Is this too ambitious of an idea?

[Vigilante]

Well, I have two ideas for, dare I say, "Uber" like app services.

On-demand services that cut out wait times and standard business hours and make things a lot more convenient for the consumer. Both ideas sprouted from thinking about my own needs that aren't currently offered in the marketplace.

I read somewhere it would take around $30k to make an "Uber" like app. Is that accurate?

If I wanted to go at these two ideas head on, what would I be getting myself into? What would be the best way to get the ball rolling?

Find $60k* and pay a developer to create the apps? Think it's possible to find a developer to partner and create the apps in exchange for part ownership? Anyone know how long it would take to get an "Uber like" app done and ready for market? Is this a dumb question?

Not sure what you meant by too ambitious. Is that a thing?

 

[jpn]

I think you’re asking the wrong question. Building a Uber-like app and back-end isn’t that hard for any reasonably competent developer. Scaling it massively is harder, but a luxury problem.

The thing is uber is a marketplace. There are service providers and users.

The issue with these services is the chicken and egg problem. You need both sides of the marketplace to make it useful. Not enough drivers and no one will use it. Not enough users and no one will be a driver.

So how are you going to solve that problem? Getting critical mass? Technology and “apps” are the easy bit here.

 

[SouthernCharm]

Really? Ok. Well, that makes me feel a bit better. As a compelete non-techy, the thought of creating the app seems extremely hard and complicated. But again, that may just be because I'm not a developer and don't know how to code to save my life.

As far as the issue with service providers and users. I definitely put some thought into it and I just figured the standard FB/IG ads, Youtube Ads and any other ad channels that would make sense. I do wonder what would be the best way to start. I assume it would be by "hiring" the service providers first and then bringing in the users. I would imagine this would have to be very quick, right? I mean, it would be weird to be signing service providers up for 1+ months with zero users.

All in all, I think the services are SO useful and convenient that it would spread fairly easily through word of mouth after deploying an effective advertising strategy. I know for a fact that many people would love the convenience of both services but it is definitely intimidating thinking about HOW to recruit service providers and users quickly so neither of them get on the app and find that it's ghost town.

Maybe it would be best to start recruiting in one particular area/city to make it easier to grow?

I felt the exact same way when I was first starting my company. I am also a non-technical person, so the idea of learning how to code from scratch in order to build an app felt like an insurmountable task. It seemed like it would take far too much time before I'd be able to test the idea on real customers (I was thinking years vs months).

So, then I did some more extensive research on outsourcing. It quickly became apparent that even for offshore resources I would be paying a decent chunk of change just to build a "prototype" and would have to pay-up again for every improvement or tweak thereafter. When creating a technology company, the ability to iterate quickly based on customer behavior/feedback is essential. As good as the idea might be, chances are very slim that you hit the nail on the head with your first attempt at the app.

I was at an impasse. Without a technical co-founder to help, I was floundering between a bad option and a worse one. That was until I stumbled upon www.Bubble.is .

Just to be clear, I realize this is going to sound like a marketing pitch for bubble, but I have no affiliation with the company. I am just a grateful user that was able to overcome a huge hurdle by using their software.

Bubble is a visual programming software that allows non-technical people to roll up their sleeves and learn how to build an application very quickly and very inexpensively. Now it's not the best tool to use if you are trying to come up with a groundbreaking new virtual reality video game, but it is very good for deploying simple technology in a novel way. Your "uber-like" idea is not new, cutting edge technology, it is relatively simple to build with existing tools. The harder part will be finding product market fit, and creating sufficient market liquidity in a two-sided marketplace.

If I were you, I would first do some more market research to make sure that your product truly does serve a new need/niche. If you are still convinced that there is an unfulfilled market demand, the below course (again no affiliation) can help you learn the building blocks for creating Uber-like functionality. It's like $50 per month to sign up for the MVP membership and you should be able to cruise through that class and even a few others in one month's time. Then you can cancel your membership before month 2 starts. Bubble itself is free to use so you can play around with the technology and begin building your app at no cost (the only drawback is you get a bubble branded footer on your website). Then when you really want to get serious (add in more advanced functionality) you will need to upgrade to their personal plan which is a whopping $16 per month.

Class on how to build an Uber-like application via Bubble:
Code-Free Startup

If you really sink your teeth in, you could probably have a prototype ready to go in 3-4 months at a total cost of around $100 (and a few hundred man hours of learning and building). We are not talking $60k or $30k here, just $100 and some elbow grease. If you are really enthused about this idea, THERE IS REALLY NO EXCUSE FOR NOT STARTING ON IT RIGHT NOW. Below are some additional benefits of this approach vs outsourcing.

1. You are investing in yourself, not in some throwaway prototype
   1. As you put your idea out into the marketplace, you will be able to react and adapt your product to the market in such a way that you continue to add more value
   2. Regardless of the outcome, you will be equipped with a new skill and ready to build and test most ideas that come your way
2. You keep the product knowledge in house and can better transfer it to others in the future
   1. If you outsource your prototype, you will either be dependent on using the same contractors to continuously build new features for your product or you will have to pay for new folks to try and reverse engineer what was already built so they can understand it and try to add on to the foundation in a sustainable way (often times this leads to a total rebuild)
   2. You will know more about the technical challenges your product/application faces and can better interact with customers and lead technology resources in the future
3. It will be much easier to attract a good technical cofounder/CTO if you can show them that you had the determination and chutzpah to build a prototype of the idea by yourself

If you do decide to go down this path, I'm happy to point you towards some additional resources that helped me along the way.

 

[minivanman]

You have something that needs to be done that Thumbtack doesn't offer the service? Hell, they comb your hair, replace the air in your tires, fix your a/c and walk your dog.... what else needs done that they don't offer? About the only thing they don't do is wipe your (*) but you can go to care.com for that. lol

 

[Chris25]

Well even Uber had to start somehow. The first versions of all popular apps & websites are basic. It's later on they start growing, they get investors and blow up.

 

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[wade1mil]

Not sure what you meant by too ambitious. Is that a thing?

Only when you believe it is.

 

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[Nigel B]

The one problem with the local market approach is that any marketplace app. is almost impossible to protect as there is no core IP. The value as noted by others comes from the participation of the two parties - so there is a major need to create critical mass as early as possible.

These businesses are one of the few where it makes more sense to get investor involvement as soon as practical in order to ensure the copycats cannot keep up with your growth.

BTW: I know you can see the value of your idea - but almost every inventor believes their invention is essential to the world - how much validation have you done / can you do before pouring money into development but more importantly the necessary marketing effort to kickstart a marketplace (not a trivial endeavor by any stretch of the imagination).

 

[Arnoho]

As a software engineer I'll give my two cents here. First let's correct the facts, yes App store (Apple) and Play store (Google) do take 30% of purchases that are made via their service. But this affect only virtual purchases (coins in games etc.). Like Spotify (and uber) you don't have to give 30% away if you are giving real value for customers.

Making software is time consuming but if you are able to find people who know how to code (or atleast is very interested of topic... How about yourself?) then it won't be so expensive. Get your app to App and Play stores costs around 150usd/year and servers costs (depending what you need?) are around 0-20usd/month at the begin. Of course when you get more people to use your app then the server expenses will rise little but then you probably already have paying customers. So in the begin it is not that expensive only thing really cost is the time of developer.

I have been taking part of dozens of great and awesome startup projects (being hired as a developer) and what I have notice is that the most of the time idea is excellent but the customer try too much. They want everything which usually make the price go up and eventually they realise that app is not even finished once they have spent all the money. So don't try too much at the begin. Remember: keep it simple.

If you have any questions or you want maybe bounce the idea as technical spec you can always send me a message.

 

[todonelist]

Well, I have two ideas for, dare I say, "Uber" like app services.

On-demand services that cut out wait times and standard business hours and make things a lot more convenient for the consumer. Both ideas sprouted from thinking about my own needs that aren't currently offered in the marketplace.

I read somewhere it would take around $30k to make an "Uber" like app. Is that accurate?

If I wanted to go at these two ideas head on, what would I be getting myself into? What would be the best way to get the ball rolling?

Find $60k* and pay a developer to create the apps? Think it's possible to find a developer to partner and create the apps in exchange for part ownership? Anyone know how long it would take to get an "Uber like" app done and ready for market? Is this a dumb question?

 

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[todonelist]

I think you’re asking the wrong question. Building a Uber-like app and back-end isn’t that hard for any reasonably competent developer. Scaling it massively is harder, but a luxury problem.

The thing is uber is a marketplace. There are service providers and users.

The issue with these services is the chicken and egg problem. You need both sides of the marketplace to make it useful. Not enough drivers and no one will use it. Not enough users and no one will be a driver.

So how are you going to solve that problem? Getting critical mass? Technology and “apps” are the easy bit here.

Really? Ok. Well, that makes me feel a bit better. As a compelete non-techy, the thought of creating the app seems extremely hard and complicated. But again, that may just be because I'm not a developer and don't know how to code to save my life.

As far as the issue with service providers and users. I definitely put some thought into it and I just figured the standard FB/IG ads, Youtube Ads and any other ad channels that would make sense. I do wonder what would be the best way to start. I assume it would be by "hiring" the service providers first and then bringing in the users. I would imagine this would have to be very quick, right? I mean, it would be weird to be signing service providers up for 1+ months with zero users.

All in all, I think the services are SO useful and convenient that it would spread fairly easily through word of mouth after deploying an effective advertising strategy. I know for a fact that many people would love the convenience of both services but it is definitely intimidating thinking about HOW to recruit service providers and users quickly so neither of them get on the app and find that it's ghost town.

Maybe it would be best to start recruiting in one particular area/city to make it easier to grow?

 

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

Maybe it would be best to start recruiting in one particular area/city to make it easier to grow?

I know for sure this is/was Uber's approach at least for some places.

As a previous affiliate marketer I use to deliver quite some leads for Uber and they would allow only targeting in e.g. 'Sydney, Australia' for a specific campaign.

I also believe this is the approach in these kind of peer to peer platforms.

Good luck with your project!

 

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[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

How did the compensation work? They paid out $ for a driver(or rider?) that signed up through your link?

I think they might still run very few campaigns, not sure.

They paid differently for cities and countries, but I remember Sydney I believe was $5 for every LEAD, which is quite high considering their brand and conversion rate.

Needless to say it was a money machine for the period that they bought leads in big volume.

But they were looking very thoroughly at the leads you generated, in order to assure the quality was good, so you had to deliver proper leads of course.

It was interesting and a good way to learn how you would market a product like this.

I believe the $5 leads were for driver leads, but they also gathered customers with affiliate marketing and the payouts were also quite high for that, but I don't remember specifics..

 

[todonelist]

I think they might still run very few campaigns, not sure.

They paid differently for cities and countries, but I remember Sydney I believe was $5 for every LEAD, which is quite high considering their brand and conversion rate.

Needless to say it was a money machine for the period that they bought leads in big volume.

But they were looking very thoroughly at the leads you generated, in order to assure the quality was good, so you had to deliver proper leads of course.

It was interesting and a good way to learn how you would market a product like this.

I believe the $5 leads were for driver leads, but they also gathered customers with affiliate marketing and the payouts were also quite high for that, but I don't remember specifics..

Thanks a lot, didn't think about using affiliates to help grow, this helps.

Well even Uber had to start somehow. The first versions of all popular apps & websites are basic. It's later on they start growing, they get investors and blow up.

Not sure what you meant by too ambitious. Is that a thing?

Well, I guess the thought of it makes me feel kinda overwhelmed because I have zero tech/coding experience and not much knowledge on the business of building apps and such - in which I also know I can outsource that stuff but I just got this instant "in over my head" feeling when I first got the idea. When I asked if it was "too ambitious" of an idea, I guess I was just talking unconsciously from my deeply conditioned limited mindset.

 

[todonelist]

You should definitely try to get a copy of Brad Stone’s book ‘the upstarts’

It’s about how Uber and Airbnb started, and broadly how the scaled.

Will probably answer many questions!

Got it thanks!!

 

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[todonelist]

There are other sites besides Thumbtack.... better do your homework before you invest.

Will do, though I am not too concerned about being first to market, I just think I could create a better option.

 

[AdamMaxum]

FWIW building an app does cost a lot of money and time. Please make sure your idea is valid and that you’re not expecting to make money anytime soon. There are a lot of cases where you spend time and money to build the app and nothing happens.

If it’s possible to test or even offer this service via a website instead of an app try that first as it will cost much less. I would test a couple markets with landing page offering your service/idea and seeing if anyone bites. Test and verify the need and desire before you invest in an app.

Also app stores take a 30% cut of all revenue you generate. Most people don’t know that.

 

[Brian Fleig]

There is an app in my area similar to uber doing snow plowing and lawn mowing, I think it's called plowz and mowz. Yup found it: https://www.plowzandmowz.com/
Anyway, for what it's worth, they setup a web site listing features a year before it was available. At oleast it wasn't available to me for a year (give or take). By the same token Uber and Lyft were taking applications for drivers in my area More than a year before it was even legal where I live which is central NY. That's the approach I would take before even starting the actual app build. If you're afraid of disenfranchising future users with a long wait time then advertise it in an area you have no interest in to get your proof of concept. Start collecting email addresses for both sides of the service.

 

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[todonelist]

Only when you believe it is.

That makes sense. This is by far the biggest/outside my comfort zone idea I've had so far so it's a bit intimidating. Hearing you guys' outlook/mindset is certainly helping me get over the initial doubt!

 

[Davejemmolly]

Are you talking about actually being competition to Uber, or using that on demand / two sided network concept for something else?

 

[DVU]

Find someone that will code the app for you in exchange for equity

 

[Davejemmolly]

You should definitely try to get a copy of Brad Stone’s book ‘the upstarts’

It’s about how Uber and Airbnb started, and broadly how the scaled.

Will probably answer many questions!

 

[ManlyMansNegator]

I won't be competing with Uber, it's a completely different service based business that consumers would be ordering, not ridesharing or meal delivery.


You could possibly get it from thumbtack but I think it'd work if I just niched it down to each idea instead of a huge marketplace of services. First time hearing about thumbtack btw.

Well , it will be hard but that is the point.

Just do not give up and the difficulty will transform into happiness.

 

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[ManlyMansNegator]

Right, thanks for the push! I'll be looking for developers interested in partnering up. Funny thing is, I recently ran into a guy with coding experience but he was trying to recruit me into Amway. He was really in DEEP and probably wouldn't entertain any other biz opps other than the promising Amway comp plan.

You could probs build the skeleton version then ask for an experienced coder to help visually design your app.

 

[Nigel B]

That makes sense. This is by far the biggest/outside my comfort zone idea I've had so far so it's a bit intimidating. Hearing you guys' outlook/mindset is certainly helping me get over the initial doubt!

Richard Branson - "If your dreams don't scare you, they are too small".

 

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[todonelist]

You could probs build the skeleton version then ask for an experienced coder to help visually design your app.

By skeleton version, do you mean paper and pen Or some kind of prototype build of the actual app?

Richard Branson - "If your dreams don't scare you, they are too small".

The one problem with the local market approach is that any marketplace app. is almost impossible to protect as there is no core IP. The value as noted by others comes from the participation of the two parties - so there is a major need to create critical mass as early as possible.

These businesses are one of the few where it makes more sense to get investor involvement as soon as practical in order to ensure the copycats cannot keep up with your growth.

BTW: I know you can see the value of your idea - but almost every inventor believes their invention is essential to the world - how much validation have you done / can you do before pouring money into development but more importantly the necessary marketing effort to kickstart a marketplace (not a trivial endeavor by any stretch of the imagination).

Love that quote. My business endeavors so far clearly hasn't been big enough, because I've never had this feeling before. CPA Marketing, T-Shirts, Affiliate Marketing, Info products etc - none of them were super big projects at all. This on the other hand is 10X more ambitious than those other businesses.

Yes, other than the costs of developing the apps and hoping I can find a developer to partner with for equity instead of digging in my pocket, my 2nd worry is the part where it's time to get consumers and service providers signing up at a fast rate. I feel a bit better by that thought when I think about only launching it in Atlanta first and hopefully having it blow up here before spreading elsewhere.

I've shared my idea with a couple friends and a few riders(Uber) and they all thought it was a great idea. I know this isn't the most reliable data but they all seemed quite enthusiastic about it, so unless they were really good at pretending, I don't think their approval was forced or disingenuous. Is there a better way to confirm other than asking friends and random strangers?

 

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[todonelist]

I felt the exact same way when I was first starting my company. I am also a non-technical person, so the idea of learning how to code from scratch in order to build an app felt like an insurmountable task. It seemed like it would take far too much time before I'd be able to test the idea on real customers (I was thinking years vs months).

So, then I did some more extensive research on outsourcing. It quickly became apparent that even for offshore resources I would be paying a decent chunk of change just to build a "prototype" and would have to pay-up again for every improvement or tweak thereafter. When creating a technology company, the ability to iterate quickly based on customer behavior/feedback is essential. As good as the idea might be, chances are very slim that you hit the nail on the head with your first attempt at the app.

I was at an impasse. Without a technical co-founder to help, I was floundering between a bad option and a worse one. That was until I stumbled upon www.Bubble.is .

Just to be clear, I realize this is going to sound like a marketing pitch for bubble, but I have no affiliation with the company. I am just a grateful user that was able to overcome a huge hurdle by using their software.

Bubble is a visual programming software that allows non-technical people to roll up their sleeves and learn how to build an application very quickly and very inexpensively. Now it's not the best tool to use if you are trying to come up with a groundbreaking new virtual reality video game, but it is very good for deploying simple technology in a novel way. Your "uber-like" idea is not new, cutting edge technology, it is relatively simple to build with existing tools. The harder part will be finding product market fit, and creating sufficient market liquidity in a two-sided marketplace.

If I were you, I would first do some more market research to make sure that your product truly does serve a new need/niche. If you are still convinced that there is an unfulfilled market demand, the below course (again no affiliation) can help you learn the building blocks for creating Uber-like functionality. It's like $50 per month to sign up for the MVP membership and you should be able to cruise through that class and even a few others in one month's time. Then you can cancel your membership before month 2 starts. Bubble itself is free to use so you can play around with the technology and begin building your app at no cost (the only drawback is you get a bubble branded footer on your website). Then when you really want to get serious (add in more advanced functionality) you will need to upgrade to their personal plan which is a whopping $16 per month.

Class on how to build an Uber-like application via Bubble:
Code-Free Startup

If you really sink your teeth in, you could probably have a prototype ready to go in 3-4 months at a total cost of around $100 (and a few hundred man hours of learning and building). We are not talking $60k or $30k here, just $100 and some elbow grease. If you are really enthused about this idea, THERE IS REALLY NO EXCUSE FOR NOT STARTING ON IT RIGHT NOW. Below are some additional benefits of this approach vs outsourcing.

1. You are investing in yourself, not in some throwaway prototype
   1. As you put your idea out into the marketplace, you will be able to react and adapt your product to the market in such a way that you continue to add more value
   2. Regardless of the outcome, you will be equipped with a new skill and ready to build and test most ideas that come your way
2. You keep the product knowledge in house and can better transfer it to others in the future
   1. If you outsource your prototype, you will either be dependent on using the same contractors to continuously build new features for your product or you will have to pay for new folks to try and reverse engineer what was already built so they can understand it and try to add on to the foundation in a sustainable way (often times this leads to a total rebuild)
   2. You will know more about the technical challenges your product/application faces and can better interact with customers and lead technology resources in the future
3. It will be much easier to attract a good technical cofounder/CTO if you can show them that you had the determination and chutzpah to build a prototype of the idea by yourself

If you do decide to go down this path, I'm happy to point you towards some additional resources that helped me along the way.

Incredible. Thanks so much for taking the time to give such detailed feedback and suggestions. This inspired me a lot to make it happen! I will definitely check out Bubble. Using that and taking the course to do it myself sounds like a ideal plan, especially if I can't find a developer to work on it for equity.

I'm on it. Thanks again, tons!!

 

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[Tommo]

Don't get a partner, pay a freelancer if you believe in the idea.
Good luck and always return here for advice. You sound like a good kid and that isn't meant condescendially fo for it

 

[todonelist]

I know for sure this is/was Uber's approach at least for some places.

As a previous affiliate marketer I use to deliver quite some leads for Uber and they would allow only targeting in e.g. 'Sydney, Australia' for a specific campaign.

I also believe this is the approach in these kind of peer to peer platforms.

Good luck with your project!

Thanks!! I figured that would make it seem like a more manageable "bite" of a huge pie. I'm based in Atlanta, GA so I assume it'd be good to start here. You were an early Uber affiliate? Cool! How did the compensation work? They paid out $ for a driver(or rider?) that signed up through your link?

 

[ManlyMansNegator]

Any key skew factors?

 

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[todonelist]

Are you talking about actually being competition to Uber, or using that on demand / two sided network concept for something else?

No not Uber/Lyft competition. It's using the same on-demand, tap-of-a-button concept but for different services.