An Opportunity for Better Parking

I believe there is an unmet need with regard to availability of parking at the Publix on 13^th Street and University Avenue. When that Publix first opened, there was a separate employee parking lot just across the street. For some reason, that parking lot is no longer available for use so employees and customers must both park in the Publix parking lot. This affects employees and customers at Publix as well as at the adjacent Starbucks. I think that this problem can be helped by implementing a system of valet parking. Since employees will be at the location for hours, I believe this is most applicable to them. However, customers can certainly utilize the valet service if they so choose. I know that some people will not want to pay any amount of money to park at a grocery store, especially if they are only there to pick up a few items. However, I do think that at least some people would be willing to pay for a valet when parking is even worse than usual. The protypical customer would be an employee of this Publix or Starbucks who has some disposable income. It could also be a frustrated customer of either of these establishments who is willing to pay for the convenience of valet. At this point, I am 70% sure that this opportunity exists.

1.     College-aged Publix customer: This interviewee told me that she deals with lack of car parking almost every time she goes to this Publix. She said it only started a few months ago, but ever since then she’s struggled to find an available spot upon pulling into the parking lot. She said she currently addresses the need by circling around the parking lot until someone else pulls out of their spot and she can take it. This sometimes takes up to 20 minutes. She said that introducing a valet service is a good idea, but she would not want to pay for it every time she came to Publix. She said she would consider it if it costs less than $5.

2.     Middle-aged Starbucks employee: This interview expressed great frustration with the lack of parking. She said that it is easier to find parking if she has an early morning shift, but if her shift starts in the afternoon then she struggles to find a spot. She said that she leaves her house earlier when she has a late shift because she knows she will need to dedicate time to finding a place to park. She said that she sometimes uses street parking a few blocks away. She does not like parking further away because that means she has to walk back to her car alone at night time. This can be dangerous and is also inconvenient, especially when it is particularly hot or cold outside. She seemed very interested in the valet idea, but mentioned that she would have to consider how much money she would end up spending on the service. She said she would be more likely to use it on days that she is running late or just does not feel like waiting for a parking spot to open up.

3.     College-aged Publix employee: This interviewee said that he usually rides his scooter to work, so parking is not an issue for him. If it’s raining or something else prevents him from taking his scooter to work, he said that he calls an Uber from his apartment. He said that he has noticed the tight parking but never really thought much about it since it doesn’t affect him. He thought that adding a valet option could help relieve the parking problem for those people who take cars to Publix but would not affect those who take their scooters.

Reflection: Pricing is definitely going to be a key factor in determining whether a valet service at this Publix would be a success or failure. There may be fewer people than I anticipated affected by the parking problem because some people use their scooters instead of cars. I also did not consider street parking as an alternative option even though I’m sure lots of people use it.

Summary: I definitely think that the opportunity still exists. The fact is that there is a shortage of parking spots at that Publix. However, there may be solutions other than a valet service. After the interviews, I think the biggest issue with the valet will be pricing and efficiency. If the valet takes just as long as circling around for a spot, no one will want to pay for it. I do believe that my opportunity is more accurate than when I started. Talking to people who deal with an unmet need frequently is bound to give you new information and better ideas. There is a trade-off between adapting opportunity ideas and staying firm to the original ones, but I believe that it is an entrepreneur’s job to adapt to customer feedback. No business will be successful without taking customers’ ideas into account. If you ignore their ideas before you’ve even launched, there are likely going to be serious problems down the road.