Executive Summary
Business Goals: to capitalize on a decentralized parking system, to introduce secure payments, to increase business transparency, and to establish a digital renting environment for all consumers.
Management Plan: to identify contingencies, to win support from the city administration, to allocate responsibilities among essential employees.
Market Research: there are two popular applications (Parkgene and Parkaide) that offer blockchain-based parking assistance. The proposal utilizes non-fungible tokens as the key source of competitive advantage.
Marketing Plan: the buyer persona for the current proposal is a male or a female car driver aged from 18 to 40. New customers will be found on social media, via referrals, and with the support of social media influencers and native advertising.
Operational Plan: sales (set monetary milestones), marketing (attract people to the product), research and development (investigate the market), operations (connect with more stakeholders), people (motivate locals to engage in testing), financial and administration (scale the business and continue improving the blockchain system).
Action Plan: to generate a decentralized platform for blockchain-based parking lots in order to avoid the issue of the application being disconnected; to implement real-time navigation to provide car users with relevant evidence regarding available parking spots nearby; to investigate the blockchain network to introduce new transactions based on non-fungible tokens.
Bottom Line: the approximate budget for the proposal is around $200.000. The majority of financial resources are required to cover employees’ efforts and advertising.
Business Plan
Finding a parking spot is one of the hardest tasks that have to be completed by local citizens and visitors across busy metropolitan cities. In addition to the time required to help a person find the best parking spot, they have to waste fuel to park their car and avoid tickets. With approximately 20 hours per annum spent by an average driver to find a parking spot, it can be safe to say that the issue has to be resolved as soon as possible (Yang et al., 2017). In addition, there are plenty of overpayments caused by unreasonably high prices for parking spaces that turn into an approximate income of $20 billion. The scarcity of parking places and their high cost could be the two intertwined reasons contributing to an increased number of road traffic accidents (Dzulkurnain et al., 2019). The inability to find a parking spot quickly could also lead to massive traffic jams. From the existing evidence, it is also clear that most governments cannot resolve that problem by simply creating new parking lots and augmenting the number of parking spots across metropolitan areas.
Business Goals
The primary business goal of the current proposal is to promote the value of decentralized parking and introduce blockchain as one of the most efficient instruments intended to contribute to a transparent network. Blockchain could become a crucial contributor to car parking improvements, as there are virtually no limits to how it could be applied to the process of developing a car parking platform (see Figure 1). Blockchain-based data storage would contribute to a real-time connection between respective sensors across parking facilities and the application developed to support blockchain parking. With the help of the Internet of Things, developers would have the opportunity to generate additional value by reading the data from the GPS signal and offering the optimal routes to the respective parking spots. With additional insights regarding the traffic situations, drivers using the system would have access to alternative routes. Blockchain technology would be the backbone of the project that ensures data credibility during the journey. Hong Kong does not invest too much resources in blockchain and cryptocurrency on a nationwide level, so it is reasonable to make the first move and attain the business goal of deploying decentralized, blockchain-based parking.
Another business goal that is pursued by the author is to introduce secure payments and monetize parking lots in the most efficient ways. The growing influence of digital wallets keeps affecting different businesses, so it is important to reckon with digital currencies and accept crypto payments (Howell et al., 2020). For example, smart contracts could aid consumers in reserving a parking spot in advance while giving the facility administration a chance to run a preliminary check on the driver’s identity. This way, the facility would be required to confirm the payment only in the case the customer adheres to all the guidelines and does not represent a threat. As for the process of monetization, the author expects to expand the existing automotive solutions by providing consumers with access to a complex blockchain platform. At the same time, it would not be an application informing drivers of free parking spots but rather a distributed marketplace operating in real-time to bring together car users and parking providers. The fast pace of technology development could be the main reason why blockchain became the focus of this proposal.
One more business goal that has to be attained is an elevated level of transparency that would make drivers keener on investing in blockchain-based parking lots. For example, if the reservation price is transparent, it will be easier for facilities to motivate car users to visit them and leave cars in a safer place. The existing unfair parking prices would soon become an obsolete element of the past. The use of the Internet of Things could contribute in a significant manner as well. With enough autonomy, the application could pick the right parking spot in line with consumer preferences and then calculate all the required costs in real-time. Additional filters would be added to the system to have the customer pick the location of the parking lot, the position of the parking spot, and so on. Another variable of transparency that may aid as a business goal for the current project is parking servicing. For example, a system of real-time reviews could give consumers an opportunity to find the best parking lot in accordance with their needs.
The ultimate goal of the proposed business would be to ensure that consumers always have access to the functionality of acquiring parking spots through digital renting. For instance, garage owners could significantly benefit from blockchain technology while renting their property to other people on a regular basis. A whole marketplace for garage rent could be developed over time, helping consumers to take temporary ownership of a garage by paying for it in cryptocurrency. Such transactions could be accompanied by a series of services powered by the Internet of Things, such as sensors and cameras contributing to continuous monitoring of the availability of garages and the latest updates. Similar functionality could be applied to blockchain-based parking lots to impose data-driven parking tickets and help the Hong Kong government regulate traffic and parking behaviors. The opportunity to minimize traffic complications should be recognized as a unique advantage that could become a reality with the help of the current proposal. All required calculations would be completed automatically, leaving no room for human error or any other external conditions.
The overall business goal is to achieve a generally positive outcome through the interface of an application that would utilize the blockchain to help drivers avoid traffic jams and find parking spots quicker. Not only would this rationalize the existing road traffic, but it would also limit the amount of carbon emissions and contribute to a cleaner environment. Even though the need to rely on blockchain and cryptocurrency seems to be a dangerous trade-off, the number of advantages of the proposed solution makes it worth additional investments. The novelty of a blockchain-based decentralized parking functioning on the basis of non-fungible tokens brings numerous opportunities to Hong Kong. To realize the full potential of the proposal, the team responsible for the development and deployment of the application will have to conduct in-depth research to establish the target population and appeal to those individuals on a long-term scale. The following sections of the proposal are going to dwell on how the team expects to manage the budget, the operations, and the marketing efforts to achieve each of the objectives mentioned above.
Management Plan
It is expected to launch the product within the next two years, with the most effort aimed at the development of the application and establishment of links between parking facilities and blockchain technologies. Even though there are no specific constraints in terms of monetary budget and human resources, this proposal is not expected to go over $250.000 in investments. There are going to be certain sums of money spent on relevant equipment since associated parking lots would have to connect to the application carefully. The overall performance of the project is going to be evaluated upon the first three months after the release in order to see the weaker suits of the application and outline a decent scaling strategy as well.
An essential step when working on the management plan for the proposal is to identify all the possible dependencies between the elements of the startup. Therefore, the first thing to do at this point would be to inspect the proposal and evaluate the potential impact of similar startups or cryptocurrency volatility on the outcomes of the project. Hence, strict deadlines have to be established to ensure that the final version of the application will be released within the next two years, with at least ten parking lots being ready to implement a blockchain-based management element. Other companies working with blockchain do not represent a direct threat because they do not work in the same way as the application proposed within the framework of the current paper. Also, unnecessary delays are going to be evaded through the interface of real-time access to all the relevant data, emphasizing the role of the Internet of Things.
Speaking of project stakeholders, the primary go-to option is the city’s administration because the mayor’s approval could significantly facilitate the process of deploying the application. Up to five local sponsors are going to be picked in order to maintain a lucrative financial background for the proposal and ensure that the application gets adequate support from executives. A campaign on Kickstarter could become a viable option for the team to gain a decent following and access a stable funding source that can cover the majority of the team’s needs related to developing and deploying the initiative.
In terms of allocating responsibilities among team members, the management should be rather careful, as the structure has to be as simplistic as possible. In the case of scaling the project, the number of team members would grow significantly. There are six positions that have to be covered when working on the proposal: project manager, UI/UX designer, iOS developer, Android developer, backend developer, and quality assurance engineer. Therefore, each stage of the software development life cycle resonates with a specific member of the team.
There are going to be five essential milestones intended to mark the team’s progress:
- Developing the application – at this point, the team is going to work solely on the software side of the project. The logical model will be developed and supported by every member of the team;
- Reaching an agreement with the city administration – this milestone is crucial because the team has to acquire the approval of the key source of authority in the city. It is going to be easier to attract other stakeholders when mentioning that the mayor’s office supports the initiative;
- Finding test parking lots – this milestone eventually stems from the previous one, as facility administrators are going to be much more welcoming in terms of their attitude knowing that the mayor’s office supports the idea. The need to communicate with parking lot executives would also make it easier for the team to evaluate the future of the current proposal;
- Implementing blockchain-based parking in real-life – after ensuring that the city’s administration and facility owners recognize the benefits of blockchain-based parking, the team will deploy the application in order to test its functionality. Throughout this particular stage, the team would remove all the inconsistencies and errors from the application in order to attain the highest level of quality;
- Evaluating the overall efficiency of the application – when the application is launched, the team will be required to record all kinds of feedback from the end-users and also read test logs in order to improve the functionality.
Market Research and Analysis
One of the most popular parking solutions that were identified by the researcher is titled Parkgene. It uses cryptocurrency to build connections between end-users and parking spot owners. Therefore, the owner remains responsible for setting up the parking lot to remain in line with blockchain technology (Parkgene, n.d.). Another application is titled Parkaide, and it is aimed to assist drivers in finding parking spaces and booking them with no ticketing. Therefore, the driver can choose the most convenient option in terms of the car park and then pay using the token method to rent the parking space for the allocated time (Parkaide, n.d.). The available parking slots are presented in the form of augmented reality so as to make it easier for individuals to find their space. Compared to these two applications, the proposed one is slightly different because it offers an opportunity to create non-fungible tokens and assign them to each parking lot in order to maintain uniqueness. Every token will then be transferred to the owner’s crypto wallet.
The biggest advantage of the new method is that it allows for governmental involvement and reduces the burden that is usually placed on landowners when it comes to setting up parking spaces. There are no applications similar to Parkgene and Parkaide currently running in Hong Kong. Hence, the existing project could become a breakthrough opportunity to utilize some of the recent technologies to make the lives of drivers easier by letting them access information on available parking spots.
Marketing Plan
The buyer persona for the current proposal is a male or a female aged from 18 to 40, with no particular titles or occupations. As a general car user, the buyer persona would be expected to have the opportunity to find parking spots quickly as their primary goal. The core personal challenge for older consumers would be to familiarize themselves with blockchain and cryptocurrency. The triggering event that has to be expected to bring consumers together is the lack of parking spots and a total absence of information on where free parking slots could be found. There are no direct competitors affecting the startup, as blockchain-based parking facilities only represent a local phenomenon at the moment. The gap that the company expects to fill is the use of non-fungible tokens in an attempt to validate the uniqueness of every parking spot. With adequate pricing and constantly renewed offerings, the developers are going to create a positive tendency among end-users and provide them with multiple opportunities to benefit from the chance to find a parking spot quicker than before.
The approximate budget for the proposed project can be found in Table 2, where all the essential costs are presented. Even though the top expected spendings surpass $200.000, the author expects the initiative to become exceptionally popular among local car users. The willingness to protect drivers from additional expenditures caused by fuel waste represents the biggest advantage promoted by the proposal. At the same time, the team should be ready to engage in paid promotions and ensure that educational events are hosted to popularize cryptocurrency and explain the role of blockchain to the general population. The company does not expect to outsource any costs, as all the tasks are going to be completed locally, even application development.
There are three marketing strategies that the team believes are going to play an important role in the process of promoting the proposal and creating room for the development of the application:
- Engage potential consumers via social media. The messages communicated by the team have to be disseminated through the interface of as many channels as possible. It means that the team could catch the end-users’ attention by making posts on Facebook while also uploading videos to YouTube and communicating with followers on Twitter. The opportunity to target an extended population could significantly benefit the team, as there are potential consumers to be found in Telegram and Discord or on Reddit. An active stance on the usefulness of cryptocurrency would help popularize the proposal as well.
- Incorporate an easy-to-use referral program. The current marketing plan should include a referral program in order to have more people communicate the idea behind blockchain-based parking. Therefore, the message is going to spread much faster and attract an incredible number of individuals looking to take part in crypto discussions and experience the real-life use of blockchain. Even the simplest referral program would attract additional affiliates and extend the client base quickly and effectively. The increasing number of local individuals engaged in the program would make it easier for the author of the proposal to appeal to the city administration. Individuals would educate themselves on cryptocurrency in order to set up a decent source of passive income. The same would also work for Hong Kong citizens from rural areas.
- Offer social media influencers to take part in the marketing campaign. Not only do the majority of younger influencers have a decent knowledge of crypto topics, but they could also contribute to effective product endorsement. After using the application, influencers would form a communication channel to expand their own reach and attract new followers to their social media profiles and the problem of an insufficient number of parking spots. In a way, social media influencers could highlight the niche of blockchain-based parking lots and make it interesting for potential consumers to join the movement.
Operational Plan
In Table 1, all the vital details of the operational plan are presented in order to showcase the primary actions that will have to be implemented by the team to achieve success.
Table 1. Operational plan initiatives.
Financial Plan
The financial plan for the next two years can be found in Table 2 below. All the costs related to marketing, salaries, payroll taxes, rent or lease payments, and shipping procedures are listed below.
Table 2. The cost of a blockchain-based parking startup
Action Plan
There are three specific instances of action that should be included in the action plan revolving around the development and deployment of a blockchain-based parking lot. The first element is the generation of a decentralized platform in order to store all the data related to the parking process. Conventional smart parking facilities quickly became prone to discrepancies in the cloud that could also lead to single-point failures (Mishra et al., 2019). Therefore, the app would quickly lose its access to the network and provide car drivers with no assistance related to finding a vacant spot. The digitalized ledger created by the use of blockchain is intended to remove the majority of obsolete issues by overcoming server errors and remaining connected to the application at all times. Hence, parking spaces would be monetized, and the government authorities would recognize the new method of managing parking facilities. Hong Kong currently experiences a significant boost in the number of vehicles surfing the public roads. It makes sense for the government to side with the current proposal in order to slow down the negative influence of traffic congestion on the community and the environment.
The next step would be to implement real-time navigation on the basis of the Internet of Things and install sensors that would be allocated among all eligible parking facilities. The blockchain network would read the latest updates from every sensor and then transfer that information to the server so as to signal about vacant parking spots in real-time. Therefore, end-users are going to have to spend less time searching for a place to leave their car. In addition to this, the most suitable routes toward the parking spots are going to be offered by the application in order to help the consumer avoid heavy traffic and impassable road congestions. Consistent with Ferreira et al. (2018), such alternatives are important because they enable the best in blockchain technology and contribute to a smooth commuting experience. Reasonable improvements are going to be introduced to the local transportation network, as the traffic and the search time will improve over time. Individuals from different regions of Hong Kong would have an opportunity to rely on an application that could offer them adequate assistance for a reasonably small fee.
The final action intended to help the developers is the inclusion of new methods of the transaction into the application. Owing to the inherent decentralization included in the blockchain framework, end-users, and facility administrators are going to sign smart contracts with unique tokens intended to make parking reservations much simpler in the future. According to Hu et al. (2019), the decision to utilize an end-user’s smartphone as a sole identifier could become one way to generate information about parking spots and then verify every transaction. The common reservation would turn into a smart contract, with the parking space only being assigned to the registered motorist on the basis of the given token. In order to achieve this, the team is going to connect all transactions to a blockchain network and monetize parking lots. The Hong Kong government could also gain a bit more control over the quality of the blockchain-based parking application when partnering with the developers to enhance public parking facilities as well.
Bottom Line
The fact that the local road network in Hong Kong becomes more and more congested eventually raises the demand for free parking spaces. Therefore, the current proposal is expected to help the local administration in terms of overcoming the transportation conundrum. With the help of blockchain technology, the author of the current proposal expects to introduce a systematic change that is going to make the whole transportation network work smarter. The majority of current parking demands have to be reviewed in order to lower carbon emissions resulting from a huge fuel waste caused by an increased search time. Therefore, the proposal aims to generate enhanced mobility while making the best use of decentralized technology. The new digital platform would make it easier for the city administration to cope with the distress and create a better version of the existing transportation network.
References
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