Forming An Opportunity Belief

4A: Forming An Opportunity Belief 

One unmet need in Gainesville is an app that tells you what each bar/ club is doing each night in regard to music, drink specials and events along with telling you how many people are at each bar. The need comes from mostly college students who are wanting to go out but are not sure what place is offering the best deal without looking up each individual bar. Also, bars can meet their capacity very quickly on popular nights, so it is helpful if the person knows if a bar is at capacity before they drive/walk to that bar. People are meeting this need by texting and calling the bars before they go out and having to go on each bar’s social pages to see what’s going on that night. If people could just have one app that tells you everything that’s going on for the places they’re interested in, it would make for an easier and better experience when deciding how to spend their night. 

One of the people I interviewed is a bartender at a popular bar in town. She said that she needs something to help her share the specials and capacity with people, without having her update her social media while she is at work. She became aware of the need when all of her friends, even friends who were on the VIP list, were texting her to get them into the bar but the bar was at capacity, so she couldn’t get them in. If something had notified them prior to them leaving maybe they would have gotten there earlier. She said that she has also experienced this frustration as a customer trying to get into a bar, but she didn’t realize how bad it was until she was the inside source that all her friends were using to get information and to get in. She said that an app that updated every ten minutes or so with the current number of people would be great and if it had the specials as well it would be even better. 

The next person I interviewed was a random college student I talked to while walking to class. He said that he needed something that showed the bars specials but also something that showed how many people planned to go to each place. So, like a Facebook event but it wouldn’t have to show names. He just wanted to see how many people planned to go out, especially on less busy nights like Mondays and Tuesdays, to help him make up his mind if he wants to go out. He said that he realized this need when he was constantly going out to places and them not being crowded and then the next night he decides to stay in and sees on social media that the same bar was packed. He said that he currently messages all of his friends before he goes out, but it would be nice to know what other college students are doing. He said he would enjoy the app if it included things like who plans to go and when. 

Lastly, I interviewed a sorority girl who is under the age of 21. She said that it is hard when some nights bars are 21 and up and others are 18 and up. She would need the app to tell her what events are going on, so she knows if she can get in or not. She first discovered this problem when she went to a bar for a function, so she was allowed in (not to drink but to hang out) and then the next night she went back and wasn’t allowed in because it was back to being 21 and up. She said currently she has to call before going out to see but it would be so much easier to be able to look at a list of each bar and who they are allowing in that night. She would be very happy with the app if it included this feature. 

I learned that in night life things are always changing and every student has different things they want to know. From each interview I learned different individual needs so this gave me the idea that the app should have a comments section that allows people to ask their unique questions and then the bars or other students can respond. 

My original opportunity is still there, however, it has grown. From when I started I do believe my opportunity is more accurate because it gets more detailed into the exact information people want. I think entrepreneurs should adopt this opportunity to better provide their customers with information that will lead to a better and less stressful night.