Opportunity. An opportunity
may be defined as a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs. When you
describe the opportunity you have identified, you need to be sure to describe
both (1) who has the need (i.e., who are the potential customers?) and (2) the
nature of the need. Other questions you should address in this section:
(1) Who has the need? Commuters/drivers in the suburban area near
the University of Central Florida
(2) Limited availability of gas
station/convenient store with an added service flair not seen in other local offerings
What are the forces or
changes in the environment creating this opportunity? There is a limited number of gas stations or convenience
stores located in the direct vicinity.
How is this market defined
geographically and demographically?
Population density is fairly defined, demographically speaking it is
very diverse and has a good spread of age groups, from families to young
college age students.
How are customers currently
satisfying this need? And how loyal are
they to whatever they use now? They are
driving approximately 3+ miles to another gas station or store to fulfill their
needs.
How big is this opportunity? Not terribly big or very lucrative but
definitely one that I deem necessary and so would many others.
How long will the “window of
opportunity” be open? Until the retail
space or intersection is repurposed for a different use.
Innovation
My innovation is to take the
existing gas station/convenience store model and change the layout as well as
the way the products are dispensed and delivered. The gas station is simply a place to fuel up
and maybe buy a soft drink or chips and then move it along. To further elaborate on the gas station, my
idea incorporates changing the layout to one that is conducive to facilitating
the flow of drivers without getting stuck behind anyone else. We’re also providing an attendant who will
pump the gas as well as take payment via tablet to prevent identity theft or
other types of payment fraud.
Venture Concept. A venture
concept may be defined as the application of a specific innovation to address a
specific opportunity. In this section, describe how your innovation will solve
or address the opportunity you identified. You also want to explain why
customers will buy your innovation. In describing the concept, you also want to
be sure to cover issues such as:
· What are the reasons to think customers
would switch to this new product? How
hard will it be to get them to switch?
People are used to pumping their own gas while dealing with lines if
attempting to gas up during peak times.
You also run into the possibility of getting stuck behind someone while
gassing up without the space or maneuverability to be able to drive away. My layout would make it so you would have
someone gas up your vehicle, take payment, and have you drive away as the lanes
are built diagonally and individually to allow the flow to not be impeded by
parallel and inline positioning of the pumps.
Who are the
competitors? What are their possible
weaknesses or vulnerabilities? Existing
gas station companies. Their weaknesses
involve the lack of service as well as they are usually not the cleanest
places.
What role does packaging,
your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or
the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept? It plays a very big role and is the differentiating
factor when considering buying gas or convenience items from someplace
else. We would be a great alternative as
we are going to provide a faster way to gas up and a pleasant experience as
well.
How would you organize a
“business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or
process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture? The business would be straightforward in
selling gas and convenience items. We
would require 10 employees, mostly station concierges that assist with
fueling.
The three minor elements
I also want you to cover
three final elements in your description. Your treatment of these questions can
be relatively short. Please focus most of your time on the opportunity,
innovation, concept descriptions above.
First, describe what you
think your most important resource will be. You might call this your venture’s
“secret sauce” or “unfair advantage.” Besides your actual innovative product,
service, or process, what will you have that will make it hard for competitors
to copy your success?
Our customer service would
be the most important factor. I think
providing this in all of our gas stations would make us different and provide
something other places don’t.
Second, what’s next for the
venture? Describe either the next opportunity you want to tackle with your
current innovation, or describe the next new product, service, or process that
may be aimed at your existing customers.
We would want to offer on
site gas delivery/fuel up via delivery truck at your current location.
Third, what’s next for you?
Assuming you launched, where do you want to be in five years with this venture?
Where do you want to be, as an entrepreneur, in the next decade, and how does
this first venture help you achieve your vision?
I would want to continue to
expand and create additional locations as long as the original venture is
profitable. In the next 10 years I would
want to be my own boss and continue to grow my business and possibly venture
into other business concepts/models. My
original venture would provide the spring board to be able to start the other
concepts that my team would come up with.
