4A-Forming an opportunity belief

1. Ever since I have started here at UF, I have had this thought that there was an opportunity to start a company or build an App that connected students with other students in the same classes in a more user friendly way outside of Canvas.

2. In my belief, I think there is an unmet need for students to reach out to other students in their classes to try and connect with each other and help one another in the classes they have together. Students wishing to branch out and connect with their classmates in a less formal setting have the unmet need. I feel as though this has always been around, but with technology now a days, there are more ways to able to meet this need. What people are doing now are they are either just posting things in canvas or posting on UF class pages asking for help. With my idea, I could consolidate all of this into one application where a student can put up their class schedule and match with similar students to form study groups when at the library or connect with other students who may be able to help other students with the classes they are taking.

3. Iterations: For my 3 interviews, the prototypical customer was a student here at the University of Florida.
-Customer 1: When asked about the nature of the unmet need, Rachael stated that she had never thought of the idea of connecting students who needed help but she thought that an opportunity like that would be one that could work for students. She thought that the need would be there for students who don't have an easy way of connecting with other students. Right now, Rachael addresses the need of connecting with other students in helping with her classes by reaching out to people in the clubs and organizations she's in. She said she would try out such an opportunity and thinks that it would have an impact on certain students.

-Customer 2: Sean is a Poly Science major here at UF and when asked about the nature of the unmet need, he stated that it would work for students who are in classes that are challenging that don't have a lot of the tutors that many of the major classes like calculus or chemistry would have. For him, he said he faces this unmet need quite often because his classes are so specific, that he can't find help in them with outside tutors because they don't know the subject material. So connecting Sean with other classmates that are in the class with him would help him with the material at hand. He said he first became aware of this need when he got into his upper level classes that started to get more specific and more challenging but with less help outside of the professor. He is currently addressing this need by trying to talk to some kids in his classes but sometimes kids aren't responsive or aren't willing to help out. He thinks an alternate solution would benefit him greatly.

-Customer 3: Hunter is a Psychology major here at UF and he said it would work for students that maybe more shy, like himself, and help break the ice in asking for help over an app instead in person. He said he comes about this unmet need often because he sometimes has trouble in his classes and wants to ask someone in his class for help, but he is often too shy to do so and then he must figure out the stuff on his own. He said he has had this need for a while. He is also currently addressing the problem now by either posting on Facebook again, or just simply now asking for help outside of talking with the professor if he even does that. Hunter stated that he would be up to try the idea in the hopes that he would be able to reach out to his classmates and get more help with his classes.

5. In my interviews, I was surprised that 2 of the 3 customers had trouble reaching out to their fellow classmates. For some people that is a hard thing to do because either their personality doesn't fit that mold to do something like that or they are not as involved as other students are. Such as the case with Sean and Hunter, they want to reach out to other students and try and get help or offer help, but besides Facebook or Canvas, they don't have a way to do that. But it was also surprising to see that students, such as Rachael, who are involved with other students, would still be up to trying the idea and branching out even more.

7. I still think a majority of the opportunity is there, given that the 3 customers were willing to give my idea a shot and I believe with a little more planning and getting down to details, my opportunity would be more accurate. Entrepreneurs should do a little bit of both when coming up with ideas and opportunities. If you feel as though you have a great idea, you should try and stick with it but at the same time, you have to adapt to the customers that you are trying to sell to because at the end of the day, the customer is the one who matters the most. If they don't see your idea as an opportunity that could improve upon, then they won't use your product and you won't be able to see your idea.