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How would you go about setting up these kinds of businesses?

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  • 29-03-2021 6:05pm
    #1
    pgj2015
    Registered Users Posts: 9,007 ✭✭✭


    I have a couple of ideas for a site like meet up.com and another holiday based business.

    The only thing is I will need help setting up the sites. did the likes of the people who set up daft.ie have this know how or did they get tech people to handle all this for them?


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    #2
    is_that_so
    Registered Users Posts: 32,136 ✭✭✭✭is_that_so


    pgj2015 wrote: »
    I have a couple of ideas for a site like meet up.com and another holiday based business.

    The only thing is I will need help setting up the sites. did the likes of the people who set up daft.ie have this know how or did they get tech people to handle all this for them?
    You will need deep pockets! Get a prototype together and pitch it to your local LEO for feedback or better still put a business plan together for them.


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    #3
    ironclaw
    Registered Users Posts: 8,004 ✭✭✭ironclaw


    I built, and run, a fairly large SaaS product in the travel and leisure sector, both in Ireland and the US. We pivoted a few times and ultimately changed our direction entirely for the most part.

    As is_that_so, you'll need deep pockets if you are not technically minded. Developing a site isn't as simple as slapping together a WordPress site and turning it on, especially if you intend to grow, which you will definitely need to do in the holiday sector.

    A basic site to demo/raise funding is probably going to run you upwards of €5k for a decent developer. Depending on the complexity, a full end to end booking system could be €20k. We saved this as I could develop the whole thing myself.

    I'll quickly caveat that by saying it very much depends on what you are building, its complexity and how much of a perfectionist you are. Likewise, you could outsource to cheaper areas of the world but I'd strongly recommend against this. Invest in a good developer from day one, you wouldn't let a cowboy pour your house foundations.

    But remember, once you built it, you need people to come, which will cost the same (and some) again.

    The leisure sector itself is chock full of competitors. Unless you have a super in-demand niche, you are unlikely to gain any traction. Margins are razor-thin and suppliers are very unlikely to pay you, so your cut is either as a middleman or off the consumer side.

    I'd recommend you outline your idea here and others can chime in here. Happy to share my experience anyway.


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    #4
    Axwell
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 10,462 Mod ✭✭✭✭Axwell


    Before you even go near or looking at developers you need to put the business down on pen and paper and have people rip it apart because you can be guaranteed it's nowhere near as simple as you (or anyone starting out) think.
    You need to have a solid business plan in place, know your numbers, know your projections and you need to start working towards an MVP.

    In terms of the development and setting up the sites, that part is more like step 3 or 4 of the development process, you have so much work ahead of you before you even consider a line of code. You should be starting with wireframes, making a clickable model as the most basic early-stage MVP - not a line of code is written at this stage. You need to validate the business and get feedback from people so you know what users want, what the market needs and that there is actually a business there rather than just gong off some idea you have come up with.

    Do some user testing, make changes, redesign, test again...repeat..repeat..repeat. After a few iterations, you may have a business where you can actually look at starting to code and develop it, or the idea will have been torn apart so much you decide to bin it and move on to something else.

    Unless you have export potential or are going to create lots of jobs you won't get much support from the LEO or EI at these early stages. You will get some advice but don't be expecting them to just give you a bundle of cash to get your idea made. If you have something solid with potential you could consider applying to an accelerator programme but you still need to have some of the groundwork done before applying to those to show the potential of the business and secure a spot on these sort of programmes.

    Ideas are ten a penny, execution is what makes the difference and getting someone to code it is not a massive hurdle, but it's expensive so you really need to have all the other work done and the idea validated before you are sure about spending money on it.


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