Online Business Ideas

[Khun Jean]

Inspired by listenup who wrote an excellent piece about starting an online business i think a topic to collect some online business ideas would be nice.

I start off with an idea i am playing with. I will not have the time to do it anyway so maybe someone can use it, be inspired by it or modify it heavily to make it pay off.

It starts with a need. And the personal ones are the easiest to start with.

When we lived in the Netherlands we would like to buy some Thai DVD's or VCD's.

Especially the ones that have thai subscription and an english soundtrack. In many movies the rapid speech is too fast for my wife or too soft to hear clearly. Being able to watch a movie together is nice. Buying these DVD's is impossible in the Netherlands. I imagine, and this has to be researched, it is also hard in other countries.

Selling vcds/dvds/cds from Thailand is nothing new. There are a few websites already doing it. But if i may say, they are still in the dark ages!

With the dark ages i mean, they still think in physical cds and mail. The postage can be de deal 'killer'. You don't want to pay 8 dollars postage for a 3 dollar cd. And many times you just want to have one and not be pushed to buy more becuase of the postage.

For dvds the balance is a little bit better around 10 dollar for the dvd and 8 dollr postage. Still you have to consider the time it takes and the changes that it will get lost or damaged.

I think this part wil make it special and interesting for buyers. Inspired (or is it called copied!) by Apple.

Unlike all the other websites that sell Thai mulitmedia you not send the item to the customers address but you provide a link where they can download it. This will save the postage which can be considerable and the customer has its product very fast.

Of course this requires a good location for the server and be sure to have one with an unlimited datalimit and a good bandwith connection. Best is to have a few that will be closer to the actual customers. But for starters you can simple use one computer with a few 100 gigabyte storage. Not so difficult anymore. There are many ecommerce packages available even for free, so setting it up can be doen quickly. And as listenup pointed out, don't learn how to build a website, it is really a waste of time. Start promoting and selling! Why not put a banner on this website and on Stickmans. You will have a large number of people seeing it.

Another obstacle would be that what you are doing is illegal. To solve that and again that has to be researched is that you actually buy the real item for each sale and give it an unique identification. Match that with a download code and the link is traceable. You only have to transfer disc to divx, mp3 or other format you choose, but to stay legal you have to buy a cd for every single one of them that is sold. I press this point one more time. Be sure that this is legal! (I know the law in the Netherlands allows you to make 1 personal copy as a backup. I thinkthis can be treated the same)

The profit will be the margin you will get when you buy wholesale, and you can add some profit because there is no postage.

It will be a lot of work in the beginning, maybe you already have a library of music,karaoke and movies to start with, thats great. In time the work will get less and less. At some point it can be highly automated. You will only need to take care of the real physical discs. You have to buy them and store them.

Ones a customer has bought a few items you can offer to send it combined with mail. Then the customer has the originals and save on postage. Other option is to have the customer pick it up when they are in Thailand. Close to the airport or a storage there would be convenient.

I would like this topic to be one with ideas only and not one that will deeply analyse each idea.

Anyone has another idea to add?

Edited July 24, 2006 by Khun Jean

[Khun Jean]

Here is my second idea, also started with a personal need and experience.

When i married in Bangkok we hired a photo studio to make pictures of our wedding and also do a studio shooting.

The pictures came out amazing, i even looked handsome on them.

We made a few extra large ones on really nice photo paper, it think it was fuji paper that had a relief. It looked like it was printed on canvas. We framed one picture for ourselves and took another copy to the Netherlands. For easy transport on the plane we had it rolled up in a cardbord cylinder. When we went looking for a frame we were shocked by the prices. A nice frame was around 200 euro! We could have made 5 frames of equal quality for that amount in Thailand.

So here is the idea!

Start an online picture framing business.

People would have to send their pictures digitally and preferably with a large enough resolution. Myabe automatically give some maximum size that can be made with the used resolution.

On the site you can have detailed pictures of frames and the customer would be able to preview their picture in different frames.

Frames should be arranged according to styles, materials and colors.

Go for quality!

Use excellent quality photo paper for the prints, use lexan or other material that is not susceptible for moist and does not warp over time for backing the picture and not some cheap board. It will make the difference!

And have the frame made by someone who has an eye for detail. Pictures of frames are easily available in catalogs. Just visit a local shop and see what they have to offer. Scan the pictures of those frames to allow people to see the real product. Show pictures of the people who actually do the work and show how it is done. This will give the customer confidence that the product will be of high quality, which ultimately you will have to deliver. Without that there is just little time before you fail.

You can even expand with other stuff that can be framed, like classic paintings or public domain pictures from online libraries. You can also think about making real oil paintings of someones favorite picture or a combinations of pictures painted. Thailand is a good source for oil painters.

The key in this idea is that the product is highly personal. The key to keep it profitable is high quality.

[appleman_thai]

Second idea is interesting.....

BUt how about the postage costs?

[Khun Jean]

With cheap items like cd's it is really a deal stopper. As long as the postage is a reasonable percentage of the whole purchase it would not be a problem.

I don't know the postage for an item like that. I guestimate it will be around 20% of the price of the article. If it gets to 50% or more it will start to get in the way.

[Scott123]

With cheap items like cd's it is really a deal stopper. As long as the postage is a reasonable percentage of the whole purchase it would not be a problem.

I don't know the postage for an item like that. I guestimate it will be around 20% of the price of the article. If it gets to 50% or more it will start to get in the way.

It is very easy to find out the cost of shipping...try any of the Fedex, UPS, DHL, or goverment post office site.

I bet it will be too high....international shpping!!!

[Khun Jean]

I would not like to analyze it to death. I try to have a topic that will be a collection of ideas. If it helps someone to start that would be great.

Postage is in the second example no problem.

If you compare the price in US or Europe a product can easily cost more than 400$. That is including a high quality A2 color print or oil painting and a frame.

Here it can be done for around 100$. So you have a difference of 300$. The postage is surely lower than that.

A profit of 100$ per frame is reachable, but prices is for everyone else to decide. The high quality will make it possible.

If it is low quality it would only be viable in bulk.

My personal feeling is that it is better to offer a premium service or quality product. The profit will be higher per piece sold which will translate into less work.

What good would it be to work long hours and stay in Thailand. That takes the fun out of it very quick.

Anyone else with some ideas?

Think also about what kind of online service or product you mis?

[rishi]

I must admit, I'm quite hesitant about contributing anything to this thread - merely because whatever I might be able to contribute would just be some idea(s) I, myself, would like to persue in my own pace ... I'm sure, if anyone should happen to feel my idea(s) worth a try --- they'll go ahead long before I am ready even to begin ... So why speak out?

[BillyParadise]

It is a very real concern.

a.. any idea you had has likely been done before.

b.. any idea that hasn't will likely be cloned very quickly.

That being said, here's one for you that's less risky than starting your own:

I'm working with a money guy to create a type of "Internet REIT". Take existing small internet businesses/sites, buy them, agregate them, build them. Cashflow is the name of the game. Mostly hands-off management is the goal.

Projected returns are significantly higher than the stock market.

**This is not a solicitation - we already have our investors**

BP

I must admit, I'm quite hesitant about contributing anything to this thread - merely because whatever I might be able to contribute would just be some idea(s) I, myself, would like to persue in my own pace ... I'm sure, if anyone should happen to feel my idea(s) worth a try --- they'll go ahead long before I am ready even to begin ... So why speak out?

Edited July 25, 2006 by BillyParadise

[Khun Jean]

Ideas that you yourself would not do are still ideas.

I have many ideas, but i have only limited time, and i already have an online business. If you have a great online business idea, sure keep quiet about it.

I did not intend to make a topic to give away secrets.

General ideas can get someone going. Once you start thinking about online businesses the possibilities seem endless.

[rishi]

Well, Billy Paradise ... your avatar together with your post only makes me think of those 5-page websites with absolutelety no content besides 3-5 clicks to the very essential page where the visitor pays ... No doubt, you and your like are in desperate need of some skilled person in order to diversify just a tiny bit ...

[Dakhar]

If one could develop a tele medicine practice.... Wow, that would be nice. I have been wishing to get into that concept for a while.

Thailand could use it, and ofcourse other countries with high health care costs such as America is in dire need of it. India currently has started doing this, albeit on a small scale.

The trick is, you have to have US trained and licensed MD's living in Thailand, and then you also have to have licensed individuals within the specific state that the tele medicine is being practiced.

For example, if you wanted to perform Tele medicine in Texas while living in Thailand, you would have to be licensed and trained in the US, and licensed in Texas and living in Thailand.

So you can see from the start some limitations forming.

[eddy-ham]

Hi,

A small input on the picture framiing idea.

Having been in the picture framing business when it took off with the new automation equipment and having seen a product that is a picture frame in a tube I can see a few problems.

1) Cost of post.

2) Weight, are we puting glass on these pictures?

3) Returns and cost of these.

4) Size of posted picture.

5) Pictures are very personel and people I have found generally like to sample hands on.

Having looked at the local oil painting boys ,these guys have a lot of talent but they are expensive, cheapest and best oil painting I have seen were in Haiti 2 dollars each but on the back ot hessian rice sacks.

ed

[Charma]

Inspired by listenup who wrote an excellent piece about starting an online business i think a topic to collect some online business ideas would be nice.

I start off with an idea i am playing with. I will not have the time to do it anyway so maybe someone can use it, be inspired by it or modify it heavily to make it pay off.

It starts with a need. And the personal ones are the easiest to start with.

When we lived in the Netherlands we would like to buy some Thai DVD's or VCD's.

Especially the ones that have thai subscription and an english soundtrack. In many movies the rapid speech is too fast for my wife or too soft to hear clearly. Being able to watch a movie together is nice. Buying these DVD's is impossible in the Netherlands. I imagine, and this has to be researched, it is also hard in other countries.

Selling vcds/dvds/cds from Thailand is nothing new. There are a few websites already doing it. But if i may say, they are still in the dark ages!

With the dark ages i mean, they still think in physical cds and mail. The postage can be de deal 'killer'. You don't want to pay 8 dollars postage for a 3 dollar cd. And many times you just want to have one and not be pushed to buy more becuase of the postage.

For dvds the balance is a little bit better around 10 dollar for the dvd and 8 dollr postage. Still you have to consider the time it takes and the changes that it will get lost or damaged.

I think this part wil make it special and interesting for buyers. Inspired (or is it called copied!) by Apple.

Unlike all the other websites that sell Thai mulitmedia you not send the item to the customers address but you provide a link where they can download it. This will save the postage which can be considerable and the customer has its product very fast.

Of course this requires a good location for the server and be sure to have one with an unlimited datalimit and a good bandwith connection. Best is to have a few that will be closer to the actual customers. But for starters you can simple use one computer with a few 100 gigabyte storage. Not so difficult anymore. There are many ecommerce packages available even for free, so setting it up can be doen quickly. And as listenup pointed out, don't learn how to build a website, it is really a waste of time. Start promoting and selling! Why not put a banner on this website and on Stickmans. You will have a large number of people seeing it.

Another obstacle would be that what you are doing is illegal. To solve that and again that has to be researched is that you actually buy the real item for each sale and give it an unique identification. Match that with a download code and the link is traceable. You only have to transfer disc to divx, mp3 or other format you choose, but to stay legal you have to buy a cd for every single one of them that is sold. I press this point one more time. Be sure that this is legal! (I know the law in the Netherlands allows you to make 1 personal copy as a backup. I thinkthis can be treated the same)

The profit will be the margin you will get when you buy wholesale, and you can add some profit because there is no postage.

It will be a lot of work in the beginning, maybe you already have a library of music,karaoke and movies to start with, thats great. In time the work will get less and less. At some point it can be highly automated. You will only need to take care of the real physical discs. You have to buy them and store them.

Ones a customer has bought a few items you can offer to send it combined with mail. Then the customer has the originals and save on postage. Other option is to have the customer pick it up when they are in Thailand. Close to the airport or a storage there would be convenient.

I would like this topic to be one with ideas only and not one that will deeply analyse each idea.

Anyone has another idea to add?

It's a nice idea KJ and I am sure that there are many potential customers (my wife for one). However, there are some serious hurdles in the case of movie DVD/VCD sales.

Firstly, most movie studios have been in prolonged and problematic negotiations with apple and the like over movie downloads. Like music downloads, their main concern is piracy and they are always looking at ways to encrypt the product and limit its use after download. I am sure that many of these problems are being sorted but it will be by the big players and it would be almost impossible to get a licence to sell movie downloads as a small operator in the way you mentioned, even if the person purchases the original DVD/CD. This brings me to the second issue. VCD's and DVD's are sold in Asia at much lower prices than in the west. For this reason the distributors are not allowed to resell them outside of their intended market. Again I think it would be very difficult to get authority to sell them to western countries.

There is definately a market for Thai subtitled movies in Europe and the US, but I think setting up a business to meet it would not be straight forward.

[Chang_paarp]

It's a nice idea KJ and I am sure that there are many potential customers (my wife for one). However, there are some serious hurdles in the case of movie DVD/VCD sales.

Firstly, most movie studios have been in prolonged and problematic negotiations with apple and the like over movie downloads. Like music downloads, their main concern is piracy and they are always looking at ways to encrypt the product and limit its use after download. I am sure that many of these problems are being sorted but it will be by the big players and it would be almost impossible to get a licence to sell movie downloads as a small operator in the way you mentioned, even if the person purchases the original DVD/CD. This brings me to the second issue. VCD's and DVD's are sold in Asia at much lower prices than in the west. For this reason the distributors are not allowed to resell them outside of their intended market. Again I think it would be very difficult to get authority to sell them to western countries.

There is definately a market for Thai subtitled movies in Europe and the US, but I think setting up a business to meet it would not be straight forward.

Charma

What KJ is proposing, is to sell the physical origional licenced CD/DVD, offer you a means to download a backup copy of your disc and to store the origional untill you are in a position to collect it. In a sense he is offering off site storage of the origional. This would keep many insurance companies happy if they could replace the DVD collection for the price of download and blank media. The right to make a backup copy of your CD/DVD has been upheld in many countries. The film companies are getting royalties as you are selling genuine copies.

It is a form of parrallel importing, which is legal in many companies. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission took the record and film companies to task over their heavy handed tactics with parrallel imports and threatened them with fines they would notice if they continued to restrict the trade of legal copies of CD/DVD's. The ACCC also launched an investigation into the price of CD's and DVD's during which the industry spent a significat amount of money ensuring their lawyers had good homes and new cars while defending their position.

Yes there could be some rights issues, but it is a novel way to fill a percieved niche.

[Charma]

It's a nice idea KJ and I am sure that there are many potential customers (my wife for one). However, there are some serious hurdles in the case of movie DVD/VCD sales.

Firstly, most movie studios have been in prolonged and problematic negotiations with apple and the like over movie downloads. Like music downloads, their main concern is piracy and they are always looking at ways to encrypt the product and limit its use after download. I am sure that many of these problems are being sorted but it will be by the big players and it would be almost impossible to get a licence to sell movie downloads as a small operator in the way you mentioned, even if the person purchases the original DVD/CD. This brings me to the second issue. VCD's and DVD's are sold in Asia at much lower prices than in the west. For this reason the distributors are not allowed to resell them outside of their intended market. Again I think it would be very difficult to get authority to sell them to western countries.

There is definately a market for Thai subtitled movies in Europe and the US, but I think setting up a business to meet it would not be straight forward.

Charma

What KJ is proposing, is to sell the physical origional licenced CD/DVD, offer you a means to download a backup copy of your disc and to store the origional untill you are in a position to collect it. In a sense he is offering off site storage of the origional. This would keep many insurance companies happy if they could replace the DVD collection for the price of download and blank media. The right to make a backup copy of your CD/DVD has been upheld in many countries. The film companies are getting royalties as you are selling genuine copies.

It is a form of parrallel importing, which is legal in many companies. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission took the record and film companies to task over their heavy handed tactics with parrallel imports and threatened them with fines they would notice if they continued to restrict the trade of legal copies of CD/DVD's. The ACCC also launched an investigation into the price of CD's and DVD's during which the industry spent a significat amount of money ensuring their lawyers had good homes and new cars while defending their position.

Yes there could be some rights issues, but it is a novel way to fill a percieved niche.

I did get the point of what KJ was proposing and I mentioned the purchase of the original in my post. The issue as I see it is providing the "back-up" as a download. I think the industry would fight this because of copying issues. In addition, they still have regional pricing that, despite opposition in some countries, they are still vehemently trying to enforce. There is no way they would want to see someone in Thailand sell a 99 baht VCD or DVD in Europe, where they sell it for 18 euros. It would bankrupt them. There would also be tax issues around the selling/exporting of the original. I did not say it was impossible to do this. As you pointed out, many countries (including the EU) are challenging restrictive practices in music and movie downloads (Apple are having a tough time in France at the moment). But they will fight you and you will need a big budget to pay for the lawyers to fight them back.

[Khun Jean]

There is no way they would want to see someone in Thailand sell a 99 baht VCD or DVD in Europe, where they sell it for 18 euros. It would bankrupt them.

VCD which are only popular in Asia are cheap, but the quality is low and they don't offer many options with subtitles. Most VCD's sold will be music karaoke i think.

A DVD in thailand is around 400-500 baht and they have a region code for taking care of the areas where they can be sold and theoretically played. This faulty system was thought of by the movies companies, it has nothing to do with the law. Think about the region free DVD players. If it was against the law they would not be able to sell those.

You would have to give every bought copy a unique ID and match it with the download. If someone thinks you are distributing illegally just show them the records.

The download will be 1 to 1, not anything like bittorrent or similar programs. Those only work with multiple copies available of the same file, which for copyright material is illegal.

France, nobody cares about them. An english soundtrack movie with Thai subtitles will not work there.

[Chang_paarp]

I agree that the industry will try and fight any change.

It is a pity they cannot get their head around the fact the world has changed. I would have thought they would have learned from the VERY quick demise of the vinyl record, the casette tape, VHS tape, beta tape.

Given the technologies available, short run or special order items are relatively easy to do. As an example, for mothers day I tried to get a specific CD for my mother. The record shop (An interesting old name) ordered it from the Australian distributor. It was not available, they then tried to import it. Still not available. A CD or DVD is essentially a data disc and a simple printed wrapper, the technology is there to do one off creation of these discs and printing of the "sleeve" (another reference to a past time) all be it at a premium price. It just requires tooling or an adjustment of their existing equipment and a large amount of the back catalogue would suddenly become available to make profit from.

[ffm]

The issue as I see it is providing the "back-up" as a download. I think the industry would fight this because of copying issues. In addition, they still have regional pricing that, despite opposition in some countries, they are still vehemently trying to enforce. (...) But they will fight you and you will need a big budget to pay for the lawyers to fight them back.

Your comment is spot on. If the venture is successful then the industry will fight it with hordes of lawyers, like they did in the cases of Napter and Kazaa. They definitely won't allow download services by anyone who doesn't have distribution rights. And no, buying a legitimate copy doesn't give you distribution rights.

Even if you can defend your case successfully in Thailand (what I doubt), they will be out there to get you once you set your foot on US or European soil.

[Charma]

There is no way they would want to see someone in Thailand sell a 99 baht VCD or DVD in Europe, where they sell it for 18 euros. It would bankrupt them.

VCD which are only popular in Asia are cheap, but the quality is low and they don't offer many options with subtitles. Most VCD's sold will be music karaoke i think.

A DVD in thailand is around 400-500 baht and they have a region code for taking care of the areas where they can be sold and theoretically played. This faulty system was thought of by the movies companies, it has nothing to do with the law. Think about the region free DVD players. If it was against the law they would not be able to sell those.

You would have to give every bought copy a unique ID and match it with the download. If someone thinks you are distributing illegally just show them the records.

The download will be 1 to 1, not anything like bittorrent or similar programs. Those only work with multiple copies available of the same file, which for copyright material is illegal.

France, nobody cares about them. An english soundtrack movie with Thai subtitles will not work there.

The laws we are talking about are to do with distribution and copyright. The record/movie companies cannot deal with the DVD players because they do not own the machines. But they do own the copyright on their movies. They know that most people in the west have region free players and that is why they want to enforce the regional pricing to try and prevent western countries buying discounted Asian movies. Of course, movies provided as an encryption free download would be even worse for them - you don't even need a DVD player to view them (think PC, Playstation, PSP, etc) And once downloaded, they could not prevent multiple copies being circulated. They take this seriously and are still taking individual downloaders to court in some countries to make examples of them.

It takes millions of dollars to set up an agreement with a record company to sell online and still most of the big players have still not reached agreement with all the record labels to licence their catalogues. The movie industry is even more nervous about downloading. The process has started, but it it still being debated and watched very carefully.

IMHO, the chances of setting up as a small niche (lawful) online business are remote.

[jlelouer]

Hi,

I need for my website an online payment solution other than credit card. (because it is for small amounts <100 thb)

I am thinking of Billonet as a provider : the customer calls a number and is charged directly on his phone bill.

Are there any other solutions ? Do you know companies who can do it in Thailand ?

Thanks a lot,

Jerome

[rainman]

The best ideas are the ones you don't share with your potential competitors until your business is built up and established. Then obviously you may share it however it may be difficult for others to reach the same success, so why even share ideas?

[Khun Jean]

What about the second best ideas?

Surely nobody has time to implement all the ideas they have.

Unless if you have only one idea of course. Or maybe no idea.

[ThaiChicken]

Some good ideas. Keep it coming...

I like Khun Jean's ideas. You could do a spin on your 2nd idea KJean.

If you're good at photoshop do some photo editing/enhancing. Remove a mole here, add some hair there, smooth a wrinkle or two. We take it for granted that people are very vian- they love this sort of thing. We'll call it a 'Digital Makeover' or whatever. Again they just ssend a large enough image file with their photos that need fixing and a few hour later recieve an email with the image to be okayed. It will be low resln. so they cant't print it really without having a pixelated effect. Once they are happy, they pay and recieve or download the pic , rush off to their nearest photo store and print the photo/s.

I used to work at a photo store and the edititng or digital manipulation they did was costly to clients and was usually of poor quality anyway IMO. All you need to do is get a good book that teaches you Potoshop and all the make-up-fix-up tricks and effects and your ready for your first customers.

Charge them on the time it takes to complete a project/job. Eg removing red eye is less than aminutes worth of work.I know friends who were charging hundreds (South African Rands- about 7 to $1) for a few photos.

Any way thats my 2cents.

PS:

Hey Khun Jean I've ordered some Asian DVDs from Thailand the other day. Im waitinng by the postbox for it now. I'll be selling half of what I ordered so I dont end up paying for my movies. HOpe it sells quik though. not like i want a good ROI (LOL) anyway there is a big demand for this sort of films.-Check out Hongkonglegends.com -they sell them and post them physically.( KJean , maybe you should check them out if you dont already know about them.)

[Belfastboy]

you guys should watch "the dragons den" on BBC2 it's a gripping watch if you have any business ambitions...basically it's five "dragons" ie multi millionaires who have made it through simple basic business ideas..the yo-ssushi guy is one, another guy made his through gyms, one through tennis academies..etc.. it's just a really thrilling watch...someone of the ideas the public come up with are genuis..! but the majority are beyond the joke....think there is a new series starting this thursday..

anyhow..i had a business idea....i will share it as i know i will never ever get around to doing it, too busy with my budding property empire

basically if you have ever used tripadvisor.com you will have realised how priceless it is..basically you can do a search on nearly every hotel or resort in the world and get joe publics review on the good points and bad points...anyone can leave a review no matter how bad...i know from past experience when booking a hotel online i always check out the honest reviews on tripadvisor....anyway my idea is based around the same concept... this is probably more suited for the UK than thailand, but u never know could be useful....?....what do most people need when u have something needing repaired? ie a plumber, a electrican, a handyman, a builder...etc..

basically these kinds of trades are based on word of mouth and trust. so if you set up a website based on the same principle of tripadvisor only the public advising of a great builder who has done an honest job or plumber or whatever...i think it would be so useful....most people ethier go on the owrd of family or friends or if they dont know anyone, the yellow pages which is pot luck!

and how do u make your money i hear u ask?....advertising space on the site...tradesmen advertising, anything to do with DIY ie BandQ Homebase..etc etc....the rise of property development in the UK is so populare at the minute..

anyhow i think its a great idea...what do u guys think? ...i dont think i will ever get around to it, i have my own restaurant business and properties....

let me know what u guys think?

[boppia]

Sounds like a great idea Belfast.

As for Khun Jean, an additional idea would be to get pics over the net and have Thai artists paint them then ship back the paintings. I did see one site way back three years ago on this but I think it went nowhere. You'd be able to give a lot of Thais work this way too.

If you can do, you will do well.

Most of us can't do @@@

[Khun Bob]

you guys should watch "the dragons den" on BBC2 it's a gripping watch if you have any business ambitions...basically it's five "dragons" ie multi millionaires who have made it through simple basic business ideas..the yo-ssushi guy is one, another guy made his through gyms, one through tennis academies..etc.. it's just a really thrilling watch...someone of the ideas the public come up with are genuis..! but the majority are beyond the joke....think there is a new series starting this thursday..

anyhow..i had a business idea....i will share it as i know i will never ever get around to doing it, too busy with my budding property empire

basically if you have ever used tripadvisor.com you will have realised how priceless it is..basically you can do a search on nearly every hotel or resort in the world and get joe publics review on the good points and bad points...anyone can leave a review no matter how bad...i know from past experience when booking a hotel online i always check out the honest reviews on tripadvisor....anyway my idea is based around the same concept... this is probably more suited for the UK than thailand, but u never know could be useful....?....what do most people need when u have something needing repaired? ie a plumber, a electrican, a handyman, a builder...etc..

basically these kinds of trades are based on word of mouth and trust. so if you set up a website based on the same principle of tripadvisor only the public advising of a great builder who has done an honest job or plumber or whatever...i think it would be so useful....most people ethier go on the owrd of family or friends or if they dont know anyone, the yellow pages which is pot luck!

and how do u make your money i hear u ask?....advertising space on the site...tradesmen advertising, anything to do with DIY ie BandQ Homebase..etc etc....the rise of property development in the UK is so populare at the minute..

anyhow i think its a great idea...what do u guys think? ...i dont think i will ever get around to it, i have my own restaurant business and properties....

let me know what u guys think?

There is a site in the uk that does this and i thnk has been around for about 6 years now. Sorry cant remember the name of the site but it is not particularly user friendly as to get in touch with the trades people you have to call a premium rate no and that is not so good. Still you can email them and ask for the trades persons real contact number - i did this and got it but they didnt want to give it out easily. The site and the reviews seem quite good and honestly done - but havent used any of their recommendations and i have a feeling it could be open to manipulation.

[listenup]

Hi,

I need for my website an online payment solution other than credit card. (because it is for small amounts <100 thb)

I am thinking of Billonet as a provider : the customer calls a number and is charged directly on his phone bill.

Are there any other solutions ? Do you know companies who can do it in Thailand ?

Thanks a lot,

Jerome

A visit to Mobile Monday in Bangkok would be worth your while, many providers offering this type of service. mobyelite.com/momo/

If you are not in Bangkok, let me know and I'll ask for you at the next event.

Good luck!

- - - -

Belfast boy - That Dragons Den is the nuts!!! Richard Branson did a similar program but unfortunately didn't get to see it. Your idea about a tradesmen review site has already been done, I heard in advertised on LBC radio about 3 months ago, but didn't get the url, I'm sure a search in Google would find it.

I have an idea - Tom Yum soup in a cup - people can have it when working, getting on the train, any where basically!

[jlelouer]

Hi,

I need for my website an online payment solution other than credit card. (because it is for small amounts <100 thb)

I am thinking of Billonet as a provider : the customer calls a number and is charged directly on his phone bill.

Are there any other solutions ? Do you know companies who can do it in Thailand ?

Thanks a lot,

Jerome

A visit to Mobile Monday in Bangkok would be worth your while, many providers offering this type of service. mobyelite.com/momo/

If you are not in Bangkok, let me know and I'll ask for you at the next event.

Good luck!

- - - -

Belfast boy - That Dragons Den is the nuts!!! Richard Branson did a similar program but unfortunately didn't get to see it. Your idea about a tradesmen review site has already been done, I heard in advertised on LBC radio about 3 months ago, but didn't get the url, I'm sure a search in Google would find it.

I have an idea - Tom Yum soup in a cup - people can have it when working, getting on the train, any where basically!

I live in Bangkok, so I'm gonna go there. The event is on the 4th of September right ?

Thanks for your help

Edited July 30, 2006 by jlelouer

[laxman1960]

Hi,

I need for my website an online payment solution other than credit card. (because it is for small amounts <100 thb)

I am thinking of Billonet as a provider : the customer calls a number and is charged directly on his phone bill.

Are there any other solutions ? Do you know companies who can do it in Thailand ?

Thanks a lot,

Jerome

A visit to Mobile Monday in Bangkok would be worth your while, many providers offering this type of service. mobyelite.com/momo/

If you are not in Bangkok, let me know and I'll ask for you at the next event.

Good luck!

- - - -

Belfast boy - That Dragons Den is the nuts!!! Richard Branson did a similar program but unfortunately didn't get to see it. Your idea about a tradesmen review site has already been done, I heard in advertised on LBC radio about 3 months ago, but didn't get the url, I'm sure a search in Google would find it.

I have an idea - Tom Yum soup in a cup - people can have it when working, getting on the train, any where basically!

I live in Bangkok, so I'm gonna go there. The event is on the 4th of September right ?

Thanks for your help

Next Event is Monday August 7th. Check out mobyelite's site for the details.

Dan

[aaaaaa]

The best ideas are the ones you don't share with your potential competitors until your business is built up and established. Then obviously you may share it however it may be difficult for others to reach the same success, so why even share ideas?

very true! I just wanted to say something like that - who'd share their ideas, if they were fully confident that these are realy good biz ideas?

also personally I won't ask around for biz ideas, knowing that all good ideas are kept private.

I think better to do one's own research - net browsing, studying, whatever - than ask around.