Interviewing Customers No2

My opportunity idea has changed since the first video as I have switched my focus on the idea and effectiveness of MOSI to how changing locations can help the museum. I targeted a younger audience in some of my interviews as MOSI usually attracts younger attendees. My questions help get a sense of how the change in location would influence the consumers willingness and urge to visit the museum. Overall it was easy to see that everyone believes it would be beneficial for MOSI to move its location to downtown Tampa. This move would create more traffic for a museum that is currently struggling to attract attendees. I learned that people do not like to waste time driving to a venue and would rather save time by traveling a shorter distance. Convenience is key when attempting to attract consumers in general, but is specifically important in this scenario. My advice is to not feel awkward about giving these interviews because people really enjoy doing them. Make sure  your volume is loud enough when interviewing as it sometimes does not come out as loud as you expect. Also think of questions that will force your customer to elaborate on their answer.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

1) I was surprised that this chapter dove into the right brain and left brain analysis. I remember learning about this in my psychology class and I did not expect to read about it in my Entrepreneurship textbook.

2) I was confused by the different arenas of creativity. It broke down how some people are more creative in different areas. I believe this is just because people have different experiences in different situations.

3) I would ask the author what he thought of/ what specific functions he imagined when he did the first creative exercise.

I would also ask what he thinks is the reason that certain societal trends to catch on.

4) I did not think that the author was incorrect about anything in this chapter. I believe some information could have been left out although I do not disagree with the written information.

Top 5 World Problems

1. Hunger in lesser developed countries

We could spend less money on warfare and military equipment and invest into the food industries. With the increase in food that is produced we can have the military buy some of the leftover foods and ship it to lesser developed countries. 

2. Education in lesser developed countries

We could also spend less money on warfare and military equipment and invest in building schools in lesser developed countries. We need to educate people in these lesser developed countries. Once they are educated they should be able to support each other and we no longer have to support them. They will then join the market and buy our exports as we have good relations with these countries. 

3. Nuclear powers

We must create a world treaty or pact that states none of us will ever use our nuclear powers. It is too dangerous to risk the lives of people around the world. Radiation is obviously extremely dangerous and will ruin the pieces of land that we drop the bomb on. 

4. Spreading of diseases with increased travel.

We must increase security as well as spend more money on medical research to prevent diseases. Diseases are unfortunate and are sometimes unpredictable.

5. World population is not equal to resources available

The best way to prevent this is to increase resources. We must increase the amount of farms to increase the amount of food resources and we must find alternatives to resources that can’t be grown or farmed.

I selected hunger in lesser developed countries as the first problem because these are people that have the potential to do great things if they were given the opportunity. From my perspective seeing the abundance of grocery markets where I have grown up makes it hard to imagine having a lack of food to eat. I believe we must first feed these people and then educate them in order for them to become self-sufficient. Once they are self-sufficient they will begin to contribute more into our world economy and become trade partners with us. I believe the government can afford to spend less money on military tactics and supplies and more on feeding and creating educational institutes in lesser developed countries. 

Identifying Local Opportunities

All articles are from the Tampa Bay Times

Lyft Like Uber, Slashes Rates, Upsetting Area Drivers

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15A7FF2E93337F30?p=AWNB 

By Caitlin Johnston

Employees for Lyft and Uber are upset as competition has forced these companies to lower the wages that their employees make. These lower wages are making the drivers question if these rates are even worth the wear and tear on their vehicles. The problem is that the workers are unhappy and also many people will no longer be joining the industry. The workers have the problem although consumers have an advantage as it is now cheaper to get from place to place due to the lowered cost and increase in number of drivers. 

Downtown MOSI Adds Up

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15A755D1C54A6E60?p=AWNB

By Daniel Ruth

MOSI is the largest museum in the Southeast as it covers about 400,000 square feet of land. It is Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry. The problem with MOSI is that it has been struggling recently. This issue may be due to mismanagement or location. The article offers all the pros of a move for this museum to a more centralized location in Downtown Tampa rather than out in the suburbs next to the University of South Florida. This should fix the problems that the museum has been experiencing in the last few years and actually help increase revenue of the museum as a whole. 

Tampa Software Company to Expand, Add Jobs

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15A604B2E507FEE8?p=AWNB 

By Times Staff

Software firm Subview Software said Wednesday that it will add up to 45 jobs and invest more than $1 million to add 6,000 square feet to its headquarters. The company has the problem as they feel the need to expand in order to keep their business growing. In order to fix the problem of their companies growth and to maximize profits they feel that it is best to add a large number of workers as well as office space. By doing this the company feels as if they will be more productive

Publix to Join USF Tampa Campus

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8A9EB22F3CCB8?p=AWNB 

By Thad Moore

It has recently been approved that a Publix is to be built on the northern edge of the University of South Florida campus. This will be the first supermarket to be built on a college campus in Florida. The issue here is why this has not been done at other schools like here at the University of Florida or in Tallahassee at Florida State University. The people that have this issue are the students at USF who assessed that they do not have a grocery store that is easily accessible. There problem will be fixed when this new supermarket is built. 

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8D0EEF1255450?p=AWNB 

Home sales strong in 2015 by Susan Taylor Martin

My last article is about the issues that Tampa and frankly many parts of the U.S. had during the housing crash. The article states that home sales were strong in the Tampa area in 2015. Specifically there was a 39% increase of single-family homes sold in 2015 compared to 2012. This is better for people who are involved in real-estate as homes will begin to sell more frequently and the market will become more stable than it recently was. 

Week 3 Reading Reflection

1. Nothing in this chapter shocked or surprised me. I thought this chapter was very straight-forward and logical and nothing the author wrote caught me by surprise.

2. I was sort of confused when the author started talking about how an entrepreneur can have a sense of distrust. I feel as though he did not elaborate enough on the topic.

3. I would ask why the author didn't put more specific examples of on the matter of morality in the textbook so the reader can have a better understanding of the subject.

I would also ask what symptoms of the Entrepreneurial ego he found most common while researching the topic.

4. I don't think the author was wrong about anything in this chapter. I believe everything that was written in this chapter was relevant and important.

Very Short Interview No.1

Marty Schaffel- Founder of Audio Visual Innovations, Inc.

What does it mean to be an Entrepreneur? Being an entrepreneur means having an opportunity to build and shape an idea in a company in a way that you want. It is also doing this with a group of people that you enjoy doing it with to create an entity that ends up bringing value to the customer, the employees, and the ownership of the company. 

What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course? In the business school we studied in a way as if our first job was going to be the CEO of general motors or IBM. What we should’ve learned is how to be the CEO of a company that we could create. 

What should my expectations be in this course? If I were in your shoes I would hope to learn…

1. How to manage and motivate people
2. How to strategize business direction
3. What are the elements and components of an entrepreneurial endeavor
4. What makes a great entrepreneur
5. How to deal with failure and adversity

Overall I was impressed, appreciative, and intrigued by his answers. I was slightly surprised when he said he wished that he had learned more about how to be the CEO of a company that one creates rather than the CEO of a large company. I had never thought that this might be an issue when learning about entrepreneurship. 

World's Biggest Problems

Worlds Biggest Problems

Cameron Barsoum

1. Hunger in lesser developed countries

Lesser developed countries have difficulty getting enough food to their citizens. This causes some children and adults to die of starvation. We can spend less on the military and more on creating more food resources.

2. Education in lesser developed countries

Many kids are never given a chance to work hard and reach their full academic potential. Education is the key to solving many other problems on this list. We can spend less money on military and more money on building schools or colleges in lesser developed countries. 

3. Technology in lesser developed countries

Technology makes certain tasks easier and in some cases doable. Increasing technology will help lesser developed and even more developed countries increase the amount of resources that are being produced. Education is the key to increasing technology in different countries.

4. Climate change throughout the year as well as Global Warming.

Climate change can make it very difficult to survive if one does not have the correct amount of resources. Brutal winters can eliminate those who live in very cold areas. Global Warming is changing the ecosystem in a negative way. We must study how the warmer temperatures are changing the ecosystems and attempt to correct this. We must also study what we as humans did to possibly cause this Global Warming. 

5. Spreading of diseases with increased travel

With our increased ability to travel all over the world with planes we are very susceptible to new viruses spreading throughout the world. We must not allow anyone who is thought to be infected with a virus fly back without being properly tested. 

6. Natural disasters

Some natural disasters are impossible to predict. Others like hurricanes allow us to give rough estimates. We must do our best to prepare for these natural disasters and rally as a community if one is hit bad by a natural disaster. 

7. Economic Collapse

This is not very likely but still a possibility. We must continue to make intelligent decisions and enforce safety nets as to not incur an economic collapse.

8. Nuclear powers

We must understand that we now have the power to destroy the Earth. We must never fire another nuclear weapon as this would just cause a snowball effect. We should no longer spend as much money studying nuclear powers and use this money towards issues that will save lives right now. 

9. Loss of Ecosystem Due to Human’s Continuously Killing

The ecosystem could collapse if we continue to kill recklessly. We must enforce the laws that are in place and we must allow the ecosystem to blossom because this ecosystem supports us. 

10. World population is not equal to the Resources Available

An issue here is that the World population will grow larger than the resources that we have available. The population is growing at a rapid rate and we must create the resources to keep up. 

Week 2 Reading Reflection

1. I was surprised by the multitude of effects that the stress of being an entrepreneur can have on someone. A majority of entrepreneurs surveyed that they had back problems, indigestion, insomnia, or headaches.

2. I was confused by the fact that many entrepreneurs are stressed out due to loneliness. If I was having difficulty I would reach out to someone who has more experience to me and talk to them about how they overcame certain obstacles.

3. I would ask why they put this chapter in the order that they did? I would also ask more about the background that these authors have and about their troubles and experience writing this textbook.

4. I think that the author brought up many good points. I can definitely see where the author is coming from in each statement and I do not question why they would have put that information in the textbook.

Bug List Week 2

1. Publix on Archer did not have enough cash registers open at around 7:30 PM, therefore making the line much longer than it should have been. 

Publix can save money buy not having as many employees work. 

2. Chick-Fil-A on Archer did not have people waiting outside to take your order on an iPad as Chick-Fil-A's usually do during lunch hour.

They might not have had enough people working that day to do this or this particular Chick-Fil-A does not do this. 

3. Target on Archer did not have enough cash registers open as their were long lines and unused registers.

Same reason as Publix (#1). 

4. I-275 North from Tampa has construction that makes the road dangerous. 

Construction is very expensive and time consuming. Maybe if the construction company had more funds they could fix this issue.

5. Internet at UF has been spotty so far this semester. 

Not exactly sure why this has been an issue for many students this semester.

6. Relish on University took almost twenty minutes to get a burger and fries.

Consumers pay for a top quality burger and not for quick service. 

7. Tried to visit one of my friends in Gainesville by car but could not find a parking spot anywhere near campus.

Another parking garage may be needed in the Gainesville area. 

8. My iPhone five randomly crashes/shuts down and rarely lasts more than an hour

Apple makes very reliable phones that are new, but as the software updates these phones become more and more glitchy.

9.  The textbooks that I ordered for my classes second semester off of amazon did not arrive the day they were supposed to.

May have been some complications within the shipping company. Many things could have gone wrong and Amazon may not even be too blame.

10. Phone calls telling me that I have won a free vacation/ obvious scams

It would be very difficult to enforce a law that makes these kinds of scams illegal but they are ridiculously annoying.

11. A giant sign that says 70% off of clothes in big letters but then says “up to” in small letters above it. Making the consumer believe the item will be at a higher discount than it really is.

I understand the marketing behind this but it is annoying as a consumer to be basically lied to.

12. Reserving a dinner with my friends at a hibachi restaurant named Koto’s in Tampa. We had to wait ten minutes for our table to be ready once we arrived on time. (Although the food was amazing and well worth the wait.)

Restaurants that have very limited space may sometimes run into issues like this.

13. I was trying to buy a pillow at Target at the beginning of the semester and they were sold out

It is hard to judge how much inventory will be needed for a basic item like a pillow.

14. I was really excited to order a meal at a restaurant only to find out that they no longer have the ingredients to make it. 

It is hard to judge how much of ingredients to order because the ingredients can go bad. 

15. Subway would not accept my $50 bill that I needed to break

Subway may not make enough cash to accept a $50 bill. 

16. Occasionally my laptop will shut down and update itself.

I do not have a solid explanation for this other than the fact that I know computers need to be restarted every so often.

17. My lecture began to buffer and load very slowly

This is very frustrating and can be the problem of the internet connection or the computer processing system. Either way this is very frustrating and annoying. 

18. While in the drive through at McDonald’s I got home only to realize they did not give me everything that I had ordered.

Humans make mistakes, this does not happen often but it does happen.

19. Going to the movie theaters to find out that it is sold out. 

The movie theater should play the movie in another theater at a similar time.

20. Elevator in my Apartment complex was broken for nearly half of the semester. I live on the 5th floor

This could be any number of problems but it would be nice if they could fix it relatively quickly every time that it happens. It usually takes a few days or weeks for the Elevator to be fixed.

I found it very difficult to create this list. I understand that people make mistakes and I try not to let issues like these bother me at all.

My Entrepreneurship Story Week 2

My junior and senior year of high school I was apart of the Entrepreneurship Club. We would meet once a week to discuss anything entrepreneurial. The main goal of the club was to bring in entrepreneurs to share their story. My senior year we were able to bring in Dan Doyle. Dan Doyle is the CEO and founder of DEX imaging. Mr. Doyle shared his experiences and struggles in attempt to grow his business. He explained the advantages that his company had since they had enough capital to stay private and were not forced to go public to the stock market. He stressed the importance of a reliable product and quick response time. I really enjoyed hearing about Mr. Doyle's experience and listening to his advice. I also enjoyed my time as apart of the Entrepreneurship Club in high school.

I enrolled in ENT 3003 because I have always had an interest in entrepreneurship. I can see myself starting a business in the future and doing everything that I can to make it successful. I hope I can gain valuable knowledge that will help me succeed in the future during this course. Mainly I just want to continue to learn and this class offers me the opportunity to do that. 

Personal Introduction Week 2

Hello everyone! My name is Cameron Barsoum and I am a freshman here at the University of Florida. I am planning on studying Business Management as well as minoring in Entrepreneurship. I have a very supportive and close family. I am the middle child as I have an older and younger sister. During my free time I enjoy doing activities such as tubing, jet skiing, snowboarding, weightlifting, and playing sports.

 This is a picture of my family and I over summer. My sisters and I threw my parents a surprise 50th  birthday party. Their birthdays are both in August. We were able to successfully pull off the surprise and we had a great celebration with many of their friends.

The Entrepreneur's Mantra