Activity:

Identify a Problem Worth Solving – II

Instructions:

In the previous session, you were asked to go out of the building (GOOTB) and observe people around you. Based
on your observations, you were asked to identify the top 3 problems faced by these people that you consider are
worth solving, i.e. have a good business potential.

Now that you have attended the entrepreneur session and heard the real-life account of how the entrepreneur
went about identifying the problem that he/she is solving today, you will do as below:
Foundational Course in Entrepreneurship

1. Discuss within your teams the top 3 problems that you have identified and select any one as the problem
that your practice venture will focus on resolving.
2. Next, answer the questionnaire provided below.
3. If you need more clarity on how to answer these questions, refer to the SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE given
on Page 3 of this handout.
4. You will get another 30 minutes to complete this part of the activity.

Use the following questions to record your observations:

1. Go out, look around you, and identify a problem that you can spot. Explain the context as well.

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2. What opportunity can you perceive from the above problem?

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3. Who is the Customer?

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Opportunity Discovery
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 Activity:
Identify a Problem Worth Solving – II

4. What according to the customer are the main problems?

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5. What is the job to be done?

Foundational Course in Entrepreneurship

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6. What job is currently getting done?

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7. How is the customer getting the job done today OR how is the customer addressing this problem today?
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8. Estimate the market size. Your assumption will do.

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9. Does this seem to be a problem worth solving? Explain.

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Note: If you think that this is not a problem worth solving, then you should look for another problem that
you can solve.

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 Activity:
Identify a Problem Worth Solving – II

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

Given below is a similar questionnaire based on Identify a Problem worth Solving. You are advised to go
through it to get more clarity.

Backdrop: Jason has a fascination for buses and plans to launch his fleet of city buses. To do a market study, he
hops on to some city buses which are currently running.

1. Go out, look around you, and identify a problem that you can spot. Explain the context as well.
Foundational Course in Entrepreneurship

To understand how the bus transport was working in his city, what were they offering, and what were the
problems faced by the commuters despite these services, Jason hopped on to some city buses which were
currently operating. He observed a common trend across all the buses that he hopped on to. He found
that though each bus offered at least 10 percent of the total seats exclusively to the elderly as reserved,
these seats often went unoccupied. In fact, there were very few senior citizens who availed the bus
service. Instead, they chose to stay indoors at the cost of socializing. As a potential bus owner, this was
bad news for Jason as any unoccupied seat translated to revenue loss.

Problem Identified - Most of the reserved seats for senior citizens went unoccupied across city buses.

2. What is the opportunity that you perceive from the above problem?

If the senior citizens could be made to avail the city buses, the seats reserved for them would not go
unoccupied. It would also result in greater revenue for the service provider.

3. Who is the customer?

Senior citizens.

4. What according to the customer are the main problems?

The customer in this case, senior citizens, find it difficult to board the city buses as they have to lift their
legs to board these buses since they have raised pedestals.

5. Identify the Job to be done here.

The senior citizens do not avail buses because they find it difficult to climb on to the bus pedestals which
are mostly elevated. Therefore, they should be given options where they could either socialize within their
neighborhoods without needing any transportation service or they should be provided with options where
they can enter the buses without needing to climb on to the bus pedestal.

6. By offering reserved seats to the senior citizens, what job was currently getting done?

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 Activity:
Identify a Problem Worth Solving – II

Once the senior citizens board a city bus, they have seats reserved for them so that they can be
comfortably seated without worrying about the availability of a seat. Senior citizens also need not bank
upon other commuters’ graciousness to offer their seats.

7. What do they do now to meet the challenges currently faced?

Most of the senior citizens choose to stay indoors rather than take the pain of going out, walking up to
the bus stop, and then boarding a bus to meet old friends. At times when they can, they do take cab rides.
Foundational Course in Entrepreneurship

However, with the advent of technology, they find it challenging even to summon a cab through the apps
and have to mostly depend on their family members to summon cabs for them. As a result, the easiest
option they find is to stay indoors.

8. What is the market size?

The senior citizens comprise 30 percent of the city’s population. So, by solving the problem identified,
Jason can increase the revenue earned from the buses by 30 percent.

9. Does this seem to be a problem worth solving? Explain.

Yes, if the senior citizens find it convenient to board and travel by bus and start availing the service
regularly, the buses can earn 30 percent more revenue. Therefore, this is a problem worth solving from a
venture perspective.

From a social perspective too, addressing the bus boarding problem for senior citizens is worth solving.
The senior citizens will be able to avail the bus service and not be dependent only on cabs for their
transport which takes a toll on their wallets.

Opportunity Discovery
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Activity Darwin Latasa

Ralp Gumiling
Identify a Problem Worth Solving - II
Iellmar Isagani Barroga
Use the following questions to record your observations:

1. Go out, look around you, and identify a problem that you can spot. Explain the context as
well.
Amidst the pandemic, thousands of businesses and companies have shut down, causing
a loss of jobs for many Filipino people. Losing a job is also losing the capability to buy for several
basic needs like food. A lot of band-aid solutions have arisen such as community pantries and
donations. Donating to community pantries sometimes is a hassle when you have to do it
personally due to the risk of infection. There are also a lot of people who got scammed by those
who used fake Facebook accounts. These circumstances may cause anxiety and doubts to those
who do not want to get scammed but are willing to donate. This event is a problem not just for
the donors but also for those who are in need.

Problem Identified- Some donors are getting scammed from an unreliable source of information
which causes anxieties and a possible decrease in donations.

2. What opportunity can you perceive from the above problem?

If the donors have a reliable source of information about the particular organizations or
charities that they want to donate to, it could potentially increase the donors and remove all of
the fear, anxieties, and hassle of donating.

3. Who is the Customer?

Donors.

4. What according to the customer are the main problems?

The customer, in this case, donors, finds it difficult to have a reliable source of information
about different organizations and charities that initiates food relief programs which caused fear
and anxieties of getting scammed.

5. What is the job to be done?

To give donors a reliable source of information by creating an application that will directly
connect to charities and different organizations that initiate food relief programs.
Activity Darwin Latasa

Ralp Gumiling
Identify a Problem Worth Solving - II
Iellmar Isagani Barroga

6. What job is currently getting done?

By creating an application directly connected to different organizations and charities, it
would eliminate the fear and anxieties of getting scammed. This will potentially increase donors
due to reliability and hassle-free.

7. How is the customer getting the job done today OR how is the customer addressing this
problem today?
There is a large number of viral posts on Facebook that are fake which causes a lot of
people to get scammed. These circumstances may cause anxiety and doubts to those who do not
want to get scammed but are willing to donate. That is why there are a lot of people who do not
want to donate due to the unreliability of information in social media and the hassle of donating
personally.

8. Estimate the market size. Your assumption will do.

There are approximately 71 million Filipino people who are aged 18 and above. This
population is the target market to reduce any complaints from those parents whose children
accidentally donated using the application. Solving this problem would greatly increase
donations. It will also help a lot of poor people and those people who are in need.

9. Does this seem to be a problem worth solving? Explain.

Yes, amidst the pandemic, there are a lot of Filipino people who are in great need. Helping
to reduce the doubts of donors will help a lot of people. The application will not only reduce the
number of people who are getting scammed, but it might also potentially increase the number
of possible donors due to its credibility.