4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief

In the previous assignment, "Bug" List, one major issue I touched upon was the lack of car parking near fraternity row following the implementation of the new scooter hubs. The unmet need in this case is parking availability near fraternity row which affects not only all those who live in fraternity houses,  but also those students who live in Springs Complex and Keys Complex dorms. Parking has always been scarce in that area, but that issue has been exacerbated by the new implementation of scooter hubs that erased nearly 40 parking spots. I am about 90% sure there is an opportunity to improve this situation by converting previous scooter parking to car parking and convert some of the law library parking lot to red decal because it is empty majority of the time.

I interviewed 3 different anonymous individuals regarding this parking situation near fraternity row.

The first individual in which I interviewed was a freshman living in Springs Complex who had a car on campus. She agreed that the parking in this area of campus was an issue since she has moved into her dorm in the beginning of fall, but said that the recent addition of the scooter hub across has only made it harder to find parking. I asked if she felt it needed to be addressed and whether she thought it could be improved and she responded by saying she thought it needed to be addressed and hoped it would be improved, but did not how it could. Upon hearing my suggestion on a possibility how to improve the situation, she was excited and said she hopes that could be done so she does not have to drive around for over 10 minutes to find a parking spot.

The next individual I interviewed was a housing director of a fraternity house located on fraternity row. When asked whether she thought it was an issue, she responded that it did not apply to her because she has a 24/7 reserved parking space, but that she has noticed that more spots have been filled all down fraternity row since the addition of the scooter hub. She did not necessarily care if the issue was addressed, but did say she would like it if her boys (in the fraternity in which she works) wanted it. Upon telling her my potential solution to this situation, she told me she thinks that is a good idea, but doubts the feasibility of UF actually going through with it.

The third individual I interviewed was a resident of a fraternity house who was getting out of his car on fraternity row. Early in the interview, it became apparent that he was as invested in this issue as I was. He called the scooter hubs "an outright stupid decision" and that parking has been much worse since. He then told me he has reached out to UF TAPS to complain and urge them to undo their scooter hub. He liked my idea of adding parking by converting previous scooter parking into car parking and dedicating a portion of the law school parking lot to red decals.

In reflection, I do believe the opportunity still exists, but my confidence of whether it'll get done dwindled a little following my interviews knowing the lack of care and inefficiency that plagues UF TAPS. It was nice to know that other people agree that something needs to be done and that the scooter hub was the driving factor turning a small issue into a big one. In doing this assignment, I do believe that entrepreneurs should adapt their potential opportunities according to customer feedback because customer feedback is a key component of many businesses so knowing their perspective on many different issues can be invaluable for one's business.