Idea Napkin No. 2

You. My name is Haley Spooner and it is my first semester at UF. Through my high school, I had the opportunity to participate in the dual enrollment program, in which I could graduate with my Associates degree and my high school diploma at the same time. I intend to major in Marketing and hope to go into the MIB Program. I have a talent in communicating with others and understanding their situations and feelings, even if I have never explicitly been in those situations or felt those emotions. I have learned that empathy is definitely one of my strong suits through last week’s assignment of learning what other people think of me. I have a passion for helping others and love to use my dedication and creativity to make the community a better place. In high school, I served as the President of Student Council in my junior year and loved it as I could make major contributions to the school environment. I enjoy finding ways to make contributions to society that makes life easier for people and I hope to continue doing so for the rest of my life. Starting this business concept would play a significant role in my life, as it would make life less stressful for those around me. It would allow me to give others a little more time in their day and it would ensure that they have a painless experience. In addition, I feel like it would play a major role as I know getting it started would take a lot of time and energy.

What are you offering to your customers?  I am offering individuals a product that ensures parking in busy parking lots/parking garages is effortless. In addition, I am offering businesses that operate parking garages/parking lots that require payment an easier way to receive payment that will allow them to make more profit. By implementing the display in parking garages/parking lots and creating an app for individuals, busy parking lots and parking garages will not be such a hindrance and will allow individuals to use their time more efficiently. Parking garages and parking lots that use the display and app combination will have a lot more visitors as customers know that they will not have to circle the lot to find an empty spot. In addition, if those lots charge for parking they could charge through the app, which would allow the current system to be eliminated and therefore save them money. By eliminating the current payment system for those lots that do require fees, it would also save drivers the hassle of stopping at the booths or systems to pay before or after they park.

Who are you offering it to? I have identified two types of customers: individuals and the parking garage/parking lot businesses. Individuals that fall into my target market are individuals who typically live in busy areas, in which they frequently drive. This product could be a huge benefit to individuals who are in college and are forced to experience the stress of too many cars and not enough spots. The age range for the target market seems to be from 16 years old to about 65 years old. The product will be marketed to both men and women, as both experience this issue frequently. The target market includes those who just received their license in high school who may live in busy areas, college students who drive frequently and who want to park on campus, and adults who are traveling to or live in busy areas. The app will be free, but will include ads. 

The second type of customer are the businesses. The businesses include those who have parking garages/parking lots. Businesses would have to pay to get the display installed but would enjoy the increase in traffic flow, and the increase in profit if they charge for parking. Businesses range from cities, universities, airports, malls, and other areas that have a large amount of traffic in parking lots. Universities and airports would be contacted first, as they seem to have the largest amount of traffic year-round. 

Why do they care? I believe that individuals would want this app and display in parking garages and parking lots because they want to spend their time wisely and want to experience less stress throughout the day. Most individuals already have a lot to worry about and a lot to do in a given day, and spending a large amount of time on navigating through a parking lot or parking garage should not be something they need to stress over. Businesses will buy my product because it will increase the amount of people coming in and out of their parking garages and parking lots, and will therefore increase profit. In addition, it would allow them to rid of their current payment system in lots that require a fee for parking and would in turn save them money and earn them more money as they could charge individuals through the app. Overall, it would make life easier for individuals and businesses.

What are your competencies? There are other competitors for this product, but not many. I know that the Tampa International Airport has a system that says if there are open parking spots on given levels of the parking garage, but it does not show exactly where those spots are located. This system still requires individuals to spend time looking for that empty parking spot on that specified level and the spot could be taken by the time one arrives to it. In addition, there are displays in other parking lots and garages, but they are not paired with smart phones. There is no other product like this being marketed to individuals to ensure they have a less stressful experience while parking and there is no other product being marketed to businesses that own these lots to make them a larger profit.

Do the elements fit together?  The five elements do fit together, but there are definitely some parts that are weaker. For instance, I would not have the knowledge or means to create this product and would have to find someone who could. I could find this person to partner with, but currently I do not have a partner or the knowledge to strengthen this element of the business. In addition, I feel that it may be difficult to sell to businesses because since I do not have the knowledge of how to create this product, it may cost more than businesses are willing to spend. Therefore, I would really have to focus on the aspect that this product would increase the business’s income and would increase their popularity. Despite those weaknesses, I feel that this product could be a very strong on in the current market and that it would benefit a large amount of people. 

Feedback Memo: From the feedback I received, I learned about a couple of things I needed to change within my idea napkin. Even though both comments I received were very complimentary, I learned that there is slightly more competition than I was aware of, but the competition is not paired with the smartphone application that I am offering. In addition, due to my feedback I emphasized on the fact that drivers would also be saving time with the application in lots that required fees as they would not have to stop before entering or leaving the lot to pay for their spot. I did not have too much to change from my first idea napkin to my second, but I ensured that I added to the competencies and explained that there are displays already created in some parking garages and parking lots. I also added to what I am offering to my customers so that I could focus a little bit more on how the application would save time when a fee was required.

Customer Avatar

Meet Marie. Marie fits my customer segment perfectly as a prototypical customer. Marie is a 19-year-old female student, who attends the University of Florida and aims to receive a degree in nursing. When Marie has free time, she enjoys watching Netflix, listening to music, hanging out with her friends, and volunteering at local animal shelters. Not only does she have a passion for helping people, but she has a passion for helping animals and finds herself the happiest during these moments. Marie drives a light green Honda Civic, named Stuart. Her car is a little old, but has updated speakers and gets her where she needs to go. Marie tends to spend her time watching a variety of different shows, including The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Vampire Diaries. She does not have any children, but is in a serious relationship and has hopes for the future. Marie is very focused on her education and her work at a vet clinic, that she has very little time to indulge herself in a good book, but finds herself attracted to certain young adult novels that she tends to reread, like Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. When looking to the future, she hopes to be living in Savannah, Georgia doing what she loves with the person she loves. Marie finds herself driving a lot, between driving to work, driving around campus, and driving home. She tends to worry about parking when returning to school, and therefore would benefit greatly from the product I hope to offer her.

I have a lot in common with the customer avatar. I am also a female student at the University of Florida. I enjoy much of the same hobbies as her, especially spending time with my friends. I enjoy some of the same TV shows as her, but I find I have more free time than her. I think that we have a lot in common due to the fact that I tend to face the same issue she does and we are around the same age, growing up in the same world. I think that the customer avatar has a lot of similarities to me because I know that a lot of people like me are experiencing this unmet opportunity.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Reflection:

The feedback I gained was very helpful. One person mentioned that I should try to include some numbers within my elevator pitch so that the problem was quantifiable. I also was told that I should try to incorporate how much money the product would cost to be implemented into the elevator pitch. I received feedback that my elevator pitch was well-scripted and that I was prepared. Though I do believe that my first elevator pitch was prepared well and flowed nicely, I still saw a lot more room for improvement as there were a couple of words that I stumbled over and a couple times in which I said “um” as I lost my place.

What did you change, based on feedback?

Based on the feedback I received, I added quantities into my elevator pitch to capture the issue of searching for a parking spot. In addition, I practiced a lot more in what I was going to say so that I could be even more prepared and so that I did not stumble over as many words. In addition, I ensured that my confidence was portrayed greatly within my second elevator pitch.