Forming An Opportunity Belief

1. I have a belief that an opportunity exists within the Heavener School of Business on UF's main campus. That opportunity is to replace the existing cafe/eatery, known as Rising Roll, with another similar, proven to be successful competitor. I feel that this opportunity exists because from both personal experience, as well as the experiences that I've heard about from other business students, the vast majority would prefer Rising Roll to replaced by something else. Many have cited that they wished that Rising Roll was replaced by a similar restaurant like Panera Bread, or simply installing another Starbucks location on campus. Every time I walk into Heavener to go to class or to study and happen to glance inside Rising Roll, it is almost never busy and hardly ever has any customers inside of it. I truly feel that a new business in that location would be much more successful and would better serve the students in the business school.

2. The students and staff of the business school and the surrounding area have the need which is presented in this situation, because their desire for a close, easy-to-access place to get coffee and lighter food fare isn't being fulfilled by Rising Roll in its current state. This need has existed since shortly after Heavener Hall opened, and many quickly began to realize that Rising Roll was not as good as initially thought.

Iteration 1:

3. Prototypical Customer - Craig S.

4. Q1: Have you ever been to Rising Roll in Heavener Hall?

I first spoke with Craig about this potential opportunity by asking him if he had ever been to Rising Roll before. Craig told me that he had only been there once or twice.

Q2: What was your experience like?

He said he had an 'okay' experience, but stated that he had heard bad things about their coffee from others.

Q3: Would you rather have something else instead of Rising Roll in Heavener, like Starbucks or Panera Bread?

He said yes, and stated he would probably go there several times a week if that were the case, because he would much prefer almost anything to Rising Roll.

Q4: How often do you feel that there is the need for a replacement for Rising Roll?

Craig stated that he only felt the need when in or around Heavener, but noted that that was quite often in his case.

Q5: Since you indicated you don't go to Rising Roll, but would go there if it was replaced, what're you doing to fulfill your unmet need?

Craig stated that he usually ended up bringing coffee from home, or going towards midtown to go to the closest Dunkin' Donuts, since its his favorite coffee chain brand.

5. I learned that several students have spread their negative experiences at Rising Roll around and that it had an impact on a student's decision on whether or not to continuing to go there in the future. This is important because public perception has almost certainly had a negative experience on Rising Roll's success.

Iteration 2:

3. Prototypical Customer - Amanda M.

4. Q1: Have you ever been to Rising Roll in Heavener Hall?

Like with Craig, I first spoke with Amanda about this potential opportunity by asking her if she had ever been to Rising Roll before. Amanda stated that she had in fact been there before, but has since stopped going altogether because of a recent negative experience she had with the coffee at Rising Roll.

Q2: What was your experience like?

She told me that she ordered a regular cafe mocha, and instead of what she ordered, she received an artificial, bitter-tasting substitute for cafe mocha that was both cold and unpleasant to drink. She said that after that incident, she wouldn't waste her money there again.

Q3: Would you rather have something else instead of Rising Roll in Heavener, like Starbucks or Panera Bread?

She was adamant about how happy she would be if Rising Roll were replaced, because she enjoys going to Starbucks on a regular basis and noted that it would be nice to have another Starbucks so close to her classes in Heavener Hall.

Q4: How often do you feel that there is the need for a replacement for Rising Roll?

Amanda said she feels that need almost everyday, because she's often on campus for other activities outside of class but told me that she often finds herself near Heavener, wishing that there was a place where she could go to get good coffee within the building.

Q5: What're you doing to deal with the issue that there's not a place for you to go around Heavener?

She said that she usually goes to the Starbucks at Library West, but that the line there is usually pretty long whenever she goes so she decides to get a coffee drink from the vending machine instead most days.

5. From Amanda I learned that someone has had a legitimately bad experience with Rising Roll, and has become dissatisfied with the cafe for good reason. It's important to learn this because it indicates it's more than just word-of-mouth that's hurting the reputation of Rising Roll and leading so many students to wish for it to be replaced.

Iteration 3:

3. Prototypical Customer - Alex B.

4. Q1: Have you ever been to Rising Roll in Heavener Hall?

Alex stated that he had never been to Rising Roll, and didn't really know all that much about it aside from the fact that he knew it served some kind of food.

Q2: Since you've never been, have you heard anything about it from anyone else? What was their experience like?

He said that he hadn't really heard much from his friends about it, but indicated that he never thinks of Rising Roll as a place to go when he wants to get food or coffee, because there are better locations close by that he already knows and likes.

Q3: Would you rather have something else instead of Rising Roll in Heavener, like Starbucks or Panera Bread?

Alex said it wasn't really that big of deal to him, mainly because he's not a big coffee drinker and didn't think that a place like another Starbucks would be appealing to him. He did note that he liked Panera Bread, so that it might be cool to have one inside Heavener.

Q4: How often do you feel that there is the need for a replacement for Rising Roll?

He said hardly at all, because he's never been there and never felt the desire to go there before, so there was little to no impact on him.

Q5: What're you doing to deal with the issue that there's not a place for you to go around Heavener?

He said that when he rarely feels the need for something close to get food or a small snack, he usually just eats something he brought with him from home or walks to closest restaurant to Heavener, which is Chipotle.

5. From Alex, I learned that not all Heavener students really know about Rising Roll, or have been there before. I feel that this means that there's probably a huge, potentially untapped market that UF could capitalize on in order to better serve the students in the business school.


7. After speaking with the people I interviewed, I still think that the opportunity is there for a replacement for Rising Roll. The amount of people interviewed was small, but none of my interactions boded well for Rising Roll. The opinions seemed to be neutral to negative, and I feel that a replacement would fare much better. I think, if anything, my opportunity is more accurate than before, because it confirmed many of my suspicions about how Rising Roll performed and was perceived as a company. I think that entrepreneurs should adjust their opportunities after getting customer feedback, to a certain extent. I think that they should be able to recognize when to make necessary changes but also realize that not every criticism is valid and that "sticking to your guns" on an issue can be very important.