Reply to: IT business idea startup

[tomtomagain]

You think too much.

I'll take that as the compliment you undoubtedly meant it to be.

I have been working on my "Plan B" full-time now for 9 months. it's a software product that i wrote and sell.

I've sold it to companies in pretty much every sector, churches, charities, schools, universities, hospitals, big companies, small companies and 95% of my sales are outside the UK .... and whilst that sounds great because it's a "big market" in reality it's a bit of a pain.

Because it can be used by anyone its really hard to target the marketing. It's hard to define the pricing, marketing material and language when you sell something to organisations as diverse as the US military and the local charity.

That's why I like the "schools" idea. It would be great to be able to focus the marketing on a well defined niche. "All" you'd have to do is to open the yellow pages and phone them up.

Having said that ..... I'm not going to implement it .... but would gladly use it!

[Barry Jihad]

Unlikely.

Amateur porn online for free has done for a lot of the industry; torrenting professional films has cost the industry lots as well.

The film industry bangs on about how people downloading a film hits them, but there will always be people who want the social experience of going to the cinema. However, the number of people who want the social experience of going to a cinema to watch porn is much more of a niche market.

I cannot imagine anyone wanting to go to a cinema to get his old fella out & give it a good slap while sitting next to a couple eating popcorn.

[eek]

Whys that? Too much central control? Or too risk-adverse?

The secondary school that some of my kids go to use SAAS system for booking the parents evenings. It's all right, but technically could be a lot better. Looks like the type of app would take around 2 - 3 months to produce a decent version.

I looked into the company running it.

They are an Australian outfit. The charging model is quite interesting. It is around £175 for a single parents night. No contracts etc. And they claim to have 2k schools using it ( USA, UK, Canada, Aus & New Zealand ) .

If their numbers are true then they could easily be looking at £1M per year in revenue.

You think too much. I was thinking more about contacting and selling to the schools. Been there seen the pain parentpay suffered and decided to find another product and market

[darmstadt]

As long as it involves porn you'll do ok.

USB Kleenex Dispenser...

[TheFaQQer]

As long as it involves porn you'll do ok.

Unlikely.

Amateur porn online for free has done for a lot of the industry; torrenting professional films has cost the industry lots as well.

The film industry bangs on about how people downloading a film hits them, but there will always be people who want the social experience of going to the cinema. However, the number of people who want the social experience of going to a cinema to watch porn is much more of a niche market.

[tomtomagain]

Its very difficult to actual get into schools to sell things to them...

Whys that? Too much central control? Or too risk-adverse?

The secondary school that some of my kids go to use SAAS system for booking the parents evenings. It's all right, but technically could be a lot better. Looks like the type of app would take around 2 - 3 months to produce a decent version.

I looked into the company running it.

They are an Australian outfit. The charging model is quite interesting. It is around £175 for a single parents night. No contracts etc. And they claim to have 2k schools using it ( USA, UK, Canada, Aus & New Zealand ) .

If their numbers are true then they could easily be looking at £1M per year in revenue.

[eek]

well i didn't say it would be easy .....

But you lead nicely on to a major point.

For a technology person, like myself, the technology is easy. Selling stuff is hard.

In this case its not the selling that is difficult (you can find people who can do that, its difficult but if you someone who can sell not impossible to find others). The actual problem is one of logistics. Its very difficult to actual get into schools to sell things to them...

[tomtomagain]

The only problem is a killer one though. When the tulip hits the fan schools need the signature and nothing but a signature will do.

that and the fact selling it to schools would be a absolute nightmare (been there looked at that issue and ran (very rapidly) away screaming)...

well i didn't say it would be easy .....

But you lead nicely on to a major point.

For a technology person, like myself, the technology is easy. Selling stuff is hard.

[tomtomagain]

Not a bad idea, Parentmail may be ahead of you though.

I don't think so. ParentMail is broken.

I get ParentMail for the 4 kids and, as with any email list, it just gets full of spam.

The schools just use it too often to send out stuff that get's in the way of the trips etc.

That's why I'd like a dedicated "Consent" application.

[eek]

Not a bad idea, Parentmail may be ahead of you though.

The only problem is a killer one though. When the tulip hits the fan schools need the signature and nothing but a signature will do.

that and the fact selling it to schools would be a absolute nightmare (been there looked at that issue and ran (very rapidly) away screaming)...

[vetran]

I have 4 children. All at school.

Every week either I, or the wife, has to hunt through various book bags, finding little slips of paper to sign and return. Invariably these get lost & forgotten.

I want an app on my smartphone that tells me when the the little ones have school trips and displays a big "I Consent To My Child going to xxxxx on yyyyyy".

I push the button, the consent is given, the school is notified.

The day before the trip I want a reminder so I remember to pack a sodding packed lunch. If it could remind me when "Mufti" day is all the better.

It will save the school secretaries huge amounts of time and cost in issuing letters and collating responses.

You market the application to each primary / secondary school in the country. Either let them use it for free or sell on a yearly subscription. And then once you have a few hundred, target the rest of the English speaking world.

You can then either sell the app for a nominal £1 or so to each parent or give it away free.

Once you've signed up a few thousand schools in the UK build out some additional functionality such as collecting the payments for the school trips ( remember to use nominee accounts though ).


You can thank me when you are a millionaire.

Not a bad idea, Parentmail may be ahead of you though.

[tomtomagain]

good god ...what sort of things do you think your children are sending on the school network? ....

He will be on your childs maths B result next ...

.... for those who actually read the "problem" I described will realise it was noting to do with child-to-adult communication but an adult-to-school communication.

So what's your big idea?

[tomtomagain]

What if a paedo hacked the system and took the child. Or worse, Suity hacked it and asked the child a numpty SQL question?

Epic fail....

Really? What if a Paedo hacked the system? Better make it secure then.

You don't understand how much of school IT there is out there already.

[stek]

I have 4 children. All at school.

Every week either I, or the wife, has to hunt through various book bags, finding little slips of paper to sign and return. Invariably these get lost & forgotten.

I want an app on my smartphone that tells me when the the little ones have school trips and displays a big "I Consent To My Child going to xxxxx on yyyyyy".

I push the button, the consent is given, the school is notified.

The day before the trip I want a reminder so I remember to pack a sodding packed lunch. If it could remind me when "Mufti" day is all the better.

It will save the school secretaries huge amounts of time and cost in issuing letters and collating responses.

You market the application to each primary / secondary school in the country. Either let them use it for free or sell on a yearly subscription. And then once you have a few hundred, target the rest of the English speaking world.

You can then either sell the app for a nominal £1 or so to each parent or give it away free.

Once you've signed up a few thousand schools in the UK build out some additional functionality such as collecting the payments for the school trips ( remember to use nominee accounts though ).


You can thank me when you are a millionaire.

What if a paedo hacked the system and took the child. Or worse, Suity hacked it and asked the child a numpty SQL question?

Epic fail....

[tomtomagain]

I have 4 children. All at school.

Every week either I, or the wife, has to hunt through various book bags, finding little slips of paper to sign and return. Invariably these get lost & forgotten.

I want an app on my smartphone that tells me when the the little ones have school trips and displays a big "I Consent To My Child going to xxxxx on yyyyyy".

I push the button, the consent is given, the school is notified.

The day before the trip I want a reminder so I remember to pack a sodding packed lunch. If it could remind me when "Mufti" day is all the better.

It will save the school secretaries huge amounts of time and cost in issuing letters and collating responses.

You market the application to each primary / secondary school in the country. Either let them use it for free or sell on a yearly subscription. And then once you have a few hundred, target the rest of the English speaking world.

You can then either sell the app for a nominal £1 or so to each parent or give it away free.

Once you've signed up a few thousand schools in the UK build out some additional functionality such as collecting the payments for the school trips ( remember to use nominee accounts though ).


You can thank me when you are a millionaire.