Interviews:
I interviewed Debbie who has been in a wheelchair
for years, I interviewed my Uncle whose best friend from church is confined to
a wheelchair and I interviewed my friend Ashley (she was uncomfortable during
interview but managed to pull through for me) whose cousin is in a wheelchair
and she’s of the younger generation so it was great to get her input as well.
Summary:
Need Awareness: From these interviews in
particular traveling and airports are the times and situation when their need
becomes the most salient. They have time
constraints and need to be at places at specific times and they might not get
these times far in advanced, so they need a place where they can order it on
the spot and it be ready that day and not have to plan so far in advanced. Debbie mentioned that even bus stops,
specifically park and rides, would be a great place to have access to this.
Many of them have always known this need has existed because they have
experience traveling at a very young age and nothing was every easy, quick or
cheap for them. Their families have also
fully supported that this has been a need that needed to be solved more
effectively years ago.
Information Search: The very first thing
that most of them do is google, and they find the competitors out there that
are not near airports and just spread out sporadically around states. They will
try and see if they will deliver to them.
Some of them mention yellow cab taxi service and I brought up the law
that was just passed in New York which they believe voices their need that much
more. Uber does not accommodate wheelchairs with a button it is something you
have to call about and only 1 interviewee had used that before. Many of their
needs are specific to what their disability requires whether that be a lift or
hand controls, etc. Their friends and family have always been the ones they
call as a last resort to come pick them up from the airport so they have first
handed seen the inconvenience aspect of it.
Conclusion:
Traveling is where this need is the most prevalent. The idea of putting this company at Orlando
International Airport they think is so convenient and helps end having to plan
so far in advance. While they all believe this is a need, they do not think it
is a need in every city, specifically small towns. Cities they specifically mentioned were
Orlando, D.C., Philadelphia and Austin.
Jayme,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea to start, especially for this market and their unmeet needs. I personally do not know anyone is a wheelchair or have much experience with it, so I did not know that this need existed, but with the information you have provided it definitely makes sense to evolve the idea into a business. I think it makes perfect sense to make a rent-a-wheelchair van company, but do you think you could add extension lines to existing rental companies, such as Enterprise, Avis, Budget, ect..?
It seems that potential customers are definitely aware of the need, and upset with the current options for transportation. When it comes to Information search if google is the primary method of research, your business should have no problem getting its foot off the ground as long as you brand wheelchair accommodations as your "thing".
ReplyDeleteHaving traveled with someone that is impaired, I can vouch firsthand for its necessity. It becomes a big deal for everyone, as a lot of the time, a lot of other processes must stop while the person is being accommodated. It is a frustrating process for everyone involved and one that could certainly be improved upon. I believe that there are many locations that are perfect for this and your idea could take off.
ReplyDeleteJayme,
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an awesome idea. I don’t currently know of anyone who is in a wheel chair, but one of my cousins was in a motorcycle accident about 6 months ago and was confined to a wheel chair for several months afterwards. I think that it definitely puts wheel chair bound people and the people they are traveling with at a disadvantage to not be able to rent a car because of their disability or current situation.
I don't have any personal experience with wheel chairs or anybody confined to one, but I do know my grandma was recently told she is not allowed to drive anymore. She probably drove more than most of the family going into town to visit her friends or to run errands. Now, anytime she needs to travel somewhere, my dad or aunt has to take off of work. I'm sure my family members would love to have a transportation system designed for the elderly and disabled.
ReplyDeleteI think you chose great people to interview. They all have experience dealing with life in a wheelchair and were able to give you their first-hand persepctive on this issue. I think that you should try to find some reasearch about the number of disabled/handicapped people who travel in airports. This could help you figure out where the need for this type of tranportation is, as well as what type of numbers you're dealing with. It might be a bigger/smaller number than you think.
ReplyDelete