Forming an Opportunity Belief

1)      I, like many of my fellow students here at the University of Florida, have a caffeine dependence. However, many times when I need my coffee to get through work or studying, I am not able to leave and go to a popular coffee chain just to wait in line and go through the entire coffee purchasing experience. Often, I am at work (on campus) and I cannot leave or I am comfortable and set up in a spot at the library, and to leave would mean that I risk losing said spot. I believe that there is a future in an on-campus coffee delivery service.

2)      The unmet need in this situation, is the actual coffee delivery. This need has always existed among students because of the demanding nature of being a full-time student. To meet this need now, college campuses often have many coffee shops on campus, however, these coffee shops often have long lines and most students have full schedules that make it more difficult for them to have time to wait in these lines. Because of these facts, I think that there is a 70% chance that this opportunity exists.

3)      The prototypical consumer for this delivery service would be a student that is a regular consumer of coffee shop products. This student would also be busy and would not have the time (or maybe not wake up early enough) to get coffee before class/work. This student would also feel that their caffeine fix is worth a few extra dollars of a delivery charge.

4)      After speaking to potential consumers, they had a lot of input on the service. 

Customer A: This potential customer felt that the nature of the need originated with their caffeine dependence and lack of extra time in their busy schedules. They became aware of the need when they were stuck in situations that would have been much more pleasant with the addition of their typical caffeine fix. Customer A has had this need since they began college and/or since coffee became a daily part of their routine. Customer A buys coffee on campus about three times weekly, and the rest of the days they use their coffee maker at home. 

Customer B: This customer agreed with customer A on the origin of their need. However, this customer is also a less regular user of caffeine. This customer also does not have the means to make their own coffee at home, so they make a habit of purchasing it on campus about three times weekly. Customer B feels like the service would definitely work because most students barely wake up in time to get to class, let alone to purchase coffee.

Customer C: This customer agreed with A & B on the origin of need. However, this customer feels that they would use this service, but not regularly. Customer C does the best they can to make their coffee at home (in order to save money). So this customer would only make use of this service on special occasions when they didn't have time to make their own, or as a potential self-reward.

5)      My opportunity is definitely interesting to those students I spoke to, however, I am slightly concerned with the feasibility because of cost and the fact that it is a niche market of consumers.

6)      See step 4

7)      Overall, I do think my opportunity is still present. However, based on student feedback, I do think that I will have to make sure to target students very specifically and do the best that I can to make this service cost efficient. My opportunity hasn’t exactly transformed based on feedback, but I have learned a lot about the different aspects that I would have to consider before following through with my opportunity. I think that staying firm can occasionally be a strong strategy, but in my case, I will need to take customer opinions into account.