Business Idea

L.Jenkins

I want to set up my own business and run it part time. My financee, if the business is set up will run it full time. The plan is to set up an online site and develop a business around it. The idea is to create an online social and events website, catering to weddings and parties.

How is works, a user will create an account and create an event. Then invite guests by adding them to the event group by email or phone. Invites will then be sent by email and sms. To avoid unwanted guests, only guests can view the event online.

When invited, it will give the guest the option to decline the invite or accept by setting up an account. This account will allow them to create events of their own in the future and view the current event the have been invited too. Other features will include the guests ability to upload photos for the creator of the event or view catalogues the event creator has set up, i.e. Wedding gift ideas, Charities to donate to in lieu of gifts and so on.

I could go into further detail, but I don't want to give too much away. I am wondering if someone would like to invest in the idea or if a Web Developer would like to assist in getting the idea off the ground.

As for site revenue, most it would come from advertising and minimal costs to the creators of events through sells of products sold online through the site for maintenance of the site and running costs. No fees would be incurred for users wanting to set up an account.

PCPhoto

to be honest ...I cant see it taking off - there are already a number of sites which are similar (based around weddings)

how do you intend on including those who are not tech savvy ... or is it a product simply aimed at the 30/40 and younger bracket (I know there are many silver surfers out there but in general people above 50/60 are not computer savvy)

in theory you have a nice idea but I don't think its a viable business ... creating a network based off invite only is good but - its no better than people emailing the people they only want to invite themselves.

you are assuming that people ALL have an online presence and are ALL regularly checking their account/emails - if it wasn't for work and boredom I wouldn't check my emails at all....and I'm early 30's...and getting married next year (many of our guests we dont have email addresses for ...but have postal addresses)

L.Jenkins

PCPhoto wrote: »

...how do you intend on including those who are not tech savvy ... or is it a product simply aimed at the 30/40 and younger bracket (I know there are many silver surfers out there but in general people above 50/60 are not computer savvy)...

...but have postal addresses)

Well there is an idea to consider. For those with email or a mobile, it would be easy to invite them to an event. For those who are not tech savvy, the idea would be to build business around the site and network with other companies. So if 80% of your guests can be invited through email and sms, that leaves 20% who require a written invitation. If the business networks with a company who create invites, a list of people and addresses could be created so a list of written invites could be generated and posted.

Nuttzz

If I setup a private group on facebook and add the people I want to it and then create an event within that group only those people can see it, how does this differ from your proposal?

miju

Just firing this out there but does Facebook not do all of what your intending obviously with a massive userbase too.

Maybe it would be an idea to develop and market this on facebook as an app rather than a fully fledged seperate website?????

L.Jenkins

Nuttzz wrote: »

If I setup a private group on facebook and add the people I want to it and then create an event within that group only those people can see it, how does this differ from your proposal?

It would defer by tailoring different services to the event required. Users upload photo and the even creator may create printed photo albums for the less tech savvy.

Other services provided put forward to guests may include directions to events, accomodation recommendations and associated services, i.e. getting to and from the event.

miju wrote: »

Just firing this out there but does Facebook not do all of what your intending obviously with a massive userbase too.

Maybe it would be an idea to develop and market this on facebook as an app rather than a fully fledged seperate website?????

I suppose that's another idea.

TsuDhoNimh

Itzy wrote: »

It would defer by tailoring different services to the event required. Users upload photo and the even creator may create printed photo albums for the less tech savvy.

Other services provided put forward to guests may include directions to events, accomodation recommendations and associated services, i.e. getting to and from the event.

I'm sure you meant to say 'differ' there, but I think that defer is potentially more appropriate.

I still haven't seen anything offered by the solution that can't be done via Facebook, without the trouble of having to get users to sign up with new accounts, and without any type of real advantage that would encourage a user to switch.

Photos, Facebook does extremely well.
Print albums for the less tech savvy, done it via Facebook albums multiple times.
Directions to events, place the google map location right up there on Facebook and job done.
Accommodation, on Facebook people can have lively chats about the accommodation options with peers they know and trust - no 'recommendation' site can ever compete with that.

There are numerous other speciality wedding sites offering the exact same or at least very similar offerings, so your big problem is going to be trying to stand out. You have to show how your offering is providing a better solution than existing platforms can (i.e. why you're better than Facebook for this) and how you're different/better than the other niche sites offering similar offerings.

Don't get me wrong, there are flaws in most/all of the offerings out there at the moment (e.g. privacy concerns about Facebook), but trying to outdo the existing competition will be extremely difficult and will require near perfect technical execution of the plan (there's a reason that the developers who could do this themselves, a social site themed around weddings isn't exactly an innovative idea, haven't) along with some incredibly targeted marketing (if you're randomly pitching for an investor in a thread like this I'm guessing you haven't even begun to think about what your required marketing budget will be for a project like this) into what is a fairly competitive niche.

L.Jenkins

Instead of running off with my tail between my legs, after having my idea probed for flaws, I thank you for raising points and further considerations. It's given me quite a bit to think about, before proceeding with a business idea.

riveratom

Itzy wrote: »

Instead of running off with my tail between my legs, after having my idea probed for flaws, I thank you for raising points and further considerations. It's given me quite a bit to think about, before proceeding with a business idea.

Hi OP,

As per the above, I would go back to the drawing board and maybe apply your skills and talents to another idea

L.Jenkins

riveratom wrote: »

Hi OP,

As per the above, I would go back to the drawing board and maybe apply your skills and talents to another idea

Your right. I have a degree in Engineering and I'm drawn to online ventures and mobile development. I was considering working on patents, but under my contract with my employer, my patents in effect, become their patents.

TsuDhoNimh

Itzy wrote: »

... but under my contract with my employer, my patents in effect, become their patents.

That's a fairly common contractual agreement. Do take care to keep an eye on any restrictions on participating in a business outside of your current employment, which normally goes hand in hand with patent clauses.

If you're looking specifically at online opportunities, and assuming you're in a position to do something while retaining your current employment, the patent issue shouldn't be a major problem. It's far more likely that you'd be looking at opportunities relevant to IP rights rather than something patentable.

Whatever 'idea' you finally arrive at that you decide to run with, make sure it's the right one for you. Something that you're passionate about and are determined to make a success of it (regardless of what people like me might say to the contrary!). Having that perfect idea means you've the opportunity to do something great, but it really comes down to the execution to decide whether it'll be a success or not.

The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player or even the best technically, Apple were just the first ones to really nail what users wanted and to market it exceptionally well. Facebook wasn't the first social site, but they managed to hit a mainstream adoption that Bebo or MySpace could never achieve.

Having said all that, when you do find an idea you really believe in... don't be willing to let it go just because everyone you talk to doesn't get excited. To put it in perspective, I'll never forget a day getting a crash course in something like C++ or Java back in college from a guy that mentioned something he was working on which none of us took too seriously. I'd say "A site to give info on places to rent? Yeah, that'd be handy alright" was probably the most any of us said to Brian that day (though props to Mr. Fallon, pretty sure he dragged a gang of about ten of us through the exam a few days later). A few years later... I'd hate to think how much we undervalued the potential of what has now become daft.ie.