Hello everybody!
This is my first post in the forum, so I should introduce myself first.
I am from Libya, and now I am based in the UK. In August 2020 I read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted book while studying for my master’s degree in Urban Planning, and my mindset changed ever since. I felt that I’m wasting my time by pursuing those degrees which will eventually lead me to a SCRIPTED life. So then I joined the forum and start reading different threads and got hooked on web design. @Fox and the other guys’ stories in this forum were so inspiring. Then I immediately started consuming courses about WordPress and copywriting on YouTube & Udemy and now I feel I am ready to start my journey.
The reason that spurred me to take web design as a business model is the fact that over 95% of businesses in my country (Libya) do not own a website, which makes it a very good opportunity to add value to the market with almost zero competition. But I believe that most of those businesses are not interested in having a website, and they think a FB page is more than enough for them. I recently contacted two of my friends who own small construction companies and I offered them free websites, they welcomed the idea at first, but after I told them they have to pay $10/month for web hosting & domain services they stopped replying to my messages. Why pay monthly recurring fees–even though small–while I get most of my clients from a free FB page? That’s how they think.
I am focusing on the Libyan market at the beginning of my journey because first; I feel that the market is hungry for this kind of service. Imagine that even big and reputable hospitals, private clinics, football clubs, etc. do not own a website. Second, what motivates me more is the scarcity of websites that offer services to people, like property marketplace websites or e-commerce marketplace websites. There is only one website in the country that offers this kind of service and it is not specialized in one niche–it’s general. So I am thinking of having my own web marketplace services that specialize in one niche for real estate or cars or freelancing, etc. Third, there is no competition in my country in this field and I want to take advantage of that.
However, I think there will be a huge challenge ahead of me as the mentality of business owners — as well as customers — who live in a third country is totally different from those who live in Europe or the US. Most of the businesses get their clients from either FB or through the word of mouth. Also, the overwhelming majority of Libyans exist on FB and very few use Google when they want to look for a service/product.
What are your recommendations about this? Do you think it is a viable idea to start a web design business in a Third-World country that is yet to recognize the value of websites for businesses? Do you think I should persist on it and be patient and get ready for the right opportunity when e-commerce and business websites start to have their place in the country?
I really appreciate your advice.
Cheers,
Omar
This is my first post in the forum, so I should introduce myself first.
I am from Libya, and now I am based in the UK. In August 2020 I read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted book while studying for my master’s degree in Urban Planning, and my mindset changed ever since. I felt that I’m wasting my time by pursuing those degrees which will eventually lead me to a SCRIPTED life. So then I joined the forum and start reading different threads and got hooked on web design. @Fox and the other guys’ stories in this forum were so inspiring. Then I immediately started consuming courses about WordPress and copywriting on YouTube & Udemy and now I feel I am ready to start my journey.
The reason that spurred me to take web design as a business model is the fact that over 95% of businesses in my country (Libya) do not own a website, which makes it a very good opportunity to add value to the market with almost zero competition. But I believe that most of those businesses are not interested in having a website, and they think a FB page is more than enough for them. I recently contacted two of my friends who own small construction companies and I offered them free websites, they welcomed the idea at first, but after I told them they have to pay $10/month for web hosting & domain services they stopped replying to my messages. Why pay monthly recurring fees–even though small–while I get most of my clients from a free FB page? That’s how they think.
I am focusing on the Libyan market at the beginning of my journey because first; I feel that the market is hungry for this kind of service. Imagine that even big and reputable hospitals, private clinics, football clubs, etc. do not own a website. Second, what motivates me more is the scarcity of websites that offer services to people, like property marketplace websites or e-commerce marketplace websites. There is only one website in the country that offers this kind of service and it is not specialized in one niche–it’s general. So I am thinking of having my own web marketplace services that specialize in one niche for real estate or cars or freelancing, etc. Third, there is no competition in my country in this field and I want to take advantage of that.
However, I think there will be a huge challenge ahead of me as the mentality of business owners — as well as customers — who live in a third country is totally different from those who live in Europe or the US. Most of the businesses get their clients from either FB or through the word of mouth. Also, the overwhelming majority of Libyans exist on FB and very few use Google when they want to look for a service/product.
What are your recommendations about this? Do you think it is a viable idea to start a web design business in a Third-World country that is yet to recognize the value of websites for businesses? Do you think I should persist on it and be patient and get ready for the right opportunity when e-commerce and business websites start to have their place in the country?
I really appreciate your advice.
Cheers,
Omar
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