30A - Final Reflection

I think the most fun I had during this class was thinking about a business idea and putting all the parts together.  Obviously, there is much more than just what we did, but this class got us all thinking about how to determine why, what and who.  These are necessary so we don't spend time one something that may not be marketable.

I believe that the mindset is there.  Opportunities are everywhere and there are a lot of problems that need to be fixed in the world.   Why not find a way to do that and make some money too.

My recommendations for the course specifically would be to work ahead as much as you can, line up the people that need for interviews and make sure to have access to the necessary readying ahead of time.  Preparation is key.  As for the mindset, I would force yourself to mind two, possibly fixable problems and document them in a journal a week.  This will create a habit of looking for problems and possible solutions all the time.

29A - Venture Concept No. 2

Quarantine Zone

Opportunity: 

The people that have the need for my service will be anyone that is looking for a good place to be entertained.  They may also be looking for something more immersive than their usual spots.  Currently this need is satisfied by various other means; going to the movies, going to other escape room locations, and other various entertainment establishments. 

I believe that this opportunity is a big one because it is a bit different than the other options out there.  You get to be a part of the action and excitement.  It combines three different entertainment experiences and ties them all together or you can enjoy them separately. 

It is hard to determine how long this opportunity will be there but I can absolutely see it still being around as long as I am looking toward the future.  Based off of discussions the augmented reality option for this is probably closer than I previously thought.

Innovation:

In my opinion, innovations can be large or small.  I consider mine to be small since I am tying a few ideas that currently exist separately together as a cohesive experience.  I believe that innovations like this have a higher chance of success since they are smaller and easier to keep simple and execute.

My innovation is to bring the world of Zombie apocalypse to life.  It combines laser tag, escape rooms and a restaurant with beer and wine available together in one location.  This will be great for groups of friends, team building for corporations or even groups of kids from college looking to have some fun after exams. 

Venture Concept:

I don't believe that my services will pull people away from other forms of entertainment permanently.  People are not going to stop going to the movies or other escape rooms necessarily; but they will repeatedly come back to my offering for the experience I will create.  The moment you enter the facility you will be fully immersed in the illusion.  So deeply, my goal will be some people to start doubting their true existence outside the world I create for them.

I don't really see packaging to be a problem but other normal business hurdles like employee turnover, suppliers for the restaurant and other tools that I will need for the business.  I plan to at least start with a pretty flat structure.  I will not need many mid-level managers.  I anticipate one to manage the laser tag/escape room side and one to manage the restaurant.  These are two very different businesses I am combining and require different mindsets.

At some point I would require a controller and see myself outsourcing HR and IT needs to help keep costs on the lower side.  I would rather pay employees better and create a better environment for them.  They in turn will ensure that our customers have the best experience possible.

Three minor elements:

I plan to create an exceptional work environment and my people will be my advantage.  There are many case studies that support this idea and I have seen it in action.

After getting this venture up and running the next step would be to start looking at how technology can improve the experience for people.

I would set a goal of actually making money from this venture after the second to third year in business.  So, by year five I would have it running smoothly and have a steady 20%-25% net profit margin.  This would allow me to continue building this or branch out to other concepts of this idea to reach other customers and their interests.

The only real change to this was to point out that the augmented reality may be sooner rather than later.  I imagine the up front development costs would be high but may show that it gets paid back fairly quickly with the ability to keep my labor costs down.

27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

Book: The new Psychology of Success

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book was about the mindset of people.  That they are broken down into a fix or growth mindset.  These two mindsets tie back to how they see failure and allow it to affect their ability to either learn from their failures and grow or allow it to stagnate their growth.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

Entrepreneurship is not for people with the fixed mindset unless their business is very specific and myopic.  There are all types of ways to fail and learn when building and/or running a business.  I think it is extremely important to study a failure and use it to learn what not to do.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

Actually, I think we just did an exercise that had us talk about a failure and what we learned.  I think that one applies perfectly to this book.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

It was interesting to read in the book that this isn't just an issue for new or lower level managers.  This was a problem all the way up to CEO.  In fact, they called it CEO disease.  They lose touch and aren't able to continue growing and changing and then the company does not either.

28A - Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

To think about this situation I have to setup a few assumptions. 

1. The business has grown to at least 21 mil in revenue and about 24% EBITDA
2. I have kept my depreciation low at this point and retain a high net profit at about 18-20%
3. I can strike a deal for a about 6x multiple of EBITDA

Those are pretty high goals and would warrant the 6x multiple.  Especially to someone or group that is able to grow it further by something like franchise or some other expansion.  I would sell it as soon as the right buyer came along.  This would allow me to focus on my family and possibly start another venture.  I get bored.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

There are other options here.  I could sell it back to the employees through and ESOP or some other vehicle but I would have to ensure that some new leadership was groomed and ready to lead it properly as to not endanger the other employees jobs by driving the company into the ground. 

I chose this because mainly I am happy to grind hard for a number of years building something of great value and sell it off to then spend the rest of my years with my family and only doing the things that interest me in business.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

I don't think that the exit strategy had come into mind really.  I don't normally think about how I am going to exit the thing that I have just started to build.

26A - Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

The failure that I want to talk about was earlier on in my career when I took my first step into a management role.  I was a technical team lead over a group of engineers that supported about 20 different companies.  What I failed at here was expecting management to be just telling people what to do and they do it.  That could not be further from the truth. 

With that mind set, I was failing my team and not bringing them together as a cohesive unit.  I failed continually for a while and mine and their frustrations increased.  Initially, this lead me to think about to my previous bosses that I loved to work for.  They did not have the same mindset that I did.  I could remember them finding ways to motivate that me that were not a "carrot and stick" mentality.

I started to reflect more on that and changed some of my thought process towards what management should be and simply tried to imitate what I remember about the leadership I flourished under.  That started to turn me and my team around.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  

I really learned a few things for going through that process.

1. Your team will reflect the thoughts and emotions of its leader so be mindful of your actions, words and body language
2. Find ways to motivate positively instead of trying to force your will.  Guide and coach them to the right answer.  You will find that they are much more willing to follow you as a leader if they believe and buy into the path you are taking them
3. Hold yourself accountable as the leader just as much as your employees.  You have to lead by example.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

Failure is very hard and especially if you take a lot of pride in your work.  We are breed to not accept failure and that is probably the exact opposite of what we should do.  Being able to learn from your failure means you have to be able to look in word, be self-aware and willing to accept that you are not perfect and require improvement.

Truthfully, this class did not really change my perspective on failure.  That is only because I have had a career now for the last 20 years.  I have had the benefit of time and experience to know, if utilized properly, failure can be a great tool in life. 

25A - What's Next?

We've been talking about growth. Growth in new markets, growth in existing markets. For this experience exercise, you'll need to set a course for growth for your business and develop plans for how you will grow in both a new market as well as in the market you have already identified. 

What you need to do. Again, you'll need to hit the pavement and talk to potential customers. This time, you'll be armed with your "venture concept" description. Break your post into two pieces:

• Existing Market 
• Unfortunately, the three people that I was able to interview for this didn't give me much to go on.  I spoke to people that really enjoy escape rooms.  They all really liked the idea I have but couldn't give me too much on things that I was not already planning to do.  One item that I did get from them is to find a way to make the puzzles change more often and provide a variety so that they get a different experience each time they come back.
• This item was pretty good actually.  I can plan on a way to have each room change and have about 3-5 things that change in each room providing a pool of differences that are available.
• New Market
• For this I interviewed two business people who manage people for a living.  They expressed that we could also focus on team building and corporate events.  We change it up a bit during the day since it will probably be quite not much traffic in the day time.  We could have a team building expert come in for events and bring them through the  rooms as a way to help them work better together.

24A – "Quarantine Zone" Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: 

The people that have the need for my service will be anyone that is looking for a good place to be entertained.  They may also be looking for something more immersive than their usual spots.  Currently this need is satisfied by various other means; going to the movies, going to other escape room locations, and other various entertainment establishments. 

I believe that this opportunity is a big one because it is a bit different than the other options out there.  You get to be a part of the action and excitement.  It combines three different entertainment experiences and ties them all together or you can enjoy them separately. 

It is hard to determine how long this opportunity will be there, but I can absolutely see it still being around as long as I am looking toward the future.  There is a place for VR in my idea and even augmented reality.  These technologies need to mature a bit more, but it is on the horizon.

Innovation:

In my opinion, innovations can be large or small.  I consider mine to be small since I am tying a few ideas that currently exist separately together as a cohesive experience.  I believe that innovations like this have a higher chance of success since they are smaller and easier to keep simple and execute.

My innovation is to bring the world of Zombie apocalypse to life.  It combines laser tag, escape rooms and a restaurant with beer and wine available together in one location.  This will be great for groups of friends, team building for corporations or even groups of kids from college looking to have some fun after exams. 

Venture Concept:

I don't believe that my services will pull people away from other forms of entertainment permanently.  People are not going to stop going to the movies or other escape rooms necessarily; but they will repeatedly come back to my offering for the experience I will create.  The moment you enter the facility you will be fully immersed in the illusion.  So deeply, my goal will be some people to start doubting their true existence outside the world I create for them.

I don't really see packaging to be a problem but other normal business hurdles like employee turnover, suppliers for the restaurant and other tools that I will need for the business.  I plan to at least start with a pretty flat structure.  I will not need many mid-level managers.  I anticipate one to manage the laser tag/escape room side and one to manage the restaurant.  These are two very different businesses I am combining and require different mindsets.

At some point I would require a controller and see myself outsourcing HR and IT needs to help keep costs on the lower side.  I would rather pay employees better and create a better environment for them.  They in turn will ensure that our customers have the best experience possible.

Three minor elements:

I plan to create an exceptional work environment and my people will be my advantage.  There are many case studies that support this idea and I have seen it in action.  To me this would be a large part of my “secret sauce”.  It is very hard to replicate this because most companies are less concerned with their employees.  This trend is changing a bit, but it is not quite there, and most business leaders still have not figure this out. 

After getting this venture up and running the next step would be to start looking at how technology can improve the experience for people.  Like I said earlier, I see a place for virtual reality or augmented reality in this industry.  This is how we can truly create a new experience.  I can see the entire experience being delivered via virtual reality.  That would make most of my costs be infrastructure and development.  Most of those items can be wrapped up in operational costs with cloud infrastructure preventing me from having to have a large capital outlay to accomplish it.

I would set a goal of actually making money from this venture after the second to third year in business.  So, by year five I would have it running smoothly and have a steady 20%-25% net profit margin.  This would allow me to continue building this or branch out to other concepts of this idea to reach other customers and their interests.

23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Below is my list of resources that I believe I already possess.

1. Love for the genre
2. Creative thinking and puzzle making
3. Understanding of business financials
4. Experience in the restaurant business
5. Diligence and perseverance
6. Employee based culture
7. Experienced in team building
8. Experienced in coaching and mentoring
9. Leadership
10. Connections available for funding capital

I believe that my top resource would be my team building and leadership skills.  In my current occupation I have built teams and have about 80 employees that report to managers under me.  My experience in this area would come in handy because my business idea requires a good amount of people and I think they would work best in teams.

21A - Reading Reflection No. 2

In this exercise, I'd like you to select a book from the second half of the Official ENT 3003 Reading List and report on it. This part of the list focuses on books that cover, generally, entrepreneurship, business, and learning. I'd like you to address the following in your post:

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book is that you don't have to be exceptional at something to find success.  It takes having a system, being able to try things, fail, learn and try again or something different. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I liked this book because it seems to enforce the idea of taking risk.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I think I would make an exercise outlining a couple of instances in general life that you have failed at something asking the question of what you learned and how did you apply this new knowledge.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

One of the things that I learned was, in his opinion, passion is not necessary.  It is more about dedication and want.  You always hear that you need to find something that you are passionate about to pursue but that is not the case according to Scott Adams.

19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

1. I am a 37 year old father of 2.  I currently run an IT consulting firm as the Director of Operations and my skills revolve around managing people, teams and processes.  I would love to start my own business and build a company that can provide my family with financial security going forward.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

2. There are two main things I am looking to provide.  One is to the community; I want this business idea to help bring people back to an area of town that has all but been abandoned.  This would help to bring other businesses back to the area has well with new jobs.  The other facet is to provide people with a fun outlet for their lives and give them a way to be immersed into a fantasy world they can interact with.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

3. I believe that my customer base is going to be people that enjoy the excitement and safe fear of a haunted house.  They also will enjoy solving puzzles and working as a team.  Due to the nature of this service, I think I will only offer it to 18 years old or older. 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

4. They will pay money to participate for a few different reasons.  They want to a break from their reality for a bit; to be immersed in a new and different world. They may just want to test their own resolve.  Perhaps they are mainly there because they are bored with the existing escape room experiences and want to see who they can really perform under pressure.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

5. Something like this does not exist around our immediate area and possibly anywhere, that I have found.  I believe that this idea is a twist on what is already out there making it unique. 

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I believe that all five of these elements fit together nicely.  This is something that is consumable and content can be used to make money over and over again.  It offers a way to be efficient with the resources that the business would use.  There is also the added benefit of commercial realestate. 

Feedback Memo:

The only comment I had on my last version of the napkin idea didn't have much feedback except that they should it would be in Gainesville.  After that looking into that I decided that would not the case.  The population of Gainesville is about 132k whereas Jacksonville is about 892k.  The population difference is so large that I think it makes sense to keep it there.

17A - Elevator Pitch No.2

Elevator Pitch No.2

I was not able to submit my first elevator pitch so I do not have any changes.  Below is the pitch and I am happy to hear any feedback.

18A - Creating a Customer Avatar

18A - Creating a Customer Avatar

Idea Recap for those who have not read previous posts:

My business idea is a combination between laser tag and escape rooms with a theme of zombie apocalypse.  You begin by walking into a broken down and breached quarantine zone.  You have to escape zombies encamped within the zone utilizing your energy weapons (laser tag).  As you progress from room to room (escape rooms) you are putting together to whole of what happened and hopefully reaching the goal of finding the vaccine that will save what's left of the world.

Customer Avatar

I decided to list out the attributes of my customer to make it easier.  Below are the traits that I believe belong to my customer.

• They are going to be between 18 - 40 years of age
• My customers will enjoy being involved being immersed into a life that is not their own and do this by different means or a combination of them
• Movies/TV
• Reading
• Board/Video games
• Role Playing
• They will like the genres of Horror/Action/Sci-Fi
• They will like to do haunted houses during Halloween
• They probably enjoying doing things like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios
• They will be someone who enjoys puzzles
• They will enjoy being a creative problem solver

I have a lot in common with the customer avatar.  My idea is based on something I would enjoy doing and want to be a part of.  So, it makes sense that the avatar is something I have a lot in common with.

13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

Reading Reflection No. 1

I read the book Grinding it out:  The making of McDonald's.  It is Ray Kroc's story of his life and what it took to create the McDonald's empire.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• Ray Kroc had an ability to make things happen almost thru sheer will and determination.  It surprises me that he never gave up on his ventures and always found a way to come prevail and continue moving forward.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admired his will and passion for whatever Ray set it mind on.  People would follow him and I think because of the confidence he portrayed in his ideas.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• What I admired least was how he allowed his home life to be destroyed.  In business according to his book, he was a man of integrity and commitment but he could not honor the commitment of his marriage.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Yes, many times.  Ray himself was a very good creative problem solver and he surrounded himself with others like that too.  An executive team like that can accomplish anything.

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

Ray seemed to have an ability to see an opportunity, open doors to that opportunity and convey that  with such clarity and detail that others bought into it as well.

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

I did not find anything confusing in this book.

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

1. I would ask how did you stay so confident in your actions especially in times of adversity?  I would ask this because I struggle with this.  I make a lot of decisions in my job and I don't always feel as confident has Ray seemed in the book.
2. Was his ability to compartmentalize something learned or simply in his nature?  I can compartmentalize pretty well and have a stressful job but there are times when it is definitely harder than others.  Being able to do this allows for better focus on the issue at hand.

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

It is pretty clear that Ray Kroc was not afraid of hard work.  He did it his whole life and expected it out of his team too.  I do share that opinion and expect it out of my teams.

14A - Halfway Reflection

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 agree that it is a competency, which means it can be learned.  Organization is one of the best things I can think of to talk about here.  I have a full time job, a wife and two young kids.  I have to organize and utilize my time very wisely.  My job takes up a lot of my time and there is a bit of travel involved too.  This means that I try to work ahead as much as possible.

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?

• If I am honest, I have thought about giving up.  My job is very demanding of my time and I am very protective of my time with my family.  So that leaves me with nights mostly to focus on school.  My experience is not a new or unique one by any means and a lot of people do this but it is very hard.  This is something that I have wanted to accomplish for a long time though and I will not give up until I have finished.  I think what pulls me through is sheer determination and support from my wife.  I don't feel like I have become more tenacious over the last two months.

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) To me it's all about how can I make things easier for myself.  Organization is the key to that for me.  Keep your schedule on track and don't allow yourself to fall behind.  Work ahead as much as you can to accommodate for any issues that may pop up.  The rest seem to fall into place for me

(2) You have to keep a positive mindset and keep the end goal in mind.  Each completed assignment is one step closer to the goal.  The old adage about how you eat an elephant I think applies here.  One bite at a time.

(3) I also think there is a level of self-confidence needed to build the tenacious mindset.  You have to believe in yourself or you will not develop this skill.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

In my three interviews I found that each one had a different time they thought of that would require this business to meet their need. 

One of them was simply when they were bored and looking for something to do.  The other was when they wanted to let off some steam from a long hard day at work and wanted to not be stuck in their own minds anymore.  They wanted the fantasy world they could be immersed in as a release.  The last one thought about it more around the time when they wanted to have a small party, birthday, or some other celebration.

When they are looking for these things online they are usually searching for "things to do around town", "local party ideas", or simply looking for laser tag/ paint ball/escape rooms.

All three did talk to their friends and family looking for ideas or suggestions.  I imagine that word of mouth would end up being the best advertising available. 

11A - Napkin Idea No. 1

Napkin Idea No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

1. I am a 37 year old father of 2.  I currently run an IT consulting firm as the Director of Operations and my skills revolve around managing people, teams and processes.  I would love to start my own business and build a company that can provide my family with financial security going forward.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

2. There are two main things I am looking to provide.  One is to the community; I want this business idea to help bring people back to an area of town that has all but been abandoned.  This would help to bring other businesses back to the area has well with new jobs.  The other facet is to provide people with a fun outlet for their lives and give them a way to be immersed into a fantasy world they can interact with.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

3. I believe that my customer base is going to be people that enjoy the excitement and safe fear of a haunted house.  They also will enjoy solving puzzles and working as a team.  Due to the nature of this service, I think I will only offer it to 18 years old or older. 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

4. They will pay money to participate for a few different reasons.  They want to a break from their reality for a bit; to be immersed in a new and different world.  They may just want to test their own resolve.  Perhaps they are mainly there because they are bored with the existing escape room experiences and want to see who they can really perform under pressure.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

5. Something like this does not exist around our immediate area and possibly anywhere, that I have found.  I believe that this idea is a twist on what is already out there making it unique. 

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I believe that all five of these elements fit together nicely.  This is something that is consumable and content can be used to make money over and over again.  It offers a way to be efficient with the resources that the business would use.  There is also the added benefit of commercial realestate. 

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

This time I interviewed people that specifically like horror/zombie movies.  What I found is that there is a difference in the level of scared people would like to feel.  Some like the idea of being involved in this type of exciting game.  Others, like the idea of watching and feeling the fear with the safety of not really being involved.

It ended up breaking down in my head that people who enjoy a really good haunted house at Halloween would enjoy this experience.  They like to be involved in the action and not just spectating it. 

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is in: People who enjoy the thrill of haunted houses and live action role play	Who is not: People who find the immersive thrill too scary
What the need is: Experience the thrill of fear and fantasy	What the Need Is Not: Enjoy scary movies and TV but not being involved or physically cannot
Why the Need Exists: The fun and escape of reality	Alternative Explanations: The fun and escape of reality

8A - Solving the Problem

Solving the Problem

The opportunity that I would like to select is from my story about the school Andrew Jackson and how it has turned around it's grade from the lowest F school in Jacksonville to a B school and known for its advanced technology programs.  These programs focus on teaching students how to program, develop games and educate them in cyber security.

In that posting I talk about the need for a public relations or marketing campaign to promote the fact that they are not offering these new programs and increased their grade to a B.  This would be important to the school because funding is decided in part enrollment numbers.

If a good marketing program were to be put into place it could allow for better enrollment numbers and in turn better funding.  Then the school could possibly start new programs or improve the ones they have and continue improving their score to get an A.

7A - Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Zombie Apocalypse Meets Escape Room(s)

The opportunity that I see is in Jacksonville.  There is an old mall in the Regency area that is largely unused.  This does not help that area or the surrounding businesses.  I would like to utilize a large portion of this building and create a new type of fantasy experience for people to enjoy. 

My idea combines the fun of pain ball or laser tag with the puzzle and thought provoking fun of an escape room.  The utilized space would be setup with multiple rooms that you much figure out clues in to progress to the next.  When you are trying to make your way from room to room you must "stay alive" by fighting off the zombie horde that is trying to take over the quarantine zone you are in.  The end of the game is reached by making it alive to the last room and solving the necessary puzzles to obtain the cure to the Zombie virus.

Who: People who enjoy paint ball/laser tag and the excitement of fantasy opposition

What: This would bring people back to this area for fun and excitement.  That should lead to other opportunities for new businesses like restaurants and the like provide services to this new clientele. 

Why: There is a need for a new physical way to have fun and enjoy fantasy.  People are spending much more time online and in games.  This will provide a way to exercise the body and mind.  It will also serve to revitalize an area of town that desperately needs it.

After interviewing five people about this idea I found that most really liked the idea.  There was some concern about paint ball and if that would deter people because they are afraid of the paint balls; laser tag may be preferred. 

I also had one person that really doesn't like zombie movies or the idea of being in a haunted house type environment like that.  All in all, it seems viable.  Four of the five people I talked to feel like the who, what and why would stand up.  The last one was more freaked out by the idea and would not want to partake in something like this out of fear.

5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

Title: Once troubled, Andrew Jackson High School evolves into advanced technology magnet

Link: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190119/once-troubled-andrew-jackson-high-school-evolves-into-advanced-technology-magnet

This article was interesting to me because the problem that I see is readily apparent.  The article is all about how this Jacksonville high school was able to transform itself from a F school to a B school.  They were able to utilize technology and create programs that kids were interested in.  They became a magnet school that focused on ways to give kids knowledge towards careers or college.

So, where is the problem this sounds like a great thing to happen, right?  Absolutely, they did a great job of transforming themselves.  The problem they have now is dealing with their long-standing reputation.  Since they have been able to successfully become a place of learning that kids want to be at and graduate from, they now need to promote that fact. 

They need to keep that mentality of continued improvement and maintain their ability to teach and intrigue but transition to problem solving how to let people know that this change has occurred.

Title: Kenny Gilbert, ‘Best Chef in Jacksonville,’ cuts ties with 4 restaurants due to irreconcilable differences

Link: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190117/kenny-gilbert-best-chef-in-jacksonville-cuts-ties-with-4-restaurants-due-to-irreconcilable-differences

This is a short article, but it outlines a problem that many businesses face.  The loss of key personnel can be a very detrimental.   The article outlines that Kenny Gilbert, the chef voted as “Best Chef in Jacksonville” has left working with four of the restaurants he was affiliated with.  This means that they are not only losing top talent but possibly his name and reputation that go with him.

 

Title: Commercial feed removed from Northeast Florida stores following cattle deaths

Link: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190112/commercial-feed-removed-from-northeast-florida-stores-following-cattle-deaths

This story about a commercial feed product that may be the cause of death to many cattle in northeast Florida.  They are currently investigating this now.  Those poses an obvious problem for the manufacture of this product.

With most products, causing death is usually a large problem.  The manufacture has voluntarily started to pull their product and stores as well.  As stated in this article, the cattle industry is $1 Billion industry and Florida is $900 million annually.  Taking that info account, the impact of this problem could prove to damaging to the manufacturing company.

 

Title: Certain flushed materials give JEA big headache

Link: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20181231/certain-flushed-materials-give-jea-big-headache

The link above is about how we as citizens of Jacksonville who are serviced by JEA should not be flushing certain solids or liquids down the pipes.  JEA has a tough time when we do this as it may leave our homes unscathed, but it will end up clogging up their pipes and systems.

Their whole system works largely on gravity to get the water where it needs to go.  So, as you can imagine, if a pipe is clogged with “flushable” wipes or fatty deposits from grease and oils.  This system isn’t going to work well.

This is a problem for residential homes as well as businesses.  We just really need to be aware of what we are putting down our drains.  Just because it leaves our site and mind, doesn’t mean that it is just magically gone.  Someone how to deal with that sh…. Um, stuff.

 

Title: Swisher accountant hit with more felony charges

Link: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20181227/swisher-accountant-hit-with-more-felony-charges

This is a short article but had some really obvious problems.  This story tells about an account for Swisher Cigars being arrested for grand theft.  The true problem is that for something like this to happen at the level and capacity that it did, there are not enough checks and balances in their accounting process. 

I am making a large assumption here but, in an effort, to keep administrative overhead down they probably put too much on this person and the temptation was too much for them.  In no way do I give this person an out based solely on temptation.  You’re an adult and you job is to deal with money.  You should have enough integrity to do it.  However, you don’t always know the limits of the people that you employee and sometimes the carrot is just to enticing.

Checks and balances….you should have them.