Disclaimer: Throughout my life, I
have never been the entrepreneurship or creative type, having always focused on
mathematics, reading, and science (finance major). Nonetheless, I believe this
this was a situation where I was forced to think creatively and find an innovative
solution to a problem.
In sophomore
year of high school, I was enrolled in a biotechnology class as part of the
biomedical magnet program of my school. For a specific project, we were broken up
into groups and tasked to create a company that had invented some type of innovation
within the farming industry. Absolutely clueless about to invent or innovate, I
remember telling my friends to simply look at grocery stores – specifically, how
they could improve sales in fruits and vegetables.
From here,
we got into several debates about where to go with this idea but ended up
agreeing that organic fruits and vegetables were a problem for consumers. The lower
price of “regular” fruits naturally deters customers from purchasing anything organic.
A couple minutes later, and I cannot recall everything perfectly, we set out to
invent a spray that instantly removes all pesticides, chemicals, and contaminants
found in “regular” fruits and vegetables. After confirming the idea with all
group members, we then assigned titles, wrote a mission statement, and pretty
much tried to make our new company appear as official as possible.
At the time, I did not reflect on this assignment as an entrepreneurship
experience because I was simply trying to complete the assignment and move forward
with my life. Now, as a student in ENT3003, I look back and realize that I
found a “bug” in a very common, perhaps overlooked place. Although I did not
document why that bug existed, I found an opportunity to improve upon and
innovate society. Thus, I enrolled in ENT3003 to learn about entrepreneurship, how
to efficiently and effectively build upon an idea or opportunity, and to develop
real/applicable problem-solving skills.
Picture: Here you will see a picture of my group, with me one the far right, wearing our company shirts (I believe it was "Everfresh" or something) at the "convention" competing against all the other "companies." This "convention" was held in the cafeteria where we basically pitched our company to other teachers (it was actually a contest). Also, I could not find the original picture without the filters... it was 2014 where everyone was #filtering on Instagram. And no, we did not win. :(
Hi Evan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this, your entrepreneurship story is really interesting! It reminds me of a similar experience of mine. The program I am in here at UF, the Innovation Academy, has a class similar to yours called Creativity in Action, where groups spend the semester developing a pitch and a prototype for the Catalyst competition. Your group's idea sounds like something that would fit in perfectly in the competition, other items I have seen developed include an app to help increase medical compliance, a sunscreen dispenser for use in schools and parks, and lamps for beaches that do not interfere with sea turtle migration patterns.