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Promising Markets for a Startup Company
Konstantinos asks: "So far, I have worked as an IT manager in various projects, but I am fed up with someone else getting all the money out of my work. So, I want to do something on my own. Obviously, I don't want to take on the big guys as I will not have the resources or the time to be antagonistic, and I have to go after something totally different. I have made a small market research, but I don't want to risk my hard-earned money on something that is destined to flop. I had some ideas about niche markets that IT hasn't really touched, like agriculture. In your opinion, which are the most promising markets, for a one/two person startup company to try and tackle? I know that there is a risk in everything, and I understand that the IT business is under a global crisis, but I also know that there are some markets (esp. niche markets) that haven't had a significant hit in revenue due to the crisis. I would like to try and hit those markets. I am not afraid of work and I know that I can do the job and do it well, if only I find what it is! Thanks for any help."
1 ??????? 2 ??????? 3 Profit!
"Linux is a serious competitor"
- Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Microsoft Corp.
you're not ready to start your own business. there is a reason why entrepreneurs make more than the grunts. they come up with ideas that can make money _on their own_! and they have the planning skills to execute it.
besides, if any slashdotter had such an idea, why would they give it away on a public forum?
I'm an unemployed tech worker whos benefits are about to run out. I can find a job any where on this continent, so I've got to do something soon, or I'll be out on the street. I'm pretty smart and have some experience, and I want to make a million dollars working for myself. How do I do that?
So basically you want to start a company and make money, but you have no idea what to do or how to do it. So you want all of US to give you an idea?
Why should we do the work for you? I can't believe this kind of drivel passes muster these days.
"Moderate drinking can help prevent amputated limbs" -- Abigail Zuger, NYTimes, 12/31/02
Have you ever thought of designing accounting software? There are a lot of companies out there that have accounting software, but need better features. They would be willing to drop what they have in an instant, if you could provide that.
Have you ever thought of designing software that would help people do better market research? I don't know what would be needed, but it seems to me that there are too many workers fighting for the same jobs, and not enough workers filling other jobs. I realize that education plays a big part, but it's obvious that people aren't thinking hard enough about meeting demands.
testing out my trending skills
of a manager who is upset that other people are reaping the benefits of his work staggers the mind.
Read the local newspaper where state and local RFPs get published. Submit a low bid, win a contract and subcontract other techies at 50% of your billing rate if you need more people.
Don't worry about coming up with an original idea. Every niche has had somebody hocking computers and/or software at them before. Other areas like agriculture, don't need your services or don't have the money to pay you.
Also avoid evangelism. If the customer wants to build a data warehouse in access, warn them against it, then do it and bill it. Then bill them again to do it right. If they hate linux, don't use it -- the customer is always right.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
- Must have a memory card as primary source. Networking optional. Given the potential audience for the thing, it's must more likely that they will have access to a digital camera (such as an uncle who comes by on christmas to take pictures) than a network source (who wants a picture frame that ties up the phone line?)
- Simple battery source w/AC backup. Normally the thing should plug into the wall, like when it is standing up on the mantle. But you should be able eto take it down and sit it in your lap when people come over and you want to walk through it like an album.
- No syncing or USB. Why? Make it a straight player. Put the card in, play the pictures. Done. Change the card, change the pictures.
- The whole thing can be operated with three buttons, BACK, PAUSE/PLAY, and NEXT. Normally it runs in random slide show mode, unless you hit PAUSE to freeze the picture you like. You can then hit BACK/NEXT to move around like pages of an album. Press PAUSE/PLAY again to return to slide show mode.
- That's IT for options. Sure, you could add stuff like deleting pictures from the card, or adding captions, or doing random swipe transitions between pictures. But if it pushes the price point too high, no one will care. You could do all those things with a computer and THEN give the flash card to gramma to put on the mantle.
Get the price point down under $150 and you'd sell a million of em. Grammie won't necessarily buy one but Uncle Bill with the digital camera will get her one for Christmas, and he'll also get his wife one so that she can see the pictures in the living room instead of on the computer, and they'll send one to their boy Tommy off at college (who will load his up with porn and take it to classes when he is bored)...If you actually do it, send me a couple of free ones for Grammie and Uncle Bill.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
I think it's important to be diverse. Try both brick and mortar.
Best Windows Freeware
I've got this great idea for a company in a niche market that's small enough to make money, but too small for the big boys to bother coming after me... i've put all the work and research into finding it. but what the hell, you can have it... after all, you obviously really WANT it more than I do.
chump. go join the underpants gnomes, they could use someone like you, methinks.
In my very unscientific assessment, the following seem to be good IT sectors these days:
Anything healthcare related: research, hospitals, doctor offices, etc...
Food Industry: Restaurants, suppliers, etc...
Vice related items are always good in a down economy: alcohol, cigs, and whatever vices people may have.
Me? I'm planning on winning the lottery, so I'm not too worried.
Little story: when we were shopping for Christmas decorations I was appaled at the sorry state and poor quality of the goods available at various home improvement stores. Most of the joints online were just "Christmas" suppliers that 2 months ago were "Halloween" suppliers. It's hard to get at the companies who supply THEM,and if we could talk to them we could have probably gotten exactly what we needed instead of compromising, buying crap from Target.
There should be a forum where goods like that are rented, traded, and so is labor by contracters and designers. There should representation for residential and commercial products. For large jobs, people could make bids on packages by local contractors.
I don't think these kind of things are handled exclusively by one "market", and are often offshoots of hospitality, catering, appliance and home furnishing businesses.
These kind of things need to be brough together in some fashion so people can see all the options they have for doing elaborate rennovations or decorating for events.
Just an idea.
Black holes are where the Matrix raised SIGFPE
In this society, ideas are not able to be protected by intellectual property laws. That said, good ideas are still the most precious intellectual capital anyone here has.
:+)
And you want them for free?
Find yer own niche dangit!
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
Agriculture is becoming automated quickly, especially irrigation. However, it simply isn't complex enough, nor does it need to be, to require IT personel.
It's a very tough market to sell to. The best pitch I've seen was basically "you can use this system to control irrigation automatically based on soil moisture and temperature", which is pretty damned cool if you're a farmer, but only requires a pentium that can boot Win95, and even that is only because the interface was written in VB.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
But then I'd have to compete with you.
I forget what 8 was for.
So if you could function as a for-profit IT outsource to enough of your local NPO's who can't afford their own in-house IT you'd likely make good money and be a regular hero. There's no billions in it, but it might be a great gig.
So do some in-depth market research in this area and report back here. Cuz now you owe me that.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
Entrepreneurs are nothing but smart people who have the desire to do well for themselves.
Nothing in this article suggests that the poster is *not* this.
Fact is, anyone who ever had an inkling to start out on their own is an entrepreneur. Anyone who decides to stop working for 'the man' and actually tackle a new market, or try something new and exciting in face of the adversity - well, that's entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is not an elite club.
I'm sick up and fed of all these yuppy elite entrepreneur scum who think they're so godamned wonderful because they had some good idea
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
It's a "Jump To Conclusions" mat. You see, you have this mat, with different conclusions on it that you could jump to.
Sell the widows and go into South American zinc.
Stick Men
How, after all the well-researched, well-linked stories and 'askdots' I've had rejected, this absolute piece of garbage gets through.
Exactly how slow of a newsday does it have to be, when an "IT manager" with unspecified skills, if any, comes wagging the slashdot dog looking for business ideas?
Nothing is guaranteed. Great ideas often flop. Mediocre ideas sometimes become profitable.
> I am fed up with someone else getting all the money out of my work.
The reason they get "all the money" is (presumably) because they were the ones who risked their "hard-earned money" in the beginning.
but unfortunately the margins of this page are too small to contain it.
Seriously, why should anyone part with their money to pay you? Because (a) you know things they don't know or (b) are willing and able to do things they don't want to.
This means that if you are going to start a business you are most likely to have success with one based on your experience and knowledge, not some idea handed to you out of the blue. If you do something in your job, and have figured out how to do it better than most, then this would be a good thing to sell. There are exceptions of course; there may be some new surefire business schemes for the individual entrepreneur, but I sure as hell am not giving away any of my secrets.
Finally a word to the wise. Businesses run on their relationships. They way you get a bunch a work that becomes your dinner ticket and unassailable by competition is that you have customers that believe in you and like working with you. Therefore as a small businessman, your success depends more than anything else on your ability to deal with people, to inspire confidence and good feelings. If you don't envision stroking the customer as part of your job, then you should work for somebody else, probably as a large an outfit as you can find.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
First of all, I'm sickened by the responses.
/. readers?
... and I settled in the digital musical instrument industry, for which I'm quite qualified to work in, as well as extremely interested. I'm lucky to work in this business now - having founded my fair share of big Internet companies in the 90's, I'm glad to be out of that field and working in one I like ... a lot.
As a lifetime entrepreneur myself, I think this is actually an interesting article on slashdot - what *are* the new technology markets, in the opinion of
And don't say 'Portman dolls' or "land grabs in the Soviet Union"!
I personally asked this question myself (of myself) a few years ago and decided that one way to approach it is to look at any computer technology market in which Microsoft has not established a foothold
Microsoft don't have a synthesizer on the market (shudder), yet this industry (in which I work) is still very fresh and new, and expanding yearly.
Traditionally, musical-instrument manufacturing and design has been pretty resilient to the types of techniques that MS uses to dominate - well, what about doing something cool in this market?
Why this "MS"-slant to my evaluation? Well, since I practically grew up in the industry (wrote my first code at 8 years old back in '78), I've watched the MS juggernaut make its way, and I get a feeling that any tech industry in which MS *doesnt* have a presence, or intention, is a growth market. Thus, its ripe for entrepreneurs... by the time MS gets to it, it's usually fairly well established.
There's a lot of room for improvement in this industry right now.
You might also want to have a look at other markets along similar lines. I know, for example, that there's a fairly good potential for automated agriculture systems right now - agricultural markets are looking to get very high tech in the growth processes - maybe there's a way you can apply computer skills to these markets?
Embedded Linux systems monitoring and maintaining massive hydroponic farms efficiently and productively? Why not? If the product is good, it could sell very well - especially in foreign markets. (Don't mention the Netherlands, heh heh...)
In summary, what I would do is look at markets that are *not* being reviewed by the ever-hungry eyes and mouths of big corporations, yet which still traditionally generate income and revenue, and see if there is something in there you can apply your entrepreneurial skills.
Good luck, and remember: successful entrepreneurs are usually the ones who work hard in a field in which they are intensely personally interested.
Keep that in mind!
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I have made a small market research, but I don't want to risk my hard-earned money on something that is destined to flop.
/. to give him a full business plan or answer all his questions. A person starting a business needs to listen to everyone's ideas and keep the ones s/he thinks are useful. Posting this to Ask Slashdot was a wise thing to do.
Quite simple. If you know it's destined to flop, don't do it. Otherwise, and I know this sounds corny, but there's a speech Kirk gives in the episode "Return to Tomorrow" that I used in a high school project. I call it his "Risk, inc." speech. Rent or buy the video and watch it -- it's when they're debating doing a mind/body transfer. He is 100% right. Risk is our business. If you don't want to take a risk, then don't do it. Keep working for someone who has taken the risk.
I'm not trying to troll or be negative, but one of the reasons many of these people make so much is because they're willing to risk their money and go for broke.
If you are willing to take a risk (and I think you probably are -- just felt the first point should be addressed first), I can tell you part of what I've done, in the hope that it will help you.
I kept my eyes open for small things, looking for as many information sources as I could find, and looking for as many people that needed data as possible. Then I found people that could use data they did not know could be retreived by computer. I got the owner of a small business to back me by contracting to deliver a self-sufficient system to him if he underwrote the development cost. He paid a flat fee and loves the system he's getting. Now he's helping me find other people out of the area who can use the same service. Instead of opening an office and hiring a receptionist to answer the phones when I'm in the field, my backer was so excited about the project, he's handling my sales and stuff for a commission (which means I can keep working out of my house for years and don't need employees or an office). He makes more money, and I pay him less than I'd pay for the rent and employees.
In this particular case, the whole thing started from an offhand remark I made to this business owner's son, a long time friend. I forgot what I said, but it triggered an association in my friend's mind and suddenly he asked if I could access that information and provide it to them in reports and spreadsheets they could use. I said I could, and the deal was made.
There are also a lot of other benefits to this setup. I don't have to do any advertising. I'm dealing with data that only people in certain fields want, so I can't really advertise too widely. This also means my company keeps a VERY low profile, so many potential competitors never even hear about what I'm doing.
I know this is my case, but there are a few points I think can be generalized. 1) Look over all the possible services or products you can supply. 2) Look over ALL combinations and permutations (in my case, I found a way of combining several factors nobody had combined before). 3) Look over all potential clients, and look over all combinations and permutations of clients, products, and services. 4) Try to find a service that will help potential clients make a lot of money, but which they didn't know existed. 5) Don't give away secrets, but tell EVERYONE about your skills and background. These are your assests, and you need to advertise them. Just like my comment to my friend sparked something that became a huge salary for me, you don't know when someone will need a service you can supply. 6) Once you're going, try to keep a low profile and see if you can focus any advertising tightly on people who can use your services. Advertising can be seen by everybody, including programmers or other IT people who can work faster than you or have more resources than you.
Good luck!
Oh, and I do have to add I was disappointed with the majority of replies so far. Many were mocking the poster, as if he expected
Great post! I think I'll print this one out and save a copy to re-read when/if I decide to do something more enterprising.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
I live in Wichita, KS. There are a lot of small to medium sized business here. But, there aren't any sources of consultants for that market. Small businesses here are starving for IT help. I make quite a bit of $ catering to to them (on the side).
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
I think there is a vast untapped market for "B2B portals." Basically, you create a World-Wide-Web page that businesses will want to use as their "start page" (sometimes called a "home page") on the Internet. This page connects together businesses with great links and technologies like XML! With the new top-level-domains, you can create an Internet name that's memorable and lasting. For instance, ULTIMATEB2BPORTAL.BIZ is available right now!!
The only thing is, portal sites usually need more than two people (usually 20 or 30) to run them. You guys had better get ready to work hard!
1) A lot of businesses that are started are never more than a job where you work for yourself. Make sure you have real expectations. Some businesses become mega businesses, just like some basketball players become NBA stars. But be realistic. Running a small businesses is more like a job than it is like being a pro basketball player. (You're going to work very hard and not see the riches for a long time, if ever. That's small business.)
2) No idea, no matter how great, has made someone wealthy on it's own. The determining factor is not the idea, but the hardwork and the commitment to winning. That sounds lame, but when you eat, sleep, dream, and breath your small business goals, you will realize them. New markets are very very hard to create. Try sticking to something standard.
3) I once hear someone say something to the affect, "It's easy to be a millionare today in America. There are manufacturers, and there are customers. Put yourself somewhere in between." I forget who it was, but he was pretty wealthy from doing just that.
4) Most small businesses you can start for very cheap and work it while you are working. At first when you don't have a lot of money but some extra time, focus on serviced based businesses. They require 0 financial investment. Use word of mouth, and you'll be servicing for money very soon.
5) If you want to be wealthy, very quickly turn your serviced based business into one of buying and selling. When you buy and sell, your profit is determined by how cheaply you can buy something and how inflated you can sell it. When you run a service based business, your profit is determined by how much service you can do. I'd rather be wealthy with lots of free time than wealthy working 80 hours per week. (Hint, buying labor to do service, and then selling the service is still buying and selling. But, employees suck. Avoid them until you have no other growth choices.)
6) Don't go into business with a partner. They'll want to do it their way. You're better off working alone. If you insist on doing a partnership, organize yourself in such a way that they are running their own business and you are running your own business, and you work togethor for a common goal. For example, if you know someone who can get cheap computers, buy them from him where he makes part of the profit, and on your own profit, and then sell the product. This way, he isn't telling you what to do, visa versa. And when he gets tired of working so hard, and he wants to quit to go play video games, you can replace him with another supplier without messing up your business. You avoide money problems too.
7) Most businesses don't require a huge amount of money investment. I would never spend more than $5000 in a business venture. You will fuck up your first 10 businesses, and it would suck to loose more than that. In fact, I would start your first 5 with no more than $100. You can run most businesses out of your garage with a phone, some business cards, and word of mouth.
8) Don't be afraid to charge what the successful business people are charging. If the standard rate for server work in your area is $125 an hour, charge $125 an hour. $125 an hour is what other business people have determed it takes to make doing that job worthwhile. Rely on their experience. Customers donot always pick the lowest rate person. They pick who they know and will pay a premium for personal assistance.
9) There is big money to be made in selling used stuff. Why do you think there are so many used car shops around? Buy low, sell high.
10) Seek and follow the advice of those who are doing the business you want to run. Don't be so cocky to think that you were born with the knowledge to do everything. Find someone who is doing well, and take their advice. It is priceless information.
This isn't the sig you are looking for... Carry on...
Finally, this co-worker was hired to convert the COBOL program into a modern client-server program using an SQL database. What she discovered was that there was an integer variable, "BIGDELAY" at the top of the program -- and there were delay loops using this variable all through the program! Yep, that's right, the consulting firm's "fixes" for "performance problems" consisted of simply editing the file to bump BIGDELAY downwards, then billing the company thousands of dollars for "re-architecting" the program! And they could have gotten away with it for years, probably, if not for the business wanting to go to a more attractive user interface than the old character-oriented COBOL...
Send mail here if you want to reach me.
This is a market that hasn't been tapped yet. Build a website where pet owners can go and buy pet food and supplies and have it delivered to their house. Suprisingly, no one has thought of this. It is definitely a sure win. I know of so many pet owners who wish they could order a pet toy online instead of going all the way to the pet store and buying it there.
1. Bad signature
2. ?????
3. Profit
So, what are your interests? What do you know about? What kind of people do you know? What problems do those people have? Anything in those lines that looks like you could be of help? Any chance someone in those fields would be willing to pay for that help?
I think you have your premises badly wrong. There is a reason why someone else is reaping "great" profits off your labour. For every success story there are ten that went bankrupt - at huge personal costs.
Assuming you manage to start a company, find some business, and get some money rolling. How long can you survive without getting any salary yourself? How long are you willing to pay others to do the work, without getting anything much for yourself? If you some day manage to start to recoup the (inevitable) starting losses, will you be able and willing to pay your folks so much that they all will not rush to start their own?
Think hard about this. Most successfull businesses are started to get some work done, not just to make shitloads of money. The costs of starting one are high, both economically and personally. A few make it rich - many fail horribly. Some make do for a long time, maybe even growing slowly. This is about the most you can reasonably expect.
Good luck anyway, even if I sound pessimistic
In Murphy We Turst
I actually have a pretty decent idea, not revolutionary, but fills a good-sized niche (two million units at last calculation). It's an idea I've had and documented since late 1999. Also, I've already done most of the work, as a working prototype existed earlier this year. I'm working on a refined version now (soldering a circuit board I had professionally made).
I once hacked together a movable webcam out of junk parts. My cam was soon accounting for 12% of the school's web hits. Then I had the idea to refine the device, and make it available at a low cost. Cheap webcams are everywhere; if I could build a working system with an hour of two of lashing junk parts together, then mass production should take the cost down to nothing. The device I built is controlled over USB, and has a USB hub controller integrated with three open ports. This allows you to plug in the pan/tilt base, then plug your camera into the base: only one wire to the pan/tilt cam, and two extra ports open up! Another thing I built, and am considering making available as a kit, is a really simple pan/tilt unit. Only three heat formed plastic parts, and it looks a lot better than two servos lashed together. I estimate total cost, if you bought the parts retail, about $25.
Anyway, the problem is not having the ideas, but doing something about them. And after that, the problem is getting the courage to take that next step. I have not been able to do it. I graduated from school this spring, and have been unable to find a job except for one that is purely mechanical design and pays temp office worker wages. I have to live with my parents still, as otherwise I would have barely enough money to live on and pay my student loans. And I can feel everything I knew about electrical engineering slipping away, as I sit in safety meetings and draw sheet metal parts in AutoCAD. Still, I'm trying to work on a few interesting projects and beef up my C++.
If you are in the position to start a new business, and you find some good ideas, go for it. I would do it in a heartbeat, if I could.
...
...ask any potential customers what they might want, let them use their imaginations for you, then make their IT dreams and desires reality. Then charge them for it. I guess to be very general about it-say-ask them to tell you "if you wanted this whole computer infrastructure you have to DO something for you, what would it be? what isn't happening for you you'd like to see happening?" Something along those lines. Innovation comes from either a desire for something new, or just a lack of anything to "do" what needs to be done. Traditional "sales" efforts are most times backwards, they revolve around Product A being pushed on a potential customer-whether that customer actually NEEDS that thing or not or if this product A will actually benfit him. Ask the customer what they want FIRST, see if it's possible, see what they might be willing to spend for the solution you can provide. Turn their frustrations into your business. I imagine every businessman out there wants something that he doesn't have yet, or what he has doesn't really do what he wants, he can probably verbalise what he wants, but the application and implication elude him, that's where you step in.
Learn HIPPA and get con-sulting. It's the new Y2K.
I have been out of work (Sysadmin) for a while and I have been considering starting my own business as well. I think you need to know something about what you plan on starting a business in. I cant think of one thing that hasnt already been done in IT that my skill set could do (Not a huge programmer). Sure I could start another appliance company or some sort of consulting service, but the market doesnt seem to be able to support those business ideas right now. Do you have any hobbies outside of IT that could become a great business idea? I enjoy doing home improvement and working around my house a lot. I have done tons of projects for friends/family. So I am going to start a handyman business.
Canned farts man, I think there is a market for canned farts - with a web interface, XML and Linux.