New business concept or is there a way?

[Cipher]

Hi,

Before I start : I know an idea on its own is worth nothing and that is not what I am selling.

I have researched, wrote a business plan and plumbed the market with an idea I have. I have decided not to go ahead with it for two reasons :

1. Kids
2. I do not have enough experience for this field of expertise

Now, I want to give other entrepeneurs the chance to start this type of business in their areas.

My idea is this : Sell them the concept BUT, in complete packages. Package one will consist of a manual, flyer templates, website domain and hosting and web portal where they can store all their appointments, business plan,etc.

Package 2 will consist of less and so on (the prices are lower as the packages contains less)

I can ask a once off price for everything but I want to make money in the long run as well (monthly).

My question :

1. Do you think this will work?
2. Is there a business model where I can charge a monthly fee without being liable for any of the "agents" using my idea?
3. If not, maybe make money from the hosting and the use of the web portal?

Please give your ideas around this!

Thank you,

Cipher

[Dave A]

By my understanding, what you are aiming for sounds pretty close to franchising. You'd need to be able to show a viable pilot operation to go down that route, though.

[Cipher]

Hmmm ... I am starting to think that the best way to do this is sell the packages and allow people to do business without any extra fees towards me. Maybe just charge for monthly website hosting and use of the web portal? Or am I opening myself up for trouble?

[BusFact]

Answer the question: Whats in it for the buyer / entrepreneur?

What they'll be prepared to pay and whether there is a long term annuity angle, will depend entirely on how much profit they can make from the venture and how much value you can add in the future.

Why not look at a model where you become a partner (shareholder) in the new business. You provide that development work and hosting and they provide sales and management. You share profits on a pre negotiated basis depending on how much work each involves.

[Dave A]

Trouble could come from any number of angles.

Do you need to protect any intellectual property?
Do you need to protect the reputation of your product?
Could your customer make a claim for misrepresentation, non-performance etc.?
Could any of your customer's customers make a claim against you?

I mentioned franchising mainly because it contains many of the elements you're talking of and it's a model that is fairly well known and understood. It also comes with quite a lot of regulatory baggage nowadays though.

[Cipher]

The idea is that the entrepreneur buying the package from me, operates the business on his own without any reference to me or any standing company. A contract of some kind could be set up to protect the idea for 2 years.

So basically, all the angles you mention could be covered as I have no connection whatsoever with the person buying the package from me. I basically provide them with an already researched and planned packaged idea ....

hmmm ... starting to sound like those "Business Opportunities" one sees in the newspapers and magazines.

[adrianh]

I have researched, wrote a business plan and plumbed the market with an idea I have. I have decided not to go ahead with it for two reasons :

1.Kids
2.I do not have enough experience for this field of expertise

Now, I want to give other entrepeneurs the chance to start this type of business in their areas.

This all sounds a bit cock-eyed to me. How are you planning to sell something that you are unable to operate yourself, are unwilling to partake in yourself and you do not have a working model. Maybe I am to practical a person but I would never go for an "Unproven idea in a box "without fully understanding the idea. Being a practical person, once I understand the idea I wouldn't buy it, if it is a good idea I would simply alter it a bit and do it myself. You are between a rock and a hard place - to sell it, you have to tell them what it is and how it works - then you have nothing left to sell -this is the trouble with ideas in empty boxes...

[BusFact]

Adrianh has a point. I fear that the only type of buyer you would ever find are the guys looking for get rich quick schemes. They are not the type to be putting hard work into a business, so I don't see them lasting long enough to pay you much over time.

[Cipher]

Yip, I realize that now. adrianH has a good point! I feel that I do not want to let this concept slip into nothing ... what to do?

[adrianh]

Ideas are a dime a dozen, I have lots every hour. Some ideas are really good, some are not so good and some are downright terrible. The people that succeed are the ones who are able to implement the ideas into sound business strategies. Where does that leave you - dunno - maybe find somebody who has the skills to implement the idea and work together.