Forming An Opportunity Belief

By belief is that an opportunity exists for the University of Florida or any other college to sponsor a ride sharing service that only serves those students who are intoxicated and need a ride home, thus ensuring the students are safe.

The unmet need is the need of students who wish to ensure safe travel home who do not have access to the buses due to stops being an unsafe distance away. This need has always been around however with the growth of ride sharing and the increasing number of stories where riders were assaulted by drivers the need is likely to be accepted. I believe that this need 70-80% exists.

It is at this point that I identified and approached my first prototypical customer a male coworker who I know enjoys going out to clubs. I asked him the following questions.

What is it that you wish could get you home after the club?
When and how often do you need a safe ride home?
How often do you go out to the club and how often do you require assistance getting home?
How long have you been going to the clubs?
When did you decide to get regular assistance (not drinking and driving) getting home?
Why did you choose to do so?
How are you currently getting home?
How do you feel about taking the buses and current ride sharing apps to get home?

I then proceeded to ask some other known club and party goers the same questions. One was a 22 year old woman who has been going to clubs, and the other I opened up to an older mother of 2 who had children over the age of 21 who attend some level of schooling.

The responses were varied and helped me to refine my views on the prospective opportunity. They brought up points such as they would love to have a safe ride home for themselves and their children or friends. They stated that if they had the intention of going to the club more often then not they would be unable to drive home safely, and would love a safer and more reliable option than the bus or ride sharing apps.

This process allowed me to see the strengths and weaknesses of my belief. It while being an idea that made them feel safer would be hard to implement with a university as it may seem as though they want to encourage drinking. It is there on paper to serve the purpose of reduced students and faculty of dying in DUI's, being assaulted (in all terms) on the way to the bus or home, and serve as a bastion of safety and security for students.

The original idea was skinned and needs change in order to be perfect, however the foundation of the opportunity is still there and is much more accurate for it. I believe that you should adapt to the point that the customer is happy so long as it still stands on the pillars of the original idea.