Evening ladies and gents, lately I'm being haunted by a new idea and wouldn't mind to get some feedback from people who have successfully developed websites from scratch. I did look into several other threads and have seen the opinions regarding coding yourself vs outsourcing, but my dilemmas go beyond that.
Even though the task seems insurmountable right now and I am far from decied to go after this, I have to admit that I bought 2 domains names that are directly linked to this idea. I just couldn't resist, I'd hate for someone else to scoop them eventually.
The idea for a new website.
For months I have been generating ideas that are never really good, everything that I thought of seemed to be already done and taken care of. But when I tried to find an online calculator/ranker for something that I needed and I didn't find anything, I was so surprised. I found an obvious need that is just screaming for an application. I'll try to give you as much detail without revealing the actual idea.
Think like an insurance calculator, where you need to give all kinds of information and then the software will connect to other databases, retrieve the information and the algorithm will rank the relevant deals for you. Only more complex, because the insurance calculator looks at only one parameter, while mine will look at at least 3.
The service will be free, and the monetization will come through traffic, which will lead to affiliate revenue from linking the deals to the relevant companies.
The implementation
My coding knowledge is limited to counting how many As or Cs are in a sentence, so I'd need someone else to code this for me:
A form that will take anywhere between 10-20 data points, use some of the data to connect with other websites' API to calculate costs for at least 3 of these points and then do some math subtracting/adding all the data points and giving you a yes/no answer with an affiliate link to buy.
I would have to hire either a freelancer or an agency. Calculating the cost troubles me, as I wouldn't be surprised if we are talking about 10,000 $ cost of implementation. I have no idea how to get a quote for a website but maybe:
I should note that the website should have global reach, even if initially it would be developed for the US. It should take into account different law regulations and costs in each country much of which would have to be updated manually.
Validation
The need that the website will address is so obvious that I am astonished that there is NO competition out there yet. Potentially due to the incredibly high barrier of entry? This brings me to the validation step, that is, I am confident that the need is so real that there is no need for validation. At the same time I have learned that my opinion means s**t and I need to ask the market and get real data. I could potentiall validate it by throwing a super simple implementation of the site online just to see how many visitors will come or how I will rank for the relevant keywords. My concern with this however is that it would give away the idea and someone else could start working on it right away, someone with either the skills or with the means to outsource the skills.
I am familiar with the concept that ideas mean s**t and it's the execution that counts, but I am not entirely convinced. What stops an experienced e-businessman who looks at the initial execution of my idea and realizes its potential for profit and growth, from just throwing a bunch of money to the best designers and programmers resulting in a working website before me? A guy with more money, more experience, connections and the track record of having done something similar could surely beat me to the end result.
The limitations:
I work 50 hours per week
Options:
Options:
Appreciate anyone who made it to the end of this book-like post.
Specific questions I am struggling with:
I'd love to get your opinion! Cheers
Even though the task seems insurmountable right now and I am far from decied to go after this, I have to admit that I bought 2 domains names that are directly linked to this idea. I just couldn't resist, I'd hate for someone else to scoop them eventually.
The idea for a new website.
For months I have been generating ideas that are never really good, everything that I thought of seemed to be already done and taken care of. But when I tried to find an online calculator/ranker for something that I needed and I didn't find anything, I was so surprised. I found an obvious need that is just screaming for an application. I'll try to give you as much detail without revealing the actual idea.
Think like an insurance calculator, where you need to give all kinds of information and then the software will connect to other databases, retrieve the information and the algorithm will rank the relevant deals for you. Only more complex, because the insurance calculator looks at only one parameter, while mine will look at at least 3.
The service will be free, and the monetization will come through traffic, which will lead to affiliate revenue from linking the deals to the relevant companies.
The implementation
My coding knowledge is limited to counting how many As or Cs are in a sentence, so I'd need someone else to code this for me:
A form that will take anywhere between 10-20 data points, use some of the data to connect with other websites' API to calculate costs for at least 3 of these points and then do some math subtracting/adding all the data points and giving you a yes/no answer with an affiliate link to buy.
I would have to hire either a freelancer or an agency. Calculating the cost troubles me, as I wouldn't be surprised if we are talking about 10,000 $ cost of implementation. I have no idea how to get a quote for a website but maybe:
- Make a rough design of a working website myself and break it down to simple tasks
- Search for relevant software/libraries that can tackle one task at a time.
- Make a list and contact a developer/agency to get a quote for assembling such software and writing any code that doesn't exist already.
I should note that the website should have global reach, even if initially it would be developed for the US. It should take into account different law regulations and costs in each country much of which would have to be updated manually.
Validation
The need that the website will address is so obvious that I am astonished that there is NO competition out there yet. Potentially due to the incredibly high barrier of entry? This brings me to the validation step, that is, I am confident that the need is so real that there is no need for validation. At the same time I have learned that my opinion means s**t and I need to ask the market and get real data. I could potentiall validate it by throwing a super simple implementation of the site online just to see how many visitors will come or how I will rank for the relevant keywords. My concern with this however is that it would give away the idea and someone else could start working on it right away, someone with either the skills or with the means to outsource the skills.
I am familiar with the concept that ideas mean s**t and it's the execution that counts, but I am not entirely convinced. What stops an experienced e-businessman who looks at the initial execution of my idea and realizes its potential for profit and growth, from just throwing a bunch of money to the best designers and programmers resulting in a working website before me? A guy with more money, more experience, connections and the track record of having done something similar could surely beat me to the end result.
The limitations:
I work 50 hours per week
Options:
- Quitting and working on something that is not generating income yet is not possible, so I would have to work on this as a side project.
- Would working on a big website project on the side mean several years to implement or reach profitability?
- Pitch my idea to someone who want to partner, even though I am not fond of business partnerships.
Options:
- After finding out the required cost, save as much money as I can from my day job to invest in the project
- Raise outside capital - is this even possible with no track record or relevant skills but just an idea?
- Don't launch a full working website, but just the bare minimum version that could get traffic and then be pitched to an outsider to invest in it for growth (angel investors or even a kickstarter campaign)
Appreciate anyone who made it to the end of this book-like post.
Specific questions I am struggling with:
- How to get an estimate cost in order to decide if this is something doable or not?
- Am I just trying to reject this by creating obstacles where they don't exist so that I can avoid the uncomfortable situation and the hard work?
- Has anyone implemented a big website project working on the side and in a realistic timeframe?
- Can capital be raised with just an idea?
- Would it be ambition-crashing to abandon an idea that you think is fantastic but you also deem unattainable? I remember Napoleon Hill talking about how, if you don't act on the best idea that you subconsciously know could be your break, you are essentially suppressing any future ideas from coming forward.
I'd love to get your opinion! Cheers
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