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In 2010 (?) I competed for a business startup package in a "survivor-type" entrepreneur contest. I knocked out 40+ other businesses, and won angel funding for the business. Part of the winnings was $50,000 worth of local media advertising for the business, which is enough to run a sustained local advertising campaign which is what generally is required to get an unknown concept into the mindshare of a target customer.
Long story short is the idea sucked. Everyone we talked with said it was a great idea, but when it came time to pony up the cash and open their wallets to buy the service, nobody did. The business model was unsustainable. If we couldn't garner traction backed by $50,000 in consumer perception advertising, absent of the advertising the business would die. We pulled the plug on it immediately at the end of the advertising campaign.
Meanwhile, the business gained nationwide visibility. The concept sounded sexy. The barrier to entry was not high. The ability for the business to be replicated in other markets was easy. We could not gain first movers advantage in all of the major metro markets across the country. We had over 50 franchise requests (meanwhile the business hemorrhaged money.) The business was copied, and copied, and copied. News stories popped up in the months following the launch by "entrepreneurs that had an epiphany about the new type of service they dreamed up." Local papers in major metro markets ran stories about the copy cats and their new business ventures.
By the time our crash and burn was inevitable, we were able to sit back and watch the freak show as the business was copied and implemented by others across the nation. Fortunately, I was not dependent on the income to live off of, or we would have hit the bottom (again.)
One by one, the copy cat businesses imploded. In effort to "get rich quick" they copied a faulty concept. Some of them started and quickly fizzled. Others took investor money so they had a sustained push before they ultimately went under. The return on investment was a complete loser. The idea was bad.
Imitation is not always the highest form of flattery. I am happy that every single one of these jackasses that attempted to rip off our original idea suffered a miserable and painful death.
At this forum, we have a concept loosely coined as "honor amongst thieves." We share business practices here intended to inspire, to encourage, and to ignite. We don't steal from each other. We don't respect people who do. Those that make the case that theft of business is OK if you post it on line are generally ostracized. We have even protected business models of people that were not forum members. Emulation of best practices is OK... directly and blatantly stealing business to take a cheap and quick road is not. However, the lowest life form here on multiple occasions has taken the information from this forum and attempted to compete directly with the original poster who shared business details in hopes of encouraging entrepreneurs as they launched their own ideas. In all cases that I am aware of, the copy cat theives were buried under the weight of their own poor judgment.
So, walk carefully into imitation. When you can bring something to market that is pure --- that adds value to people's life that was previously not available or obtainable --- you have a fast lane business.
If you simply want to steal someone else's dream and try and beat them at their own game, you might end up like the dozens of losers that copied my flawed business model.
Blaze your own path. When it wins, you will have the rewards from achieving something terrific. If it fails, you will learn critical lessons for the next round. Take the lessons fro this forum and use them to blaze your own path. Take the high road.
Go.
Long story short is the idea sucked. Everyone we talked with said it was a great idea, but when it came time to pony up the cash and open their wallets to buy the service, nobody did. The business model was unsustainable. If we couldn't garner traction backed by $50,000 in consumer perception advertising, absent of the advertising the business would die. We pulled the plug on it immediately at the end of the advertising campaign.
Meanwhile, the business gained nationwide visibility. The concept sounded sexy. The barrier to entry was not high. The ability for the business to be replicated in other markets was easy. We could not gain first movers advantage in all of the major metro markets across the country. We had over 50 franchise requests (meanwhile the business hemorrhaged money.) The business was copied, and copied, and copied. News stories popped up in the months following the launch by "entrepreneurs that had an epiphany about the new type of service they dreamed up." Local papers in major metro markets ran stories about the copy cats and their new business ventures.
By the time our crash and burn was inevitable, we were able to sit back and watch the freak show as the business was copied and implemented by others across the nation. Fortunately, I was not dependent on the income to live off of, or we would have hit the bottom (again.)
One by one, the copy cat businesses imploded. In effort to "get rich quick" they copied a faulty concept. Some of them started and quickly fizzled. Others took investor money so they had a sustained push before they ultimately went under. The return on investment was a complete loser. The idea was bad.
Imitation is not always the highest form of flattery. I am happy that every single one of these jackasses that attempted to rip off our original idea suffered a miserable and painful death.
At this forum, we have a concept loosely coined as "honor amongst thieves." We share business practices here intended to inspire, to encourage, and to ignite. We don't steal from each other. We don't respect people who do. Those that make the case that theft of business is OK if you post it on line are generally ostracized. We have even protected business models of people that were not forum members. Emulation of best practices is OK... directly and blatantly stealing business to take a cheap and quick road is not. However, the lowest life form here on multiple occasions has taken the information from this forum and attempted to compete directly with the original poster who shared business details in hopes of encouraging entrepreneurs as they launched their own ideas. In all cases that I am aware of, the copy cat theives were buried under the weight of their own poor judgment.
So, walk carefully into imitation. When you can bring something to market that is pure --- that adds value to people's life that was previously not available or obtainable --- you have a fast lane business.
If you simply want to steal someone else's dream and try and beat them at their own game, you might end up like the dozens of losers that copied my flawed business model.
Blaze your own path. When it wins, you will have the rewards from achieving something terrific. If it fails, you will learn critical lessons for the next round. Take the lessons fro this forum and use them to blaze your own path. Take the high road.
Go.
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