I’ve been living in Gainesville,
Florida for almost three years now. As you may already know, Gainesville is
what we all consider a “college-town” given that the majority of its population
are college students. One of the biggest and unique advantages for students
that live in Gainesville is the free public transportation. But as many
advantages it provides, it also shows areas where improvement could be done.
Throughout these past three years, I’ve used the free Bus (aka RTS) to go
everywhere. From my place to Santa Fe, to Downtown or to UF Campus. But it was
not until this semester that I was able to perceive a potential solution for an
unmet need.
Opportunity
What are the forces or changes in
the environment creating this opportunity?
Almost 76% of the undergraduates
that go to UF live off-campus, which means that they have to use transportation
resources to get to their destinations. The vast majority of students that live
off-campus use the Bus as their transportation resource, and as it may sounds
great to have a free transportation source, it has its drawbacks too.
Being a college student requires effort and commitment, which means that the
source of stress for college students should be to have a good performance in
school. But unfortunately, this is not the case in Gainesville where students
that “ride the bus” experience that stressful and nerve-cracking moment of
being late to the bus stop. It is hard to imagine but this is what happens not
only every year, every semester or every day, but it happens every single hour.
This is clearly an unmet need that craves for a solution.
How is this market defined
geographically and demographically?
My market is focused on every single
person who lives in Gainesville, who owns a smartphone, and who is able to
install an application. As it is a wide market, I would first concentrate on a
specific portion of the market and these are all students at the University of
Florida, who use the bus regularly. The ages of my potential customers range
between 15 to 60 years old, which gives me the opportunity to hoard a good portion
of the market. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to satisfy those who don’t own a
smartphone and who are not updated with the process of downloading an
application to their phones.
How are customers currently
satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use
now?
Nowadays the only way of catching
the bus on time is by setting and individual alarm and/or reminder that reminds
you that it is time to go! There is a live-tracking map offered by the UF Free
Mobile Application that tells you where your bus is. However, this application
is not always updated and sometimes there are buses that are not registered
with the GPS tracking system, which make this app useless. My potential
customers are loyal to the UF mobile app simply because it’s free and works the
majority of times.
How big is this opportunity? and how
long will the “window of opportunity” be open?
The opportunity is REALLY BIG!!! Not
only because there is no other resource that helps not only UF students, but
also an entire community, to better manage their time.
Remember that we all have the same
time, but it is what you do with it that makes you unique! This app will help
you achieve this common and universal goal. This app will help you manage your
time.
Innovation
How will The Gator Spotter work?
The Gator Spotter app will offer the
student or the person that downloads the app with the opportunity of basically
scheduling his or her bus. The app will send notifications 25, 20 or 15 minutes
before the bus actually gets to the bus stop he or she usually uses. You just
have to set up the following:
- Where do you take the bus (what bus stop)
- At what time you usually take the bus
- What Bus route you usually use (Bus number)
My venture will require an
installation of GPS on every bus stop in Gainesville and on every Bus. Using a
GPS system, the app will send you notifications before the bus gets there, so
you will know it’s time to hurry up.
Throughout the life cycle and
especially at the first stages, my venture will require a good amount of
financial resources. To maintain this type of technology, and to satisfy all
the possible costs, the price of my app will be ranging from $0.99 to $1.99 per
semester (the semester will cover from January 1 – June 30 and from July 1 to
December 31). This price is subject to change given possible unexpected costs.
Venture
·
The Gator Spotter would be unique
and extremely helpful for students and people that use the bus as their source
of transportation. It would not be hard to switch and to download the app as it
would be available in the Google Play Store for androids and on ITunes app
store for iPhones.
·
The only competition I will be
facing is the already Free Application that UF offers, but I would have the
advantage of offering more benefits to the same customers.
·
Customer feedback will be essential
for my venture in order to maintain their level of satisfaction, and I will
focus myself to and my venture on having a fluid and constant communication
with my customers.
·
I will need to hire 4 employees
experienced on the installation of GPS system as well as 3 employees
experienced on coding and developing applications. This number is subject to
change in specific circumstances.
The Three Minor Elements
1. The Gator Spotter will be unique and a complete innovation
for the Gator Nation. Competitors will not be able to copy us because we will
be the first and only business on providing this service in Gainesville.
2. We want to make it easier for our customers to manage
their time and take advantage from it. That is why for future endeavors, we
will offer our customers with a variety of events that are happening in
Gainesville. This will vary from concerts, to parties to sport events, and we
will tell you how the get there using The Gator Spotter!
3. I dream that this innovation will impact not only to
Gainesville, but also different college-towns across the country.
Analysis on Feedback
All
the feedback provided on my previous post was positive and encouraging. I can
tell that my business plan could bring positive results to a big number of
potential customers in Gainesville. This being said, I looked around for
feedback and advice from successful entrepreneurs and here are two videos that I found from icons of small business development.
Alejandro, you certainly are targeting an underserved market in Gainesville. College towns are prone to have this type of issue, so your idea could apply in a lot of cities- not just Gainesville- as well. One thing that I caution you about is the heavy up front initial investment that would be required for all of the GPS. While certainly not impossible, it would also not be cheap. However, it's a large market with a problem. And that market wants a solution, so I really do like your idea. You should check out my ideas on my blog! Here is the link: http://entrepreneurshipleslie.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html
ReplyDeleteHi Alejandro,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really like how put together this proposal is. It is obviously well thought out and put together. I do have some concerns about your idea, however.
As somebody who uses the RTS system to get everywhere, and is extremely frustrated with how ineffective the Transloc app sometimes is at tracking the buses, I still don't think that your app will meet a new need or solve a problem. The two main issues you mentioned will not be solved with your app.
First, the buses not running on schedule. I've been there too, the prediction on the transloc app will say 15 minutes and the bus arrives in 5, or 30. The hing is, the prediction is already based off of GPS tracking. Adding another tracking system on a different app won't amend the problem. The real issue is that the buses cannot be predicted based on their position. They have a set schedule they run on, but as driving in trafficked areas is unpredictable they often have to stop for extended periods of time at a stop if they get too far ahead, or rush around faster than usual if they get behind. A GPS cannot help predict this, unless you also implemented the actual bus schedule in the app as well. That way, the user could see whether the bus was running ahead or behind and compensate for how that might affect their actual arrival time.
Secondly, the buses not showing up on Transloc. This happens when they have have to switch out the buses, and it often takes a few days for them to register the new bus (if they ever bother to do it at all). Adding another GPS tracking system wont solve this issue either, unless for some unknown reason they decide to be more diligent with your app than their own.
As someone who really dislikes the current RTS app, I really want your product to meet this need. However, from reading your concept, I don't believe it will in its current state.
Thanks for sharing! Here is a link to my own blog: http://ablog4c.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html
Hi Alejandro,
ReplyDeleteWe live in the right time and place for your venture to be a success that can be expanded beyond the city limits of Gainesville. With the "Internet of Things" growing every day your concept would fit right in. One line that really stuck out to me is when you stated that a college students primary stress should come from academic performance, but as we all know that is not the case. I think your concept could go a long way in help relieving stress for a lot of students.
You can check out my second Venture Concept here: http://llogsdonent3003.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html
alejandro.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time i give you my feedback, and i can see how you have changed your idea along the semester. However, even though your idea seems good and it has a lot of pro and cons. its a tech that does not offer anything. how are you going to have downloads. are you going to charge for the app? anyway. keep the good work. i know you have a good idea! and you will find the right innovation.
http://heosorio.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html