Business Plan

After completing my ENGR 407 business plan project, I think I may have finally acquired a grasp as to how starting a business can be done. A project that i thought would be rather simple to complete with a group of 5, this project got difficult quickly. I got the same feeling as the presenter from Lionmenus, who came into our class earlier in the semester. It is difficult to get several people to agree on one thing, even if what we are looking at is very small details of the pricing structure. We worked well after we finally carved out the basic principles of the plan, but the process to get there took a great deal of time and gave me a little more respect for those who have to deal with business plans on a regular basis.

Recycling

Living on a college campus, where recycling is broken down at almost every trash area to plastic, different kinds of glass, paper, and aluminum cans, I tend to think that most people will take the time to recycle. Unfortunately, this process is not available to everyone in the country, and it shows in a recent study by the EPA. I guess you might be wondering, like I did, what product is recycled most. Well, sadly it is not the aluminum cans or plastic bottles that seem to flood the stores as the primary devices to transport beverages. To my surprise, lead acid batteries are the most recycled products in the country. In fact, 99 percent of these batteries end up being recycled. This number is so high because battery retailers are required to take the used car batteries from customers who purchase new ones. This number is great for the country, but the numbers for aluminum cans and office paper are not quite as high. Only half of all aluminum and 70% of office paper is recycled today. These numbers are way to low, and like excessive drug usage, can only be bettered if recycling is pushed on the next generation of americans from the time they start school. For the older generations, the only way that we can ensure that recyclable products are saved from the trash is for people to get incentives for recycling. This process is already established in many states with cash deposits for recycling, but I believe that the companies that sell products in recyclable containers should be responsible for ensuring that their products do not get thrown in the trash can.

Citywide Wi-fi

Just yesterday, the major cable companies in New York City: Comcast, Time Warner, and Cablevision have agreed to combine their wi-fi networks throughout the city to make a citywide wi-fi. Before this deal, customers had to either stay in their area of coverage or rely on internet service from cellphone companies. Although this deal seems to be a rather simple task, I feel as though it may allow a new market for computing in the city. Under this system, the internet connection that people already pay for to use at their home can be used anywhere in the city and allow companies to market products or "apps" like GPS, that can add functionality to wi-fi devices. As wi-fi technology becomes more sophisticated, it may be another market for tech companies to look into.

Decision Making

While in the process of choosing a topic for the Innovation Expo, I came to realize just how hard it can be for a group of people to come across a topic that satisfies everyone. It seems to me like many people jump into groups with their own agendas and often are very hard to convince. It is understandable to me that not everyone shares the same ideas, but I think that people should jump into a group project without any predisposed opinions in a effort to allow the group to move forward without having to waste a large amount of time turning people off of their ideas to join the rest of the group.

A College Guarantee

In light of the job insecurities that are plaguing recent graduates across the country, a college out of Michigan is making a guarantee that its graduates will get jobs. Lansing Community College is jumping out as the first school to offer refunds if its graduates are unable to get jobs within a year after finishing one of their programs. I understand that this school is only at the community college level, but I can see policies like this changing the landscape of colleges. I cannot see why someone would choose to go to another school if they are given a refund guarantee on their education. I can only hope that other schools step up and take a share of the difficulty to find a job in todays market and take some of the insecurities away from the recent graduates.

The Future of NASA

The space shuttle program, which NASA launched in 1981 is about to turn 30 next year and the future of the agency is up in the air with all of the budget turmoil in washington. From the billions, possibly trillions of dollars poured into the project, we have gotten a few nice results like the International Space Station, the Hubble telescope, as well as a few other major satellites, but the cost seems to could the results. With the unemployment issues and lack of funding for the country's infrastructure, I think the US government should pull back a little on the program and look for a way of launching robots or at least lower cost vessels to space. Our government needs to stop feeding the never ending pit that NASA has become in terms of funding and look for private industry or possibly other countries to create a sustainable space exploration system.

Taxing the Internet??

According to an article out of the Washington Post, the FCC's National Broadband Plan released last week includes a nationwide tax on Internet goods and services. Surely a blow to the industry, this plan claims to increase the beneficial use of the internet - for e-commerce and new business models - while hurting the future of entrepreneurs. This new tax seems to me to be just another waste of time and effort on the part of our government. Currently, goods purchased online include state sales taxes and shipping charges which are common for any good, whether purchased online or not. I think that by levying this type of tax on the consumers, it will only discourage sales and hurt the industry. I believe that the limited tax freedom of the internet has been a large reason for the growth of the industry, something that has not been equally true for other industries which are loaded with taxes, like healthcare and the automobile industry. I say we should leave the internet alone and treat purchases on it as we would any other purchase.