Friday, September 28, 2018

9a- Testing the Hypothesis part 2

Testing the Hypothesis part 2

Who: Are there certain people or certain businesses that, although they share a lot in common with the others in your opportunity, nevertheless fall outside the boundary? Why? Some people are not in my target clients because they would not pay for a service to organize their vacation.

What: At what point does the need you identified differ from another need? (Is thirst the same as hunger? Or is the desire to appear fashionable the same as the desire to be loved by others?)

Why: Is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary? It is a service that they enjoy doing themselves or would not pay extra money for it. They don’t see the need for a travel service. They are happy with the existing methods.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: People who have a lot on their plates and who need some peace of mind when it comes to their vacation	Who is Not: People that enjoy planning their Vacations and navigate the website to find the best deal.
What the Need Is: A vacation planner	What the Need Is Not: No need for assistance, Very independent individual.
Why the Need Exists: Not enough time to organize time off	Alternative Explanations: Not the most cost effective, The service would be a luxury for them not a need.

The opportunity has limitations when it comes to who will buy the service. I learned with the first and second interviews of two of my stay home mom neighbors, that they do not need a service to help them organize their vacation, but because of their family situation, they would look for the best deals on their own.

On my third interview, my friend thought that it would be a luxury that she may not always afford. Sometimes she looks for the cheapest flight to decide which destination she would be heading to next.

The fourth and fifth interview were two of the department heads that were used to their assistant or secretary to organize their vacation or business trips, so that service would be maybe less helpful for them, since they don’t see the need for it.

10a- Elevator Pitch No. 1

Link to video: https://youtu.be/JPttQYKZG-I

or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPttQYKZG-I&feature=youtu.be

Friday, September 21, 2018

8A – Solving The Problem

Solving The Problem

From the information that I gathered so far, I would be interested in starting a travel booking website that would allow customer to plan their vacations in a smooth and easy way. They would have all the tool needed and professional over the phone to guide them through.

From the feedback that I collected, tackling more than a few destinations would be challenging task, so I’ll start with destinations that I know about and experienced, because after all I am looking to offer a customize service to have an advantage on the other existing websites. Targeting all customers would not be very smart, so the customer that will service would be the ones that are looking for a none touristy experience.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1) The opportunity that I would like to pick would be an all-in website that combines not only booking airlines, transportation, but all tips pertaining to a destination, as well as a travel agent to call to help making to trip organization easier.

2) Travel booking website not meeting all customer needs.

· The who: Travel booking website

· The what: They are not able to satisfy all the customer travel needs

· The why: It’s difficult to respond to all the guest needs and keep the website simple.

3) Test the boundaries of the hypothesis

· Testing the who: People who wants to make the travel a smooth process. Either millennial or older customer because of the over the phone access.

· Testing the what: What are the boundaries of the need? Not all customer would find the need of that service, only the one’s that wants to have all the information in the same website. Easily accessible.

· Testing the why: Some people would prefer to research their vacation, shop around for better pricing …

4) Five people's interviews:

Person #1: The first I interviewed was my colleague at the work, who is custom to travel booking websites, he liked to shop around for the best prices, best deals, even if he needs to use more than one website, so he didn’t have the need of what I was offering.

Person #2: The second person was a long-time friend, who liked the idea of having someone to talk to, help her vacation, because she only took one big vacation per year with her family. She didn’t have time to go to a travel agency, so a professional who could save her that headache seemed fantastic to her.

Person #3: The third person I interviewed was my brother, who is very cheap lol. He said that as long as he can compare pricing, the website could be useful for him because he likes to try the local culture, but no only the touristy attractions.

Person #4: The fourth person was a concierge at the hotel I work at. She motioned that there is a lot of website that do what I’m trying to do. In her opinion, I should be creative with the website I would like to create.

Person #5: The fifth person was good friend too that was excited about the idea. She would love to have a professional to guide her through organizing her vacation. The cost seemed to be very important to her, since she’s limited by a budget.

5) After my fifth interview, it became clear to me that I need to target a smaller range of customers, and chose either affordable trips or more luxurious ones. On the other hand, finding experts for all the destinations may be challenging, being specialized in one or a couple destinations will be easier to start with, especially if I want to do customized trip, and give the customer that extra advantage with my website.

Friday, September 14, 2018

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1. Endangered and Threatened Species: Revision of Regulations for Prohibitions to Threatened Wildlife and Plants (Regulation.gov), protecting the wildlife

(a) The climate change and the pollution happening around us is unbalancing the wildlife and plants.

(b) This opportunity is to better the environment, a lot of association needs hels for that matter.

(d) it would be difficult to exploit because it involve changing people’s everyday habits.

2. Hurricane Florence rolls ashore in Carolinas and people will need first aid (Orlando Sentinel)

(a) The hurricane season is going on now, and the need of people around me.

(b) This is to help people be ready for the damages of the hurricane, even though it’s minor need

(d) It would be fairly easy to exploit.

3.Qualification of Drivers; Exemption Applications: Vision (Regulation.gov) Help the state locate the targeted people

(a) From my personal experience with an Uber driver that couldn’t see very well at night.

(b) This would help the community avoid unnecessary accident.

(d) It would need authorization and the approval from the state

4. Financial Markets Control Oil, Gas, and Foods Prices (thebalance.com) make the gas stable

(a) every owner of a car or any type of vehicle experienced the changes in gas from a day to another.

(b) This would help drivers make a lot of savings

(d) It would be very difficult to achieve

5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

Opportunity #1

· The title of the article: Theme parks say 'Drink up' - even Disney

· The link to the article:

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AORLB%21Orlando%2BSentinel%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0913%21September%2B13&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E6931BC0BB64A8

· A description of the story, in your own words:

Disneyland will break its prohibition on alcohol and begin selling drinks to the general public, the California theme park recently announced.

· A description of the problem presented in the story:

By making this decision, Disney will attract unwanted guest, that are welcome in bars but not in a family oriented theme park.

· A description of who has the problem:Families with kids that don’t want to be around alcohol or people drunk at the park.

Opportunity #2

· The title of the article: OIA: Frontier set to lead airlines in destinations

· The link to the article:

· A description of the story, in your own words:

Frontier will expand flights from Orlando, it will be soon one of the most important airlines in Orlando international airport.

· A description of the problem presented in the story:

Frontier will be the biggest airline in Orlando, so the biggest rival to the other airlines companies. Frontier saw Orlando’s potential with the theme park and acted on it.

· A description of who has the problem:The other airline companies like JetBlue, American Airlines, and Spirit.

Opportunity #3

· The title of the article: Another House tax-cut vote? Stop splurging, pay the bill - Los Angeles Times Editorial

· The link to the article:

· A description of the story, in your own words:

GOP leaders are planning to bring up a new set of tax-cut proposals soon that would favors the wealthy. Their goals is to cut the taxes on businesses and selected individual income.

· A description of the problem presented in the story:

This decision if it goes through it will take a toll on the economy, making it venerable, by increasing the federal budget deficit

· A description of who has the problem:the average income holder.

Opportunity #4

· The title of the article: Teens using social media extensively - Survey finds dramatic rise in - 6 years, but more also abstain

· The link to the article:

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AORLB%21Orlando%2BSentinel%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0911%21September%2B11&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5E38061B77458

· A description of the story, in your own words:The new survey about teen and social media shows that teens are constantly on social media, more specifically on snapchat and Instagram.

· A description of the problem presented in the story: Teen will be suffering from a lack of social skills and problems with face to face interactions.

· A description of who has the problem:Teenagers and other that use social media excessively.

Opportunity #5

· The title of the article: Gas prices should fall - unless tropical weather ruins everything

· The link to the article:

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AORLB%21Orlando%2BSentinel%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0911%21September%2B11&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E5E37EDCC733E8

· A description of the story, in your own words:The gas price should be reduced the the upcoming weeks unless the hurricane interferes.

· A description of the problem presented in the story: The ramp up of hurricane season could threaten the seasonal drop in gasoline prices in Florida between Labor Day and Dec. 1, especially if they threaten energy critical areas.

· A description of who has the problem:Any vehicle owner.