Timmy's Assignment 4A: Forming An Opportunity Belief

Forming an Opportunity Belief

1) My beginning point: I believe a problem that I discovered that there is an opportunity in providing more education for all street-legal two-wheel transportation vehicles, specifically scooters. The opportunity is to offer classes about scooter safety/etiquette to students or anyone that owns a scooter. These scooter courses will be offered in Florida and will be required for students at Florida Universities.

2) My belief:

●     What is the unmet need: The poor knowledge that students and people have riding scooters with and without traffic and proper safety while driving a scooter on the street. This results in scooter accidents in which the rider gets injured. Also, other drivers can get upset with scooter riders either with their driving or parking.

●     Who has the need: The people that have this need are anyone that owns a street-legal scooter, mainly college students across the country.

●     Where did the need come from (is it new, or has it always existed)?: This need has always existed for a long period of time. There is more of an urgency to focus on this problem is expanding as more college students are owning scooters.

●     What are people doing to meet this need now: Many people and students can take the motorcycle course and get their endorsement. Scooters are slower than motorcycles, and you don’t need to shift at all. This course would make riding a scooter even simpler.

●     I am 80% sure that this opportunity exists

3) The prototypical customer: Any person or student that owns a scooter currently or looking to buy a scooter in the future, and college students as well

4) Iteration No. 1

Person/Customer: Male, 19 years old; College student at Santa Fe

What is the exact nature of the need? This consumer is thinking about buying a scooter but hears about people getting hurt on scooters, and not being smart while riding on them. He said that the demand for this need is very high, especially since he is considering buying a scooter.

When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their needs all the time or only sometimes? He becomes aware of his need when he is looking at scooters to buy since he wants to be safe when riding on the road with it.

How long have they had the need? He has had this need only recently because he started college about a year ago.

When did they first become aware of their need? Why? They first became aware during his first year of college because he had some friends own scooters already. His friends didn’t possess enough knowledge to ride a scooter and he eventually got into an accident and got hurt.

How are they currently addressing their need? They are not addressing his need, there are no classes offered for only scooters specifically in Florida.

How satisfied are they with this solution? He would be really satisfied with this solution as he could take the classes and then buy a scooter for better transportation.

4) Iteration No. 2:

Person/Customer: Female, 20 years old, College student at UF

What is the exact nature of the need? This consumer believes that there is a need for this because she owns a motorcycle and hates that scooter drivers don’t know how to properly ride, park and be safe on the road.

When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their needs all the time or only sometimes? She experiences this need only sometimes when she is riding on her motorcycle and sees a scooter on the road.

How long have they had the need? She has had this need for about 2 years when she started to ride motorcycles.

When did they first become aware of their need? Why? She first became first aware of her need when she started college two years ago and bought a motorcycle. This is because she interacts with scooters on the road and on-campus parking. She hates when they try to park up on her motorcycle and she won’t be able to get out. Also, she notices that they are riding with the proper technique when on the road, which can cause them to get hurt.

How are they currently addressing their need? They are not addressing his need, there are no classes offered for only scooters specifically in Florida.

How satisfied are they with this solution? Even though she is a motorcycle rider, she is excited about the solution that was proposed because riding on two wheels is dangerous and people need to be as educated as possible to stay safe.

4) Iteration No. 3:

Person/Customer: Male, 21 years old, College student at UF

What is the exact nature of the need? This consumer already owns a scooter. He has determined that with more traffic coming onto the road that better scooter driving knowledge is vital to all scooter drivers’ safety and well-being. He said he wanted to do the motorcycle certification course to become more educated but feels it would be a waste of time since he only owns a scooter.

When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their needs all the time or only sometimes? He experiences the need all the time because when he rides his scooter and doesn’t know all the ins and outs of scooters.

How long have they had the need? He has had this need for about 4 years now with being around scooters more, and now he has it even more now since he rides his scooter all the time.

When did they first become aware of their need? Why? He first became aware of the need during his second year of college when he hears about the problems that people have riding on the road with scooters. Now since he owns a scooter and rides it more, he wants to make sure he knows how to ride it properly.

How are they currently addressing their need? They are not addressing his need, there are no classes offered for only scooters specifically in Florida.

How satisfied are they with this solution? He is okay with the solution as he has been already riding a scooter for a decent amount of time. He feels like it will help him sharpen his driving skills and make him more defensive on the road.

5) Reflection of all Iterations: I learned that this opportunity would be a big help to people thinking about buying a scooter because it will give them the security that they could be safe while riding on two wheels. Also, this opportunity could help motorcyclists, other drivers, and even current scooter riders because they realize that the need is there for further education about scooters. Additionally, with scooter only classes it can help eliminate scooter injuries caused by lack of riding knowledge and safety. The most surprising thing I learned was that all the people I interviewed were interested in the opportunity I proposed to them. Furthermore, something else I learned that was surprising is that people ride scooters but don’t know that they could receive further education on it, Finally, some people are just lazy and don’t know about the real dangers of riding a scooter on the road with other cars.

Summary: Even with some current scooter riders that won’t take the classes, I still believe that a lot of my original opportunity is still there. The opportunity is there because there is still a market to be able to help people ride scooters smarter and safer. This will help riders avoid getting injured because of their lack of knowledge. I think my opportunity has stayed the same since I started because with more knowledge, I will know which market to focus on more. I think it is vital that entrepreneurs adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback because the market is very sensitive, and the opportunity needs to adapt to those changes to stay competitive with competitors. Entrepreneurs should be firm at times but more adaptive to the changing market needs. Adapting will help entrepreneurs stay in business and be successful with the opportunities that they come up with.