Thread: The future of web business

Originally Posted by memenode

I agree. I think execution is what made Zuckerberg's Facebook succeed while his colleagues who had similar ideas failed. I just think that the vision adds a special something that can make a business more unique, give it clearer direction and purpose, and potentially make it more disruptive (if it is a bold vision). It might not be the most important thing if we simply talk about business success in general, but vision gets more important if it's more than just about making money. This world, and life in general, would be boring if all any entrepreneur ever wanted was to just make money. For some there's a purpose beyond that.

Thinking why Facebook was a success and MySpace and the others failed, it comes to my mind something about "being at the right place at the right time." So, Vision is what keeps you there to see what will keep you at "the right place at the right time". In the case of Facebook and Myspace, Myspace got side tracked on glitter and graphics. Facebook took advantage of the evolution of digital cameras and smartphones. Who wants to look at a bunch of pink MySpace glitter?

Originally Posted by bogart

Thinking why Facebook was a success and MySpace and the others failed, it comes to my mind something about "being at the right place at the right time." So, Vision is what keeps you there to see what will keep you at "the right place at the right time". In the case of Facebook and Myspace, Myspace got side tracked on glitter and graphics. Facebook took advantage of the evolution of digital cameras and smartphones. Who wants to look at a bunch of pink MySpace glitter?

Yes, that suggests that being at the right place at the right time isn't necessarily entirely accidental. For one thing we can try to figure out the opportunities of our current time and place, for which today and here would be "the right place at the right time" (sort of what people at Harvard did with social networks, and Zuckerberg nailed with the right execution). And secondly, we can try to figure out where and when we should be in the future to open up certain opportunities we're looking for.

Easier said than done though.

It just struck me that web business is going the way of offline business where the corner shops were replaced by franchise chains, supermarkets, and department stores. So it would make sense for us to move towards product creation, or be service providers.

Originally Posted by Andy101

It just struck me that web business is going the way of offline business where the corner shops were replaced by franchise chains, supermarkets, and department stores. So it would make sense for us to move towards product creation, or be service providers.

Product creation is a good angle. If you can make $20 from 50,000 people, that's a million dollars. The US has 50 states. So, you would have to sell 1000 items in each state or 3 items per day.

Product creation is a good angle. If you can make $20 from 50,000 people, that's a million dollars. The US has 50 states. So, you would have to sell 1000 items in each state or 3 items per day.

This is like what I was thinking, but on steroids where there is a monthly subscription element, and an initial sales boost via partnering with marketing specialists with email lists. Also, I am not restricting myself to US buyers.

If you build affiliate websites, you are in competition with anyone that has basic computer skills that decides to build affiliate sites, but if you develop a product, there is much less competition since it requires your specialist skills, and knowledge to create the product. But you still need to put it in the face of potential buyers, so you may need to partner up and revenue share with specialist marketers for this purpose, or form a team/company.

I think it was the author of a report called "the death of Adsense" that highlighted the Internet Marketing Food Chain where Adsense advertizers are at the bottom, affiliates are in the middle, and product creators are at the top.

Originally Posted by Andy101

This is like what I was thinking, but on steroids where there is a monthly subscription element, and an initial sales boost via partnering with marketing specialists with email lists. Also, I am not restricting myself to US buyers.

[QUOTE=Andy101;187546]Shipping a product internationally can be quite difficult. It's simple to ship a pair of Nike's from China to the US. But should you try to ship them to Germany. They will flag them at customs and charge $50 VAT.

Originally Posted by Andy101

If you build affiliate websites, you are in competition with anyone that has basic computer skills that decides to build affiliate sites, but if you develop a product, there is much less competition since it requires your specialist skills, and knowledge to create the product. But you still need to put it in the face of potential buyers, so you may need to partner up and revenue share with specialist marketers for this purpose, or form a team/company.

That's the problem with the online business. That you need to develop a product and create the marketing and distribution to sell it.


For instance, on paper if you could sell 1 hemp shirt per day in each of the United States. That's 50 shirt per day. Let's say you sell them for $60 and it costs you $10 to make each shirt. For arguments sake, you make $20 per shirt. So, your business is making $30,000 a month.


The problem is buying the industrial sewing machines, hiring a CAD designer to make the patterns and finding the right material. You'd probably go broke before you could put it all together.

Originally Posted by Andy101

I think it was the author of a report called "the death of Adsense" that highlighted the Internet Marketing Food Chain where Adsense advertizers are at the bottom, affiliates are in the middle, and product creators are at the top.

Adsense pays well. Many times better than most affliliate programs. Though the right affiliate can pay much more.

My product will be delivered digitally, so it costs nothing to make once the development is completed.

The problem is buying the industrial sewing machines, hiring a CAD designer to make the patterns and finding the right material. You'd probably go broke before you could put it all together.

LOL - sorry, but you would have to be crazy to do this yourself when you can outsource it to say China/India etc.

International VAT is certainly a problem, but it is added to the bill of the customer, so you either make another sale or you don't. On balance, you make more sales if you think outside of the box of the USA, and you will win more friends for your business I think

It's kind of annoying to have required fields on an order form of: state, and zip code for international orders when these terms are specific to the USA. And sometimes, the dagned telephone number check fails to validate because it doesn't tally with the required format.

Originally Posted by Andy101

My product will be delivered digitally, so it costs nothing to make once the development is completed.

Digital products will make your life a lot easier.

Originally Posted by Andy101

LOL - sorry, but you would have to be crazy to do this yourself when you can outsource it to say China/India etc.

Outsourcing may not be the answer. American Apparel produces all their clothing in Los Angeles California (American Apparel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)


China/India is going to be cheaper. But you don't have the same control on the quality and materials. Most of the big chains in the US Malls basically are selling shirts that cost a few dollars to make in the $60 price range. There's so much cost cutting that you rarely see fabrics like silk or hemp.


It doesn't see to be that hard to start your own clothing line How to Start a Clothing Line - wikiHow

Even with a staff of 3-5 people and a few industrial sewing machines, you would be surprised on how many quality shirts you could produce per day.

Originally Posted by memenode

This world, and life in general, would be boring if all any entrepreneur ever wanted was to just make money. For some there's a purpose beyond that.

Life would eventually get boring if you had so much money. Many powerful and rich men go into philanthropy usually at some point in their lives once they have so much money they realize getting anymore is pointless.

It used to be tough to sell clients on the importance of valid/standards compliant and semantic code. It is only a matter of time before it evolves into using location-aware services. One of the main changes in web development has been the shift between static and dynamic pages.