Forming an Opportunity Belief - Assignment 4

I believe that there is serious issue that the University of Florida students face on a daily basis. There seems to be an opportunity to solve the fact that its tough to get around traffic and lack of parking if you own a car and not a scooter.

What is the Unmet need? - Lack of ways getting around and parking if you don't own a scooter.

Who has the need? - Students who attend the University of Florida.

Where did the need come from? - The overwhelming amount of students and it continues to expand.

What are people doing to meet this need now? - They continue to walk or ride the bus to get away from driving their cars.

How sure am I that this opportunity exists? - 65%

Prototypical Customer #1 Interview - Student at UF who doesn't own a scooter

• What is the exact nature of the need? I need other ways to get around campus because there is no where for me to park my car and the bus doesn't fit my schedule. 
• Do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes? - I experience everyday and realize that I need to find an alternative option to my car. 
• How long have you had this need? - Since I came to school here two years ago. 
• When did you first become aware of this need? Week 2 of my freshman year when I realized I was going be late for class because the bus wasn't going to come in time and I had no way of getting there.
• How are currently addressing this need? - I bought a bike to get around the money it costs for a scooter but I'd prefer they build more parking. 
• How satisfied are you with the current solution? - A bike does its job but its even tough to park at my apartment building which makes it practically impossible to park anywhere and makes my care useless. We need more parking or better/cheaper transportation methods. 

Prototypical Customer #2 Interview - Student at UF who owns a scooter 

• What is the exact nature of the need? - Even though I drive a scooter, there is still a select few number of spots for parking scooters. They need to add more options for us, but having a scooter makes my life 10x better. Parking off campus for scooters is good; however, the cost of parking decals is expensive.
• Do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes? - You can always get lucky and go at the right time of day but when campus is busy (which is most of the time) it is tough to park and makes life harder so I would have to say more often then not.
• How long have you had this need? - Since I bought a scooter a year and a half ago.
• How are you currently addressing this need? - I hate to say it, but I often park my scooter in a non designated area and hope for the best. The school should pay for parking tickets.
• How satisfied are you with the current solution? - Well, I'm broke. There is high risk when it comes to parking illegally which is tough for my financial situation. 

Prototypical Customer #3 Interview 

• What is the exact nature of the need? I don't see that big of need because I thin the campus is that far from where I live and its very to walk to class and any other place I need to go. 
• Do you experience the need all the time or only sometimes? - I think I experience it sometimes but I was so turned off by the traffic that walking became my method of choice and it works for me. But I can see how it exists.
• What do you think about campus expanding to add more parking? I think that this will cause more clutter and actually hurt the situation. 
• What would you do? Require people to not drive at all and make campus all walking and biking to create more room for buses and add more buses. 
• Why not ride the bus? - The times didn't suit me that much and wanted the exercise. 

REFLECT:

I think its very clear that there is an issue and a lot of students are facing the same problem. What was most most shocking was even the people with scooters were saying that the parking needs to change. One person gave up completely and just decided to walk which was the thing that made me think that this is a major issue that needs to addressed and there is a large opportunity. 

How much of your original opportunity is still there?: I think the opportunity is alive and well. My interviews reiterated exactly what I thought and even made me feel more strong about it. 

How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback?: I think its a little of both. Its a feeling that gets you thinking but if you are the only one then you don't have much of an idea. You need feedback to make a viable idea that then develops.