of time. 
Venture Concept
My business will allow prospect customers to save time and eat healthily on a budget. Customers that want to improve/maintain their diet will choose my food over competitors' because it is healthier and just as quick, if not quicker. I don't think it will be hard to get consumers to switch to my product since many people only eat fast food out of convenience and not for the nutrition. I think they will switch because it meets the needs of quickness, affordability, healthy, and we offer vegetarian options. My competition for quickness consists of local fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. but their weakness lies in their lack of nutritional food. Competitors for healthy food are Chipotle, Bolay, and Whole Foods but they don't have a drive-thru option and they are more on the expensive side. Gainesville is a good location to have because there are a wide variety of college students and families here which makes up most of my customer base. Price is also a major factor because because half of the selling point is it's one of the cheapest health foods around. In the mornings, the restaurant would have 4-5 employees for prep-work from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. From 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. I would have around 7 employees working and around 8 employees for the evening. The business will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. or until supplies run out for the day. There will be 2-3 cashiers, and 4-6 cooks in the kitchen.
Three Minor Elements
I have to very important resources. The first is my ample amount of funds and advice my former CEO grandfather will be willing to give me. Most start-ups aren't lucky enough to have a surplus of funds nor proper advising, raising my chances of success. The second is the fact that the food will be fast, healthy, and pretty affordable. The combination of these three elements will be hard to replicate because of the unique deal I have worked out with the supplier as well as the hard work it will take to keep the high quality of freshness and affordability.


The second opportunity I would want to tackle would be opening more locations and/or changing the menu based on customer desires. I think more locations will give a broader audience the ability to have the food and changing the menu based on customer wants will give more people a reason to purchase and enjoy the food.


In 5 years I'd like to have 2-3 successful locations with this restaurant and I'd like it to be very popular with the Gainesville crowd. In the next decade, I'd like to be working on expanding this venture even further or working on a new and innovative venture to assist people further with being healthy and/or improving their lives. The first venture will teach me a lot about customer likes and dislikes, allowing me to tailor future ventures to meet the needs of the people.

23A Ventures unfair advantage

•  Ten Resources
1. Available discounts from supplier for having daily deliveries
• Valuable: this is very valuable because it ultimately allows me to keep costs down which allows me to charge lower prices for healthy foods
• Rarity: It's semi-rare because restaurants generally don't receive food deliveries every day which is the whole reason  I get discounts
• Imitability: I think it's pretty imitable because anyone can request daily orders from the supplier
• Substitutable: It could be substituted by ordering less often and freezing the food but that kind of defeats the purpose
2. Never frozen, always fresh food
• Valuable: I think this is very value because it contributes to the quality and overall popularity of my food
• Rarity: I think this is pretty rare because I feel that most places freeze their foods
• Imitability: It's pretty imitable because once again anyone has the ability to not freeze their foods
• Substitutable: The only way this can be substituted is if the food is frozen which defeats the point
3. Friends willing to work for me
• Valuable: It's very valuable to have people willing to work for you in a start-up but I'm not sure if they will add a substantial amount of value to the company if I'm being honest
• Rarity: I think it's semi-rare because many people have friends willing to work for them but many don't
• Imitability: I think it's also semi-imitable because some people have willing friends and some don't
• Substitutable: This is highly substitutable because there are always people looking for jobs and they don't necessarily have to be friends
4. Knowing someone who is well versed in making unhealthy things healthy
• Valuable: This is highly valuable because it's good to know tips and tricks to making a wider variety of unhealthly foods healthy.
• Rarity: I think this is kind of rare because I don't think many people know and/or think about how to make your typical, unhealthy foods healthy
• Imitability: This is imitable through research but it will take more time for others to find new tricks and recipes than it will for me
• Substitutable: This resource is highly substitutable through utilization of the internet
5. My employees will LOVE where they work
• Valuable: This is so valuable because it's important for your employees to love where they work. It will improve overall productivity and satisfaction
• Rarity: This is semi-rare because I feel recently more business are trying to improve job satisfaction but not all places do. Not everyone loves where they work.
• Imitability: This is very imitable but it depends on the method I use to keep my employees happy
• Substitutable: I don't think this is very substitutable because you can't really replace happiness in your everyday job
6. Healthy food AND a drive-thru
• Valuable: This is very valuable because it's the entire essence of the business and it's what makes it unique
• Rarity: As of right now, it is very rare because there is no known healthy fast food with a drive-thru in Gainesville
• Imitability: This is decently imitable because others can recreate fast food that is healthy
• Substitutable: The only substitute this potentially has is ordering online but there is no drive-thru
7. At least 2 People willing to provide a loan for the start-up
• Valuable: This is very valuable because it's important to have sufficient funds when starting a business and it's easier than going through a bank
• Rarity: This is kind of rare because I feel that not many people have friends who are willing to loan them money
• Imitability: This isn't super imitable unless you have friends willing to provide you with loans
• Substitutable: This is highly substitutable by going to the bank but it's more complex
8. A grandfather who used to be a CEO that can provide ideal advice and potential funds. 
• Valuable: This is very valuable aspiring entrepreneurs always need advice when starting a business in order to raise chances of success. 
• Rarity: I think this is very rare because not everyone knows a CEO that is willing to help them personally and financially
• Imitability: I don't think this is very imitable since not many people can readily have a CEO that close to them
• Substitutable: This has very low ability to substitute except through a personal/financial advisor
9. Location in a college town where people are constantly trying to eat out and remain healthy
• Valuable: I find location to be highly valuable since there is a high demand for my business in college towns especially
• Rarity: It's not very rare since there are many businesses in Gainesville
• Imitability: Very imitable because anyone can set up shop here
• Substitutable: Can only be substituted by setting up in other college towns
10. My experience and immersion in working in restaurants/customer service.
• Value: I think it's important to have experience in what you're trying to open a business in which makes this very valuable
• Rare: Many people have worked in the restaurant industry which makes this not too rare, however, I don't think that most people immerse themselves as deep into the experience as I do when I'm working.
• Imitable: I don't think experience is very imitable but I'm sure there are more people with more experience than me
• Substitute: I don't think this is very substitutable unless you hire someone with the type of experience


Based on the VRIN analysis, I think my most valuable resource would be my CEO grandfather. He is a great resource for advice and funds plus he won't wrong me because he cares about me. This is very valuable and rare and not very imitable or substitutable.

22A Elevator 3

What stuck out to me the most in my feedback was that the video had a faint noise in the background due to my recording device. It was mistaken as a fire alarm or something but in reality I had no idea it was there so I hope it's better this time.

For this video, I tried to add more emotion than ever before. I also took Professor Pryors advice by turning the camera sideways and also tried to make sure the sound wasn't there.


https://youtu.be/XdzTYKJ3zag

21A Reading Reflection

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

1.) The general theme of the book was that failure can be more positive than negative. Adams discusses the various methods to take failures and make the best of them or "have luck find you.

2.)This class focuses a lot on building your own business and become an entrepreneur. This books shows me how to be okay with my failures and keep pushing through. If I utilize what I've learned in this class to exploit opportunities and create a business, I'm bound to fail. Adams enhanced this class by showing me not only how to be okay with these failures, but also how to exploit them.

3.) I would have students work alone or in groups to design their own board game from scratch. With this, there is bound to be some sort of failures somewhere. I would have students individually asses their failures: what they think their biggest failure(s) was, how could it have been prevented, how they could have turned their failures into opportunities, etc.

4.) I found it surprising how much he values selfishness. He says you should focus on yourself first and your family and friends last. I've always felt it should be the other way around, of course I also find this to be a matter of opinion. Generally, you put what's important to you first which consists of friends and family for many people so I just found it interesting that he does the exact opposite.

20A

1.) Laura Hillburn is the General Manager at Chuy's and has held positions such as waitress, dishwasher, bartender, line cook, etc.

2.)Market expert

3.) Laura is the head manager where I work but I've never really talked to her so i asked her to have lunch with me to discuss how she conducts customer research.

4.) Laura said she was more than happy to have lunch with me and discuss these things because she wants me to succeed. She told about the importance of paying attention to to when you get busy/slow and paying attention patterns. For example, they usually get busy on Sundays after church and Friday/Saturday nights. Laura also provided me with the number of their food supplier and told me they may be willing to provide me with a discount if I order from them 6 days a week.

5.)Laura supports me and would be willing to advertise for me in her store since we are not direct competitors which will be extremely beneficial. She has also already helped tremendously by giving the information about customers and the food suppliers. Laura is a valuable contact because she has a huge network herself and is willing to help me when I need it.


1.) Octavius Vance (Tay) is currently a line cook at Chili's, but used to be a cook in a fast food restaurant.

2.) Domain Expert

3.) I met Tay by chance at Starbucks. I was studying when he came in and he looked like he had just gotten off work from Chili's. I asked him if he would be willing to sit down and talk with me for a little bit.

4.) Tay and I discussed everything I would need to successfully run the kitchen in the business, the fryer, the grill, the cooler, etc. He told ma about some tips and tricks to saving money, training employees, and not getting stuck when things get rough. He said he admired my persistence and would be willing to teach me how to use the equipment whenever I get it.

5.) Tay knows many experienced workers in the restaurant business and I believe he could find me skilled employees when the time comes. I also think he would be willing to help me if I ever go through a tough spot.

1.)Steve is the manager at Forida Foods Service and has worked in sales and administration.

2.) supplier

3.) I spoke with Steven over the phone and his number was given to me by my General Manager, Laura.

4.) Steve and I discussed the kinds of foods he could supply to me and how prices between brands. We discussed that I needed to figure out how much of which foods I think I would use in a day in order to figure pricing accurately. Steve helped me with narrowing down the kinds of foods I can produce with what he can provide and told me to call him if I ever had any other questions.

5.) Steve is a major contact to my business because he would supply the fresh foods I would need to successfully run my business. By being a manager, I could assume that he has many contacts and may be able to assist me with potential difficulties in the future.

This experience made me feel more confident in networking and talking to people I don't know. I think that  is a very important part of managing any business so it's something I need to be more comfortable with. I know Laura often puts on community events and having her in my contacts will give me the opportunity to partake in the community. This kind of networking is different from the past because I felt like the people I was talking to held an important position in their jobs which was a little bit intimidating.

19A Napkin2

1.) I'm a very quick and skilled learner and I love to fix problems. My experiences in working in the customer service industry have taught me how to not stress out when things get busy and to manage my time wisely. Taking things as they come and prioritizing your duties is the best way to handle stress in the restaurant industry.
Being a quick learner, problem solver, and having the ability to not stress is vital to managing and running a restaurant. New problems arrive on a daily basis in restaurants and it's important to be able to solve them efficiently as they come. Being a quick learner will also come in handy because as a manager, you need to know the ins and outs of everything in the restaurant so the quicker I can learn the various process, the better and quicker I can train my employees.

2.) I'm offering my customers healthy fast food at a cheap price. It will be as healthy, if not healthier than if they were to cook at home. I differ from Chipotle and Bolay in that my restaurant will have a drive through and a wider variety of foods to choose from at a cheaper price.

3.) Most of my customers will consist of college students and full time workers in Gainesville who want to improve their diets. The main factors these groups have in common is that they want to improve/maintain their healthful nutrition and they don't have a lot of time in their busy schedules. They range in the ages from early 20's to mid 30's and probably don't have a whole lot of time to cook/go out and eat. The drive through aspect will cater to this need and I will also sell other products such as water bottles and reusable straws with our logo on it in order to advertise and increase revenues.

4.)As I previously said, my target market wants to improve what they put into their bodies without breaking the bank. They also want it in a timely manner which is why having a drive through window is so crucial to this business model. Providing them with healthy food at the same speed at a McDonald's rate is sufficient reason for consumers to spend their money in my establishment.

5.) My current competitors are Chipotle, Bolay, and Vale and they have two things in common: they’re expensive and they don’t offer a drive-thru service. My restaurant will be the cheapest, healthiest, and most efficient fast food restaurant in Gainesville. None of my competitors offer a drive through which I think is a key component to speedy service.

I see these elements to all fit together very well. They are like pieces of a puzzle that will create a successful restaurant when put together. I think my skills mixed with the want for healthy food and the need for speed will create a successful business for the residents of Gainesville.

A lot of my prior feedback was focused on the fact that my drive through sets me aside from my competitors so I really capitalized on that aspect in this assignment. I also focused on how my three main skills that will assist me in having a successful business rather than also discussing parts of my past that don't contribute to the business as much.

Elevator pitch 2

I felt that my previous feedback was all valid and I tried to incorporate it the best I could. I did this by trying to add a little more emotion as well as talking a little more about how I will keep my costs down and the specific foods I will try provide.

https://youtu.be/0k-b8oHXoC8

Assignment 18 Create a customer Avatar

My prototypical customer is a woman in her early to mid 20's who attends UF and must put the gym in her daily routine. She loves the outdoors and goes to Lake Wauburg at least once a week, either alone or with friends. She really cares about the environment and takes a reusable water bottle everywhere she goes. She drives a white, 2017 Honda Civic that her parent's got for her as a birthday gift and takes extremely good care of it even though it's pretty messy on the inside. She doesn't watch a lot of TV but every now and again she puts on The Office or How I Met Your Mother when she has some free time. She loves hanging out with her friends but values her studies much higher, you can often find her studying and various coffee houses or at the library studying. She has no affiliation with political parties and doesn't really keep up with the news. She's a Christian girl who attends one of the student ministries on campus and tries to make it church when she can. Her parents are together and loves them to death but they live two hours away so she doesn't get to see them all the time. She also has a 17 year old brother and a yellow lab back home. She loves to cook with fresh veggies and meats but doesn't always have the time due to her busy schedule. Her favorite movies are The Little Mermaid and Step-Brothers and can watch them almost any time. Her music taste has a very broad spectrum, going anywhere from Taylor Swift to Lil Wayne depending on her mood. She normally wears running shorts and T-shirts but on occasion you can catch her in casual business attire. Her favorite restaurants are China Wok, Chipotle, Chuy's, and Bahama Breeze and tries to eat at at least one of them once a week.

My prototypical customer and I love the outdoors, cooking, and studying in coffee shops. We both value our friends and family very highly and always wish we could be closer to them. It would be ideal for me to work the gym into my every day life but so far I have been slacking in that area. I don't really find any of these common interests to be significant except for the fact that we both love the outdoors. People who love the outdoors tend to care about their diets which would be good for my business. This assignment did help me come up with a few other ideas for my business such as selling products like water bottles and reusable straws with the logo on it.

Assignment 16

A.)
1.) Determination: I'm very determined to accomplish any task given to me, big or small. I don't think I've ever seen anyone put so much hard work into such arbitrary and irrelevant (or relevant and necessary) tasks.

2.) Quick Learner: I find myself to be an incredibly fast learner with almost anything I do, especially new jobs. In newest job, I only needed three days of training whereas everyone else generally gets five. I think I learn so fast because of my motivation and drive to be the best I can be.

3.) Caring: I think I care about people (whether I know them or not) probably a little too much. I go to great lengths to cheer someone up or make their day even if I've only known them for 5 minutes. I see it as a plus because it will come in handy when it comes to customer service.

4.) Correcting Processes: I'm good at finding flaws in existing processes and making changes to make them more efficient. I have saved my bosses and coworkers a lot of time by making their duties faster and efficient.

5.) Quick Witted: I'm good at coming up with snappy comebacks very quickly. I feel like it's a skill that not many people have and I'm proud of it, it's usually pretty funny.

B.)
https://soundcloud.com/user-248961874/jordan
This interview was with my roommate Jordan and he mostly talked about how much of a people person I am.
https://soundcloud.com/user-248961874/rob
This interview was with my boss and he discussed my great work ethic and my ability to train new hires.
https://soundcloud.com/user-248961874/tristan
This interview is with one of my best friends and he talked about how he thinks I'm really good with staying motivated and determined.
https://youtu.be/wVhLjHMpjpM
This interview is with my best friend and he just talked about how good of a friend and person he thinks I am overall.


C.) For the most part, I think my self-analysis lines up with the interviews from my friends/associates. I know Josh and I both stated that I really care about the people around me but I don't really think I'm as much of a people person as everyone else thinks I am. I can be when I want to be, but for the most part I only find myself talking to the people I already know. None of them mentioned my skill for correcting processes but I think that's because none of my friends really get to see me work. Other than that, I think they are all pretty spot on with how they perceive me.

Assignment 15

Conducting these interviews have shown me that I am on the right track but may still be lacking in terms of competitive advantage.

My first interview was with a girl in her early-mid 20's that I met at the gym. She is always trying to improve herself and her diet. She told me that quality is a big factor for her when purchasing her food along with making sure it's healthy and tries to buy local/organic products when she can. Cooking is big for her so most of the food she buys is at the grocery store but when she goes out, it's normally Bolay as long as the line isn't too long. Since she normally goes to the same few restaurants, she's generally satisfied with her purchases and bases it off of the comparison between quality and price.

My second interview was with a mother of two who is working hard to balance her life and maintain a healthy diet. She said she enjoys Chipotle and Bolay but her kids don't so it's hard for all of them to agree on dinner. It's also a struggle for her because she doesn't always have time to wait in the lines which are always out the door around the time she picks the kids up from school, it's just not convenient for her. When I asked if she had considered the online ordering she told me that they don't always get to her order right away because they're so busy so it's like taking a gamble. She's usually dissatisfied by the time she gets her food from these places because it wasn't worth the effort of getting her kids out of the car, waiting in line, having to get the kids to agree on something to eat, and then having to make another stop for them. She said "Lately it's so annoying that I don't even go anymore, I just get something that everyone will enjoy even if it's not the best thing I could be putting in my body.

My final interview was with a 20 year old college boy who is all about keeping up with his fitness. He said he's been trying to meal prep but has grown tired of the process. Ideally he would like to get his food from Whole Foods, but it's way to expensive. He likes Chipotle and Bolay but Bolay is a little pricey and you can only eat so much of something before you get tired and have to move on. He wishes there were more options in Gainesville. Lately he's been less and less satisfied with his purchases just because he's tired of eating the same things. He usually evaluates his purchases by considering his food ans asking himself if it was worth the price.

From these interviews, I've gathered that this segment values quality, price, and convenience when it comes to choosing their food. They go for things that are healthy for them (since this segment is based on improving eating habits) and choose what they do by a mix of price and quality. It seems the only competitive advantage this business would have is potential price and convenience but I'm not sure if it would be enough to win these customers over. 

Assignment 14

1.) The man behaviors I've developed in this course is time management and organization. This is the first semester I'm taking classes 100% online and it takes a lot of motivation and ability to manage your time wisely to succeed online. I have to basically plan my entire week around school if I want to succeed in this class. I also learned to sync my phones calendar with the canvas calendar so I never miss a due date. This has helped me tremendously with staying organized and not missing due dates.
2.) When I have felt like giving up, I remember where I want to be in the long term and what it's going to take to get there. It's important to maintain good grades so I can do the things I want such as study abroad or get an internship that may lead to my dream job. I also consider my family. Since I am the first one of us to attend college, it puts a lot of weight on my shoulders. I think about how proud they are of me and how much I would let down the family if I didn't succeed. This has definitely been my most tenacious semester and I've never tried harder for A's. I felt that way at the beginning of the semester and it seemed to have faded until I got my wisdom teeth removed. That put me out of commission for about a week and my grades started to fall fast. I had to work extra hard to get caught up but it motivated me to not let that happen again.
3.) Tip 1: Stay Organized.
Maintain a planner and keep track of your notes. This allows less room for falling behind and there's no better way to stay on track than to keep a planner. It's virtually impossible to miss an assignment if you keep your planner updated and check it at least 1-2 times a day.

Tip 2: Manage your time wisely.
Stay on top of your work and try to complete your assignments 2 days before your deadlines. This will keep you from falling behind and/or missing assignments. Make sure your keeping up with your readings and lectures.

Tip 3: Keep a picture/list of things that motivate you near where you study.
Keeping your biggest motivations close won't allow you to forget why you're in the class and why you need to maintain good grades. Practicing this will allow you to develop a more tenacious attitude and eventually these factors of motivation will be on your mind 24/7, making it hard to let you consider failure as an option.

This is a photo of four of my best friends and I at our high school graduation. I keep it as my phone background for a constant reminder to stay motivated so we can all graduate college together someday.

13A - Reading Reflection no.1

1.) For this assignment, I chose to read Steve Jobs' biography. The most surprising aspect of his life as well as what I admire most is the fact that he dropped out of college and became as successful as he did. His parents, both biological and adoptive, did a lot so he could go to college so it really had to take some guts to drop out. The fact that he had enough faith in himself to succeed without a degree is astonishing to me. I know plenty of people who have dropped out of college, not done much with their lives, and regretted it. I find the least admiring aspect of his life was how arrogant and assertive he was. This book gave me the feeling that Jobs was quite full of himself, especially the excerpt where Isaacson discusses Steve's job at Atari and his body odor that made the CEO force him to work the night shift is icing on the cake. Many of his coworkers at Atari also didn't like collaborating with him because he was arrogant which isn't very respectable. Even if he was a smart man, he could have been coy about it. He did experience a bit of adversity with the launch of the first Mac. There was a loss in sales but Jobs came back with an impressive marketing campaign that boosted the popularity of the company and increased sales.
2.) A main core competency that I noticed with Steve Jobs was his ability to be creative and think outside the box. For example, it's astonishing that he was able to come up with a marketing strategy that resurrected the plummeting sales. He was also a perfectionist and paid extreme attention to detail which is another pattern that was prevalent in this reading. I believe this was a big portion if what made his products so successful even if his tendency to be anal with details potentially sprouted from his hallucinogenic drug use.
3.)My main confusion lied in Jobs' family background. I'm a little confused as to why his parents gave him up, why they didn't really stay in touch, and why his parents were able to keep his sister and not him. I don't think it was a mistake by any means, he obviously did phenomenal without them but the whole concept leaves my mind wondering. Although his grandfather kept his biological parents apart, I think he still could have been kept.
4.)If I could ask Steve Jobs two questions, they would be: 1. Do you have any regrets regarding how you ran your company and treated your employees?   2. What are your decision making styles/methods? I chose the first question because he didn't have the best reputation and I'm curios as to whether or not he knows how arrogant and rude he was. I'd like to know if he would change how he treated his colleagues if he could go back or if he wouldn't change a thing. I feel effective communication is important to being a successful manager but it didn't seem to matter in his case. The second question is substantial because decision making is a very important part of being successful in just about every situation. His methods to making the right decisions had to have some sort of science to them. Jobs wasn't correct all the time but his decisions seem to have done him more harm than good and I think it would be crucial to understanding how one would achieve his level of success.
5.)Steve put hard work at one of the highest of priorities, only second to perfection. Working hard was one of his core values and he fired anyone who fell short of his standard. I agree that hard work is important but by no means think that someone should be fired for displaying the slightest bit of slack. Hard work is crucial to success, but no one needs to be pushed to the point of 90 hour weeks.

Assignment 12

1) Pick a segment. For this assignment, I chose to focus on people who want to improve/maintain a healthy diet.

2) Interviews.

My three interviewee's were a friend I made at the gym, a customer in Chipotle, and a coworker who has talked about eating better often. All three are college students who try to eat as healthy as they can.

What I learned.

It seems the need to eat healthier becomes most prevalent when people are hungry. My interviewees agreed that they find themselves most hungry at work, class, the gym, or on their way home from those places which puts us usually around 12-1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. People usually start considering their meal options when they start to get hungry. They often ask themselves if they want to cook or go out and make further decisions from there. My friend at the gym says when she's in a hurry she'll just grab a smoothie from Smoothie King and call it dinner and neither of us thought this was a great option. Another thing I learned is that the need for a drive-thru window may not be as prevalent as I thought. They said they didn't rally care if there was a window at Chipotle/Bolay because they can order online and have it ready by the time they get there.

Conclusion.

This segment definitely sees a need to have a way to eat healthier when they don't want to cook, but it seems their prime reason for wanting this restaurant is to add variety to the already existing market of healthy restaurants. They don't really see an issue with the lack of drive-thru windows nor an issue with Chipotle's prices (with exception to the guac cost).

Assignment 11

1) I'm Kristen Fogel, I transferred into UFs business administration program from UCF and I hope to eventually attain my masters in information systems. I have a knack for problem solving and correcting inefficient/illogical procedures. Anytime someone presents me with a problem, I’m drawn to fixing it, no matter what it is. In my work as a to-go waitress, I often find myself doing things that aren’t even part of my job, I just like to fix problems. One day, I would like to be the manager/administrator of a database and fix everything that might go wrong.

If I were to start my business, it would play a major role in my life because restaurants are a lot of work to run and maintain. In the beginning, I don’t think I would get much sleep nor have time for a social life which isn’t ideal for me. I would stick with it until the end because I’m always determined to finish what I start and I think the idea has potential but I don’t realistically think it would work out.

2) I’m offering a fast and efficient way for people to eat healthy meals without hurting their wallets. By creating a healthy fast food restaurant, people no longer need to worry about what they’re putting into their bodies when they’re on a time crunch. The idea is to create deals with suppliers as well maintain a produce garden in order to cut costs which will allow the prices of the food to not be as high as competitors. I want this to be a place where people can eat good, healthy food when they don’t have time to cook for themselves.

3) My current target market consists of college students (age 18-25) in Gainesville that want to improve/maintain their diets but don’t have the time to cook. These students are often busy but also trying to work on bettering their health. The business structure will be marketed towards those who don’t have the time or want to cook but still want to eat healthy. I’ve noticed that many of the customers in places like Chipotle and Bolay, my prospective competitors, are often coming from the gym which I could also include in my target market by offering products like protein smoothies or water bottles with our logo on them.  

4)Often times, customers in Bolay and Chipotle look like they just came from the gym which means two things: they’re probably trying to improve themselves and they’re either too tired or don’t have time to cook. College students are also busy and don’t favor going into restaurants so this restaurant will have a drive-thru window as well as the option to go in and sit. Customers will also find value in this because people are always looking for ways to save money and for once, eating healthy isn’t breaking the bank.

5) My current competitors are Chipotle, Bolay, and Vale and they have two things in common: they’re expensive and they don’t offer a drive-thru service. My restaurant will be the cheapest, healthiest, and most efficient fast food restaurant by offering exceptional services without charging a fortune. 

I think these elements fit together well, they call coincide. I think my experience/skills would make me an excellent restaurant manager. The pieces of the puzzle fit, but I’m not sure that it will be enough for me to gain a competitive advantage. Although it is an ideal business plan, I don’t know how possible it will be for me to keep things cheap. The more I do research on it, the less motivated I am to continue with this business. It’s a good thought and it might thrive for a short time but keeping prices lower than competitors might be my downfall.

Assignment 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdPT3gN-pF0

Assignment 9 - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who:
After conducting five more interviews, I realized that vegetarians and vegans have a lot in common  with my target market. Although my restaurant's dishes will contain a lot of fruits and veggies, most of them will not be vegetarian/vegan friendly. I'm sure some food will be, but they aren't my target audience.
What:
The point where my need differs from others is where the healthy part comes in. Fast food came about when people wanted quick meals at a low price but as more and more people are starting to  care about their health, they have been looking for better alternatives. My restaurant will be as quick and easy as regular fast food but much healthier.
Why:
The underlying need for the outsiders is different because although their diets are usually healthy, vegetarians/vegans can't eat meat and/or products made with meat such as chicken stock or beef broth.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who: Those who want to eat healthy too busy to prepare a healthy meal. Particularly college kids and those in the working class.	Who: People who don't care too much about their health and vegetarians/vegans.
What the need is: An alternative to fast food that is just as quick and cheap, but also healthy.	What the need is not: Just any fast food that doesn't satisfy people who have a need to be healthy.
Why the need exists: Becoming healthier is a growing trend but many people are partaking in but there's not enough options for those who have limited time in their days. If there is a way to have healthy food that's relatively quick, it's not cheap so there is a need for the trifecta: cheap, fast, and healthy.	Alternative explanations: The need can also exist for working moms who want their families to eat better or those who just want something quick. People who eat fast food aren't looking to be unhealthy, it's just convenient. The same can go for my restaurant except the other way around.

Assignment 8- The Second-Most Important Part of Entrepreneurship

The answer to my problem would be to open a restaurant that provides healthy food at a low cost and is as quick as fast food restaurants. Ideally, I would design a menu that appeals to both children and adults with items such as nuggets and burgers that are baked rather than fried and the buns would be made low calorie. I obviously need to do some thinking about how I would keep costs down, but I would try to make deals with suppliers, keep utilities low, and start out with few employees. I would like to get feedback from students to see exactly what kind of foods they would be interested in and how I could keep costs down.

Assignment 7 Testing the Hypothesis

1.) College students don't have a restaurant where food is quick, healthy, and affordable because healthy food is generally expensive.

Who: College Students

What:  Lack of fast food that's healthy and affordable

Why: Healthy food is expensive.

2.)

Who: This need is shared by busy people who want to eat healthy. I find it prominent in the working class, especially busy parents who want their families to eat better but don't have the time/money to do so. 

What: There are foods that are quick and healthy but not affordable and the food that's fast and affordable isn't healthy. No food establishment currently meets all three needs.

Why: People with lower incomes, especially college students can't always afford produce. Suppliers charge high prices for produce which means in order to make a profit, businesses must do the same. Because of this, food chains find it easier and more profitable to sell cheap, unhealthy food.

Interview 1: Premed student in Starbucks

She was very enthusiastic about this idea and told me she was just discussing how there was no affordable healthy food in the area. She has a very busy life between her school work and volunteering so she generally meal preps to prepare for her busy weeks. She said she wasn't really sure how someone could keep the costs of health foods down, but it's a great concept, especially for people with really busy schedules.

Interview 2: My roommate, 21 year old business student

He thought this was a good idea because he tries to stay as healthy as possible but doesn't always feel like cooking. He often goes to the store late at night after work so he can cook but when he's feeling lazy he just goes to McDonald's. He said that he hates doing this because the food makes him feel bad mentally and physically. He would feel much better if he had a healthy place to go where it doesn't take more than ten minutes to get his food. He thinks this will be helpful for those who go to the gym a lot because all "health freaks" get tired of cooking.

Interview 3: My manager at Chuy's

My manager found the concept interesting, but was critical of how this could be accomplished. As someone who knows about managing the costs, I was glad to hear what she had to say. She told me her second highest cost was the fresh produce. Something to think about was not every single fruit/vegetable will be edible. For example, 1/5 of the avocados we get in our orders are unusable because they are too mushy or even a little moldy. She felt if all of our food was in fact healthy and made fresh that costs would be too high to keep our product cheap which is concerning and will send me back to the drawing board.

Interview 4: A teacher and mother of five

Donna is a loving mother who loves to cook for her children. She said it would be nice to have a healthy alternative for the nights she doesn't want to cook but most of the time she's preparing meals for the family. She also made the point that her family isn't really tight on money so if it's something her kids really wanted, she wouldn't hesitate to buy it for them. She thinks this would be a great idea for college students and working moms like herself because she knows not everyone wants to cook as much as she does. In her opinion, Chipotle is decently healthy and not that expensive but it would be nice to have other options.

Interview 5: 22 year old waiter at Chuy's

My coworker said he thought most people in town would be all for this idea but he wasn't. He told me most of his friends really care about their health and are always working out but he doesn't really care about his own health. Whenever he goes out to eat with his friends, they usually go for healthier options while he goes for whatever is cheap and tasty. He thinks his friends would appreciate a restaurant that's fast, healthy, and affordable but it's just not for him.

I feel like this would be a popular business idea but what popped out at me the most were the things that my manager said to me. I never considered the fact that not all of the fresh food I order will be edible which will be a huge cost driver. On top of that, fresh fruits and vegetables will not be cheap and many people are concerned with how the food will be kept affordable.

Assignment 6: Practicing Opportunity Identification

1. Climate Change
a.)https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666
b.) Climate change has the potential to cause a wide variety of problems. For example, an increase in temperature can cause an increase in the price of food due to the lack of output in the fields. I see an opportunity because if temperatures continue to rise, food will be less and less affordable.
c.) The prototypical customer is most likely people who cook more than they go out for food.
d.) I feel that is opportunity will be difficult to exploit because the price of a necessity is going up and it will be hard to find substitutes and/or a way to drive costs down. Alternatively, there could be an opportunity to help the environment and decrease global warming but that would also be hard to exploit.
e.) I believe I was more apt to seeing this opportunity because many of my teachers I had growing up based their curriculum on helping the environment and the dangers of global warming.

2. Homelessness
a.)https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/opinions/homeless-la-state-of-emergency-ridley-thomas/index.html
b.) Homelessness is a rising trend caused by high rent and stagnant wages and is causing deaths left and right. This is a huge problem and I see a few potential opportunities that could aid this issue: 1. opening an apartment complex with rent based on a persons income, 2. laws keeping families with children off the streets, 3. a business that helps and supports the homeless in some way (providing them with a place to stay, clothes, food, and hygienic products until they get back on their feet.
c.) The population of homeless people would be the projected customer.
d.) I feel there are many options to attack this issue which doesn't make it the most difficult issue to exploit but I feel that most solutions would be for a nonprofit business.
e.) I was raised to always care for and help people in any way I can and it would always make me sad to see homeless people on the streets. Finding ways to help them has always been in the back of my mind which is why I found this issue a bit easier to approach.

3. Credit Loss
a.)https://www.csiweb.com/resources/blog/post/2019/01/08/identifying-the-top-regulatory-priorities-of-2019
b.) With technology evolving, more and more people are getting their credit card information stolen. FASB is considering implementing a new law where banks will have predict potential losses and account for them before they occur. This is an every-growing problem that banks and cyber security firms should capitalize on.
c.) The customer base would include banks/firms and/or credit card users.
d.) I think this would be a relatively easy issue to exploit with enough time to formulate a plan.
e.) I've been focusing on computer science for a while now and many of my projects senior year were based on cyber security which is why I saw this problem.

4.) Vaping
a.) I got this idea from all the hype on the news mixed with the prominence of vaping within my apartment.
b.) With more and more research, people are becoming aware of the dangers in vaping and questioning whether or not it's better for you than cigarettes.  I know there has been discussion of changing regulations and the minimum age for vaping. I think there is opportunity for finding another alternative or making it seem less attractive to users.
c.) The prospective customers would be people who vape.
d.) I think this issue would be difficult to exploit because people are so unnecessarily attracted to vaping and almost view it as a need.

Assignment 5 - Identifying Local Opportunities

‘We’ve had enough.’: Students organize protest on Fraternity Drive

1.     https://www.alligator.org/news/we-ve-had-enough-students-organize-protest-on-fraternity-drive/article_699fab64-d107-11e9-b2c2-b38c5b626004.html

2.     This article discusses how a group of students are working towards getting the emergency poles, or as referred to as “blue lights” installed in Fraternity Row.

3.     Students want to pass a bill that will enact the installment of emergency blue lights to not only allow the student to feel safer, but actually make it a safer place. The bill failed to pass at the end of the spring semester and as a result the students are forming a protest. They not only express their concern for sexual assault, but also for general safety in all categories.

4.     The problem is presented by the National Women’s Liberation along with students who want to raise safety awareness in Fraternity Row.

Biker caught stealing plants from Satchel’s Pizza

1.     https://www.alligator.org/news/biker-caught-stealing-plants-from-satchel-s-pizza/article_f8110938-d5c1-11e9-b240-63c79cc54825.html

2.     This article talks about how Satchels Pizza is constantly faced with a plant thief (or thieves). The owners are very upset because they love their plants and own too many to store them inside during the evenings. The owners have concluded that the motives are most likely collecting rather than for profit, but they just want their plants left alone.

3.     The primary issue here is that the plants keep getting stolen, they can’t afford a security guard and moving them all inside isn’t optimal.

4.     The problem belongs to Satchel Rae and Ashley Watkins. Taking care of plants is Ashley’s’ passion and it’s hard for both of them to see their plants taken right before their eyes.

UF Preview prices broke state law. How are they fixing it?

1.     https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-preview-prices-broke-state-law-how-are-they-fixing/article_2daeae4c-d2b6-11e9-9c0c-9fca1017f082.html

2.     The article states that UF has been overcharging students and their families for orientation for years. They are currently taking measures to lower costs and figure out how they can correct this issue for past and future students.

3.     The conflict discussed in this article is that students and their families can barely afford to attend mandatory orientations before they can even start school. The article gives the example of a mother who worked 7 days a week just to be able to attend orientation with her daughter.

4.     This affects not only the families who have to pay for the mandatory orientation but now it affects the school for violating state law.

 

 

‘There is still hope’: UF professor organizes summit to address Amazon rainforest fires

1.     https://www.alligator.org/news/there-is-still-hope-uf-professor-organizes-summit-to-address/article_d1d2dff6-cadd-11e9-9f02-378655d5f586.html

2.     This article describes the past, present, and future concerns and dangers of the fires in the Amazon Rainforest. Professor Heckenberg talks about his time spent in the Amazon and how the lives of its inhabitants will be affected if the problem isn’t corrected. He is working on organizing a summit in October that will allow multiple points of view to discuss potential solutions to this issue.

3.     The problem at hand is the fact that these fires have been burning for at least 19 years and is continuing to threaten the livelihood of those who live there. As of right now, there is no probable solution to the issue.

4.     The fires affect all who inhabit the Amazon as well as those who want and will want to visit the Amazon and experience all it has to offer.

 

Dinged up Gators look ahead to Kentucky

1.     https://www.alligator.org/sports/dinged-up-gators-look-ahead-to-kentucky/article_6065e90a-d34b-11e9-98ae-b308884d1eb2.html

2.     The article points out that UF’s win left two of their players injured and they’re hoping for the best on their upcoming game against Kentucky. Kentucky was one of the few teams to defeat the Gators last year, but the team claims that’s not affecting them in the slightest. The only thing they’re worried about is the fact that their players won’t be healed in time to play the game.

3.     The issue is that players are getting injured and not healing quick enough and it’s worrying everyone about upcoming games.

4.     This is affecting the team first and foremost, but it also worries the friends and families of the players and Gator fans everywhere.