Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

I have utilized a few key behaviors. One is designating a set time every week to work on weekly assignments. Regardless of what comes up or which opportunities arise, I know I have committed a certain time every week to finish the assignments on time. Secondly, I watch the lectures consistently and take notes on all the content. This helps during cupcake preparation. I am also intentional about being in spaces where I can focus to work. Since many assignments are written, I ensure I have ample and quiet time to focus on the details of most assignments. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

I felt like giving up during the longer assignments, such as interviewing people for the business opportunity. What pulled me through is recognizing how much I was able to finish the assignment and how irrational some of my complaints were. Also, dedicating time to focused work also helped me limit the distractions that were keeping me from making progress or feeling like it was too much work. Furthermore, I took breaks to be able to pace myself with all the writing. These aspects all contributed to the tenacious attitude I have developed. Instead of just lowering my head and clenching my teeth, I have taken time to rest and recharge with better understanding for why I am taking this class in the first place. This has improved understanding of the impact this work can have on my own development. 

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. Take breaks and make time for rest to re-charge and remember why you are taking the class. How does it connect to the bigger picture?

2. Dedicate ample and specific time throughout each week to focus on the assignments

3. Think and reflect/understand the practical application of the work you are doing and how it can connect to and prepare you for work in the future, either in your career or in your career as an entrepreneur. Much of the material we learn here is very practical and valuable to use in the future!

Reading Reflection No. 1

1) Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

• What surprised you the most?
• It was surprising that Steve Jobs was adopted and so very influenced by his adoption parents, particularly the creativity of his dad. Steve admired his dad's creativity and was inspired by the sleekness and attention to detail his dad showed in working on various projects around the house. It was surprising to know he started that innovation at such a young age. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admire Jobs' commitment to artistry and his ability to combine useful technology with artistic design. Before Apple was created, Jobs' was learning about design and typography, and I admire his ideas to combine the two into a product. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• I least admire Jobs' treatment of his employees and those who were around him on the team that grew Apple as a company. The book describes this as a significant stain on Jobs' reputation.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Yes, Jobs' faced moral failures and failures of integrity in his personal life. Early on in Apple's history, Jobs dealt with a pregnancy of his girlfriend which he did not handle well. It was the first major example of him alienating people in his personal life while working as an entrepreneur and trying to focus on growing the business. He faced this problem by eventually admitting his mistakes and providing financial support for the wife and the kid.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

- Steve Jobs had a few competencies, including: creativity, determination, artistry, commitment to a core mission, understanding the consumer and their behavior, as well as recognizing the need for simplicity/userability in products. Many entrepreneurs have the foundational skills need in technology or science to be able to make their products work, but Jobs emphasized the promotional and presentation aspects of his product that played to the consumer's habits and core needs, as opposed to other companies that don't tailor their products at all. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

- It was confusing to understand the dynamic of Jobs' relationship with Steve Wozniak. One was more technical minded, the other more business minded, but how did they balance those competing personalities well enough to succeed?

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

- What would you do differently if you were envisioning the direction of apple from the beginning?

- In what ways can Apple products make more of an impact on connecting the world than they already do?

I would ask these questions because it is important to think about what can be improved, even though Apple is already a very influential company. I also would like to know areas that other companies can potentially serve in or market areas that other businesses will be trying to enter because of Apple.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

- I think Steve Jobs' opinion was that hard work is necessary to make visions become reality. And that hard work comes at a cost, often to social relationships, which is necessary and acceptable. I somewhat share this opinion. Work is definitely a component to making visions a reality, although there is a limit to how much hard work can do without the personal talent and resources to achieve this reality. Furthermore, I do believe it comes at a cost, but it is not always worth the cost, especially in regards to personal relationships. 

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Interview 1:
Need Awareness:

• When: I recognize I have this need the most when I am waiting at the hospital for much longer periods of time. It is when I have waited for more than 2 or 3 hours and have not been checked in on. 
• How: I recognize this need because I am not spoken to or follow-up on with regards to the wait time in the hospital. This need presents itself very clearly in my lack of knowledge of what is happening next in the process of getting my paperwork processed or my diagnosis completed. There is no "pizza tracker" for me to see the process of me entering in as a patient and where I am currently in that process. 
• Where: I recognize this need in any hospital ER the most, or any service, similar to a government provided one, where the communication is poor and the process is slow. 

The first thing I do when I have this need is contact the front desk and ask them about the time and circumstances. 

Interview 2:

Need Awareness:

• When: I become aware of this problem when I am in a slow and inefficient hospital ER room. 
• How: This need comes to me because no one has checked in on me and I've realized I've waited for more than several hours with not much of an acknowledgement from the staff of the very slow wait time. No specifics are given as to where I am in this process or what the plan is to get me out of there as soon as possible. I especially notice it because of the condition of the patient I was with. She could have died if they waited for too long. 
• Where: I experience this mostly in the hospital ER, maybe some times at another location, but not really (other than a Dr.'s office).

The first thing I do when I experience this wait is contact the front desk and see how much longer, or reiterate my need to be seen.
Interview 3:

Need Awareness:

• When: I become aware of this need when I am in the ER and when I am in a condition that cannot wait very long. I especially noticed this when the office themselves had informed me to be there earlier intentionally, and yet still had me wait over an hour before I was seen. When they themselves told me to come early. 
• How: I recognize this through the waiting I do and by noticing other patients being admitted before me. 
• Where: I notice this mainly at the ER or Dr.'s office, not really anywhere else. 

I could not do much to find a solution to this problem, but I would have talked to the front desk assistant to see what could be done to expedite the process. And let them know I got there early and have been waiting this long. 

Summary and Conclusions:

These interviews show that communication between the front desk of the ER and the patients is vital. This should be a point of focus for the application I am developing. Also, it is clear that people who experience this problem are in need of an update in real time of their wait and of their place in the overall admittance/service process. This segment understands their need but is not very good in their information searching. They are lacking in this area and further information research needs to be done.

Idea Napkin No.1

Who you are: 

I am a 24 year old living in Gainesville, Florida, going to school at the University of Florida. As a senior, I study Political Science and I'm graduating this semester. My key skills are both independent and interpersonal. Independently, I think critically and enjoy breaking down problems to find the best solutions, especially when it comes to problems involving people or organizations. On an interpersonal level, some of my key skills include leadership, communication, and operations management (efficiently managing an operation or a system). Some of the experience I have that is relevant to this business idea include a few internships with companies in the area of operations that included projects of improving systems of communication and flow in a building, similar to that of a hospital (which is what the idea is centered on). I see this idea playing a role because of how I can apply what I have already learned in these internships. Additionally, this idea ties into personal experience I have had with hospitals and seeing very clearly that a better solution is needed.

What are you offering to customers:

I am offering a more centralized location for managing the flow of patients going in and out of a hospital or busy medical service building. This application will track the flow of patients in real-time, reporting the most efficient placement of patients based on condition and area of hospital that is available. This application will also increase patient satisfaction in its reporting of the wait-time for patients once they have signed in. The application will provide efficiency metrics for hospitals to better communicate the status of decisions, flow, and other matters between all staff, including desk assistants. 

Who are you offering it to:

The customers will be any medical service, primarily hospitals, who have a flow of patients that varies based on the condition of the patient being served. These customers all need to choose the more efficient route in where to send/place these patients when it comes to bedding, in order to process other patients more quickly (because of the danger of some conditions getting worse).  The customers all serve customers that need to be housed in a certain location for some period of time. They do not just check in and leave within the hour (typically).

Why do they care:

Hospitals or medical services will pay for this product because it saves them time and money in processing their clients/patients. This saving is better for them, because it means they can provide a better service to patients coming into the hospital/ER, which in turn helps them grow as an entity. There is a lot of time that could be wasted without a centralized location that is portable and accessible. They may use other services to track these metrics, but they are not housed in one location and used in real time to make staffing and room assignment decisions. They would be able to do this with this application and it will benefit their operation overall in the long run. They would probably pay for it by yearly subscription.

What are your core competencies:

My core competencies, related to this business idea, are a seamless user experience, an understanding of the customer and their customer (the patient), and proven results. The seamless user experience competency means that the application will not just be effective in producing what it promises it will produce, but also in how it presents the data and is intuitive when using it. This is similar the theory of Apple's success - where they offer a good product, but it is the reliability or the experience and the ease of it that most people continue in their loyalty. Secondly, the application will serve hospital management but also the patient. Because it serves the patient's needs as well (such as knowing their wait-time), the hospital will be more willing to purchase it if they know their patient experience will be improved. This app will be more in touch with that experience than others. Lastly, this app will have proven results, with metrics that are backed by better math, providing information to hospitals that they always need. 

Reflection:

I believe these aspects do fit together overall when it comes to this business concept. I think the concept is lacking in the core competency category, because much of what this offers can be replicated. However, it is strong in the user experience competency, being that this is what is attractive to customers and is what will keep them from switching to competitors. I believe this business idea isn't that related to my personal life, although I have experienced inefficient hospital service before. I think the skills and experiences I have are really more related to the people side of improving processes, not so much the math or technical side. 

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Elevator Pitch Link to youtube:

https://youtu.be/68CdN5fVaMc

Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

The opportunity is needing a better system to manage the flow of a hospital, preferably a software or electronic system. The opportunity exists because patient wait-time is so high, in the ER specifically, and not all hospital or ER staff are on the same page for communication. The solution to this opportunity, which will improve the patient experience and the efficiency of the hospital overall, is a flow management application that updates real-time status of rooms and assignments. Then presents this to patients in wait-time and status via a personal app.

Interview 1: 
Who falls outside the boundary: I am a citizen, not a business-man, and I have experienced a positive experience with minimal wait time. I experienced this when it was a better time of day, before midnight.

What is the need you have that is similar to this but not the same, at what point does that shift happen: As an administrator, I have had the problem of inefficiency in the hospital through needing labor but not having it. Not having proper staffing. The point that this shifts is in labor and in correct info. There is too long of wait time because of labor. The other, there is a problem with communication being too slow.

Why do you have this need but not the other: As mentioned, one is a labor issue, which increases wait time. The other is a problem with communication between hospital doctors/staff and testing staff. Testing staff takes a while to get back with the results which causes a delay in diagnosis.

Interview 2: 
Who falls outside the boundary: I went to the ER once and did not have any wait time, this is because I had my gallbladder removed and they took me in right away. I am a regular citizen.

What is the need you have that is similar to this but not the same, at what point does that shift happen: The need is waiting at a Drs office instead of in the ER. I waited for an hour and a half before I was seen. This shift happens in that at the Drs office, it is due to poor planning and in the ER it is due to staffing and certain liabilities they have to rule out. The other time I have waited for a while is at the airport, but that depends on when you travel.

Why is the cause of this need different from the other: It is different because one is due to poor planning and just a perception that people usually show up late to the appointment. The other is caused by poor staffing and ruling out liabilities for ER patients.

Interview 3: 
Who falls outside the boundary: I am a student at UF, not a professional, and I am outside of this boundary. I went into the ER here at UF health and did not experience any extreme wait time. I was one or two people in the ER at the time, at 2p or 3pm. This was one of the smaller, not main, Shands locations.

What is the need you have that is similar to this but not the same, at what point does that shift happen: I do not have any other need that is similar to this one. The only other one that is close is going to the Dental College.

Why do you have this need but not the other: Knowing what I know, they have to serve many people. It is a low-income type service as well. So many people use that service, and it was only open for a short period of time.

Interview 4: 
Who falls outside the boundary: I am a student and not a professional. I went to the ER once where I did not have a long wait time and was seen quickly. I split my lip open that time. This was at an ER in Jacksonville, a smaller one, not a main one.

What is the need you have that is similar to this but not the same, at what point does that shift happen: I had to wait at an urgent care for a few hours when I split my hand open. The DMV in Gainesville is another time where I have had this wait time need but not related to the hospital or healthcare.

Why do you have this need but not the other: I think the DMV, given it is a government run operation, does not take in the needs of the customers very well. The ER on the other hand, takes into consideration the severity of accident.

Interview 5: 
Who falls outside the boundary: I am a student, I was 17 when I went to the ER for heart issues. I did not experience a long wait time.

What is the need you have that is similar to this but not the same, at what point does that shift happen: I bought a bat in high school and tried to send it back and it took much longer than needed to be. I bought it through Easton. It was a busy time of the year, during bat season.

Why do you have this need but not the other: When I did have to wait in the ER, it was a busy time in the day. When returning the bat, it was a matter of the time in the year.These findings show that the opportunity is more exploitable at later times in the day and in smaller cities. The wait time issue is still exclusive to the ER, at least in this way.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: Any person who has physical ailments and any hospitals that are currently inefficient in processing	Who is Not: People who went to smaller hospitals, in smaller cities. And they went in times earlier in the day
What the Need Is: More efficient management of beds and patients in ER	What the Need Is Not: The need is not just long wait time needing to be shorter. It is a need to manage staffing and space better.
Why the Need Exists: Because management does not have an efficient system for communicating and tracking patient inflow and outflow. And because they are understaffed	Alternative Explanations: The need exists because hospitals have this system but don't use it correctly. Or because hospitals have not automated the system they have.

Solving the Problem

1. Selected Opportunity:
The selected opportunity is the need for better logistical management of patients being admitted into the ER, in order to reduce wait-time at the normal peak hours.

2. Product or Service for this Opportunity to provide customers:
The product will be an app that displays the current layout of beds available and beds taken in the ER. This app is accessible to every staff member in the department, encouraged to be used by the admittance team. The app includes all ability to input the information of the patient and the information of the current logistical layout. This will account for current staffing metrics and current facility layout. The service will be offered to any of the hospital ER departments, first and foremost Shands ER. The product will also reveal and predict wait-times or influx of patients based on previous trends.

The app will require a purchase and must be encrypted. There will be messaging functions that allow medical staff to communicate over current changes in logistics. There will also be a version accessible to patients, potentially integrated into a UF Shands app, where patients can track their status during wait-time, which increases their overall patient experience at the hospital.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

2. 

The opportunity identified: The Shands ER Room in the main medical plaza cannot process and serve the influx of patients after 12am, causing a potential wait time of over 4 hours and the possibility of symptoms worsening. 

The Who: Shands hospital or any hospital in the US with an intake deficiency 

The What: They cannot efficiently process and see patients after a certain time of the night on the weekdays

The Why: Logistical problems related to staffing or managing facility space 

3. 

Testing the Who: Any business or entity (including the government) that is offering a service to people and must account for facility space (efficiently) and staffing has this need

Testing the What: All patients, excepts for critical condition patients, are included in this logistical challenge. Only the ER mainly has this issue, no other intake service of the hospital or healthcare system has this issue. It is the ER, where a variety of cases are taken in, each requiring (presumably) more immediate assistance 

Testing the Why: The ranges of why for this need include management responsibility, poor facility design for that portion of the hospital, physician incompetency (potentially being unable to process or diagnose the condition in an efficient manner), budgetary restraints that limit the amount of medical professionals (or staff) that can be present during this shift, and the general nature of the ER that is more unchangeable (it just is unpredictable). Shands ER would typically claim that higher influx of patients as unpredictable and the more root cause of the issue

4. 

Interview 1: 

I have had this need when I have gone into the Shands ER during the hours of 11p-4a. I also experience this need when I go to popular restaurant on the weekends in the evening. I could tell that the physicians experience business during this time as well, but also assume they are probably less likely to want to work during this later hours. 

Interview 2:

I have had this need when I go into the Shands ER on anytime in the evening. It has not been as long as 4 hours though. It seems like they are just understaffed compared to the amount of people that come in.

Interview 3: 

I have this need always in the ER, but hardly ever in walk-in clinics or urgent cares. I believe that is because the amount and the type of patients that come in are wildly different than the ER. Secondly, I've experienced these type of wait-times with other government provided services, like the DMV or Department of Health. It makes me wonder if these deficiencies are connected to the fact that they are public. If they are public, they tend to have less incentive to provide a good and efficient service. Shands ER has a great medical staff, but do they have the right managers in place to manage the operational decision-paths that these staff work within? 

Interview 4: 

I have never been to the Shands ER, but I have been to several others. Usually the ER's, if going it at this late of time, have similar deficiencies and a wait-time that is above average. I believe it is because of the lack of staff during this time - there are less people scheduled, since less people want to work at that time. 

Interview 5: 

With my experience with the Shands ER, the staff were not very responsive or hospitable in updating the patient on their wait-time or acknowledging that they may have been waiting for a while. It is possible therefore, that Doctors and those who manage the assignments of beds, are not being hurried or reminded when it comes to the growing wait-line. This would be a training or leadership change, not so much a change in logistics or facility management. 

Reflection: I realize that this opportunity is not as flexible as I once thought. It requires a deeper dive into the logistics of hospital management processes. This may require just a simple change in staffing, or alteration in training, and a program that manages the assignments of beds automatically. Although it creates an opportunity for a device given to physicians to alert them of the status of their patients and give them insight to the overall status of patient-care/wait-time experienced in their unit. 

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1.
Economic Trend: Millennials are the demographic buying most homes
Source: https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/real-estate-trends
Reason an opportunity exists: An opportunity appears to exist here because a select demographic is buying more homes and bringing with them certain habits and desires that a particular type of product serves. This would be many types of automated home-goods.
Prototypical customer: Millennials who bought a house and are middle or upper class, with enough funds to purchase electronic or automated accessories for their house
Easy or difficult to exploit: This is relatively easy to exploit. The difficulty comes in the price of producing these goods would be high, including labor costs, because it is technological

I saw this opportunity because I am a millennial, as well as because my sister just went through the home-buying process. So I am familiar with these particular needs and the reality of this trend


2.
Economic Trend: Vegetarian or plant-based food options are becoming increasingly more popular
Source:https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/341216
Reason an opportunity exists: An opportunity exists here for a burger restaurant that sells traditional American food that is plant-based
Prototypical customer: Any health-conscious person over the age of 18, especially people of the 20-40 year range, that have bought more into the plant-based trend
Easy or difficult to exploit: This is easy to exploit in terms of getting into the business, since the start-up cost is relatively low. Maintaining the business and making the food taste good enough to attract consistent customers is more of a difficulty

I saw this opportunity because I personally have a more plant-based diet. But I am also aware of several fast-food American fare companies rolling out vegetarian burgers on their menu to reach this customer base.



3.
Regulatory Change: Gun Control laws could increase across states in 2020
Source: https://www.vistage.com/research-center/business-financials/economic-trends/20191119-social-trends-impacting-business-in-2020-and-beyond/
Reason an opportunity exists: The implementation of gun laws generally increases gun owner's desire to purchase more weapons. They become more concerned that this opportunity will not be around as much later. Gun accessories would be the opportunity.
Prototypical customer: Citizens over the age of 18, generally males, who live in states where gun laws are not yet passed but are in the works.
Easy or difficult to exploit: This is relatively easy to exploit but would need to be a gun-related product that automates or assists in the gun-buying process. Otherwise, it may be too niche of an idea.

I saw this opportunity because I study Political Science and am more aware of the recent regulatory changes.


4.
Regulatory Change: The ban of plastic straws or stirrers in various states, including Florida
Source:https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-laws-2019-us_n_5c2c195fe4b0407e9085d41f
Reason an opportunity exists: An opportunity exists to supply more drink-related products that are paper based, or do not require straws to drink effectively. Paper-based products are needed that do not deteriorate upon getting wet.
Prototypical customer: Any restaurant in the California, DC, or Gainesville, where these regulations have now taken place.
Easy or difficult to exploit: This is difficult to exploit because of the need for a manufacturing base. The product itself is simple to make, but some research and development is needed to make a recyclable material that is is as durable as plastic - which is highly unlikely.

I saw this opportunity more than other people would because the city of Gainesville, where I live, has recently made this regulatory change. Additionally, I have experienced and observed the difficulty of using a paper-straw as a replacement.