4A

Assignment 4A
Esther Goldstein


Our conceptualization of an opportunity tends to change over time. As we act and interact with our surrounding environment, the beliefs we form related to an opportunity change, shift, and recombine in unique ways. This exercise is meant to capture the experience of opportunity conceptualization, which is the development of a belief that an opportunity exists. Opportunity identification can happen instantly (i.e., you notice that a new regulation is going to require firms to hire a lot more CPAs). Other opportunities form over a period of time. This exercise focuses on the latter. It's almost like you're cultivating an "pet opportunity".


Here's what you should write in your post:


1) Your beginning point. Do you have a belief, supposition, or feeling than an opportunity exists? This belief may have come from your completion of prior exercises. Only select one belief.


In visiting my sister who attends UCF, I noticed that she and many of her friends enjoy going to a gas station called Wawa. One day, I went to visit this gas station with her and was surprised by what I found. The gas station had a clean separate kitchen area in which it had ready to order, custom made, sandwiches and salads. I quickly researched whether this Wawa gas station chain had any sites where I live, in Miami-Dade County and learned that it did not. In fact, the closest Wawa location to my Miami home was in Western Broward County.


2) Describe your belief. Be sure to include a few things. First, what is the unmet need? Second, who has the need? Third, where did the need come from (is it new, or has it always existed)? Four, what are people doing to meet this need now? (These four elements are important -- we'll come back to these.) At this point, how sure are you (say, in percent terms) that this opportunity exists?


The unmet need is to have a full-fledged high end sandwich and salad shop inside of a clean gas station. I think many people have this need as this type of restaurant/gas station concept does not otherwise exist. Specifically, while there have been Subway franchises inside of gas stations for many years, Wawa’s vast sandwich and salad menu and cleanliness is unmatched. I believe this need always existed and has never previously been met. Currently, people in Miami who need gas and are hungry have to make two stops, one for gas and another at a restaurant.


3) Identify the prototypical customer.


The typical customer will be someone who wants to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner at a location after filing up their car with gas.


4) Iteration No. 1: Go talk to a prototypical customer. Ask questions related to the four criteria above. Questions can (should) include: What is the exact nature of the need? When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes? How long have they had the need? When did they first become aware of their need? Why? How are they currently addressing their need? How satisfied are they with this solution? (This is not a 30-second interview -- these interviews should be lengthy enough to help you capture rich information.)


I spoke with several neighbors of mine in Miami about the concept of opening a Wawa in Miami, specifically in northern Miami-Dade County, and each responded positively to the concept. Surprising, none of them had heard of Wawa or saw a specific need for one, but each also said that they certainly would stop in at least once to give it a try if one opened nearby. None of them would travel though to neighboring Broward County to try the restaurant as it was way out of their way.


5) Reflect. What did you learn about your opportunity? What was the most surprising thing you learned about your opportunity? (You may reflect after each iteration or you may simply include a single reflection that captures all three iterations.)


I just learned from today’s Sun-Sentinel that Wawa is coming to Miami-Dade County and opening three stores in the southern part of the County. I still believe that a fantastic opportunity exists to place a Wawa store in northern Miami-Dade County. My next step is to determine if Wawa owns all of its stores or if they are franchised. If they are franchised I will request a franchise agreement from Wawa, I will try to pool investors for this idea and begin looking for a potential property to lease or purchase. If Wawa stores are all corporately owned then I guess I could propose the opportunity to the company and consumers would benefit, but it would be more difficult to profit from Wawa’s opening of a store. Perhaps I could find a location and purchase an option to buy or lease it and then assign it to Wawa to make a profit.


6) Repeat twice more steps 3, 4, and 5. Please be explicit with each step in your blog post.


I received the nearly identical reaction from two other neighbors I interviewed about potentially opening a Wawa in northern Miami-Dade County. They had not heard of the Wawa chain, but were very interested in its concept.


7) Summarize. It's very likely that your opportunity belief changed between the outset and as a consequence of your customer interactions. Three questions:


How much of your original opportunity is still there?


It might be there if Wawa franchises stores and I can find a location and investors.


Do you believe that your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started?


This will depend on whether Wawa franchises stores.


How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback? (In other words, is there a trade-off between adapting and staying firm?)


Customer demand is the key to any successful business opportunity. If nobody is willing to buy your product or service then no matter how creative an idea may be it will not translate into a profitable venture.