6A- Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

• Opportunity 1 (economic): 26% of the labor force is unemployed. Between large companies filing for bankruptcy, huge layoffs, and lower tax revenues, everyone is impacted in some fashion. I believe there is an opportunity to help both unemployed people as well as individuals looking for help. My initial idea is to create a small recruiting app/website that allows for anyone to post part-time work. These jobs can be anything from a babysitter, to a landscaper, to even a personal assistant. Interviews and verification can be conducted on the platform, maintaining social distancing. The app would be like Craigslist, but for odd jobs. 
• a) https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/28/863120102/40-8-million-out-of-work-in-the-past-10-weeks
• b) What leads me to believe an opportunity exists is that 40.8 million Americans are jobless. This is a large enough market for an opportunity to exist.
• c) The ideal customers would be those who are unemployed and seeking work, and those seeking help (employers). 
• d) I think the opportunity would be a 6 or 7 on difficulty for exploitation scale (1 being easy to exploit and 10 being difficult). I think it would be slightly difficult because there are several local Facebook groups with people constantly posting for jobs and work. I do think it is doable because I have not seen an app specifically for part-time work, where the employee gets to create their own path.
• e) I formed the belief that an opportunity exists because I currently am not working (I am starting an internship in July), but I am always open to help friends and do odd jobs. For example, a coworker at my old job needed help with a small garden/landscaping project. Though I am not a landscaper, I am able to follow direction and put in heavy lifting, resulting in cash. This instance (and others) has lead me to believe others need help (for example the elderly need help getting groceries). It would be easiest if one platform allowed for people to post what they need help with.
• Opportunity 2 (economic): While watching a video about how meat prices are rising, I learned that farmers are getting paid less and less from meat processing companies for their meat. I believe there is an opportunity to actually increase the farmers' wage by cutting out the processor, and sell directly to consumer. In order to do this, there could be a service that connect people with local farmers, providing a meat delivery service.This would cause cheaper meat for consumer and more income for farmers.
• a) https://video.foxnews.com/v/6159887736001#sp=show-clips
• b) I believe an opportunity exists because in America, there are over 727,000 beef farmers (not including other meats), so the market is there.
• c) The ideal customers would be consumers of meat and local/small farmers.
• d) I think the opportunity would be very difficult to exploit. This is because the big meat processing companies (ex- Tyson), account for 2/3 of meat purchases from farmers. It is hard to compete with such large companies because there are already contracts in place.
• e) I found the belief that an opportunity exists because I am a huge supporter of local farmers. I attend a farmers market weekly, where I buy my meats and veggies that are locally sources, supporting the farmer directly. I think it is best to cut out the big production companies who exploit their workers and take advantage of farmers.
• Opportunity 3 (regulatory): While reading up on the virus vaccine, I found that this vaccine could be potentially mandatory in certain scenarios (ex: school admission). I had the idea that there could be an alternative to the vaccine; there could be a service/subscription with daily ways to strengthen your immune system. For example, you sign up through out website, and then receive daily packages and packets that have a list of ways to strengthen your immune system that day. For example, one day could have a vitamin C packet, a list of short exercises, and ideal amount of sunlight exposure. This would act as an alternative to the vaccination.
• a) https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/12/covid-19-vaccine-all-americans-should-get-it/
• b) The information from this article leads me to believe that an opportunity exists because it talks about a potential "federally mandatory vaccine." This honestly scares me, and I know I cannot be the only one who wishes for medical freedom.
• c) I think the ideal customer would be people who are skeptical about the vaccine. Over 40% of Americans forego the flu shot, and though it is a reasonable vaccine, people are entitled to their beliefs not to get it. 
• d) I believe this idea is quite difficult to exploit. If the government makes it mandatory to get the vaccine, I am not sure how they would enforce it; The difficulty would be getting the chance to talk to the decision makers, which could take a lot of time. But, this opportunity is realistic to exploit because there is a market for natural ways to boost immunity, so I truly believe people would be interested. 
• e) What lead me to believe this opportunity exists is my own personal beliefs. Though I am not anti-vax, I never have has a flu shot, but I also never have had the flu. I have as very strong immune system by getting daily exercise, eating a proper diet, and getting exposure to sunlight. I also have several friends who have the same belief. Additionally, I will not be getting the vaccine when I comes out, so an alternative would be ideal.
• Opportunity 4 (regulatory): Due to the virus, it is now normal for institutions (such as work, the gym, salons, etc) to take your temperature before coming into the building. My idea is to create an app that is linked to the business taking your temperature. This app would "scan " your forehead and then display your temperature and send it to the workplace, gym, etc. I believe the phone has the capacity to do this, because there is an internal thermometer that can read how hot your phone is.
• a) https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/eeoc-coronavirus-temperature.aspx
• b) This information leads me to believe an opportunity exists because it explains that organizations should have a willing volunteer take temperatures of guests/employees. This app would cut out the volunteer and make it easier for people to take their temperature. 
• c) I believe managers of businesses are the ideal customer of this app, as they can be the ones who choose to implement it.
• d) I believe this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit. This is because your phone already has a thermometer inside, so the biggest obstacles would be app development and marketing it to businesses.
• e) What gave me the idea for this opportunity is that my phone always overheats in the FL sun. Also, I went to the gym for the first time in months the other day, and I honestly was off-put when they took my temperature without asking.