Venture Concept No. 1

Imagine this: You’re a stressed-out college student at UF chasing the dreams of going to medical school. The only thing standing in your way is that 9 a.m. organic chemistry exam. You’ve been studying for days straight. You’re prepared, you’re well-versed on the material, you’re ready.

You’re so ready, you get to campus 30 minutes early. You know UF parking; you know it’ll take you 15 minutes to walk, 5 if you get a good parking spot. So you go, and you drive. And you spot a parking spot! Until you realize, you don’t have the decal for it. Is it worth getting a ticket? That $35 could be better spent getting Ben & Jerry’s… you skip the spot, because you have some time to spare.

Until you don’t. You end up circling the parking lot, waiting for someone to leave, but no one does. You miss your exam, you fail the class, and you miss your chance at med school.

It’s an unlikely possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.

Opportunity.

This is where the opportunity for Your Next Destination comes in.  When we come upon a large population that congregates at a central location, we help them meet their needs. Whether it be creating a sustainable parking lot or a sustainable metro system, we find opportunity when the needs of transportation for the population is unmet.

This opportunity is fueled by UF’s own parking rules. UF restricts parking lots through color-coded decals, which are given out depending on the status of the driver, or owner of the car. UF also sells more decals than they have parking spaces; because of this, a lot of the times the need is greater than the

The forces and the changes in environment that would apply to creating a low-impact parking lot would include having a large enough space and having the space to begin construction. UF is already under heavy construction. The environment, in terms of the atmosphere, is most likely suffering due to the heavy pollution from construction and the number of cars on the road. But the parking lot will be aims at decreasing the number of cars on the road by using a metro system to connect to campus.  

The market depends heavily on the geography and demographic of the area. The demographic, specifically, would have to be young and able to drive. Specifically, when aiming at a population like UF, I would need driven, busy people to fuel the market of the parking lot. The purpose of the lot is to decrease the amount of travel time, but not sacrificing safety.

Currently, at the University of Florida, people are meeting their parking and transportation needs by seeking alternative resources, or planning their schedule around the timing of parking. Is this satisfying? According to feedback from UF students across campus, not really. The price of UF decals continues to go up, but the number of parking spaces stays the same. One has to wonder about the ratio of decals to parking spaces that UF has. They’re in the process of building a parking lot on campus, but it will be limited to orange-decal parking.

This opportunity is big, according to the feedback that I’ve received from students. There has been overwhelming positive feedback for the idea.

The window of opportunity will exist as long as UF continues to raise the prices of decals, sell a high number of decals and not increase the number of parking spaces accordingly.

Innovation.

So how does it work? The parking lot will be built skyward versus out. Gainesville is an expanding community, so we need to find creative ways in figuring out how to tackle the issue. The idea? Build a sustainable parking lot that’ll have a metro system to bring students on campus. The plan is to make it close enough so that walking is an option, but also providing a safe place for your car during the day, and having a way to get to and fro without having to walk in the heat, cold or rain. Because in the heart of the Gator Nation, we know that we’re not immune to the changing seasons of Florida. Our plan is to only sell as many decals as we have spots, or figure out a way only sell as many as we can provide during a busy time. I know what it’s like to circle the parking lot for several minutes. I don’t want other students to have to go through that again.

The way the lot will make money is through selling allotted spaces. But the plan is to make it so that we’re not selling more than we can provide, but selling the maximum amount of decals using an algorithm.

Venture Concept.

I don’t think it will be too difficult to make the customers switch. From the students I’ve talked to, they would pick another parking space if it’s cheap and easier. But the RTS bus system is already busy, and they’re looking to increase the number of bus stops, but if they don’t increase the number of buses, it will only make the commute longer.

The competitors are other parking lots and UF itself. But as explained earlier, I’ve already exposed their weakness; their prices and their lack of space, coupled with their poor planning, will be the downfall of the decals of UF. Other competitors are other parking lots. But the plan will be to create something different, new and useful by implementing a metro system.

Pricing points will have to be set and discussed because sustainability will be key to not only attracting students but providing an environmentally-safe product. The price will have to be negotiated once I speak to a sustainability expert, who will be able to give me price ranges of sustainable material, like recycled cement. The price of cement falls between $3-5. The plan would be to use dumped cement, find a way to either melt it down and reuse it, or fit it back together.

The customer experience will have to be unique. It will have to be more than a parking lot; more than just a metro system. More than just transportation.

The number of employees will include security guards and a 24-hour parking lot keeper, to avoid someone who isn’t allowed to park in the lot from getting in, and to avoid having to give people tickets. It will also help provide an economic boost through the construction and implementation of the lot.