Assignment 4 Forming An Opportunity Belief

My beginning point is that I have a belief that there is an unmet need for more parking spaces for off campus students. This need comes from off campus students that live far off from campus and cannot walk to class and have trouble relying on the buses that only come once every 30 minutes. This is not a new problem, it is one that has existed for some time now, and the university has started to try and do something about it by adding more parking spaces around campus. Although this need is trying to be fixed by the university, it is still a problem has there are currently people that will even go as far as to uber to class so they do not miss there class. Often times people will have friends drive them to class or just skip out all together. At this point I am 90% sure this is a problem and that the opportunity exists.

The prototypical customer for this unmet need are those college students at the University of Florida that live off campus. I interviewed 3 college students at the University of Florida that happen to live off campus:
Q: What is the exact nature of this need for more parking spaces for off campus students?
Person 1: I think it comes from the limited housing that is available on campus.
Person 2: I think it is because most of the parking spaces are for on campus students or even graduate students.
Person 3: I believe it stems from the many people that go to UF, and that UF can't accommodate for every sector of students, so the off campus students are left without on campus parking.
Q: When do you become aware of this need? Is it all the time or just sometimes?
Person 1: It just becomes a problem when I go to class, it is not all the time, just when I need to go to class.
Person 2: Every time I need to go on campus and parking is not lifted it is a problem.
Person 3: I become aware of this problem whenever I have to go to class or the library or really anytime I have to be somewhere on campus.
Q: How long have you had this need?
Person 1: Since I moved off campus
Person 2: Person 2 provided same reasoning as Person 1
Person 3: Person 3 provided same reasoning as Person 1
Q: When did you first become aware of this need?
Person 1: At the beginning of the semester when classes started
Person 2: Person 2 provided same reasoning as Person 1
Person 3: I mean I have been aware that this was an issue since I became a student here, but it really has only been an issue since I moved off campus.
Q: How do you currently address this need?
Person 1: I usually have to wait for the bus to come.
Person 2: I have to ride the bus, but often I miss the bus and my friend drives me.
Person 3: Person 3 provided the same answer as Person 1
Q: How satisfied are you with the parking spaces on campus
Person 1: Not really satisfied.
Person 2: I'm not that satisfied, but I don't really care that much.
Person 3: Not at all satisfied.

Reflection:
What I learned about this opportunity is that is an ongoing issue at UF as many students off campus cannot park on campus to get to class. The most surprising thing I learned about this unmet need is that I got the sense from the people I interviewed that they did not really care much for this need, they had the belief that there was nothing that could be done about this unmet need.

Summary:
I still believe the opportunity exists, but I am less sure that this is a problem that can be fixed, and that people actually care about this problem. I believe this exercise gave a more accurate depiction of this opportunity. I think Entrepreneurs should absolutely adapt their opportunities toward customer feedback as they are the ones that buy a product and how a company makes their money.