Final Reflection: PEACE OUT ENT3003

     I am not going to lie and say that ENT3003 was my favorite class. Because it wasn't. That doesn't mean it was a bad class it just wasn't for me. I took the class because it was required by my minor in innovation but it is not a class I would have chosen of my own accord. Having said that I believe that people who are planning on building their own businesses and starting these big ventures will greatly benefit from these lessons.
     Going back through my blog was a weird experience, similar to reading letters you'd written to yourself in the third grade. Trying to highlight the experiences in this blog is not an easy task. There were alot of personal low points for me, i dreaded doing alot of the assignments especially interviewing random people. Re-watching the videos I realized how shaky my voice was when I spoke from the nerves. I also dreaded the venture concept purely because I dread any essay, but it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. Now that I have told you about all the low points let me assure you that it wasn't all bad. I enjoyed the secret sauce assignment, not only because it was nice to hear my friends and family talk about me with such pride but because I got the chance to talk about several of my friends. It is an amazing feeling to be surrounded by such loving people and to give back and thank them for it is undeniably great.
     For me the most formative experience was the elevator pitch assignments. My first elevator pitch was short, scattered, and left out alot of key information. Having to do it several more times taught me how to gather my thoughts into a concise one minute pitch. It was evident in each take that I was more confident, even just how my voice sounds, more professional instead of shaky and quivering. I will remember these skills that I learnt for many years and I know that they will come in handy again and again in the future. As I said before my most joyous experience was the secret sauce assignment for no other reason than it made me happy to talk about how great my friends are. I am most proud of my first set of random customer interviews. They weren't anything special, in fact they were quite terrible. But I overcame my fear and dread of doing them and just went for it. I am proud of myself for trying something  new even if it wasn't entirely successful.
     As I said in the beginning of this assignment I was honest and said that this class was not my favorite. I don't really see myself as an entrepreneur but I do see myself on the track to becoming one. The mantra was often a far thought but at least it was a thought that I kept in mind. I think I am starting to see the world more as what it could be and how to make it that way versus just waiting around for other people to change it for me.
     The one thing I would recommend to future students would be to do the work early. Get as much done as soon as possible. There is nothing worse than having technical issues an hour before the assignment is due and then watching all your hardwork go down the drain. I would also recommend that you take the assignments seriously and to not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, we cant live in a bubble forever. And above all else keep an open mind, you might enter this class believing you are not an entrepreneur and will never be one, that will effect how you perform in each assignment and how you dread or look forward to each one. Have fun and enjoy the class!!

Reading Reflection Week 15

    For our final reading reflection we were required to read "Business Basics at the Base of the Pyramid" an article in the Harvard Business Review by Vikram Akula. It was an interesting article which displays how the global business starts with the little people. As humans we tend to focus on the big picture but when that big picture is broken up it tells the lives of alot of people who sacrificed everything they had for  the ones they loved. The author does a great job of using real life stories to describe the basic finances of life. It is hard to disagree with a persons stories so I don't disagree with anything the author says, but I did find quite a few things confusing including the simple business plan discussed in the beginning of the article. I find it difficult to believe that this business plan relies on pressuring friends and family. I would like to ask the author the success rate of this business plan. I would also like to ask the author how this will work on a macro level. He spends alot of time discussing the microeconomics but not so much of the macro level.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

Venture Concept No. 2

Feedback: Contrary to the instructions I only received positive feedback for my last venture concept. Every comment just really said that the app would be successful. So I asked a few friends to comment on my blog for me. They suggested different ways of advertising the app and how to make it better. I added these ideas into my initial venture concept and this is what I came up with:

Putting it All Together

For this week’s assignment we are supposed to create a venture concept write-up. A venture concept write-up is a description of a possible product or service. It contains a description of the opportunity present, the innovation of a new idea, and the overall venture concept incorporating the other aspects. Until now we have been working backwards. We first came up with a venture concept and then settled the details later. This time around we are going in an order that makes sense. So here is my attempt at putting things in the right order again.

The first step is defining an opportunity. Unlike the name suggests, an opportunity is a group of customers with unmet or under met needs. I have chosen to target a customer base that I am a part of; Young adults with little and time and big appetites. I feel that by choosing an opportunity with a common connection with myself will allow me to service the venture to my best ability. The nature of the need of this opportunity is predominantly personal and a luxury. This venture is not necessary for life but it does increase the ease of life. Knowing the wait time at restaurants is a helpful tool and for some people it is a dire need. With recent improvements in the economy, people are beginning to eat out again. With this increase in restaurant patrons comes a proportional increase in wait times and lines. Currently this market is focused on college towns and busy cities. This is because there is the highest concentration of restaurants and people who eat out in these areas. College students tend to eat out with friends, on the run, or when they don’t feel like cooking. Families with small children like to get in and out of a restaurant as soon as possible. Waiting for food is not a simple task for hungry small children.  Currently customers are not satisfying this need; they are merely dealing with the problem. Any new information would be welcomed with open arms by all foodies alike. This opportunity is huge. Food is any important part of everyday life, as is time. Both are important aspects of life. People will always need food and they will always need to save time. The only reason the “window of opportunity” would close would be because someone else swopped in and created their own product with the same end goal.

Once you have defined an opportunity, you must create an innovation to address these customer’s needs. In response to the peoples need to get food fast and efficiently I have created The Waiter.  The Waiter is an app that tells you the current waiting time at your favorite restaurants. The app will also give the customer and option to call ahead to order their food to go, in case all the lines are long. It is a simple app that can be downloaded through the app store. Restaurants report the wait time in 15 minute intervals directly to the app, in turn the app relays the information to consumers. The app will also offer other information such as delivery services, phone number, ratings, reviews, etc.  The revenue from my venture is purely based off of app sales and advertisements. Like most apps I will offer two versions of my app.  A free version, with advertisements and a paid version which allows people to view the app without extra ads. These advertisements will come from the restaurants that are already partnered with the app.

The third and final step is two combine these two aspects. A venture concept is the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this case I will show how The Waiter benefits the target market, college students and other families. Since there are no other products on the market like this I don’t believe it will be difficult to get people to start using this app. It might take a bit of time to gain popularity but I believe that after one successful use the word will spread like wild fire and people all over will be using The Waiter. Companies such as Yelp and a few other apps are similar to the Waiter but do not combine all the components that make The Waiter successful. The weakness of these other companies are all different, it is the fact that each of them lacks what the other has that makes them vulnerable. Because The Waiter is an app packaging does not play an important role in its success. However the way the app is presented could make a big difference. The first thing consumers notice about an app or product is the way it looks. A simple design for the logo that is still eye catching is the best route to go. There are several other aspects that define my business concept. These include price points, distribution, customer support, and the customer experience. In sales reports it would be interesting to see how customers prefer the free version with ads or the paid version without ads. From those results it might be beneficial to change the way the app is priced.

Apart from having a unique product there are several other resources that will make my venture succeeded my greatest resource is my ability to communicate my message. This skill will help me communicate my venture idea with potential investors, clients, and connections. This is more important than all my other resources because it leads to success with the other resources. This difference in me is that I am passionate about this idea, because food is a good portion of my life. When something directly affects you people are more likely to do something about, make a move, change in some way. For me the fact that I am a busy college student, and hopefully one day a busy med student means that this app will become a sort of life line for me.

In the future I hope to build off this app. One day building a restaurant that guarantees no wait, no lines, and good food. Another idea would be to target the same customer base with other things college students need. For myself the future holds a lot of things hopefully, including medical school, a successful career as a pediatrician, travel, volunteering, family, and thousands of happy memories to come.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

This week we were required to read two chapters for entrepreneurship. The first chapter was "The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set in Organizations: Corporate Entrepreneurship" and it was based on what its like to be an entrepreneur. I found this chapter interesting because it encompassed the mindset that we were trying to learn for the past few months. There wasn't anything particularly confusing or anything that I could disagree with in this chapter or the other one for that matter. The other chapter was called "Social Entrepreneurship and the Global Environment for Entrepreneurship"  and discussed the entrepreneurial effects of ventures in the global workforce. I would have preferred to read these chapters in the beginning of the semester to give us an overview of entrepreneurship but can understand why they were at the end of the course. If I had to ask the author two questions I would ask him his experience in the global market and for any advice he would give us now that we are entrepreneurs.

Google Gold

     In complete honesty I haven't done anything to pursue SEO. Other than share my blog posts with other students via the share assignments I really haven't spread the word of my blog. That makes it difficult to complete this assignment accurately. So instead I have decided to tell you what I would have done if I was aware that I should have been working toward going for gold.
   First off I would have shared my blog link with more people than just the ones I was required to share it with. I would have accomplished this through facebook and other social media outlets. I have had a blog before and received eight times the amount of views for half the work. I also would have requested that my friends and family spread the word as well. I also would have used hashtags on my social media posts, these allow people using the same hashtags to easily locate my post. Therefore bringing together people with the same ideas and common interests.
   These hashtags would be very similar to using keywords through google. I would use words such as entrepreneur, innovation, food, app, waiter, college, UF, and other words that contribute to my blog. I could even use ENT3003 as one of my keywords because there are so many people taking the course. I would have waited to see the success of these words and if they weren't working well I would change them to either be more specific or go in the opposite direction and be more broad,making bigger generalizations.
  Without advertising my blog, all my posts gained mainly the same traffic. If I had to guess if I had advertised more I believe that my worlds biggest problems post would go the most viral. I believe it is a post that a lot of people can relate too.
   Unfortunately I will not be accepting my gold medal in Rio this summer but hey there is always next time! And until then always listen to Bey:

Very Short Interview Part 2

     In my first interview, I spent time asking Cathy Vick several questions on entrepreneurship. For a quick recap; Cathy Vick is a owner of a small company which sells HP products. She and her partner have owned Integtech for ten years. She is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and lives on the west coast of Florida. Our interview consisted of me asking her three main questions:

1. What does it mean to you be an entrepreneur?

2.  Do you have any advice for me as I continue my education to become a better entrepreneur?

3. Why did you become an entrepreneur?

     In the same order she answered:

1. I think many people have different definitions of what it means to be an entrepreneur. To me being an entrepreneur is part of how I define myself. I am a mother, wife, worker, and I consider all of the positions to better me as an entrepreneur.

2. Make it something you are passionate about. For me I wanted to work in education because I wanted to improve the minds of children. I feel like i can make a difference through the selling of HP products. And make goals for yourself, it can be hard being an entrepreneur, you are your own boss and you really have to motivate yourself.

3. For me it was primarily a financial decision. When the market turned I lost my job and it forced me to change my lifestyle. I went into business for myself and it was the best decision I every made. Instead of traveling for work I got to see my girls grow up and spend time with them everyday. I love my job and I love my family.

    During this initial interview I was still focused on finding out what an entrepreneur was. I believe that talking to Mrs. Vick really gave me a basis of how to orientate myself as an entrepreneur. Her advice to pick something that I was passionate about for my venture really payed off. It made it less of a task to do the assignments and more of an enjoyable experience.

   After a lovely first interview I looked forward to interviewing Mrs. Vick again. This interview was shorter than the last as Mrs. Vick was very busy but I am still very thankful for her time and effort. 

Here is how the interview went:

Niamh: Hello again Mrs. Vick. I wanted to start off by thanking you for taking the time to speak to me once again. You're help last time has greatly improved my skills as an entrepreneur.

Mrs.Vick: You're welcome sweetheart. I am sorry I cannot talk for longer.

N: That is OK I just have a few quick questions for you.

MV: Sounds good!

N: Since we spoke last time have you had any new developments in your venture?

MV: We are always working on making our company better, even if its just through simple changes like finding new contacts, changing our advertising, etc. Nothing big comes to mind but all the little things add up to something big.

N: If you're always changing do you have an idea of an exit strategy?

MV: I began this business due to need, I wasn't planning for the end. But now that we have had success I have started thinking about what to do next. I want to be able to spend more time with my husband and the rest of our family. 

N:But no exact plans yet?

MV: No! (She laughed) like I said everything id always changing and therefore my plans are always changing.

N: Ok. Just one last question. Looking back is their anything you would have done differently in your business had you known you'd be where you are today?

MV: Its corny but I wouldn't change a thing. I love where I am with my business, my family, and in ,y life in general.

N: Well that's all from me. Thankyou so much Mrs.Vick!

MV: As always you are welcome sweetie.

This interview was very similar to my last one with Mrs. Vick but I felt more comfortable this time around. Whether that is because I now know Mrs. Vick better now or because I am more confident with myself as an entrepreneur I am not sure. Either way speaking to Mrs.Vick has helped me throughout this class and it turned out to be one of my favorite assignments this semester. As I said in the beginning of this blog post this interview gave me a basis of the entrepreneur that I wanted to be. 

Week 13 Reading Reflection

    It is important to take a step back and evaluate of entrepreneurial ventures. That is what we learnt in our assigned reading this week. But how is a textbook able to tell us what something is worth. There is more that goes into a business then the money. Entrepreneurs put their heart and soul into these ventures. So to truly define the value of the venture you have to take more than the finances into consideration, also consider the impact, love, commitment, and loyalty. I believe that this is what the author missed out in this chapter. I do agree with him that you need good finances to be successful and money is a big key to building a business as well as time. Nothing about this chapter really confused me, the material presented was very straightforward. If I had to ask the author two questions I would ask him to value my venture and then compare it to my evaluation.

Celebrating Failure

   I have been afraid of failure most of my life. I don't want to fail because I don't want to disappoint the people I care about. Whether it is in school, sports, or life I try my best and when I fail I take it as a sign that my best isn't good enough. It is a hard realization that we cant be perfect at everything, especially for perfectionists like me. But it is a lesson we all have to learn at some point. For me this realization came this semester in a small way. My personal failure this semester was my failure at reaching my fitness goals. Every new years eve for as long as I can remember I have told myself that this is my year to get fit (and hopefully lose some weight). This year I both failed and completed my goal. I started taking more classes at the gym and running and this past March I completed my first 10k. I finished in just over an hour and 10 minutes but to me that was a failure. Silly I know since I should have been happy just to cross the finish line, but I didn't think it was good enough. I initially took the wrong approach to this failure. I stopped working out, I let school overtake my life, and I lost some of what I had worked so hard for to gain. It wasn't until my mom told me how proud she was of me for simply finishing the race that I realized I hadn't actually failed anyone but myself. My real failure was stopping working out. From this I learnt another lesson that I have been taught time and time again, don't give up. This is true in all aspects of life and especially business and entrepreneurship. I also learnt to not put the weight of the world on my shoulders because the world is full of people willing to help you carry it. 

    Failing sucks. That's the flat out truth of it. No one likes to fail. Trust me if you are reading this and think you are alone you are not! Sometimes you just have to suck it up and move on. The important part is that you try your best. It sounds corny but its true. Never give up and never stop believing. Our failures are stepping stones for the next big stage in our lives. So celebrate them. Because every failure means you are closer to success. This class taught me that. With every failed idea, interview, and pitch we were forced to keep moving on. To take the criticism and put it towards making the next one better. So as long as you aren't failing this class go out and celebrate your other failures!!

My Exit Strategy

    Just as the introduction post says, all good things come to an end. You get to the center of the tootsie pop, your juicy fruit gum looses it flavor, you eat that last piece of birthday cake that means the official end to your birthday. And just as these happy memories came to an end so does the end of our venture.
    Each one of us a will choose to leave our venture at different points. I plan on leaving my business venture with grace and beauty. After working hard for 5 years to build up my app I plan on selling it to a bigger company, who can take it to the next level with resources that I don't have. As part of the sales contract I would requires a small share of royalties and shares of the company. Its only fair after all :)
    I chose this strategy because I believe that with my current resources and skills their is only a certain distance I can take this venture. Better to hand the ball off to the pros and take the glory along with the team. I believe I always knew this would be my exit strategy. Therefore a chose a venture that I knew I could build up only so far.

So just like the great queen herself would do, I'm peacing out like a boss.

What's Next?

Existing Market

   During the Amazon Whisperer assignment I found it difficult to think of a future product to offer. Since then I have come up with a couple of ideas. These include a partnering app that allows you to know the wait times at other entertainment ventures including theme parks, movie theaters, etc. Another idea is to apply the same concept to bathroom lines. As a women I strongly relate to this idea, waiting in lines in bathrooms is a pain in the butt. 

Interviews:

Out of all the people I interviewed all preferred to be audio recorded. 

    For these interviews I happened to interview three women, all of which loved my business idea. When i mentioned other possible ideas they were all on board for the bathroom wait time app (I guess I am not the only one with a small bladder who hates waiting in lines). One of the best suggestions I received was to limit the data use and size of the app. One woman said that while she is sure she would use the app, if it were too big or took up too much data it would be the first to go when the storage full message popped up. 

   My future and the future of this venture has many different paths. Ideally after a successful income from this app the next step would be to develop others like it. According to the feedback I recieved from my interviews I could see the bathroom app being successful especially when applied in sports events, plays, and musical venues. 

New Market

   Currently I am targeting college kids and families, to target the complete opposite would be to look at the elderly or children. For this assignment I am going to focus on children because I believe that would be more fun! Having children wait in line is not the easiest of tasks. I believe that I could help this process by combining games with the wait time app. For instance each level corresponds with the time at which they have to wait. Or it could even have an informational basis. Each minute wait helps them learn about a new number or letter or fun fact.

Interveiews:

For the privacy of the children and respect for the parents I only used voice recordings for this assignment.

   This was my favorite part of the assignment. Children are the most creative and entertaining interviewees. Their input was helpful however. The kids loved the idea of a fun game. They didn't want to wait in line anymore than adults do. While interviewing the children I also had a chance to speak to their parents. They recommended adding videos to the app for the kids to watch. 

  Other recommendations included coloring activities and an online menu so the kids could have a drink waiting for them at the table after they so patiently waited. This would also speed up with eating process as people would already know what they wanted to order before they even sat down.

Reading Reflection Week 12

 This past week we were required to write up our own venture concept. It might have been helpful to read this chapter before posting our venture concepts but ohh well, it'll be helpful for the next one. This weeks reading contained information on how to maintain an entrepreneurial perspective while writing a venture concept.
I did not disagree with the author on any points but I did find several facts surprising and wish I had known them before writing a venture concept of my own. For instance I found it surprising that there were five key concepts to building a venture concept, in the prior article we read it only listed three. the chapter also broke down the process into several stages including the growth stage and the importance of expansion and growth in a venture. If I had to ask the author two questions I would ask him for an example of a venture concept that he had written himself as well as tips to writing a successful one.
 

Venture Concept No.1

Putting it All Together

For this week’s assignment we are supposed to create a venture concept write-up. A venture concept write-up is a description of a possible product or service. It contains a description of the opportunity present, the innovation of a new idea, and the overall venture concept incorporating the other aspects. Until now we have been working backwards. We first came up with a venture concept and then settled the details later. This time around we are going in an order that makes sense. So here is my attempt at putting things in the right order again.

The first step is defining an opportunity. Unlike the name suggests, an opportunity is a group of customers with unmet or under met needs. I have chosen to target a customer base that I am a part of; Young adults with little and time and big appetites. I feel that by choosing an opportunity with a common connection with myself will allow me to service the venture to my best ability. The nature of the need of this opportunity is predominantly personal and a luxury. This venture is not necessary for life but it does increase the ease of life. Knowing the wait time at restaurants is a helpful tool and for some people it is a dire need. With recent improvements in the economy, people are beginning to eat out again. With this increase in restaurant patrons comes a proportional increase in wait times and lines. Currently this market is focused on college towns and busy cities. This is because there is the highest concentration of restaurants and people who eat out in these areas. College students tend to eat out with friends, on the run, or when they don’t feel like cooking. Families with small children like to get in and out of a restaurant as soon as possible. Waiting for food is not a simple task for hungry small children.  Currently customers are not satisfying this need; they are merely dealing with the problem. Any new information would be welcomed with open arms by all foodies alike. This opportunity is huge. Food is any important part of everyday life, as is time. Both are important aspects of life. People will always need food and they will always need to save time. The only reason the “window of opportunity” would close would be because someone else swopped in and created their own product with the same end goal.

Once you have defined an opportunity, you must create an innovation to address these customer’s needs. In response to the peoples need to get food fast and efficiently I have created The Waiter.  The Waiter is an app that tells you the current waiting time at your favorite restaurants. The app will also give the customer and option to call ahead to order their food to go, in case all the lines are long. It is a simple app that can be downloaded through the app store. Restaurants report the wait time in 15 minute intervals directly to the app, in turn the app relays the information to consumers. The app will also offer other information such as delivery services, phone number, ratings, reviews, etc.  The revenue from my venture is purely based off of app sales and advertisements. Like most apps I will offer two versions of my app.  A free version, with advertisements and a paid version which allows people to view the app without extra ads. These advertisements will come from the restaurants that are already partnered with the app.

The third and final step is two combine these two aspects. A venture concept is the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this case I will show how The Waiter benefits the target market, college students and other families. Since there are no other products on the market like this I don’t believe it will be difficult to get people to start using this app. It might take a bit of time to gain popularity but I believe that after one successful use the word will spread like wild fire and people all over will be using The Waiter. Companies such as Yelp and a few other apps are similar to the Waiter but do not combine all the components that make The Waiter successful. The weakness of these other companies are all different, it is the fact that each of them lacks what the other has that makes them vulnerable. Because The Waiter is an app packaging does not play an important role in its success. However the way the app is presented could make a big difference. The first thing consumers notice about an app or product is the way it looks. A simple design for the logo that is still eye catching is the best route to go. There are several other aspects that define my business concept. These include price points, distribution, customer support, and the customer experience. In sales reports it would be interesting to see how customers prefer the free version with ads or the paid version without ads. From those results it might be beneficial to change the way the app is priced.

Apart from having a unique product there are several other resources that will make my venture succeeded my greatest resource is my ability to communicate my message. This skill will help me communicate my venture idea with potential investors, clients, and connections. This is more important than all my other resources because it leads to success with the other resources. This difference in me is that I am passionate about this idea, because food is a good portion of my life. When something directly affects you people are more likely to do something about, make a move, change in some way. For me the fact that I am a busy college student, and hopefully one day a busy med student means that this app will become a sort of life line for me.

In the future I hope to build off this app. One day building a restaurant that guarantees no wait, no lines, and good food. Another idea would be to target the same customer base with other things college students need. For myself the future holds a lot of things hopefully, including medical school, a successful career as a pediatrician, travel, volunteering, family, and thousands of happy memories to come.

Reading Reflection Week 11

   This weeks reading reflection is based off an article from the Harvard Business Review. "You Need an Innovation Strategy" by Gary P. Pisano is a key informational component in making a successful entrepreneur.  As a part of the Innovation Academy at the University of Florida I found this article to have several relations to my other classes. Innovation is a peculiar subject, not many really known what innovation is or what makes an innovator. This article and the other classes I take give me a special insight into innovation.
   In my first innovation class at UF I felt overwhelmed with ideas. While I thought that was a good thing, to have thousands of ideas, my teacher taught us that it is better to focus on one thing at a time. Much like this article she suggested that we come up with a strategy to help us better form our ideas to be successful. Based on my experience in innovation I completely agree with the author that you need an innovation strategy. I did not agree with the whole article however. Pisano uses Corning's approach to innovation as a key aspect in his article. He did not spend much time looking into other innovation strategies and I believe the article would benefit from that.
    If I were to ask the author two questions I would ask him about his own experience as an entrepreneur and what was his innovation strategy? The article was well written and I did not find anything too confusing. This was my favorite writing assignment so far.

The Amazon Whisperer

    No I am not talking about the mysterious snakes that hide in the deep dark corners of the Amazon. I am talking about the website where we college students spend hours on end adding stuff to our wishlist but never quite making it to the shopping cart.
    As a class we recently read an article about a man who spends alot of time on Amazon, just like us. But he's putting all that time to good use, searching through other amazon posting for comments suggesting ways to improve upon the products. So while the original producer is busy selling the same old same old, he steps in and makes the same product but improving it with the suggested comments he finds in the product reviews. So I thought I would give it a try for myself:
     The revenue from my venture is purely based off of app sales and advertisements. Like most apps I will offer two versions of my app.  A free version, with advertisements and a paid version which allows people to view the app without extra adds. These advertisements will come from the restaurants that are already partnered with the app.
     The assignment was to look at Amazon for possible offerings for the future. As my product is an app I bent the rules a bit and went to the itunes app store to see if there were any suggestions in the app review. What I found was that on similar apps, they weren't very reliable and they didn't offer very many options in the app.
     Based off this information I believe that I can make a reliable app with plenty of options making my venture superior to others of its nature. I also looked into amazon to see if there were any products that might accompany my venture but couldnt come up with a compatible product.

My Unfair Advantage

Human Capital
 1. Hardworking: I will not stop until I have reached my goals; many people give up before the task is completed, not me; in this day in age it can be hard to find people who are willing to put in the work for what they want; nothing replaces hard work in success.
2. Passionate: I have a vested interest in this venture; alot of people are passionate about food; anyone can be passionate but it is how they apply the passion to their work; no.
3. Knowledge of the food industry: In my venture knowledge of the food industry is key; this is not a very rare resource since; for people without prior knowledge it can be difficult to gain.
Social Capital
4. Connections with software engineers: My venture is an app and having people with the knowledge of how to format it will help be set it up; I have a unique connection through my father who works for a software company; there are hundreds of people in the world with programming experience; there is no other way program an app without prior knowledge.
5. Social Media Outlets: If it isn't apparent on your facebook, I believe that one of the best ways to spread information about your project is through social media; anyone can post to social media outlets; it does not take alot to set up a social media account.
6. Instant Feedback: I have friends willing to help and give instant feedback. They are not afraid to be brutally honest with me and it helps me develop my venture better; it is rare to find good friends these days.
Financial Capital
7. Savings: I work hard and every sent I earn goes straight into my savings. I can use this money to fund my venture; money isn't a rare venture; with hard work and a good paying job anyone can have financial capital.
8. Good Credit Score: Banks are more willing to give a loan to someone with a good credit score; in today's economy it is hard to get a loan from the bank; it takes years to repair/ build credit.
9. Family backing: I thankfully come from a fortunate background and know that I have built a relationship with my parents and other families that would make them feel comfortable giving me a personal loan; some families don't have the capability of funding big ventures.
Capabilities
10. Ability to communicate well with others: I am an independent person and have been since I was little, because of this I am comfortable talking to anyone and getting my point across; it is a special skill to be a confident speaker; it is not a skill than can be learned overnight.

My #1 Resource
My ability to communicate my message. This skill will help me communicate my venture idea with potential investors, clients, and connections. This is more important than all my other resources because it leads to success with the other resources.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

   A big thing to consider in all entrepreneurial adventures is the financial aspect of these undergoings. Most times you front your on own money and if the project goes belly under then that effects your family personally. This chapter gave alot of information about how to budget your entrepreneur projects. And I agreed with the author that it is important to budget and budget well. I also agreed with the author that it is one of the biggest reasons for failure as an entrepreneur.
   I found the concept of the NPV and IRR methods a bit confusing and would have appreciated it if the author would add some information about it to clarify it. From a mathematical point of view I found the ratios to be interpreted. If I had to ask the author two questions, I would ask him his personal experience with budgeting and if he had any advice for college students budgeting in general for this first time.

Whats Your Secret Sauce?

    Everyone is  unique in their own way. It is sometimes difficult for us to see what makes us special, and I am no exception. The hardest part of the assignment was having to talk about myself. I could go on and on about my classmates and friends but when it comes to listing features of myself it was alot harder. Having said that I gave it my best shot and here is what I came up with:

 1. I am competitive by nature. I like to be the best and am always trying to one up myself.

 2. Along with being competitive I like proving people wrong. When someone tells me I cant or I wont, I respond with I can and I will.

 3. I am a good judge of character. As evident by the friends I have, I may not have many but the ones I have are far superior. 

 4. I have an intuitive need to help others. I have since I was little. I get more pleasure out of helping others than anything in the world. The greatest thing people ever say to me is thankyou.

 5. I am good at puzzles. Sudoku, crosswords, people, instructions, building things, all types of puzzles and I enjoy figuring them out. It makes me feel accomplished.

Now that I've said more about myself than anyone should ever have to read here is what my friends and family had to say about what makes me different:

My mom has always been my biggest supporter and has always encouraged me to do my best. For me this video is more a reflection of all she has accomplished raising me. I would not be the person I am today without her love and nurturing. Everything I am is thanks to her and my father.

My dad looks big and tough on the outside but is a soft underneath it all. He spoke about me being independent and it is only after years of him teaching me and guiding me that I have been able to be this way. I aspire to be as successful and strong as my father. 

Ashley is my best friend since middle school and has seen me at my best and my worst. And still continues to love me through everything. We are complete opposites in nearly every way except for when it comes to caring for others. She is loving and kind and having her as a best friend makes me a better person.

I did a video for Jessie and it was nearly identical to the video she did for me. The fact that such an amazing and kind person sees me in the same light as I see her makes me feel truley blessed. I have only known Jessie for about a year but she knows me better than some people who have known me since I was a baby. 

 Veronica sent me this video within 5 seconds of me asking for it. I know I can always count on her and hearing her speak about me like this made me smile. I am smart, but I think my friends give me to much credit for it. And I am super competitive and I am glad she sees that as a positive quality in me and not as a bad thing.

I think similar to most people what others had to say about me was much more kind than what I had to say about myself. I find it difficult to accept compliments but when they come from the five people who know me most and who I care about most it makes it a bit easier. There were quite a few differences in the way I see myself and the way others see me. For instance my father talked about my independence but I feel like I still rely on so many people to help me through life. I also found it interesting that the two people who I met in college, Jessie and Veronica, talked about how smart I was. It made me laugh because like every college student I feel like I am barley keeping my head above water sometimes. Above all else though watching all these videos gave me a new found confidence. If these amazing people can say such nice things about me some of it must be true. I just need to start believing in myself more and I am working on it. A final big thankyou to all my friends and family for their kind words, without them I wouldn't be as special <3

Week 9 Reading Reflection

      In this weeks reading we focused on marketing and the skills that go hand in hand with being an entrepreneur. This chapter discussed the the process of successful marketing, as well as several reasons why entrepreneurs marketing research. Marketing only works well if you do the research first. There is no point in declaring your product has the newest technology if your target crowd is the elderly. 

     I found it surprising that so many entrepreneurs do not do marketing research. I thought it was one of the easiest ways to build a more successful business. The chapter goes on to discuss reasons why people choose not to do the research prior to marketing. These reasons include cost, complexity of the undertaking, belief that the data will be irrelevant, etc. I did not agree with the author on this point. Marketing research doesn't have to be expensive. For this class we have had to do alot of research on our products and how to best market them and it hasn't cost me a thing. 

    If I had to ask the author two questions I would ask him to clearly define the relationship between marketing and pricing as I found this concept a bit confusing. I would also like to ask him for a few examples of successful and unsuccessful marketing schemes. For the most part I did agree with the author that marketing research is vital to being a good entrepreneur.

Idea Napkin No. 2

Critiques: I didn't receive many comments on my last idea napkin and the comments I did read were mainly positive. I did receive some feedback about who I should be targeting with this app. Someone suggested that I also use the app to target the specific restaurants in order to get the best approximation of wait times and have the most efficient app ever. So taking that advice into consideration here is my new and improved idea napkin!

Me: On several earlier posts on this blog, I told you about myself. For those of you who don't spend hours checking my blog to see what the newest and hottest is, first of all shame on you, and second of all here is a quick summary. My name is Niamh Clancy, I am an IA sophomore at the University of Florida studying Biology on the pre-med track. I aspire to one day be a pediatrician and have since I was three years old. I am stubborn, hardworking, suturing (to the point of nagging my friends), I like mom jokes and dad jokes, and I am not a quitter. As a future doctor I predict that I will have a busy schedule and no time to wait for long restaurant ques, similar to many other professions.

Offer: The Waiter, an app that tells you the current waiting time at your favorite restaurants. The app will also give the customer and option to call ahead to order their food to go, in case all the lines are long.

Who: This app is beneficial to both restaurateurs and anyone who likes to eat. The restaurateurs benefit because it will allow for a more efficient flow of restaurant patrons. Not too many people in the restaurant at one time, and they wont have to turn people away because people wont come when it is crazy busy.

Why does it matter: This app is important because it effects all of us in every way. If you don't like food than this app doesn't matter to you, at all. But for the rest of the population eating out is a part of our culture. At the same time however we are a community based off of instant gratification. Waiting in lines does not fit into the equation of our lifestyles. With the Waiter people will know where they can get there food as soon as possible while still enjoying the process of going out to eat.

Core competencies: I have already told you about me, my skills, and why I think this app will be a success. But alot of people can say they are hard workers that don't quit. This difference in me is that I am passionate about this idea, because food is a good portion of my life. When something directly affects you people are more likely to do something about, make a move, change in some way. For me the fact that I am a busy college student, and hopefully one day a busy med student means that this app will become a sort of life line for me.

Half-way Reflection

    Entering this class, I didn't know what to expect. I had heard several things about how the class was and had often seen people studying smoking notes for the exams. But this semesters entrepreneurship was not like I had been told to expect. I think that is in part to the restructuring of the class. For the past two months each student has kept a blog, updating it every week with new assignments, videos, interviews, and responses based on the information from lecture and our readings.

   The class is very hands on and you have to be willing to break outside of your comfort zone. At first the interviews seem taunting and every time you see a new assignment requiring a video upload you curse under your breath, or out loud, or you just scream a little. But then you do it and you move on with your life. In a month you wont even remember that time you went up to random people in which-wich and asked them if they  mind being interviewed. Some people are going to say no to you and that;s ok, except it and move on. Push through it, push through all the assignments, and know that its not actually that bad.
    If you are planning on taking this class in the future I recommend three things to you:

1. Its not as bad as you think its going to be, so dont not take it just because your friend says "it sucks."
2. Keep up to date with the assignments, even better do them in advance. There is nothing worse than running around at the last minute trying to find someone to interview.
3. Stick with it! And don't just BS the assignments as much as you want to, its not worth it.

Reading Reflection: Week 7

    For ENT this week we had to read an article published in the February 2006 edition of the Harvard Business Review titled Rediscovering Market Segregation by Yankelovich & Meer. The main focus of this article was on the clarification and distinction between classes based on criteria other than age,race, sex, and income, this technique is known as non demographic segregation. The author also discusses demographic segregation and spends a portion of the article comparing and contrasting the two. Nothing in this article was particularly confusing once the difference between non demographic and demographic segregation was clarified. I did find it pretty surprising that nondeomgraphic was primarily used for advertising. I thought that advertisement companies would use specific classifications and groups to target. If I had to ask the author two questions I would ask them about their experience using segregation techniques in advertisement as well as what they think of new and upcoming groups that advertisements choose to target.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

   From my last post I recieved mainly positive feedback, but one person did mention that I should go into a bit more detail about how the information will be shared between restaurant and customer. I tried to improve on that this time around. I hope you like it!

Customer Interview No. 3

Although this is the last set of interviews assigned I know it wont be the last time I have to go out and do something I am uncomfortable with for this class! So with that being said heres the last set of interviews!

For this weeks interviews I hit the place where I could find the most people eating at once. The Food Court! I typed up a summary of my idea and gave it to each of the people I interviewed prior to starting the interview, then asked them questions about their thoughts and possible comments . Overall I found this interview easier because it was easier to get my point across when I wasnt the one explaining it. It made it easier to write it out and let people read it themselves. 

Reading Reflection: Week 6

Our assignment for this weeks reading reflection was to read Michael Porters:The Five Forces that Shape Competitive Strategy from the January 2008 Harvard Business Review. This article discusses the different strategies toward building a business. Porter emphasizes the use of strategic competition to help build a business. Their are five forces discussed in this article and I found one of the most confusing parts of the reading was finding the balance between them all. After reading this article I did a bit more research into the subject and found subsequent explanations on the matter, including youtube videos, and more articles by Porter. I would like to ask Porter why he didnt expand on this information in his initial article. The one thing above all else that I agreed with the author about was the fact that competition pushes us to be our best. I have always found that I do better when I am trying to beating something/someone even if its competition with myself. I would also ask Porter if he experienced competition within himself when he first began? Or was it the push of other people also excelling that made him want to be the best?

Idea Napkin No.1

    Its hard to staple a napkin to the internet so here is my metaphorical idea napkin:

Me: On several earlier posts on this blog, I told you about myself. For those of you who don't spend hours checking my blog to see what the newest and hottest is, first of all shame on you, and second of all here is a quick summary. My name is Niamh Clancy, I am an IA sophomore at the University of Florida studying Biology on the pre-med track. I aspire to one day be a pediatrician and have since I was three years old. I am stubborn, hardworking, suturing (to the point of nagging my friends), I like mom jokes and dad jokes, and I am not a quitter. As a future doctor I predict that I will have a busy schedule and no time to wait for long restaurant ques, similar to many other professions.

The offer: The Waiter, an app that tells you the current waiting time at your favorite restaurants. The app will also give the customer and option to call ahead to order their food to go, in case all the lines are long.

Who: Everyone who likes to eat! Which if the world was like me would be EVERYONE! People are busy, restaurants are busy, this app will at least solve for one of those problems.

Why does it matter: If you don't like food than this app doesn't matter to you, at all. But for the rest of the population eating out is a part of our culture. At the same time however we are a community based off of instant gratification. Waiting in lines does not fit into the equation of our lifestyles. With the Waiter people will know where they can get there food as soon as possible while still enjoying the process of going out to eat.

Core competencies: I have already told you about me, my skills, and why I think this app will be a success. But alot of people can say they are hard workers that don't quit. This difference in me is that I am passionate about this idea, because food is a good portion of my life. When something directly affects you people are more likely to do something about, make a move, change in some way. For me the fact that I am a busy college student, and hopefully one day a busy med student means that this app will become a sort of life line for me.

Success is putting the puzzle pieces together, so the real question than becomes do I think that these parts of my idea mesh together to form one cohesive concept. And the answer is complicated. I do think that these specific components are a good start to completing this idea but there are definatley pieces missing. For instance my lack of computer skills and financial planning abilites hinders me in the programming and funding of the app. I can compensate with my people skills but I will have to outsource some of the work to other people with different skill sets.

Reading Reflection: Week 5

    This weeks readings focused on the legal side  of entrepreneurship, patents, liability, and contracts. This is the first chapter that I feel like I have learnt something completely new. I have no experience with anything legal documents or anything legal. I would like to ask the author for his personal experience with legalities in his entrepreneur ventures. As well as how you resolved any issues he had with gaining patents. There were alot of charts in this chapter and I found that while they tried to simplify the information they didn't really add anything to the content of the chapter. Some of the charts even made the information more confusing. What I found most surprising  was the extent to the seriousness of the legal prosecutions and consequences of the patents, contracts, and liability issues.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

     If my pitch didn't sell you then here is a bit more information about my idea:

          Opportunity: People are tired of waiting for long lines at their favorite resteraunts.
          Solution: An app that allows you to see the current wait time at your favorite resteraunts.
          Name: The Waiter Gator

Customer Interviews No.2

This week we had the "pleasure" of interviewing potential customers and this is how my experience went:

The opportunity: Restaurants are often busy and ask you to wait for a table. This wait can be anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours. Possible idea for an app that tells you the current wait time for your favorite resteraunts.

Targeted Customer: Young adults + , anyone that likes to eat out.

Questions:
1. How do you feel about waiting for a table at restaurants?
2. Would you benefit from an app that tells you the current wait time for your favorite restaurants?

How my process changed: Since the first round of interviews I relaxed a little. I wasn't as nervous about going up to random people and asking them questions. I also refined my interviewees by only interviewing people at a sandwich shop where alot of young adults eat out.

Hit the Streets:

Advice for future ENT3003 students:
1. Know what you are asking before you ask to interview someone.
2. Make sure your recording equipment works and know how to use it prior to your interviews.
3. Take a deep breath and count to three. Interviewing people might be scary but in the end all the interviews combined is less than ten minutes, which is less than 1% of the day, which less than 0.000025% of your life. You can do it!

Reading Reflection: Week 4

    Chapter 5 "Innovation:The Creative Pursuit of Ideas" was this weeks reading assignment. As a part of the innovation academy with a minor in innovation I found this chapter to be the most informative yet. Even after a year of taking classes towards my innovation minor I was surprised to learn that there are four different types of innovation. I was under the impression that all four types were all under the same umbrella of innovation. After reading the authors distinction though, it gave me a better understanding of what it means to be an innovator. The list of misconceptions of innovations on pg.168 was particularly helpful. In past classes the main focus has been on technology in innovation. I can barley understand how to use my computer half the time let alone developing an app or new high tech product. I would like to ask the author his opinion of the innovation minor at UF and if he had any advice for succeeding in the classes?
    As much as I agreed with the content of this chapter, I did disagree with the section called Developing Creativity on pg.163. I believe that everyone is born with an infinite amount of creativity but it is hindered by elders telling them no. Everyone has the ability to be creative, it is how we are born, and I don't believe that it makes more sense for people to develop their creativity.

Top 5 World Problems

Problems:
1. Lack of equality between, races, gender, ages, etc.
2. Lack of encouragement of children
3. Diseases like AIDS, HIV, etc.
4. Orphaned children of war.
5. Disappearance of native tribes

Solutions:
1. Building and staffing of more orphanages with greater funding.
2. Increased funding for AIDS, HIV, etc. research
3. Laws passed to protect the homelands of the native tribes.
4. Encouragement programs for children to help them believe in themselves
5. Pressing a reset button on the planet

Justification:
I chose lack of equality as the biggest problem in the world because I believe it is the basis for all of the worlds problems. If everyone was seen as equal than we wouldn't have the superiority complexes which lead to arguments and disagreements. But I also believe that this has the hardest solution. On the other hand I believe that the solution to the orphaned children of war is attainable. Thousands of children a year are left without a home. By increasing the number of orphanages and the funding for orphanages we can increase the homes and safety for all of these children.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

     For this weeks reading reflection we had to read Chapter 2, The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set in Individuals, of our textbook. This chapters main focus is to discuss the characteristics of entrepreneurs as well as the the ethics involved in the business aspect of entrepreneurship. Much like the first chapter this chapter was very straightforward. There weren't many confusing or surprising points made. Some of the charts clarify the topics but I found table 2 a bit confusing. The different types of morally questionable acts is a controversial  concept in all forms of business. I found this surprising because I believe all these actions to be immoral, where as the chapter seems to justify the actions listed in the chart.
      The section on unethical vs illegal confused me a little. I believe that in some cases there is overlap of these two categories and I didn't feel like that was emphasized enough. If I could ask the author a question I would ask him to add a venn diagram helping to explain this concept a bit more. I would also like to ask the author his opinion on the best collection of characteristics that make an entrepreneurshp, since I found the table used in the chapter had a few contradictory traits.

Identifying Local Oppurtunities: Palm Beach County

So far in this blog we have looked into peronsal issues, world issues, and now it is time to turn our focus to local problems. I grew up in Lake Worth, Florida so I decided to search issues facing my local community in South Florida.

1. 'Empty Bowls' event aims to reduce local hunger; Minestrone for the soul benefits Food Bank;donors get soup, bowls. link:http://www.lexisnexis.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=144576               This article covers a fundraiser being held in Palm Beach County to raise money               for local food banks. The fundraiser entails selling handmade soup bowls for $25               a bowl. These bowls are made by local potters and then are filled with soup                     made by local chefs.                                                                                               Although this article chooses to focus on a solution for the problem, it also                       makes specific reference to the population of people going hungry in Palm                       Beach County.                                                                                                       According to the article "1 in 6 local residents do not know where their next                     meal will come from."
2. Prove law is anti-homeless: Get arrested                                                                    link:http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A898F056417AB0?p=AWNB                                                                                                                       There was recently an ordinance passed which tuned all public outdoor areas                   into public parks. On top of this public curfews have been set for the local public               parks, therefore making it illegal for anyone to be in the parks past a certain                   time. Currently a large portion of the homeless population in Palm Beach                         County is using the park for shelter at night. These two new laws would make it               illegal for them to sleep there.                                                                                 The real problem here is that there is a large population of people who don't                   don't have a home. Instead of trying to fix that problem the community is                       focusing on making it illegal to be homeless.
3. Harbourside suit goes to meditation                                                                            link: http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A883E877BB1AE8?p=AWNB                                                                                                                     One of the most popular places to be on a Friday night in Jupiter is the                           Harbourside. Frequented by bands and music events the Harbourside is a great               to spend the evening with family and friends. Recently though there has been a               lawsuit filed by Harbourside place againest the town of Jupiter claiming that                     Jupiters noise restrictions are unlawful. At present the lawsuit has gone to                       meditation and will hopefully be resolved without going to trial.                                     I believe that the problem here lies in the communities inability to find a                         compromise.
4. County: Try using trains, bicycles, buses                                                                      link:http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A883E86C4FCBB8?p=AWNB                                                                                                                       If you have ever been on I-95 during rush hour you will know that traffic and                   transportation is a huge issue in Palm Beach County. Residents are being                         encouraged to turn to other forms of transportation including the train, buses,                 and bikes.                                                                                                             The focus of this article is the problem of traffic and air pollution. It offers a                   few solutions to both problems including alternate forms of transportation.
5. Schools deal with rash of threats                                                                                link: http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A7DB8F50AD2270?p=AWNB                                                                                                                     This article discusses a string of threats against public schools in Wellington. It                 goes into specific detail of the recent threats against these schools.                               This problem hits very close to home for me as the article specifically refrences               a middle school less than two miles from my house which my sister use to                     attend. These threats are effecting the education of the schools students and                   frankly making alot of the student population afraid to go to school.

A Very Short Interview No. 1: Cathy Vick

  This past week I had the pleasure of interviewing Cathy Vick. Cathy Vick is a owner of a small company which sells HP products. She and her partner have owned Integtech for ten years. She is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and lives on the west coast of Florida. Our interview was very short and consisted of a short phone call. Here's how it went:

Niamh: Hi Mrs. Vick. How are you?

Mrs. Vick: I am well, how are you?

N: I am doing well as well. I was wondering if you would mind if I asked you a few questions about your business and your life as an entrepreneur?

MV: Go for it!

N: Ok, first of all could you tell me what it means to you to be an entrepreneur?

MV: I think many people have different definitions of what it means to be an entrepreneur. To me being an entrepreneur is part of how I define myself. I am a mother, wife, worker, and I consider all of the positions to better me as an entrepreneur.

N: Do you have any advice for me as I continue my education to become a better entrepreneur?

MV; Make it something you are passionate about. For me I wanted to work in education because I wanted to improve the minds of children. I feel like i can make a difference through the selling of HP products. And make goals for yourself, it can be hard being an entrepreneur, you are your own boss and you really have to motivate yourself.

N: So for me I would focus on working with children and medicine?

MV: Exaclty!

N: Ok, My last question is why did you become an entrepreneur?

MV: For me it was primarily a financial decision. When the market turned I lost my job and it forced me to change my lifestyle. I went into business for myslef and it was the best decision I every made. Instead of traveling for work I got to see my girls grow up and spend time with them everyday. I love my job and I love my family.

N: Thats a great answer! Thankyou so much Mrs. Vick for your time and your participation.

MV: No problem Niamh. Thankyou for considering me for your project.

   Interviewing Mrs.Vick was very informative! She really showed me that you can have it all. I know Mrs.Vick via her daughter and this is the first time I have really gotten to know her in depth. This interview was short and simple and I look forward to asking her some more questions in the future.

Worlds BIGGEST Problems

    There are many problems facing the world today, big, small, and everywhere in between. We often only focus on the problems that affect us, but the world does not revolve around a sole person. It is time that we as a society open our eyes to the problems of others.

The Worlds 10 Biggest Problems:

1.  Children are becoming orphans in war torn countries. Presently the war in Somalia is leaving more and more children without parents. These children are left to fend for themselves and often they have siblings that they must take care of. Children are becoming adults far too young. There really is no simple solution to this problem. More orphanages need to be built to give these children a place to go and live.
2. AIDS, HIV, and other diseases are being passed from mother to child, increasing the population of affected people. While these autoimmune diseases are passed in several different ways the passage from mother to child is harder to avoid. More research needs to go into finding a cure for these diseases.
3. Alcoholism and underage drinking is one of the greatest killers in the world. Alcohol is one of the most common ways to rebel in teenagers. By making alcohol such a mysterious thing, society is making it more intriguing to younger teens. Countries in Europe where the drinking age is lower have lower rates of alcoholism and underage drinking. It will take time to break the idea that alcohol is mysterious and "cool" but I believe by lowering the drinking age younger children will not turn to binge drinking.
4. Obesity is a major problem in the United States. The cheap food is the crap food. It can be
   
   expensive to feed a family for cheap but fast food industries like McDonald's and Burger King are often the easiest, fastest, and cheapest options. Reverse the price. Increase the price of bad quality foods and decrease the price of vegetables, fruits, and natural foods.
5. Air pollution is affecting the ozone and the environment as a whole. The fumes from our everyday motions, driving cars, working factories, and more are permeating the ozone.  This in turn is heating up the planet and affecting us all. Alternative fuel sources or a filter for the air could decrease the affect of air pollution but not fixing the damage already done.
6. As a society we tend to look for the differences but lack the common sense to see what we all have in common. Race, age, sex, nationality, heritage, salary, and other categories should not define us. It would be an easy solution if there was a reset button on the planet but there isn't and I am afraid that many people are just to set in their ways to change their thinking.
7. Celebrities have more power over the population than most people believe. Unfortunately while some are using this power to make a change in the world for the better, there are many who use there power to boost there own confidence. Young girls look up to these celebrities and see bodies, faces, and beauty that they feel like they cant achieve. Move the focus from celebrities like the Kardashians and Amber Rose. Instead focus on celebrities with a message like Emma Roberts and Angelina Jolie.
8. Mental diseases are not believed to be myth and legend in many countries. There are certain countries where mental diseases are seen as the work of the devil and instead of treating people with these diseases, they are left for nothing or sometimes even killed. Education is key in helping these people.
9. There are several tribes around the world that are being forced from their homes where they have lived for hundreds of years because the rest of the world is expanding onto their territory. They are losing a piece of their heritage and therefore we are losing a part of the worlds history. The should be rules and laws put into place to secure these tribes homelands.
10. One thing that I believe all cultures have in common is the lack of encouragement of children. Instead of inspiring the kids of today we are telling them they are not good enough, putting more and more pressure on them, and driving them to unbelievable odds. Children are innocent and deserve to continue believing that anything is possible. Maybe if they truly believe that they will create a world where anything and everything is possible.