Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I’ve found the website of somebody who appears to be doing precisely what I intend to do. And they are doing it in a local market which would be no threat to the locations I would serve.

 

Being entrepreneurially challenged and under funded, it seems to me that I should approach these folks and offer to build on their success. That is, to apply what they are doing in their locality to mine.

 

So these questions come to mind …

(1)   How can I determine how profitable they are?

(2)   Presuming they’re profitable, how should I approach them / what should I offer?

(3)   What should I watch out for?

There is no way to really know how profitable they are but you should at least call them and see if they will talk to you about the business and your ideas, see how the conversation goes at the very least they will be able to give you some advice.  Don`t hesitate to call them becasue as business owners, we all love to talk about our business!

I don`t mean to sound like the heartless one here, but business models are not proprietary. You do not need their permission to do what they`re doing. There is not one unique site on the web, and that is not a mistake. Unfortunately for them anyone can make a similar site and market it to whomever they choose (think myspace.com and facebook.com)

What I would do in your situation is consider their business model closely, and then adapt it for your market. Use their model as a jumping-off point for your research on your local market. From there you will be able to calculate your financials, and besides, their financials are going to be different if they`re in a different location with different demographics anyway.