4A Forming an Opportunity Belief

1. I do believe there is an unmet need/opportunity that exists at Southwest Recreation Center. While there are multiple possible opportunities at Southwest Rec. I want to specifically look at open space to stand in or do free weight exercises. When there are a lot of people in the gym, there is little to no room to actually stand and workout out in. Even when the gym is not packed, I still think the area is not large enough.

2. Going to the gym can be kind of intimidating and uncomfortable, especially if you’re someone who is new to going. This specific need can lead to people feeling more intimated by not having a lot of room to practice exercises they’re unfamiliar with, or even look some up without having to feel like someone’s looking over their shoulder. Even for people that are more comfortable in a gym setting, it’s a little frustrating trying to work out while you’re not only surrounded by people, but constantly having to move out of the way for people trying to walk by. The unmet need is enough open standing space at the gym for people to work out and not feel as though it is overly crowded and like they are standing on top of each other. The people that have this need are not only the gym goers, but the personal trainers and such that work at the gym and might need open space for clients, and even for tours of the gym. I think this need is common issue, but as more students have joined UF, and in increasing popularity of fitness, the need has recently become a more prevalent issue. Currently, I think people are just dealing with little space or just constantly standing around waiting until there is enough room to do their exercise, some of them may even just leave the gym or go workout in the cardio section rather than the weight section. I personally feel as though at least half of the people at the gym would say that this is an issue, so I am pretty certain this opportunity exists. 

3(a).  Prototypical Customer 1: A gym goer at busy hours (6-8pm)

4(a). The first person I interviewed was a girl at the gym during the busy hours, around the same time I go, around 7pm. I started by asking her when she typically goes to the gym, why that time, and how often she goes. She says she tries to go almost everyday, and goes in around 5-7pm because she has classes on the weekdays until 3. I explained her about the need and she said this was something she struggled with. Typically it is only an issue when the gym is busy, however that is the only time she can go to the gym so this is often a problem for her. When I asked when she started noticing this she said it has been an issue since she first starting going to Southwest Rec at this time. She did say that even at the times the gym isn't crowded, she does still wish there was more room. She currently deals with the space issue by either waiting for the area to clear up, typically going and doing other exercises while doing so. Often she does just have to deal with it and workout in a very crowded area. She said it does get a little too crowded and can be distracting and hard to workout, and when that happens she just tries to finish what she's doing quicker and move on. She does wish there was more space because she usually plans her workouts before hand, so when she gets there and it's too crowded to do certain exercises it does kind of throw her off. 

3(b). Prototypical Customer 2: A gym goer at a non-peak hour (9-11 am)

4(b). The second person I spoke to was a guy at the gym earlier in the day around 10 am. I started asking him the same questions, when he usually works out, he said it does depend on the day. Some days he is there in the morning, but he does prefer later workouts but is not always able to do so because he has to work. He said he definitely experiences this need on the days he goes later because the gym is typically much more crowded. During the morning workouts, when there are less people in the weight area he doesn't have an issue at all. When he works out later he says he's usually just waiting for space to open up. A lot of time he just has to get creative or squeeze in somewhere. He did, usually once he found a spot he would try to get most of the exercises he needed to done, staying in that spot for as long as he could, that way he doesn't have to spend time trying to find one again later. He also said this is a common problem he has experienced at a lot of gyms, and for the most part he just avoids coming to the gym at the times he knows it'll be busy. Overall, he isn't very satisfied with that solution because he does prefer to workout later in the day, he just doesn't want to deal with the crowd. He does however see it as much less of an issue than the first girl I spoke too.

3(c). Prototypical Customer 3: A gym personal trainer

4(c).  The last person I interviewed was a personal trainer. She specifically worked early afternoons, so she said she doesn't really experience this issue. A lot of times she is able to train clients in a private area and not have to go out into the weight room. If she does decide to do this, her sessions are always at times where the gym is not too crowded. She did say that if the weight area were to be crowded, and she didn't have access to a private training area she would probably utilize the section in the cardio area. Although she doesn't typically experience this need with her clients, she did say that she does have this issue herself. A lot of times when she decides to workout its around 4pm. While the gym isn't really crowded when she starts, half way through it does get a little busier. Because of this, she just does as much work with weights while it's not busy, and does her cardio when the weight area gets too packed. Ultimately she too just chooses to avoid the gym at busy hours. This however didn't really bother her, and she basically believes a crowded gym is simply a part of working out, and it is bound to happen wherever you go. 

5.  I think the thing that most surprised me after doing these interviews was just how okay people were with this problem. They all agreed it was frustrating to deal with, but the last two were okay with just dealing with it, or just going at a different time. I think the first girl I interviewed had more of an issue with it because she doesn't really have the option to go to the gym earlier, so she is more forced into dealing with it. I also think this situation is a little different for girls, as its typically smaller girls being surround but giant sweaty guys, and it's a lot more uncomfortable for us than it is them. I was also surprised that neither of the first two said they would walk over to the cardio area and use the weights over there. Both of them essentially said the same thing in that they just didn't like working out over there, mostly because there are mirrors and machines that they use throughout their workouts in the weight room area. Two of them did agree that were a lot of other excessive areas/amenities in the gym that they felt could be better utilized as expanding the weight area. One thing everyone did have in common though was the fact that the weight room area is way too small for the amount of students that go to UF.

6. See above

7. I think my opportunity still exists. Everyone I spoke too did agree that the weight room was too small, and I think expanding it would still be beneficial. I will say, a simple solution to the problem is to just go at a different time. However, when that is not an option, the second best is to essentially just deal with the crowd, and I don't believe that is a very satisfying solution to this need. I do however think entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. The customers are essentially what will make an entrepreneurs successful, so I think it is important to base an opportunity around what they want. That being said, I think had I talked to more people I might be viewing my opportunity a little differently. There is such a wide variety of people at the gym, I think if I collected more information from more people (say those who go at different times, who only go 1-2 days a week as compared to 5-6, or even the people that go to use the amenities rather than the weight area) I would not still view my original opportunity as being as present. With the people I interviewed, I do still believe my original opportunity/need is valid