Opportunity
My opportunity would be for service employees in the Central Florida area. From there I would like to start the opportunity in all the major cities in Florida, with plans to work into the entire state of Florida if the opportunity is a success. That would include employees that work for a restaurant, hotel, resort, bar, nightclub, lounge or any business that requires an employee to provide service to a customer. Yes, it would be open to all service employees, though some employees might not find the need for the opportunity that I am providing. The opportunity is for those potential employees to have a voice when it comes to wages and fair employment acts. Such as being wrongfully disciplined or discharged from a position without merit. Also, the opportunity will provide benefits to the clients, such as health and life insurance as well as vacation and sick time off paid. The changes in the work environment for this opportunity is that the employees will be more at ease working because of the backing they will receive if they make a small mistake at work and find themselves unduly disciplined and/or discharged for such a minor offense. There is not a service of this caliber currently in the state of Florida. I believe if this opportunity were a success that the clients would be very faithful to it and stay with the opportunity for the length of their working career. (in the service industry) This opportunity would be very large as there are thousands of service employees within the state of Florida, being that Florida is one of the largest states for tourism and catering to others. The window for this opportunity will always be open as there is always a need for helping others.
Innovation
My business will be a great benefit to service employees. It is to Unionize the service industry. It will give them some backing when it comes to disputes with an employer as well as making sure that the employees are treated fairly with fair compensation and benefits for the position they are in. This will ensure the clients that they have a voice and do not need to walk on pins and needles (so to speak) while working which in turn will help them to concentrate on the job at hand. They will know that if for any reason they are disciplined or discharged for a minor offense that they will have someone to turn to for help and that help can go to the employer and come to an understanding that could possibly turn the events around and benefit both the employer and the employee. The cost of the Union would be fair and even across the board. No one person would have to pay more than any other. To start with there would be an initial fee to join the Union of $100. Then each client would pay a maintenance fee each month of $35.
Venture Concept
They would care because the state of Florida is a “Right-to-work” state. Which means that one can be fired or released for any reason what so ever. As a Union employee one would have protection from such actions. The service would provide leverage for the employee to stand up to the employer and demand a valid reason or force the employer to reinstate the employee. Employees want fair wages and benefits. I believe many of the service employees would want this type of service to themselves. Getting them to sign up might be a little difficult at first because of the fear of retaliation from the employers. The employers are not going to like the idea that they can no longer have the right to discipline an employee any way they see fit. They will lose some of their control over employees and will not like the change. Change is always scary to people, especially corporations that see it as a direct blow to their working culture and business. No one like others to tell them how to operate their business. The roles in this type of opportunity would change with the business itself. As the business grew so would the roles such as new management for new areas.
The overall response to my Venture was very positive. People liked the idea of unionizing the service industry. A few people question the validity of the venture, they thought that as Florida is a right - to – work state and that I would need to go to the government level to get that changed. I do not feel as that would need to be done as long as the union is valid and ethical. It would be great if that were to happen, though. On second thought maybe I would lobby the government to get that law changed as a side project.
My venture did not change from the feedback, just added to what I would want to do further down the road.

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ReplyDeleteIt seems like you're just describing a union. I think unions are a good idea, but I don't see what you're doing that unions aren't already doing. I think this assignment requires a venture that involves some level of innovation or some competitive edge, I'm not sure it's clear what that is in this case. There are national unions that represent service workers that you might want to look at, like UNITE HERE. I don't think Florida's right to work law allows employees to be fired for any reason, it just restricts unions from requiring a company to only hire union employees. I believe Florida's at-will employment law is what allows companies in Florida to fire anyone for any reason. Florida being a right to work state doesn't ban unions, so you can definitely do this venture even if the laws aren't changed. I don't think anyone would sign up for a for-profit union when non-profit unions exist, since you'll be pocketing a portion of their fees. I also tried to be specific with my pricing, I'm not sure how realistic we can ever get with that. you should check out my venture though http://imalsonotadoctor.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html
ReplyDeleteI like the enthusiasm behind your idea but I think that it would be much harder to accomplish than you might think. The service industry is so broad of a group of people that it would be very hard to create a service for the large variety of needs they are going to have. Also you have to petition the state or federal labor board just to form a union. It’ll be tough but I think you’ll be fine.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogforclass3191.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html
This will definitely be a tough venture to pull off since there is so much red tape surrounding it as the other commenters described. You may be better off taking this in the direction of an AAA-esque program for service workers and be able to barter lower cost insurance plans for them, as well as discounts for various other services throughout the state. You can check out my revised venture concept here: http://ufentclassblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html
ReplyDeleteAs Shane pointed out, this will definitely be difficult to implement. However, it seems that you have given a great deal of thought to the market for and eventual expansion of the endeavor so perhaps that will aid in its development. I like how you’ve identified a target demographic but also developed a plan for expansion into further groups of people. Best of luck with the further progression of your business venture.
ReplyDelete