Sunday, January 24, 2016

Identifying Local Opportunities


Miami-Dade's unemployment rate inches up in December amid Latin American woes


                This article discusses the recent numbers on unemployment for the Miami Dade County and what they really tell about the county’s economy. According to the article although unemployment rate has increased for the third month in a row, the news is not all that bad considering some of it is caused by high growth in labor force as more people join the workforce. However the same increase in unemployment rate does not seem to happen to more northern counties. One of the causes of this increase in unemployment rate is seen the high economic growth of central and south American countries. Ironically,  the opposite, an economic stagnation of the same countries is also seen as a threat for it would damage the tourism industry and decrease number of visitors from these countries. I believe an unmet need is employment for the young people joining the workforce. There is an opportunity to start a Human Resource company, a private employment entity that would not only make it easier for employers and potential employees to match but would also offer training that would teach people versatile skills to be able absorb economic shocks more easily and gain adaptability skills for the new economy. This would be monetized by charging hirers a fee for providing adequate labor force for their needs, and also by charging for training services.


Lauren Vagelakos: Health insurance help available before deadline



This article is basically a alarm bell for those who haven’t enrolled yet for Health Insurance for the year yet, as the deadline is 31st January, and after that date penalties may apply. It warns local residents (Gainesville Sun Article) about the consequences of not enrolling before the deadline, the benefits of enrolling (possible financial assistance from Marketplace) and it enlists the available resources to help people out figure out the entire mess. I am not an international student, and I thought no country can more bureaucratic than where I come from (Kosovo). The kinds of complications that health insurance companies have come up with are simply sky high. I wish one day I can one day be as creative at anything in life, as they are in milking more money away from the average citizen. There is an unmet need of being able to understand all the tricks and hidden pot holes of health insurance system and companies. Let us create an app that breaks down every offering, and compares them between different providers in a way simple enough that anybody can understand, that would also simply claim filing for every health insurance provider, and lets start milking them back, to especially help financially deficient students decrease living costs.


Snazzy Springtime Snack Suggestions


This article aims to provide some help to people who are interested in eating and staying healthy during stressful semester times, by making a list of products that are in season in spring, hoping to decrease your cost because of in season shopping. According to the article some of in season fruits/vegetables for spring are: strawberries, avocado, and the ingredients for “ants on a log snack” and for a simple fresh salad. All of the suggestions sound great, but it is quite difficult for anyone to keep track of which places offers what products and what price, and how fresh they are. For now there is several markets that claim local, organic products offerings, however they are scattered around town and getting the right mix of products means a lot of shopping time that people do not have. There is a need for an integrated marketplace in form of a web or app where you could from home order buy any of these products from whichever provider, and have it delivered home. So the proposition here is a unified locally grown food offering, delivered to you. This would meet the need of all health conscious people who find it frustrating or no time to do a thorough research on local markets. 


Anti-Procrastination



This article is a how to guide for battling procrastination, a problem every college student faces a at some level. The major points the article makes is you should invest in a planner, sync your iCloud, get in your ZONE (a place where feel physically and mentally at peace), set memory triggers, know when to take a break and lastly to try to keep yourself inspired. Where I related with the article is the importance the author gives to the planner and its functionalities. There is a need to have a planner that is neat and has all the information that need be brought to your attention on daily bases. However, just posting all the deadlines and events in it can a quite frustrating process, and updating it even more so. The opportunity I see here is offering a printer, smart enough to understand your calendar, automatically migrate all your events and deadlines from your school site, and wherever else they lie (Facebook events etc), and print them in your planner. This machine would be capable of undoing the spiral, printing and reinstalling the spiral that holds the pages in your planner. You could use the same machine for crossing out the past events, and updating the planner with new events, below your current one, and that is achieved by it having a memory of what parts of your planner has it printed on prior. This would be a convenient way to customize your printer, and basically sync all of your scattered online information into one physical planner.


Car2go pulling out of Miami on March 1



This article reports the withdrawal from Miami of the mobility company Car2go , a subsidiary of Daimler North America Corp. Car2go is an alternative to city commuting, once you are become a member, you can just hop into one of these cars and go around, at a price calculated based on both time and mileage used to make for more fair pricing. The company itself blames their lack of success in Miami to car rental tax, which doesn’t reflect the value their bringing to the market. They also complained that other mobility companies that have entered the market are not subject to the same tax. I think the need to move around a huge city like Miami, with an especially large number of tourists will always be there. The opportunity I see here, is offering the exactly the same service, just instead of cars, make it with scooters. Number one it would bring the cost much lower, for two given the weather people would happily cruise around in an open scooter rather than an inside an enclosed car and also space-wise, car2go cars only fit two people as well. Also the car rental tax would have be avoided, not to mention that this this alternative would benefit the alternative as well. Space wise, car2go would only fit two people anyways.  

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