4A - Opportunity

The Opportunity of Paying at the Pump

1. Derived from the bug list for my second assignment, the implementation of gas pumps that take cash could be a potential opportunity. 

2. The nuisance of having to enter the gas station and wait in line to pay for gas is one that could be eliminated with machines that could take money and give back change. Paying with a credit or debit card as an alternative is the only other way customers can buy gas in an efficient manner currently. The unmet need of an efficient fuel up for a vehicle, when using cash, is something that could benefit every driver needed to pay with cash and has no need to enter the convenience store. This need has always existed because all gas pumps only take various cards. Even in the past, gas stations utilized attendants, which is not viable profit-wise for most gas stations today. In order to meet this need currently, people using cash walk in to the store to pay at the register. I would say that this opportunity has a 95% chance of existing, however the chance that it is utilized fully would be much lower depending on security issues.

3. The prototypical customer for this opportunity is anyone who owns a car and does not exclusively use credit and debit cards in all situations. For this assignment, I am interviewing Robert Marks, Sherrill Goll, and Wade Parker. 

4. Questions + Three Interviews

1. What is the exact nature of the need?
2. When do they become aware of the need -- that is, do they experience their need all the time or only sometimes? 
3. How long have they had the need? 
4. When did they first become aware of their need? Why? 
5. How are they currently addressing their need? How satisfied are they with this solution?
6. Do you see any foreseeable problems with changing the pump to allow for cash purchases?

Robert Marks

1. My budget for each month is the rent money I collect for the second bedroom of my condo, therefore most of the money I use is in the form of cash. Every time I need to fill up my truck, which is usually at the Kangaroo next to my condo, I have to wait in line and pay for gas in store. 

2. I am aware of the need every time I need to fill up my vehicle. I also am sometimes aware of the need when I pass my bank and am too lazy to deposit some money on my card to avoid that hassle. 

3. I have the need since the beginning of the college and I used to exclusively use a credit card.

4. The first time I had to fill up my vehicle using cash and the line in the store was really long. I've had times where I spend over five minutes waiting in line just to make a 5 second interaction to pay for gas.

5. Sometimes I make sure to keep money on my debit card for situations like the gas station where its more convenient to have money on a card. Many times I just bite the bullet and enter the store and hope I get in and out somewhat fast. I don't like the current solution to the problem because its a nuisance, but its also not the biggest deal in the world.

6. I think it would be super convenient and if done right wouldn't cause any issues. Persuading the gas station owners to buy or change new equipment would probably be a hard sell for a lot of gas stations though.

Sherrill Goll

1. A faster way to get gas when using cash. I don't use cash all that often but I like to use it when I have it.

2. When im going to get gas and I am aware that I have extra cash in my purse that I would like to get rid of.  

3. It would be a quality of life adjustment that would have impacted me since I first got my license. 

4. The first time I ever went to fill up my car when I was younger. I usually just use spare cash at the grocery store nowadays so I don't have to use it for filling up.

5. I address the need by paying with a card instead of using cash when filling up. I am not satisfied with the solution because it takes up more time out of my already busy day when I want to pay with cash. Most of the time, like I said, I just use my card even if I want to get rid of my cash.

6. I think some people might try to lie about not receiving the right amount of gas for what they put in. Giving it to the employee in the store is much more traceable then not using one. If the company was confident and took a stance regarding that then there would be no problems.

Wade Parker

1. The unmet need is a faster way to get gas. Sometimes you go in to the connected store and you can immediately pay, but sometimes you have to wait in a 10 person line.

2. When I or the person im driving with have to get gas and are using cash instead of card.

3. Since I got my license at 16. I've mostly used cash since then so I deal with paying for gas with cash on a weekly basis.

4. One day after high school, I was rushing home to get football cleats and a snack but I had to stop for gas. There was only one cashier with about a 5 person line but the first person was paying with change. I probably spent over 5-10 minutes waiting in line when I was in a hurry. 

5. I try to fill up when im under a quarter of a tank and the gas station im near looks empty. If I wait too long and I really need gas, then I just have to deal with a potential line at a busy gas station.

6. I think it might be a security issue concerning how much money and change they keep inside each pump. After an hour of gas at a busy station there could be hundreds of dollars in the pump. If they had some safeguards to that then I don't see any other problems.

5. Reflection

    Conducting three separate interviews allowed me to gather a lot of insight concerning this idea. Although its a small sample, these individuals all thought this opportunity could benefit many individuals, however it its not game-changing. It is more of a quality of life upgrade, however I am still satisfied with such an opportunity. The standard questions helped verify that many individuals would definitely use it but the lack of its implementation is also not of high importance because the desired outcome isn't critical for customers. The last question I asked also gave me some unseen insight into some potential problems. I did not take into account the amount of money that would be in each pump if people did decide to utilize it more often. That could definitely be a security issue, however there are also many potential solutions.

6. Summary

I would still say that the opportunity is in full force. There are more obstacles in its viability than I previously accounted for, but the opportunity is still worthy of more research. As long as the security features and costs are manageable, there are no other obstacles present.

With a small sample of research, I believe this opportunity is more accurate as I have more data on its demand and I have learned more about its shortcomings in terms of simplicity. Taking into account the potential security problems, I now have more knowledge concerning the characteristics the solution would have to meet in order to be implemented.

The collaboration of customers and the entrepreneur is very important. A entrepreneur that doesn't take into account the opinions of potential customers are missing out on critical characteristics that consumers are looking for. However, entrepreneurs shouldn't take every suggestion into consideration as they know the specific outcome that they are pursuing. Consumer suggestions are a great way of adding additions or changing small features for the quality of life of the product or service, but not to make the product or service different entirely. If the suggestion is truly amazing and changes the identity of the product/service, then it is up to the entrepreneur to  formulate a vision for that new opportunity if they so choose to.