Strategy + Culture + Innovation
It’s an interesting concept and the next step is to qualify it further with some market research. Where will you find your potential customers for services? My initial assumption would be in a relatively dense urban setting where people want to commute to work or school by biking, or otherwise on their feet, and they need access to a shower and a place to change clothes. I recommend surveying the nearest metro area (New York, San Francisco, et cetera) which is close to you and look for a traffic pattern that would support providing the services. Maybe there is a neighborhood of office buildings or a university where there are inadequate showering options for commuters. I think you could do a site survey for a few places, to see what you learn. You might also consider spending some time at the bike racks and talking with bicyclists to see how they are dealing with the issue today. Is there a need for what you would like to provide? How much would they be willing to pay? You can also scout out the real estate to determine the costs of creating a facility with the tenant improvements necessary to serve your customers. Conversely, maybe the business is brokering existing shower or bathroom facilities at businesses or at residences with your customers in a manner similar to Airbnb. Maybe the business is providing portable showering facilities by converting RVs so they 2-3 sets of showers, then you can serve weekday commuters but also provide services at local festivals where there are no services. It’s hard to say what the results will be but I believe doing some market research will give you a better sense of the viability of the concept. You may well uncover other unmet needs that you could serve better than your original concept. If you can identify a basic value proposition to get started, then you can iterate from there.
Human Resources
5
Answers
Wealth manager and Entrepreneur
Hello, Great question! I went from a large firm to a small business and became the manager quickly. I ran and managed the entire office and that is how my experience relates. There are multiple ways to keep the manager enticed to stay in your organization. Here are a few ideas that have worked, could work, and other ideas that I have heard. 1. Pay - of course providing a higher pay to the manager to retain them. This shows that they are valued to the growth of the company. You are investing in the manager as a key piece to keep the company growing. 2. Providing Education - Paying for classes to help this certain employee grow personally. Ideally, paying for the classes to help this employee grow professionally will help both your company and your employees growth. 3. Retirement - provide a retirement account for the employee if you do not have one yet. 4. Student Loans - help by paying for part of their student loans. Obviously this relates to pay but this is a different way that can keep the employee enticed to stay. 5. Delegate - if they are that good and qualified to keep, allow them for responsibility/freedom to incorporate their ideas so they feel the value they are bringing to the company. This is just a few example but I hope these help and if you want more ideas, please reach out. good luck!
Business High Paid Consultant
We need to start with the outcome in mind; if meeting facilitator knows what he/she would like to accomplish then meeting would be more productive. Basics are: 1. Create an agenda (and attach to it) and let it know 2. Be prepare 3. Listen to understand 4, Have an assigment to participans as a follow up 5. Stand up meetings are more productive.
Marketing, Tech, and MVP Dev with Wordpress
First and foremost, I would challenge you to test the user experience and prove the concept of your product before building a mobile app. Mobile app development is not cheap and if you get the feature set wrong from a user standpoint, you will have spent money to develop blindly. Can you build a similar experience that provides value in a web application instead? You probably can. Even a few hundred users can get you the information you need to know almost exactly what the mobile app needs. There are mobile first websites that were around for years before they built the app just to make sure the experience was on par with what they expected. Test, test, test, and test again before jumping out there.
Strategic thinker and communicator, author
Hi: Sounds like you have a potential solution to offer to the marketplace. Or is it a service that clients can plug into existing processes? It's great that you've developed the requisitie experience and skills, but whether you're offering a solution or service, you now need to spin your thinking around: * Who is using this technology currently? * What are the headaches those users experience while using this technology? * How does your solution or service resolve those headaches? * Are users willing to pay to resolve those headaches? * What will it take to get users to switch from their current solution or service to your solution or service? If you don't do this legwork in the marketplace to identify existing issues, challenges and headaches, there's a high likelihood your solution or service will fall flat. If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby
Author, Startup mentor. Focus on people decisions.
Hi! Why don't you try starting "a" business before attempting to start a "chain" of businesses. I'd recommend a search around the keyword of "bootstrapping a business". There are many blogs out there that have great content on that such as commonwisdom.co.uk
commerce graduate
As an expert in small business, small business HRA can be best managed if the reimbursement on healthcare are done and all employees are included into the insurance. It is prudent to handle the insurance and factor it in your payroll to avoid penalties. It is worth purchasing a software if the assignment is bulky but if not, consider doing it in your usual payroll. However, you can still buy the software for improved efficiencies and easier retrieval of information.
Strategic thinker and communicator, author
Hi: Sounds like things are moving along well -- nice job. There will be fits and starts to any venture, so as you assess what's going on here, consider: * stepping back and realistically determining if you're being fair to this process -- everyone has different work styles and you should respect those differences within the context of constantly making progress * discussing the situation with your co-founders (can't tell if the creator is one of them) and making sure you're aligned on expectations for this stage -- and whether those expectations are being met * renewing your broader strategy/vision with the team to ensure that everyone knows what the ultimate goals are (beyond the stages getting there) * Developing a 30/60/90 plan (or something like it) complete with goals, measurables and tactics that are built around making progress If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby
Author, Startup mentor. Focus on people decisions.
One thing you can not do (should not even attempt to do) is to change the market's demand for a service or product. It is what it is. The best strategy is to adapt. So I would approach your situation by asking the following question: What is in demand, needed, frequently used etc by the people (i.e there is market demand for it) AND is in the intersection of my skills, know-how, interests and talents? You might be a great mechanical engineer, but try taking a broader perspective if there isn't talent for this job. What new skill & know-how area can you more easily master than others, which there is also a good demand for?
Building Operations Enthusiast #CRE
Separate, but related note: "NYC Open Data" is growing every day & provides free data https://opendata.cityofnewyork.us/ For national data check out the parent organization Socrata.com. Great resources for public data records, which are 100% free, contains everything from real estate transactions to the number of public bathrooms... Best of luck tracking down the costs.
Creating a healthy balance of economy & ecology
In my experience, this data has been at no cost. Most property appraiser sites offer sales data as an excel file for download. Each property can be looked at with exterior photos, or base floor plans. It would take quite alot of dara entry to input into a program, the issue would be the accuracy, if properties change hands within a year. Hope this helps! Warm Regards, Margie
Management Consultant
Is your research showing, that your business would expect strong increasing sales trend ? Is the revenue expected, shows that you can include bank charges in the cost, and still to be on the positive revenue side ? If both are yes, do not waste time, but take a bank loan and go for. If both are no, do not waste time, but think about other business. If one is yes and another one - no, spend more time on the investigation. Market investigation is the first and most important one. all the best Val
MT4 Expert Adviser, Forex Trading,Web Developer
Hi , I have experience on Google Drive , development , mostly Google SpreadSheets add-on and triggers with google script web scraping updating google spreadsheet and email notification based on search, If I have more knowledge about your requirement , maybe I can help, thanks
Fractional CTO
Setup a content rich blog about the tech. Monetize via on page ads selling your device. Buy traffic from Gemini + Outbrain + Taboola to your site. Also, buy display ads through Taboola + other Ad Networks to place on sites to sell your product. Build a mailing list of opt-ins off your site. Use retargeting pixels to stalk people who visit your site.
Accelerated Growth using Rapid Experimentation
Where possible, I recommend getting it to work in a specific region. I.e. If this was Uber, I'd focus on London or a specific city to work on. If this was a cleaning service - I'd focus on a particular area where possible. The stages of a successful business don't differ - your product market fit is the first most important piece of the puzzle. Together with that, if you can successfully get it to work in one place, you can then either VC fund it with real data or bootstrap it yourself and scale the operation quickly. It would help if you gave me a bit more context on the idea, I'm sure I could get you a more detailed answer. Landing pages are one piece only - you need to crack the other side. There is quite a bit of information online about Airbnb and how they got hosts on board with events and whatnot. Hope that helps.
Strategic thinker and communicator, author
Hi: Looks like you've done a lot of good work - well done. I contend that your first fundraising effort should be friends and family. The leads are warm so you can focus on your pitch -- developing it, honing it, practicing it -- and the process -- setting the cadence for meetings, follow-ups and closing. Then a bit further down the road, you'll not only have something more tangible to sell to angel and seed investors (thanks to the funding you raised first), but you'll be more comfortable with what you have to do to pull those dollars through the door. If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby
Fractional CTO
If $100/month is too much, then likely this business is in to early a life cycle stage to justify a CRM. My suggestion is you use https://Drip.com which starts at $50/month.
Startup Consulting
3
Answers
Yoga Instructor and Disney Travel Master
Before even beginning to think about launching your project you need to evaluate why you want to do it at all. Just doing it "because" is going to make you go mad, you'll want a reason to do it because it will be taking much of your time up. Make sure you go over strengths and weaknesses . If you are just doing a random journey story here and there I wouldn't add it but if you are great at bringing in people with your stories then that would be great because it would help people be more intend with your project . Keep a calendar that you can keep your deadlines on so you don't forget because I have seen this many times as well .
Business Strategist & Conversion Expert
Your franchisor isn't helping out, huh? What kind of feedback have you gotten from them? Do they have a dedicated franchise success executive? Or a franchisee council to draw experience from? Your long term strategy is to raise the guest check average for each visit, and increase the frequency of those visits. Along the way you can look into: -lowering your cost of customer acquisition -lowering your cost of fulfillment (food, overhead, labor--I guarantee there's waste now) -lowering the average time to process an order (eg. in the drivethru, how long from arrival, through ordering, to departure with food? Most strugglers are terrible on this stat). However, you can only cut so far. Expansion is a far better goal. What you bought was a system with expectations and controls. Your pricing and costs should be known. If you don't know them, you won't know if you're profitable, and that's something requiring immediate correction if so. Are you looking at what competitors are doing...or what the top franchisees in your area are doing? Chick-fil-A in my area is doing some awesome things with the drivethru...how they staff it, process orders, increase flow through rate. And there are McDonald's in my area that I know are A listers...those that are mediocre B-level performers...and C-types that have poor standards enforcement, lousy culture, and missing processes. Who's the A-lister near you? I sometimes work with a B who is burning to become an A, and that's fun because I know they'll do the work.
I help uncommon businesses succeed online
With that kind of traffic, it shouldn't be hard to monetize, but the real question is coming up with the most effective strategy. Without knowing much about the business or having access to any analytics, here are a few recommendations off the top of my head: - add affiliate links to apps & software links - sell premium ad space - sell services to help customers select software/apps - sell services to setup various software - setup automated email campaigns - offer courses There are certainly other ways you could monetize your site. One thing to keep in mind is you want to focus on the CLTV (customer lifetime value). Rather than looking for quick wins, think about the big picture and how you can really help your customers in the long run. By providing value, you'll build trust and your customers and clients will be much more willing to pay for added services.
Clarity Expert
This is not a simple question to answer, but one I can relate to because I am currently creating an online course and I initially struggled getting passed the outline phase. I found the driving factor to determine the best organization of instructional content is understanding what your audience wants (or needs) to learn from your course. There are several organizational methods you can use. I’ll list a few examples, and I’d be happy to discuss further if you need help structuring yours. 1) Sequential: This method is best used to teach a step-by-step process, like the installation of a computer system. 2) Hierarchical: This method is best used to teach content which requires that a learner master subordinate skills or knowledge to advance to a higher level skill. For example, in order to teach someone how to trade stocks, they would first need to learn about the stock market. 3) Importance: This method is best used when teaching policies — commonly used by companies for internal training where they explain the important topics first, and progress to less important, ancillary topics. 4) Complexity: This method is best used when the topic you are teaching is difficult and may turn off your audience. You ease the audience with easier, generic topics, and progress to more difficult topics. Hope this helps! And request a call if you need assistance designing your course. - Armando
I am a professional speaker
First start by focusing more into solutions and less on the problem. 59 years old is not old, it's just right for opportunity and experience. If you are not aware of your strengths and the things you do well, I suggest you visiting a local workforce or educational institution and ask for a career interest inventory. It would act as a guide to assist you in the types of careers that will best suit your personality and interest. If all else fails, being unemployed could be the perfect time for you to enroll in an adult education program and refresh or gain some new skills for the road ahead.
Founder (Blockchain & IT)
Hi There, it’s hard to look for funding of a startup . My own suggestion is , you have to start looking for a backer that is sold out of your business idea for more info just give me a call on how to contact backers.
Clarity's top expert on Instagram for Business
Do pro-bono work with brands and influencers locally. You have to figure out your angle (and maybe you have) But I personally would begin to network with small businesses in the area who have worked with influencers. I would go in an say that I want to enhance the work that's being done with influencers to increase their ROI -- in that relationship you now have two people-- the influencer who is going to need ongoing work and the business and brand that could hire you separately depending on your work. I don't think spending a ton of time on advertising when you are a creative is the best route to go-- you need to be creating and leveraging relationships. Make no mistake though-- when money starts coming in you better HIRE someone who specializes in advertising ASAP. If you could have figured it out, you would have already-- accept that it's a weakness for you and move on to what you know how to do best. Hope this helps you with some initial ideas!
Founder (Blockchain & IT)
All Blockchain platform has an Architect/designer that lays out detail of operation, in regards of your query about cryptokitties platform you have to address to the designer, if you are planning to become an architect you have to do your research and understanding of programming languages.