New business idea

wmb194

Daliah said:

wmb194 said:

Ugh. I'm not sure why so many people are saying there's no market for this when there clearly is 

I think people read into the OP's post that the OP would provide a personalised service for which they could charge £15-£30 a month.  If so, I would agree, there is no market for so such an offering.

If the OP's post was misinterpreted, and it is just a YNAB/Emma etc type of app, without personal service, then there is still no market for it if it costs £15-£30 a month. People will just not pay this amount of money for it.

But even if it was significantly cheaper, it would be tremendously difficult to break into what is already a crowded market, with well established players who have, in many cases, hundreds of man person years of experience - - - and which often offer their app for free. You'd have to find something very unique to make significant inroads.  

I'm not saying that £15pm is realistic but there is a market to charge *something* for some sort of service. It's up to the OP to analyse the market and figure it out. I certainly don't care enough to give it any thought.

Ergates

wmb194 said:

Ugh. I'm not sure why so many people are saying there's no market for this when there clearly is - just go and have a look at e.g., the Apple and Google app stores and search for 'budgeting.' The problem is that you're up against some established competition - I've not used them but IIRC Emma and YNAB are the biggest at the moment. Perhaps you can see something they're missing and you can charge for a niche but there's a lot of competition in this space. 

Personally, I'd just recommend people create a spreadsheet or find a (free) copy of Microsoft Money 2005 UK.

Nobody has said there is no market for this.  People have said that they don't think people would be willing to pay £15-30 for this and/or that it is not realistic that the OP could provide any kind of useful service for this amount.

Ergates

Potbellypig said:

OP - If you're going to offer that kind of service then your customer probably wants something more than just a budget calculation in return. If you're going to build this kind of business then a starting point would be to offer a free no obligation quote to look into customers I&E and find ways that they can save money on their bills. If you can save them X amount or get X % off their bills then they'll be charged. Long winded and certainly means you putting a lot of time into it, but businesses don't just pop up with no effort. You may have to work for years getting this kind business up before you see any sort of profit. It's definitely a viable business but not an easy one, in my opinion.

Exactly how much do you think people are over paying on their bills if you think that the OP putting significant time and then getting a % of the amount saved would be a viable business?

Potbellypig

Daliah said:

Potbellypig said.

It's definitely a viable business 

That's a grand statement to make. And I doubt that it is actually true because if it was, the smart cookies at YNAB etc or one of the many FinTecs, would long have ventured into it. That's assuming they aren't doing it already, which I think is highly likely, but much much cheaper than £15-£30 a month,


But if I'm wrong - who do you reckon the target market would be? How many people would pay £15 - £30 a month for it? 

I'm certainly saying that as a business idea, it's do-able, and if someone has the desire and passion to make something like this work for them, then I think they would make a viable business from it. Are they going to take on the multi millionaires that could do this sort of stuff in an instant? No of course not. But it shouldn't stop them from trying to make a go of it if they feel it's right. I sell personalised goods. I'll never take on the giants of that world, but I can still make it a viable business.

I doubt that people will pay £15-30 per month for it, but that's not what I said. I said what could work is a no obligation free quote to look through their finances and then give them a ballpark figure of what they could save. Work your price out on that as a % maybe. Don't know. Seems like a tough venture and there are certainly easier ones, but some people love helping others budget and maybe OP is one of them.

Potbellypig

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

OP - If you're going to offer that kind of service then your customer probably wants something more than just a budget calculation in return. If you're going to build this kind of business then a starting point would be to offer a free no obligation quote to look into customers I&E and find ways that they can save money on their bills. If you can save them X amount or get X % off their bills then they'll be charged. Long winded and certainly means you putting a lot of time into it, but businesses don't just pop up with no effort. You may have to work for years getting this kind business up before you see any sort of profit. It's definitely a viable business but not an easy one, in my opinion.

Exactly how much do you think people are over paying on their bills if you think that the OP putting significant time and then getting a % of the amount saved would be a viable business?

Don't know, but in my personal opinion, I'd say a hell of a lot of people are over paying on bills.

Daliah

Potbellypig said:

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

OP - If you're going to offer that kind of service then your customer probably wants something more than just a budget calculation in return. If you're going to build this kind of business then a starting point would be to offer a free no obligation quote to look into customers I&E and find ways that they can save money on their bills. If you can save them X amount or get X % off their bills then they'll be charged. Long winded and certainly means you putting a lot of time into it, but businesses don't just pop up with no effort. You may have to work for years getting this kind business up before you see any sort of profit. It's definitely a viable business but not an easy one, in my opinion.

Exactly how much do you think people are over paying on their bills if you think that the OP putting significant time and then getting a % of the amount saved would be a viable business?

Don't know, but in my personal opinion, I'd say a hell of a lot of people are over paying on bills.

Which is why comparison engines and switch services exist, and are making money. It is also the reason why the likes of Emma do offer switching services, and do make money from it.

Ergates

Potbellypig said:

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

OP - If you're going to offer that kind of service then your customer probably wants something more than just a budget calculation in return. If you're going to build this kind of business then a starting point would be to offer a free no obligation quote to look into customers I&E and find ways that they can save money on their bills. If you can save them X amount or get X % off their bills then they'll be charged. Long winded and certainly means you putting a lot of time into it, but businesses don't just pop up with no effort. You may have to work for years getting this kind business up before you see any sort of profit. It's definitely a viable business but not an easy one, in my opinion.

Exactly how much do you think people are over paying on their bills if you think that the OP putting significant time and then getting a % of the amount saved would be a viable business?

Don't know, but in my personal opinion, I'd say a hell of a lot of people are over paying on bills.

But generally not by the hundreds and hundreds of pounds to make taking a %age of the amount saved worthwhile *for an individual*.   The companies that do this only make a small amount per customer, but they use automated systems so can service thousands of customers every day.

CKhalvashi

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

OP - If you're going to offer that kind of service then your customer probably wants something more than just a budget calculation in return. If you're going to build this kind of business then a starting point would be to offer a free no obligation quote to look into customers I&E and find ways that they can save money on their bills. If you can save them X amount or get X % off their bills then they'll be charged. Long winded and certainly means you putting a lot of time into it, but businesses don't just pop up with no effort. You may have to work for years getting this kind business up before you see any sort of profit. It's definitely a viable business but not an easy one, in my opinion.

Exactly how much do you think people are over paying on their bills if you think that the OP putting significant time and then getting a % of the amount saved would be a viable business?

Don't know, but in my personal opinion, I'd say a hell of a lot of people are over paying on bills.

But generally not by the hundreds and hundreds of pounds to make taking a %age of the amount saved worthwhile *for an individual*.   The companies that do this only make a small amount per customer, but they use automated systems so can service thousands of customers every day.

The big money comes from the commissions paid via affiliate links.

This makes it 'free' to the consumer, which may be the way to go.

The money is, however, of course more variable than via a monthly fee.

Ergates

CKhalvashi said:

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

Ergates said:

Potbellypig said:

OP - If you're going to offer that kind of service then your customer probably wants something more than just a budget calculation in return. If you're going to build this kind of business then a starting point would be to offer a free no obligation quote to look into customers I&E and find ways that they can save money on their bills. If you can save them X amount or get X % off their bills then they'll be charged. Long winded and certainly means you putting a lot of time into it, but businesses don't just pop up with no effort. You may have to work for years getting this kind business up before you see any sort of profit. It's definitely a viable business but not an easy one, in my opinion.

Exactly how much do you think people are over paying on their bills if you think that the OP putting significant time and then getting a % of the amount saved would be a viable business?

Don't know, but in my personal opinion, I'd say a hell of a lot of people are over paying on bills.

But generally not by the hundreds and hundreds of pounds to make taking a %age of the amount saved worthwhile *for an individual*.   The companies that do this only make a small amount per customer, but they use automated systems so can service thousands of customers every day.

The big money comes from the commissions paid via affiliate links.

This makes it 'free' to the consumer, which may be the way to go.

The money is, however, of course more variable than via a monthly fee.

Each payment isn't "big" - it's a viable business model *if* you can deal with hundreds of customers each day.   For someone, such as the  OP, intending to offer a "hands on" approach it just wouldn't work as a business.

MattyT97

Thank you for all of your feedback. Taking what you all have said into account, I have decided to scrap this business idea and have a rethink.

What do you think of a business that involves offering a bookkeeping service for businesses but also offer free personal finance advice for the employees of my bookkeeping clients? Would this be a better idea?