Luke's Blog

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2 Associate #1 Q: Do you think that gun shop's gun prices are too high? A: Yes. Personally, if I wanted an AR-15 at a reasonable price, I would not be willing to shell out $800 for a gun that I could purchase and assemble myself. However, I do not have the time or the skills to assemble the gun, leaving me with no choice but to spend the money. Q: Would you be willing to spend $600 on an AR-15? A: Probably not at this point. Its not all that often that I find myself wanting to spend that much money on a weapon. Conclusion: This potential customer falls outside the boundary. Too expensive at reduced price even for interested customer. Customer must be older or have more spending money. Co-worker #2 Q: Do you think that gun shop's gun prices are too high? A: I've only been to a few pawn shops, and their prices were outrageous. I would like a gun, but I just can't justify spending money on a weapon when I have...

8A – Solving The Problem Though controversial, I have clearly stated my interest in creating a business that revolves around the sale of new firearms. Discounted, quality parts can be purchased online from a wide variety of sites, enabling me to take advantage of the price spread and possibly make a modest profit. I have done a lot of research into getting the necessary licenses to operate such a business, including an FFL and a manufacturing license. My only issue is that I am wary about purchasing items wholesale from distributors, assembling and milling lowers, and then re-selling them to prospective customers. I would need to cultivate a professional relationship with the distributors, which may be hard considering I will be profiting from the price gap created by my own work. This may seem like a minor problem, but it could turn into a potential lawsuit, rendering my business ineffective and a failure.  My solution to this issue would be to first contact the company an...

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1 Gun shops in the US are unable to deliver cost-efficient, quality rifle upper's and lower's to the public interested in exercising their right to the 2nd Amendment. I am certain I am not the only one who has walked into a gun shop and inquired about a certain AR-15 rifle part's price and receive an answer double what I expected. Other people who are gun enthusiasts surely see the same need for cheaper prices. The natural boundaries of the need revolved around lower competition for quality rifle parts and rifle kits. Certain rifle parts which are very cheap are easy to purchase for a fair price, but mid-quality firearms still cost an arm and a leg, regardless of the billeting and manufacturing technology that companies  have. In the end, a large majority of people do not purchase firearms in their lifetime, but for the minority that does, I am positive that they would share the same view as myself. Personally, I can build a good qu...

6A - Identifying Opportunities In Trends Economic  Trend #1 This trend has continued for some time now, with the Fed raising rates, the US Treasury changing its stance on the economy, and foreigners gaining more leverage in US bond and stock markets. This trend, which has gone on for almost a decade, is a gradual downward declining US market, which will eventually lead to a recession. This will only happen after the optimism fades and the bubble bursts, which still may not happen for some time. But it will happen. After reviewing the markets, I noticed that there is ample opportunity in researching how/when to position yourself in lieu of such a recession. First of all, one should be wary of getting into trading commodities until the peak of this seemingly endless mountain reveals itself. At that point, one could start a short position on all commodities, after which selling off all profits once the dust settles. This is extremely risky because no one knows when the bubble ...

Article #1 Irma leaves behind foul stink across region After Hurricane Irma, there has been standing water, tons of debris, and over-flowing sewage that will take weeks, if not months, to clean up. Now, after a few weeks since Irma ravaged most of Central Florida, residents are complaining of an increasingly bad rotting smell emanating from areas with lots of water. This is due to the amount of debris, standing water, and mix of sewage in these temporary lakes. In Orange and Seminole counties alone, an estimated 1 million cubic yards of debris are said to are said to be dispersed around the region. The problem is, its going to take weeks to collect that debris. And thats the problem. Many people have downed trees, debris blocking their lawns, and driveways that need cleaning up. Because of this problem, there is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to start a temporary business designed to help those people in need. They could go from door to door offering to clean up debris for ...

Beginning Point My belief is that there is a serious need for a gas station in the new Butler Plaza are of Gainesville, preferably close to Walmart and Sam's to accommodate shoppers or restaurant-goers in the area. The unmet needs that this gas station, like a nice RaceTrac or Wawa, would meet are as follows: 1) There are no gas stations from Archer Road all the way to where 43rd Street meets 20th Avenue. 2) Shoppers at Walmart, already out shopping, generally also need/would want to fill up their tanks if they are already out and about. 3) Getting gas on Archer when in that area of town takes some time, particularly at high traffic times. Because all but one are on the north side of Archer Rd., one has to usually get onto Archer and then proceed to do a U-turn to access a gas station. The need for a newer, larger gas station has not always existed, but transpired as a result of all the new businesses being built in that area of Gainesville. As of now, I do not believe t...

This post is centered around how/why entrepreneurship intrigues me and how I have come in contact with it throughout my life. To begin, I have known many people who have taken the bull by the horns and taken a journey to see an idea, product, or innovative creation come to fruition. In high school, I interned at a Product Development company to learn the cross-functionality of engineering, business, and marketing. This company had created many different prototypes of products that they had visualized, created, and then created a physical representation of all their hard work. That experience was very inspirational to me not only because of their combined skills and traits that I wished to emulate, but also because anybody can make something out of NOTHING. Take your dreams by the horns! Secondly, I had the pleasure of making a friend here at UF who emulated entrepreneurship in every light. As a recent undergraduate and current graduate student, he worked tirelessly to see his drea...

In this exercise, I will highlight twenty different bugs that I experience in my life and the answer to each one of them. An explanation for why they exist and bother me will be provided below. 1) Living in Gainesville on 62nd Blvd, I have difficulty with traffic on SW 20th Ave. This problem exists because of an explosion of apartment building coupled with an increasing student population and not enough city planning to offer alternative routes to 62nd. 2) I work as a Barback here in town and commonly have customers asking me to make them a drink and every time I tell them "I'm just a barback, sorry." This happens 15-20 times a night. I guess name plates with positions would make this problem go away, but thats a little tacky. 3) Living with roommates in college can be hard due to personality differences and differing opinions of cleanliness. I love a kitchen to be spotless, and if you're going to make a mess, please clean it up within the day. I guess a confro...