4A – Forming An Opportunity Belief
1. Beginning Point: I believe that an opportunity exists with starting a dedicated place in Gainesville for scooter oil changes.
2. Describe my belief: I currently own a scooter, and it is very inconvenient to get an oil change. I usually bring it to New Scooters for Less, but you cannot make an appointment, you just drop it off during their service hours. The problem is that sometimes there are a lot of people in front of me and someone has a big repair, so it can take all day just to get an oil change. Other scooter places in Gainesville are just as bad, and if I change the oil myself it will violate my manufacturer warranty. Near my home in Clearwater, there is a place called Take Five, where they only do oil changes and get it done in five minutes or less. For them you stay in your car while they have multiple people change the oil and filters, along with check tire pressure and other fluids in the car. If there was a drive through place for scooters in Gainesville where you pull up and they quickly do this, I feel like it would attract many of the people who drive scooters in Gainesville. Instead of waiting all day to get my scooter back, I would be able to get it done much faster.
3. Identify Prototypical Customer: Prototypical customers would be anyone in Gainesville with a scooter or motorcycle. This includes UF students, along with residence of Gainesville who own one.
4. Iteration Number 1: I talked to my friend Kevin who owns a scooter. He agreed with me that the scooter stores take way to long to change oil, so he just changes it himself. He doesn’t like doing this because he is unsure if he is doing it right all the time, and sometimes it takes him a while trying to figure out what to do. He said he would utilize a place dedicated to quick oil changes, where people who are getting complicated repairs in front of him do not slow down his service. He has had this need for two years now since he bought his scooter. He realized this need when he went to Solano Scooters and it took a couple hours for an oil change because they were busy fixing a flat tire on a scooter in front of him and doing an engine repair on another. He said if there was a place that could do one quickly because that was the only thing they were dedicated to; he would definitely utilize it.
5. Iteration Number 2: My friend Marin owns a scooter and has not have had an oil change in over a year. She says it’s because she doesn’t think that they are that important and does not want to waste time getting one. I explained to her how her scooter could break form this and she said she’ll get one, but does not want to wait around for her scooter to be done. She said she’ll go to Solano Scooters but only because I said I would take her to it and drop her off when it is done. This is inconvenient for me, and we both agreed that if a place in Gainesville was here that could do one quickly that it would be her first choice.
6. Iteration Number 3: My friend Noah who goes to UF with me was also my friend back home. He said he liked to use Take Five Oil Changes for his, purely for the convenience of getting it done so quick. He also drives a motorcycle here in Gainesville and does his own oil changes. He did tell me that he doesn’t mind doing his own, but said that sometimes he is in a rush to get it done, such as if its last minute before going home for a break, and said if there was a place to quickly go and get a oil change then he would utilize it.
7. Reflection: I realized that many people I know with scooters are tired of the long waits for oil changes at the scooter shops in Gainesville. For some of us, we do not have a car here, and rely on our scooter for our primary mode of transportations. If there are many scooters with long repairs in front of mine at the shops, then it could take all day for a simple oil change to be done, and many people are scared to do it themselves for fear of doing it wrong and damaging the scooter.
8. Summary: I found that my original opportunity exists, and that customer feedback is important for entrepreneurs. When talking to my friend Marin she said it would be nice if there was a place for her to wait with air conditioning and Wi-Fi. Seeing this made me adapt my original idea of having just a covered awning for the oil change to more of a building with a waiting area. There is a trade off because this would increase the price of creating this business, but it would potentially attract more customers. I feel like my original opportunity still exists and is more accurate than I previously believed.
2. Describe my belief: I currently own a scooter, and it is very inconvenient to get an oil change. I usually bring it to New Scooters for Less, but you cannot make an appointment, you just drop it off during their service hours. The problem is that sometimes there are a lot of people in front of me and someone has a big repair, so it can take all day just to get an oil change. Other scooter places in Gainesville are just as bad, and if I change the oil myself it will violate my manufacturer warranty. Near my home in Clearwater, there is a place called Take Five, where they only do oil changes and get it done in five minutes or less. For them you stay in your car while they have multiple people change the oil and filters, along with check tire pressure and other fluids in the car. If there was a drive through place for scooters in Gainesville where you pull up and they quickly do this, I feel like it would attract many of the people who drive scooters in Gainesville. Instead of waiting all day to get my scooter back, I would be able to get it done much faster.
3. Identify Prototypical Customer: Prototypical customers would be anyone in Gainesville with a scooter or motorcycle. This includes UF students, along with residence of Gainesville who own one.
4. Iteration Number 1: I talked to my friend Kevin who owns a scooter. He agreed with me that the scooter stores take way to long to change oil, so he just changes it himself. He doesn’t like doing this because he is unsure if he is doing it right all the time, and sometimes it takes him a while trying to figure out what to do. He said he would utilize a place dedicated to quick oil changes, where people who are getting complicated repairs in front of him do not slow down his service. He has had this need for two years now since he bought his scooter. He realized this need when he went to Solano Scooters and it took a couple hours for an oil change because they were busy fixing a flat tire on a scooter in front of him and doing an engine repair on another. He said if there was a place that could do one quickly because that was the only thing they were dedicated to; he would definitely utilize it.
5. Iteration Number 2: My friend Marin owns a scooter and has not have had an oil change in over a year. She says it’s because she doesn’t think that they are that important and does not want to waste time getting one. I explained to her how her scooter could break form this and she said she’ll get one, but does not want to wait around for her scooter to be done. She said she’ll go to Solano Scooters but only because I said I would take her to it and drop her off when it is done. This is inconvenient for me, and we both agreed that if a place in Gainesville was here that could do one quickly that it would be her first choice.
6. Iteration Number 3: My friend Noah who goes to UF with me was also my friend back home. He said he liked to use Take Five Oil Changes for his, purely for the convenience of getting it done so quick. He also drives a motorcycle here in Gainesville and does his own oil changes. He did tell me that he doesn’t mind doing his own, but said that sometimes he is in a rush to get it done, such as if its last minute before going home for a break, and said if there was a place to quickly go and get a oil change then he would utilize it.
7. Reflection: I realized that many people I know with scooters are tired of the long waits for oil changes at the scooter shops in Gainesville. For some of us, we do not have a car here, and rely on our scooter for our primary mode of transportations. If there are many scooters with long repairs in front of mine at the shops, then it could take all day for a simple oil change to be done, and many people are scared to do it themselves for fear of doing it wrong and damaging the scooter.
8. Summary: I found that my original opportunity exists, and that customer feedback is important for entrepreneurs. When talking to my friend Marin she said it would be nice if there was a place for her to wait with air conditioning and Wi-Fi. Seeing this made me adapt my original idea of having just a covered awning for the oil change to more of a building with a waiting area. There is a trade off because this would increase the price of creating this business, but it would potentially attract more customers. I feel like my original opportunity still exists and is more accurate than I previously believed.
Dear Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI agree that an opportunity exists with starting a dedicated place in Gainesville for scooter oil changes. I, for one, do not have a scooter but have heard multiple antidotes about the struggles of maintenance and oil changes. Since it is extremely common for a student to own a scooter, I think many people would benefit from meeting this unfulfilled need.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete