4A- Forming an Opportunity Belief
My Belief:
An unmet need that exists in relation to The University of Florida is the access to parking closer to classrooms for students who live off-campus. Currently, the University only offers Park-And-Ride services where one has to park near the Harn Museum and ride on the bus for a good 10-15 minutes towards the campus in either the cold or rainy days. This unmet need targets any student who cannot afford to live on campus or someone who does not have an automobile to get to campus. This need for more convenient parking has not been around and should be offered for by the university for students who have jobs to attend at a certain hour by the easy solution of building more parking lots or zoning grass lots. I am almost 75% sure that the opportunity for more parking areas for off-campus students is in need by almost the whole majority of those who qualify for this need.
Prototypical Customer Reflections:
Questions I asked:
1.) How long have you rode the RTS and would you like UF to provide more parking for off-campus students?
2.) Would you be willing to pay extra to park closer to classes on campus?
3.) How many times have you been late to work or an appointment because of poor parking restrictions?
Once I was able to gather reflections and answers from three students who lived off-campus, I realized that I had a strong argument for not only this assignment but in general UF housing conditions. I realized that these three individuals had all strong and similar arguments who wished there was more convenient parking areas to avoid that long bus commute. As it seems impossible to make any convincing to the UF parking offices, all three of my interviewees have not done anything about this issue but complain consistently to themselves or their friends. However, they all agreed that they would pay additional monetary value to park closer on the campus and said that the university could pocket a lot of money from this additional "no cost" service. One answer that stood out to me was that one person scheduled their classes after the 4 o'clock parking restrictions are lifted. Each individual seemed very enthusiastic about possibly spreading the word of this unmet need that so many people wish existed.
Summary:
I strongly believe that my initial opportunity is still available due to the fact that the three people I interviewed were on my side of the argument. I believe my argument remained pretty stable as far as strength due to it being an argument that might not ever get resolved in the near future. Depending on the type of interview that an entrepreneur conducts, it is important to analyze the feedback that one receives on the particular argument. For example, one surveyor may Christmas tree the questions and one may provide you with new information to adjust your argument for the better. However, keeping an open ear to feedback on one's entrepreneurial idea is a very strong task to take in order to keep your success in the near future by satisfying all potential customers who like one's product.
An unmet need that exists in relation to The University of Florida is the access to parking closer to classrooms for students who live off-campus. Currently, the University only offers Park-And-Ride services where one has to park near the Harn Museum and ride on the bus for a good 10-15 minutes towards the campus in either the cold or rainy days. This unmet need targets any student who cannot afford to live on campus or someone who does not have an automobile to get to campus. This need for more convenient parking has not been around and should be offered for by the university for students who have jobs to attend at a certain hour by the easy solution of building more parking lots or zoning grass lots. I am almost 75% sure that the opportunity for more parking areas for off-campus students is in need by almost the whole majority of those who qualify for this need.
Prototypical Customer Reflections:
Questions I asked:
1.) How long have you rode the RTS and would you like UF to provide more parking for off-campus students?
2.) Would you be willing to pay extra to park closer to classes on campus?
3.) How many times have you been late to work or an appointment because of poor parking restrictions?
Once I was able to gather reflections and answers from three students who lived off-campus, I realized that I had a strong argument for not only this assignment but in general UF housing conditions. I realized that these three individuals had all strong and similar arguments who wished there was more convenient parking areas to avoid that long bus commute. As it seems impossible to make any convincing to the UF parking offices, all three of my interviewees have not done anything about this issue but complain consistently to themselves or their friends. However, they all agreed that they would pay additional monetary value to park closer on the campus and said that the university could pocket a lot of money from this additional "no cost" service. One answer that stood out to me was that one person scheduled their classes after the 4 o'clock parking restrictions are lifted. Each individual seemed very enthusiastic about possibly spreading the word of this unmet need that so many people wish existed.
Summary:
I strongly believe that my initial opportunity is still available due to the fact that the three people I interviewed were on my side of the argument. I believe my argument remained pretty stable as far as strength due to it being an argument that might not ever get resolved in the near future. Depending on the type of interview that an entrepreneur conducts, it is important to analyze the feedback that one receives on the particular argument. For example, one surveyor may Christmas tree the questions and one may provide you with new information to adjust your argument for the better. However, keeping an open ear to feedback on one's entrepreneurial idea is a very strong task to take in order to keep your success in the near future by satisfying all potential customers who like one's product.
Hey Matt!
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting as I decided on the same opportunity as you did. I really found it interesting how detailed you went into this opportunity. I like how you mentioned the Park-and-ride, and how this would opportunity would be beneficial for people who don't live on campus. I also believe that this opportunity is still very available, and should be executed upon.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteIn my post, I too, wrote about the constraint of mobility on campus. I approached it in a different way as you spoke about students that might have constraints getting to campus who live much farther away. I agree that this problem is so prevalent for the students living off campus and I thought it was interesting that all of them had similar responses/felt the same way. In your summary, I enjoyed how you stated it is important to consider feedback of consumers. I completely agree.
Emily