Testing my business idea

[Rohan Mitchell]

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking about starting a business, and I wanted to bounce the idea off a few people to see if it's something that people actually need.

I'm planning on starting a personal services business making custom web site extensions for people running online micro businesses. A custom extension might be anything from a custom contact form to a small web application. My USP is that I'm a qualified software engineer, which means that whatever my customers have in their head, I can make happen (within reason). Because I have the skills, I'd rather do challenging custom projects rather than common, simple ones, so I'd like to avoid common cookie-cutter tasks like setting up photo galleries, installing wordpress and plugins and so on.

Is there a demand for this type of work? If so, do you have any idea of the types of projects that I would find myself doing most often? I have a fairly good idea of my skills, but not as much understanding of what I can do with them to help people.

Thanks!
Rohan

[peppie]

Some time ago after looking around at the type businesses that people were able to make work, I decided for one thing that there are two basic concepts. One is the kind of business that others were already doing and the other was something totally unique.

To succeed in the former you just simply needed to do what you do better than everyone else and in a manner that set you above the competition. In the later you are in new territory and you basically start everything from scratch, but the advantage of that is that you don't have any competition!

I would say are looking at the later and you will need to do a lot of your own research. My suggestion is that you start to identify a need and a market that you can supply. Don't be tempted to just say "this is what I do best so I will try and sell that". As you dig you may find that the need is not quite what you thought it would be. Once you have that you are half way there. The rest is just leg work and trial and error.

I understand what you are talking about in regard to web work, I am starting to look at the way multimedia as we use to know it is being and may be able to be delivered in the next generation, and a lot of it is unknown territory.

[Adam Randall]

You are also competing against the likes of Google etc.

If you can research a set of extensions or gadgets that people are after and then offer them for sale on line then it could be worth while.

Integrating backend databases with a live website, that could be interesting.

We use the following power gadgets to monitor our business through a bolt on application and it has the capability of displaying near live data to a website (eg: help desk tickets in the queue etc)

You will also find that many micro businesses will be unwilling to sink the sort of money into a project that will make it worthwhile for you.

You need to find an extension that will appeal to a large group of businesses, write it, test it and then market it at a price that makes it within reach of your market, something like a 2 way MYOB to online shop connector, now you could make some money with something like that.

[ray_223]

I think you'd need to align yourself with some technologies and become expert in particular areas.
I'd even suggest some of the popular open source CMS's or shopping carts.
Be an expert to call on when the all of the beginners get stuck.
My personal favourite is Drupal (http://drupal.org).
There is a huge market using this technology already and growing at a massive rate!

edit:
Part of the reason to align yourself with a technology is so you can market your self as an "xyz" expert. e.g. Call Rohan the 'Drupal' Expert.

[MissieK]

That is definately the sort of thing I would be interested in! I'm looking at creating a basic site myself, but have no idea about forms, etc. I don't want to use an off the shelf option because they don't always do what I want. So, there could be a market there...

Melissa

[Adam Randall]

Originally Posted by MissieK

I don't want to use an off the shelf option because they don't always do what I want. So, there could be a market there...
Melissa

I have done an enormous amount of research on what constitutes a good web form and I came to one conclusion, make it as simple as possible!

[Susan Oakes]

To help you assess your business idea think in terms of what problem am I solving for micro businesses. If they do not have a problem or real need to solve then it will be a hard sell. As Adam says you are competing against Google and there are many offering extensions for free.

Only by doing research as Ray mentioned will you be able to assess the business potential. Also this will lead to to working out your real differentiation and the business benefit from a customer's perspective.

One area you may want to consider is partnering up with web designers or targetting them as customers. This may be an easier way to get started and do your reserach at the same time.

Good luck.

[Adam Randall]

Originally Posted by Rohan Mitchell

Because I have the skills, I'd rather do challenging custom projects rather than common, simple ones, so I'd like to avoid common cookie-cutter tasks like setting up photo galleries, installing wordpress and plugins and so on.

Im sure there is a great quote about how exciting it is when you are standing at the base of a huge mountain, on the precipice of a great journey!!
Try and predict how you might feel half way up the mountain.

I spend my days trying to avoid challenging custom projects

As a business owner, I dont want challenging, I want mundane, everyone happy, let the cheques roll in thankyou!

Of course these pesky challenges get in the way of this goal.

I am no business adviser however make sure you plan for when the passion runs out, otherwise you are just renting a job.

I am sure I will ruffle some feathers here but your overiding goal is to make money and the ultimate goal is for you to be able to make money without actually being present.

Since running my own business, I often walk into my local shops and stand in awe at the people running them as I subconsciously tally up all the outgoings while counting customers, total staff and then wondering how the hell they make money!!!

[KarenC]

Rohan, whatever you do, do it because you love it.

I don't agree that the overriding goal is to make money without being there - yes, that can be part of it. But for creatives, the pleasure is in completing something good and doing something unique for a client. I believe that there must be a balance - you must use your talent/s in order to be fulfilled, but also find a way to make extra passive income as well. (eg publishing a book, music, training cd, investments etc) I know many older people who are so sad that they didn't do anything with the talents they were given because of war, or employment challenges or other circumstances. And the biblical parable of the talents says that 'if you don't use your talent/s wisely, you will lose them'.

Our children said to us that they were inspired to work in careers that they were happy in and felt worthwhile because their parents were so happy in what they did - no matter how hard the challenge. We feel fulfilled and we are happy. What is the measure of happiness? It certainly isn't the biggest bank account. I have known a number of people who died with large bank accounts and hated their careers.

Enjoy your life and do something that makes you feel worthwhile - be wise about what you do and get good advice, but enjoy your career as well. Being happy in your job is exactly what Robert Gerrish encourages us to do with "love your work!"

[Lisa Murray - Biz Coach]

Hey Rohan, great idea to test first! So many people fail because there is no market for their idea.

As a business coach, I see a lot of micro business owners - I think you can split them into two camps - those whose websites are absolutely a core part of their business offering (ie primarily an online business) and those who use a website (or should!!) but are looking for the easiest / cheapest solution possible. For the second group, a CMS will generally deliver 99% of what they need. I think your market is the first group - the challenge is finding enough clients with the cash given that most micro businesses are not high turnover. Also, you'll be competing with elance, rentacoder etc which can be very cheap.

Have you thought of running a survey and asking people what is the one thing they wish they could do with their website but can't?

Good luck!