Selling shovels time....virtual shovels?

[ZF Lee]

I'm sure you agree with me that it is a rarity that a brilliant individual comes up with the next big thing like the Model T or the PC.

But what we can do is not to get on the bandwagon of people that gain fortunes in the craze of the event (such as the apps and Internet gold rush), although it can be done. But we might not be able to stay too long and might have to sell the company to get out of the game before it goes bust. Nothing wrong about it, but Mark Zuckerberg did hold on to FB till it reached billion-dollar valuation. Now that's perseverance for you!

With millions rushing after the new gold, it should be logical to sell shovels to them. Selling to millions equal to millions in profits, after all. And those millions can be used to automate our businesses.

Easier said than done, but...

What I can see is that most shovels are actually becoming....virtual? Not existing, versatile, even requires less personnel.
AirBnb, Craigslist,....they don't really have large staff. Tech companies like Google and FB do require big staff, they are dealing with massive data storage. But the thing is the former companies don't require tangible assets. AirBnb don't physically own real estate, but they run the show on B&Bs. Grabcar didn't hire a fleet of taxis to begin with.

To provide such websites of connectivity, yet requiring lower specialised skill input from the founders (I'm sure the guys behind AirBnb weren't hoteliers to begin with, they made the site based on their own problems of rent), I see some issues to be settled before forming at least a minimum viable product.

1. Streamlined simple usage. No lags or crashes. Simple instructions. Those drag-and-drop programs offer some measure of that, but what if I do want to add more complicated features par customer feedback?
2. Multi-lingual. Not everyone understands English. Would I need a translater to provide multilingual systems? Or is there a program for it?
3. The sites that run Amazon, Ebay and others are largely user-input based, which means it depends on what society has to offer rather than the company itself (although the company runs the show). And that requires user info storage. Would I need internet security skills? Or could I outsource it, at the risk of certain confidentiality? I don't really hear about it much from most Internet books, so I'll have to inquire here.

I hope I can find some answers that can help me. I am looking into the Internet business because people are beginning to lust after faster services especially online. They even tire from usage of Internet giants like Ebay and Amazon. Heard lots of complaints on rule changes. Perhaps I could provide a similar alternative. After all, I'm an avid Internet user too. Thanks.

 

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[Ika]

Good points and ideas so far!
It is interesting to see that we understand "selling shovels" so differently.
I always understood it like this:
App-Market booms (Goldrush) -> sell programming software
Fiverr booms, everyone tries to freelance (Goldrush) -> Sell programms on how to be successfull on Fiverr
Real Estate booms (Goldrush) -> Sell Books on how to buy & sell RE

There is nothing wrong with Apps, Freelancing or Investing though

 

[LateStarter]

For some people it's about 'producing' for others it's about being the middle man. You're hitting on the latter (eg selling shovels) but there's also the former (manufacturing shovels).

In your examples it's all about putting yourself in the flow of money with the least amount of overhead (people and assets). Effectively in these spaces you're working only on margin. There's limited IP, usually no physical inventory and barriers to entry are also somewhat low. So you have to keep evolving with your market and keep creating more value to stay on top of your consumers while trying to build barriers for competitors.

And specifically to your points:

1) Yes. Lower the barriers of consumer entry to increase adoption. This is largely true of any business. But in the modern 'virtual' world, to use your words, this can be built, marketed, modified and refined faster and easier than before.

2) Multilingual is still a concern, but English is continuing to become the international language. In part this is due to the proliferation of the internet and the code base it uses. Still, there are several ways of translating languages in real time and more that are coming in the near future. I don't think language is as big a barrier as it once was.

3) Platforms are already investing in those storage needs and vertically integrating in many cases. Ever hear of AWS? To me, the real trend here is that these platforms are also extending their involvement in the entire buy/sell process in an attempt to become a complete end-to-end supplier. For instance, Amazon...started with books...now has AWS backend, acts as a payment processor, evaluating ditching UPS as a courier and integrating their own solution, competing with sellers in some categories now via Amazon's own labelled products and that looks like it's growing...etc.

In this online department store space, I'm waiting for another movement to catch up with it.

Open Source.

Right now Amazon has built a sufficient number of barriers to make competition difficult but as issues start to catch up with it, I foresee an opportunity.

Imagine an Alibaba/AliExpress type of platform but in open source and structured in a not-for-profit way. You could still provide all of the safe guards, features and scale efficiencies like Amazon but without the need to increase shareholder value every quarter. Both sides win. It could be like a global commerce trading floor that is completely transparent.

This could lay the ground work to integration with government agencies and completely automate the international import/export requirements because of known Trade Agreements and regulations. Select your product, Get an 'all-in quote', and Buy from anywhere in the world.

 

[mazo]

Perhaps I could provide a similar alternative. After all, I'm an avid Internet user too.

Well I would say you're certainly heading in the right direction. So can't see anything why you cannot achieve this.
Keep driving forward.

 

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[ZF Lee]

Well I would say you're certainly heading in the right direction. So can't see anything why you cannot achieve this.
Keep driving forward.

Yes, but I have to acquire the knowledge that the 99% won't dare to acquire, and the tools they don't know even exist.
I must say that work will be easier if we use better tools. I hope I can find some suggestions here on where I can find such tools to put together to build bigger things. But thanks for the encouragement!

 

[ZF Lee]

Good points and ideas so far!
It is interesting to see that we understand "selling shovels" so differently.
I always understood it like this:
App-Market booms (Goldrush) -> sell programming software
Fiverr booms, everyone tries to freelance (Goldrush) -> Sell programms on how to be successfull on Fiverr
Real Estate booms (Goldrush) -> Sell Books on how to buy & sell RE

There is nothing wrong with Apps, Freelancing or Investing though

It only gets wrong if we STAY there and continue to eke out a limiting Slowlane existence...but for the starting stages it's fun to poke about and see what new value to add

 

[devine]

Everything is a shovel in 2016.

 

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[ZF Lee]

For some people it's about 'producing' for others it's about being the middle man. You're hitting on the latter (eg selling shovels) but there's also the former (manufacturing shovels).

Maybe making and selling shovels would maximise impact then...

[/QUOTE] Imagine an Alibaba/AliExpress type of platform but in open source and structured in a not-for-profit way. You could still provide all of the safe guards, features and scale efficiencies like Amazon but without the need to increase shareholder value every quarter. Both sides win. It could be like a global commerce trading floor that is completely transparent.

This could lay the ground work to integration with government agencies and completely automate the international import/export requirements because of known Trade Agreements and regulations. Select your product, Get an 'all-in quote', and Buy from anywhere in the world.[/QUOTE]

And that's how billionaires are born, when they start providing for the needs of NATIONS. Jack Ma did it. Wallmart did it. Hard, but people did it.

Not-for-profit. The market will like it. It garners trust. Very good ideas indeed!

 

[ZF Lee]

Everything is a shovel in 2016.

Well, I guess I need to be more damnit resourceful then! But I have not seen a Fastlaner that formidable, able to utillise every scrap of knowledge and every stubborn employee as a dangerous Fastlane weapon...yet! Even MJ struggled about a bit before he made it. If I meet one, I shall need a new pair of pants.

 

[AllenCrawley]

For some people it's about 'producing' for others it's about being the middle man. You're hitting on the latter (eg selling shovels) but there's also the former (manufacturing shovels).

In your examples it's all about putting yourself in the flow of money with the least amount of overhead (people and assets). Effectively in these spaces you're working only on margin. There's limited IP, usually no physical inventory and barriers to entry are also somewhat low. So you have to keep evolving with your market and keep creating more value to stay on top of your consumers while trying to build barriers for competitors.

And specifically to your points:

1) Yes. Lower the barriers of consumer entry to increase adoption. This is largely true of any business. But in the modern 'virtual' world, to use your words, this can be built, marketed, modified and refined faster and easier than before.

2) Multilingual is still a concern, but English is continuing to become the international language. In part this is due to the proliferation of the internet and the code base it uses. Still, there are several ways of translating languages in real time and more that are coming in the near future. I don't think language is as big a barrier as it once was.

3) Platforms are already investing in those storage needs and vertically integrating in many cases. Ever hear of AWS? To me, the real trend here is that these platforms are also extending their involvement in the entire buy/sell process in an attempt to become a complete end-to-end supplier. For instance, Amazon...started with book...no has AWS backend, acts as a payment processor, evaluating ditching UPS as a courier and integrating their own solution, competing with sellers in some categories now via Amazon's own labelled products and that looks like it's growing...etc.

In this online department store space, I'm waiting for another movement to catch up with it.

Open Source.

Right now Amazon has built a sufficient number of barriers to make competition difficult but as issues start to catch up with it, I forsee an opportunity.

Imagine an Alibaba/AliExpress type of platform but in open source and structured in a not-for-profit way. You could still provide all of the safe guards, features and scale efficiencies like Amazon but without the need to increase shareholder value every quarter. Both sides win. It could be like a global commerce trading floor that is completely transparent.

This could lay the ground work to integration with government agencies and completely automate the international import/export requirements because of known Trade Agreements and regulations. Select your product, Get an 'all-in quote', and Buy from anywhere in the world.

Great post. Rep+

 

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[LateStarter]

Thanks for the Rep @AllenCrawley