Assignment 4 - Forming an Opportunity Belief

The week before college begins, alongside the week after college ends, is always a hectic period in the lives of students. They are leaving their homes and moving to a new place, often bringing all of their possessions with them. I believe that there is an unmet need in regards to helping students transfer all of their stuff to their new locations, whether it is to their first dorm, or from apartment to apartment. Some people do not have a vehicle capable of transferring their stuff from apartment to a storage unit/new apartment. Others do not have the strength required to carry their belongings up flights of stairs. I believe that I could provide a service which helps people set up their apartments, ranging from moving furniture to setting up internet/cable.

This need is held primarily by students and their parents, but can be extended to anybody that is present in the Gainesville area. The only other current alternative is to utilize the help of a moving company, or hope that there are some strong strangers willing to assist you, but these are expensive and rely on chance. I believe that there is a 70% chance that people would want to utilize such a service, assuming it was provided at an adequate price point.

Interview 1 - Female College Freshman

Q1: How did your move in process go? What would you rate it out of 10?

A1: It was very stressful. It was just me and my mother trying to move everything in, and I had so much stuff to bring. I would give it a 4, only because it was fun to set up my stuff after I moved it in

Q2: What was the hardest part of the process?

A2: Definitely trying to carry my fridge up 3 flights of stairs. We had to take a break after every floor.

Q3: Would it have benefited you to have a service which assisted you in carrying your things?

A3: Yes, definitely.

Q4: Once you had finished physically getting your furniture to your dorm, what other issues did you run into?

A4: I didn't know how to get my internet set up, with the router thing or whatever it's called.

Q5: What is your current plan for the move out process?

A5: Try to see if I have any guy friends who will help me.

Q6: Would you pay for a service to help you?

A6: Only if the price is reasonable.

Reflection 1: This is the type of response I expected from people. They had issues in the move in process, and were severely stressed out. They would pay a reasonable amount to alleviate that stress, but nothing extortionate like a moving company would charge

Interview 2 - Mother of College Freshman (Not related to previous)

Q1: How did your move in process go? What would you rate it out of 10?

A1: My move in process was okay, we made my son and father do most of the heavy lifting. 7/10.

Q2: What was the hardest part of the process?

A2: Trying to pack all of our stuff into the car was a real pain in the a**. We had to leave behind a fridge and buy another one up here.

Q3: Would it have benefited you to have a service which assisted you in carrying your things?

A3: We had enough people to carry it up, but would have used the help if it was free.

Q4: Once you had finished physically getting your furniture to your dorm, what other issues did you run into?

A4: Nothing really, just learning our way around campus.

Q5: What is your current plan for the move out process?

A5: Same as for move in, except we are going to take two cars this time.

Q6: Would you pay for a service to help you?

A6: Not if it was any more than $25 to help us carry the stuff.

Reflection 2: This shows that people may not necessarily always need help with the carrying part of moving, but may need help packing their cars. This proves an issue however, as people may leave too far for this to be feasible. She also gave us an estimate of the price point she would be willing to pay.

Interview 3 - Physically Fit Male College Freshman

Q1: How did your move in process go? What would you rate it out of 10?

A1: My move in process was fine, I didn't bring that much stuff. 7/10.

Q2: What was the hardest part of the process?

A2: I had to carry all my stuff upstairs by myself, I was exhausted at the end of it.

Q3: Would it have benefited you to have a service which assisted you in carrying your things?

A3: Yeah.

Q4: Once you had finished physically getting your furniture to your dorm, what other issues did you run into?

A4: Trying to set up everything in my room nicely.

Q5: What is your current plan for the move out process?

A5: Same as my move in.

Q6: Would you pay for a service to help you?

A6: Nah, I would just rather be exhausted than spend money.

Reflection 3: It seems as if the primary benefit to this service would be to help people move things, but he did not necessarily want to spend any money. The fact that something costs money may deter many from doing it.

Summary: After performing these interviews, I still believe that there is an opportunity to put this service into action. However, it seems as if people do not necessarily want to spend money on this service. Also, the general demographic will have to be people who are not capable of lifting their things, or people who need assistance bringing their things to UF (but live close enough to feasibly do so). I believe that the new opportunity (focusing primarily on helping carry things and set up their room) is more accurate and beneficial, but would need some more studying to see whether people would pay for it. Entrepreneurs definitely must adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. The customers are the ones who fund the business, and are the only reason that the business exists in the first place, so their feedback is vital.