1) You.
Hello, my name is Justin Schlakman and I'm currently a first-year Finance major. One of the main talents and strengths I possess is being able to communicate easily with strangers. As far as UFBIKE goes my experiences include renting a bike and having to walk all across campus to get from point A to point B. My primary aspirations in life are to be successful and to also be happy. If I were able to start this business it would personally affect me because I would have another convenient way to get across campus. It would also make me happy knowing that I was able to make an impact and leave the University of Florida with a part of me by leaving my legacy. It is also reassuring knowing that I would be providing an eco-friendly way to travel and that I would be making other students lives more convenient.
2) What are you offering to customers?
I'm offering students a new innovative system to traveling on campus. UFBIKE is a designed program that consists of installing bike docking stations all across campus and replacing the normal clutter of dormant bikes racks. UF bikes would be available 24/7 365 days per year, and would allow service at a quick swipe and touch of a button. Rather than students having to rent a bike for a whole semester, to hardly ever use it, UFBIKE would give every student the opportunity to use a bike whenever most convenient for them, at a low trip, or semester price. On campus, bikes would be available at every docking station in which they can then be returned to any docking location. For students, who already have a bike and do not live on campus, additional docking spaces will be available for regular bikes, so students would no longer have to bother with normal bike rack and locks.
3) Who are you offering it to?
The customers I'm trying to market to include any person who is currently on campus and needs a quick form of transportation to get from point A to point B. These people include but are not excluded to faculty, staff, students, and visitors. In addition, my market includes people of all ages who know how to ride a bike or wish to learn how to ride a bike. In addition, my market consists of people who currently own a bike and do not have access to a bike.
4) Why do they care?
I ask customers this question as a platform for my idea, "Have you ever been running late and began to feverishly hurry to try to make it somewhere on time on campus, and then thought to yourself “Oh man I wish I had a bike right now to use?” People are not always on time and don't always have access or do not wish to use uber, take a bus, or sprint across campus to get to the places they need to be at. UFBIKE offers solutions to customers: a quick, efficient, and easy way to travel. .
5) What are your core competencies?
I admit, my idea is not entirely unique. It's already been established in many major cities across the world. Instead, I'm mainly looking to incorporate this system here at UF. From the system already in place here of either renting a bike for a whole semester or buying a bike permanently, UFBIKE would allow you to rent a bike at whenever most convenient for you instead of having to be in a long-term relationship with your bike.
I do believe these elements fit very well together with my idea specifically. I feel as though my idea is very well rounded and nearly complete with a large market base that would actually use them. Unlike some others, I feel like my idea has the potential to actually become a reality and benefit students.
Hey, Justin. I love your idea. We have a similar service here at UF as far as cars with ZipCar, but you can't drive a car through the middle of Turlington at 1pm :P
ReplyDeleteAs someone who walked everywhere during his first year, and is now biking everywhere during his second, it definitely makes a huge difference. Accountability would be there because the people who take each bike would be tracked by swiping the card. The only difficulty may be maintenance of the bikes, and having a store large enough to swap out bikes that need to be repaired or tuned up, while still keeping the number of available bikes the same.
My idea napkin: http://bpace9583.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1.html
Justin, this is a great idea and I can certainly see it catching on quickly with students. I think your biggest hurdle would be the capital expense it would take to get the program up and running with enough bikes/racks to make it convenient. Maybe partnering with a specific bike manufacturer or the university itself could help cut down on some of these expenses. Of course maintenance of the bikes would be critical, but most of them wouldn't be ridden too many miles so repairs would typically be minimal. Do you know how much it may cost a student to rent a bike, either per rental or tracked by time? I look forward to seeing your business plan develop!
ReplyDeleteI think UFBike is a great idea. Something I would suggest to go along with it is an app that lets you check and see where bikes are and if there are any at your chosen spot. Another thing to think about is when renting the bike do they have to put in where they are going to leave it? My understanding with Zip-car is that you have to take the car back to where you started, I feel like most people won’t want to take the bike back to the hall they came from.
ReplyDeleteYou can check out my post here: http://ent3003blog.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1-week-six.html
YES THIS IS A GREAT IDEA! There have been so many times where I've wanted to buy a bike but I didn't go through with it because I didn't want to worry about it getting stolen or me not using it as much as I thought I would. However, there have been so many times where I set out on a long walk to class or work to campus and I think, "WOW this would be so much quicker if I had a bike." It's a vicious cycle -- pun-intended. This idea is already a big deal in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Miami, but I see it being an awesome business in a college town. Great job!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my post here: http://ericarego.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1.html