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Erick Bongo
8,539 PointsStarting out with a complicated website
Hi,
I am looking to start my own business with a fairly complicated website, since the website is the business. The website will have custom design, user cms, search feature listings, interactive maps etc etc.. lot's of functionality really
My question is this - If a new start up who's business is the website itself, which means it's going to be expensive to create this type of custom website, is it still normal to be able to receive funding from investors or banks ?
What type of things can I do or show to improve my chances of getting funding for this type of project ?
3 Answers
Jah Chaisang
7,157 PointsDavie,
This is something I read about but have no personal experience on. Have you considered the lean startup approach? (By which, I mean from the book by Eric Ries). I think it has become standard in tech startup scene. The idea is to create a minimal working version of your product for launch at first. Then you continuously develop and test your application through interactions with real users, so that you acquire proof of your business concepts and get some actions going. Then you may be in the position to request funding through various means. Seems like something you could apply at the early stage of your startup.
Samuel Johnson
9,152 PointsA bit difficult to say yes or no. Yes it is possible to get funding if you havent got a website but as this is part of the business it will make things a lot harder. Other things investors will start to look at is what links or deals you have in the pipeline? Now i don't know exactly what type of business you will doing but good to get some sort of partnerships already in place. I realise this could be tricky, as without a website its difficult to secure contracts but think about it from the investors point of view. They are looking to lower their risk wherever possible, if you have a working website with business coming through and making money then its an easier decision for them. If you haven't a good pipeline of work or effectively a product (your website) then you'd better be an amazing salesman and show a return that blows their mind away!
Alternatively you could find some sort of crazy investor who has money to burn and in that case he wont care about your business too much as its a complete gamble, these types of investors wont have as much advice to give you as the more sensible ones because they certainly haven't made there money through sensible investing!
Overall though investors, invest in people (sorry for the cliche) so if you come across as believable enough, have a decent track record before and have lots of great advisors etc that will put you leagues above having a product to show them! They will believe that you will make an idea work no matter what.
Source: involved in raising finance for start-up I was working for
Erick Bongo
8,539 PointsGreat answer thanks,
Erick Bongo
8,539 PointsErick Bongo
8,539 PointsHi Jah,
I've been thinking about maybe making a basic website if I am unsuccessful in getting funding but I wasn't aware that there was a whole approach already formulated for this type of method. This seems like a great idea and I will start looking into it.
Thank you for making me aware :)
Samuel Johnson
9,152 PointsSamuel Johnson
9,152 PointsI completely agree with this and the book is very good on explaining how to break down every step. Also another good book on building a product is "Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan" This book not only tells you how to manage your team in the sense of designers/developers etc but also great on pinpointing your vision and working out what problem you are trying to solve!
While your at it, i would also recommend two other books; "The Start Owners Manual, by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf" & "Lean Startup Marketing by Sean Ellis"
I would also say that following the Eric Ries method will greatly reduce your cost at launch and creating an MVP is very useful to knuckle down on your hypotheses and give you a better understanding of your future customers. This works very well when sorting out your personas as mentioned in the Cagan book!
PS: Cagan book is much cheaper if you buy as a Kindle version which i use on my iPad!
Erick Bongo
8,539 PointsErick Bongo
8,539 PointsHi Samuel
Thanks for all your input and feedback, plenty more stuff for me to start looking into. That book you mention by Marty Cagan sounds quite interesting, I'll be sure to check it out.