24A - Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

            Throughout the entire idea development process, ENT3003 has done an excellent job of structuring assignments to move its students forward very quickly with the necessary aspects of developing a comprehensive product/service idea. Over this period, the first step in coming up with an idea is recognizing that an opportunity exists for the creation of a product or service. Being a college student at the University of Florida over the past 4 years, I have always been annoyed by the constant struggle of trying to find a seat in any of the campus libraries. The University of Florida is home to over 50,000 students and with a limited number library seating it is extremely difficult to find a great place to study. After conducting interviews with other UF students, I realized that I was not the only student experiencing this problem and that many other people were annoyed with the issue. I identified that a desire to solve this issue exists among University of Florida students. My solution would serve the University of Florida population and they would serve as my consumer base. The nature of the need that needs to be addressed is one that I believe is extremely important because serving the student population should be the top priority of any university.

            The forces of the changing environment that are creating this need is the fact that more students are going to college now more than ever and the growth of student populations are outpacing the growth of study facilities on campuses across the country. Currently, customers are satisfying their need to find good study space at UF by using the DIBS platform that UF provides, by texting friends that may already be at the libraries, or walking around aimlessly until a spot opens. None of these current solutions are efficient or effective by any sense of the word and I do not believe that loyalty towards these solutions exists even slightly. The opportunity is a very big one because the student population at UF is very large and every year, new consumers will be moving to Gainesville to start their college careers as young freshmen. I do not foresee the consumer base for this idea ever decreasing enough to warrant the failure of the idea that I have been developing. The window of opportunity will continue to stay open if students continue to use on campus libraries.

Innovation

I recognize the need for an application that programs campus library layouts into the software and allows other students already in the library to identify open seating. Students will receive points based on accurately reported information and these points will then be usable at local Gainesville businesses. I strongly believe that these businesses would partner with the application as they have proven to be willing to work with these types of educational applications through their partnerships with pocket points for example.  This idea is uniquely innovative because it combines several new types of concepts in the modern economy that we all live in. It resembles the idea of a “sharing economy” where consumers assist consumers in solving their needs and it utilizes modern technology platforms. It solves a need that I know exists based off interviews that I conducted and it does not resemble any existing product/service at the current moment. I foresee the application creating income through advertisements, royalty fees paid by the local partnered businesses, and downloads from the application stores on mobile phones. The major revenue generation would come with the expansion of the application at other schools across the country, though.

Venture Concept

            Customers will utilize this product because it makes their life easier. The best thing that a new product/service can do is simplify an aspect of a consumer’s life. The application would be free for download from Apple or Android Marketplaces so that alone I believe would also entice people to at least give it a shot. It would not be hard to get them to use it because no other similar product exists now, which also means that the competitors are slim to none. Possible weaknesses/vulnerabilities that exists include students reporting inaccurate information or just the lack of reported information overall. This is addressed through the rewarding of points for accurate information and the fact that the points can be redeemed for tangible items around the community of Gainesville.

The Three Minor Elements

1)    My secret sauce would be the combination of the rarity factor that my product holds as well as the value that stems from utilizing the application. The competition to this product is very slim and it would allow more time to students for good study time instead of wasting their time trying to find a good place.

2)    The thing that is next for the venture would obviously be the development of the application. Once the application is developed, then getting partnering businesses on board for the redeemable points aspect of the idea would be the next step in the process. After that, I see the application having the potential to be successful at other college campuses. This is extremely important for any idea because if the future is dim for the concept then it most likely will hit a brick wall and never grow to be as successful as the developer hoped that it would.

3)    If I was to launch this idea, then I would want to be running this company at multiple different schools. I believe that expansion is extremely important and growing the consumer base for mobile applications is the best way to ensure that the product is reaching its full potential. I am not sure that I want to pursue this or launch the app yet but I know that this class has helped developed my entrepreneurial mindset. The amount of thought and work that I have put into the detailing of this application will assist me in the future when I am hopefully working on a new idea/company to start when I am older.