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.

My Entrepreneurship Story

My family is a family of engineers. Most of my family members have a knack for science and invention. This inventive trait is the closest I got to watching entrepreneurship firsthand as a kid, and reflecting on it now, I think the two are pretty similar. Although I did not inherit the same engineering mind as the rest of my family, I did get pretty good at being analytical and thinking critically about whatever is in front of me. This is probably the most lasting example of entrepreneurship in my life.

I also remember when my uncle first started his business. I was very young so I did not understand what exactly he did, but I do remember noticing how hard he had to work to make it all come together. He was always out of town for business trips and constantly taking important phone calls. This is when I learned that being an entrepreneur requires perseverance and dedication. 

I enrolled in ENT3003 because I thought it would be interesting and highly applicable in the real world. Although I don’t necessarily

want to be an entrepreneur, I think that developing the kinds of skills that entrepreneurs have will benefit me in any field of work. Being perceptive to the world around you is an invaluable skill.

Bug List

Here's my list of 20 bugs:

1. During drop/add and advance registration, the UF CLAS advising office line can back all the way up to Student Rec forcing students to wait over an hour to see an advisor. This could be because there are not enough advisors.
2. You can check your Apple Watch’s battery percentage on your phone, but you can’t check your phone’s battery percentage on your Apple Watch. This is because they haven’t programmed the feature into Apple Watch.
3. There is rarely an open parking spot at the Publix on 13th and University, no matter what time of day. This is because they do not have a separate employee parking lot.
4. Whenever I have to get multiple signatures on a form for UF, it is frustrating that people often give misinformation. This is probably because they just don’t know so they make assumptions that are incorrect.
5. Whenever it’s time to change my Gator Link password, UF emails me way too many times about it and it clutters my inbox. This is because they want me to change my password so they choose to send a bunch of reminders.
6. Sometimes my packages get delivered to my leasing office rather than my apartment. This is because delivery drivers may not know where it is or may want to make mass drop-offs at the leasing office.
7. Any time I am on the phone with Apple support, it takes at least an hour to resolve my problem and I usually have to repeat my situation to multiple different people. This may be because the main support team is undereducated. Also, they don’t have a streamlined system for transferring customer calls to another representative, so the customer is left to repeat him/herself over and over again.
8. I lose my Apple TV remote almost every time I put it down on the couch. This is because it’s small and sleek so it just slides through the couch cushions.
9. My Beats wireless headphones don’t let me know that they’re dying until they are almost dead so I have to charge them almost immediately before using them. This is because there’s no low battery sign.
10. Restaurants that don’t let you call ahead for a spot on the list. This is because people run late and it’s easier to just say it’s not allowed.
11. There is not enough scooter parking on campus after 10 am. This is because most people start their days around that time and take all the spots.
12. Whenever a package gets delivered to my leasing office, I get an email telling me to pick it up within two days. This email usually comes right before the office closes for the day though which makes it more difficult to coordinate picking it up on time. This is because they don’t prioritize sending out the emails and they don’t have a night pickup option.
13. Sometimes elevators are really slow and you don’t know how much longer you’ll have to wait for one to come. This is because there aren’t enough elevators and there’s no way for you to see how much longer it’ll be.
14. The streets near my apartment tend to have potholes that reappear a few weeks/months after they get fixed. This may be because they aren’t using the right materials/strategy to fix it or they are not solving the root of the problem. I'm not sure what would cause potholes in the first place
15. The CVS on 13th St keeps vitamins on the shelves until very close to their expiration date. This is because they don’t want to throw it out before it’s bad or no one is checking to make sure they’re not expired.
16. There are very few planners that have the days of the week set up vertically (as columns instead of rows). This may be because more people like the horizontal setup.
17. Bodyguardz phone screen protectors come with a lifetime warranty, but registering your product for it is a hassle. This is because they probably don’t want that many people claiming a new screen protector, and there is no streamlined process for registering at the time of purchase.
18. The line at Bay Island Coffee can reach beyond the parking lot its in when it gets busy. This is because there are only 2 employees working at a time so they can only go so fast.
19. Coffee shop employees usually ask if you want them to leave room for cream, but sometimes they leave so little that I can’t add as much cream as I would like. This is because they don’t realize/clarify how much room I want them to leave.
20. If I have a meeting or errand to run in the late afternoon, it takes much longer than usual to get there because traffic near campus gets so bad. This is because professors are leaving around this time, there is usual rush hour traffic.

When I first read the instructions for this assignment, I was excited because I feel like I think of a new “bug” so often. However, once I wrote down the first few I found it difficult to keep thinking of more. It took me a few days to be able to compile a list of 20. It was definitely more challenging than I expected.

Test Post

Test post! I'm excited to learn more about blogging this semester since it's relatively new to me. It will be interesting to see all the different features available and how they can enhance the blog.