So I thought I had a unique idea and my lazy bum sat on it

Have you ever had one of those wouldnt-it-be-cool-web-portal ideas that you tale tooooooo long to implement? Only to be shocked,disappointed and totally mad at yourself when you realise someone has beaten u to it.

Well, I’m in that scenario. The comfort I fool myself with is that the company/person who’s beat me to it, is one of those who just churn websites without much thought to usability or errors etc. I did see the website in question but was a bit disappointed that "I should be beaten to it by that??!!!!"...well thats what I tell my braincells for comfort. I was simply beaten to it.

This guy or company has a launch date in mid-september...shall I try to churn out too and compete?
(drum roll)
(pause)
OR
shall I let it go and forever whip this lazy bum that is undeservedly attached to me...?

(sad violin playing)

Seriously though, I was taken by surprise and am considering sleepless nights to beat or come near his/her/it(the company’s ) deadline.

What would you do if you had planned to implement a website for business and realised someone has started work on it. There are no other competing websites, but chances are, we would have to contact similar clients.

I think that there is always room for competition. If you can do it better and you have the time and resources to pull it off, then do it. If you don’t, next time you check there may be several competitors rather than just one

But don’t get all wound up and try to throw out something quick and dirty to match or beat his release schedule. If you take the time to do a really good job you’ll end up getting all of his dissatisfied client!

The site is sometimes the easy part... the business model can really make a huge difference. So if they get the site out the door before you, that may not be a big deal because in another 6 months they might be broke. If you know that you’ve got a solid financial plan for this site and the biz, then that’s probably more important in my opinion.

@dev_cw
true. Being just the second person in it isnt as bad as having several.

@susan
true too, being hasty could very well be to my disadvantage. I will probably have to take my time (not too much though) and have it in mind that something is already being done. I guess, adding to what dev_cw said, competition is good. I would probably take a more refined approach knowing that we are competing. At the end of the day, the final product could do very well for me.

@Everett
I hear you. Even if one does pull off the most elegant website, without a proper model,resources and strategy behind it, it may just be eye candy

well, feel a bit better now. But I think I’ll have to be on my toes and and whip my that-which-i-sit-on and work towards it.

Being the first to the market has its advantages and disadvantages... all depends on your business plan and implementation.

No matter what, if you have a decent idea there will be competition swarming around in no time.

Competition is good and will force you to step up your game

Get on it!

It’s not PayPal is it?

I’ve been waiting in vain for someone to take them on successfully.

If it makes you feel any better, I’ve had dozens of million-dollar ideas. I’ve never done anything significant with any of them.

At least three of them were kick-butt software products that I actually finished but never got around to marketing.

I thought Google Payments was a viable alternative to PayPal?

Quote from: BobRay at Sep 02, 2009, 01:27 AM

It’s not PayPal is it?

I’ve been waiting in vain for someone to take them on successfully.

If it makes you feel any better, I’ve had dozens of million-dollar ideas. I’ve never done anything significant with any of them.

At least three of them were kick-butt software products that I actually finished but never got around to marketing.

Paypal? (cough)

Quote from: sottwell at Sep 02, 2009, 04:43 AM

I thought Google Payments was a viable alternative to PayPal?

Based on what I’ve read, Google Payments is even worse than PayPal (by a fair amount). If the accounts I’ve read are accurate, a cancellation bot can automatically cancel your account based on an algorithm. Then, they keep your money, no explanation, no appeal, no humans involved or available ever.