4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

All around the world, young adults move out to go to colleges and universities, taking up residence in either student housing or apartments. A common need among these students is furniture. Some people rent or purchase their furniture in their new town, while others move it from home. However, while price may not be an issue as there are many options, one option that is not available is moving said furniture both in and out of their doors, as well as simply it around their new home. Apart from moving the furniture oneself, people have the option of hiring people to move the furniture for them; both come with equally negative consequences. If one were to move ear own furniture, they'd have to either bring it but by bit, or rent a vehicle large enough to furnish their new home. Even then, there is no guarantee that their furniture will fit through each door without having to disassemble some of it. With movers, there is no guarantee that everything will make it in one piece, on top of the fact that movers are somewhat notorious for losing some smaller pieces of furniture.

My idea to remedy this is a line of movable furniture. Similar to how water beds are easy to move, the line of furniture I want to create is foldable and rearrangeable, with a focus on shifting from stylish to compact. This allows for furniture to be moved from place to place much more easily and cuts down on many of the costs. Currently, I think the company that has the tools to meet this need, is also the company doing the most about it, and that company is probably IKEA. The company is known for shipping products for them to be assembled there, with a focus on simplicity. But we haven't reached the stage I want to reach yet, which is have a product be assembled once, to them be shifted without disassembly. Personally, I'm 75% certain that no one has created a line of products like this, at least not to the scale I'm imagining.

Interview 1: Shania Santiago (UF Student) 

Upon asking her about how it is to move from place to place, because she's just moved from Pembroke Pines to Mims, Florida, and then to a UF dorm. She responded with "it's a bitch to be living in and out of boxes while still being in the middle of moving."

After pitching the concept to her, she responded with, "on paper it sounds fantastic, although I'd have to see the style and safety of the product before I'm sold." This is when she began to realize that the need is present in everyday life, just not very often. Only a few times throughout the year. Specifically, it came when her father, who had spinal surgery a few years ago, tried to lift heavy boxes and was in pain the next day.

Currently, they've been just moving themselves from place to place, but upon hearing about the solution, she was ecstatic and wanted to know more about the product and if it is feasible to be produced soon.

Interview 2: Adrian Wright (UF Student)

Adrian is a student who just moved back to Gainesville and is currently renting an apartment. However, his apartment came fully furnished, so I was curious if we was going to react the same way as Shania. Surprisingly, he reacted very similarly. When I asked him how much of a pain to move it is, he was rather mellow saying "I don't mind it to much, I usually don't bring that much." But when I proposed the idea of movable furniture, he was ecstatic, saying "Wow, that'd be really nice, I could bring and move stuff without all the effort." While Adrian has never had to move, he realized how much of a need it was after helping his neighbors move out and had to pack for over two days.

Interview 3: Aaron Bisnauth (UF Student)

Aaron is also a student, like Adrian, who just moved into a fully furnished apartment. However, there is a big difference between him and Adrian and it is how many times they've moved. While Adrian has never moved himself, Aaron has moved over twenty times throughout his life, saying that "every time, it has been the biggest bitch." He's realized that it's a need since he's been young from all the moving he's done. So when I told him about my movable furniture concept, he said "I'd do anything for a product like that." This is the reaction I wanted to hear, because it not only proves that college student moving from place to place could use this product, but that anyone who's moving could use this product. 

Reflection 1: 

There is a clear need for something to be done about college and apartment furniture, and this might be it. While the idea is very barebones and has probably been talked about in the past, but nothing comes close to the vision I have for this product. With a good amount of money backing this project and a small, yet efficient team of innovators like myself, I'm certain that this project is feasible and could be the next big college innovation.

Reflection 2:

It is clear that this is a somewhat specific need for people, but this does not exclude anyone as everyone will move at least once in their life. On top of that, it is clear that even people who don't move often can appreciate and get excited for this concept.

Reflection 3:

If a person really needs this product because they're constantly moving, they are far more willing to support this project. As a matter of fact, Aaron and I have already worked on a prototype together for catalyst, so he's very excited to work with me again if we choose to pursue this product. At first I didn't think that this project would lead to anything, but I'm actually considering pursuing this idea somewhere in the future.

Summary:

This idea is still feasible, however I'd need to establish my market and ensure that no large company jumps on this idea before mine increases in size and scope. Last thing I need is for some named furnishing company to create a line of their own and knock me off the market.

Also, I believe my opportunity is slightly more fleshed out, but the main idea is still the same: moving furniture as easily as possible, without compromising price and style.

Personally, when it comes to if entrepreneurs should adapt to customers, I believe that customers have a large say in what a product should be. However, an entrepreneur should never lose sight of the product they originally intended on creating, because then they could never have a passion to make the product the best that it could be.