Business Idea, needs critisism.

[Chumbucket]

Hi there,

My names Andy, I'm 17 and I'm a builders apprentice over here in New Zealand. I have goals of retiring financially early, investing in real-estate etc etc.

I, as I'm guessing heaps of other guys here have read a few of the rich dad poor dad books which have been very interesting

I live at home, pay no board so I am able to save quite a bit of money, and I want to try my hand at building businesses with the spare cash.

The idea I have goes as follows, and I need as much critisism as possible.



Sell This Car
- We take the stress out of selling

This business will target the older, less computer literate people, and people that don't have much spare time on their hands to sell their car.

The main idea is people will come to me and get me to list their car online (on trademe.co.nz, which is the equivilent to your guys ebay sites, and I will take a percentage of the profit.

Basically what I will do is hire people all around the country in the main centres (casual, a few hours a week at the start) who are mature and have their full licence, and a digital camera.
When someone calls me up, wanting to sell their car, I will send a rep to them. This rep will do a brief inspection (non mechanical), check any service history/new parts etc. receipts (so I can put this info in the auction knowing that the information is true) and also take the car for a test drive to see how it drives. The rep will now take a few photos of the car, slap a company sticker on the back of the car (Saying something like "I'm being sold by sellthiscar", will be advertising for both the sellthiscar business and the car itself. The rep will then upload and email me the pictures and give me a briefing on the condition etc.. I will then create the auction and market as well as possible.

The reps will be paid per car they do (say, 30 bucks for each one) so this won't be a full time job, just something for extra cash (and it's not a very bad job for 30 bucks, in my opinion).

Their will be an initial deposit required to cover the cost of the reps visit and the auction listing cost. Once the auction has completed, a 4% Commission charge will apply.

I think the biggest flaw that most people will probably think of is "It's not actually that hard to list your car online" but I think that people will be willing to pay for someone else to come and take care of everything, from taking the pictures, listing the auction, dealing with buyers questions etc.

I'm sure I have forgotton things, but I am very keen to answer your guys comments and questions.

Thanks in advance,
Andy.

[rejoice]

you said... 'i think'... what does that mean... are you guessing this is a viable business?

[Chumbucket]

Well, in my opinion if I had difficulty operating a computer, or no digital camera/spare time then I would definately consider this service

[rejoice]

why don't you do some surveys and find out how it is with these older people and if it's something they really need... whether it's something that would benefit them... and in terms of the older population... i tend to believe that they have a lot more spare time than us younger generations... just a thought... find out from your end user if they wold use your services and exactly how much are they willing to pay... maybe they are happy to call a newspaper and place an ad for their car like that as opposed to the hassle of using an online brokerage/consignment service

[crackah]

Its like your acting as a used car yard but online.

Actually dont mind the idea, except I just dont know if it will work.

Dont know if there is really a problem your solving or any value it will provide.

[Fadzuli]

Sounds like a good idea. I suggest you find a few sellers first...get the pics up and get your site popular first...

You can actually propose this to the car resellers company too..Its like you are their car salesman except its online. All you have to do is refer the prospects to them and you can earn comissions from there.

Give it a go and let us know your progress!!

[Tom Milan]

I like the idea,

As mentioned above, do your research and find out if your target market are also keen on it.

Otherwise if you set it up the right way, i think it can work.

[vthai299]

Just a couple of issues that came to my mind.... your company would need to be more desirable than advertising in a newspaper to someone. I think the older generation would opt to putting it in a newspaper before putting it online as a lot (sorry if I am making a generalization) would be very weary of the internet. Also, pricing may be an issue. If you are putting a lot of your time into it getting a listing, test driving (including the time travelled to their house), getting stickers, taking pictures, and advertising, what would your costs be? A lot of people have internet literate relatives too. So, getting over those obstacles I think would be the most challenging part of the company.

[eeloha]

sounds like a pretty good idea, but advertising will be tricky... what are you goin to do

[MistaDobalina]

sorry bud i have to say that the costs are going to outweigh the profits on this...like vthai says alot of older people have comp-literate relatives. you'd really be wasting all your energy on such a small market honestly.

[matt_15]

dont waste your time asking people on here. go and do it, if it fails then atleast you learnt, if its asuccess then great. just do it, dont waste time asking people on this forum.... just od it. why do so many people come on here asking is my business feasible ? will it work ? should I do it ?

[matt_15]

Just Do It

[RLorenzen]

Hi there,

My names Andy, I'm 17 and I'm a builders apprentice over here in New Zealand. I have goals of retiring financially early, investing in real-estate etc etc.

I, as I'm guessing heaps of other guys here have read a few of the rich dad poor dad books which have been very interesting

I live at home, pay no board so I am able to save quite a bit of money, and I want to try my hand at building businesses with the spare cash.

The idea I have goes as follows, and I need as much critisism as possible.



Sell This Car
- We take the stress out of selling

This business will target the older, less computer literate people, and people that don't have much spare time on their hands to sell their car.

The main idea is people will come to me and get me to list their car online (on trademe.co.nz, which is the equivilent to your guys ebay sites, and I will take a percentage of the profit.

Basically what I will do is hire people all around the country in the main centres (casual, a few hours a week at the start) who are mature and have their full licence, and a digital camera.
When someone calls me up, wanting to sell their car, I will send a rep to them. This rep will do a brief inspection (non mechanical), check any service history/new parts etc. receipts (so I can put this info in the auction knowing that the information is true) and also take the car for a test drive to see how it drives. The rep will now take a few photos of the car, slap a company sticker on the back of the car (Saying something like "I'm being sold by sellthiscar", will be advertising for both the sellthiscar business and the car itself. The rep will then upload and email me the pictures and give me a briefing on the condition etc.. I will then create the auction and market as well as possible.

The reps will be paid per car they do (say, 30 bucks for each one) so this won't be a full time job, just something for extra cash (and it's not a very bad job for 30 bucks, in my opinion).

Their will be an initial deposit required to cover the cost of the reps visit and the auction listing cost. Once the auction has completed, a 4% Commission charge will apply.

I think the biggest flaw that most people will probably think of is "It's not actually that hard to list your car online" but I think that people will be willing to pay for someone else to come and take care of everything, from taking the pictures, listing the auction, dealing with buyers questions etc.

I'm sure I have forgotton things, but I am very keen to answer your guys comments and questions.

Thanks in advance,
Andy.

Is it going to work? You tell us. Since this is your idea, you're the one doing the market research and feasibility testing (hopefully). Asking on a forum will not get you an accurate answer.

You can ask our opinions on the idea, but we cannot give you an accurate answer on whether it will work or if there is a market for it. That's what due diligence is for.

[SmarterGroup]

Have you done any financial projections?

How many cars are sold each day/year in the private trade?

What percentage of sellers lose out as they can't access the internet etc? (and end up selling to a relative for much less &#163

What percentage of people will become sellers (as opposed to leaving the car sat around to rust) once they learn of your services?

As a business goes it will be very difficult to model and manage (can you trust these reps to uphold your business ethics?) but like any idea has the potential to succeed

[kindafishy]

Hi Andy,

In Canada, we have this service: Canada Used Autos, Cars, Trucks, Boats, Motorcycles Online Classified Ads - AutoTrader.ca.

It is immensely successful. It allows you to place the add yourself or go to one of their 'service centers', which are simply local business that are licensed by the Autotrader to take pictures and place the ad.

There is also a print version of this website. The print version is actually the original Autotrader, and it has been around for many, many years.

Spend some time looking around to see if something similar already exists in New Zealand. If it doesn't, then you have a tremendous opportunity in front of you.

Don't listen to naysayers. Many people will tell you that you can't do it. In fact, it seems that people love to give you reasons why you will fail. Pay close attention to how far those people have gone in life.

Good luck. Do it.