Opportunity Belief

I have been a student at the University of Florida for almost two and a half years now and one of the prominent issues many students talk about is parking. This is a large problem for many students but could also be seen as a great opportunity. It is something that demands a solution and the possibility for change is not far.

I personally have dealt with the issue of trying to find scooter parking on the University of Florida campus and with all of the surrounding open land around the campus I believe there is a great opportunity in attempting to solve this issue. This is something that affects all of the University of Florida students that drive scooters and is an issue that has always existed. Adding more scooter parking spaces would greatly improve the campus yet no one is doing anything about it. At this point I am about 70% sure that this opportunity exists.

The prototypical customer would be a University of Florida student who owns a scooter and parks on campus regularly.

While going into a discussion class a girl I knew had a scooter came in a little late. I figured It might have had something to do with the parking situation so I decided to discuss the topic with her. I asked her why she had been late and to my speculation she blamed it on not being able to find a parking spot. I expressed that she wasn't the only one that had the same problem. I asked her how she felt about a scenario where there were more parking spaces available and she described how much less stress she'd feel before each class and going on campus in general. I then asked how long she'd felt this way and she told me that this had been going on ever since she bought the scooter her first semester of college. She said it had been a problem ever since she first tried finding parking near her first class.

Two days later I was driving my scooter to the library and saw a guy sitting on his scooter in a parking spot just looking through phone very casually. I figured this might be a different, more-relaxed person to discuss it with. I told him I would like to discuss scooter parking with him for a class and he seemed reluctant but agreed. I asked if he felt that scooter parking was an issue and he told me that he almost always finds parking because he knows the right places to park. I asked if he felt that more parking wouldn't benefit the campus and he told me that it definitely would but that it didn't seem like such a big deal. After the last girl I was surprised so I asked if he had ever had an issue finding a parking space. He answered that his older brother went to the university and had a scooter so he always knew to leave early enough to be able to find one. He expressed that if anything it made sure he'd leave in time to make it for class.

The next person I spoke to was a friends who had just recently bought a scooter at the beginning of the semester. I asked if he has had any problems with parking and he told me that the first week of classes he had a terrible time finding parking but he was starting to get used to it. I asked if more parking spots would help and he said it would definitely make it easier for new students and other new scooter drivers to be comfortable on campus. He seemed very enthusiastic about the possibility of new parking on campus and he continued to describe how bad the first week was with making it to class on time and the two tickets he had gotten for parking in the wrong place.

After talking to these three people I was able to gather some information on how serious the problem really was. It seemed like everyone encouraged more parking spaces but the second guy I spoke to expressed that the issue might not be that urgent of a problem which genuinely surprised me. The third person and first person expressed the how the issue has affected them in negative ways and were very eager for more parking.

After speaking to all of these people my opinion did change a bit. I still believe that the original opportunity is still there and would help a lot of student across the entire campus. I believe that the original opportunity is still accurate and that little should be changed, however, I do believe that speaking to potential customers really helped me understand the opportunity much more. I believe that entrepreneurs should consistently be trying to explore more and more about their opportunities and products. Through this they should keep their main goal in mind while still adapting to any changes.