Friday, September 27, 2019
9A
*I changed the focus on this project into a device that can lock up distractions (such as a cellphone) to help people to focus on their work. Previous contents will be adjusted to fit that topic.
I have interviewed five interviewees, they have different occupations and their ages vary.
A postdoctoral researcher from Central South University of China, 31.
A bus driver from Changhua County, Taiwan, 47.
An International Business major graduate student at UF, 22.
A network engineer at telecommunication company executive, 49
A high school student, 17
From the interviews with them, I can conclude that they all have or are currently suffer from distractions while they are trying to focus on their work. Among those distractions, the keyword I heard the most was the cellphone. Although they have all agreed with my idea of creating a container to temporarily lock up their distractions, some of them said they didn't need or couldn't use it. The network engineer told me that he was supposed to pick up phone calls 24 hours a day. The high school student told me that he was able to get over distractions by himself.
From analyzing the interviews I have conducted, I have made following conclusions:
Who's in: people who want to increase their productivity by blocking themselves from distractions.
Who's not: People who need to get access to that distraction immediately due to
various reasons; people who are highly self-disciplined.
What the need is: Temptemperoraly keep people away from distractions.
What the need is not: creating new inconveniences.
Why the need exists: most people realize distractions can heavily decrease their productivity.
Alternative explanations: self-discipline, requirement from job.
I have interviewed five interviewees, they have different occupations and their ages vary.
A postdoctoral researcher from Central South University of China, 31.
A bus driver from Changhua County, Taiwan, 47.
An International Business major graduate student at UF, 22.
A network engineer at telecommunication company executive, 49
A high school student, 17
From the interviews with them, I can conclude that they all have or are currently suffer from distractions while they are trying to focus on their work. Among those distractions, the keyword I heard the most was the cellphone. Although they have all agreed with my idea of creating a container to temporarily lock up their distractions, some of them said they didn't need or couldn't use it. The network engineer told me that he was supposed to pick up phone calls 24 hours a day. The high school student told me that he was able to get over distractions by himself.
From analyzing the interviews I have conducted, I have made following conclusions:
Who's in: people who want to increase their productivity by blocking themselves from distractions.
Who's not: People who need to get access to that distraction immediately due to
various reasons; people who are highly self-disciplined.
What the need is: Temptemperoraly keep people away from distractions.
What the need is not: creating new inconveniences.
Why the need exists: most people realize distractions can heavily decrease their productivity.
Alternative explanations: self-discipline, requirement from job.
Friday, September 20, 2019
8A
I would like to create a vinyl record customizing service different than the current ones. I'm going to sell them in small batches, premium packages will also include the acetate master disc. Each production run will be "limited" by its nature. It will also be made in one of those western European countries, sounds "better" than other origins and it's also relatively cheap to produce vinyl records there. Marketing of such service is crucial because it's probably the least useful thing in the world. I think the most effective way is to get it marketed by influencers, making it a "trendy" thing without much effort or a sensible reason. Another strategy I came up with is advertising the service in the downtown of major metropolitan areas. Few seconds of advertisement will be fine, as long as it has an impact and makes people wonder what our product is and search online afterward.
7A
The opportunity I want to pursue is selling small-batch customized vinyl records
Intended customers are people who want their own vinyl records
Vinyl records have returned to the mainstream recently, and the sales will likely surpass that of CDs. However, unlike CD-Rs, vinyl records can only be made by professionals.
First customer: classical saxophonist
This classical saxophonist is a friend of mine, we used to buy vinyl classical saxophone albums by early classical saxophonists as a last resort solution while other formats weren't available. When I interviewed him, he didn't show any interest in this type of service because he regarded vinyl records as obsolete technology. He also noted that vinyl records require an intensive amount of cleaning in order to keep the clarity of sound and extra care while handling to keep them from cracking and scratching.
Second customer: vinyl records collector
This collector is in his mid-20s, isn't an audiophile, just likes the sound of being played out of a vinyl record. He showed the interest in making his own voice on a vinyl record. The cost he would like to pay for a pack of ten identical records and a copy of master is 1000-2500RMB ($145-$350).
Third customer: pub singer
This singer sells some pre-recorded CDs made by him upon request. Although he has not tried to get his songs on vinyl records, he has ordered hundreds of his own novels and poetry to get professionally printed. With this experience, he agreed with this idea. He said he would definitely order dozens of them and use them as gifts.
Fourth customer: my father
He is an audiophile who recently gave up buying CDs and is currently very satisfied with his newly-bought Hi-Res audio player that doesn't take any physical medium. He said that he prefers digital subscription of Hi-Res over any other format for music now. But he would like to buy some recorded with some vintage computer programs and games that were usually recorded on cassette tapes.
Fifth customer: a highschool student
He is the student of my saxophonist friend. He has always wanted his own record. But he told me that he couldn't afford to spend money on such things that will become a "white elephant" right after delivery.
With five interviews conducted, I realized that this business much harder than I imagined. However, there are still chances of getting this business working if I optimize the arrangement of different packages I offer.
Intended customers are people who want their own vinyl records
Vinyl records have returned to the mainstream recently, and the sales will likely surpass that of CDs. However, unlike CD-Rs, vinyl records can only be made by professionals.
First customer: classical saxophonist
This classical saxophonist is a friend of mine, we used to buy vinyl classical saxophone albums by early classical saxophonists as a last resort solution while other formats weren't available. When I interviewed him, he didn't show any interest in this type of service because he regarded vinyl records as obsolete technology. He also noted that vinyl records require an intensive amount of cleaning in order to keep the clarity of sound and extra care while handling to keep them from cracking and scratching.
Second customer: vinyl records collector
This collector is in his mid-20s, isn't an audiophile, just likes the sound of being played out of a vinyl record. He showed the interest in making his own voice on a vinyl record. The cost he would like to pay for a pack of ten identical records and a copy of master is 1000-2500RMB ($145-$350).
Third customer: pub singer
This singer sells some pre-recorded CDs made by him upon request. Although he has not tried to get his songs on vinyl records, he has ordered hundreds of his own novels and poetry to get professionally printed. With this experience, he agreed with this idea. He said he would definitely order dozens of them and use them as gifts.
Fourth customer: my father
He is an audiophile who recently gave up buying CDs and is currently very satisfied with his newly-bought Hi-Res audio player that doesn't take any physical medium. He said that he prefers digital subscription of Hi-Res over any other format for music now. But he would like to buy some recorded with some vintage computer programs and games that were usually recorded on cassette tapes.
Fifth customer: a highschool student
He is the student of my saxophonist friend. He has always wanted his own record. But he told me that he couldn't afford to spend money on such things that will become a "white elephant" right after delivery.
With five interviews conducted, I realized that this business much harder than I imagined. However, there are still chances of getting this business working if I optimize the arrangement of different packages I offer.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
6A
Opportunity 1:
The trade war between USA and China might make Vietnam the largest exporter electronics equipment.
I read it in the New York Times, The trade war topic had become popular since January of this year. Vietnam is also one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
(b) The production cost of electronics in China has become increasingly high over the years. The new generation of more educated workforce tends to neglect manufacturing as an option for a job. Vietnam is currently going through the process of urbanization, so manufacturing will provide farmers who left agriculture with more advanced and well-paying jobs while still keeping labor cost than that of China.
(c) Consumers from all around the world will be a potential customer.
(d) Starting an e-commerce company exporting Vietnam-made electronics to developed countries and importing premium goods in such a developing market with increased income could be profitable.
Opportunity 2:
Sales of vinyl records may surpass sales of CDs
According to RollingStone and CNBC, sales of vinyl records have increased dramatically since 2010; their average price has also gone from $4.8 to $28.4, yielding 490% of accumulative growth between 2007 and 2017.
(b) Since mid 2014, the time I had just arrived in the USA, I have noticed that many new albums would include an option for vinyl. Turntables had also made its way back to electronics stores and book stores despite that technology was nearly abandoned in favor of CD players and digital DJ mixers. More and more people around me, both in China and the US, started listening to vinyl records regardless that it would sound so much worse than CDs when being played on a budget turntable and will not sound any better than CDs at all when played on professional turntables.
(c) Potential consumers will likely be non-audiophiles under 50 who focus more on the format than the actual sound quality.
(d) This opportunity is rather easy to exploit since vinyl records are no rocket science and vinyl records are relatively inexpensive to produce （as low as 2000 euros per 1000 records). I think a service that can provide individuals with small-batch custom made vinyl records will be profitable. When the orders are accumulated, prices for mastering and producing will also be more negotiable.
Opportunity 3:
India became the second-largest cellphone producing country.
(a) Global Times, a Chinese newspaper, reported that India became the second-largest cellphone producing country.
(b) The cellphone industry in India mainly serves domestic markets and the market is saturating. So it might be easier to negotiate production contracts with non-major manufacturers for entry-level smartphones.
(c) Customers will mainly be population who can't afford currently available smartphones in third-world countries.
(d) Africa's smartphone penetration rate is only 33%, with more than 60% of the underdeveloped market, it can be profitable.
Opportunity 4:
Michigan stores were left with 14 days before flavored vape get banned.
(a) Michigan became the first state to outlaw flavored vaping products.
(b) Vaping product users will need new healthy entertainment to replace the harmful vaping habit.
(c) People who used to vape
(d) Promoting innovative and fun activities to guide them.
Michigan stores were left with 14 days before flavored vape get banned.
(a) Michigan became the first state to outlaw flavored vaping products.
(b) Vaping product users will need new healthy entertainment to replace the harmful vaping habit.
(c) People who used to vape
(d) Promoting innovative and fun activities to guide them.
Friday, September 13, 2019
5A
1. Florida’s Auditor General focuses on student data protectionhttps://www.gainesville.com/news/20190910/floridas-auditor-general-focuses-on-student-data-protection
Summary: For students at Florida public education system, their SSNs are at risk because too many education employees were given unnecessary access to students' Social Security Numbers. The state is now working on improving students' SSN security.
Problem: Florida students' SSNsare at risk of being stolen.
Who is affected: Students who attend institutions Florida public education system.
2. Vaping-Linked Lung Problems Surface In Floridahttps://health.wusf.usf.edu/post/vaping-linked-lung-problems-surface-florida#stream/0
Summary: vaping associated pulmonary injury has become epidemic in Florida recently, 450 patients from 33 states including were diagnosed with "VAPI" and five died. About a fourth of high school students in Florida reported they have used vaping devices.
Problem: Vaping has caused an epidemic disease nation-wide, and this is a common habit among teenagers in Florida.
Who is affected: Users of vaping devices
3. UF Preview prices broke state law. How are they fixing it?https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-preview-prices-broke-state-law-how-are-they-fixing/article_2daeae4c-d2b6-11e9-9c0c-9fca1017f082.html
Summary: the University of Florida was revealed to overcharge orientation fee for over a decade while limit law set the upper limit to be $35. Although there is a $35 option, the website of UF preview was not able to display that option clearly, causing students to overpay their orientation fee.
Problem: UF is overcharging orientation fee from incoming students.
Who is affected: Students at UF.
4. Miami Beach wants to limit traffic during big events, so it may double parking rateshttps://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article234949117.html
Summary: Commissioners of Miami Beach would conduct a vote on 11th increasing the parking rates up to $50 a day to reduce the occupancy of city-owned parking spaces during "high impact period". The second voting will likely be conducted on the 25th of September.
Problem: Parking costs in Miami Beach will be likely increased during certain events.
Who is affected: anyone who uses public parking lot while in Miami Beach.
5. Phone scammers posing as state’s top law enforcement officers, FDLE warns
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-fdle-phone-scam-20190907-di54smkngjdlxjitfhpwrktibi-story.html
Summary: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement received reports that scammers were utilizing Caller-ID altering techniques to spoof phone numbers of law enforcement officers. Scammers change the caller-ID into publically known numbers such as law enforcement, toll-free numbers or local area code to make targets more likely to answer the phone.
Problem: Scammers are now spoofing numbers of state's top law enforcement officers.
Who is affected: Cellphone users in Florida and Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Summary: For students at Florida public education system, their SSNs are at risk because too many education employees were given unnecessary access to students' Social Security Numbers. The state is now working on improving students' SSN security.
Problem: Florida students' SSNsare at risk of being stolen.
Who is affected: Students who attend institutions Florida public education system.
2. Vaping-Linked Lung Problems Surface In Floridahttps://health.wusf.usf.edu/post/vaping-linked-lung-problems-surface-florida#stream/0
Summary: vaping associated pulmonary injury has become epidemic in Florida recently, 450 patients from 33 states including were diagnosed with "VAPI" and five died. About a fourth of high school students in Florida reported they have used vaping devices.
Problem: Vaping has caused an epidemic disease nation-wide, and this is a common habit among teenagers in Florida.
Who is affected: Users of vaping devices
3. UF Preview prices broke state law. How are they fixing it?https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-preview-prices-broke-state-law-how-are-they-fixing/article_2daeae4c-d2b6-11e9-9c0c-9fca1017f082.html
Summary: the University of Florida was revealed to overcharge orientation fee for over a decade while limit law set the upper limit to be $35. Although there is a $35 option, the website of UF preview was not able to display that option clearly, causing students to overpay their orientation fee.
Problem: UF is overcharging orientation fee from incoming students.
Who is affected: Students at UF.
4. Miami Beach wants to limit traffic during big events, so it may double parking rateshttps://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article234949117.html
Summary: Commissioners of Miami Beach would conduct a vote on 11th increasing the parking rates up to $50 a day to reduce the occupancy of city-owned parking spaces during "high impact period". The second voting will likely be conducted on the 25th of September.
Problem: Parking costs in Miami Beach will be likely increased during certain events.
Who is affected: anyone who uses public parking lot while in Miami Beach.
5. Phone scammers posing as state’s top law enforcement officers, FDLE warns
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-fdle-phone-scam-20190907-di54smkngjdlxjitfhpwrktibi-story.html
Summary: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement received reports that scammers were utilizing Caller-ID altering techniques to spoof phone numbers of law enforcement officers. Scammers change the caller-ID into publically known numbers such as law enforcement, toll-free numbers or local area code to make targets more likely to answer the phone.
Problem: Scammers are now spoofing numbers of state's top law enforcement officers.
Who is affected: Cellphone users in Florida and Florida Department of Law Enforcement
x
Thursday, September 12, 2019
4A
I believe that the market for areca nut replacement exists because there is no such product exist in the market.
In southern Asian countries and southern provinces in China, chewing areca nuts is a widespread habit among people. As it has an energizing effect, areca nuts are very popular and are easily accessible. However, areca nut is carcinogen and major a major cause of oral cancer in Asia. Not only it causes cancer, but it also is highly addictive. Areca nut chewing is often accompanied by a smoking habit which makes it even more dangerous. It also causes public health issue because chewers spit out red-colored areca juice as they chew, this increases the risk of catching tuberculosis among the public, especially for developing countries. In some countries, streets are even constantly covered with dark-red stains.
I selected three potential customers, they are from Mainland China and Taiwan.
questions:
1. What is the exact nature of the need?
2. Do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes?
3. How long have they had the need?
4. When did they first become aware of their need? Why?
5. How are they currently addressing their need?
6. How satisfied are they with this solution?
Customer 1:
Choi, former areca nut chewer. A tourist bus driver from Changhua County, Taiwan
1. "The essential part of this need boils down to removing the areca nut chewing habit from the culture".
2 and 5. "I don't chew areca nuts anymore, but do I believe that this need exists as long as areca nuts are widely used by people from South Asia."
3. "Ever since a friend of mine had difficulties oping his mouth."
4. "I heard that areca nuts are carcinogens from the news over a decade ago."
6. "If I were still chewing areca nuts, I would definitely buy your products."
Customer 2:
Zhang, chews seasoned dry areca nuts (a specialty from Hunan) on a daily basis. A post-doctoral researcher from Changsha, Hunan Province
1. "The nature of this need is reducing the risk of oral cancer."
2. "I always think I need to quit chewing areca nuts, but it is an embedded part of our culture. About 30% of the population in Hunan, including primary school students, chew them and regard it as a tool of socializing."
3 and 4. "Ever since 2003, when areca nuts are classified as a carcinogen."
5. "I always want a replacement that is effective and widely-accepted."
6. "I will purchase such replacement if they are well-accepted and effective."
Customer 3:
Li, chews seasoned dry areca nuts on a daily basis, also sells pre-packaged areca nut products in his convenient store. A small business owner from Yi'ning, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
1. "Perhaps substituting areca nut with gum?"
2. "I don't think I need this, possibility of getting cancer is a vague thing. Smokers can live over a hundred years old. My father smokes a lot, and he is now 89."
3 and 4. "I don't have this need."
5. "I will stock up on them in my store if they ever become popular."
6. "I will not likely to use it."
Although I got mixed opinions from those reviews, I still believe such a market exists. Since the majority of the population of Asia are against chewing areca nuts and are aware that they are a carcinogen, limiting the use of areca nuts will be the trend in the future. More and more areca nut chewers will be exposed to the idea of quitting chewing areca nuts.
In southern Asian countries and southern provinces in China, chewing areca nuts is a widespread habit among people. As it has an energizing effect, areca nuts are very popular and are easily accessible. However, areca nut is carcinogen and major a major cause of oral cancer in Asia. Not only it causes cancer, but it also is highly addictive. Areca nut chewing is often accompanied by a smoking habit which makes it even more dangerous. It also causes public health issue because chewers spit out red-colored areca juice as they chew, this increases the risk of catching tuberculosis among the public, especially for developing countries. In some countries, streets are even constantly covered with dark-red stains.
I selected three potential customers, they are from Mainland China and Taiwan.
questions:
1. What is the exact nature of the need?
2. Do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes?
3. How long have they had the need?
4. When did they first become aware of their need? Why?
5. How are they currently addressing their need?
6. How satisfied are they with this solution?
Customer 1:
Choi, former areca nut chewer. A tourist bus driver from Changhua County, Taiwan
1. "The essential part of this need boils down to removing the areca nut chewing habit from the culture".
2 and 5. "I don't chew areca nuts anymore, but do I believe that this need exists as long as areca nuts are widely used by people from South Asia."
3. "Ever since a friend of mine had difficulties oping his mouth."
4. "I heard that areca nuts are carcinogens from the news over a decade ago."
6. "If I were still chewing areca nuts, I would definitely buy your products."
Customer 2:
Zhang, chews seasoned dry areca nuts (a specialty from Hunan) on a daily basis. A post-doctoral researcher from Changsha, Hunan Province
1. "The nature of this need is reducing the risk of oral cancer."
2. "I always think I need to quit chewing areca nuts, but it is an embedded part of our culture. About 30% of the population in Hunan, including primary school students, chew them and regard it as a tool of socializing."
3 and 4. "Ever since 2003, when areca nuts are classified as a carcinogen."
5. "I always want a replacement that is effective and widely-accepted."
6. "I will purchase such replacement if they are well-accepted and effective."
Customer 3:
Li, chews seasoned dry areca nuts on a daily basis, also sells pre-packaged areca nut products in his convenient store. A small business owner from Yi'ning, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
1. "Perhaps substituting areca nut with gum?"
2. "I don't think I need this, possibility of getting cancer is a vague thing. Smokers can live over a hundred years old. My father smokes a lot, and he is now 89."
3 and 4. "I don't have this need."
5. "I will stock up on them in my store if they ever become popular."
6. "I will not likely to use it."
Although I got mixed opinions from those reviews, I still believe such a market exists. Since the majority of the population of Asia are against chewing areca nuts and are aware that they are a carcinogen, limiting the use of areca nuts will be the trend in the future. More and more areca nut chewers will be exposed to the idea of quitting chewing areca nuts.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
3A – Your Entrepreneurship Story
In June 2019, I went on a trip to Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country, with founders of two large travel agencies in China, and several guests from tourism industry. The main objective of this trip is to find new opportunities for business growth from Kazakhstan's relatively underdeveloped tourism resources.
Travel agencies in China that focus on those popular routes have faced fierce competition these years. Since the industry has become less profitable, some travel agencies have started to dig tourism resources in neighboring countries and planned to extend their trips to these countries.
Kazakhstan is one of those countries. It's adjacent to Xinjiang, an autonomous region of China, and has some spectacular natural sceneries. In order to experience the details of the final product from a tourist's point of view, we have tried to enter Kazakhstan by train, bus, and air; we have tried out a variety of restaurants and hotels that are up to the standard; we have also visited all famous tourist attractions around Almaty. During our trip, Charyn Canyon National Park was the most impressive part for me. Partly because of natural scenery and mainly because of the vision of an entrepreneur, Mr. Tao. As a founder of a large travel agency and an airline, he had substantial experience in tourism industry. Although the scenery was stunning, he pointed out that natural scenery itself is not sufficient to attract Chinese tourists as the majority of Chinese tourists feel more comfortable visiting places with infrastructure and services like skywalks, convenient stores, paved road and stairs, aerial lifts, and helicopter rides. He then preliminarily envisioned a multi-phase investment plan to fund the infrastructure development of the national park. To my surprise, we also had a meeting with Consul General Zhang Wei at the Consulate General of China in Almaty, Zhang has introduced business environment in Greater Almaty Area and showed us several investment cases in other industries.
Overall, I feel that this trip has benefited me a lot, as it was a knowledge-abundant trip. While attending multiple of their decision-making processes, in conference room, during lunch, and even while we were on our way, I absorbed ideas and opinions from people with different backgrounds, professions, and experiences.
Travel agencies in China that focus on those popular routes have faced fierce competition these years. Since the industry has become less profitable, some travel agencies have started to dig tourism resources in neighboring countries and planned to extend their trips to these countries.
Kazakhstan is one of those countries. It's adjacent to Xinjiang, an autonomous region of China, and has some spectacular natural sceneries. In order to experience the details of the final product from a tourist's point of view, we have tried to enter Kazakhstan by train, bus, and air; we have tried out a variety of restaurants and hotels that are up to the standard; we have also visited all famous tourist attractions around Almaty. During our trip, Charyn Canyon National Park was the most impressive part for me. Partly because of natural scenery and mainly because of the vision of an entrepreneur, Mr. Tao. As a founder of a large travel agency and an airline, he had substantial experience in tourism industry. Although the scenery was stunning, he pointed out that natural scenery itself is not sufficient to attract Chinese tourists as the majority of Chinese tourists feel more comfortable visiting places with infrastructure and services like skywalks, convenient stores, paved road and stairs, aerial lifts, and helicopter rides. He then preliminarily envisioned a multi-phase investment plan to fund the infrastructure development of the national park. To my surprise, we also had a meeting with Consul General Zhang Wei at the Consulate General of China in Almaty, Zhang has introduced business environment in Greater Almaty Area and showed us several investment cases in other industries.
Overall, I feel that this trip has benefited me a lot, as it was a knowledge-abundant trip. While attending multiple of their decision-making processes, in conference room, during lunch, and even while we were on our way, I absorbed ideas and opinions from people with different backgrounds, professions, and experiences.
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