My name is Mary Kate. I am a 20 year old journalism major at UF. I think a good talent of mine is that I can carry a conversation with almost anyone. I have been in the service industry since i was sixteen, because of this I have gained social skills that will follow me though the rest of my life. If i were to start Gator Shuttle, I think it would impact my life in a positive way. I want to help make a difference and even something as simple as creating a parking garage and shuttle can help change the everyday life of a student and the commute they have to take.
What I am offering to customers, is a quick and easy way for students, teacher or even the general public to have easy everyday access to UF campus without breaking the bank. The parking garage would be close to campus and would have 20 floors. Gainesville does not have very many tall buildings but this parking garage could be the start. To park in the garage it is a $3 fee for all day or a $10 all week pass. These passes are 24 hours a day, so it will not expire until the time you purchased the ticket. There will also be a shuttle that runs directly from the garage to campus. This will cost $5 all day for anyone without a Gator1 card and $1 for anyone with a Gator1. I think my service will help meet many Gainesville residents with the unmet need of parking on campus.
I am offering this product to anyone. This can be a student, a teacher, someone wanting to tour campus. This could even be someone who just needs to park at the parking garage and not use the shuttle. It will be great for anyone who goes to midtown and can't find parking late at night or during the day with a neighborhood decal is required. All my customers have the need to park in common.
Customers will pay me money to use this product because it is by far the cheapest option for parking around the campus. Someone does not have to use both the shuttle and the garage they can choose to use only the shuttle or vice versa. This is an affordable and accessible idea that Gainesville residents will understand.
What sets Gator Shuttle apart from everyone else is our prices and space. They are cheaper than Reitz Union and we have more parking available. We also have a direct shuttle to campus which no one else offers. The RTS buses make multiple stops which can double or triple the travel time it would normally take to get to campus.
I think all these ideas fit really well together. There needs to be more planning when it comes to the location of the garage and how quickly the shuttle can travel from the garage to campus. I think anyone who has an issue with parking will definitely find this idea interesting.
Hi Mary Kate!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your introduction, it was nice to find someone else from the J School and someone else who has a lot of experience in the service industry. I think your idea for the Gator Shuttle is awesome and something that would be really beneficial to so many students on campus who already struggle with parking and getting to class. After a year of parking garage frustrations, I began taking the bus and even still I run into timing issues there too. I definitely agree that Gainesville needs to build a large parking garage, because the ones they have aren't cutting it. The shuttle is just the cherry on top and I think that people would definitely be willing to pay a little bit of cash just to guarantee they will have a spot and make it to where they need to be on time. I also really like how you included people who aren't UF students too, because I know I have had friends and family visiting who struggled to find cheap and efficient parking as well. Overall, it sounds like you have a really solid foundation and plan for you business idea, and it sounds like something that could really be utilized and profitable.
Mary Kate, you have some very valuable competencies. Having stellar verbal communication skills are so vital, especially when you are undertaking an entrepreneurial endeavor and have to market an idea, product, or service! I also find it admirable that your idea is in efforts to resolve an issue for the masses. I recently interviewed a student who took a city planning class at UF and you have just hit the nail on the head with the highlight of our conversation: the modern model of skyward building. Certainly, with the little room we have to expand on our immediate campus the only way to build is up. The fees you propose are also extremely affordable and I believe it is likely (given the proper location) that you will yield a considerable profit at those rates. Unfortunately, I am unsure of the difference between this and the current option students have for park and ride, with the exception of the expansion of parking in your particular garage. At your current rate, a student who would take advantage of this parking every day for a full semester would pay more in fees than one would pay for a park and ride decal and the free commute on the RTS bus. I think an effective next step would be to prepare a financial outline of the project and the profit it will yield over time to see if this is truly an economical or worthwhile option for you as a business owner and for students as customers.
ReplyDeleteHey Mary Kate, Awesome post. I think that something like this will benefit everyone taking classes at UF although this requires longer commutes to class the reward of being able to get to class in time rather than finding a parking spot and being late out weighs the length of commute in a lot of ways. However on my most recent trip to Gainesville I thought I recalled something similar to your idea. I still think that there is still opportunity for you to further improve the system due to any imperfections that may exist in it. So I definitely think you're onto something looking forward to seeing your ideas developed further.
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