Forming An Opportunity Belief

Forming An Opportunity Belief

1) My beginning point: The Carillon Lakes gym and workout community has the potential to be so much more.

2) My belief:

• What is the unmet need? I believe the people that designed the layout of the Carillon Lakes gym could have made a better use of space/location and could have furnished it with a greater variety of workout equipment. I also think a sense of a workout community is lacking and it would be nice if there were group exercise classes available. I would love to see classes in and outside of the gym, including "yoga on the lawn", walking and running on the paths, as well as more use of the tennis and basketball courts. 
• Who has the need? This effects all of the Carillon Lakes community members.
• Where did the need come from? I think the need has probably existed since the gym first opened. 
• What are people doing to meet this need now? They are using/tolerating the gym for convenience purposes. It's also possible that they have other workout outlets. 
• How sure am I that this opportunity exists? 70%

3) Prototypical customer #1 - Doug, middle-aged male, community member.

4) Link to audio interview with Doug: https://soundcloud.com/user-752844123/doug
Doug uses the Carillon Lakes gym almost everyday. Doug stated that he did not have the problem of the gym being too small or offering insufficient equipment. However, he did say that he did not like the location of the gym because it is next to the pool and sometimes little kids sneak into the gym and goof around and get hurt on the equipment. He said he doesn't feel like it's his job to tell the kids what to do or to discipline them so he feels like there's not much he can do. This can be traced back to my belief that the people that designed the gym could have made a better use of space/location within the clubhouse. They could have put it on the other side of the clubhouse, away from the pool area.

5) What I learned from speaking with Doug is that perhaps the middle-aged to older community members find the gym itself sufficient for their needs, they just don't like the location by the kids.

3) Prototypical customer #2 - Holly, late twenties female, community member.

4) Link to audio interview with Holly: https://soundcloud.com/user-752844123/holly
Holly uses the Carillon Lakes gym several times a week. Holly stated that she also believed that it would be nice if the gym was a little bigger and it would definitely be great if there was a wider array of workout equipment available. She said she has experienced the problem of limited ellipticals. There are only two and they get taken often. She is indifferent with the location of the gym being next to the pool/kids.

5) What I learned from speaking with Holly is that there is a need for more cardio equipment, especially ellipticals, the "hot commodity" as she said ha.

3) Prototypical customer #3 - Travis, mid-twenties male, community member.

4) Link to audio interview with Travis: https://soundcloud.com/user-752844123/travis
Travis uses the Carillon Lakes gym infrequently, only on occasions where he is bound for time. The gym is mainly just used as a convenience factor for him. The main gym he goes to is Gold's Gym. He said it is worth the extra five miles of distance. It is a much, much larger gym and offers a huge variety of workout equipment, including weight lifting and body building equipment which is his main focus. He said the Carillon Lakes gym would have to offer these features in order for him to switch over. He did say that he actually likes the location of the Carillon Lakes gym next to the pool though because he likes to take a refreshing swim or relax in the hot tub after a hard workout.

5) What I learned from speaking with Travis is that the Carillon Lakes gym it is not sufficient for a younger man because they are typically more into weight lifting, which the community gym does not support that well (only dumbbells and very limited machines).

6) Repeated 3-5 3x above.

7) In summary, after discussion with my three interviewees, I think my original opportunity belief has diminished from 70% to 40%, so almost by half. I concluded this after speaking with Doug. He said that as a middle-aged man, he doesn't need a huge variety of workout equipment. He needs just enough to "maintain." Therefore, the small Carillon Lakes gym is perfect for him. Considering that this 700 home community mostly consists of middle-aged to older people, I would say that the gym is good enough for the majority of the community members.

I think customer feedback is vital and entrepreneurs should definitely adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. Two brains are better than one, brainstorming is a must. It would help prevent wasted time, ideas, effort, and creating something that is unneeded. After all, the customer is always right ;)