Idea for a website
Discussion
not sure if i'm posting in the right place here, but i'm sure if i'm not it will be moved accordingly.
This idea has popped into my mind a lot of times over the years, but then i'm not that highly motivated, forget about it, and i've never gone further than just thinking it's a good idea......The thing is, I really do think its a good idea. i think it would appeal to pretty much everyone on this website, or at least over 50%, it doesn't matter what kind of cars you like to be interested in it, it makes no difference if you like modified cars or standard ones, or if you're young or old. It would not only be a useful tool, but would also be enjoyable to use. The content would be created by the sites users, and not only would they enjoy creating the content, it could actually bring them financial benefits aswell. I think it's such a good idea, that say if i gifted or sold the idea to pistonheads, it would bring a lot of extra website traffic, but i'm not sure exactly how much extra, or how much extra revenue it would generate for them. I'd prefer it to be free to use, but have no idea how many visits, ads shown, or whatever, would be needed to generate a decent income.....but to be honest, even if it's not going to make me rich, as long as something is trickling in for minimal effort, and it's not costing me money, then it may be worthwhile doing it anyway, even for no other reason than i'd enjoy using the website myself, and would hopefully find it very useful a few times. I mean even if a free to use website cant make money (which as a non facebook user i'm guessing that is free to use and they make plenty off that i guess. how much would something like pistonheads make? without the the money they get to advertise peoples cars? if it was a totally free website?
so the option of approaching an existing website to try and sell the idea....i once heard a story, which may or may not be true, but i really would love it to be true.....a man went to a company that made boxes of matches, he told the boss/owner or whatever, that he had an idea that would save them a lot of money on their production costs, and he would tell them what it was if they gave him half of the money they saved using his idea. The match company agreed, contracts were drawn up and signed, and it was time to reveal this amazing ground breaking idea that was going to save the match company so much money. so he told them.....he said just put sandpaper on one side of the box.....even though it only cost fractions of a penny to put the extra sandpaper on each box, over the years and billions of boxes of matches, the cost was a big whack, like a million quid. so this guy gets paid royalties for each box sold and has made his fortune. Could a similar deal be made with a website? 50%, or i'm guessing less, of the extra revenue brought to the website?
It would only be a couple of cheap contracts to hear the idea, it would cost them virtually nothing to hear it, if they didn't like it then nothing lost, and if they did they'd make more money, but have to give some of it to me. Also the website would grow much faster and be more likely to be a success, with someone like pistonheads behind it. my 20% of profit from selling the idea could be a lot more than 100% if i tried to do it myself. Also i wouldn't have to invest my own money.
I know i probably sound like a dreamer, and most peoples good ideas are actually garbage....i've seen dragons den. But i really think this would be a great website people enjoyed using, i just don't know any numbers for how many users a free site needs to make any money.
If there's no money to be made, then i'd still love to see it done, I'd love to tell you all what it is all about it, but that would be daft if i'm giving away a potential fortune. If it turns out there is no decent money to be made, i'd happily gift it to someone who would like to do it as a hobby or make a token amount, or to pistonheads, if they wanted it. Be nice to hear what others thought about it too, and get some input for features it should include, how to make it work better, be more popular, or if i'm an idiot.
cheers for reading
This idea has popped into my mind a lot of times over the years, but then i'm not that highly motivated, forget about it, and i've never gone further than just thinking it's a good idea......The thing is, I really do think its a good idea. i think it would appeal to pretty much everyone on this website, or at least over 50%, it doesn't matter what kind of cars you like to be interested in it, it makes no difference if you like modified cars or standard ones, or if you're young or old. It would not only be a useful tool, but would also be enjoyable to use. The content would be created by the sites users, and not only would they enjoy creating the content, it could actually bring them financial benefits aswell. I think it's such a good idea, that say if i gifted or sold the idea to pistonheads, it would bring a lot of extra website traffic, but i'm not sure exactly how much extra, or how much extra revenue it would generate for them. I'd prefer it to be free to use, but have no idea how many visits, ads shown, or whatever, would be needed to generate a decent income.....but to be honest, even if it's not going to make me rich, as long as something is trickling in for minimal effort, and it's not costing me money, then it may be worthwhile doing it anyway, even for no other reason than i'd enjoy using the website myself, and would hopefully find it very useful a few times. I mean even if a free to use website cant make money (which as a non facebook user i'm guessing that is free to use and they make plenty off that i guess. how much would something like pistonheads make? without the the money they get to advertise peoples cars? if it was a totally free website?
so the option of approaching an existing website to try and sell the idea....i once heard a story, which may or may not be true, but i really would love it to be true.....a man went to a company that made boxes of matches, he told the boss/owner or whatever, that he had an idea that would save them a lot of money on their production costs, and he would tell them what it was if they gave him half of the money they saved using his idea. The match company agreed, contracts were drawn up and signed, and it was time to reveal this amazing ground breaking idea that was going to save the match company so much money. so he told them.....he said just put sandpaper on one side of the box.....even though it only cost fractions of a penny to put the extra sandpaper on each box, over the years and billions of boxes of matches, the cost was a big whack, like a million quid. so this guy gets paid royalties for each box sold and has made his fortune. Could a similar deal be made with a website? 50%, or i'm guessing less, of the extra revenue brought to the website?
It would only be a couple of cheap contracts to hear the idea, it would cost them virtually nothing to hear it, if they didn't like it then nothing lost, and if they did they'd make more money, but have to give some of it to me. Also the website would grow much faster and be more likely to be a success, with someone like pistonheads behind it. my 20% of profit from selling the idea could be a lot more than 100% if i tried to do it myself. Also i wouldn't have to invest my own money.
I know i probably sound like a dreamer, and most peoples good ideas are actually garbage....i've seen dragons den. But i really think this would be a great website people enjoyed using, i just don't know any numbers for how many users a free site needs to make any money.
If there's no money to be made, then i'd still love to see it done, I'd love to tell you all what it is all about it, but that would be daft if i'm giving away a potential fortune. If it turns out there is no decent money to be made, i'd happily gift it to someone who would like to do it as a hobby or make a token amount, or to pistonheads, if they wanted it. Be nice to hear what others thought about it too, and get some input for features it should include, how to make it work better, be more popular, or if i'm an idiot.
cheers for reading
Why does it need to be tagged on to an existing website? To get market share or to use their developer resources (of which PH doesn't seem to have any 
).
I enjoy doing the odd bit of web development to keep my eye in, now that I've moved to a less technical role, so feel free to PM me if you want some advice with how it could be set up/prototyped.
).I enjoy doing the odd bit of web development to keep my eye in, now that I've moved to a less technical role, so feel free to PM me if you want some advice with how it could be set up/prototyped.
PorkFan said:
... even if it's not going to make me rich, as long as something is trickling in for minimal effort, and it's not costing me money, then it may be worthwhile doing it anyway, even for no other reason than i'd enjoy using the website myself
Define 'minimal effort' ?People tend to massively underestimate the cost of developing, running and maintaining a web application (even those who do it for a living). The point where you see a return on investment will be a lot further away than you think, and likely never. Particularly if your 'idea' does not generate any revenue itself and relies on ad traffic, as you seem to be suggesting.
That said, if you really believe in the idea, tell us more!
Edited by deggles on Monday 6th August 21:13
TBH this boils down to : 'I have an idea. It could be very successful. I'm not going to do it myself. Sign an NDA and I'll tel you what it is.'
PH or any other business isn't going to sign any NDA. You'll find it hard enough just to get someone to listen. As above, the world is full of people with great ideas.
PH or any other business isn't going to sign any NDA. You'll find it hard enough just to get someone to listen. As above, the world is full of people with great ideas.
Frimley111R said:
TBH this boils down to : 'I have an idea. It could be very successful. I'm not going to do it myself. Sign an NDA and I'll tel you what it is.'
PH or any other business isn't going to sign any NDA. You'll find it hard enough just to get someone to listen. As above, the world is full of people with great ideas.
Happened countless times over the years and the ideas usually start with a phrase, like Google but... or like Facebook with ...PH or any other business isn't going to sign any NDA. You'll find it hard enough just to get someone to listen. As above, the world is full of people with great ideas.
and ends with develop it for me and I'll cut you in for x%. Oddly like the OP, they always want me to do all the work for a minority stake.
4x4Tyke said:
Frimley111R said:
TBH this boils down to : 'I have an idea. It could be very successful. I'm not going to do it myself. Sign an NDA and I'll tel you what it is.'
PH or any other business isn't going to sign any NDA. You'll find it hard enough just to get someone to listen. As above, the world is full of people with great ideas.
Happened countless times over the years and the ideas usually start with a phrase, like Google but... or like Facebook with ...PH or any other business isn't going to sign any NDA. You'll find it hard enough just to get someone to listen. As above, the world is full of people with great ideas.
and ends with develop it for me and I'll cut you in for x%. Oddly like the OP, they always want me to do all the work for a minority stake.
4x4Tyke said:
Happened countless times over the years and the ideas usually start with a phrase, like Google but... or like Facebook with ...
and ends with develop it for me and I'll cut you in for x%. Oddly like the OP, they always want me to do all the work for a minority stake.
Yes, but this idea is different.and ends with develop it for me and I'll cut you in for x%. Oddly like the OP, they always want me to do all the work for a minority stake.
Reminded me of this
very old quote said:
Dear Mr. Architect!
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion.
My house should have between two and forty five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Keep in mind that the house I ultimately chose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that currently exist in my house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them).
Also keep in mind as you design this house that I wish to keep yearly maintenance cost as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra cost features like aluminum or vinyl siding. If you chose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain in detail.
Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house. The house should be really nice. However, be alerted that the kitchen should be designed to accommodate among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
To assure that you are building the correct house for our family, make sure that you contact each of the children and also the in laws. My mother in law will have very strong feelings about how the house ought to be designed since she visits with us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all these options carefully and make the right decision. I, however, retain the right to override any decision you come up with.
Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for this house. Get the big picture. It is not appropriate at this time to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes green.
Also do not worry at this time about acquiring resources to build this house. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. However, once I accept these plans, I will expect to have the house under roof within 48 hours.
While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell this house. It should have appeal to potential buyers. Please make sure that before you finalize the plans, there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has.
You are advised to run up and look at my neighbor's house he had constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would like to have in our new home, particularly the 75 foot swimming pool. With careful engineering I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the construction cost.
Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design since these blueprints will be used only for construction bids. Please be advised however, that any increase of cost in the future as a result of design changes will result in you getting your hands slapped.
You must be thrilled to be working on such an interesting project such as this. To be able to use new kinds of construction and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that doesn't happen very often. Contact me as rapidly as possible with your design ideas. I am enthusiastic about seeing what you can come up with.
Sincerely yours
Dr. Joe Plumber
P.S. My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many on the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect it is your responsibility to resolve these issues. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle this, I'll have to look for a new architect.
P.P.S. Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as early as possible if that is the case.
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion.
My house should have between two and forty five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Keep in mind that the house I ultimately chose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that currently exist in my house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them).
Also keep in mind as you design this house that I wish to keep yearly maintenance cost as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra cost features like aluminum or vinyl siding. If you chose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain in detail.
Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house. The house should be really nice. However, be alerted that the kitchen should be designed to accommodate among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
To assure that you are building the correct house for our family, make sure that you contact each of the children and also the in laws. My mother in law will have very strong feelings about how the house ought to be designed since she visits with us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all these options carefully and make the right decision. I, however, retain the right to override any decision you come up with.
Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for this house. Get the big picture. It is not appropriate at this time to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes green.
Also do not worry at this time about acquiring resources to build this house. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. However, once I accept these plans, I will expect to have the house under roof within 48 hours.
While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell this house. It should have appeal to potential buyers. Please make sure that before you finalize the plans, there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has.
You are advised to run up and look at my neighbor's house he had constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would like to have in our new home, particularly the 75 foot swimming pool. With careful engineering I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the construction cost.
Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design since these blueprints will be used only for construction bids. Please be advised however, that any increase of cost in the future as a result of design changes will result in you getting your hands slapped.
You must be thrilled to be working on such an interesting project such as this. To be able to use new kinds of construction and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that doesn't happen very often. Contact me as rapidly as possible with your design ideas. I am enthusiastic about seeing what you can come up with.
Sincerely yours
Dr. Joe Plumber
P.S. My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many on the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect it is your responsibility to resolve these issues. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle this, I'll have to look for a new architect.
P.P.S. Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as early as possible if that is the case.
I love playing along with these - as a freelance designer/developer i've seen enough to know its coming.
I had one not too long ago, a random contact from about 10 years ago suddenly re-surfaced on the back of a project that I worked on as a sub-contractor. It wasn't big or complicated, and I hated the design (which I didn't do, I just did the build)
So he calls, introduces himself and reminds me where we met. Immediately he starts on the suck-up /brown-nosing routine, "Your work on the X project was excellent, really appreciated your time and skill in pushing the boundaries" etc etc etc.. you know the drill.
Moves on to: He's now involved in project 'Y' a charitable (first red flag there) project for underprivileged (2nd red flag) artists (now a gigantic soviet/communist style massive red flag waving graciously in the wind) in London.
He gives me all the standard guff about "stakeholders" and "roadmaps" for Project Y...
and he wants me to be the Development Champion or some other dross like that.
OK so i'll humour him, maybe there's some real money behind the project, lottery or something, I refrain from asking at this point, id rather not lead him, i''ll see where he takes this.
So he suggests we meet up, which we do in a Costa a week or so later, Id forgotten what he looked like, he's what I could only describe as a thin Caribbean "trendy" (sigh)...
He's prepared a "stakeholder presentation pack" for me, ooh!
At this point I STILL don't know what the hell he's trying to drag me into, eventually he gets to the point and its just a website with a user sign-in, groups, nothing posh but i'd say a couple of months work full time for design and build - circa £12k would have been my quote.
Before ive even got as far as pulling a quote out of the air he's trying to play my 2 favourite cards:
1: The Charity Card
2: The "If you do this one cheap we'll pay you more for the next project" card.
To which my replies were:
1: I need to buy food too, I am not a charity, I've heard it all before.
2: No. I'll tell you what, you pay the full rate for this one and i'll do you a good discount on the next project - which 100% will never materialise.
We finished our coffees and parted with a polite smile.
He knew I'd seen him coming.
I sent in my detailed quote.
...Unsurprisingly I didn't hear back from him. I have no idea if Project Y happened.
I had one not too long ago, a random contact from about 10 years ago suddenly re-surfaced on the back of a project that I worked on as a sub-contractor. It wasn't big or complicated, and I hated the design (which I didn't do, I just did the build)
So he calls, introduces himself and reminds me where we met. Immediately he starts on the suck-up /brown-nosing routine, "Your work on the X project was excellent, really appreciated your time and skill in pushing the boundaries" etc etc etc.. you know the drill.
Moves on to: He's now involved in project 'Y' a charitable (first red flag there) project for underprivileged (2nd red flag) artists (now a gigantic soviet/communist style massive red flag waving graciously in the wind) in London.
He gives me all the standard guff about "stakeholders" and "roadmaps" for Project Y...
and he wants me to be the Development Champion or some other dross like that.
OK so i'll humour him, maybe there's some real money behind the project, lottery or something, I refrain from asking at this point, id rather not lead him, i''ll see where he takes this.
So he suggests we meet up, which we do in a Costa a week or so later, Id forgotten what he looked like, he's what I could only describe as a thin Caribbean "trendy" (sigh)...
He's prepared a "stakeholder presentation pack" for me, ooh!
At this point I STILL don't know what the hell he's trying to drag me into, eventually he gets to the point and its just a website with a user sign-in, groups, nothing posh but i'd say a couple of months work full time for design and build - circa £12k would have been my quote.
Before ive even got as far as pulling a quote out of the air he's trying to play my 2 favourite cards:
1: The Charity Card
2: The "If you do this one cheap we'll pay you more for the next project" card.
To which my replies were:
1: I need to buy food too, I am not a charity, I've heard it all before.
2: No. I'll tell you what, you pay the full rate for this one and i'll do you a good discount on the next project - which 100% will never materialise.
We finished our coffees and parted with a polite smile.
He knew I'd seen him coming.
I sent in my detailed quote.
...Unsurprisingly I didn't hear back from him. I have no idea if Project Y happened.
User name said:
I love playing along with these - as a freelance designer/developer i've seen enough to know its coming.
I had one not too long ago, a random contact from about 10 years ago suddenly re-surfaced on the back of a project that I worked on as a sub-contractor. It wasn't big or complicated, and I hated the design (which I didn't do, I just did the build)
So he calls, introduces himself and reminds me where we met. Immediately he starts on the suck-up /brown-nosing routine, "Your work on the X project was excellent, really appreciated your time and skill in pushing the boundaries" etc etc etc.. you know the drill.
Moves on to: He's now involved in project 'Y' a charitable (first red flag there) project for underprivileged (2nd red flag) artists (now a gigantic soviet/communist style massive red flag waving graciously in the wind) in London.
He gives me all the standard guff about "stakeholders" and "roadmaps" for Project Y...
and he wants me to be the Development Champion or some other dross like that.
OK so i'll humour him, maybe there's some real money behind the project, lottery or something, I refrain from asking at this point, id rather not lead him, i''ll see where he takes this.
So he suggests we meet up, which we do in a Costa a week or so later, Id forgotten what he looked like, he's what I could only describe as a thin Caribbean "trendy" (sigh)...
He's prepared a "stakeholder presentation pack" for me, ooh!
At this point I STILL don't know what the hell he's trying to drag me into, eventually he gets to the point and its just a website with a user sign-in, groups, nothing posh but i'd say a couple of months work full time for design and build - circa £12k would have been my quote.
Before ive even got as far as pulling a quote out of the air he's trying to play my 2 favourite cards:
1: The Charity Card
2: The "If you do this one cheap we'll pay you more for the next project" card.
To which my replies were:
1: I need to buy food too, I am not a charity, I've heard it all before.
2: No. I'll tell you what, you pay the full rate for this one and i'll do you a good discount on the next project - which 100% will never materialise.
We finished our coffees and parted with a polite smile.
He knew I'd seen him coming.
I sent in my detailed quote.
...Unsurprisingly I didn't hear back from him. I have no idea if Project Y happened.
hahahaha I also love these - people think they ca pray on the naive for this type of stuffI had one not too long ago, a random contact from about 10 years ago suddenly re-surfaced on the back of a project that I worked on as a sub-contractor. It wasn't big or complicated, and I hated the design (which I didn't do, I just did the build)
So he calls, introduces himself and reminds me where we met. Immediately he starts on the suck-up /brown-nosing routine, "Your work on the X project was excellent, really appreciated your time and skill in pushing the boundaries" etc etc etc.. you know the drill.
Moves on to: He's now involved in project 'Y' a charitable (first red flag there) project for underprivileged (2nd red flag) artists (now a gigantic soviet/communist style massive red flag waving graciously in the wind) in London.
He gives me all the standard guff about "stakeholders" and "roadmaps" for Project Y...
and he wants me to be the Development Champion or some other dross like that.
OK so i'll humour him, maybe there's some real money behind the project, lottery or something, I refrain from asking at this point, id rather not lead him, i''ll see where he takes this.
So he suggests we meet up, which we do in a Costa a week or so later, Id forgotten what he looked like, he's what I could only describe as a thin Caribbean "trendy" (sigh)...
He's prepared a "stakeholder presentation pack" for me, ooh!
At this point I STILL don't know what the hell he's trying to drag me into, eventually he gets to the point and its just a website with a user sign-in, groups, nothing posh but i'd say a couple of months work full time for design and build - circa £12k would have been my quote.
Before ive even got as far as pulling a quote out of the air he's trying to play my 2 favourite cards:
1: The Charity Card
2: The "If you do this one cheap we'll pay you more for the next project" card.
To which my replies were:
1: I need to buy food too, I am not a charity, I've heard it all before.
2: No. I'll tell you what, you pay the full rate for this one and i'll do you a good discount on the next project - which 100% will never materialise.
We finished our coffees and parted with a polite smile.
He knew I'd seen him coming.
I sent in my detailed quote.
...Unsurprisingly I didn't hear back from him. I have no idea if Project Y happened.
I dont even send the quote anymore - f**k em
ecs said:
If your idea's so great, pay for a prototype to demonstrate it. Ideas are worth s
t all on their own.
This ^^t all on their own.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_produ...
If you have an idea that you genuinely believe is going to be a winner then you may have several options but it all depends on how much time, effort, ability and capital you have to put into the project.
As others have said, ideas are ten a penny, the skill really is in the execution which is also where the risk and the reward lives! - The hardest part is getting off your bum and putting in some serious graft.
If you're blessed to have a readily available source of finance then you can pay people to do the bits that you can't but if you have no skills, no time, no money and all you have is an idea then you really don't have much until you tip the balance and add value somewhere yourself. You really can't expect others to do the work without being compensated somehow and if that's equity in the business then it has to equal to the benefit being offered, the value being created and the amount of risk you're exposing people to.
I don't believe the match story at all. I think this is just a pub tale told by dreamers with no real business understanding.
I think that you need to provide a little more information for anyone to give you some specific feedback to your actual idea to be honest. I can understand not wanting to give it away on a public forum but at some point you'll have to tell people what it is that you're trying to achieve.
As others have said, ideas are ten a penny, the skill really is in the execution which is also where the risk and the reward lives! - The hardest part is getting off your bum and putting in some serious graft.
If you're blessed to have a readily available source of finance then you can pay people to do the bits that you can't but if you have no skills, no time, no money and all you have is an idea then you really don't have much until you tip the balance and add value somewhere yourself. You really can't expect others to do the work without being compensated somehow and if that's equity in the business then it has to equal to the benefit being offered, the value being created and the amount of risk you're exposing people to.
I don't believe the match story at all. I think this is just a pub tale told by dreamers with no real business understanding.
I think that you need to provide a little more information for anyone to give you some specific feedback to your actual idea to be honest. I can understand not wanting to give it away on a public forum but at some point you'll have to tell people what it is that you're trying to achieve.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
... and a string of dreamland posts, something I quickly checked before deciding on my initial response.https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff