4A- Opportunity Belief

My Belief:

     I believe there is a tremendous opportunity of consulting firms for people who are getting ready to retire. They would be retirement life advisors.

Describing My Belief:

     There are 75.4 million baby boomers who are getting ready to retire. As people begin to prepare for retirement, there are a multitude of variables to account for. There are retirement plan options, insurance, medical plans, taxes, social security, and more. There are over 100 ways to draw social security alone. A majority of the people who are preparing for retirement really have no idea of anything about retirement at all. At the moment there are financial advisors who can help one invest their retirement funds, but there is nobody out there currently who specializes in retirement and retirement plans as an entirety. When people retire, they do not want to have to worry about paperwork and spending their life at a desk trying to situate their affairs. They want to be living their best life and enjoying their retirement. Providing a service of a "one-stop-shop" for all of your retirement needs could become a booming industry with steady clientele. 

I am very confident that this opportunity exists, and I would say that there 95% chance of success for a firm that would offer such a service.

The Prototypical Customer:

     The prototypical customer is going to be anyone who is getting ready to retire, so the customer base is endless. Every single day, people are finishing up their years of service at the work place and are preparing for retirement. The average age of these individuals would be between 55-65 years old. The average customer would be seeking guidance for all things dealing with retirement including medicare, social security, investment strategies, and more.

Iteration #1:

     I called my grandfather who works for Sarasota Sheriff's Department, because I knew he was getting ready to retire. I asked him a few questions regarding the service to determine if it would be something of interest to him. Here are a few of the questions that I asked him.

Me: "Grandpa, since you have been preparing for retirement, would you classify the task of preparing for retirement as an easy one?"

Grandpa: "Not at all, I had no idea that there were so many different things to account for when preparing to retire. It is not just drawing your social security out and living retired like I had previously thought."

Me: "What are some of the things that have been hard for you while getting ready for retirement?"

Grandpa: "Well like I said, social security is certainly something else. There are so many different ways to draw social security, from some now, to payments, to all kinds of different things. There you have the insurance problem, trying to switch to medicare. Did you know that medicare is not free? Many people believe that medicare is free, but trust me its not! I don't know there is just a lot of stuff to figure out that I was not prepared for."

Me: "Have you tried to seek guidance while preparing for retirement?"

Grandpa: "Yeah, I mean I have tried to talk to some of the guys at work, but they proved to be very unhelpful. I asked my stock manager a little bit, and he was way more helpful, but even he did not prove all that helpful. I guess it is just a learning process along the way."

Me: "Would you find a consulting firm for people who are getting ready to retire as helpful?"

Grandpa: "I think that would be a really good idea! Hell, it would be very beneficial. I feel about as lost as a fart in the wind at the moment with all of the preparations."

Me: "So you would be willing to pay for a consulting firm that specialized in retirement situations?

Grandpa: "If they knew what they were doing, and could help me get my affairs in line for retirement, I would certainly be interested."

Iteration #2:

     I spoke with local business owner in his upper fifties who asked for his name to not be disclosed. I knew with his age, he would be preparing for retirement soon and pinpointed him as a good candidate. For this interview, I will change his name to Bob.

Me: "Mr. Bob, I know that you are in your fifties are probably preparing for retirement soon. Have you began to look at your retirement plans at all? If so, would you classify the alignment of your retirement affairs as easy?

Bob: "Well Dakota, I am 56 years old now, and honestly I did a piss-poor job of preparing for my retirement. I should be looking to retire here in a few years, but I don't really have my affairs in line, and honestly I just don't have the time for it. Between running the business, dealing with my recent divorce, and taking care of my house and land, I just have not had the time to sit down and look at all of it."

Me: "Yes sir, I do see what you are saying. You are an attorney though as well, would you classify preparing for retirement as an easy task?"

Bob: "Not at all, I don't really deal with a whole lot of retirement stuff, that is a different side of law from what I practice, but from what I do know, retirement can actually be quite a pain." 

Me: "Well, let me ask you this. If there was a consulting firm that specialized in retirement situations, as in taking care of all our retirement needs for a small percentage off the top, would that interest you?"

Bob: "Definitely. Absolutely. Honestly, I would much rather prefer to pay someone to handle all of that for me, because I just don't have the time."

Iteration #3:

     The third person that I chose to speak with was a family friend, who is a certified public accountant(CPA). He is in his early fifties, so I was curious to see were his stance would be on such a firm. 

Me: "It is good to see you, I wanted to know what your opinion was as a CPA on what it is like to prepare for retirement?"

CPA: "Well Dakota, I haven't actually prepared all of my accounts and what not for retirement just yet, but I have helped some people with investment plans and such."

Me: "Besides investment plans, do you help in any other way with retirement situations?"

CPA: "Well I help with some taxes and all, but for the most part, I just focus on the investment side."

Me: "Well, have you ever helped advice with social security? And did you know that there are over 100 ways to draw social security?"

CPA: "No, I actually did not know that, and no I don't really help out much there."

Me: "Well what would be your opinion on a one-stop-shop consulting firm that specialized in retirement situations? They would handle everything from social security, insurance, investments and all.

CPA: "You know, I have never even thought of such a thing, but I bet that would be a great idea. I do have people come to me often regarding their retirement, but there is a lot more too it than what people think. I would actually be interested in using the service myself."

Reflect:

     I learned that my opportunity is a real one that actually exists! People really would have an interest in a retirement life advisor. To me, it looks like people would rather pay someone else to handle their retirement affairs for them. The thing that shocked me the most is when the CPA that I interviewed even made the comment that he would be interested in such a service as well. 

Summary:

     My exact opportunity belief is intact just as it was when I started. The people that I interviewed showed a real interest in such a service if it were available. I believe that my opportunity is very accurate, and it has been reinforced from talking with the people I chose to interview. I believe that just like the generic saying "the customer is always right" that it is important to keep the customers' interests in mind at all times when making business decisions. The business must stand true to what they believe in, but have the perfect amount of flexibility to satisfy customer needs.

3A- My Entrepreneurship Story

     Over the years, I have always had an interest business and entrepreneurship. When I was a little kid I would always say how I wanted to start my own ranch when I grew older. At a young age, I realized that to be successful in life and especially business that you had to have connections and a good reputation in the community. Growing up, I have always tried to build as many relationships and connections as possible. I have always kept a clean and reputable public image as well as setting myself up for success. By being a part of many organizations such as the National FFA Organization, Student Government, and more, it helped me become a leader. When I started taking college classes, every chance I got, I chose more business and market oriented classes, including an introduction to entrepreneurship class before the one that I am currently taking.
     Growing up, my dad has always owned his restoration and remodeling business, through which he has three employees. I have always tried to learn from him, and I wanted to see how I could one day become an entrepreneur like him. When I was fifteen years old, I decided I would try to create an apparel company for the country side of Florida. I went to a local business owner that I had built a bond with over the years, and I asked him for a loan. He granted me a $500 loan to try and start my business. I took the money and I started making hats with a logo that I made that  stood for Florida Cracker,, and I named my "business" Cracker Country Apparel.

I began selling the hats well, and I started to expand my variety while making shirts and koozies too. I had the initial loan paid off quickly, and I was making enough money to reinvest and sell more. The whole thing went well for around a year and a half, but I got to a point where I was limited with time, while working two jobs on top of my schooling, and I decided to stop making the products. It was a personal decision that I had to make to better myself in the long run. This was my first experience with entrepreneurship.
      Fast forward a few years, and I am graduated from high school, in college, and still working two jobs. I have always had an interest in livestock and I had some money to invest. My mother encouraged me to invest some of my money into something that I would see a return on. I wanted to invest in cattle, but I did not have the land to start such an adventure since I only had my family's ten acres to use. Using the knowledge that I had on livestock, I decided to purchase some goats, since I knew the land could sustain them. I went out and bought a herd of seven goats. Looking back and knowing what I know now, I should have never have purchased the first herd that I did. But that is how we learn, and I learned from my early mistake.
     As time progressed, I studied and learned everything that I could about goats, from learning the breeds, the diseases, the care required, and more. I bought more goats and sold the offspring, learning every step of the way. When it came around to fair time for the youth in my area, I helped  my sister raise her market wether, which she won grand champion with.

     Today, I am the proud owner of Horlocker Hill Goat Farm, and I have just over thirty head of goats at the moment since I recently sold a larger group. From the money I have made off of the goats, I have improved my herd genetics and now lease a fifteen acre piece of property as well as my family's ten acres. I one day hope to expand my operation even further and purchase cattle as well. This is my entrepreneurship story so far.
   
     I am excited to take this class this semester to better help come more aware of the mindset of an entrepreneur. One thing that I have learned is that you can always keep learning. I am excited to collaborate and grow with my peers this semester, and I hope that everyone has an enjoyable experience with the course.

2A- Bug List

     Hello there! In today's blog post, I am going to be listing twenty things that bug me in everyday life and why these problems exist. The objective of this is to help my peers and myself become more aware and identify unmet needs of ourselves and others. So lets begin.

1.) The first thing that bugs me is the parking at the University of Florida. The parking systems at the main campus of the University of Florida provide terrible parking availability for off-campus, undergraduate students.
     -The reason for this is because there are over 52,000 students who attend the university, and off-campus, undergraduate students are the lower ranked students compared to those who live on campus and graduate students.

2.) The lack of interaction between students and teachers bugs me. Professors are not as directly engaged with students at the University of Florida compared to other colleges that I have attended.
     -The reason that this is could be that with a much larger student body, class sizes are larger and professors can not always be as engaged with their students as they would like to be.

3.) It bugs me that McDonald's employees seem to mess my order up very frequently. Whether it be inside or at the drive-through, my order is frequently wrong.
     -There are a variety of reasons that this could occur. In the drive-through, the employees may not clearly hear what the order is. Perhaps one of the main reasons for the messed up orders is because of the high turnover rate at McDonald's. With a high turnover rate, the employees may have not received the proper training at the fast food chain to fully understand what to do. Or maybe they just do not care.

4.) It bugs me that Wal-Mart has almost twenty registers with only a handful of them open at a time. The limited registers cause long lines and aggravated customers such as myself.
     -The only reason that I can figure is that Wal-Mart has developed an economic plan where they have discovered that they can have fewer employees at the registers to maximize their own profits.

5.) It bugs me that I pay a lot of money in taxes, and the roadways that I drive on still have poor quality. The county roads and the interstate highways are filled with potholes, dips, and humps that I would expect my tax dollars to go toward fixing.
     -The reason this happens is because the tax dollars that I pay are dispersed in a variety of ways. The government believes that there are other things that the tax dollars need to be spent on opposed to fixing some potholes in a roadway.

6.) It bugs me that Apple iPhone's cost so much money. The phone's production costs are around a third of the price of what the company sells it for.
     -Apple understands that their customers are loyal to the brand and will purchase their products even if they do have extremely higher prices compared to the competition. It is because Apple has established a reputable brand for their company.

7.) It bugs me that I have to change my passwords every so often for my various accounts. It becomes confusing and I often cannot remember them. A perfect example is the University of Florida login. I am required to change my password every so often.
     -The reason that I am required to change my password is to help prevent identity theft and to help prevent someone from hacking my account.

8.) It bugs me that at Capital City Bank there is an age limit to how old you have to be to open an account. At Capital City Bank, you have to be eighteen years old to open an account.
     -The reason there is an age limit at this bank could just be personal preferences of the banking system. This also could be to help prevent a bunch of smaller accounts that the bank does not want to mess with.

9.) It bugs me that I do not get enough sleep and that I walk around tired a majority of the time.
     -The reason this bug exists is because I work two jobs while full time in school, and I do not have a lot of time in my day to spare.

10.) It bugs me that fast-food restaurants will have very unpleasant individuals running the cash registers.
     -The reason this bug exists is because the selection of superior employees at fast food chains is limited and often times the unhappy people are the only option.

11.) It bugs me when people feel that they are entitled and deserve to have their life handed to them on a silver platter.
     -The reason this occurs is that they were raised sheltered and spoiled where they think that life owes them something.

12.) It bugs me that Wal-Mart requires you to be eighteen years old to purchase spray paint and super glue.
     -The reason they have this age requirement is because the store is trying to prevent younger individuals from using these products for mischief.

13.) It bugs me when the bike shop on University Ave. tells me that my bicycle will be fixed in exactly seven days, and it is still not ready four weeks later.
     -The demand for bicycle repair in Gainesville is relatively high and because of the high demand for repairs, repair times are slowed down.

14.) It bugs me that people who have no experience or knowledge on a subject express their opinion on the subject they have no knowledge about.
     -The reason this occurs is because of media fed ideologies and the old "monkey see, monkey do" type of psychological characteristic in humans.

15.) It bugs me that the bus routes in Gainesville are slow and often times not on schedule.
     -The reason for this is that there is heavy traffic in Gainesville, and there are not enough buses to effectively transport all of those requiring transportation in a timely manner.

16.) It bugs me that healthcare is so expensive. Hospitals and medical facilities charge outrageous amounts of money for certain healthcare services.
     -The reason this occurs is because of insurance. With the rise of insurance, people do not care about the cost of healthcare services because someone else is paying for it.

17.) It bugs me that gas prices are so high. Gas prices fluctuate up and down, but they remain on a steady rise.
     -With inflation and global trade prices changing, the prices of gasoline and oil rise.

18.) It bugs me that road construction takes too long. It takes weeks and sometimes months to fix simpler repairs on the roadways.
     -Roadways are constantly being used and the workers have to operate around those who travel on the roadways.

19.) It bugs me that retail grocery stores throw away soon to be expired foods rather than donating it to charity organizations.
     -The reason this likely occurs is because of liability and too much work. Many times there may even be a dependence that can be developed upon them. For economic reasons, many retail stores choose to dispose of the soon to be expired foods than donate them.

20.) It bugs me that you go to school for years to receive a degree with no applicable knowledge to the actual work force.
     -The reason this likely occurs is because schooling systems would like to educate the students with higher level knowledge while perhaps overlooking the basic knowledge that all should possess.

     Making this list was fairly difficult for me even though there are a multitude of things that bug me that I am constantly aware of. The reason that making this list was hard is because it was difficult finding the right bugs to put down that would be relevant to the class and appropriate. I hope that others can relate to some of my bugs and that I can learn from some of the bugs of my peers.

Entrepreneurship

This blog will be for my experiences this summer as I learn and thrive through my entrepreneurship class at the University of Florida.