Young entrepreneur

YouProduce

Hi,

Can anyone give me advice on how best to go about finding a business partner in Ireland. I am a young entrepreneur, recent graduate, with no experience in business, but I've had an excellent idea and have invested my savings into a start-up.

I have got great advice from many quarters, Cavan County Enterprise Board, LEADER company, friends, aquaintences, family, etc, but as of yet I've got no usable advice on how to go about finding a business partner to take the business forward in the long-term.

I feel like it is an unwise gamble for me to keep going forward without finding someone with complementary skills to work with & bounce ideas off. I am extremely disappointed with my university & the county enterprise boards that they have made no attempt to set up initiatives for young unempoyed graduates to network and develop new innovative ideas, services & businesses.

It seems my social network, which is relatively peopled & amazing in other ways, is of little use in this regard, as very few of them, if any, are real risk-takers. I am fairly shrewd, I think, about a lot of things, but this has just stumped me. 9/10 times a small start-up needs a team of 2 or 3 people that can't fulfill different tasks in the business. I just need one, either a decent programmer or someone that understands the concept and is willing to invest the same capital that I'm putting in.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

bigneacy

I'm not being smart, but why can't you just do it? You're saying you're upset that the Univerity etc. won't help.... Why do you need somebody to hold your hand?

I know you need money, but what I get from your post isn't that... Its "why won't somebody help me/do it for me"

YouProduce

Sorry, I'm not sure how you got that from my post, I must be awful at explaining myself... or else you are being smart.

I am doing it myself! It would be unwise for me not to simultaneously search for a business partner. I am learning as much as I can, I've been working on this project for atleast 6 months, gaining experience and developing my understand of business. I started from scratch, I did Maths & Philosophy in college and have no business experience to speak of. But I come from a family with an ingrained entrepreneurial spirit & I know I have the temperment and intelligence to make this work.

I had planned to do it all myself and outsource any technical elements, but I am beginning to realise that to optimise my chances of success I need someone with skills that can compliment my own.

I have contacts in the industry the business is in and my feedback is very positive, so I think I have one half of the business well under control.

Thats it, I don't need anyone to hold my hands... you obviously have little or no business sense if you think this is about 'Just doing it or not'!

Wise entrepreneurs take on partners & work in teams. Its like the analogy with your eye-sight. One eye can only see 2-D images. Only with two eyes can a person guage distance and get perspective.

I'd really appreciate some helpful comments please

PCPhoto

YouProduce wrote: »

Sorry, I'm not sure how you got that from my post, I must be awful at explaining myself... or else you are being smart.

I am doing it myself! It would be unwise for me not to simultaneously search for a business partner. I am learning as much as I can, I've been working on this project for atleast 6 months, gaining experience and developing my understand of business. I started from scratch, I did Maths & Philosophy in college and have no business experience to speak of. But I come from a family with an ingrained entrepreneurial spirit & I know I have the temperment and intelligence to make this work.

I had planned to do it all myself and outsource any technical elements, but I am beginning to realise that to optimise my chances of success I need someone with skills that can compliment my own.

I have contacts in the industry the business is in and my feedback is very positive, so I think I have one half of the business well under control.

Thats it, I don't need anyone to hold my hands, but if you obviously have little or no business sense if you think this is about "Just doing it or not!"

Wise entrepreneurs take on partners & work in teams. Its like the analogy with your eye-sight. One eye can only see 2-D images. Only with two eyes can a person guage distance and get perspective.

I'd really appreciate some helpful comments please

its all me me me.... me me !!

do you know what you are looking for ... money ? experience ? business contacts ? ...or all of the above ?

if its business contacts you are looking for you need to get out there and make connections ...why are your "ingrained entrepreneurial spirit" family not able to help ?

if your idea/business is to succeed you need to organise yourself and put yourself completely into the company - self promote, and advertise .... theres no point having a business if no-one knows you exist !!

you say you are working on the project for 6 months - can you tell us anything else about the project - why isn't it up and running? ...what do you need to get done to make it up and running ?

your post sounds like ...you just want to whine ...I this ...I that..... I cant do anything because people wont help me - how can people help you if they dont know the problem !! - if you are looking for a developer...put an advert up for a developer - if you want a manager ...put an advert up for a manager.... if you are stuck with a problem - ask the relevant section of Boards or other forums and hopefully someone will be able to help.

Worst case ...bring your "project" to Dragons Den - try get them to invest.

freeze4real

having a partner is a great idea.
i want to set up my own business and I've started looking for contacts.

I'm in first year in college and and that was were i found my answer.

most of my friends are smart we work well as a team.

why don't you try your college mates.

YouProduce

PCPhoto wrote: »

its all me me me.... me me !!

do you know what you are looking for ... money ? experience ? business contacts ? ...or all of the above ?

if its business contacts you are looking for you need to get out there and make connections ...why are your "ingrained entrepreneurial spirit" family not able to help ?

if your idea/business is to succeed you need to organise yourself and put yourself completely into the company - self promote, and advertise .... theres no point having a business if no-one knows you exist !!

you say you are working on the project for 6 months - can you tell us anything else about the project - why isn't it up and running? ...what do you need to get done to make it up and running ?

your post sounds like ...you just want to whine ...I this ...I that..... I cant do anything because people wont help me - how can people help you if they dont know the problem !! - if you are looking for a developer...put an advert up for a developer - if you want a manager ...put an advert up for a manager.... if you are stuck with a problem - ask the relevant section of Boards or other forums and hopefully someone will be able to help.

Worst case ...bring your "project" to Dragons Den - try get them to invest.

Thanks for the comment. I didn't mean to whine. The "project" is a website. I've paid a friend to build it. I've put ads out. SEO is far more complex than it seems and I have no programming skills.

http://www.youproduce.ie

I hope I didn't sound whiny, but in fairness, that "me... me... me" comment is completely uncalled for and I did explain what I was looking for if you happened to read the post. Not money, I don't need the Dragons, I may need experience, but I am really hoping to find a young unemployed programmer that likes the concept and thinks its a runner.

The "project" (where did the inverted commas come from anyway, are you insinuating that its fictional) is under construction now. I was reluctant to commit my savings to a business that I wasn't completely confident could provide revenue. 6 months isn't long for a start-up anyway, so I'm not sure why you ask?

I just am not in the right circles to come in contact with prospective business-partners at the moment thats it, not whining.

YouProduce

@freeze4real

Thanks, I'm glad you're finding college to be a good environment for business contacts. I did Arts, and wasn't really around the most entrepeneurial atmosophere. I have plenty of engineering mates, but they tend to be bread for employment and have little appetite for risky endeavours. Most of them (all bar 1) have emigrated for jobs rather than stay and make their own, and the one who stayed is a successful musician.

I'm envious of you actually, I wish I knew that this was where I was headed when I was in first year in college, its the freedom of unemployment that has brought me back to my own nature & made me realise what I'm built for. What are you studying? Is the college at all nurturing of your enthusiasm for business?

glic71rods46t0

YouProduce wrote: »

The "project" (where did the inverted commas come from anyway, are you insinuating that its fictional) is under construction now. I was reluctant to commit my savings to a business that I wasn't completely confident could provide revenue. 6 months isn't long for a start-up anyway, so I'm not sure why you ask?

I think your comment above (the bold bit) is the real issue here. You are reluctant to commit unless you think it will make money.
Having looked at your site (under construction) - you dont have a business, you have an idea.
I dont see a revenue stream in it that would sustain the work and effort of 2 people.
I agree with previous poster, it sounds like you want someone else to make it all happen - being an entrepreneur is all about making it happen yourself.
If you are waiting for someone else to come on board to "make it happen" then it never will and you should move on with your life and just look for a job from someone who already is "making it happen"

YouProduce

I think your comment above (the bold bit) is the real issue here. You are reluctant to commit unless you think it will make money.
Having looked at your site (under construction) - you dont have a business, you have an idea.
I dont see a revenue stream in it that would sustain the work and effort of 2 people.
I agree with previous poster, it sounds like you want someone else to make it all happen - being an entrepreneur is all about making it happen yourself.
If you are waiting for someone else to come on board to "make it happen" then it never will and you should move on with your life and just look for a job from someone who already is "making it happen"

Point taken, but I will say that I'm commited - financially, mentally & emotionally - & I wish it didn't sound as though I was looking for someone to "make it happen", because thats ridiculus.

I don't know how many of the posters here have started businesses or have just seen too many episodes of Dragons Den, but going it alone successfully is a rare thing, especially in your first venture. I happen to be doing that and learning as much as I can along the way. I am prepared to fail but determined to succeed & by looking for a business partner I am improving my odds.

And to be honest, I haven't actually asked anyone whether I should look for a business partner, I was merely looking for advice on how best to go about it.

It doesn't surprise me that haven't got a proper response, since there probably is no "best way" and finding the right person just dumb look -mostly.

freeze4real

YouProduce wrote: »

@freeze4real

Thanks, I'm glad you're finding college to be a good environment for business contacts. I did Arts, and wasn't really around the most entrepeneurial atmosophere. I have plenty of engineering mates, but they tend to be bread for employment and have little appetite for risky endeavours. Most of them (all bar 1) have emigrated for jobs rather than stay and make their own, and the one who stayed is a successful musician.

I'm envious of you actually, I wish I knew that this was where I was headed when I was in first year in college, its the freedom of unemployment that has brought me back to my own nature & made me realise what I'm built for. What are you studying? Is the college at all nurturing of your enthusiasm for business?

I'm studying finance and economics at maynoooth. I've made friends that are doing business related courses like venture management which deals with entreprenurialism, product design and management.

What I found out what that we all had the same goal. We wanted to set up our own business and to make it sucessful.

Infact going to college is one if the best ways to make it happen
1. You get more contacts
2. You have the help to professeurs e.g. My business lecturer is of tremendous help to me.

There's a Japanese saying that GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME and setting your own business will. You'll fall but you must get up.

Take the criticism here positively it helps and don't give up.

glic71rods46t0

YouProduce wrote: »

I don't know how many of the posters here have started businesses or have just seen too many episodes of Dragons Den, but going it alone successfully is a rare thing, especially in your first venture.

Well I know one who did -me!
Successful businesses become more than a one (wo)man band but usually start out as one determined entepreneur doing everything. Once the business is launched and a sustainable revenue stream is created - thats when it gets easier and you can afford help or a business partner.
I can assure you of one thing - if I was taking the risk of gambling my blood sweat and tears on a project that is completely unproven I wouldnt do it with someone I dont even know - I would go it alone and be in full control of the project.
I started on my own and took on my first employee after 3 months. I did the painting, IT, cleaning, answering the phone and emptying the bin as well as the selling, marketing, purchasing, accounts - absolutely everything.
It was the best/worst 3 months of my life - it makes you appreciate the input of your staff when you can afford to hire!

friendface

I was pretty surprised at the amount of hostility shown by the first few posters who responded to your query. It's tough enough to try to start up a business on your own without being shot down for looking for a bit of advice on an entrepreneurial forum. You've obviously been pretty pro-active in trying to come up with a business concept and have taken the time to contact your local enterprise board.

The best place to find a partner, in my opinion, is through your college. There are plenty new graduates with all the skills you need who are currently jobless. Perhaps you could get in contact with the relevant department in your college with a proposal detailing your objectives and clearly outlining your prospective company. Say you could get a newly graduated programmer to help develop your website for little cost with the promise of additional payment if/when the site is up and running and you get a revenue stream going.

One thing I think colleges here lack is the facility to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. There is a general lack of support from Irish universities for students who want help to start up their own business be that in the form of new business start-up classes, networking events, funding or whatever.

YouProduce

Ok, thanks Fencer, thats helpful. I have a lot of blood, sweat & tears to shed before I can earn the credibility to talk about finding a partner. Or else improve my pitch and let someone decide whether they want to be involved. This ai't about me, this is about the quality of the product, and its not true to say that it isn't proven. Its proven for other sectors, but this has a novel feel to it.

Thanks for the response anyway, enjoy your holloween:)

glic71rods46t0

YouProduce wrote: »

Ok, thanks Fencer, thats helpful. I have a lot of blood, sweat & tears to shed before I can earn the credibility to talk about finding a partner. Or else improve my pitch and let someone decide whether they want to be involved. This ai't about me, this is about the quality of the product, and its not true to say that it isn't proven. Its proven for other sectors, but this has a novel feel to it.

Thanks for the response anyway, enjoy your holloween:)

Check out www.webactivate.ie - it might just tick the box for you

Hi OP

Heres my take:
First of all, business partners arent all you might think they are. If you can do it yourself, its best to do it yourself.
I started my first business right out of college, and I made lots of mistakes with it, but they were very necessary mistakes which I learned a lot from.

For example I was making so many sales early on, I spent money before it arrived thinking I was going to keep on making all these sales, only to have a technical problem with a supplier which meant I couldnt collect a big chunk of cash.
If you look at most of the property developers in the world in the last 3-4 years, the reason they went bankrupt is because they spent big bank loans on the basis of future sales. Then they have a problem with sales because of the recession, cant pay back the bank, and go bankrupt. Fortunately with property im building at the moment I didn't spend money in 2008 before the recession hit on the basis I would be making lots more sales
My point is I learned this lesson very early because I jumped in head first on my own at a time when I could make those mistakes with no responsibilities. Don't be afraid to do that.

For my first company, one of my best mates was a graphic designer and he did my bus cards, logos, letterheads and website layout. Another friend built my database system for me. Another friend got me all my competitor info. And for the website building I paid a technical guy for it.
In return for your friends doing those things for you you can offer them shares in your business, on the basis that it will become successful and they will make cash in the future.
I wouldnt worry about artsy people, if your pitch is good enough and inspirational enough the mona lisas in their eyes will soon turn to dollar signs.

One point to the negative, is that if your going to expect someone to partner with you and match your funds, thats not going to happen on the basis of what you have there at the moment, and your business model (no revenue for six months). If I were you I would do it yourself. When you come up against a problem, hire someone, get a friend to help you, use google, post it on boards, or ask your own intuition on how to solve it.
It might be a good start for you to rely on yourself; and always channel any negativity into positive energy that will motivate you.

bigneacy

YouProduce wrote: »

I don't know how many of the posters here have started businesses or have just seen too many episodes of Dragons Den, but going it alone successfully is a rare thing, especially in your first venture. I happen to be doing that and learning as much as I can along the way. I am prepared to fail but determined to succeed & by looking for a business partner I am improving my odds.

Its not in the least bit a rare thing. I'm sorry, but you are completely wrong here. Irish people are extraordinarily entrepreneurial and its not uncommon at all. If you think you are special and deserve a break because you went and "did it on your own" you are gonna get a severe reality check in the next few weeks.

Don't get me wrong, I visited your placeholder page. I read the idea. I think its a good one. I think its a service I would use and could list off a dozen other close friends who would also use it.

But, Like many other posters on here I cannot see it providing an income for two people. It might be a better idea for you to contract somebody to do the programming for you, rather than split the equity and profit with somebody else. Unless you have some new and exciting way of generating income from a website that you haven't shared with us?

The bottom line is this - if you feel like you need some help and can't do it, then its just that - you probably can't

YouProduce wrote: »

Thats it, I don't need anyone to hold my hands... you obviously have little or no business sense if you think this is about 'Just doing it or not'!

I have plenty of business experience, knowledge and sense. And to be totally honest, after all is said and done, it is about 'just doing it or not'.

Stop taking the criticism so personally. Me and the other posters took the time to respond to try to help you see the flaws in your line of thought, to help you.

YouProduce

Hi Bigneacy,

Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally, & I appreciate your response. I am doing most of what you said. I am "just doing it". I am contracting an excellent programmer to get it built for a good price. I am promoting it as much as I can and getting literature done up to distribute at farmers markets/trade fairs etc. I am going to promote it to food & craft organisations & networks. I am doing it on my own.

If you can't see a revenue in it then grand, I didn't really ask that. This business has a technical side that I can't handle. So I either need to get funds together to outsource that work, or get someone with complimentary skills to buy in.

Just to re-iterate, I'm not looking for capital investment from a partner.

fergalr

YouProduce wrote: »

Hi Bigneacy,

Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally, & I appreciate your response. I am doing most of what you said. I am "just doing it". I am contracting an excellent programmer to get it built for a good price. I am promoting it as much as I can and getting literature done up to distribute at farmers markets/trade fairs etc. I am going to promote it to food & craft organisations & networks. I am doing it on my own.

If you can't see a revenue in it then grand, I didn't really ask that. This business has a technical side that I can't handle. So I either need to get funds together to outsource that work, or get someone with complimentary skills to buy in.

Just to re-iterate, I'm not looking for capital investment from a partner.

Look, I'm just going to give some advice here, and not sugar coat it.

Enterprise is great, so fair play to you for trying to do something.

I'm a techie, I did CS in college. I'm currently back in college doing advanced study, but ran a software contracting company for a couple of years in the interim.

What I have to say to you is this:
You are building a technical product - a software product.
Be very careful entering this space if you don't understand the technology.
You'll have a lot of competition from businesses where the founders are software people.
You'll find it very hard to tell whether your contract programmer is doing good work or not.
You'll find it very hard to estimate how long or how much adding a feature is going to take, understand the relative prioritisation of features, understand issues such as scalability, etc.

Your idea isn't worth anything, on its own.
That doesn't mean it isn't a good idea.
But be aware that just looking at your placeholder website, I reckon I know exactly what you are trying to do, and I personally could execute on the technical side of that to first public beta, in under a month. If I wasn't busy with my current stuff.
Getting traction, and people to use it afterwards is harder.

Go look at 'the social network' movie, and think carefully about whether you want to enter a technical business without understanding the technical side of things.

What have you done for six months?
If you did a maths/philosophy degree in college, and you were good at the maths, and you are bright, you might well be able to learn enough programming, over the next six months, to build such a site well enough to get users and revenue.

Then you'd have something for someone to buy in to.

YouProduce wrote: »

or get someone with complimentary skills to buy in.

I'm not interested, because I'm busy with advanced study.
But if I was interested in something like this, what value would there be to me to 'buy in' to what you have, and share equity, rather than just set up a competitor?


I'm not trying to be mean here. I'm impressed by your enterprising spirit and determination, which is why I'm taking the time to ask you some hard questions and fair warnings - but these are things you should think about.

glic71rods46t0

YouProduce wrote: »

Hi Bigneacy,

Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally, & I appreciate your response. I am doing most of what you said. I am "just doing it". I am contracting an excellent programmer to get it built for a good price. I am promoting it as much as I can and getting literature done up to distribute at farmers markets/trade fairs etc. I am going to promote it to food & craft organisations & networks. I am doing it on my own.

If you can't see a revenue in it then grand, I didn't really ask that. This business has a technical side that I can't handle. So I either need to get funds together to outsource that work, or get someone with complimentary skills to buy in.

Just to re-iterate, I'm not looking for capital investment from a partner.

The bold bits above seem to be contradictory. Have you contracted a programmer or are you still looking for someone to buy in?

YouProduce

8jzoiry4wvm5hq wrote: »

The bold bits above seem to be contradictory. Have you contracted a programmer or are you still looking for someone to buy in?

I am paying a friend to build the site. As a long-term project the site will need continual development

Thank you for your comment Fergal, definitely legitimite criticism.

YouProduce

YouProduce wrote: »

Hi Bigneacy,

Don't worry, I'm not taking it personally, & I appreciate your response. I am doing most of what you said. I am "just doing it". I am contracting an excellent programmer to get it built for a good price. I am promoting it as much as I can and getting literature done up to distribute at farmers markets/trade fairs etc. I am going to promote it to food & craft organisations & networks. I am doing it on my own.

If you can't see a revenue in it then grand, I didn't really ask that. This business has a technical side that I can't handle. So I either need to get funds together to outsource that work, or get someone with complimentary skills to buy in.

Just to re-iterate, I'm not looking for capital investment from a partner.

Whats the technical side you cant handle?

YouProduce

Deleted User wrote: »

Whats the technical side you cant handle?

I was unaware of how complex & dynamic SEO had become. I had believed that there were a few tricks the you do repetitively and consistantly and that would be manageable. Its still manageable, I just need to educate myself.

I am not a programmer, that stuff will have to be outsourced or someone will have to come and manage it.

As of now I have an excellent programmer. The gap between my level of understanding and that of those I will need to contract until I can afford to employ someone has come up as a problem already. I was hitting my head against a wall over the slow progress last summer, but now I feel I've sorted the problem because the lad that is building the site will stay on as a consultant when I need to develop the site, as long as he stays in the country. Its far from an ideal solution, but it will do for the present.

fergalr

YouProduce wrote: »

I was unaware of how complex & dynamic SEO had become. I had believed that there were a few tricks the you do repetitively and consistantly and that would be manageable. Its still manageable, I just need to educate myself.

Actually, if you did maths in college, you might be more equipped to do SEO than a programmer, or even a SEO consultant, might be.

Did you study markov processes at all? Random walks?
Pagerank is like the stationary probabilities of a random walker visiting a page as it randomly walks the graph of hyperlinks in the web. (theres a few tweaks, such as teleportation and a damping factor) but if you've done maths you should be able to pick up the general principles very quick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

Read up on that, and on other aspects of SEO such as keywords; getting linked from sites with certain keywords; and you'll probably have a better conceptual model for whats going on in search engine ranking than most people do.
Obviously, thats the theory, you'll have to learn about the practice too.


I wouldn't say SEO is a major concern though at this stage?
You probably just need to build a business with some people using it, and the SEO will mostly come about organically as you get users?

YouProduce wrote: »

I am not a programmer, that stuff will have to be outsourced or someone will have to come and manage it.

As of now I have an excellent programmer.

Make sure you do - it can be very hard to tell if you aren't a programmer yourself - bear that in mind; try develop objective metrics yourself for what way you think things should be going - try learn about the technology as you go too.

You know, there are people (matt mullenweg springs to mind) who have learned to program as they have built their web businesses.
If you are in this for the long hall, I'd advise to learn at least a bit about the technology.

YouProduce wrote: »

The gap between my level of understanding and that of those I will need to contract until I can afford to employ someone has come up as a problem already. I was hitting my head against a wall over the slow progress last summer, but now I feel I've sorted the problem because the lad that is building the site will stay on as a consultant when I need to develop the site, as long as he stays in the country. Its far from an ideal solution, but it will do for the present.

Chet Zar

Hey OP,

Just a couple of comments for you. First of all, I think what you have come up with is a good idea - but it really will all be about the execution - how you approach this, who you get on board and how fast you can move with it. As for revenue, generally people are very resistant to moving from a free model to a paid/subscription model unless there is a very clear advantage in doing so - so you will need to give that one some thought.

I think that the backlash you had at the start of the thread was something you should expect to be fair. What you've got here are people who you wouldn't really catch going 'I am so disappointed by the lack of support for young entrepreneurs, etc' - even if it is valid and warranted, they would be the ones out there making it happen regardless - using connections, getting feedback, bringing in bits and pieces of expertise from the vast range of contacts that they have (that everyone has). You'd find them more likely to be setting up the networks you are talking about as opposed to complaining about the lack of them on a forum. That's not a criticism of you by the way - just putting some context around it I guess.

Next, I am a bit bemused as regards the strong focus on programmers/programming skills/websites, etc - but I do know where it's coming from I think. You have come up with an idea - but see the technical challenge at hand (you don't have the skills to start creating a website), but you also - and perhaps more pressingly - don't see a way forward to executing on the idea and are looking for a mentor/partner in the form of a technical person to come in to help and to propel the idea. What I would say is - forget about the site and the technical side. If you need a website built, you can get one built. They get built every day. What doesn't get built every day is a promising, sound business - or even a sound business plan.

-Have you done market research on the idea?
-Have you spoken to food producers, crafts people, farmers markets, farmers, etc etc?
-Have you discussed the idea with lots of different people and got their respective takes?
-Have you thought about how the groups of people mentioned above might interact and derive benefit from youproduce.ie? (this leads on to how you might make money from the site).

So what I would say is forget SEO, forget programming and coding - you're not there yet. Not much point in building a fancy website and having a tech person on board if you don't have a business model (no matter how tentative) or haven't done your market research.

Also, there is a great saying that comes back to me now, and one which I hold on to - 'if it's to be, it's up to me'. It's a good one to keep in mind whenever you start looking outside yourself for why things aren't happening. In keeping with that theme, another brilliant one is from a boardie on here called 'Gloomtastic' - 'do it, review it, change it'!

In other words - just do it, get stuck in, and you'll soon see your strengths and abilities come to the fore. Then you'll be attracting like-minded people who can help you out. In your case - move fast. Your idea is out there.

There might be hope for you in the consultancy business yet Chetzar by the way feel free to quote me for the SEO on sansonanddunne.com website. pm me and ill explain what I need.

OP I would take that advice and work with it.

Get your basic website live, then get yourself out to all of these producers and tell them you are going to put them up on your site for free. Tell them its going to be a 6 month or a year long process before they start seeing business out of it, but they will eventually.

Once you have a critical mass of suppliers maybe thats the time to start moving on SEO and other marketing to get people to your website. No point really getting people there until you have the suppliers online

Really from what you have said up to now, you don't need a partner or any help. Just pay someone to do the SEO once your ready to do it...and believe in yourself

skelliser

think this site has beaten ya to it or at least is quite similar
www.localmarkets.ie

skelliser

skelliser wrote: »

think this site has beaten ya to it or at least is quite similar
www.localmarkets.ie

Yeah its only new and just serving the cork market. Has the right idea though, but I reckon OP can present it a bit better.
I question the wisdom in having the first seller you see on the homepage of a "buy local" type business in ireland being a woman selling jamaican bad boy banana ketchup!!!

YouProduce

Hi Chet Zar,

Yeah, I understand that people here would be supportive of young entrepeneurs. I was still surprised that people were thinking that I was whining. That grated on me because I am a fairly pro-active guy. I'm not "looking outside" myself, and things are happening. I guess you just have to be careful how you word things on forums, they're easily misinterpreted without visual cues & whatnot.

I've been doing market research for months & have talked to many producers. I've been making a lot of mistakes also, but thats life. Generally speaking the feedback is very positive. I have a business model. Its changed a number of times over the past few months and I'm sure it will go through further evolutions. But I know what service I am trying to provide, I've recognised a problem for producers & I'm trying to solve it. So I believe I know where the revenue is.

Thanks El Rifle, thats pretty close to my action plan over the next few months. I might have to end up paying someone to do SEO, but I wouldn't like to. If I can convince someone why this will be the next Donedeal.ie then that would be optimal.

Thanks Skelliser, I've seen them before, there is also www.goodfoodireland.ie & www.webuynearby.co.uk, and I've seen many more. There is a crucial difference between what they're doing and what I'm doing, but I shouldn't go into it too deeply.

hobochris

Hi YouProduce,

I am a software developer (a programmer with a few more skills under my belt),given my skill set I am often pitched Idea's for ventures to join, so I have to be selective in what I do and don't take on.

However, If you wish you can pm me a pitch for your idea, If Its something That I feel is viable,we can discuss it further.