Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi all. I`ve been a lurker here for quite a while. I`ve got a few small businesses under my belt--failures from which I`ve learned a lot. I`ve got a lot of respect for this community, so I`m hoping I can get your feedback on a new business idea.

I`m considering building a subscription-based web service, a kind of employee assistance program for non-employees. The target market is you all--entrepreneurs, freelancers, and independent contractors. It would feature eLearning and other media (podcasts, articles, etc.) focused on areas that a typical employee would have covered by their employer-provided EAP: Work-life balance, stress management, lifestyle stuff, etc. In addition, you would be able to have email consults with a board certified counselor.

On one hand, as an entrepreneur myself, I think this service could be very helpful. On the other hand, I want to make sure that I`m not just enamored of this idea because it combines my instructional design and mental-health backgrounds.

All general feedback would be most appreciated. Some specific questions to consider:

1. Does this idea interest you as a customer? (On a scale of 1-10)
   
2. What would you change about this idea to make it more attractive?
3. How much would you (really) pay for such a subscription, if anything?

Thanks a lot in advance for your valuable thoughts.

Will you be referring your potential clients to hiring employers?

Interesting idea ... sounds basically like a consultation or personal coaching service.  My question would have to do with your target audience.  Entpreneurs are basically concerned with gathering information that will help them build and sustain a business.  So if you could bridge that gap effectively by demonstrating how the skills you teach will give them the tools necessary to be successful, you might have some good possibilities.

-------------------------

Michael Peregrine
Consultant/Coach
Start a business without starting from scratch.
My Youtube

One of the biggest problems facing everyone online is the growing culture of "free." Everyone (almost) seems to think that excepting specific products for sale in a store, whatever information they find should be free. There`s a lot of reluctance to sign up for anything, particularly without first getting real and immediate benefits.

Lisa: No, this would not be a referral service.

Mike: Thanks for the feedback. The connection is there, but it will take some work to demonstrate it.

Craig: Lots of food for thought there. Connects with what Mike said, I think, in that I`d have to demonstrate some real benefit right out of the gate.

Thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming!

The key point a lot of people seem to be glossing over is your product. Over and over I see people talk about a new business they want to have, but they see it more as a job. They`re really not that interested in the actual product (or service). Instead, they have visions of lots of money pouring in from their Internet Business and Work At Home.

The bottom line is that the world doesn`t care about anything other than each individual paying attention to his or her life. Parents think about their children`s lives, and lovers think about each other. Families pay attention to their family members, and that`s about it.

It`s true that many people AFTER they`ve taken care of themselves turn their attention to charity, assistance, and so forth. They want to make the world a better place or get famous or whatever. But only after they`ve taken care of their own survival, then their basic comfort.

To that end, a business product or service FIRST has to address individual people. Will it save them time, money or work? Does it improve their lives, make them more comfortable, or add pleasure to life? Does it solve an ongoing problem, fill a need, or offer an improvement of some sort.

These are the basic questions. Is this something someone will want to pay money for? That`s the bottom line.

So your approach above is to describe the product. But how much would YOU pay for what you`re designing? Remember that we`re in tough economic times, and entrepreneurs don`t have much money. What they have is going into their business. They`re on an extremely limited budget, most often.

What *real* benefits will your product or service provide, right away? If I pay $100 for "something" that you`re talking about above, what will I get for that $100, and how will it make my life immediately better? Or how will it get me my $100 back in value?

Neil,
You make a good case for the concept of free. My specific thought was about information---things like Wikipedia. Where there IS a strong value, people do seem to think more and more it ought to be free. Another example would be music downloads and the argument about intellectual property.

So things like videos compete with YouTube. Yes, there`s Hulu out there, but I believe we can say that YouTube has a significant market share and public perception.

I`m getting some excellent feedback here. I`m hesitant to respond at this point because I think this conversation is more valuable without me.