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College Cleaners

he opportunity that this venture is based on is that college students living in dorms have a problem keeping their room straight and clean. Students have this problem because they lack the time to clean their room since a lot of time they have an issue adjusting to a busy schedule. The other main factor that causes students living in dorms to have this need is that they a lot of times aren’t used to cleaning after themselves. A lot of students grow up with their parents or someone hired to clean their house and their room. For this reason, it is hard for them to keep track of all their belongings when they are compiled in one room.

            This need is required every two weeks and on an occasion of messier students, every week. This statement is based on asking LaZ Dorm, who offers a cleaning service, how often their services are required. After being in contact with the owner, I am well aware and certain this need is required every week to two weeks.

            The forces that change this environment and require students to have this need are that they are changing locations, moving from college to home, and are forced to care for themselves while maintaining a busy schedule. The change from home, where they have their parents to help them take care of themselves and manage their time, to college where people become more independent, creates the gap in students having time management and the independence to clean their own rooms.

            Geographically this need takes place at every college campus where there are large dorms for students. Demographically, this need applies to busy freshman students in college living in dorms, with a lack of ease of taking care and cleaning their own rooms, as well as the disposable income to spend on a cheaper cleaning service. This need also applies to students who have dust allergies, something that I personally know become heightened in the dorm room, causing them to need a cleaning service so that dust doesn’t build up.

            Customers are currently satisfying this need either by cleaning up after themselves or hiring a more expensive alternative like LaZ dorm to clean their rooms. I feel like customers aren’t loyal to LaZ Dorm, allowing it to be easy for me to steal customers away from them when they see that my alternative is as effective and more inexpensive.

            This opportunity is so large because it can be scaled. I have this example specifically for UF, where I go to school. However, this is a need that applies to a good amount of freshman students across the country. This opportunity has a lot of time on it to act because it is a need that I don’t see going away. I don’t see college kids ever being able to manage their time better when they first come to school and also be able to take care of themselves without being affected by the transition from college to home.

            My innovative idea to take down this issue of students that want a cheaper alternative to LaZ Dorm or ones who can’t clean their own space is a service where I pair students with the free time to be cleaners for other students living in dorms. These students that have the need I described would be paired with a cleaner, like Uber pairs a passenger with a driver, and then

           

            That student would be able to have their room cleaned by another. The reason that I feel that this idea is so innovative is that because it is another college student cleaning the dorm room, it can be offered for a cheaper price than say a cleaner who has been in the industry for years. Another reason that this is innovative is because I would pair students in the same dorm. For example, I live in Broward and have the exact need that I described. Another student who has the free time and wants to earn extra money is also living in Broward. This student would then act as that person with the need’s cleaner for the day or the time. This allows me to eliminate transportation costs of students going from one dorm to another and also eliminates the time and hence money of one student leaving their dorm and possibly having to walk all the way across campus to take care of their customer. The reason I would be able to make money from this venture would be to take some money off the top of each clean. The cleaners would keep a large percentage of the cost that the person with the need pays, however, I would take an additional fee for providing the service that was able to pair the customer with the cleaner. This would allow me to make money off of each cleaning, a lot like how Uber makes a cut off of each driver because they do the work of pairing one another.

            This solution solves the problem for college students that don’t have the time to clean their own dorms. It pairs them with a cleaner and is as easy as clicking that they need one on the app that would be provided instead of having to call up a cleaning service and arrange a schedule. The student with the need could even sit in their room relaxing or doing homework while their dorm room is cleaned to help ensure that the cleaning goes on as expected without any issues. The reason that would get students to buy this need is that of how easy it would be to access it as well as the cheaper cost of it since it will be a college student cleaning their dorm. It is my special perspective as a person with the same need as my customer that is able to give me this insight into how the need could be fulfilled and at what demand.