coffees4closers
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This thread is awesome
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Free registration at the forum removes this block.Thanks for the kind words! I actually took what you said earlier in this thread into account. I added the option to rent out the electronic system bundle and kitchen appliance bundle! Thanks for the help.This thread is awesome
Is the $10 a fee from your web hosting company? Who are you using?Thanks for the kind words! I actually took what you said earlier in this thread into account. I added the option to rent out the electronic system bundle and kitchen appliance bundle! Thanks for the help.
Sad that i just found out that when you cancel a gig on fiverr they dont refund the money to your paypal. They refund it into you "fiverr acount balance" . Now im sad because i was planning to take the bus to the nearest wells fargo to deposit a couple bucks so i can install my SSL certificate. Now i dont even have the cash on hand lol.
I am using host gator. And yeah its from them. I thought i could install it myself but since i have the most basic plan (hatchling) so i dont think i can install myself. I dont have some things in cpanel that i would need to install myself.Is the $10 a fee from your web hosting company? Who are you using?
Hmm...couple ideas if you want to get it going without the $10.I am using host gator. And yeah its from them. I thought i could install it myself but since i have the most basic plan (hatchling) so i dont think i can install myself. I dont have some things in cpanel that i would need to install myself.
I have already purchased the ssl from namecheap it just costs $10 to get it installed. And thanks for the ideas but i think im just going to wait a couple days until i get some money deposited into my account (cashed out on my .03 bitcoins lmao)Hmm...couple ideas if you want to get it going without the $10.
You can look into cloudflare. Among many other things, they offer free SSL. You'd need to keep in mind that the free certs are not compatible with older devices. Specifically XP and oldish Android phones.
Also, they are a CDN of sorts, and the SSL is added on their servers, not yours, so that warning might continue to appear on your check out page. Free (and quick) to try though.
OR
You could use an external site for payment processing. Paypal or similar? Not ideal because customers would still be sending some personal details in the clear, but it would let you get going.
I misunderstood. I thought you had to buy it from hostgator and the $10 was cert/install. If you already bought the cert, yeah, just wait and use that. That is your best bet. I was thinking you didn't have the cert yet and were waiting to buy that.I have already purchased the ssl from namecheap it just costs $10 to get it installed. And thanks for the ideas but i think im just going to wait a couple days until i get some money deposited into my account (cashed out on my .03 bitcoins lmao)
No customers. No leads.Do you have any customers or any leads at all?
Not to be totally negative, but this whole thing looks like a huge action fake. Website, logo, etc and the process itself isn't even worked out.
To me, you should be finding out if you could get any orders first, find out what people are going to want to buy that way, and get that stuff, even if you have to sell it as a loss. You will start to develop the process and get the feedback loop rolling.
What is going to happen potentially with what you are doing now, is you are going to spend all that time "looking established" and never be able to take orders as the time winds on, and you still have not completed a bundle or sourced the products that people actually want.
I would re-align what you are doing. You are working on the easy stuff that you can sit at a computer and complete pretty easily. The real challenge if you want to be successful your first year, is to get on your feet and get the really hard stuff working. Sourcing that many different products and moving them to you is not going to be easy or cheap. So if anything I would limit your customers base to your local area so you can hand deliver the first year and see how things go while ironing out a solid replicate-able process.
Thanks for all the feedback man. I really appreciate it.Taking a look at your pricing page leaves me curious. There's nothing on your site I would buy that I wouldn't rather buy on Amazon instead. With that said, there is also nothing unique about your niche or your process. "Entry" is a commandment of the fast lane. As Kevin O' Leary says so often on Shark Tank to many aspiring entrepreneurs, what is to stop me from spending $5 million and just blowing you out of the water by entering this market and doing it better?
Using that as a metaphor, what is stopping me from copying this process with about 1 week's worth of work but setting up a site using Amazon affiliates? I honestly think that is your best option. Set it up as an affiliate site at first.
Right now, I don't see any pictures, no specifications, nothing. What kind of 32 inch TV am I getting? A Sony or a Vizio? Are my sheets going to be twin XL or queen? Where do I specify my exact needs?
What is your profit margin per bundle? Cost per bundle? How long does it take you to ship one order? How are you going to ship the order? Packaging? What will you do with that?
With the budget you have, you aren't prepared to enter with the model you are proposing. Keep it lean, simple, and just use an affiliates model. Sure, you lose the "control" factor, but you need to create revenue because without money coming in you can't invest in or run a business. Let Amazon take care of the dirty work and you just be the middle man, or platform, where college students look.
So far your main concern is the site, SSL certificates, you've spent more time speaking to HostGator than actual customers. Your concern is creating a front end brand image. I'd rather put the bundles together, take some nice pictures, and set up a stand in your school's campus center and offer the bundles while explaining to the customers how its a local project, so they should support local causes, you can meet their needs, this is how it will benefit them, etc. You have no unique value proposition at the moment and the only thing you are doing is throwing what little money you have out the window on processes which aren't directly benefitting you.
WHO IS YOUR FIRST CUSTOMER, WHY ARE THEY BUYING FROM YOU INSTEAD OF SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND WHICH BUNDLE ARE THEY INTERESTED IN? WHY? HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT SALE? Figure that out, and scale from there. Everything I see so far is non-sense.
Sad that i just found out that when you cancel a gig on fiverr they dont refund the money to your paypal. They refund it into you "fiverr acount balance" . Now im sad because i was planning to take the bus to the nearest wells fargo to deposit a couple bucks so i can install my SSL certificate. Now i dont even have the cash on hand lol.
Thanks I did not know that. I guess its too late know since I dont need the money anymore so i will just leave it in there to purchase another gig in the future. Thanks for the tip though i could possibly use it in the future.By the way, they don't do it immediately because they assume you will buy another gig. But you can contact customer support to get all the money back to you. It may leave a negative feedback on the seller though.
Do you have any customers or any leads at all?
Not to be totally negative, but this whole thing looks like a huge action fake. Website, logo, etc and the process itself isn't even worked out.
To me, you should be finding out if you could get any orders first, find out what people are going to want to buy that way, and get that stuff, even if you have to sell it as a loss. You will start to develop the process and get the feedback loop rolling.
What is going to happen potentially with what you are doing now, is you are going to spend all that time "looking established" and never be able to take orders as the time winds on, and you still have not completed a bundle or sourced the products that people actually want.
I would re-align what you are doing. You are working on the easy stuff that you can sit at a computer and complete pretty easily. The real challenge if you want to be successful your first year, is to get on your feet and get the really hard stuff working. Sourcing that many different products and moving them to you is not going to be easy or cheap. So if anything I would limit your customers base to your local area so you can hand deliver the first year and see how things go while ironing out a solid replicate-able process.
Even if they rent I will still have enough to purchase the items. Most people rent for 2 semesters and while I am not profiting much initially, i can purchase the items in whole. After a year its all profit from rental side.Maybe I missed it in the thread somewhere........How exactly do you purchase the item to rent when they will be paying you less than they could purchase the item for themselves? Where does the extra startup cash come from in your business model?
Thanks for all the feedback man. I really appreciate it.
With any eccomerce website you could just go to amazon and buy. But people still buy from these ecommerce websites. By having several bundles available on my website I am adding a convenience factor. Last year when i was shopping for my dorm I had to run around to 5 different stores and hoped to have my items in stock. With University Bundles I can buy/rent everything i need for my dorm room on one website. One order and i am done.
Sure, you can copy the process and try to make it work. But are you going to? For example, you said you wanted to get some certificate and become a fitness trainer. What stops me from hiring a fitness professional and creating a brand myself? Using your scenario I would have about $4.9 million left for marketing. Which is a lot. While the barrier of entry is low, i believe in my service and myself to take this to the next level.
Your right. While my school is still in session i will past out flyers so they can order for their apartments next semester. Thanks for the tough love.The long thought out response was just food for thought, some tough love, as others are giving you here. The $5 million response was only a reference to shark tank, but what I meant is what's to stop anyone with a bit of money from copying what you do?
From an outside perspective, if I lacked integrity and I saw that your process worked, sure I would copy it. I would crowd your marketplace, force you to lower your prices, and compete for your suppliers (and customers). That's not what we're here to do though, and its ethically wrong as a fellow fastlaner. But as an outside competitor coming into the space? Absolutely.
A week's worth of work for what you've come up with is not bad. Its a good progress thread. The problem is the thread is so focused on the actual website, which has many of us wondering about the direction you're taking it. I never said you weren't talking to customers, its just that in your progress thread everything is about website/related issues.
Perhaps I'm just excited to see something more, to see this work, to see you say "got my first presale today" etc. The website is a good start but I think myself (and I'm speaking for others) are more interested in the back end process. I feel like I'm reading "Struggles of Making a Website on No Budget 101" versus an entrepreneurial project, but its all part of the end process I suppose.
The reason I mention the campus stand is so that you get infront of customers. A website + some minor marketing doesn't put you infront of anyone. You aren't thinking big enough if you are only worried about the incoming freshman. A lot of kids the first month or two still don't have everything they need. Hell, as a college junior I was still buying new things. Even as you upgrade from a dorm to an apartment you need a new set up. What if the school liked what they saw and decided to work out a contract with you?
The brand approach is doable but what will make you THE go-to premier bundle package that people go to? Make them refer to their fellow friends?
Still curious about the size and specifications of TVs, sheets, etc. If I was a prospective customer what would you tell me?
I guess the video game bundle is the only bundle i couldnt fund off the order directly. I could use profits from other bundles (hopefully) to fund it. If im still short i can take out a loan.Went to your website.... so say I want the Video Game bundle for 1 semester. When do I get it?
On the back end, how do you acquire it to rent it to me? You obviously cannot buy one for $149. How have you addressed this issue? Seems to be the biggest stumbling block.
Thanks, man. It means a lot. At the end of the day, it's not a business unless you HAVE business.
Sorry i read your comment but forgot to reply. And i will take a lookGuess my advice has been ignored.
Honestly you need to address the cash flow problem
Have a look at this thread mate
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/naivete-is-a-great-thing.39708/
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