Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity 

     As a whole, this class has provided me with an opportunity to think outside of the box and escape my comfort zone. When I was thinking about an unmet need in the Gainesville area, I thought back to problems I had in the past. I remembered that my car battery had died one day and most of my friends were busy and I was kind of out of luck for a couple of hours. I saw an opportunity for a mobile car service company in the Gainesville area to help out in situations like the one I was faced with on this day when my battery died. The amount of cars flying around Gainesville is crazy and I know that most of them have small fixes that students are either too lazy to go fix, or they just don't have time to go to an auto shop and wait for their car to be fixed. The other good thing about this opportunity is that cars are always going to be around, and they are always going to need to be serviced on a daily basis. I believe the opportunity in the Gainesville area is huge because there is no service like the kind I am promoting and I really think there is a whole in the market for it. There is an opportunity for this service to be very successful and used by a lot of the more than 50,000 students and faculty in the area. I need to make good, smart business decisions to make sure I am able to take advantage of this opportunity. 

Innovation

   The innovation I am bringing to the market is a mobile car service for the students and faculty at the University of Florida. I will have an app and online process where customers can put in a request to have their car fixed at their home by one of my certified car technicians. The jobs I will be able to do include: battery changes, light replacement, oil changes, wiper blade changes, gas fill-ups, minor dent repairs, car washes and some more minor car service jobs. Once the customer puts in the request, the technician will come to them and fix whatever the problem is for the price of the labor and then a small fee for the service I am providing. For example, if a customer's car battery died, I will come to their house with a new battery and replace the existing one for them. The customer will then pay me for the battery and then will pay a fee for the service. The fees will vary on how long the job takes, and the skill that is necessary to complete the request. I am hoping to keep the fee relatively small though because I want to target the college crowd and most students need to stay inside their budgets. Because this is more of a convenience for most people, I want the service to be quick and efficient so people can continue on with their everyday lives. 

Venture Concept

    My innovation will solve a hole in the market for a student-run mobile car service in Gainesville. People will be interested in my innovation because it is the first of its kind in the area and it will make a lot of people lives a lot easier if they do not have to go through the hassle of car dealerships or body shops. I really do not think it will be hard for people to switch to my service because nobody really enjoys going out of their ways to get their cars fixed, so I will bring the service to them. Another good thing about my idea is that there are no other businesses in the area that cater to the needs of students like I am planning on doing. As far as my business concept goes, I want the customer experience to be the best in the area and the customer service to be great every single time. If one customer has a positive experience, they are more likely to go tell their friends and this is how I can expand my clientele through word of mouth. As far as employees go, I plan on handling the business and logical aspect of things, and then I will have a couple of certified service technicians on hand to do the actual work on the cars. For my business to be successful, I need to have a lot of customers and be able to do a bunch of cars every day to help cover the expenses and pay my employees. I see a market that has a lot of potential and I am looking forward to entering the market and making some money in the process. 

Three Minor Elements

• My most important resource is definitely going to be getting return customers because of good quality service the first time I am able to fix their cars. I am a big believer in doing things right all of the time, and I think people will love the experience they receive when they do business through my company. I want return customers and I want my business to spread from word of mouth and social media. I also think that it is important that I have a lot of connections here at UF with Greek life, club sports and people I have met in all of my classes through the years here at UF. 
• The next part to my idea is going to be a mobile car detailing service that comes to you and will clean the inside and outside of your car for a small fee. Everyone likes having a clean car, but nobody likes going through the hassle of going to a wash or running their car through a gas station machine to have it do a mediocre job. My detailing would be second to none and offered for a relatively cheap price. 
• This is a tough question. For now, I see this business idea as something I would just be doing here while I am in school in Gainesville. As far as the future goes, I want to own my own car dealership in Tampa, but maybe I can also provide a mobile car service through the dealership in Tampa. Time will tell, but I know I want to be in the car business when I am older!