Business Ideas 101

**vieome** · 28-Jun-13, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by ians

There is big money in water treatment plants, trust me I did it for many years, just not prepared to pay the fees which come with keeping everyone happy, this could be something I need to look at in the future, paying more bribes to survive. If you cant beat them join them. Look at all the big companies construction companies, paying massive fines for all their skulduggery.

I was chatting to someone the other day and he was telling how much money they loose in paying benefits, finders fees what ever you want to call it.

I agree there is money in water treatment , and the amount to be made will only increase in the future as water quality drops due to bad service delivery. The ideal systems would be for domestic water purification i.e reverse osmosis. Most domestic machines at present are retailing at R4500.00 which is a huge rip off and a mis-understanding of the water purification business model. The wholesale price is about $60.00 or R600. The idea is to install the machines for clients cheaper and make money on replacement cartridges.

**vieome** · 12-Oct-12, 10:10 AM

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/a...-got-rich.html
Interesting

**juggenut** · 11-Oct-12, 05:46 PM

Interesting ideas vieome!

**adrianh** · 12-Oct-12, 08:53 AM

I am an ideas person and I have 10,000 ideas before breakfast....I have to be able to brush off 99.999999995% of them. The fact that i don't like your idea doesn't mean that it is bad or that it is impossible, it simply means that it doesn't appeal to me or i cannot see my way clear to make money from it.

I agree that the money men are not always right and that the overlook oppertunities. You must remember that the money men are looking after their own interests and their own money and want to invest their money at a reasonable risk to make a huge profit. What i do find good is to learn from the questions that they ask. Yes, a lot of the time the questions are meaningless but of lot of questions and insights are truly valuable.

The best kind of money man to have is a mentor (not some rich ding dong that charges you R1000 an hour but a person who is really enthralled by what you do). The problem that entreprenuers is faced with is not money per se, it is having the appropriate funding when needed to be applied properly. Many entreprenuers think that if they got a huge cash injection that their problems will go away, it doesn't work like that. The way i see mentorship is the same way as I see a parent of a child who wants to become a champion cyclist. When the 3 year old child says that he needs R500,000 and then he would be a champion cyclist that will win The Argus then the parent needs to channel the enthusiasm. You first get him a small bike with training wheels, a suitable outfit and a crash helmet and you lead him around the driveway. You keep on with this mentoring / building / supporting process until he is able to buy his own bike and win his own race. I am lucky to have such a mentor who is willing to pick men up and fix my bike each time I ride into a fence. The most important thing to remember about investment into entreprenuers is that investors not only invest in the idea, they also invest into the individual. No matter how good the idea is, if the entreprenuer does not have the right characterists that appeals to the investor, then no money will be forthcoming. How many of those people who stand before the dragons have absolutely no idea about the realities of taking their products to market, the realities of the numbers, the patents and the issues, yet they have dreamed up a round figure of the the investment that they need.

I am all for ideas, my personal problem is that I simply have to many that I am capable of doing (and being ADD means that I flit from idea to idea without ever taking one idea and wringing all the cash out of it) Too many ideas can be a very very bad thing that distracts one from having a very narrow focus. The only way for me to have that focus is to discard any idea that does not fit into my purposely narrow focus. I do write the really good ones and keep them for later evaluation.

**vieome** · 12-Oct-12, 09:53 AM

I think we on the same page, and this thread is for the many ideas that people have and that need "wringing all the cash out of it." or contributions in how to make it better. It may not be that you or I will ever invest in these ideas, but being a business forum some one might find an idea they like and have the knowledge and know how to make it a success(good for SA).

I do enjoy Dragons Den and have learnt a lot from it, but one aspect I find lacking in the dragons is that they expect every person who stands before them to be a suit wearing entrepreneur (An entrepreneur is an enterprising individual who builds capital through risk and/or initiative - Entrepreneur is a person who started a new business where there was none before) who is familair with marketing and sales. When in reality most inventor types are nerds, most great idea types are nerds introverts. It is the Dragon who is the Entrepeneur and their biggest problem on the show is that they are looking for someone like themselves to invest in.

When watching the show I often think what would of happened if Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak came before them with the first apple.

"how dare you come before me dressed in Jeans and a T-shirt"
" It is useless it will never work, what is wrong with a pen for writing ?"

**ians** · 28-Jun-13, 09:19 AM

That's the problem in this country, put eco friendly or energy saving and you bend over and collect.

R60.00 for an LED light or R200 - R1200 for an LED flood light, lets rape the customers while they are stupid enough to pay the price. Then just to add insult the government puts a tax levy on normal lamps.