Parking App Business Plan

This assignment requires you to conduct a SWOT analysis for a hypothetical parking app business. You need to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with this type of venture within the context of the growing mobile technology market. Consider factors like user experience, pricing strategies, competition from existing parking apps and traditional parking methods, and the potential impact of smart city initiatives.

Contents
Contents
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................3
Innovative Business Idea Description Summary..................................................................................3
The problem............................................................................................................................................3
The Solution.............................................................................................................................................4
Market Assessment.................................................................................................................................4
The Opportunity..................................................................................................................................4
Lean Canvas.............................................................................................................................................4
Agile Plan.................................................................................................................................................5
Competition Analysis...............................................................................................................................6
Competitive Advantage...........................................................................................................................6
The Model...............................................................................................................................................7
Revenue Generation............................................................................................................................7
Leveragability......................................................................................................................................7
Scalability.............................................................................................................................................7
Target Customer..................................................................................................................................7
Marketing and Sales Strategy..................................................................................................................8
Financial Analysis.....................................................................................................................................8
Appendix.................................................................................................................................................8
SWOT Analysis.....................................................................................................................................8
Lean Canvas.........................................................................................................................................9
Agile Plan...........................................................................................................................................11
Technopreneurship Matrix Spreadsheet...........................................................................................11
REFERENCES-.........................................................................................................................................11

Future of Car Parking
Executive Summary
Every day, millions of people drive around parking lots trying to find a spot for their cars. The
global number of cars on the will nearly double by 2040, according to a report released on
Monday by research house Bernstein (Smith, 2016). Even in the modern day where artificial
intelligence is widespread and the unimaginable is real, people struggle and sweat over parking
spots in extreme weathers. This is where ‘Parking Lot’ a mobile phone app comes in to renders
the ability to find parking spots and end the hassles of the modern man. An era of fumbling for
spare change and driving in circles in search for a parking space may be coming to a close
(Friedman, 2015).
While Mercedes, BMW and the likes have come up with self driving cars which can parking
themselves in the tiniest of spaces, the availability of empty parking spots remains a struggle for
many. It is a problem to which the modern man has not been able to find a solution. Either that is
the case or no one has bothered enough to think of it as a problem that needs a solution.
The automotive trade journal Ward's Auto had estimated that the total crossed 1 billion vehicles
sometime during 2010 (Voelcker, 2014). With the growing number of cars each day, parking is a
persistent problem especially when it comes to public places like mall, stadiums and shopping
complexes. A growing number of vehicles even though have made transportation very quick and
easy, have also created problems of their own.
Innovative Business Idea Description Summary
The idea is to create a smart phone app ‘Parking Lot’ that can send parking layouts to users from
nearby buildings and notify user of available parking spots. Users can select an available spot
and the rest shall be done by the car itself. Availability of parking spaces shall be updated in real
time through infrastructure to vehicle communication using 5G technology.

The Problem
According to a report from Ward's Auto released last week, the global number of cars exceeded
1.015 billion in 2010, jumping from 980 million the year before (Tencer, 2011). One 2011 IBM
study found that 30 percent of a city's traffic is attributable to people hunting for parking -- with
a third of New York City drivers reporting they search for 20 minutes on average (Johnson,
2014). A large number of people spend increasingly large amount of time looking for a parking
spot for their vehicles everyone time they have a trip to the mall or an amusement park or any
other place packed with loads of people. Figuring out where to park, especially in a big city, can
make you feel like you're in a zany Dr. Seuss story (Freeman, 2012). However, in recent times
technology is being utilized in ways never thought of before. While looking for parking spots in
over-crowded places is a huge problem, technology can come to the rescue and solve this
problem accordingly.
The Solution
In the modern day world, almost every single person owns a smart phone. This smart phone can
very well be utilized for solving the problem of parking. With the advent of 5G technology, the
future of parking cars will see a definite change. The solution is to create an app enabled with
GPS that shall notify the user of any close by parking areas as well as any available empty
parking spots. The amount of time and effort that can be saved through this is by far enormous.
Market Assessment
The Opportunity
Even though the modern day world is dynamic and fast changing, there are still a lot of areas
where a definite improvement can be seen. Humans have been using GPS enabled Google Maps
to go from one place to another. However, they haven't taken a step ahead and utilized their
technology to look for parking spots. The app called "Parking Lot" shall do this and more.
Imagine being able to park your car just by tapping an available spot on the screen of your smart
phone. One does not have to drive around in a parking space, go up or down if there isn't a spot
available and waste their time and effort. One can instead use an app to select a parking spot and
the car shall go park itself.
The SWOT analysis, made up of an assessment of strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities
and threats from competition, provides an outline for strategic decision-making (Colbert, 2013).

The main advantage of conducting a SWOT analysis is that it has little or no cost (Anonymous,
Benefits and limitations of SWOT analysis, 2017). A SWOT analysis, when carried out
correctly, gives a company useful insights into its competitive position (Hill, 2013). Below
mentioned is a SWOT Analysis of 'Parking Lot' comes.
Refer Table 1 in Appendix.
Lean Canvas
The Lean Canvas, proposed by Ash Maurya in his book Running Lean, is a business model
hypothesis testing and validation tool (Chitea, 2011). For the aspiring entrepreneur, working on a
Business Plan is a lot less exciting than working on growing the business itself (Kunitzky, 2015).
Lean Canvas is a tool utilized mainly by startups or small upcoming businesses in order to layout
their business and its various aspects. It is not as complicated as a lengthy exaggerated business
plan but a short and concise table which lists down the various aspects of the business. These are
as follows-
 Problem- Addressing an existing problem which a large number of people may be facing.
 Solution- What solution can the business provide is what falls under this category.
 Unique Value Proposition- In a nutshell, value proposition is a clear statement that
explains how your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situation
(relevancy), delivers specific benefits (quantified value), tells the ideal customer why
they should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation) (Reeve,
2017).
 Unfair Advantage- This may be defined as the USP or the Unique Selling point of a
business or a start up. This is basically a feature which is unique to a particular business
which other competitors in the market do not have or cannot copy easily.
 Key Metrics- The metrics should include the range of services or products you like to
provide (Sydeek, 2017).
 Customer Segments- This category talks about the target customer and his various
characteristics.

 Cost Structure- this lists down the various things money shall be initially spent on in
order to run the start-up.
 Revenue streams- How will the business generate revenue streams is what is addressed
under this category.
For the lean canvas of ‘Parking Lot’, refer Table 2.0 in Appendix.
Agile Plan
An agile plan may be defined as a schedule determining what aspects of a particular process an
individual or a team shall be able to complete by a set amount of time. It consists of planning and
assigning deadlines to various activities that need to be done in order to achieve a desired goal.
In its simplest form, agile planning is nothing more than measuring the speed a team can turn
user stories into working, production-ready software and then using that to figure out when
they’ll be done (Rasmusson, 2013).
For "Parking Lot" the Agile plan is mentioned below.
The overall timeline shall be fine from October 2018 and finish in November 2021. In the first
segment of the timeline, the program for the overlap between parking spaces and parking layout
needs to be written. The maximum time assigned for this activity is till the end of 2018. In the
second phase, testing of signals from infrastructure to vehicles shall be done. This shall take
place from beginning of 2019 to August 2020. Thus shall include making any changes to the app
upon checking signals and also includes time for redoing any other activities that may have been
changed or affected as a result of the extensive tests carried out. The next phase shall begin in
October 2020. This shall include testing the app for two way communication. This phase shall
end in October 2021. The last phase shall begin in November 2021 and will include tests on self-
drive cars. By the end of the year 2021, the app should be sufficiently improvised and ready to be
used by the people.

Refer Image 1.0 for Agile Plan of ‘Parking Lot’ app.
Competition Analysis
At present, more and more automobile companies are coming up with cars with self-driving
feature. On the other hand, more and more apps on the play store are enabling drivers to look for
parking spots. The competitive advantage that "Parking Lot" has is an amalgamation of the two.
In short, it can be described as infrastructure to vehicle communication. The likes of Mercedes,
Ford, Audi, BMW and Toyota have been rolling out cars enabled with self parking feature for
quite a while now. However, the driver still needs to be able to find an empty parking spot. This
is where 'Parking Lot' comes in. With the use of 5G technology and sensors reading incoming
and outgoing cars in a building (any building), a user shall be able to access real time
information about the availability of an empty parking spot. All he has to do after that is select
the empty spot and drop off the car at the lobby. A person car just skip several steps and go
about doing his actual work and save a ton of time, without having to actually go to the parking
lot, spend a lot of time looking for parking spots, actually park the car and remember where he
parked the car,
Competitive Advantage
There are self-driving cars and there are apps for finding parking lots. "Parking Lot" combines
the two because even if one has a self parking car, one also needs an empty parking spot for his
car to be able to park itself. The unfair advantage of this app enables user to cut back on time
wasted in looking for empty spaces and going through the hassle of parking one's car. Drivers
can even park at unused parking slots of hotels, hospitals, stores, pubs, schools, public parking
spaces from the app to save time (Anonymous, 2017).
The Model
Revenue Generation
As is the case with most apps, revenue generation is basically from two things. The first is the in-
app purchases that a user may buy in order to be able to utilize certain paid features which one
does not get free of cost. The second of revenue generation is through advertisements that are
displayed within the apps. As 'Parking Lot' has a very large target customer base, a number of
people all across the globe shall be downloading and using the app for their daily use. Therefore,
revenue should be stable and continuous.

Leveragability
A large portion of the urban population owns cars. More and more people find it extremely
annoying and exhausting to find a parking spot due to the increasing amount of traffic and
vehicles on the road. While there are self driven cars available in the market, one still needs a
parking spot to park his or her car. The app 'Parking Lot' is an overlap between finding an empty
parking spot and the car parking itself, leaving the driven without the hassle of going through the
tiresome process, draining his energy especially in extremely hot or cold weathers when one just
wants to get inside a building. The product is leverageable as it renders the user with the ability
to choose from available parking spots, tap and select the space and be done with it in less than a
minute. It saves time, effort and resources. It is smooth, easy and the user does not have to fret
his mind over getting to work on time.
Scalability
Most people own cars in all parts of the world. The product is scalable because the users are
present world-wide, making it easier for the product to reach out to the target customer in the
global market. Also, with the help of technology, apps are utilized by people sitting in every
corner of the world. Whether it is a single town or a whole country or continent, people always
need a solution to a problem and 'Parking Lot' is a solution to one of the biggest problems of the
modern day human.
Target Customer
Target customer for 'Parking Lot' shall be any person owning a car, looking for a better easier
and simpler way to find a parking spot and park his or her car. The person should be of legal
driving age which differs from country to country. Therefore, it is safe to say that the target
customer is any person above the age of 18 years and owning or driving a car.
Marketing and Sales Strategy
Marketing is all about making your brand (and your products) more visible to a wider audience
(DeMers, 2016). Marketing a product the right way is as important is developing and selling it.
Without the right marketing strategies, a product may not be able to reach its target audience and
will lead to the eventual failure of the business. Below mentioned is the marketing mix for the
‘Parking Lot’ mobile phone application. Marketing is simplistically defined as ‘putting the right
product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time’ (Martin, 2014).

The product is a smart phone app which shall enable users to find an empty parking spot in
nearby buildings. This will help the user to save time and park his or her vehicle without actually
looking for an empty spot manually or waiting for others to move their vehicles to avail a spot.
The app itself is free. However, there shall be several in-app purchases that a user can make use
of by paying a small amount of money. As the product is a smart phone application it shall be
available on the internet and the play store. This means that people from all over the world shall
be able to make use of the product, provided they have an internet connection and depending
upon the availability of the app in their country. Promotion of the app includes marketing of the
product in order to make more and more people aware of it. Marketing of apps is generally done
through the internet. Dara Fontein from Hootsuite uses seven prime examples to show readers
exactly how to excel in the modern social media landscape (Gains, 2016). Utilizing social media
platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter is a great idea as a large number of
people already have an online presence. Displaying advertisements on websites that have a large
amount of traffic is another option. Television commercials are also a great marketing tool to
reach the target audience.
Financial Analysis
Financial analysis enables investors to determine a company’s financial strength and
performance (Jun, 2013). There's a clear need for increased visibility to drastically improve sales
(Adams, 2014). As the main revenue generation through the app shall be from sponsored
advertisements, the income will be largely dependent on the number of people downloading and
using the app. The more reach the app has, the more number of brands shall be willing to partner
and display their adds within the app.
Appendix
Table 1.0
SWOT Analysis
Strengths-
The product makes use of current technology
The user can saves a lot of time
The user can also save a lot of effort
The product is easy to use and hassle free.
Weaknesses-
The app hasn't been tested a lot
Therefore there is no feedback from users
And so there shall be a lot of trial and error
initially.

The use of the app also enables the user to save
fuel. Therefore, resulting in saving resources.
The app is Easy to operate, user friendly
Opportunities-
The app can become leading app for all users
world-wide.
The app has large scope of improvement once
rolled out and users give feedback.
Threats-
There are several competitors in market
Using an app while driving is not the best thing
to do. Therefore, app shall need to have a voice
enabled feature so user can keep eyes on the
road.
Table 2.0
Lean Canvas
PROBLEM
People have a
tough time looking
for parking spaces
and a lot of time
and effort is wasted
everyday for the
same.
SOLUTION
Parking Lot, an app
that can send
parking layouts to
users from nearby
buildings and notify
user of available
parking spots. Users
can select an
available spot and
the rest shall be
done by the car
itself.
UNIQUE VALUE
PROPOSITION
Users can now
completely do away
with driving around in
parking spaces,
looking for empty
spots to park their
cars. Instead they can
access the layout of a
building's parking lot,
select a suitable and
available parking spot
and drop their car off
at the lobby. They do
not need to drive the
car and park it
UNFAIR
ADVANTAGE
There are self-driving
cars and there are
apps for finding
parking lots. "Parking
Lot" combines the
two because even if
one has a self
parking car, one also
needs an empty
parking spot for his
car to be able to park
itself. The unfair
advantage of this
app enables user to
cut back on time
CUSTOMER
SEGMENTS
All people who are
of legal age to drive
a car fall under the
category of target
customer. They can
make use of the app
(product) with the
use of their smart
phone.

themselves as the car
will do all of that by
itself. The user shall
be able to save his
time and utilize it in
other things.
wasted in looking for
empty spaces and
going through the
hassle of parking
one's car.
KEY METRICS
The product is the
app which a user
can download in
their smart phone
through the play
store. The app shall
be free to use.
CHANNELS
List your path to
customers (inbound
and outbound)
COST STRUCTURE
Cost structure shall include cost for developing the app.
It shall also include cost for marketing the app so more
and more people can know about it.
REVENUE STREAMS
Revenue streams shall include money from in-app
purchases as well as sponsored ads playing within the
app.
Image 1.0
Agile Plan

Table 3.0
Technopreneurship Matrix Spreadsheet
Carl Max John Candice
Creating app
prototype
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Getting Investors ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Working on App
development
✔ ✔ ✘
Testing App in real
time
✘ ✔ ✔ ✘
Marketing App ✔ ✘ ✘ ✔
Releasing app on
App Store
✘ ✘ ✔ ✔
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