FindMe Parking
Business Plan //2o20
BACKGROUND
This project was a requirement for MGMT 115 Lean Startup. Over the course of 10 weeks, teams of five were tasked to come up with a minimum viable product and construct a business plan. The duration of this project took place during COVID-19 and therefore we had limitations on our user research. The UI/UX case study can be found here.
MARKET
Our problem deals with two market segments: the users of the app and UC Irvine who will pay to implement our parking system on campus. These two markets are involved with the same problems that deal with the frustrations of parking at UC Irvine with a slight difference in what the product solves for each segment. For the users, it is to decrease the difficulties that come with parking on campus through limiting stress, saving time, and overall making it simpler to find parking. For the customers (University), it is to help solve the problem regarding the dissatisfaction with campus parking, reducing emissions, and increasing campus safety.
PRODUCT
FindMe Parking installs a parking sensor system in parking lots that illuminate green to allow drivers to easily locate vacant parking. These sensors connect to our FindMe Parking app that allows users to locate vacant spaces in real-time right on their phone. The app also allows users to purchase hourly parking permits and get directions to campus parking. FindMe Parking offers convenience and reliability to our users, reducing the amount of time spent parking. Implementing our system would strengthen UCI’s reputation as a sustainable and innovative campus.
BUSINESS NETWORK
Establishing a good business network is essential to FindMe Parking, as our business requires a parking sensors supplier, electrician and construction workers, UI/UX designers, and a software engineer. We plan to cooperate with Yujin Internet Technology, Sica construction, and Perfect Patch DryWall to obtain our supplies and installation workers. We will use our student resources at UCI to recruit interns for our app and marketing plan.
COMPETITORS
As a parking app, FindMe Parking has quite a few competitors such as SMART PARKING, ParkMobile, and PayByPhone. Our main difference is that our app has detailed maps of each parking lot and indicates parking spaces by level. Our group consists of current students on campus, giving us an advantage since we all are knowledgeable about UCI’s parking situation and have connections to the university.
OPERATIONS
We forecasted that the operating costs for one year is $523,197. The majority of the funds will be allocated to establish our physical parking sensor indication system. The rest of the funds will be used to develop our app and to cover marketing and maintenance costs. Ultimately, the final cost depends on how many parking lots UC Irvine would like to have the systems implemented.
IMPLEMENTATION
Currently, we have an established business network and are waiting for our parking sensors to be shipped. The user interface of our app is designed and we are in the process of developing the back-end of our app. Once we set up a contract with UC Irvine, we will be ready to immediately begin implementing our parking sensor systems. By the time the shelter-in-place order ends and campus resumes normally, our marketing campaigns and parking systems will be ready to launch.