New Business Idea

[webenterpriser]

Hello Everyone! I'm new to Young Entrepreneur. In a given day, I usually come up with several lucrative business ideas. However, there are only so many that you can do. Therefore, I figured I would toss a business idea to everyone and get some feedback. It's not perfect because there are a couple of legal hurdles. However, where there is a will there is a way.

Problem: Students are not able to check their answers with the official textbook answers. Student edition textbooks do not have the answers in the book. Some math books have odd answers, but even answers are usually omitted. Therefore, how does the student know they understand the material?

Solution: A website that offers the answers to every textbook on the market for free.

Revenue: Advertising

Legal Issues: You are not allowed to copy any words from any textbook (that includes answers). Therefore, you'd have to paraphrase the answers in the textbook.

Retrieving the Answers

There are three ways I perceive you could get the textbook answers.

1. Team up with a network of professors and have them order several Instructor's Edition textbooks. This would prove difficult and I don't see this as being a realistic option.

2. Order the Instructor's Edition textbooks from various websites: Half.com, Amazon.com, Ebay.com, etc.

3. Create a website that is essentially a Wiki for textbook answers. Users can come to the website and submit their own answers. You would obviously have issues with the validity of the answers. Then again, many people would be viewing the answers and they could change them if they were incorrect.

[TheIdeaMan]

Wow! I say awsome idea! But I also agree it would quite a challenge to get up and running.

Once completed, it would quite easy to get word out about your site. As soon as people hear about your site, word will spread through college campus' like wild fire. Personally, I would frequent that site often myself lol

You have a couple of HUGE hurdles however. Firstly, the scope of this would have to be VERY large. Think about how many answers you would need to get for just ONE Biology book. Now think about how many books are used... It's a very daunting task.

And even if you had users come to your website and submit answers it would take a VERY long time before enough answers are submitted that your website actually becomes useful.

So here is what I think about your idea: It would be VERY hard and VERY time consuming to create. But once created, would be VERY profitable. You would get tons of traffic and tons of companies would want to advertise to you huge pool of college users.

-Chad

[webenterpriser]

Wow! I say awsome idea! But I also agree it would quite a challenge to get up and running.

Once completed, it would quite easy to get word out about your site. As soon as people hear about your site, word will spread through college campus' like wild fire. Personally, I would frequent that site often myself lol

You have a couple of HUGE hurdles however. Firstly, the scope of this would have to be VERY large. Think about how many answers you would need to get for just ONE Biology book. Now think about how many books are used... It's a very daunting task.

And even if you had users come to your website and submit answers it would take a VERY long time before enough answers are submitted that your website actually becomes useful.

So here is what I think about your idea: It would be VERY hard and VERY time consuming to create. But once created, would be VERY profitable. You would get tons of traffic and tons of companies would want to advertise to you huge pool of college users.

-Chad

It wouldn't just be for college....what about high school students?

I do think it would be tons and tons of work but the payoff could be HUGE! Eh, I'll get to this when I can. For right now, I'd like to concentrate on my other projects.

[E-Helpdesk]

Have you taken a survey with students to see how valuable this service would be to them? It might be worth compiling some data.

[cokeclassact]

lol. doesnt this defeat the point of learning? the problem i see with this in college is the rapidity with which new books are introduced to the courses. if i take a course in fall of one year...by next fall they are often using a different textbook. it isnt always a radical departure though, sometimes it is just a newer edition, so that works in your favor a bit.

[dre]

I don't see this working. Student editions usually do have answers in them. Plus it just seems like to much work. Copying the answers from every single textbook that schools are using. That would take a huge number of employees. Plus how will you make money?

[cokeclassact]

well he could wouldnt need that many employees if he just made it wiki. and money would be made through advertising. its a viable plan...its just that it isnt as easy as something like wikipedia because of the different environment