Ilana’s Entrepreneurship Blog

Who I am: I am determined and a goal-driven individual who knows how to overcome any obstacles that I face. I know how to connect and collaborate well with people to get a specific task done. If I were to start my business, this would impact my personal life because I would be investing my time and money in trying to hire the right people for the job and developing a project that would be beneficially impactful for the people in the city. What am I offering: I am offering an app called Mark n’Park that is connected to a parking garage to make a more efficient and stress free environment for drivers to find available parking spaces. When drivers first drive into the parking garage, they will receive a ticket to an assigned parking spot so they do not have to spend time looking for availability. Once the driver parks into their spot, they download the Mark n’Park in which they can scan or manually input their parking spot’s information which also reduces the time they spend ...

Domain Expert: I spoke with a city developer of “The Collier Companies”. This individual fills the spot because they are a local city developer whose job is to buy land or have other companies create and build certain projects.I contacted this person by going on their company’s website and seeing the different people of contact. The city developer believed my idea would be beneficial for many residents and visitors of Gainesville especially during high season but he did say that the cost of building a brand new parking garage is sometimes a multimillion dollar project. He did say it would be more cost-effective if I implemented the “Mark n’ Park” system app into already existing parking garages in Gainesville. However, he did say that my idea could definitely be useful in major cities that bring in more revenue and places that have stadiums/arenas. Since he took the time to talk to me, I thanked him and complimented the company’s service. I asked for his card so I would be able to...

Based on my customer segment, I decided to create my avatar as “Stressed, tired, and  broke college student drivers on a busy Monday morning around campus” . I decided to use this title for my customer segment because the majority of college drivers at UF have an extremely difficult time finding parking near or around campus and are simply tired of it being such a hassle. I specifically chose Monday morning  because that is the start of a busy week and a lot of students have classes and extracurricular activities that happen during the morning or afternoon.  Typical traits of my avatar: Hobbies: binge watches Netflix, lives off of Natty lights/white claws, going to mid, sleeping whenever possible, finding free food or BOGO Age range: 20 Car they drive: black Hyundai or Volkswagen  Shows they watch: Peaky Blinders, The Office, Friends  Children: 0 Favorite politicians: sanders (they want free education)  I think I do have a l...

Reflection: Based on the feedback I received from the previous elevator pitch, I was told to speak more clearly and utilize my hand movements better. In this pitch, I tried to use my hand movements when properly needed to emphasize the demonstration of my idea. I was also told to be more aware of my timing because I made my previous pitch a little over 1:40. However in this pitch, I really focused on what I was going to say and tried not to speak too slowly or too quickly in order to reach the 90 second mark. I believe I only went over by 2 seconds in this one. https://youtu.be/2tyBHHziGMU

1.      I am a very introspective person that is consistently analyzing my own thoughts and actions. I think this is my most favorable and important quality because it allows me to be aware of the things that are affecting me emotionally and improve upon those feelings. If there is something that is bothering me, I always take the time to figure out the reason behind my emotions and determine if it should bother me to that extent. I am also an independent individual that knows how to handle my own decisions by myself and not wait for other people to make those decisions for me. Although I will listen to the people who truly care about me, I typically do not let my friends or even my family influence my decisions because I am one to want to make the judgement myself.  I think being able to stand on my own and not get swayed into what others are saying or doing gives me the opportunity to know myself and the things I value. I am an honest person that will...

In relevance to the parking situation in Gainesville, one interviewee mentioned that their choice in choosing a parking spot depended on how close it was to campus. They did not consider pricing to be their most important factor as long as they could easily walk to their class in 5-10 minutes.   In another interview, the interviewee was more focused on the pricing of the parking. They said that parking is expensive all throughout Gainesville and were not willing to pay more than $5 for a space. In the last interview, the individual was surprisingly more concerned about the structuring of the parking garage. He said that the few parking garages that are close to campus are very tight and do not allow for a lot of space for the cars to park in. He said that he is always scared to park his car there because he does not want to potentially hit the other cars. The interviewee also expressed his concerns in how tight the turns of the current parking garages are. He said that man...