Opportunity Belief - Sandy Roads

In rural Florida there are a ton of sandy dirt roads. These roads are often full of pot holes and loose sand that can trap your car. Personally I have had to dig my car out of the sand more than once just trying to drive down the road. The reason that there are so many sandy dirt roads is probably that these roads often don’t have enough traffic to make it worth the state allocating enough money and resources to pave them. What if there was a happy medium between paving a road and leaving it a sandy mess? A specialized mesh could be produced that could be laid down over sandy roads to keep the sand in place. This would provide an affordable solution for people to improve the quality of their roads without breaking the bank. It could be used by the government on county and state levels as well as people who live on sand roads or have sandy driveways and would like to take initiative. This need is probably as old as automobiles. I am sure that they have been getting stuck in sand since they were invented. People do fix this problem in roads by graveling them. However this is still expensive because gravel is heavy and you need a lot of it to cover a whole road. You probably also need a work team with dump trucks and excavators to install it properly. I am approximately 55% sure this opportunity exists.

The prototypical customer would probably be someone who lives on a sandy dirt road or has a sand driveway.

Customer interviews:

Hillary: a resident of a rural county whose office is located on a sandy road.

How do you feel about driving on sand roads?

I don’t like it when it’s dry and they are all washboardy. I would prefer a dirt road. They are awful when they are dry.

Have you ever gotten stuck on a sand road?

No, but almost.

Have you ever lived on a sand road?

Yes.

When are you aware of the inadequacy of sandy roads?

When it’s very dry. I don’t mind it unless it’s dry.

How long have you been effected by these roads?

Probably for about 20 years. Ever since I moved into a rural area.

Here I explained my hypothetical solution to the problem.

When did you first become aware of the need for a solution to this problem? Why?

I would say 20 years ago, and it’s very hard on your car to drive on a washboard road.

How are you currently addressing this need?

I bought a truck.

How satisfied are you with the solution I proposed?

If it works it’s a great solution.

Chris: a resident of a rural county who lives on a sandy road.

How do you feel about driving on sand roads?

Well I live on a sand road and it ain’t the best. There are a lot of potholes and the county said it would fix them but they haven’t.

Have you ever gotten stuck on a sand road?

Yeah. Mostly when I was younger.

Have you ever lived on a sand road?

Yeah for my whole life.

When are you aware of the inadequacy of sandy roads?

Whenever I started driving. Me and my buddies would get stuck doing stupid stuff.

How long have you been effected by these roads?

My whole life probably.

Here I explained my hypothetical solution to the problem

When did you first become aware of the need for a solution to this problem? How are you currently addressing this need?

Well I have filled in the potholes on my road more than once by myself but the just keep coming back.

How satisfied are you with the solution I proposed?

I think it could work pretty well. I’d like to see it tested out first.

Kalliope: a resident of a rural county who rode the school bus on a lot of dirt roads.

How do you feel about driving on sand roads?

Ummm not great. I usually try to go on paved roads. I don’t have great memories associated with sandy roads because my bus used to whip down dirt roads when I was a kid and they were very bumpy.

Have you ever gotten stuck on a sand road?

No.

Have you ever lived on a sand road?

No.

When are you aware of the inadequacy of sandy roads?

Whenever I am on them.

How long have you been effected by these roads?

All of elementary, middle, and high school so like eight years.

Here I explained my hypothetical solution to the problem.

When did you first become aware of the need for a solution to this problem? Why?

Kind of whenever you told me it could get better.

How are you currently addressing this need?

I am actively avoiding dirt roads.

How satisfied are you with the solution I proposed?

It seems like a good solution. But like would it really eliminate potholes?

Reflection: I think that there still could be a market out there for my opportunity. People’s main concern is that it would actually work as I propose that it would. I would have to do some serious testing. People do seem to be aware of the inconvenience of driving on sandy roads though.

I think that my whole opportunity is still there. I think that I now have some more information about how people would feel about it so I would say that it is more accurate. Entrepreneurs should definitely adjust to customer feedback. However this particular product seems fairly unadaptable. As long as it works than people would be happy with it because potholes and loose sand are really frustrating when you are driving a car.