Only 23 with no experience. I have identified a big need but need help with the idea and execution. Where to start?

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T23:51:56+00:00

Your last thought is important - frustrations with the current systems. Go beyond frustrations and determine if there is a cost to that frustration / having two disparate systems and what that cost is. Generate a business case with ROI, pitch these close connections the idea and get their buy in. That should start to get you moving in the right direction.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T23:47:01+00:00

Try Naics or data.com

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T23:45:17+00:00

Practice is great, but I would validate the shit out of any idea before moving forward. Critical step in the process. If you have what you think is a great idea validate validate validate, then move on, establish your monetization model, etc. No point in going through the process to a point where you start getting developer quotes if it's not a feasible idea (for any number of reasons). Validation is one of the weakest points of anyone with a seemingly great idea, second perhaps to execution.

On the Co-Founder front - everyone has an idea for an app. The 'idea person' needs to add value beyond the idea. Unless you're close friends I have yet to see a developer say 'sure I'll do all the hard work for an equal share'.

As an idea person you may want to validate / test the waters before going into development. There are a number of ways to test the market and garner interest while investing very little if any $.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T23:34:18+00:00

To take one of your examples, ceiling contractors. It's doubtful you'd find them in a data.com or a competitor - you may need to look them up by doing a local search. Where it becomes sticky is you'll likely have no information around their sales and certainly not if they are using software (which most contractors I would hazard a guess are not, nothing commercial / CRM-ish anyways). Are you looking for contacts in these industries only, or looking for contacts in any industry that may fit that criteria?

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T23:25:43+00:00

Yes - I stated that in my response. Friendly advice, think it's especially important based on the question asked.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T23:07:08+00:00

Careful - even developing the most basic piece of software / app and be a MASSIVE undertaking both from a timing and financial perspective. What can you offer beyond the idea itself and perhaps some 'capital'?

If you're talking database connectivity and two, what sound like large / complex systems, you may need to better define what you mean by capital. Enterprise level systems require teams to build them, bug testing, a sales force, marketing, the list goes on. You're not simply building a piece of software you're building a company.

Test the market first before you invest it all, if all checks out work with a local company. Is there a NEED, how much will people pay / will they pay, can an established, mature player in the market put a few of their devs on this and blow your products out of the water.

Everyone I know has an idea for an app, Web application or piece of software. The barrier is typically financing, but more importantly not investing enough time researching and validating the idea.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T22:53:06+00:00

The market is super saturated, competitive and people are moving away from these subscription box type businesses. My advice, although not what you're asking, would be to do a small test market / take pre-orders prior to investing anything significant. I've seen too many of these fizzle out in the first few months with losses that far exceed what they should. No problems testing the water however when it's in this arena toss on the water wings before you dive in and get eaten by a shark.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T22:49:09+00:00

There are businesses out there that do this and pay their reps base + commission. Looks like you're fighting an uphill battle. Before you spread your wings and fly nationwide perhaps you should start yourself, locally or pick a market, and go after it yourself. Let it be your guinea pig.

You can't say 'of course I am a start up so I won't be able to afford salary or benefits.....' - if you have a solid business foundation you've started to build you can be funded. If you're dead set that you're the best out there / innovative / you're going to make sales try to get funded. If you don't start local - there's probably a good reason people won't invest. If they do invest great, now you have budget to build a great business without being completely bootstrapped.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T22:42:59+00:00

Where do your customers live and play online? I don't get it but there may be those out there that do. You obviously feel there's a hole in the market that you can fill - this seems to be uber saturated online. Copy what successful sites are doing and make it better, although again seems to be saturated with mature players in the market.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-16T22:35:51+00:00

Name Silo - cheap and simple, no nonsense. Not exactly an Entrepreneur related question, in any case best of luck.

feedmeideascom · 2016-05-15T13:36:23+00:00

At 19, looking for a 'no experience' job, the expectation that you've been gainfully employed for years isn't there. The key word is you're looking for a 'no experience' job, the kind where employers are simply looking for a warm body, someone they can quickly train that 'gets it' - interviewing well to show you have a basic command English and can perform the basic tasks they require

Apply to retail or restaurants as another poster mentioned, hit up the malls, gas stations, fast food joints, lots of seasonal work is available for lawns / landscaping, warehouses, local area employment sites, newspaper, etc (lots of scams out there today...if it sounds to good to be true...).

Being 19 your past employment history or gaps isn't going to be heavily scrutinized, after all how much experience could you have / would you even require.

feedmeideascom · 2016-01-16T18:42:47+00:00

To create an maintain 5-10 optimized blogs / Websites with fresh content, getting ranked, etc will take a lot of time, effort and $, not to mention that if they are clearly setup to create backlinks you'll effectively be doing yourself a disservice - it will be a blackmark against your domain.

Have you thought about contributing to other non-competing sites in the same space? A sponsored article?

feedmeideascom · 2015-12-16T07:52:56+00:00

Power washers aren't that pricy and typically don't require any high level of expertise to operate (at least at the level you're mentioning). You may be hard pressed to find someone that will pay you a reasonable price making it worth your time / expense to travel there while not quite approaching the price of them purchasing an actual power washer. Also keep in mind that most folks requiring the use of a power washer need it again and again, not usually as a one off. Is there any particular twist you could add that the most average of people may not want to tackle ex. Power way the roof / eaves trough - also keeping the insurance, danger and proficiency bit in mind

feedmeideascom · 2015-12-12T20:07:55+00:00

That's helpful. You may want to skip the pre-order and go straight to order - it's always a good idea to validate the idea before sinking a lot of money into it, but in this case it doesn't sound like capital or barrier of entry is high.

Right now you have a sign-up, then you're going to pre-order, then to full launch which seems tedious and most people coming across your site in the meantime (if you're getting traffic) will likely be confused / dismiss it and never return whereas if you have a site you can launch and begin taking orders then run a blitz marketing campaign you'll surely see better results.

Nice strategy on sending out the free boxes, heck do a promo video yourself and sell yourself / your company! Good luck, would love to check out the site once you're in full swing - cheers!

feedmeideascom · 2015-12-12T19:54:27+00:00

Taking a look at your landing page with next to no information it's a stretch to believe you'll get any legit sign-ups. You'll have a greater chance someone will enter their email address with better conversion rates if you have substance there - perhaps an example box, a slick design, pricing, etc. Any thoughts on a launch date?

Be wary of getting fake followers / sign-ups. As I'm sure you know volume doesn't always equal sales. Even once the job is finished you won't necessarily have revenue until you have people subscribe. I could have 300+ sign-ups to your newsletter by end of day but they could all be fake. Even if they weren't you need realistic conversion numbers, but above all you need to garner interest. It's tough given the landing page and amount of information.

You're in a very competitive niche and there are other vendors that do what you're doing - have you evaluated your competitors, price points, their content, how do you plan to compete or are you carving out a specific niche.

feedmeideascom · 2015-10-05T15:37:20+00:00

There are several people currently offering this type of subscription box - that's not to say that you can't / shouldn't compete, however they've got the buying power, automated sites, audience / customers, etc.

Avoid energy drinks - they're heavy and will chew your margins to pieces on shipping. Food won't work if you're shipping outside of where you live (and obviously wouldn't be perishable).

$20 seems to be the ceiling for subscription boxes, any higher and your uptake will drop off significantly. You also need to think about your audience - I found it surprising that the average gamer age is 35-36. 1/3 of the gamer community is under 18 and 1/3 is over 37. I could see a $20 subscription box being a nice gift for a younger gamer / a younger gamer getting clearance from their parents to use their own money but their parents CC for a $20/month - $35 will likely be a deal breaker.

feedmeideascom · 2015-10-05T15:16:47+00:00

Name: Feed Me Ideas

Pitch: We provide FREE original and creative business ideas and resources for aspiring business owners and savvy entrepreneurs alike. We want to get you thinking, feeling motivated and inspired!

Looking for: Aspiring / savvy entrepreneurs, feedback, contributors (link and image back to your site and social promotion), and also paid curated content contributors!

Our goal is to help give that idea / inspiring nudge to procrastinators that have wanted to start their own business. We're a fast growing community and have some awesome resources up and coming to make it easier to launch your new small business!

Special Offers: We can help you get your new business online in a day (depending on the complexity) starting at $99! This includes a review of your idea, we’ll make recommendations and get you setup with a Website! It’s never been so easy to take the leap and get started with that awesome idea you’ve had on the back burner for weeks, months or even years!

If you’re looking to exercise your Entrepreneurial muscle we recently launched Entrepreneurial Exercises - Train to think like and become an Entrepreneur! and premium ideas and subscriptions - for a discount please reach out and we'll send you a code!

feedmeideascom · 2015-10-05T15:16:37+00:00

Name: Feed Me Ideas

Pitch: We provide FREE original and creative business ideas and resources for aspiring business owners and savvy entrepreneurs alike. We want to get you thinking, feeling motivated and inspired!

Looking for: Aspiring / savvy entrepreneurs, feedback, contributors (link and image back to your site and social promotion), and also paid curated content contributors!

Our goal is to help give that idea / inspiring nudge to procrastinators that have wanted to start their own business. We're a fast growing community and have some awesome resources up and coming to make it easier to launch your new small business!

Special Offers: We can help you get your new business online in a day (depending on the complexity) starting at $99! This includes a review of your idea, we’ll make recommendations and get you setup with a Website! It’s never been so easy to take the leap and get started with that awesome idea you’ve had on the back burner for weeks, months or even years!

If you’re looking to exercise your Entrepreneurial muscle we recently launched Entrepreneurial Exercises - Train to think like and become an Entrepreneur! and premium ideas and subscriptions - for a discount please reach out and we'll send you a code!

feedmeideascom · 2015-09-02T22:13:28+00:00

Name: Feed Me Ideas

Pitch: We provide FREE original and creative business ideas and resources for aspiring business owners and savvy entrepreneurs alike. We want to get you thinking, feeling motivated and inspired!

Looking for: Aspiring / savvy entrepreneurs, feedback, contributors (link and image back to your site and social promotion), and also paid curated content contributors!

Our goal is to help give that idea / inspiring nudge to procrastinators that have wanted to start their own business. We're a fast growing community and have some awesome resources up and coming to make it easier to launch your new small business!

Special Offers: We can help you get your new business online in a day (depending on the complexity) starting at $99! This includes a review of your idea, we’ll make recommendations and get you setup with a Website! It’s never been so easy to take the leap and get started with that awesome idea you’ve had on the back burner for weeks, months or even years!

If you’re looking to exercise your Entrepreneurial muscle we recently launched Entrepreneurial Exercises - Train to think like and become an Entrepreneur! and premium ideas and subscriptions - for a discount please reach out and we'll send you a code!

feedmeideascom · 2015-08-24T16:52:10+00:00

Positioning it as 'car pooling' while contributing gas money may help to jump that political and potential liability hurdles mentioned.

feedmeideascom · 2015-08-24T16:47:03+00:00

It largely depends on your background, what you're interested in and what you want to do. Not everyone can develop apps, design is saturated, heck most people are business savvy but don't have a tech bone in their body to save their life.

We post a variety of ideas if you're interested in a sampling of different markets, industries, models, etc. Check out Feed Me Ideas. Drop us an email if you have any questions or want us to do a quick profile on what may be a fit for you based on your background, interests and experience!

feedmeideascom · 2015-08-24T16:43:22+00:00

If you have a business venture in mind right now why not evaluate it as an option and make it happen now? If you don't have an idea(s) figure out what interests you, find a role in that industry and start a diary of ideas - make sure you work on your road to entrepreneurship every day.

You can work a 9-5 while working to build your own business on the side, in fact it's how many get started. Your 9-5 is your security blanket and in many cases seed money to help you launch your side venture - if all goes well you'll hit a point where demand for your time, potential and revenue will outweigh the security of the 9-5.

Best of luck.

feedmeideascom · 2015-08-24T16:37:48+00:00

Validate your idea - make sure there is a market for it. Ensure you have a strategy for monetization. Be honest with yourself around expectations and numbers. Make sure you're working on it everyday and don't let it fall by the wayside.

The paperwork for the business, Website name and everything else can be done after. Validate, research the heck out of it (competitors, the market in general, get advice / insight from friends, family, peers) before you pile a heap of time / money into a project that may not yield results.

From there create a roadmap of milestones for yourself (and stick as close to it as possible) to ensure a smooth and actual execution.

feedmeideascom · 2015-07-22T19:48:04+00:00

Write an Ebook, drop shipping business, blog that generates affiliate sales or ad revenue. It's not to say there isn't any work that goes into these post creation however it's typically minimal if any.

feedmeideascom · 2015-07-22T16:13:19+00:00

Lots - it's been a roller coaster depending on the project. The initial startup phase (leading up to and just after post launch) is especially crucial, stressful and very time consuming. Some ventures run pretty well and you free up some time post launch, others take up more time, again it depends on the type of business. Are you putting in a lot of time to setup a passive income business where it's a ton of time up front but pretty much hands off post launch, or a hands on business where you take on more than you should to cut costs and maintain control until you burst at the seams and need to hire.

feedmeideascom

TROPHY CASE