Can you give me feedback on my idea?
My idea is based around the fact that online directories like Yelp and Yell have not really changed in years and their advertising model truly sucks for those that don't have a website or can't operate their own website. It's ripe for disruption.
That's why I am thinking of creating the next generation of the online directory for local businesses.
We provide all your basic marketing + social media growth + your local listing for a flat low fee and monthly a maintenance fee.
What do you think guys?
P.S. Remember is only for businesses who serve consumers not other businesses. Its in the B2C category.
EDIT: The problem i am trying to solve is 2 things marketing is cost prohibitive to small business and most business owners are not techinical / have the time for maintaining a website.
What's the problem you're solving?
see my edit
That is an extremely broad statement about the category of "small business." You need to become much more niche than that.
I wouldn’t charge the flat fee. I would raise the price for the monthly fee though.
I like the idea a lot and have a business that started with the idea of doing the same for a niche of the restaurant market. The problem you'll find is acquiring customers. The are hard to target for automated advertising(because the target is so broad and because generally they aren't searching for what you are selling because they don't know it exists) so it's a case of building a list and doing 1 to 1 sales for it all which we couldn't make work on the ROI front but you might have better luck with.
That sounds like an agency. I can't say I see the disruption there.
Not sure I follow. This might be because I simply do not own a local business and therefore do not see the problem this idea is solving.
Is the problem that local business don't have websites and are undiscoverable?
Is the problem that local businesses can easily build a landing page with existing tools, but keeping it up to date is hard?
Is the problem that local businesses have a website and are listed on Yelp, but the advertising model sucks (sorry, still don't understand why this is relevant to said hypothetical local business)?
I recently read this great article on positioning that might be helpful here: http://firstround.com/review/Positioning-Your-Startup-is-Vital-Heres-How-to-Do-It-Right/
Try filling this out:
For (target customer)
Who (statement of need or opportunity),
(Product name) is a (product category)
That (statement of key benefit).
Unlike (competing alternative)
(Product name)(statement of primary differentiation).
Interesting idea.
Consolidating marketing services (social media management) and listing/reviews, for small businesses?
Sort of like a product-service bundle?
yes
Do you know if restaurants w/o web pages or social presence are impacted by this? I'd be curious, having helped out in the restaurant industry in the past, the places (in my experience) that don't have a digital presence do so because of cost, since margins are so low in the industry as it is. I'd be curious if you can find a flat fee that works for them, but is sustainable for you.
How many restaurant or small biz owners have you chatted with to discover this opportunity?
Hey Andrew,
What's your past experience with restaurant's owners?
My wife is a trained chef and helped start up a few restaurants down in Orlando, and we spent some time helping out friends with food trucks. Many of our friends are restaurant owners and chefs, so we get some insider information to how some of them think.
Why do you think some of them don't have up to date websites and a social medial presence?
In the case of the restaurants Rachel worked at, they were a small team that worked from 11am to 3am daily, all that time either in the kitchen prepping, cooking, serving, or cleaning. There was no contest: social media or web presence just wasn't a priority, and it didn't negatively impact their business. It just wasn't a pain point for them.
Very interesting, successful restaurants don’t need more clients, they are max out, I understand that.
How about restaurants that are clearly struggling? Web technologies should be able to help them, right? What’s the excuse there?
Fortunately, I don't have much experience with struggling restaurants. I'd suggest finding a few that you think are struggling, and chatting directly with the owners to understand their thought process.
From my head, though, if I'm struggling, I'm going to be spending my time/money on solutions to why I'm struggling. It could be food, location, decor, reputation, etc. I don't see that NOT having a web presence would cause me to struggle. Again, though, I'm not the owner of a struggling restaurant, so you really shouldn't take anything I say about them at face value.
I'd definitely try to get some conversations set up, and remember to have your questions meet the criteria of the Mom Test. There are certainly enough struggling restaurants out there, I'd think you could get convos with five or so!