Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity 
The opportunity I am being presented with is the lack of parking infrastructure available to accommodate the exponentially growing segment of college/university attendance. This is a substantial problem for universities across the country which effects millions of students, faculty, alumni, fans, and guests every year. This problem continues to gain steam and urgency as personal vehicle usage continues to increase throughout the United States as the primary method of transportation for individuals. According to the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there are 212 million licensed drivers in the US, with 270 million registered vehicles according to Statista, both of these figures continue to increase steadily annually. Demographically the target market is defined as 18-25 year olds who attend a college/university whereas geographically the opportunity is not bounded but focused on college tows (examples: Gainesville- UF & Tallahassee- FSU). My idea presents those affected with the ability to travel worry free due to the access they will have to view available parking on their smartphone across numerous large parking structures. Currently, my target market is not satisfying their needs, they are adapting their transportation needs to accommodate for the lack of parking available by utilizing public transportation, bikes, and walking. This opportunity presents a massive growth opportunity as it can be implemented at universities across the country with potential to expand into urban centers (examples: New York City, Atlanta, large sporting venues).

Innovation 
My innovation is Parking Pal, a company that will engage in B2B selling of parking infrastructure such as parking garages or parking lots equipped with smart technology. Parking Pal is presenting two components to solve the parking crisis. 1) Parking Pal is going to provide large physical parking structures to accommodate the growing population and traffic at universities. 2) Parking Pal is going to utilize smart technology. This smart technology consists of a sensor at the front of every parking space which will detect if a parking space is available or occupied, along with a light fixture which will hang above every parking space and light up green when the spot is available and red when the spot is occupied. This technology with connect to a mobile application which will simultaneously update with the most current information being recorded from the sensors in the parking structure. This will give consumers the ability to pin point convenient parking wherever their travels take them. The selling of the product will take place in a B2B setting, for example, Parking Pal will advertise and sell our product to an organization such as UF. The first contact would be established through both the president and senate of the student government association and the head of parking services and transportation. By getting in contact with student government this will allow Parking Pal to appeal to the target market through an official channel that has a seat at the table within the university decision circle. By contacting parking services and transportation, Parking Pal would be communicating directly with the department that maintains and operates the parking facilities throughout campus, this would allow us to converse about the issues that currently face the university along with providing solutions. This sale could take place in two separate ways, 1) the organization could pay Parking Pal to build parking structures equipped with the smart technology. This would allow an organization such as UF to upgrade their current infrastructure which would increase campus appeal, ease of navigation, and decrease in traffic, all resulting in the increased satisfaction of students, faculty, and visitors such as alumni or gameday fans. 2) The organization could purchase the technology which Parking Pal would install into already existing infrastructure. This option would benefit organizations that already have suitable and efficient parking infrastructure, but want to further upgrade, providing their customers, such as students, faculty, and guests an increased ease of access and transportation. The mobile application will be available to everyone on numerous stores including the app store and google play.

Venture Concept 
My innovation will solve the needs of consumers by giving them the freedom and ability to pin point parking within their destination before departing. This provides consumers with increased, accurate, and regularly updated information pertaining to the parking availability providing them with peace of mind and ease of access. Customers will buy into my innovation because it provides a substantial benefit to their customers. For example, University of Florida purchases Parking Pal's products, this will increase their revenues and customers satisfaction. Additional revenue will be generated through the extra parking spaces available allowing university's to issue more parking passes and at a higher price due to the upgrade in facilities, access, and convenience. With upgraded facilities and more accommodations available, more people will be able to park on campus. The additional parking infrastructure would also increase the availability of one day parking passes that could be purchased by fans, alumni, and daily visitors. Customer satisfaction would also increase because Parking Pal provides a more convenient way to travel, giving customers the freedom to travel on their own time without hassle. This will increase positive perception of the UF campus which will increase overall university satisfaction drawing more students to apply and attend, also generating more revenue. At this point I have not identified national scale competitors, I will have to conduct further research as the company advances and grows. Depending on the choice in which the customer chooses to utilize Parking Pal, the cost will range between a few hundred thousand dollars and a few million dollars. The biggest aspect of my business idea would be location. My business concept is targeted at high traffic, urban areas such as large cities and college towns. To further expand and advance the organization forward I am going to need a highly skilled, dedicated workforce including software engineers, construction managers, construction engineers, civil engineers, and highly skilled technical workers to develop and implement the product.

Three Minor Elements
I believe at this moment my most valuable resource would be me being a college student. I am constantly surrounded by very intelligent, determined, and enthusiastic individuals that I could form a relationship with to move my agenda forward. Me being a business major, I am learning the necessary and critical skills needed to understand how businesses operate and achieve success. I am also very highly motivated and eager to learn giving me an advantage over many people. My current strategy is to target college towns with the desire to expand to urban centers. My desire as an entrepreneur is create a product that benefits consumers but also a product that I am proud of. In 5 years I wish to be successful and profitable with eyes on the future to innovate.

Feedback 
I received very limited feedback from my peers. The feedback I did receive was not based on what I should improve, rather it was directed the benefits that would be provided and how she would utilize and appreciate the product. I also received feedback from Professor Pryor stating I had to go more in depth on my concept because I left out key elements from my previous venture concept including a price point, who I am going to contact to make the sale, and how I will increase revenues for those I sell to. Based on this feedback I adjusted my concept to incorporate all of these elements. I incorporated a rough estimate of the price that would be charged to the organization, this price point is variable and would be adjusted based on the quantity of purchase. I also stated I would contact both the student government association and the parking services and transportation department to give me two channels of communication along with two separate channels of authority. Lastly, I stated I would increase revenues for the organization through providing expanded and upgraded infrastructure allowing the organization to issue more parking passes at a higher price due to the increase in accessibility, convenience, and upgraded facilities.