Assignment 4A - Forming an Opportunity

     1&2.)  My beginning point + describing my belief: Since I moved to Gainesville a year ago, I have always had a belief that a big opportunity exists here. I have mentioned it in my bug list, since it's something that has always bothered me, and also something that has an opportunity for improvement. This unmet need that affects almost all students who commute by car is the lack of parking throughout the college town. There just simply is not enough parking around campus and throughout the city, especially when people come to visit from all over the state for our football games. It's bad enough as it is with over 50,000 students, which makes me feel like it's something that should be done about it. As mentioned, the people with this unmet need are people who travel to campus and other areas in the city by car and who have trouble finding reasonable parking, such as myself.
         This need comes from the extremely large pool of students that the University of Florida has been accepted into the university. With more students than ever before, there is simply not enough parking to accommodate all the students that attend the institution. As for what people are doing about it now, I would have to say not much. I haven't really been seeing any parking garages or anything of the sort getting built, even though more and more buildings are being created in such a small radius with a slim amount of parking spaces to accommodate these new-coming students. At this point, I would say that there is a 80% chance that this opportunity exists, simply because there is such little space to go around in the city. Something could definitely be done about the issue and it most certainly exists, but it would be difficult to implement throughout the city.
      3.) Pro typical customer:  The pro typical customer in my case would be university students who commute by car and have trouble finding sufficient parking.

Iteration #1: Neighbor in building (female, 20)
What is the exact nature of the need? She just feels like there are so many more cars than convenient parking spots in the city. She has to walk 15 minutes to get to her car in the mornings which she thinks is ridiculous. The exact nature of the need is that there simply needs to be more accessible parking throughout the city since what we currently have is no where near enough, she states.
When do you become aware of the need? Is it all the time or sometimes? She becomes aware of the problem all the time, starting in the mornings when she has to go to her car, and ending at night when she struggles to find parking.
How long have you had the need? She has had the need since she moved to the city in the fall last year.
When did you first become aware of this need? Why? She first became aware of the need when she moved to her current apartment, due to the fact that her complex has very limited parking spaces which is difficult for all their residents.
How are you currently addressing your need? How? She states that the only thing she can do to address it would be by finding local street parking, which is rarely even possible.
How satisfied are you with your solution? She states that she is not satisfied with the solution, since it is nothing but tentative.

Reflection: I feel like my neighbor has a very similar mindset as my own. Based on her situation, she seems to be in almost the exact predicament as me. She seemed a little frustrated when was talking about the issue, so I could tell that it is very troublesome for her.

Iteration #2: A friend of a friend (male, 20)
What is the exact nature of the need? He thinks that in general, Gainesville isn't the best place for parking, especially around campus. He states that it takes too long or it often isn't even available.
When do you become aware of the need? Is it all the time or sometimes? He doesn't drive very often, so he only becomes aware of the need a couple times throughout the week.
How long have you had the need? He has had the need since he got his car in the city around a year ago.
When did you first become aware of this need? Why? He first became aware of the need when he wanted to start going to the gym, which was far away from his house. Since he didn't have an orange decal, he was unable to commute their conveniently until after hours, when parking isn't as enforced
How are you currently addressing your need? How? He currently addresses his need by taking the bus instead of his car.
How satisfied are you with your solution? He is not very satisfied with his solution since he claims the bus takes long and he doesn't like waiting for it to come every 15 minutes.

Reflection: Although this pro typical customer does not seem to have as big of a problem as myself of the individual in iteration #1, it seems to be a big enough issue for him to the point where he'd like to see a change occur.

Iteration #3: A coworker (male, 21)
What is the exact nature of the need? In popular areas especially like midtown and campus, its difficult to park anywhere without risking to get towed.
When do you become aware of the need? Is it all the time or sometimes? He becomes aware of the need almost everyday when he has to decide whether he wants to take his bike or car to travel around campus.
How long have you had the need? He has had this need since he signed his lease at midtown apartments this past fall.
When did you first become aware of this need? Why? He first became aware of the need when he tried to drive to an exam, but couldn't find any parking. He parked in a reserved spot and later got towed.
How are you currently addressing your need? How? He currently addresses his need by riding his bike if the place he's trying to get to isn't too far.
How satisfied are you with your solution? He claims he is not at all satisfied with his situation since there are a lot of slopes in the city and it could take a lot of time and energy to get from place to place.

Reflection: My coworker seemed pretty bothered by the parking situation in Gainesville, although he seemed to be coping with it quite well. The problem is still evident in his day-to-day life, and as such, I feel like he would not be opposed to a change in the right directions in regards to parking.

Summary:

How much of your original opportunity is still there? After receiving feedback from three very different people, it seems quite clear to be that 100% of my original opportunity is still there. I've come to the conclusion that parking, is in fact a real big issue in Gainesville.

Do you belief that your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started? Yes actually. Now that I've gotten feedback from 3 people in varying situations that made it clear that parking is an issue to them, I believe that my new opportunity is definitely more accurate than when I first started.

How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback? (In other words, is there a trade-off between adapting and staying firm?) I feel like entrepreneurs should definitely adapt their opportunities based on feedback to an extent, since at the end of the day, they're the ones that the opportunity is aimed at. I do think that there is a trade-off between adapting and staying firm, and that an entrepreneur should only stay firm if he has received an affirmation from other pro typical customers. If they have a really strong image in mind for a positive change, however, I feel like they should go for it since people don't know how useful something can be to them until they actually have it.