10A - Elevator Pitch No. 1

Erin Cox Elevator Pitch No. 1

https://youtu.be/RIcxIJ8Qyus

9A - Testing pt. 2

Who:

1. For my first interview, I talked with a member of sorority life on campus. I pitched my idea to her, she was quick to emphasize that this was a great idea but she lived in her sorority house where they were given meals daily and she felt she would have no use for my app otherwise. 
2. For my second interview, I talked with a member of fraternity life on campus. He is a fifth year and has been through the struggles of needing to cook for himself, he also loved the idea but felt that without a kitchen to work with people may feel that this app could not apply to them. 
3. For my third interview, I talked with a member of my family who has his own family now, runs a business, and has an educational background. He explained to me that if I wanted to do a better job at marketing this application and have a broader range of people I would have to go beyond just food. The idea of having products at hand with the best price possibility could be more applicable to household items as well not just food. 
4. For my fourth interview, I talked to a first year student on campus who lived within the dorms and had a meal plan. She was quick to explain just how bad the meal plan was for her and that she would much rather have an application like this. The only negative was that buying and storing all of these ingredients would be very difficult for her and the amount of work needed just to make one meal would be too much of a hassle. 
5. For my fifth interview, I talked with a random woman that I happened to run into whilst at publix, she explained that she had two daughters and cooked every night. She understood why I believed that this application could apply to college students but felt that instead, the majority of people that I could market this too should be more well established families. Those who are able to have more time to sit and cook meals for their family and go out and purchase all that is needed for the meal. 

What:

What I found after conducting these five interviews is that the application that I have created may have a better function outside of the college setting. My is to create an app that allows for recipes, ingredients, and costs to be at the tips of the college student populations fingertips. Although with the possibility of meal plans, time availability, and simply smart marketing it may work best to have it apply to not only college students but to those who need more assistance in cooking as well. 

Why:

This is due to the fact that some people simply are not able to have this application apply to their life. Some college students have meal plans, don’t have the time, or don’t have the resources to cook for themselves every night. A better idea may be to simply advertise it outside of the college setting. 

Inside the Boundary:

Who is in: College students who have the means and resources to be able to cook for themselves every night.

What the need is: An app that is able to help college students cook for themselves and sustain a healthy lifestyle. 

Why the need exists: The need exists because not everyone knows how to cook or even where to begin, and with the time constraints within college it can be difficult to know where to begin. 

Outside the Boundary:

Who is not: Students who are not in need of cooking help, or simply do not have the resources to sustain that sort of lifestyle. 

What the need is not: An app that can eliminate the work put into cooking a meal for oneself.

Alternative explanations: Some students have a meal plan, some students already know how to cook and have a good understanding of the process, and those who feel they are able to sustain themselves without the application. 

8A - Solving The Problem

Implementing the Application

The idea I have created and would likely implement would be an app that allows students to cook for themselves easily. We as college students are thrown into this sick game we like to call life, without any idea as to what we have in store. Growing up I was lucky enough to have meals ready for me every night by my mother, then coming into college I was able to start off with a meal plan. It was only until I was in my own very first apartment did I realize how little I really knew about cooking and making meals for myself and others. With all of our other time consuming tasks our diet and mental health often gets placed on the back burner. Within my app I would like to make it very visually based, easy to read, big categories, and simply terminology. Within each category of Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snack, I would create subcategories each with recipes of different meals that can easily be prepared. It would also contain an ingredients list needed for each meal as well as where to purchase the most cost efficient items. Along with that it can also contain healthy tips as well as nutritional facts and calorie counters. Having this right on our phones would make things so much easier, almost all college students own an internet devices of some sort making it easy to access.

7A - Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Opportunity: The ability for college students to find affordable ingredients and recipes for creating and cooking their own food is very difficult. This is due to the time constraint students have with school work, extra curriculars, and social life; making it very difficult to find the time to make their own healthy and affordable food. 

The Who: College Students across the U.S. 

The What: Learning, Making, and Purchasing affordable and healthy meals 

The Why: Due to other time constraints including, school work, extra curriculars, and social life. 

Hypothesis: I believe that by implementing an app that curates and has ingredients, recipes, health tips etc. for college students that students health, mental health, and grades would be greatly improved.

Testing the Who: We will be testing the students who currently attend the University of Florida. This opportunity can also be seen as effective for those who struggle with cooking and grocery shopping, but for now it seems most prominent in college students' lives.  

Testing the What: We will be testing the ability of the application. If having the ability to have recipes, the ingredients needed and where to purchase the most cost efficient ingredients at the tips of students fingers, will that improve their eating habits and lifestyle. In the end will it improve their school work, and everyday health, while also keeping their bank accounts in the green !

Testing the Why: We will be testing whether or not the outcome of the application would be more effective than not having it at all. We will need to see evidence that their are beneficial improvements due to the implication of the app in students everyday lives. Not only that but we will need to know if this app is something that they want! It's one thing to attempt to market a product to consumers who want it, it's another to try and sell something to a less significant crowd, we will be seeing why and if they want it.  

Interviews: 

1.  The first person I chose to interview was my roomate Sami. I started off by questioning her about her eating habits and how she feels her diet is affecting her everyday life. She went on to explain that she often finds herself eating in stages, where she will try to eat healthy, end up not being able to sustain the diet or the cost of healthy food, then binging unhealthy food, not wanting to eat, and then trying all over again. This is leading to her having days where she feels low or lacking in energy and other days where she feels hungry or hasn’t satisfied herself, she also went on to explain how she then feels like it is hurting her mental state because she doesn't feel good about herself and what she's eating. I then asked her about who she feels is most affected by this situation, expecting most simply that she would say college students, Sami went on to explain that those most affected by this would be people who have never cooked before and often feel like they have no time to cook for themselves. 
2. The next person I decided to interview was my mother. Growing up I always had my mother making me dinner every night so I knew that she would have some great input on the subject. I began by asking her if she felt college students were able to sufficiently create meals for themselves. She stated that she felt students who have never been introduced to cooking before would have a hard time knowing exactly what to cook. She knew the disadvantages of not having a well balanced diet and taking care of yourself and explained that she felt without sufficient help that students would not be able to take care of themselves properly, going back to her first hand experience as a college student living off of ramen. She felt that this application would be very beneficial and help those in need.
3. For my third interview I decided to work with a graduate student, a girl who had been in my sorority and lived on campus at the University of Florida for four years. She took the interview very seriously and was intrigued with my opportunity. She explained that it is often times very hard to sit back and watch yourself eating unhealthy knowing the detriments that it can have on your everyday life but that finding the time and energy to learn how to do it all on your own seems far worse. It's difficult to admit out loud but humans are lazy, and she knew that this application would help to benefit kids all over the U.S. struggling to find ways to feed themselves. She stated that an application like this would especially benefit those who are not involved in greek life or have a meal plan because they are solely on their own when it comes to finding meals. 
4. The fourth person I chose to interview was a boy within a fraternity here on campus. Andrew began by stating a typical stereotype, he feels its often times slightly more difficult for guys to learn how to cook for themselves. He then continued by explaining that he felt the pressure of his lives all at once and that the idea of spending his own time learning how to cook was simply not in his best interest. After hearing that I wondered what he would do if it was simply much easier than that, and would he want to know and cook for himself if it wasn’t so time consuming. He then explained that it would be awesome if that were possible, he would be able to cook for himself, his girlfriend, and also impress his friends with his new skills. 
5. Finally the last person I decided to interview was my sister Kelsey. Kelsey just graduated with her masters and is constantly posting all the food that she makes for herself and her boyfriend on her social media. I started the interview by asking when she first started cooking such great meals for herself. She explained that it took her some time, learning how to cook over time is a slow process but you start to get the hang of it. She explained how when she ran cross country in college they fed her really well and she depended on that to keep her body at its physical peak but knows just how difficult it is trying to learn how to cook for yourself and others. When she entered her masters program she no longer relied on sports to feed her but she knew she didn’t want to go back to eating unhealthy. Without proper explanation and learning tools it can be so hard for college students to figure out how and what to make, she told me.

What I now know: After taking the time to go more in depth about my opportunity I was able to learn just how important it is to fuel your body and how much it takes a toll on people's mental health. Most often we believe that we can get away with eating just to feel full, but having a proper diet means so much more. Without other resources to feed students, they are left on their own and with an application like the one I am suggesting they will be able to get the help they need on their own time and within their own means. 

6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Economic opportunity #1 

• Oil prices are hurting us economy
• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/business/economy/oil-prices.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FUnited%20States%20Economy&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection
• To begin I found this information on a regularly used very popular news outlet, the New York Times. I was led to believe that an opportunity existed due to the fact that gas issues have been around for quite some time, and truthfully there have been people attempting to discover a better alternative for years. Oil has turned into an empire and is one of the pillars that holds up our economy and our working world, and yet it’s supply is finite. There is that ever daunting question of what the world would do when the day comes where we run out of our beloved fossil fuels. Although, before we reach that point, how much will our environment have suffered for our constant abuse of these gases? I believe that we have the opportunity to create a better working system of energy, and yes it will take time but in the long run it could help lead us to a better world. The prototypical customer would be everyone. Everyone is affected by fossil fuels and oil companies, by doing this we would be able to touch almost everyone across the country and across the world, making marketing and exploiting this opportunity that much easier. Although it may take some time convincing people, and allowing them to change from a long habit, this opportunity could easily be introduced world wide. I personally saw this opportunity because I can understand how difficult it is to deal with these gas prices. I have always tried to be very conservative with my gas and I understand the toll it takes on the environment and my bank account.

Economic opportunity #2 

• E- cigarettes are taking a big hit

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/business/this-week-in-business-e-cigarettes-take-a-hit-and-gig-workers-get-good-news.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FUnited%20States%20Economy&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection
• I was able to find this opportunity through the New York Times, and was led to believe that there was an opportunity here due to the amount of publicity that the E-cigarette company is taking. I believe that E-Cigarettes are horrible, but can also understand that it is an addiction and some people need help weaning off of them. Therefore I believe the prototypical customer for an alternative, non addictive, and healthier device would be previous nicotine addicts. I believe that an opportunity for a healthier, not addictive alternative would be relatively easy to market and exploit. This is due to the fact that the idea of banning this product and reducing the consumers for it is already on a roll, therefore introducing an alternative would get a lot of publicity. I personally was able to find this as an opportunity due to the first hand experience with those who are addicted to them. I was never one for nicotine, but I have experienced plenty of people and friends who are seemingly dependent on them, I know the toll it takes on people and I would want to do anything I could to try and get them as far away from the general public as possible.  

Regulatory opportunity #1

• Facebook bans plastic water bottles in new offices 
• https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/tech/facebook-plastic-water-bottles-offices/index.html
• I took this opportunity from another very well known and trustworthy news outlet, CNN. I was able to see an opportunity due to the fact that Facebook is an incredibly powerful company enforcing an incredibly controversial rule. In today’s world the idea of climate change and bettering our usage of man made materials is very prominent. Here there is an opportunity to make it so people who participate in such actions can be rewarded in some way. I know the influence of those who are ready and willing to change our environment and our planet for the better and as for Facebook, it provides us the perfect platform for marketing and exploiting said opportunity. The most obvious prototypical customer would be those who are Facebook users. It would be so simple to have them be apart of our opportunity and influence those who are apart of their company and apart of facebook itself. I was able to see this opportunity because I myself want to do whatever it takes to help save the environment, along with that having such an influential company already regulating their own employees and offices would help to jumpstart the marketing and possibly have them as a partner within the creation of the opportunity.  

Regulatory opportunity #2

• Will Bank Overdraft Fees Spread Again? Consumer Agency Is Reviewing the Rule

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/your-money/bank-overdraft-fees-consumer.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FFinancial%20Legal%2FRegulatory&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection
• Again I was able to find this regulatory opportunity on the popular news outlet of the New York Times. Often I tend to dismiss the little things in life, such as things I can’t possibly control or feel out of my hands, but here I have come to realize that this affects the general public more than it would affect the business itself. Here we are able to see that overdraft fees are becoming greater and impacting more and more people, therefore there is a greater negative outlook on this situation than there is positive. By having people rally against it we would be able to gain more support on a less expensive alternative than a support for simply fixing and attempting to trust these banks again. The most obvious customer would be those who have banks and are affected by overdraft fees. Although very impactful we might have a slightly more difficult time exploiting and handling this situation due to the outrage possibility from the bank companies themselves. They are so large and monopolize a vast majority of banks all over the world that getting them to back away easily would be difficult. In the end, I believe that there is still a possibility to be found here because the pressure from the general public will only increase and the want to have less fees will outweigh them. 

5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

1. 4 News Gainesville

Title: Publix Doesn’t Want Its Customers to Openly Carry Guns in Stores

Link:https://mycbs4.com/news/local/publix-doesnt-want-its-customers-to-openly-carry-guns-in-stores

Description of the story, in your own words: After the attack on one of Florida’s very own high schools, Parkland in 2018, Publix has joined the movement against openly carrying firearms. They have recently released a statement that says they request to only have law enforcement officers be allowed to openly carry firearms. 

Description of the problem present in the story: The problem within the story is the fear of having a firearm within such a public common area. So many people across the nation are living in fear of these weapons and so many are pushing in favor of removing guns. This is just one step in the prevention of a catastrophe. 

A description of who has the problem: The problem is relevant to Publix. Previously the store had been in support of the NRA, but is now dealing with adversity and the fear of public safety. It is solely on them to prevent a possible occurrence and to keep their customers safe. 

2. The Gainesville Sun 

Title: Health: Step it up? In the battle of fitness trackers, the most steps might not win 

Link:https://www.gainesville.com/lifestyle/20190905/health-step-it-up-in-battle-of-fitness-trackers-most-steps-might-not-win

Description of the story, in your own words: Within the US people all over the country have engaged in a rather incredible feat.. steps. The world has been changed by Fitness trackers, which daily, track the amount of steps you take. This helps to get people moving and up off the couch to reach the goal of a set 10,000 steps. Though, it has been found that this 10,000 step goal is anything but set, and the amount of steps a person should take is relative to their individual needs and goals. 

Description of the problem present in the story: There is a set goal of 10,000 steps, but in reality it is seemingly not natural that everyone needs to reach that goal, and often may not benefit them as much as they had previously thought. 

A description of who has the problem: This problem is simply for those who produce these fitness trackers. They should have better explained that each person needs their own relative goals and to be careful with what they are doing. 

3. The Gainesville Sun 

Title: Florida elementary school kids sent to ER after eating weed candy 

Link:https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190910/florida-elementary-school-kids-sent-to-er-after-eating-weed-candy

Description of the story, in your own words: Nine students aged 10-12 were sent to the hospital on Friday after they had accidentally taken weed laced candy. An unknowing student brought a package of gummies to school thinking that they were simply normal candies when he shared them with a few of his classmates. The students complained of having stomach pains and were sent to the hospital for observations. 

Description of the problem present in the story: The problem within the story is how easily it was for these kids to assume that these drugs were simply just regular candy. In today's society it is so easy for kids to mix these things up simply because of how predominant the culture is. If they were able to better regulate drugs and the candies they would have known better than to bring these candies to school. 

A description of who has the problem: This problem is relevant to those in the weed industry. The marketing of these drugs is being made to target younger souls, and if they want to avoid something like this they need to take into consideration having their product regulated or advised better. 

4. the independent florida Alligator 

Title: How to combat mental health stigmas 

Link:https://www.alligator.org/opinion/how-to-combat-mental-health-stigmas/article_452d6e8c-d43c-11e9-83c2-43681b56d5c7.html?block_id=1494496

Description of the story, in your own words: Over time the idea of what it means to address and take action on one's mental health has become skewed. We often believe that it may be something that leads to you being thrown into a scary mental institution but in reality the truth behind mental health and how to combat these predisposed ideas is to treat it as you would any other illness. 

Description of the problem present in the story: The problem within the story is that too many people are trapped in the mind frame that mental health is exactly how it used to be. A disease no one understood and was treated very poorly. Today mental health has grown into an incredible field and there is so much we can do to better ourselves and others. 

A description of who has the problem: The problem remains for those who are stuck with a negative stigma on mental health. If we are able to help those people see how far this field has come there would no longer be such a negative outlook on it and people wouldn’t have to feel like it was such a struggle, rather a natural occurrence to which they can seek treatment for. 

5. The independent florida Alligator

Title: Students and activists make posters ahead of blue light protest on Fraternity Row

Link:https://www.alligator.org/news/students-and-activists-make-posters-ahead-of-blue-light-protest/article_6c882e9c-d4e9-11e9-a8c9-83afa3c1f69c.html

Description of the story, in your own words: People from within our own university, sante fe, and concerced people of the community are joining together in protest of the lack of blue lights on fraternity row. As sexual assault and the protection of men and women against sexual assault grows the demand for safety rises. Many people are concerned at the fact that frat row is the only place on campus without the safety blue lights

Description of the problem in the story: The problem within the story is the lack of safety in one of the most trafficked areas on campus. In case of an emergency there would be no where for someone to turn if they needed a blue light. 

A description of who has the problem: The university itself has the problem. They should be keeping the safety of the students at number one priority. With the knowledge we now have as to how prominent sexual assault is, blue lights should be everywhere on campus, especially near frat row due to the amount of students who are near this area. 

4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief

Opportunity and Belief:

An unmet need that I have found to be very prominent in almost every college students life is food; the purchasing of food, preparing of food, cooking of food, and the consumption of food. When I first entered college my parents had purchased me a meal plan, but the food served was not always what I wanted, and to be quite honest was not very good for the price my family was paying for the plan. Going into my sophomore year, I knew I would not be receiving a meal plan, but would rather be cooking for myself in my apartment kitchen. It sounded so simple in theory, and I had always watched my mother cook my family dinner each night so it should be easy, right? Wrong. Having to come up with meals, obtain all the ingredients I would need, and then attempting to cook the meal was time consuming and frankly a bit confusing for someone who has never cooked before. 

My idea is to create an application for college students, or first timers in general, to have pre made recipes, lists of ingredients, the cheapest products, calorie counters, etc. all bundles up into one! This would allow for hungry students to meal prep for an entire week in a matter of minutes, they could select from the categories of breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Within each recipe would be the list of ingredients needed to create the meal and where to purchase each ingredient, along with the most cost efficient version of the product, therefore the user is able to save money as well. This need is always in demand, every year more and more kids are left eating boxed ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because they don’t have the time to learn how to cook for themselves, or simply don’t know where to begin. I would be confident in saying that there is about an 80% chance that this opportunity exists in the real world, and could be developed to help people in need all over the country. 

Prototypical Customer:

For the typical custom I interviewed three college students who experience the same sort of issue on a day to day basis. 

Interview No 1:

Name: Jessica Reinhart

Age: 19

Enrollment: University Of Florida Undergrad and Innovation Academy 

Major: Psychology 

Question: How many times a day would you say you eat a full meal ?

Answer: Honestly I’d say I eat an average of two full meals a day

Question: Do you find it difficult to find inspiration, or recipes to cook for yourself ? 

Answer: I don’t know too many different recipes so I find myself cooking the same sort of stuff over and over 

Question: When shopping for ingredients do you often feel confused or unsure if what you are purchasing is the most cost effective ?

Answer: Yes, I don’t know any better really 

Question: Do you ever wish there was an easier alternative to the way you are cooking now ?

Answer: Yes for sure 

Interview No 2:

Name: Eliza Cumella 

Age: 19

Enrollment: University of Florida Undergrad

Major: Business  

Question: How many times a day would you say you eat a full meal ?

Answer: I try to eat at least 3 meals a day, sometimes I will only get around to eating 2, but I try to eat as healthy as possible and that starts with having 3 meals a day. 

Question: Do you find it difficult to find inspiration, or recipes to cook for yourself ? 

Answer: Very much so, I try to eat very organic or even vegan because it’s just so much better for you, but that normally makes it pretty difficult to make normal recipes for myself. 

Question: When shopping for ingredients do you often feel confused or unsure if what you are purchasing is the most cost effective ?

Answer: Always. Eating healthy means that everything is way more expensive, I also honestly have a difficult time figuring out if the price of something is normal or too expensive, it's hard to know when you have nothing to compare it to. I’ll often just buy it because it’s right there and I need it anyways. 

Question: Do you ever wish there was an easier alternative to the way you are cooking now ?

Answer: I haven't put much thought into it, but if there were an easier way I would definitely look into it because right now it isn’t all that easy. 

Interview No 3:

Name: Andrew Pedroff 

Age: 19

Enrollment: University of Florida

Major: Biology 

Question: How many times a day would you say you eat a full meal ?

Answer: I’m not sure honestly I don’t cook for myself very much but I’d say at least two full meals a day.

Question: Do you find it difficult to find inspiration, or recipes to cook for yourself ? 

Answer: Yes, I’ve never learned how to cook so I wouldn’t really know where to start. 

Question: When shopping for ingredients do you often feel confused or unsure if what you are purchasing is the most cost effective ?

Answer: Absolutely, I have no idea what I am looking for half the time, I normally just guess and hope it’s right. 

Question: Do you ever wish there was an easier alternative to the way you are cooking now ?

Answer: Yes. 

Reflection:

What I learned about my opportunity is the health benefits that it may have on so many people. Eating balanced meals 3 times a day is so detrimental to a person’s overall health, especially that of a college student. During this time period, as humans, our brains and bodies are growing immensely and the best way to fuel them is with a proper diet. With this app it would not only help improve students overall health but their performance in school can also benefit from this. The most surprising thing I heard was how eager people were to actually learning how to cook and bettering their food habits. Who doesn’t want to eat great food ??

Summarize:

How much of your original opportunity is still there?

I believe that my original opportunity still remains. There is so much to grow from as well but since interviewing these three people I was able to find the support that I needed to ensure that this opportunity does in fact impact a large sum of students. 

Do you believe that your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started?

I believe that I have been able to narrow down what precisely would be needed within the app to ensure that students are getting the best out of it. They have been able to more adequately explain what they need and why they need it, instead of me just using my own previously knowledge I know have been able to see the perspective of others on the topic. 

How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback? (In other words, is there a trade-off between adapting and staying firm?)

I think that entrepreneurs should absolutely adapt their opportunities based upon their customer feedback, in the end that is who we are marketing to, and who is going to be purchasing what we are marketing. If they find that it would work better one way rather than the other we should listen and try to adjust to meet everyone's needs, because we are simply not all the same.