Assignment 4

I believe that there is an unmet need relating to car enthusiasts and utilizing full body car lifts. If you have ever worked on a car, you probably used a simple jack and jack stands. Now, a jack and jack stands are by no means useless, but being able to lift the car higher is much better. More room to work, safer, and easy to operate. The opportunity that I see here is being able to provide access to these lifts to people who cannot afford to take the car to a shop, and who also are fed-up with trying to do important work on their car with a low level jack stand. This opportunity has always been around for as long as people have been car enthusiasts. Most people now are meeting this need by taking their car to a shop that does all the work, or they do they work themselves with lower tech equipment. I am 60% sure that this market exists.

1. Young driver with an older model car.

• How often do you need to work on your older car?
  "Around once every few months, its usually something different each time. It's an older car so stuff is starting to go one by one."
• What equipment do you generally use when working on your car?
  "Simple tools like wrenches and a jack/jack stands"
• Do you have anyone that is able to offer lift services to you?
  "No."
• Would any amount of work have been easier if you could have lifted the car off the ground?
  "Oh yeah for sure, I switched out the muffler and it sucked because I had no room and I was laying on my back."

2. Mid-twenties car enthusiast with a modded sports car.

• How often do you need to work on your car?
  "Its usually not a need, but I'm working on my car almost every weekend."
• What equipment do you generally use when working on your car?
  "I have a 2-ton jack and 4 stands, I use ratchets and wrenches like most people"
• Do you have anyone that is able to provide lift services to you? "If I don't take it to a shop then I usually just lift it on my stands, so no."
  
• Would any amount of work have been easier if you could have lifted the car off the ground?
  "Sometimes, life exhaust work would be easier, but engine work wouldn't be much easier."  

3. Older male with a restoration car sitting in their garage.

• How often do you need to work on your car?
  "Never, its a restoration and not my daily car."
• What equipment do you generally use when working on your car?
  " Full set of automotive tools, car is on stands in the garage, compressor with power tools."
• Do you have anyone that is able to provide lift services to you? "Not currently."
• Would any amount of work have been easier if you could have lifted the car off the ground?
  "Most of the work I can do myself, but transmission mounting might be hard without a lift."

REFLECTION: Customers will probably include people who work on cars themselves, cannot afford their own lifts, but are able to drive their car to and from the business location. People who work on cars agree a lift is easier, but not necessarily something they seek out. I believe my customers would be people who have only one daily car and need to work on it themselves quickly and easily. I believe my main competition would be with local established shops.

SUMMARY: I believe the opportunity is still there, however the demand for it might not be as high as I would like. My opportunity is just as accurate as when I started as my interviews agreed that a lift is easier for certain types of work. I believe that currently this opportunity is met with contempt and not fully realized. My interviews solved the problem with jack and jack stands but have all agreed that a lift would be easier. This could mean that there is a disconnect with what they want and how they get it. I think that as an entrepreneur, you should adapt to the customers needs, while also keeping your core beliefs and ideas firm.