Please help narrow down ideas

4 or 5. Particularly 5, could be very good.
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If everything in life is a success, you aren't taking enough risks.

Leisha ,

          I would go with the one that you would have the most interest in - Of the few successful business people I do know - all of them run businesses' that were originally either a hobby or an interests before they turned them into a profitable business.

The unsuccessful ones were those that focused only on making money.

All your ideas seem worthwhile - but which would you find most fulfilling? Maybe that approach will slim you list a little

If I was asked to invest in these ideas, this is what I'd be thinking - in one line, off the cuff answers. (Not meant to offend)

1, No. I don't believe women buy expensive clothes on-line. Clothes need to be tried on and women enjoy the experience. Returns would be high.

2. No. Too specific an idea and therefore too small a market.

3. No - just don't like it and I'm sure it's not very original?

4. No. This would require a very wide distribution network requiring a lot of local management of casual labour - very hard to scale up. Would also require a lot of local marketing. May work in a small area only.

5. More info needed. In principle there may be something here as a register of people willing to run errands for other people may be possible to create. It has the feel of an internet service; matching people together but needs more work. Issues would be business model (who pays who and what is the agent's cut), how do you keep the girl/man friday from going solo once matched etc

6. No. Already done and probably illegal

7. No. Too difficult to get useful information, probable legal issues, difficulty charging for what service?

8. No. as 1

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If you go for 4, the local middleman takeaway delivery service, I recommend that you forget about using a website, just print your menus with a telephone number, and distribute these to local households. I've seen this system work well in the US.
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2. A travel shop which speacilizes in items such as travel adapters, wallets, travel/grooming sets for men and women, miniturized accessories for easier packing for example mini-hair dryers, irons, foldable hangers e.t.c Basically, anything that makes travelling lighter.

As a very frequent flyer, I would love this. It's really difficult to find small tubes of toothpaste, small cans of shaving foam, small blocks of deodorant, small bottles of mouthwash, and so on. If you could sell packages containing one of each, I'd buy from you all the time. Also, sell handy brochures with the ten most important things to remember when travelling to country X.

4. A website delivery service. With a selection from menus of established fast food places like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King as well as restaurants Chinese, Thai e.t.c. Drinks will also be deliverable with orders and also additional snacks like ice cream and cookies e.t.c.( I call this one JiffyBites)

Some companies have tried that around here, and it's not easy. You'd need insurance for your drivers, reliable but inexpensive staff willing to work odd hours, and patient customers (because it takes time to deliver). On top of that, delivery drivers are sometimes targetted for robbery. Given all that, try making a profit!

5. A PA company that caters to busy ordinary people and offers a service to run day-to-day mundane errands from feeding the pet and looking after the garden while owners are away to doing shopping and pickiing up precribtions. Each PA in the company would be assigned a a group of clients so that clients can build rapport with the PA.

What if the pet dies? Who gets the blame? Be careful with anything for which you could be made liable.

6. A web-based learning assistant for university students. Students can submit questions and the answers will be in essay form. Pay per essay.

Once our concept is ready (in six weeks' time), you can offer a related service using your own brand name with no startup costs. Let me know if you are interested.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. You've already taken the biggest step, namely to resolve in your own mind that you want to run your own business.
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Steve

The GOLD Centre will be launching its new concept later this year. Stay tuned for more information.

I really like idea 4, the others seem cliched if you dont mind me saying. Im not picking 4 just for novelty purposes either, i think its a service that i wud use personally, though i dont know how you can manage such a service.

Hi Leisha

Exploring lots of different ideas is a great idea - I guess you are finding that most will be duds for one reason or another but this is the best way to find the idea which is right for your circumstances.

At the risk of sounding like a total pessimist, one aspect I think is important when thinking through ideas is to consider what the implications are if things don't go as well as hoped at first.

For example, if you went for option 2 and opened a shop with the plan to employ staff to work behind the counter - and then sales turned out lower than planned so you had to work there yourself - could you be there every day from 9am - 5.30pm? Would you be able to work Saturdays? Could you get to the shop easily etc etc.

If this scenario would be a problem given your personal circumstances (family, location etc) then I'd be tempted to discard the idea early on.

For what it's worth, I like option 5 best.

Anyway - good luck!

Mark

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Hi Leish

If you're thinking about jiffybites; you'd better grab the domain b4 someone else does.

Cheers, Nigel 

the food one i believe is done, by coca cola, http://www.justeat.co.uk
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Hi Leisha,

You defineately have some very creative ideas. My personal choices are number 2 and number 5 but ultimately have a think about what you will most enjoy and what you are most passionate about.

Good luck,

Tamara

TamaraLyster Online
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I liked number 2 also, but fear there are several companies out there already offering that service. For one: http://www.travelxtras.com/
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Matt Giles 
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