Logan Russell's Identifying Local Opportunities

1.    Article Name: Broward business leaders to address homeless issues in new initiative

Article Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-broward-job-creation-20180517-story.html

Article Description: Essentially, a group of business leaders in the Broward County area have banded together to address the looming homeless problem by committing themselves to creating permanent housing and opportunities for homeless/disabled individuals. They will begin fundraising efforts once enough planning has been done with the county in regard to how most effectively solve the homelessness problem. All of the leaders are popular employers in the county and are looking to further their prominence by creating programs for these individuals. Description of Problem: The problem is the ever-increasing homeless population in the Broward County area, and how to best combat that.
Who has the Problem:Well obviously the homeless people have a problem, which is being homeless. The businesses also share this problem, as the homeless population discourages customers and makes the area overall a less desirable place for one to spend their money. 

2.    Article Name: Candidates say NAFTA hurts Fla. farmers - 'Unfair' trade practices a top concern
Article Link:http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/16C39E826E3FCC48?p=WORLDNEWS
Article Description: The article discusses the impact the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, has on state farmers. The current Agriculture Commissioner of Florida is stepping down, leading to different candidates with different political leanings, but all of them can agree that NAFTA has to be at least retooled to accommodate Florida farmers. Some candidates want to altogether withdraw from the agreement, while others want to only make changes.
Description of Problem: The problem lies within NAFTA, which according to the article, 

Creates unfair trade for Florida farmers. The constraints, the article implies, would eventually wipe out Florida’s agribusiness. 

Who has the Problem:The farmers have the problem, as NAFTA will eventually phase out their business. The Florida agriculture business as a whole has the problem for the same reason. And the consumer has the problem, as they will no longer have access to local produce. 

3.    Article Name: Algae problems hurt local businesses
Article Link:http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/87859643-132.html
Article Description: The article, or in this case the video, discuss the negative impact of the algae bloom in Martin county on businesses. The video explains that businesses that rely on maritime related activities, such as bait and tackle shops, are being threated by the algae. Boaters don’t want to go on the water because the algae is so pervasive, and thusly these businesses are suffering. There is a disaster relief program that is providing loans to these threatened businesses, but it is only a temporary solution to a long term problem.
Description of Problem: The problem is the lack of business certain companies are receiving due to a dangerous algae bloom in Martin County; if nothing drastic is done, the companies will go out of business.
Who has the Problem: Well for starters the business owners who rely on maritime activity are the ones who are most concerned by this problem, as their businesses are on the line. Those who shop as said businesses have the problem, as if the businesses go under they will have to make new arrangements. The environment as a whole has the problem, of course due to the algae. 

4.    Article Name: Waves, rough surf causing problems for swimmers, businesses, coastline
Article Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/96100126-132.html
Article Description: According to the article video, the rough coastline closed many beaches around the time the article was published, meaning that businesses who were based on beachfronts were forced to close and suffer loss of income. Beachgoers cant shop and enjoy the beach, the coastline gets ravaged by the elements, and the businesses suffer worst of all.
Description of Problem: The problem is the rough surf closing down the beach, which is negatively impacting beaches along coasts in South Florida.
Who has the Problem: Well as I mentioned above, the beachgoers suffer because the beaches are all closed because of the surf and inclement weather. The coastline as a whole gets destroyed because the surf and the weather wrecks the area around it, requiring extensive maintenance to restore it. And lastly the businesses suffer for both of the reasons mentioned before. 

5.     Article Name: Officials identify cause of Flagler Bridge malfunctions in Palm BeachArticle Link: https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/local/officials-identify-cause-flagler-bridge-malfunctions-palm-beach/nj6wMG2Eoa6isf3kF6PaJN/Article Description: The article discusses how recently the bridge connecting West Palm Beach to Palm Beach Island has been staling and malfunctioning, inconveniencing hundreds of people. The article discusses how the problem has been officially attributed to the software that controls the bridge, which will be immediately improved and reconfigured. Description of Problem: The problem is the bridge malfunctioning and how it has the potential to leave people trapped for great periods of time.Who has the Problem: Well obviously this problem isn’t limited to anyone in particular; literally anyone trying to cross the bridge is negatively affected by this. It is worth noting that businesses relying on deliveries that are made late by the bridge are also negatively affected.

Logan Russell’s Forming an Opportunity Belief

1.    Beginning Point- I often find that when I am walking my dogs, I struggle to hold onto all of my stuff. Between holding the leashes of two dogs, the bags I have to carry for their business, my phone, wallet, keys and so on, there is a lot to be responsible for. I think attaching a bag to a leash for some of those miscellaneous items would alleviate the burden of having to look after so much at once.

2.    Belief Description- The unmet need is that some people need more storage space for stuff while they are walking their dogs and they do not have it. People who would have this need includes men and women who are walking their dogs in clothing without any pockets, or just anyone who feels burdened by having to look after their things and their dogs. This need I would say is fairly new, as we now live in an age where practically no one is ever without their cell phone, so that’s something people always have to look after. Combine that with the wallet and keys and you’ve got a real problem on your hands, or not on your hands (pun fully intended). People are meeting this need by trying their best to keep track of their belongings whilst walking their dogs through normal means, like shoving stuff into their pockets or waistbands, or trying to keep it all in the clutch of their grasp without dropping everything. As someone with two dogs who has personally struggled keeping all of their stuff together while being dragged around, I can attest to how greatly this opportunity exists. 

3.    Customer Identification- I was lucky enough to have visited home fairly recently, and to test the plausibility of this belief, I stood in front of a Petco and discussed their interest in the advent of such a product. 

4.    Iteration No. 1- The first woman I spoke to, an older woman who was picking up her Pomeranian from a grooming, was very adamant about using such a product should it ever exist. She told me how when she walks her dog in dresses how she always had to leave her belongings at home because there was never anywhere to put them. She told me how she would miss calls and how frustrated it made her. Me bringing up this opportunity to her made her realize how long she had been dealing with the issue; honestly, I was kind of shocked about how passionate she got when explaining her frustration. She first encountered the problem when she first started bringing the aforementioned items with her on her walks, and eventually came to the conclusion that she had to leave everything at home if she was walking without any pockets. She solves the problem by just leaving all of her stuff at home, but she wasn’t happy with the solution as she was concerned about missing important phone calls and the like.

Iteration No. 2- I next spoke to a younger gentleman who was leaving the store with food for his dog back home. When I spoke to him about the leash idea, he believed that the idea was strong and had its merits, but he also thought it wouldn’t directly benefit him. He, like most guys, wears pants with a sufficient number of pockets that could accommodate anything he might possibly bring on a walk with his dog. He admitted that while he personally never had or would have the need for a leash with a bag, the idea itself could be especially beneficial to women, as they sometimes wear clothing without pockets, making carrying the items a hassle. This corroborated the feedback I received from the first interaction I had. Even though I couldn’t go through the line of questioning the assignment requested for these interviews because of this gentleman’s lack of wanting such an item, I found his insight intriguing and significant nevertheless, and so I felt it was necessary to include it. 

Iteration No. 3- The final person I spoke to was a woman who was leaving the store with her Labrador retriever. When I discussed the leash idea with her, she responded with similar enthusiasm compared to my first interviewee. She talked specifically about how she often runs with her dog, and prefers to wear yoga pants during these excursions. She told me while some of her yoga pants have pockets, they never have enough space for all of her belongings she would like to bring because the pants are skintight. She had had the problem ever since she started running with her dog, which was only recently. This is a problem she experienced consistently due to her workout routine with her dog. Like the first woman, she is forced to leave important things like her phone behind or tuck it in her waistband, which gets uncomfortable because of the running. She is not satisfied with this, and hopes to find something similar to what we discussed together. 

5.    Reflect- The major takeaway from the three interviews I conducted was that the problem I am looking to solve exists outside of my personal beliefs and a beneficial solution has not yet been attained. Also, definitely worth noting is that these interviews taught me that this product should be geared specifically toward women. Like I mentioned earlier when it came up in the interviews, sometimes women walk their dogs in clothing without pockets, so where does all the stuff go? They are the target audience for an idea like mine. I guess you could say that was also the most surprising thing, because even though the one guy I spoke to thought the idea was strong, I was taken aback by his certainty that he would never need such a product. 

6.    Summary- The interviews I conducted didn’t really change the overall structure of my idea; I still believe that what it is currently solves a problem endured by many. I didn’t receive any feedback so incredibly earthshattering that I needed to rethink my entire idea. The interviews definitely helped me make the opportunity more accurate by making me realize whom it would best benefit. I personally believe that a product should be responsive to customer feedback, but at the same time also remain what it is at its core. An example of this I am quite fond of is “New Coke.” When Coke and Pepsi were neck and neck in competing for supremacy in the soft drink industry, Coke revealed “New Coke,” a Coke product that tasted like Pepsi, to try to get a leg up. It is notorious for being one of the biggest campaign blunders in food history, and proves that being responsive to feedback only works if what makes the product what it is essentially still remains unchanged. 

Logan Russell's Entrepreneurship Story

Logan Russell’s Entrepreneurship Story

            My family has this tradition where we bake homemade pumpkin bread for our teachers as a sign of appreciation. Quite literally for generations, this tradition has been honored, using a family recipe so secret no one outside the family knows it. So during my sophomore year of high school around Thanksgiving, I was giving out the loaves to my teachers, and I had one left over. I was going to eat it, but then one of my friends came up to me, saw the pumpkin bread and said “Jeez that looks really good! I’ll give you $5 for it!” I took his money and he took the bread. I had realized now that there was a market for this bread that I had the potential to dominate. So that night I went home and made dozens of loaves of pumpkin bread with the intention to sell them to my peers. That next day I brought the loaves to school and sold out before lunchtime. It became clear to my mother what I was doing, as I was too stupid to be discrete. She was upset I was using a family tradition for profit, which I understood entirely. That weekend, I used the money I earned and bought her a necklace from Macy’s. Eventually things smoothed over. I would say that is the first real instance in which I saw and entrepreneurial opportunity and went for it. 

(While this is not actually a photo of my family’s pumpkin bread, I found the resemblance uncanny!)

I signed up for this class because I wanted to challenge myself. I am an Innovation Academy student, so this class was required, but I didn’t necessarily have to take it right now. I made the choice to because I decided that I was going to take courses that challenge me this summer, but not in the traditional sense. For example, I am also taking Intro to Public Speaking this semester, not because I need to, but because have trouble speaking publically; I get anxious and tense up. The same reasoning can be applied for this class. So much of business relies on interaction with other people, so I figured where better to hone that skill than in a class like this? I am already excited to see how much I can learn and improve upon myself through this class, and I’m keeping an open mind for what’s to come!

Logan Russell's Bug List

Logan Russell’s Bug List

#1 I live in a gated community and in order to get in there is a machine that scans a barcode that is pasted to your window. This machine often cannot or does not scan the barcode, which means I get trapped in front of a line of angry cars thinking I’m in the wrong lane. Sure I get through eventually, but it is a huge hassle and causes me a great deal of stress. Why?I’m pretty sure the machine is just faulty, as I constantly see guys opening it up and fiddling with its wiring and such.

#2 Sometimes I will tie my shoes really, really tight, and then when I try to undo the tie, the laces turn into the most frustrating and impossible to solve knot. I will literally spend days trying to wiggle my fat fingers into the knot hoping that a miracle happens, but alas, it rarely ever does. Why?Well obviously it has something to do with how I’m tying my knots. Apparently there’s just something wrong with my technique; there is no one to blame but myself. 

#3 Something that absolutely unnerves me is the UF Wi-Fi. It is hardly ever consistent, meaning if you move around campus even a little ways, you are likely to lose your connection, and getting it back can be a huge challenge. Why?I would definitely attribute this to the overwhelmingly large volume of people using it at once; it must have trouble accommodating the population. 

#4 Something that really bugs me is when I am driving in the rain, which is often considering I live in South Florida, I find that breaking and turning are incredibly hard for my car. Like my car will sometimes not even break at stop lights or signs and the car somewhat buckles when making a turn. Why?Well the roads getting slick most likely have something to do with it; I’m sure breaking in particular is effected by this. And my car most likely needs to get looked at too, which is bizarre considering it’s a newer model.

#5 I often make myself eggs in the morning, and when I do this I frequently find that, even when using “nonstick” pans, there is a gratuitous amount of hard to clean residue left behind. Now I always use butter or Pam to coat the pan as an extra precaution, but even then the problem remains; it takes time out of my morning and is just a hassle plain and simple.Why? It could just be the product not being able to deliver on its promise, and if that is the case then there is something seriously wrong with the pan brand I use. I am more inclined to believe that the repeated use of the pan makes the nonstick less effective. 

#6 I often keep pens inside of my pockets just to have them on me, and what almost always ends up happening is somehow the business side of the pen will bleed all over my pants from the inside of my pocket, totally ruining my pants. I cannot exaggerate to you how many pants I have ruined due to massive ink spots. Why? Well obviously by putting the pens in my pocket I automatically run the risk of this happening, so I have to take some of the responsibility for it. But I would like to focus on the design of the pens I most frequently use; they have those ends that you click to let the pen side out, so I guess me moving around somehow activates that. 

#7 It seems that half of the time I make toast, it comes out burnt. This is frustrating because the toast is always in there for the same amount of time, so its totally random whether or not the toast will end up burnt or ok. Why? It must have something to do with the toaster obviously, but I cannot seem to understand what it is specifically. It could have something to do with how the bread itself is placed inside of the toaster. 

#8 Sometimes I’ll be on my computer and it will totally freeze up and I will have to restart it and then for some reason the computer’s internal clock will reset, which requires me to have to fix that and it ends up being a massive hassle. Why? It could be because my computer is an older model, or because I probably don’t treat it as delicately as I should, but I would like to think its more of the first option. 

#9 What really sets me off is when I’m standing in line at fast food restaurants and the person at the front at the line places their order, and then at the very last second, decides to scrap their order and start all over again. Or similarly when someone can’t make a decision picking an item and needs allof the options explained to them. Why?I honestly wish I knew. Maybe its just that certain people lack common sense. Maybe it’s because some people are genuinely unaware and need to be informed. 

#10 Sometimes when in a movie or watching some sort of performance, somebody in the middle of the row of seats I’m sitting in will get up at a very inopportune time and walk to the end of the row, past me, to excuse themselves. This is an issue for me because having to adjust myself so somebody can pass by really takes me out of the experience I am immersed in. Why? Now obviously there is no singular reason why people leave their seats during shows, and granted some people have to deal with genuine emergencies, but I can confidently say that the majority of people simply didn’t have the foresight to relieve themselves before the performance or during the intermission if that applies. 

#11 When I get books that have been used by other people, particularly textbooks and the like, and I see that they are all marked up it really grinds my gears. This is due to the fact that because the book is so marked I can either not read some of the contents or my eyes are totally distracted all the underlining and highlighting that I miss pertinent information. Why?Well the problem exists because I came into possession of a book somebody else decided to thoroughly mark up.

#12 I find that with certain shoes, even when wearing socks, I seem to get massive and painful blisters on the backs of my heels. Whether it be sneakers, loafers, or anything in between, the blisters persist. Why?I could see how not wearing socks would be a likely reason why this problem occurs, but that is called into question when I get blisters while wearing socks. The only other thing I could imagine being the problem is that the shoe is too tight against my foot. 

#13 I live on campus in Beaty Towers and the elevators in there, which are the primary method of moving between floors since there are 14 them, are always breaking down. They will stall between floors, not respond to the floor they are requested to, and sometimes will just freeze up on the lobby for days at a time. It disrupts peoples’ daily commute, especially those that live on the 14^thfloor, a group I am happy to say I am not a member of. Why? The elevators are as old as the building itself, and its problems could easily be attributed to that. The elevators are so old, that they were quite literally supposed to be replaced by August 2017. If the elevators truly haven’t been replaced for as long as everyone thinks, its easily why they behave the way they do. 

#14 Whenever I use an umbrella, no matter how matter big it is, I always seem to get drenched. Even when the rain isn’t that torrential, it seems that the umbrella is useless in its job. Why? Most likely this could be attributed to wind speed and direction making the rain hit at a direction my umbrella cannot deflect. But I promise there have been instances where the wind was mild and I still got poured on with an umbrella in hand. 

#15 I work at the O’Connell Center, and, like I mentioned before, live in Beaty Towers, so the walk too and from, which takes between 15 and 20 minutes, can become a little aggravating. This is compounded by the fact that I work multiple shifts a week, and sometimes even multiple shifts a day. I am profoundly grateful for my job, but that commute has left something to be desired. Why?The problem exists simply because of the distance; if the O’Connell Center was only a 5 or 10 minute walk I would have absolutely no reason to discuss it on this post. This is not the reason why it bothers me, it’s the reason why the problem exists. 

                                 

#16 Whenever I drive a distance of more than 15 or 20 minutes, my back becomes horribly uncomfortable. This instance is practically an inevitability for me, I can count on feeling the same pain every time if my time driving exceeds a certain amount. Why?I have been asking myself this question for as long as I have been feeling the pain. Perhaps it is my posture behind the wheel. Perhaps its just the fact that the seat doesn’t agree with my back. I honestly cannot say why the problem occurs. 

#17 Another bug I have whilst driving in the rain is that I find that people love to use their hazard lights behind me, which is not only illegal I’m pretty sure but also incredibly dangerous and blinding. Even if the rain isn’t coming down that hard, I can always count on coming across at least one driver with their hazard lights on. Why?This most likely stems from people being nervous about driving in inclement weather.

#18 What really bugs me is how Double Bubble Bubble Gum, my favorite gum brand, uses a formula that makes the gum lose its flavor after only a few minutes of chewing. From a business standpoint its smart, because it gets people to chew more gum, but it bugs me that it takes no time at all for the gum to lose the flavor. Why? Like I said before, I bet the company makes the gum this way to get people to chew more of this. I know enough people who think the same way I do about Double Bubble, so the company must just not care.

#19 Speaking of bugs, why on earth does bug spray make skin so smelly and sticky when using it? You would think that since we’ve sent men to the moon and created artificial intelligence that we could also create non-sticky, non-smelly bug spray. Why?The problem exists solely because no one has found a solution to it, or really cares about finding one. Maybe the smell and the stickiness is what we must compromise for an effective product. 

#20 What bothers me to no end is when I am at a restaurant and I’m sitting at my table and a waiter or waitress comes over to take the order and whatnot and then I literally never see them again. It feels as though days go by until I see him or her again. I find it happens even in restaurants that aren’t even that busy, it’s the bizarre mystery of the vanishing restaurant employees. Why?Well I would easily attribute this to understaffing at busy restaurants and bad customer service at empty ones. 

Reflection: I, just like the assignment predicted, had a really tough time coming up with 20 things that genuinely bug me. I am a very passive and benevolent person and honestly there are very few things that get under my skin. Once I reached the last ten or so I really had to think long and hard about things that I found bothersome, and what I came up with was somewhat scrapping the bottom of the barrel. But I will say that this assignment really made me think about my peeves in a way I hadn’t done previously, and for that I am proud I stuck it out. 

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