Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe that an opportunity exists within Gainesville to provide a better way for students to get to and from class/campus while having a positive impact on the traffic on campus and nearby. This would apply to primarily students living in the vicinity of the University however it could be used by virtually anyone that needs to get around the Gainesville area near, or on campus. This need has always been present, however with a growing university that just reached #7 in the country, its sure to grow larger in the years to come with traffic already a major issue during rush hour. Currently, to combat this, many students purchase scooters to get around in Gainesville or attempt to drive when its not rush hour traffic. However, there are many students that can’t afford to purchase a scooter, renting one isn’t an option, and they are forced to use the inefficient RTS buses that the City of Gainesville provides. I would say that I’m about 95% sure this opportunity exists within Gainesville and has a potential to be a solution for many students.

A prototypical customer would be the age 18-22 undergraduate UF student, especially one that lives nearby campus, makes trips from their residence to campus on a frequent basis. This customer would also typically be travelling when traffic on and near campus is quite busy and can make it difficult to get places in a timely manner.

While performing interviews with three different types of individuals I learned that while this may be a good opportunity for a certain demographic, it definitely would have certain limitations as to who would be using it. While not completely surprising, I did find out that certain group are not affected by the traffic on or around campus and are much more concerned about improving traffic elsewhere around town. For instance, the first and second interview were students and they had similar responses. They are in favor of improving transportation and the flow of traffic in and around campus and would be big supporters of a new way to get around. Transportation in Gainesville, especially during rush hour is very difficult and they experience this very frequently. While public transit and gas scooters are currently a decent solution, they believe there is a better way to be getting around. However, when talking to a professor, their answer was quite different. While he believed getting around campus can be difficult at certain times, he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with the way transportation is set up now. Additionally, he brought up the point that when not teaching during the week, he works elsewhere away from campus and noted that the traffic wasn’t as bad as the stop-and-go traffic frequent on University Ave.

After conducting several interviews and reviewing the answers I received I still believe that there is a good part of my original opportunity present however I don’t think the market is as big as I originally anticipated. I think that my opportunity is more accurate in the sense that I would have a clearer direction on where to go and how to address the issue I’m solving. However, I also think that a lot of my original idea would still work but I need to refine it further and do more research. As far as customer feedback, I think it plays a huge role in developing an opportunity. If an entrepreneur is unwilling to listen to customer feedback this can have a large negative impact on an opportunity. Customers are at the base of most entrepreneurial ideas and without them can completely fail. While holding firm on your idea is what most people tend to do, it can be harmful in the long run if customer needs are not met.