4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

Belief/Opportunity

During hurricane season, the state of Florida has the potential of being devastated by a multitude of storms between June and November. With hurricane Irma hurling her way toward us, I quickly got into my car and went to Publix to buy a couple of cases of water, a flashlight, non-perishables, and batteries. Unfortunately, almost all the stores were out of all items I needed because of the high demand from the surrounding population. This got me thinking about why Florida does not have hurricane packages, that contain all the necessary items for a potential hurricane based on household size, that are automatically shipped to residents that plan to stay in the state or have not been evacuated. This could potentially prevent the risk of extinguished supplies at local stores around Florida. Many Floridians don’t receive or obtain all the necessary supplies needed to get through a potential devastation.

Interview #1

I need water for this hurricane incase the power goes out. I will have no running water to. This line is *Curse word* long. I because aware of this need when I heard about IRMA. I had a nursing exam this morning and had no time to grab water before so now I’m hear. After 20 minutes, I started to become annoyed, but I knew that I needed this water just like everyone else. I hate long lines and there are so many people in Gainesville and I just want to get in and out and get on with my life. I know that I need this product so I am forcing myself to stay in line. If I don’t stay in line the water supply will become extinguished. I’m not extremely satisfied with this solution but if I do not stay here then I’m at a loss for supplies. I have heard about hurricane packages in other counties like Hillsborough and Pinellas. I think that major college towns, like Gainesville, should have a distributer because of the number of students and families that cannot travel home or evacuate to a safer area.

Interview #2

I need water in case there is an emergency and I have no water. I rather be safe than sorry because of how unpredictable this hurricane is. I first realized this need when I heard that Irma was the recorded as the strongest Atlantic hurricane. I haven’t experienced too many hurricanes, but I don’t tend to need water in this large of an amount regularly. I feel as though I can go without these cases of water because of the water that is already provided to me at my home. I don’t want to stand in water for over 30 minutes just for a few cases of water, but I guess that it is necessary if there is the possibility that water become inaccessible. I am not satisfied with the amount of time spent sitting in line for water that is only available for a limited amount of time. I have tried many stores and have had to wake up extremely early to just to be where I am right now with water. However, water is a necessity and I shouldn’t be complaining that much. Hurricane packages would be a great idea! I would have rather ordered a package with all the supplies that I need instead of waiting in this line.

Interview #3

I have been to three different stores today in hopes that there will be some water. I walked into Walmart and low and behold there is no water, non-perishables, or radios. I realized my need for supplies at the last minute. I have lived in Florida for 25 years and the only hurricane that really did any damage was Hurricane Andrew. Since then, the hurricanes that have come to Florida posed very little devastation to the state. I based my level of need off past experiences. I regret waiting till the last minute to buy supplies, especially water. It is my fault that I waited so long. My consequence now is waiting here in line just to buy two cases of sparkling water and dinner rolls, because that was all that was left. I think that hurricane packages would be a good idea; however, targeting everyone that has the potential to be harmed by this storm would not be as efficient as just waiting for a restock of water. Some people, like myself, wait till the last minute to buy supplies and now those packages are worthless to use because we didn’t obtain them in advance. I wouldn’t think it would be necessary to buy a hurricane package if in the past, the hurricanes only made minor damages.

Reflection

I learned that people will wait for the items they deem necessary at the given moment. However, the thought of having a package that is strictly to provide your household size the necessary supplies for an incoming hurricane was highly liked. I learned that many people hated having to wait in long lines or come to a store and almost all the supplies are extinguished. People have reacted negatively to waking up early in the morning to grab the newly restocked supplies. I noticed that most stores (Publix, Home Depot, Walmart, Target, etc.) were on top of restocking their water supplies twice a day to meet the demands of the population. Although my opportunity was highly praised, time management was a big question during my interview process. Forms could be sent out to potentially threatened areas of Florida asking, “what is your household size,” and “will you be evacuating.” Planning who, where, and the amount of supply packages would take a good amount of planning and money to execute.

Summary

Reducing the number of complaints about lack of supplies during hurricane season is a never-ending battle. Some consumers are very proactive when planning for hurricane season, while others wait till days before a major storm. In the past few years, there hasn’t really been any devastating hurricanes or tropical storms till this year (Irma). As a Floridian, I, too, don’t take hurricanes too seriously because of past experiences of potential storms not even hitting Florida at the last minute. My opportunity could benefit those last-minute planners, but the research and preplanning for this opportunity could take a few hurricane seasons to develop into a Florida staple. Entrepreneurs should absolutely adapt their opportunities based of customer feedback. Customer feedback is how entrepreneurs develop their ideas. In my opinion, the trade-off for entrepreneurs is that they must adapt to their customers first before staying firm with their final/finished opportunity/concept.