100 ideas, no BUSINESS (Why I AM Still stuck in the slow-lane)

[DeletedUser394]

LOL

Good luck man.

 

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[Mike.B]

That is legal? For example- I can take say Dial soap and call it say CLEAN soap and sell it? That makes no sense at all. It sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

No ... There are manufacturers that create products for multiple vendors (e.g. Dial, Dove, Zest, etc.), you can buy some of the same variations from these manufacturers and brand them as your own. Here is an example www.twincraft.com

 

[chrisbiz4444]

No ... There are manufacturers that create products for multiple vendors (e.g. Dial, Dove, Zest, etc.), you can buy some of the same variations from these manufacturers and brand them as your own. Here is an example www.twincraft.com

Oh, wow this is pretty amazing. I never understood the Paul Mitchell story. You know starting with $700. I figured there was no way he could do such a thing with only $700. I assume he started his brand the same way right?

 

[MattCour]

Read this http://www.fastcompany.com/3021229/chaim-pikarski-the-amazon-whisperer

Do this ^

 

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[Magik]

I gave you some ideas in my previous thread. Now, I will rattle off some growth industries: marijuana (tons of opportunity here), elderly health care, pawn shops, cash advance, telecom (phones, internet, etc.), self-publishing, security of any kind (alarms, self-defense, surveillance, etc.), anything pertaining to guns and ammo, vinyl records, modular/space saving furniture, food trucks. Hell, there are people making shit like surf boards and making a killing. My dad knows a guy who sells liquid potassium (potassium is almost mandatory for those who grow pot). Talk about a niche product! I may figure out a way to export it to California.

The point is that the list of products are endless, and they don't have to be proprietary. I could give you specific products, but there's no point in doing that. You have to come up with that on your own, but between this post and my post earlier, you should have some ideas. I am going the self-publishing route myself, but if I crash into physical goods/services, it will probably be related to one of the industries above.

 

[randomnumber314]

The world needs ditch diggers also.

I don't have time to read the other replies, but I suggest you reread this 100 times. Maybe read the lyrics to the Beatles Revolution.

My point is just start doing something. Start mowing lawns, washing windows, fixing cars. Actual actions lead to actual ideas.

Move. Stop stopping.

 

[chrisbiz4444]

I don't have time to read the other replies, but I suggest you reread this 100 times. Maybe read the lyrics to the Beatles Revolution.

My point is just start doing something. Start mowing lawns, washing windows, fixing cars. Actual actions lead to actual ideas.

Move. Stop stopping.

I had a small lawn care business at age 12 lol, washed cars ect. Also, I work in management in a corporate bank. The hours will not work and theres no reason to make them work. These kind of small business's cant really be scaled and there is almost no barrier to entry. Maybe you should take some time to read the book again before giving advice or making stupid remarks...

 

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[DrkSide]

I had a small lawn care business at age 12 lol, washed cars ect. Also, I work in management in a corporate bank. The hours will not work and theres no reason to make them work. These kind of small business's cant really be scaled and there is almost no barrier to entry. Maybe you should take some time to read the book again before giving advice or making stupid remarks...

No small business can't scale. Paul Mitchell did not build an empire out of $700. You have to wait until you find the 1 billion dollar market before you try anything. I am giving up on my product because it has been done before and I can't improve on it.

 

[DeletedUser394]

No small business can't scale. Paul Mitchell did not build an empire out of $700. You have to wait until you find the 1 billion dollar market before you try anything. I am giving up on my product because it has been done before and I can't improve on it.

Ahh, you got me for a minute!

 

[chrisbiz4444]

No small business can't scale. Paul Mitchell did not build an empire out of $700. You have to wait until you find the 1 billion dollar market before you try anything. I am giving up on my product because it has been done before and I can't improve on it.

Then what is he talking about at 4.15?

 

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[DeletedUser394]

I can't breathe.

I'm going to be nice, by explaining that @DrkSide is not being serious in the post you just quoted.

If you re read it again, try to understand it.

He is trying to show you how you keep bringing up all these artificial barriers as to why something isn't 'fastlane', and how silly that attitude is (been there, done that). If everyone was so quick to dismiss their ideas (for lack of perceived scale-ability, barrier to entry, market size, whatever) then a lot of these famous success stories would never have occurred.

You have to be willing to take a risk and fail.

To get from point A to the end goal of Z, there are 24 letters in between. You can't jump to the end point, you have to go through the process.

 

[Naomi11]

This is an entrepreneurs site not a counselling service. Perhaps you need to sit and meditate on your passion. Passion is the only thing that won't make you feel like a slave even if you're working for a smaller profit margin than you'd like.
Peace

 

[randomnumber314]

These kind of small business's cant really be scaled and there is almost no barrier to entry.

"These kind of small business's cant really be scaled "
Why not?

 

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[Magik]

I had a small lawn care business at age 12 lol, washed cars ect. Also, I work in management in a corporate bank. The hours will not work and theres no reason to make them work. These kind of small business's cant really be scaled and there is almost no barrier to entry.

That small lawn care business could have been scaled into a large lawn care business, in multiple cities. There are people who own multiple car detailing locations, that started doing detailing out of the back of a van. There are dry cleaners in my city that have many locations, and started as one. Anything can be scaled.

All of those business have barrier to entry, because there is expertise involved, equipment, and start-up capital involved. There isn't as much of a barrier as building apps or inventing something, but it's still there. Hell, there is a bank called Simple, who call themselves the alternative to banking. Someone realized that people are tired of banks, and that they could do things better and differently.

Have you taken action on anything yet, or have you been more concerned with ideas?

 

[jpa0827]

That is the real problem though. There is no longer a barrier to entry anymore so that goes against one of the lesson in the book. That is why I am asking for someones personal experience. If the market is flooded with crappy Ecom stores it might not be the way to go anymore because even if you were to find a killer niche and product to sell someone else will just come in right behind you and put up the same store in hours. They can undercut prices and kill any margins at any time... That is a problem.

Did you ever think that the barrier to entry is not an event? It is a PROCESS. I think that has been mentioned once or twice around here...I think..
You have to find a way to beat the barrier of price undercutting or whatever the competition is doing to make it hard. That is the Barrier. The barrier is not setting up an e-com site, where you hope and pray.

I had a small lawn care business at age 12 lol, washed cars ect. Also, I work in management in a corporate bank. The hours will not work and theres no reason to make them work. These kind of small business's cant really be scaled and there is almost no barrier to entry. Maybe you should take some time to read the book again before giving advice or making stupid remarks...

People are trying to help you here... I think you missed the point of the book.

Yeah i wouldn't want to own a landscaping company.... It's not scalable....Oh wait...maybe it is??? Hmmm

http://www.valleycrest.com/vc/#/the-company/

I guarantee you that you can look up largest X company and you can see exactly how every business can find a way to scale. Scale isn't everthing...it's only a piece of the puzzle.

I'm no expert, but I read the book and I KNOW everything I said above makes sense.

 

[Genester]

That is the real problem though. There is no longer a barrier to entry anymore so that goes against one of the lesson in the book. That is why I am asking for someones personal experience. If the market is flooded with crappy Ecom stores it might not be the way to go anymore because even if you were to find a killer niche and product to sell someone else will just come in right behind you and put up the same store in hours. They can undercut prices and kill any margins at any time... That is a problem.

You just said it right there, "crappy Ecom stores". Don't build a crappy Ecom store man, build yours better, offer something different and unique, make people want to buy from you instead of everyone else. A ton of crappy Ecom stores should make it easier for someone smart to set themselves apart.

 

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[D11FYY]

Look at the desk your sitting at right now there is something there that you could buy and sell and make a profit on on your Ecommerce website or even your drive home from work.

Ideas can either be learned through experience and finding a lack of or a niche within a system or work.
Or they can just come to you from thinking outside the box.

So if your wanting out of that office box you sit in for 10 hours a day. Start thinking or doing

 

[QLADisciple]

I can relate so much to this guy (you, Chris). I'm younger and still in university... just wanted to say this is a great thread. I have to say inaction feels pretty awful... it's not just about the regret; you feel bad in the moment of inaction. It's frustrating to never get started... getting out of your comfort zone is energising.

 

[DustinG]

Regarding your statement about eCommerce being a thing of the past - it's completely true that competing with Amazon is incredibly difficult. Most small eCommerce sites that are successful sell their own products. So they're really product companies that use an eCommerce site as a medium to sell their product(s), rather than focusing on being an eCommerce site selling other people's products.

If your product is a commodity, people will almost always be able to find cheaper alternatives on Amazon (and they can often buy them there w/out paying shipping with an Amazon Prime account).

Another thing successful eCommerce sites do is write/produce their own content about products. If you're providing additional value by writing good copy, and showing things like demos, that could be a reason people would rather buy from you.

 

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[DustinG]

Also, regarding drop-shipping, unless you get companies to drop-ship exclusively for you (which is difficult, but you might have better luck trying to convince local retailers to ship for you, rather than using one of those large warehouse drop-shippers).

If there are other sites selling the same product(s) as you, you have very little to compete on other than price.

I ran a dropshipping website for a while a few years back (the site was called Alpine Camping Supply - I ended up selling it for a small amount of cash to recoupe some costs, and it's since been shut down), and other sites buying products from the same dropshippers were literally selling products for only pennies more than what the dropshippper charged. Tough to compete with that.

 

[chrisbiz4444]

Also, regarding drop-shipping, unless you get companies to drop-ship exclusively for you (which is difficult, but you might have better luck trying to convince local retailers to ship for you, rather than using one of those large warehouse drop-shippers).

If there are other sites selling the same product(s) as you, you have very little to compete on other than price.

I ran a dropshipping website for a while a few years back (the site was called Alpine Camping Supply - I ended up selling it for a small amount of cash to recoupe some costs, and it's since been shut down), and other sites buying products from the same dropshippers were literally selling products for only pennies more than what the dropshippper charged. Tough to compete with that.

That is disappointing. Since moving out of e-commerce what have you moved on to?

 

[BUFFALOBT]

It sounds like you and I have the same problem Chris...we are both pus****.

Now- what are WE going to do about it?

I'm going to take my "best" 10 business ideas, apply CENTS, and focus on the one that best makes the cut.

 

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[constantin]

Regarding your statement about eCommerce being a thing of the past - it's completely true that competing with Amazon is incredibly difficult. Most small eCommerce sites that are successful sell their own products.

that's completely false. eCommerce is thriving more then anything right now. the problem isn't with eCommerce but with the products people try to sell on their eCommerce websites. most of the time the products are extremely generic and can easily be found else were by others. it all depends on what industry your trying to go into. me personally i'm in the athletic footwear industry. billion dollar industry and it's something that amazon can't just sell on their site and offer a cheaper price because it's a lot more difficult and the entry barrier is a lot higher as well. if your trying to sell using eCommerce make sure its something unique as well as very niche. the higher to entry barrier is for your eCommerce is the more likely you are to succeed in your endeavor.