30A- Final Reflection

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Here is my final post for this journey in ENT3003. Overall, I have learned a lot in this course from the various activities assigned. Not only did I learn about the concepts of entrepreneurship, but I learned about myself as a person. From posts such as the bug list, or the idea napkin, I was able to understand how my brain works, and how I can visualize my thoughts, which are extremely beneficial to me. I definitely dreaded days when I had to make three long posts, with many interviews, but overall it taught me good time management.

Overall, I found the most formative experience was creating my bug list. This allowed me to draw from all of the work I had done over the semester, and develop my idea in to a concise concept. It was extremely satisfying as I saw the culmination of all my hard work come to fruition. It taught me that I can diligently work over a long period of time to created a polished and finished product. 

At the beginning of the semester I did not consider myself an entrepreneur, however after this course I definitely think of myself as someone who has the potential to start my own venture. I now look at things and think about the opportunity they present, and how I could take advantage of that opportunity. Instead of wanting others to fix problems in my life, I now desire to use those problems that everyone share, to create an opportunity for myself.

If I could recommend anything to students taking this course, is to keep an open mind. At the beginning of the semester, the amount of assignments may seem daunting, however if they follow the schedule of the course, and engage themselves, they will find that these assignments actually benefit them as a person, even if they don’t pursue their idea. Regardless of whether or not students want to become entrepreneurs, having the mindset of analyzing their surrounds and taking advantage of opportunities will enhance their lives significantly.

Students in this course learn to think outside the box!

29A- My Venture Concept #2

Here is my revised venture concept:

Student Parking Solutions will dynamically change the parking situation at UF. It will revolutionize how students access their education and overall experience at UF. Struggling to commute to campus will be a thing of the past, and parking will no longer be a worry for the undergraduate off campus student body.

This opportunity arose from the inefficiency of the UF parking system. Currently, UF only offers one option for undergraduate students living off campus. This is called Park and Ride, and it consists of a lot/garage in the southwest corner of campus. Students park their cars then must take the city bus to the center of campus, which is a hassle and often discourages students from using the system. 

As stated above, this is the only option for undergraduate students who live off campus. The bus system that transports students is often unreliable and results in many students being late for class or other activities. As a result, there is a huge demand for parking in close proximity to the center of campus, which is the location of many undergraduate classes. Even if UF decided to offer a better solution, the university does not have the space to build a parking facility to accommodate the demand, so thus the opportunity will continue to exist. 

The solution I developed will repurpose land behind midtown, which is only a five minute walk from the center of campus. The revenue will be high, because there is such a large undergraduate population that lives off campus. In fact, a majority of students move off campus after their freshman year. I plan to offer different rates based on weekly, monthly, and semester long plans, with the longer plans offering a discounted rate to students. Additionally, my customer service will be unrivaled in comparisons to the bureaucratic processes of the UF transportation department.  

It is certain that my services will be popular with UF students. Based on the interviews I conducted, many students are unhappy with UF parking, and in almost every interview I conducted, students claimed they would use my parking.  Currently, there is no competition in the market. Private parking near campus consists of apartment complexes, which either don’t offer public access, or charge extremely high rates. Once I enter the market, it would be tough for competitors to create a similar product, as a lack of real estate and decreased demand. 

I have experience with student parking, which will allow me to correctly price my product to offer students fair pricing.  The pricing will be strategic based on availability, competition, and changes in demand for parking. My team will have both industry experts working full time, and student employees who assist with daily operations. We will have teams handling maintenance, sales, and marketing, which are overseen by full time experts. 

UF students are used to having a difficult time with parking, but my service will be unmatched, and is my secret sauce. Every student I know has had an issue with parking at some point in their college careers, I plan to fix that. In the future, I could expand around the state or even the country, where parking is also a problem. I am an ambitious person, and will seize any opportunity that presents itself to me. 

Overall, I received positive feedback on my idea. People who gave me advice didn’t suggest that I change my idea. However, one person recommended that I could use several smaller empty lots, which is a great idea that I will definitely take in to consideration.

As stated above, I didn’t receive any negative feedback on my idea. As a result, I sharpened the idea I currently have and tried to make the concept more clear and concise. 

Here is an idea of what my garages will look like.

28A- Exit Strategy

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 My exit strategy will consist of a calculated approach based on the current market conditions in Gainesville.

Based on experience, one should never leave a profitable business. With that said, I plan to stay in the parking business as long as I am making a profit. The only situation I see myself exiting the market is if there is an oversaturation, and I am no longer the preferred parking provider for students.

I have chose this exit strategy because I know that parking is something that can be managed remotely, meaning that I can continue with ventures elsewhere, and still profit from the business in Gainesville. Oversaturation is out of my control, and as long as I’m in control of the market I plan to remain in it. 

My exit strategy has definitely influenced my other decisions. It influences how I set up my organization, with full time experts in the industry overseeing a part time staff. I have set up my business to rely on trusted employees, and will give them an opportunity to become successful as well. This is a long term strategy that reflects my hesitation to leave the market.

27A- Reading 3

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 For my third reading reflection, I chose Thinking, Fast and Slow, byDaniel Kahneman. This book offers insight on to how the human brain works, and how thoughts are created. The main thesis is that human thoughts can be divided in to two systems, one of which is unconscious quick thoughts, and the other being calculated. 

This book has a lot to do with this course, and entrepreneurship in general, as individuals starting a business need to know when do use either system. Entrepreneurs need to be calculated and thoughtful in their decisions, as even the smallest decision can have a large impact on their future success. With that said, entrepreneurs also must have the ability to act fast in a situation with little time. They must recognize a potential opportunity and seize it, rather than wait too long and then the opportunity may not exist anymore. 

An exercise that I would design for this class would be to analyze one’s decisions throughout a span of time, and determine if they were system one or system two. This way, students could realize exactly how their thinking, and expect how they will react to certain situations. 

The biggest surprise for me reading this was how much unconscious thought occurs throughout the day. 90% of the decisions we make are not ones we deeply process. It puts life in perspective, as our brains act on autopilot most of the time, and many of the things we do are not by conscious choice. 

26A- Celebrating Failure

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Today I want to discuss failure, as it is one of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship, and life in general. I have failed many times and I will continue to fail in life, as it is a part of being human. Nobody is perfect, and we spend our lives stressing to be perfect.

As a personal experience, I struggled in school with one of my classes, Business Finance, as I found the course extremely challenging. For my old major, Finance, you are required to have a B in the course. I ended the course with a D+. It was extremely frustrating for me, as I would have to retake the course in order to continue with my major. For me, it took a lot of contemplation and reflection in order to overcome this failure, and figure out my next course of action. 

From my difficulty in the course, I discovered that no matter what I did, I probably wouldn’t do well in the course. Then I reflected deeper on why I wanted to be a finance major. It was mainly because I thought it was more prestigious than other majors. I continued to think about my future, and realized that being a finance major wouldn’t make me successful, but rather my drive to thrive in life would. So as a result I changed my major, and found a passion for real estate, which you don’t need a finance degree to be successful in.

Failure is rough, but it is a mindset. Every situation can be viewed in a different perspective. What might seem to one as a catastrophic failure, could be a discovery for another passion, or an opportunity to find a right path. This course has taught me that while you can fail a lot, those who use that failure to grow will ultimately succeed. 

25A- Whats Next

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For my existing market, I have interviewed three customers who are giving insight into what I can do to offer further services. I interviewed three undergraduate students who are heavily involved. The feedback I received was:

The students described that while my concept of parking was extremely helpful, UF campus is a big place, and that simply walking to the center of campus may not be sufficient enough for all of my customers. As a result we will implement a two part plan. 

The first will be to offer parking around the entire perimeter of UF campus. Meaning that if students have class near sorority row, they could park at one of our structures near there, or if they have class at Shands, they could park at our facilities designed for health commuters. 

Second is transportation, which we will offer in the form of a small efficient fleet of buses. This is not similar to the RTS system in that out drivers will be highly compensated to ensure their commitment to being on time. Students will be able to trust our system to being there when they need it.

For the next part of this task, I have interviewed two individuals who have given me insight into tapping into a new market. 

They explained to me that my current market is almost exclusively based on students. However there is definitely other needs for parking the Gainesville area. From their feedback, I have come up with two other markets that I could tap into. 

The first is gameday parking. UF gameday transforms the town, with an influx of thousands of people coming for the football game. I could use my existing facilities to create a revenue in a new market, as students likely wont be using my service on a Saturday gameday. 

The second is downtown parking, which is always a hassle for patrons of businesses in that area. If I was able to create a streamlined solution, I could generate significant revenue by changing the culture of downtown parking in Gainesville. No longer would people try and search for meter parking, but rather they would come directly to my facility for a no hassle experience.

Overall, I was unaware of these markets, but once I conversed with my interviewees, I agree with their statements regarding the demand in these two new markets.

24A- My Venture Concept #1

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My venture concept for Student Parking Solutions can be described here:

My firm will change the parking situation at UF forever. It will permanently revolutionize how students approach their commute to campus. It will make the resources at UF more accessible to students who live off campus, and overall increase involvement in student activities. 

To start, this opportunity was created by the lack of parking provided by UF parking services and the City of Gainesville for undergraduate students living in off campus housing. UF currently offers these students a program known as Park-n-Ride. This is where students park at a complex in the southwest part of campus, and then take a shuttle bus/RTS to the center of campus. The problem lies within the inefficiency of the system, and the lack of spaces existing versus the actual number of students needing to park.

Students currently must either park there, or find some other solution allowing them to get to campus. This can include public transportation, illegal parking, Uber, etc. From the interviews I have conducted, this is not a viable solution for many, as students are finding themselves receiving many parking citations, or late to class because of the transportation system. This opportunity to provide parking in close proximity to campus is enormous, because the majority of undergraduate students live off campus after their first year. Furthermore, unless UF decides to revise its parking plan, the opportunity will continue to exist. 

My solution is to build several parking structures on undeveloped or repurposed land in the midtown neighborhood, which is a mere 5 minute walk to the center of campus. It will create revenue because of the high demand for parking. Our firm will offer semester long, monthly, weekly, and daily parking rates. Students choosing for a longer pass will benefit from discounted rates. While priced similar to UF parking, we will provide a level of customer service that is unmatched, and create a no hassle environment for students. 

There is no doubt that the student population will embrace my business. From the feedback I received from the interviews I conducted, there is such a high need for parking, that students will make use of our facilities. As of now, there is not any competitors in the market. The only parking strucutres close to campus are private apartments, which only issue passes to their residents or charge high hourly rates. Furthermore, it would be tough for any competitors to match enter the market after my business has taken up the customer base. 

My experience in the business allows me to know exactly how to maximize revenue from parking. Our pricing will be dynamic and competitive, with adjusted rates based on availability and demand for our services. The employees will consist of both students and full time experts. The students will run day to day operations while overseen by experts in business, marketing, and maintenance. 

My secret sauce is my unrivaled service in a market that is used to subpar options. Parking has never been easy for students at UF, and I am going to make it hassle free. In terms of expansion, I would move my operations to other campus around the state and county with similar needs. For me personally, I will tackle any opportunity that presents itself.