Practicing Opportunity Identification

In the course of the last week, I have been able to identify four entrepreneurial opportunities.

1.      The first revolves around the fact that the Baby Boomer generation is not retiring as they were expected to. I read an article, Make Sure The Retirement Crisis Doesn't Happen to You (https://www.thebalance.com/retirement-crisis-stats-causes-effect-3306215) that explains that many seniors are being forced into retirement without an adequate amount of savings. Considering that many functions of HR are done via electronic media, which is a skillset that is foreign to many of this generation, there is an opportunity to help them navigate these waters. I propose instituting a job hunter service that includes resume building to target specific job filters. This will accommodate this market need for the employment-needy Boomers, while supplying the workforce with experience rich personnel. I have seen others in my family go through this ordeal, so I know the need is real, but I don’t think that anyone has considered it yet. If they had, they would already be doing it.

2.      Another opportunity that has presented itself revolves around the housing industry. Since interest rates are on the rise, and there seems to be no end in sight, the housing market is fairly hot right now, and I think it will continue as I saw in, https://www.curbed.com/2018/2/20/17029746/interest-rates-rising-home-sales-price. Given that people are trying to buy before the interest rates climb, especially the flippers, there is an opportunity in consultant work. With proper expertise, if you can show people how to maximize the resale value of their home with various improvements, this could be a lucrative venture. I imagine that most people are concerned with flipping properties, but consultant work is much safer due to the lower amount of investment capital and reduced risk. Either way, new home buyers and house flippers stand to gain from this input.

3.      I recently read, California becomes first US state to mandate solar on homes (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44059865), which brought to light a new idea. If California home buyers are looking to buy, the new houses will come equipped with solar panels. What about previously owned housing? This presents an opportunity to combine licensed real estate agents with solar panel installers to upgrade previously existing homes for a serious upgrade. In combining these skillsets, you can also negotiate a discount on solar panels through increased volume. This will allow reduced cost to the end consumer, and increased profits to the real estate/installer through increased sales. This will also help the solar panel manufacturer through scales of economy. It’s a win/win, but I can’t imagine that I am the only one that has put two and two together on this one. The ultimate end consumer is house buyers, but it can benefit real estate agents, solar panel installers, and solar panel manufacturers.

4.      My last opportunity was found at the website, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/us/arlington-cemetery-veterans.html, in the article, Arlington Cemetery, Nearly Full, May Become More Exclusive. This article explained how veterans were going to have a harder time being admitted to Arlington National Cemetery. This allows for a private entity to come in and start a second cemetery, that will be subsidized by the national government. I think that this will be a difficult venture to start, but once the momentum gets rolling it should be easy. It will specifically be designed for veterans and their spouses. I don’t think that anyone else has seriously considered this idea due to cost structure being the biggest barrier to entry.

Grinding it Out - Reading Reflection #1

I read the story about Ray Kroc, Grinding It Out.

1a) The thing that surprised me the most was his personality. He was known for his philanthropic nature (e.g. Ronald McDonald House), but he was not a nice person. He was a great salesman, but he was kind of a tyrant when it came to managing people. I was really taken aback by his temper and how his lack of control when it came to his anger.

1b) When it comes to the life of Ray Kroc, the thing that I most admire was his vision. He had a knack for finding opportunity in every venture that he was involved with. He always kept his eyes looking forward, no matter how many barriers were in his way. He didn’t even care how large or supposedly insurmountable those barriers were; he would find a way to bring his vision to fruition. He was remarkable in that aspect.

1c) What I least admired about this man was his personal life. He completely ignored his first wife and child. He centered his entire life around work and never seemed to spend time with them. After they divorced, he set his eyes on a married woman named Joni. When she declined his advances, he got married again to another woman. Several years later, he ran into Joni and her husband Rollie, who were operators of McDonald’s restaurants in the Dakotas. He started putting the moves on Joni, when Rollie went to bed. He eventually convinced her to divorce Rollie so that they could get married right away. In other words, Ray Kroc was a morally bankrupt scumbag.

1d) Adversity and failure happened to Ray Kroc often. He didn’t really start making progress on the McDonald’s venture until he was well into his fifties. He entered into bad contracts, had people take advantage of him along the way, and was constantly fighting funding issues. He used his sales skills to convince people to work for a minimal salary while coercing insurance companies to provide him with loans to finance his ideas.

2) Ray Kroc was a master salesman. He figured out a way to sell more product and convince people to allow him to try his ideas by answering their problems first. He diligently worked with his suppliers to streamline their operations to reduce costs, make logistics more efficient, and deliver a better product. This in turn would allow him to provide a better product to the end consumer and the retailers were more willing to deal with him because he made a better product and figured out a way to make it cheaper. Ultimately, this increased the profits for the retailer as well.

3) I had a little confusion understanding some of the principles of operation because they were all taking place in a time period before I was born. I did not understand some of the customs and the principles that they seemed to operate during the nineteen-fifties.

4) Given the opportunity, the two questions that I would ask Ray Kroc are:

                           I.          Why did you give up so easy on buying the Chicago Cubs? Why didn’t you try and more proactively convince Wrigley to sell you the team?

                          II.          What would be your take on the Millennials and how you would alter the direction of McDonald’s menu items and procedures to target this demographic market?

5) There is no question that Ray Kroc believed that success was grounded in hard work. If you failed to work hard, you would fail at reaching your goal. I whole-heartedly agree with this opinion. I have a mantra that I share with my son on a daily basis, “Did you outwork the other guy today?” We use this mantra as it applies to his studies and baseball. The more you study, and the more that you practice, the better that you will do in those arenas. Ray Kroc would absolutely agree.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1). I found the first opportunity in SunRail, Brightline passenger rail services in Central Florida chug ahead, printed in the Orlando Sentinel. The article talks about how the rail service is expanding in Orlando to serve 4 more stations including Kissimmee and Poinciana. The new riders of this service will be fairly unprepared timing their travel to the station and arriving to the station before the train leaves the station. Seeing as they will be rushed to meet their new deadline, they may leave without adequate sustenance. This allows the opportunity for an entrepreneur to start a food truck operation near the train station.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/sunrail/os-trains-central-florida-progress-20180518-story.html

2). The Osceola News-Gazette posted an article entitled Preparations underway for tropical system. It discusses how the Central Florida region is bracing for flash flood potential brought on by Tropical Storm Alberto. The people that live in low-lying areas are the ones that have the biggest problem potential. They are facing flooding coming into their homes. For an entrepreneur, there is an opportunity to establish a sand bag service. If you are entrepreneurial in nature, you contract with suppliers to make your own sandbags. Then market to the public that you will deliver and install these sandbags to protect their house from flooding. This should create a lucrative operation.

 http://www.aroundosceola.com/preparations-underway-for-tropical-system/

3). There was an article I found that had a unique business opportunity. The Kokomo Tribune featured an article, New bar with speakeasy vibe opens downtown. In the article it talks about the creation of a new bar that mimics the feel of the prohibition era. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that they sell a lot of martinis. In fact, they sell more martinis than they sell beer. This will create a transportation problem for the patrons of the bar. After too many martinis, it will be ill-advised to drive home. For the right entrepreneur, this allows for a two-person opportunity. One person drives the individual home, while the other drives the customer’s car home. This not only saves them from driving drunk and potentially being arrested with all the complications, but it delivers their car to their allocated parking space for when they are capable of driving again.

http://www.kokomotribune.com/news/new-bar-with-speakeasy-vibe-opens-downtown/article_f0d59e54-5f8e-11e8-ad17-b72164492607.html

4). Fighting the Opiate Crisis One Family at a Time, was featured in the Osceola County Community Newspaper. In the article, it described the drug crisis that is facing common households not only across the country, but in our own community. It demonstrated that a lot of people did not recognize the warning signs of drug abuse and drug addiction. This provides an opportunity for someone to start an education program that focuses on teaching people the warning signs (“red flags”), and available resources to help the drug addict tackle their demons. This is a pressing issue that can lead to irreversible consequences, but education and intervention can prevent a permanent tragedy.

https://scinthenews.com/fighting-the-opiate-crisis-one-family-at-a-time/

5). The Hartford Courant printed an article entitled, Two Media Companies Moving To Stamford, Adding Hundreds Of Jobs, Expanding TV And Video Production In State. The article talked about several hundred jobs being created through the expansion of the film industry in Stamford, Connecticut. This is going to create a huge opportunity for the entrepreneurial minded individual. With the influx of all these additional workers, not to mention that there will be audiences that are present for the filming of these television shows, there will be a need to entertain and feed these people. Some people will need a quick sandwich or beverage while they wait to be admitted. Some people will need a place to meet with friends before they go watch the show. There will also be workers that will need a lunch spot, or a meeting place for that after-work drink. A bar and grill with a menu of hand-held breakfast options should satisfy some of their needs.

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-stamford-entertainment-business-20180525-story.html

Forming an Opportunity Belief

I have a problem that is occurring in my own neighborhood. I am under the impression that we need some sort of traffic control devices on two different streets in my neighborhood (Terrapin Blvd. and Reflection Cove). We have an unprecedented amount of street racing happening in our neighborhood.

Recently, we have had an increase in the amount of speed racing down these two streets in the neighborhood. I think that the community needs some sort of traffic control program in the interest of public safety. We have a lot of joggers, people walking their dogs, and kids waiting at bus stops (when they are not walking to or from the bus stop). Furthermore, when we contact the police about this problem, they tell us that they will dispatch a unit. By the time that they arrive, the violators are long gone and they tell us that they are unable to assist us unless they see it. At this point, there is a majority of people that live on these two streets that would like a resolution to this issue. Unfortunately, we are being forced to find our own solutions. I decided to gather more information regarding this subject at a H.O.A. (Home Owners Association) meeting.

The first person that I talked to lives on Reflection Cove. They told me that the problem has been occurring over the course of the last 2 months. They indicated that they majority of the problems happen after they go to bed and that it wakes them up. When I asked what time frame they remember this happening, they said that it is consistently happening between the hours of 9pm – 12 am. The only thing that they have done so far is make a mention at this HOA meeting. They have stated that they are retired and do not want any trouble.

The second person that I interviewed told me that he is concerned for the welfare of his children. The majority of the problem is occurring after the sun goes down, but he has heard some high speed vehicles race by as early as about 2 in the afternoon. He told me that he has been looking out of his windows to try and identify the car, but he will only call police if it keeps re-occurring in a small window of time. When I asked what time frame that is, he indicated that if he hears it more than once in a span of 15-30 minutes, he will call police and demand that they speak with him at his doorstep.

The third person that I spoke with was very nervous. She is a widower that lives alone and feels threatened that it is an indication that crime is moving into the neighborhood. I asked her when she is noticing the issue, but she couldn’t give me a good answer. Apparently, she nods off after dinner before the 6 o’clock news comes on, and falls asleep again about a couple of hours after she wakes up. She did indicate that it has woken her up several times, but she didn’t look at the clock because it scared her. I asked her if she has ever called the police, but she said that she was too afraid to. She just closed her drapes, turned the lights off, and hoped that they would go away.

Looking back upon the situation, I have been able to realize a few things. I believe that my original hypothesis was correct. There is a need for some sort of traffic control remediation in my neighborhood. Apparently, my synopsis was a little short sighted. After talking to some of my neighbors and other members of the community, there are a number of people that have very strong feelings about this subject matter. In fact, I was surprised at the amount of support for this idea, especially given the setting. I was expecting a lot more resistance and indifference to this issue than I truly did receive.

In closing, I am torn on the final question. I do think that business owners should gauge their practices on customer feedback, but I do not know that entrepreneurs should abide by this practice. Entrepreneurs are concerned with solving problems. There is a level of involvement in verification that the problem exists, but that does not validate them as strictly being an entrepreneur. All the polling does is determine whether they have enough of a “communal problem” to validate a capital investment in a business opportunity. Business opportunities and entrepreneurship can be linked, but they are not tied. There is a difference.

My Entrepreneurship Story

My Entrepreneurship Story

My old college roommate, Abe Reese, is an entrepreneur. He founded a company called, Aspex Solutions, that created a computer program to help make life easier for people in the education system. His revelation to solving a problem came from dinner conversation that he was having with the husband of his wife’s friend. He ardently worked to solve said problem, and over the course of about a year, came to a solution. In essence, he wrote a computer program that would relieve people of their tedious burden.

Abe Reese, my roommate at N.I.U. (Northern Illinois University).

It was no surprise to me, I lived with the guy for two years. He was always thinking outside of the box. For example, I remember that we could never hear our phone ring because we played our music so loud. I come home one day to find that our lamps started flashing on and off for no reason. Abe had gone to Radio Shack and purchased a phone flasher for our apartment. This allowed the lights in the apartment to turn on an off with the ringing of the phone. It was hilarious when new guests arrived and the phone rang. They were freaked out, we turned down the music and answered the phone. They always waited until we hung up the phone and consistently said, “What the hell just happened? Why were the lights flashing? It freaked me out.” We would explain it to them and then they felt like they were on the inside track, like they knew some that would give them a step up on the newcomers.

I have taken this class because it is a requirement for graduation. I wish that I could say that I had a vested interest in this class, but this is not the case. To me, this class is just a stepping stone on my path to a goal.

Bug List

20 things that bug me:

1.      People street race through my neighborhood.

·        The reason that this is a problem is that they are avoiding a traffic light and we have two streets that bypass the light without speed bumps. Aside from the ¼ mile strip without speed bumps, there is rarely any police patrol in my area which results in a high occurrence of street racing.

2.      My phone battery discharges too quickly when using my GPS app.

·        Either the battery technology is not in place, or the app is poorly designed. Unfortunately, I do not have enough technical knowledge to properly assess the root of the problem.

3.      People are lackadaisical while driving.

·        People are paying more attention to their smart phone than they are the road. They have become too complacent and think that nothing will happen if they read that text while they drive down the road.

4.      The public school system is producing kids that are unprepared.

·        No child left behind has allowed them to continuously lower the bar. This has resulted in kids giving less effort and yielding less academic results. The ultimate byproduct is a substantially less prepared graduate to enter the workforce with just a simple high school diploma.

5.      There are too many school shootings and/or public massacres.

·        Societal norms have changed to where this has become a problem. The media has propogated this problem by providing too much attention to it starting with the OJ Simpson trial. Yes, this was not a school shooting, but the media learned the power of using abhorrent crime to drive ratings. From there it festered like a consuming disease.

6.      It takes way too long to drive from the south end of Orlando to the north end of Orlando.

·        The amount of construction is creating bottlenecks that is slowing the flow of traffic. Unfortunately, the city planners failed to realize the impending rate of expansion throughout the Orlando area. Orlando is currently the 6^th fastest growing city in the United States.

7.      My cable bill is too expensive.

·        There is not enough competition in the market which allows them to treat it like a monopoly. They simply do not care if you think your cable bill is too high.

8.      I can’t even do an oil change on my car without a computer being hooked up to it anymore.

·        The vehicle manufacturers make more money this way. Every time you bring the car into the dealer, the manufacturer gets a royalty fee on all parts and service expense. They want you to take it to the dealer. If you go somewhere else, they lose money.

9.      The water dispenser on my refrigerator stops working.

·        The water line freezes because the engineering department was overridden by the accounting department. The accounting department determined that it cost less to use an inferior insulator, which causes the line to freeze, but it saved them production cost. This would ultimately boost the bottom line, minus the projected warranty claims (which can’t be proved upon projections).

10.   New electronics do not come with an owner’s manual.

·        The owner’s manuals are now found online. This reduces production costs but increases consumer frustrations when looking for a troubleshooting manual.

11.   Every website that I go to for news is bogged down due to advertisements.

·        I understand that’s how they pay the bills, and that I cannot expect to read my news for free. However, the lack of speed due to the amount of ads is absolutely ridiculous.

12.   Why is it that every store I go into has to try and sell me a rewards card?

·        They want my marketing information so that they can sell me more products by targeting my shopping preferences. I feel that it is an invasion of privacy that you want to buy from me for mere nickels on the dollar.

13.   There is a lack of social etiquette being displayed in modern society.

·        People are losing social skills due to digital connectivity. With the onset of social media, people are losing their ability to communicate on a personal level. Soft skills are a valued commodity in the marketplace that cannot afford to be lost due to one’s addiction to a digital realm.

14.   Car warranties do not offer the level of protection that they should in relation to their cost.

·        The manufacturers are too focused on being profit driven machines. I can get better warranties out of products that are much cheaper, but they insist on squeezing out every dollar to pay their overpriced union laborers. Sorry, but when you are paid $27/ hour to put in some bolts on an assembly line, you are overpaid by a vast amount.

15.   Political correctness has made it to where you can almost never speak.

·        “You can’t make everyone happy” is a popular phrase, but it is true. No matter how you try and state something, no matter how innocent and pure your intentions are, someone will come out and try and chastise you to promote their own agenda. They come out like cockroaches and swarm until they receive enough attention that they feel vindicated in their objectives, regardless of their swath of damage to the innocents.

16.   Micromanagers do not give you enough room to breathe, let alone do your job.

·        Their lack of confidence drives them to smolder you like locusts consuming a field until all your will has been vanquished like a barren field.

17.   Inferior made products are allowed to be sold and dupe consumers.

·        My “Gas Monkey Garage” shirt start releasing at the seams after two wash cycles. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous business owners who do not think of the future. I will no longer buy apparel from this retailer due to the lack of quality.

18.   My debit card will not work without warning due to issues with the magnetic strip.

·        The card itself has a lack of strength when it comes to the magnetic stip. Unfortunately, the magnetic strip wares easily and will not read when required.

19.   People that talk too loud in public places.

·        This is nothing more than a lack of self-conscious and common courtesy. Unfortunately, in today’s society, many parents are allowing teachers to raise their kids rather than spearhead the task themselves. I will agree that this is driven by a high divorce rate leading to a lot of single parent households where the sole provider has to work an inordinate amount of hours to provide, but you still have to take ownership of the quality of person that your child has become.

20.   Street lights are too long at low traffic hours.

·        This is a combination of poor scheduling by the city planners and sensors that lack the proper amount of sensitivity to determine when a vehicle has entered the starting point of the intersection. 

I would honestly have to say that this is a much more difficult assignment than it would first appear. I generally kind of roll with things and try not to complain. However, this forced me to drop my guard and just spew forth suppressed frustration. It is a much easier world, for me, when you just shut up and deal with it. Unfortunately, I have an exterior that makes me a target for people. For whatever reason, I am the guy that people will boldly attack to try and bolster their own ego. "That guy's big enough, pick a fight with him." Recently, I had another coach pull a baseball bat on me, in the dugout, when I asked him to stop swearing around a bunch of little kids. When you are the size of a door frame, people treat you different.

Test

This is just a functionality test.