Idea Napkin No. 2

You: My name is Walter Huffstutler and I am a third-year, Sports Management major at the University of Florida. I am from Lakeland, FL and now live in Gainesville, FL. I love sports and have been blessed to be pretty athletic. I played basketball, football, and baseball in high school. I am heavily involved in a Christian organization, CRU, and have served as the prayer team leader for that organization this year and even traveled to Paris to be a missionary my freshman year. I love to travel and enjoy new places around Florida and the rest of the World. I love to listen and go to concerts and hear music from different bands, especially at High Dive. As I have mentioned, I aspire to work with the YMCA in the future and have secured an internship with them for next spring. In regards to my business idea, I am excited to start a reusable bicycle company so that transportation can be more readily available, to increase sustainable living, and to promote health. If I were to start this business, I would love to move it to whatever city I move to in hopes of creating an environmentally-friendly, healthy community for all residents.

Offering to Customers: As a college student, we often are in sticky situations where we do not have transportation or the scooter or car we own is in the shop. With this being such a common need for students, we are going to be providing an on-demand, bike system that will have stations set up around the campus. This company would be privately owned and I would partner with the University of Florida. Students will be allowed to rent these bikes and return them at any station around campus for a certain price, which will help them with their immediate need of transportation. Our bike system will be set up so that students can use these bikes whenever and all they have to do is swipe their debit card and they have unlimited access to anywhere in the city. Another idea would be that we could create certain bikes with heavy-duty baskets on the back so that students can put their groceries in them if they wanted to use our bikes for that purpose. In order to make this a more usable system for college students, we plan on making an app that can allow for payments and can save a bike at the station for the student, so they are not just hoping there is a bike available. This will allow them to actually see how many bikes are available at each station for check out. 

Audience Offered to: Our local Gainesville audience would be primarily students as they are more often the people in need of quick transportation. These students would generally be between 18 and 21 years of age and be pursuing their bachelors degree at the University of Florida. Generally, our product is marketable to people that do not have an operable scooter or car. These students all have stressful lives and tend to very busy people. Most of our audience would be for people who live on campus or very close to campus. 

Why Care: The reason students will choose to use our service is that so often students are stuck walking from Heavener Hall to Hume or from their dorm to the commuter lot. These students would greatly benefit from the saved time using a bike. Another reason they would use our service is that the only transportation that can be rented is the Zip Cars and they are so expensive and are not feasible for parking in most places that students need to go. The issue with Zip Cars is that they are way more expensive and you are not always confident that they will be available when you need them. Students also will pay money for this service because it promotes a healthier life and an environmentally sustainable life. 

Core Competencies: The reason that our business could be so successful is that this is a need for our community and their is no one currently in the market for satisfying this need. For example, we would be the only bike system on campus that would provide instant traveling ability. Our business model competes with that of Zip Car, Taxis, and Uber, but the significance of our brand is that we provide instant access to bikes when students want them and they do not have to wait thirty minutes for a bus or Uber. 

Evaluation: I believe these elements all fit together. I currently exist in this need and their is nothing able to satisfy this need if you are not blessed to have a car or scooter or bike and need to get across campus in ten minutes. Because of my personal knowledge of this issue, I know this solution would be appealing to myself. I have friends that have expressed this need to be fixed by the university and I believe other students would jump at this opportunity and that they would value the saved time they would be receiving, as well as, the promotion of living a healthier, more environmentally-friendly life. One aspect that I hadn't thought of was that our bikes may be stolen, but because we are charging them on credit card for a particular price; we can charge them if they are lost or stolen. 

Feedback Memo: 

• I really enjoyed that customers would want an app so that they could check out the bikes in advance so that they are not stuck without one. Also, they could see how many are available and be able to pay on the app. 
• After reading the feedback, I analyzed Zip Car and found out that they are not able to be checked far in advance and this makes it hard to make plans using them. Also, they are difficult to find parking for on campus and there only true purpose is transportation closely around the city and our system can meet that need without the large costs. 
• One thing that I haven't used as a tag line that was brought up to me was "on-demand" and I could use this to market my service.
• One feedback comment shared the importance of making my bikes unique. I thought about this so that no one would steal them, but the issue is that if I paint them certain colors and designs, I may lose part of my market, which I do not want to do. 
• Also, one comment stressed the importance of making a decision on private vs. public ownership and I chose to be private and work with the university.