Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an unmet need for more volunteers in almost every aspect from food kitchens to animal shelters Etc. The main issue facing getting individuals to volunteer is the lack of incentive. Now, I know this defeats the whole purpose of calling it “volunteering” but what if there was a way to pay people for their efforts without really paying them. I used to give blood all the time and realized on days when they were offering free movie tickets or coupons for a free burger more people were willing to give their time to the cause. I propose creating a company whose sole purpose is to form partnerships between volunteer-based organizations and for-profit businesses. It could be donations of coupons from businesses to volunteer organizations to give out as incentive and help recruit more volunteers. It could also be partnering with companies to create work/volunteer days where an employee still gets payed by the company they work for but they are allowed so many days per year to volunteer. Even if it’s only 2 days a year per employee, if you multiply that by one office building with 1,000 employees that’s 2,000 days of volunteering form one establishment. The market for this service would mainly be volunteer organizations and business establishments but with the right marketing it would eventually be a service many people could use because who doesn’t like free stuff? At this point I am 90% sure that this opportunity exists. 

Interview #1: 24-year-old male (student)

·     When was the last time you volunteered? “Selling plants during earth day to get people involved for planting trees, 4 years ago, I had to do it for class to complete the course.” 

·     Why haven’t you volunteered sense? “No, I haven’t had time because of school and work.”

·     Why do you think people do not volunteer more often? “People only do it for their resume. They want to receive a benefit to do it.”

·     Are you aware that there is a shortage of volunteers?” No, it’s not something I think about constantly.” 

·     When did you become aware? “Just now but I’m not surprised.” 

·     Would you be more inclined to volunteer if there was an incentive such as a free movie ticket or a payed day off work? “Yes definitely. If I was given an incentive like a free movie ticket it would help because I’m a college student and don’t have a lot of money. Money that can be spent on leisure activities isn’t something that students can spend very often.”

Interview #2: 26-year-old male (active duty military)

·     When was the last time you volunteered? “4 years ago, as a casket barer for the military.” 

·     Why haven’t you volunteered sense? “I don’t volunteer because I am in the military and they often make me volunteer. I also don’t really care about volunteering.”

·     Why do you think people don’t volunteer more often? “I think people don’t volunteer because they don’t get payed.” 

·     Are you aware there is a shortage of volunteers? “Yes, I would imagine so.”

·     When did you become aware of this? “Through years of observation and word of mouth.”

·     Would you be more inclined to volunteer if there was an incentive such as a free movie ticket or a payed day off work? “Sure, it might but I am not all that interested in volunteering.”

Interview #3: 50-year-old female (government employee)

·     When was last time you volunteered? “2 years ago, in Haiti, adaptive swimming program for disabled children and coaches.”

·     Why haven’t you volunteered sense? “Busy with family, medical, and work.”

·     Why do you think people don’t volunteer more often? “Americans are very busy working trying to make money to pay the bills and there isn’t very good advertising for soliciting volunteers.” 

·     Are you aware there is a shortage of volunteers? “Yes”

·     When did you become aware of this? “I have been aware of it for several years.”

·     Would you become more inclined to volunteer if there was an incentive such as a free movie ticket or payed day off work? “Yes, because If I had a payed day off of work I wouldn’t have to worry about missing out on that extra money but would still be able to give my time to a good cause.”

Reflection: 

What I learned from this exercise and interviews is that many people do not really think about volunteering on a daily basis even though they understand there is a need for it. I am not less inclined to believe that this opportunity exists but still optimistic. I’m realizing that a better approach would probably be to interview the nonprofit and for-profit businesses to see if this is a service they would consider using. I think more of the regular public needs to be questioned to see if incentive would help convince them to volunteer, which 2 out of the 3 I interviewed said it would. 

Not a Prostitute

I’m not entirely sure if this would be considered an instance of entrepreneurship but I was able to obtain goods that I wanted and control a market without any financial cost to me. 

            In fourth grade I was still not really into boys but I realized they were beginning to take an interest in me. I should also mention that I was very into collecting Pokémon cards. Anyways, boys began to ask me out and I continued to say no until I realized they too enjoyed collecting Pokémon cards, then it dawned on me. I could ask the boys for Pokémon cards in exchange for a date! I know this sounds a lot like prostitution…. but remember this is fourth grade, a date was holding hands in the hallway and sitting with each other at lunch. A few months of doing this and I had collected a shoebox full of Pokémon cards and to me this was like gold. I was able to supply a demand for a market that hadn’t really been established yet which I guess could be considered a form of entrepreneurship. 

I enrolled in this class to fulfill my business admin requirements but I also have always been very interested in how entrepreneurship really works. I mean you see shows like shark tank and think, wow these people came up with such unique ideas and look at all the money they are getting for their start up, but I am more interested in how they sustain their business and their edge. Obviously, there is much more that goes into entrepreneurship then just a great idea and I’m looking forward to learning all about it!

Bug List

1.    Small talk such as: How is your day? Isn’t the weather nice? Etc….

-      Why it exists: To make daily interactions with individuals we are not close with appear or seem to be less awkward. 

2.    People who don’t say thank you when you hold the door for them.

-      Why it exists: Many reasons could explain it such as being entitled, raised with no manors, cultural differences, oblivious to their surroundings, having a bad day, Etc…..

3.    People who drive in the passing lane on highways when they are going under the speed limit and there is clearly no one in the right lane. 

-      Why it exists: Entitlement, oblivious to their surroundings, no knowledge of driving rules.

4.    People who sneeze in public and don’t cover their mouth with their elbow or sneeze into their hands and then touch things. 

-      Why it exists: No knowledge of basic hygiene etiquette or they simply don’t care if they spread their germs to others. 

5.    Dirty public restrooms at gas stations. 

-      Why it exists: Understaffed businesses, lazy employees, and messy customers. 

6.    Pot holes the size of craters, in roads with no way to avoid them, that send the fear of death through your bum and up your spine when hit. 

-      Why it exists: Not enough taxes to fix the roads in that area, poor allocation of resources by the local or state government officials.

7.    People who don’t pick up their dogs’ poop when walking timber ridge trail.

-      Why it exists: Either there is no trashcan or poop station available or the more likely reason is that they are lazy and self-entitled.

8.    When I politely ask someone to move out of the way at Walmart by saying excuse me and they respond by looking at me with sheer disbelief as if I had just asked them to jump off a cliff. 

-      Why it exists: people are entitled and believe you are inconveniencing them even though they are clearly blocking everyone around them.

9.    People who don’t go when the stop light turns green.

-      Why it exists: CELL PHONES are huge distractions for so many people when driving. Also, I’m sure having kids in the back seat can be a bit distracting.

10.  When food that I have been waiting on for a long time is delivered to my table cold.

-      Why it exists: Sometimes servers get extremely busy and forget to check on a certain order and sometimes they are too busy conversing with fellow employees or playing on their phones. 

11.  When people who are not handicap park in handicap parking spaces. 

-      Why it exists: it is convenient for someone who is in a hurry or simply too lazy to walk the extra hundred feet.

12.  When I’m working out at Fit My Life mid lift with headphones in and someone(male) tries to strike up a conversation.

-      Why it exists: Cultural norms of gender roles meaning it is still viewed by some as totally acceptable behavior for men to hit on women literally at any time and place.

13.  When I call anywhere for customer service and have to deal with an automated system instead of an actual person who could help me with an issue much faster.

-      Why it exists: It is much more cost effective for a company to use an automated system to handle basic issues rather than hiring more people to man the phones who would cost much more to employ. 

14.  When I leave the country for travel and the bank shuts off my card even though I previously told them I was going to be traveling on specific dates. 

-      Why it exists: security measures to prevent people from being able to steal your card information and use it 

15.  When I get stuck behind someone going 10 mph under the speed limit on long lake road with no way to pass them. 

-      Why it exists: There are a lot of tourists here and they often get lost trying to get to their destinations.

16.  When I try to take a shower and realize there is no hot water left.

-      Why it exists: My husband uses hot water as well as the dishwasher and washing machine. 

17.  When I use a public restroom and realize, after it’s too late, that there is no toilet paper left in the stall. 

-      Why it exists: There is no possible way for the staff to realize every time the toilet paper runs out unless customers notify them.  

18.  When I purchase clothing from the store and they forget to take off the alarm device thingy so I have to drive back to have it removed. 

-      Why it exists: Employees are doing the same mundane tasks all day so they get lackadaisical with their work

19.  When people bring their children to public places and allow them to act like wild animals and do nothing to discipline them.

-      Why it exists: Society now views disciplining children as child abuse so parents are afraid of getting in trouble or they simply don’t care

20.  When people look at my I.D and think its fake or that it isn’t me.

-      Why it exists: People are scared of getting in trouble for selling alcohol to minors.

Reflection: This assignment was fairly simple for me due to the fact that I have a lot of things that bug me. I think one of the main challenges was for certain bugs it is easy to blame people for being lazy or selfish and much harder to come up with a reason for why they behave in a certain way. 

Test

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