how do y'all decide if a business idea is complete garbage or not? just spearhead forward?

Replies (31)

HoloKat's avatar
HoloKat 8 months ago
Most ideas are dumb. Good business ideas are boring and don’t require much imagination because they’ve been around forever.
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HoloKat 8 months ago
There was a guy a while back who started one and documented everything in public. I think it was successful. Then a bunch of people did the same.
okay, the actual idea is that i know bunch of frens don't like how the different university intranet sites are set up, regarding deadlines, exams, tasks etc. so i was thinking of setting up a proper quality template for them, maybe a separate one specific to each university, and then sell it to them could potentially be applied to high school students too
Profit/capital accumulation = good Constantly losing money = garbage
HoloKat's avatar
HoloKat 8 months ago
Sounds like a low barrier idea to test
either students personally, so they don't have to set it all up themselves, so that they have a plug-and-play solution, which gives them a much better overall view of all the courses, tasks, deadlines and everything that the intranet currently doesn't, and having talking to the blokes in charge of the intranet, there's too much bureaucracy there to change it mby campus license fees, so it's paid behalf of the uni and offered to the students
HoloKat's avatar
HoloKat 8 months ago
How quickly can you make it and how quickly can you test to see if anyone pays? If both fast, could try it..
I'm not sure, probably couple days to a week for a smol pilot for my own uni Depends on complexity and potential necessity of APIs etc, if I actually want to sync it (probably a future convo to be had with the uni folks) I know too many smart ppl that wouldn't pay, it's targeted towards non-techy peeps, that like staying organised and the whole aesthetic of being productive
HoloKat's avatar
HoloKat 8 months ago
Make a fake one and ask how much people would pay for it. Then ask them for the money and deliver the real thing in a week or refund. Skip waiting on APIs
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beetla 8 months ago
smol scale execution my boy
Not a space I know much about to be honest. I would assume what the universities use is a tough contract to change so I’d focus on students as a starting point. If their current experience sucks they will enjoy a better one. They may not be willing or able to pay for it though I think that is your challenge with students.
yeah most definitely agree pricing and it being worthwhile are the main questions also the need to figure out the main painpoints and understanding their necessities
Selling SaaS licenses to schools is next to impossible Students are broke af Maintaining software as a non dev is extremely expensive and more competitive than ever In business I generally recommend an intersection of something you're very good at and love deeply
HoloKat's avatar
HoloKat 8 months ago
People generally are more willing to pay for something if it makes them money. Saving time is not as strong of a selling point in B2C. Students bring students too… I personally would only try it if it takes me less than a day to wing together a sample, even if it doesn’t work as intended - just to show to people I know and see what they say. If for some reason they are eager to find out where to get one, then I’d ask for money up front. If they get weirded out and back out it’s a sign it’s just a nice to have and not an absolute needed thing. You want to sell things people need so you don’t have to constantly play a salesperson. Worst thing is spending a week to make something fully functional when no one is willing to pay for it. They might want it and might say they’ll pay but when it comes to forking over cash they could just back out.