Supporting local businesses

Schwarzenegger

Hello,
I will try and keep this simple.
We are all witness [some of us victim] to local/family run businesses being deeply effected by the large, multinational [and not Irish I may add!] department stores taking over and leaving no market share for the local, small business.

I have an idea which I think can change this and make people buy goods//services from businesses located closer to them instead of some British company [not racist just saying!].

I would need some help with IT development and a few other things here and there. Where could I go about finding funding for this ? [please do not say banks!]

I genuinely think my idea could work and be beneficial to local towns and cities. Obviously I won't write down my idea here but I would talk to the right person.

Thought/opinions ?

Had to repost due to wrong location!

Thank you for reading

jimmii

Go to your local enterprise office if its something really good they may be able to recommended somewhere for funding.

delahuntv

If its retail area, then talk to Retail Excellence Ireland. They are always looking for ideas / concepts.

ISME is another group you could talk to.

jimmii

If in Dublin talk to BID too they might want to get involved.

Schwarzenegger

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into them.
I am based in Cork however not Dublin

Buttercake

Is it grouping the local business into a single website and the public can purchase products through the site?

Schwarzenegger

Not exactly but it wouldn't be a million miles away in some ways

IrishExpat

Schwarzenegger wrote: »

Not exactly but it wouldn't be a million miles away in some ways

Ideas ideas ideas ... not to be harsh and this is not a personal attack, but they're dime a dozen.

Look, I understand they're is an element of fear of idea-thievery with online forums, but honestly this forum and ones like it are becoming less useful for all involved. The only exception would be the Warrior Forum and a few Skype groups I've joined lately.

If you expand on your problem, readers may be able to offer more advice; you may even receive offers for a partnership and networking.

There are threads I could drag up where there's a back and forth going on like trying to get blood out of a stone.

Not saying you have to post a business model but give us something to go on and we may be able to offer resources.

NotaSheep

Wouldn't be something like this by any chance? advertiser.ie/mayo/article/68747/taoiseach-launches-trafficatticcom

Schwarzenegger

Closest to it but still not the same, it is focusing on a different market.

NotaSheep

I think from your indications it is safe to say that we are talking about some sort of online marketplace where consumers and local businesses 'meet'. This is a challenging business model as we are talking about a double value proposition here - you need to be able to hook local businesses to join as well as attract customers to use the site. This is extremely difficult and there is a plethora of such websites out there operating in various niche segments with various degrees of success. before you chuck any money at this I suggest strongly writing up a business plan. If you hope to make money you need to understand exactly how you are going to get there and what will it take, in terms of business subscriptions and user numbers, to make money. I see a lot of people who jump right in at the deep end with software development, without having properly thought through how they are going to money exactly, what are they going to charge/how/how often/when are they going to get paid and also how exactly do they intend to get local businesses to subscribe and users to come to the site, with poor understanding of demand for this sort of service.

Schwarzenegger

Appreciate the detailed response thank you. I agree I need to ad up whether it would be worth it or not. I have thought about how I would get subscribers and the payment, as to promoting the website I have thought of this too but I need further expansion on thoughts and I'm doing a bit of research on this. I think a second opinion would be valuable as it's hard to describe what I'm thinking of in writing as it is in my head. All in all I do see a niche in the market, if there is a similar site which there probably is, why don't I know about it ? This is an area I would work on. Thanks again

NotaSheep

Local Enterprise Offices will offer some free mentoring so you can sound your idea out. It is vital though that you come across as having done as much as research as possible. You have to demonstrate thorough understanding of the market niche you are looking to go into, competition (not only same businesses, but also similar or operating in the same niche around similar principles), evidence of demand (what is the size of your market, have you talked to any businesses, have you done any surveys with potential customers indicating they would use this). If you have come up with a pricing structure - how did you arrive at it, how do you know that this is competitive?
Sidenote:
Absence of a similar site in your target niche is not necessarily a good indicator - it may mean there is not a big enough market for it, so you need to evaluate that in light of your other findings.

Atomico

I would think long and hard about it - without a huge marketing budget it stands little chance. Even if you did have one, there is no guarantee it would take off or even get much traction at all. Two-sided marketplaces are very hard - you would likely be better off focusing your energy on another, better idea.

The way I look at it, people know where they need to go to 'buy stuff'. Go to the high street, go to the retail parks in your town / city, or go online. I don't see much / any room for smaller online properties. Also don't forget all the existing online players, some of whom have huge budgets for marketing, PR, advertising, etc.