Business Idea Feedback

[DukeDeValentino]

Hello Everyone!

I am interested in starting a business in 2 different areas, but I am having some trouble justifying whether to start in either of these areas because the competition that already exists in both is fierce. The two areas that I have been currently looking into are coffee and socks! I am leaning primarily towards coffee. I would like to start by selling coffee bean bags and eventually scale by selling other coffee related products. However, when putting the coffee bean bag idea up to the CENTS test it does not make much sense for me to start such a business. For example:
1. There are other much larger coffee companies who can offer a coffee bag for less than I would be able to.
2. The barriers to entry are not very difficult for such a company making easy for others to get into (market it already fairly saturated).
3. There may be need for the product (I am planning on selling high quality organic coffee), but as I stated earlier there are other very large coffee companies who could offer such a product for less than I can and most likely kill my business with one move because of the capital they have at their disposal.
4. I am having trouble finding a supplier in Latin America to reduce the costs of the product. The ones in the US are too expensive which would not leave enough margin to make a decent profit after all expenses. I am going to continue looking for a good supplier in Latin America. If anyone has any good ideas on how to make this possible please let me know!
5. I ask myself if I am providing relative value compared to other coffee options. High quality organic coffee is different than what most offer, but a large competitor could easily make a move into organic coffee and wipe me out.

The main reason for coffee is because it is something I have always had a passion for and most of the coffee offered by companies is crap quality. The idea of socks came about strictly because its a very niche market with less competition than coffee. Guys, if these ideas are total garbage just be honest with me so I can scratch them and move onto the next. I have also considered other niches in coffee which have less competition. Thank you all very much for any help and insights you may be able to provide.

 

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[DukeDeValentino]

Hello Everyone!

I am interested in starting a business in 2 different areas, but I am having some trouble justifying whether to start in either of these areas because the competition that already exists in both is fierce. The two areas that I have been currently looking into are coffee and socks! I am leaning primarily towards coffee. I would like to start by selling coffee bean bags and eventually scale by selling other coffee related products. However, when putting the coffee bean bag idea up to the CENTS test it does not make much sense for me to start such a business. For example:
1. There are other much larger coffee companies who can offer a coffee bag for less than I would be able to.
2. The barriers to entry are not very difficult for such a company making easy for others to get into (market it already fairly saturated).
3. There may be need for the product (I am planning on selling high quality organic coffee), but as I stated earlier there are other very large coffee companies who could offer such a product for less than I can and most likely kill my business with one move because of the capital they have at their disposal.
4. I am having trouble finding a supplier in Latin America to reduce the costs of the product. The ones in the US are too expensive which would not leave enough margin to make a decent profit after all expenses. I am going to continue looking for a good supplier in Latin America. If anyone has any good ideas on how to make this possible please let me know!
5. I ask myself if I am providing relative value compared to other coffee options. High quality organic coffee is different than what most offer, but a large competitor could easily make a move into organic coffee and wipe me out.

The main reason for coffee is because it is something I have always had a passion for and most of the coffee offered by companies is crap quality. The idea of socks came about strictly because its a very niche market with less competition than coffee. Guys, if these ideas are total garbage just be honest with me so I can scratch them and move onto the next. I have also considered other niches in coffee which have less competition. Thank you all very much for any help and insights you may be able to provide.

Any ideas anyone???

 

[tienti]

Marketing. If you can differentiate yourself from the competition somehow, you can add value. Ie. Organic, branding, or maybe sourced from a special area etc..

I think I heard MJ say once how Starbucks came in when there was already coffee around, but they were able to offer a unique experience and offer value. There's a local coffee shop here in San Diego that does really well even though they're across the street from sbux. They have really unique coffees and vegan food and they really communicate the difference.

 

[DukeDeValentino]

Marketing. If you can differentiate yourself from the competition somehow, you can add value. Ie. Organic, branding, or maybe sourced from a special area etc..

I think I heard MJ say once how Starbucks came in when there was already coffee around, but they were able to offer a unique experience and offer value. There's a local coffee shop here in San Diego that does really well even though they're across the street from sbux. They have really unique coffees and vegan food and they really communicate the difference.

Hello Tienti,

Thank you for taking the time to reply and the information provided.

I have a few ideas and am still brainstorming more to find a way of differentiating myself from others in the coffee sector. When would you say you have differentiated yourself "enough" from others? I am sure it needs to substantially better than what anyone else is doing. In Zero to One Thiel says one needs to have something that is 10x better than anything that already exist. I def. want to do organic coffee and a few other ideas which would differentiate me from others, but I personally would say it does not differentiate me by 10x. Does anyone know when you can say you have differentiated enough from everyone else?

 

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