Idea Napkin No. 2

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. In addition, I would like to introduce an app in which students would be able to log on to view a record of their bike history that would allow them to report maintenance problems with their bike. In addition, the app will also allow students to avoid going to a kiosk and just sign up for a bike through the app. Also, the app will show students if bikes are available at every docking station. I'm hoping that the university could co-partner with a bike company to reduce the start up cost and have student government use their funds to supply the rest of the budget needed to cover the expenses. To address the problem of bike theft, like any bike would be primarily up to the person renting the bike to make sure that they dock the bikes properly/use a bike lock. A potential solution could be a tracker to find bikes after they are reported stolen. Because bikes are not traveling large distances, mileage is not too much of an issue and would not create many maintenance problems. In order to maintain all bikes, we can expand the bike center here on campus and partner with them and their department and allow students a chance at work. 

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. This program will also primarily target new students. If new students no longer have to buy a bike as a freshman, they would no longer have to maintain it for the next few years and the bikes would eventually see a steady increase in use.

4) Why do they care?

I initially asked 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. With this program, students would never have to worry about running late and people will now have another way to go directly through campus rather than just going around the major areas of campus. 

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 or maybe even the city of Gainesville. From the system already in place here of either renting a bike for a whole semester or buying a bike permanently yourself, UFBIKE would allow you to rent a bike at whenever most convenient instead of having to be in a long-term relationship with your bike.

I do believe these elements fit very well together with the model I have created. I feel as though my idea is both well rounded and complete that has the potential for 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 benefits students. 

Feedback Memo:

1. Putting in place a large-scale project like this will be very expensive, so I figure that we can afford this by either through a partnership or student government.

2. "How will you know if bikes are available?" Setting up an app to display where bikes are available would be very helpful.

3. How will we control maintenance? We will expand the bike center here on campus and employ students to cover the wide-scale maintenance.  

4. Do bikes have to return at the same station in which you got it? No, bikes can now be returned to any docking location. 

5. Will people actually use this service, since a lot of people already have bikes? Maybe not initially, but if we cut down a number of bikes people have to buy as a freshman, then eventually bikes the bikes would gain more and more popularity.