Forming an Opportunity Belief

1.  I believe an opportunity exists to develop more/better parking on and around campus for students who live off campus.  Specifically, parking garages within walking distance from the main hubs of campus, where students who live off campus can park their vehicles.

2. The unmet need is the availability of parking on/near campus specifically for students who live off campus.  This need is not brand new, I believe it has existed for a few years now, but it worsens over time as UF admits more and more students to the university, and the areas surrounding campus become developed into housing/retail.  To meet this need (or rather to deal with it) off campus students walk, or ride bikes, scooters, or the RTS bus system to get to campus.

3.  The prototypical customer would be undergrad students, who live outside a one-mile radius from UF campus.  I say undergrad students because there are already designated parking areas for graduate students.  Also, students within a one-mile radius of campus can easily walk, bike, or ride a scooter to campus, where as students outside this radius can not. 

4.  The first person I spoke to was a 4th year student who lives off campus.  She identified the need for an ability to drive her car to campus.  This need occurs Monday-Friday from 7am-3:30pm when there are parking restrictions on campus. She says she has had the need for all 4 years, because she never lived on campus, and can't get a decal (other than park & ride) as an undergrad.   She currently uses the RTS bus system to get to campus, but would rather drive herself because it is often unreliable, and very time consuming.

* disclaimer: I don't think park and ride decals are a solution to this problem, because students still have to commute on a bus... This does not make transportation to/from campus quick, convenient, or efficient in my opinion.  The only case in which I think a park and ride would be useful is if a student lives more than a 25 min drive away from campus.


5.  The second person I spoke to was a 5th year (undergrad) student who lives off campus.  He currently has a motorcycle with a parking decal, and doesn't own a car, so this isn't exactly a 'need' for him.  -He did mention that scooter/motorcycle parking is overcrowded, unorganized, and sometimes hard to find, which is encompassed in my 'opportunity' for better parking for students who live off campus. -  He also said that he lived on campus freshman year  so he had no need for a car.  When he moved off campus his 2nd year,  he rode the RTS bus which he said was unpleasant & time consuming. He acquired his motorcycle as a junior, for the purpose of commuting to and from campus, since he knew parking was very limited for those with cars. *Which proves my point, that there is a need for parking for off campus students with cars!*


6.  The third person I spoke to was a 2nd year student who lives off campus.  As a freshman he lived on campus, so again, he didn't have this 'need' then.  As a 2nd year, he moved off campus, and began using the RTS bus to commute to campus daily.  He says using the RTS in the mornings is decent, but in the afternoon it's packed and can take him up to 45 mins to get home (only 4 miles away!!)  He says he too, wishes he could drive himself to campus daily, to reduce his commute time, but that not having the option to park his car on or anywhere near campus is the limiting factor.  This student only has class MWF this semester, so he only faces this problem 3 days a week.


7.  In summary, this opportunity certainly exists (100%).  While it may exist in varying degrees for different students, it is obviously a problem for a lot of students living off campus.  And while there are alternative methods of commuting to campus, students would typically rather have the freedom to drive their own cars, avoid public transportation, and save time on their daily commute.
I believe my opportunity is still 100% there.  But in other circumstances, I think entrepreneurs should most certainly adapt their 'opportunities' to the actual needs people have, otherwise they may be missing the mark, and their opportunity may fail in the real world.