6

Hey just brainstorming a business/ startup idea I may try out sometime down the line. I wanted to put it in writing available to my peers for review. If that sounds boring, sorry.

So I've had an idea and I know it's a million dollar idea because it's absolutely boring as fuck.

Recently I have been learning about NoSQL and it has gotten me pretty excited about unstructured data.

Now the first thing you should know about me is I like to make business software. I don't like games or social networks or blah blah blah, I like business stuff. One dream I have always had is to make THE business solution. I've noticed so many specific business solutions for very specific areas of work. Specific software for car washes, which is separate from the software for car maintenance, which is separate from the point-of-sales software, which is separate from the [...]

One of the problems with this is the inconsistency. Modular is good, but only if the modules are compatible. They aren't. Training needs to be provided for each individual system since they are all vastly different. And worst of all, since all of these different applications reach their own niche market, they charge out the butt for things that are usually very simple "POST a form over http(s)" machines.

I mean let's not get too dreamy here. My solution is an over-complicated form-builder. But it would be a game-changer for small and medium-sized businesses. Allowing users to build their own front-end and back-end disguised as a drag-and-drop form builder would be THE alternative, because they could bring all of their solutions into a single solution (one bill!) and since THEY are the ones that build what they need, they can have custom business software for the price of a spreadsheet program.

The price difference we could offer would be IMMENSE. Not only would we be able to offer "cookie-cutter" pricing as opposed to "custom" pricing, but since this generic solution could be used for essentially all of their systems, we aren't just decreasing one bill. We're decreasing one bill, and eliminating the rest entirely. We could devastate competition.

"BUT ALGO", you scream in despair, "USERS AREN'T SMART ENOUGH TO DRAG AND DROP FORM PARTS TO MAKE A FORM"

I mean ya true. But you say that like it's a bad thing. For one, we can just offer a huge library of templates. And for another, which is part of the business plan, we can charge people support dollars to help them drag and drop their stupid fucking forms!! Think of the MONEEYYYY YOU COULD MAKEE BY EXPLAINING HOW TO COLLECT FIRST AND LAST NAMEEE. Fuck.

The controls library would be extensible of course. You would be able to download different, more specialized controls if you need them. But the goal would be to satsify those needs with the standard collection of controls (Including interesting ones line barcode scanner and signature input and all that). But if all else fails, maybe someone made an open source control for you to implement and ignore that stupid donation button. We all do.

This could PURGE the world of overpriced and junky specialized business software, and best of all, it's aimed at smaller businesses. With smaller businesses making more profit, they will stay afloat better and may start to compete with their larger foes. Greater for the entire economy.

Anyways, I'm sure it's full of holes. Everything always is. But I still think it's something I'll try before I die.

Comments
  • 2
    The last thing that tried this was wordpress and we all know how that turned out
  • 1
    @tekashi b-but i can;;;; do it -b-b-betterr
  • 0
    @AlgoRythm maybe, i dont read anything past 20 words so the rest might prove me wrong idk
  • 1
    @tekashi Well that doesn't seem like a very smart way to do things. Imagine if you were trying to buy some
  • 0
    @AlgoRythm nah aint baiting me, important things take less than 20 words
  • 0
    @tekashi Cuck
  • 0
  • 0
    @tekashi I made the word count :)
  • 1
    @tekashi Fuck you reply fast
  • 2
    @AlgoRythm you can reply to shit really fast if you dont read what you reply to
  • 0
    I've seen this tried and failed multiple times
  • 0
    I believe in you! She yells from underneath a mountain of customized systems too complex for their task in production nobody really knows how to use because training is expensive so we just learn by doing
  • 0
    @M1sf3t true but I do believe the amount of headaches I'd have would be minimized if people didn't have so many buttons to push that they have no clue about the consequences of.
  • 0
    @AlgoRythm so how is that different from for example filemaker (https://www.filemaker.com/)?

    It's used in exactly that Way in small and medium businesses
  • 0
    Simple ERP?
  • 0
    @tekashi the problem with WordPress is it got too complicated quickly. Had they stayed with blogs (or wanted to do ecommerce and so from the beginning on) it MIGHT have had a chance of not being a streaming pile of shit.
  • 0
    This idea is an illusion. The real complexicity of business systems lies in the business rules themselves, not in the glue code.

    Sure, you can save a few days with ready-to-use templates, but they will be obsolete in 2 years after going live and will require rebranding or modifications. If you let -idiots- non programmers design software systems, you will end up with unmaintainable, untested mess with even less documentation than you would get from real developers.

    The worst software nightmares I saw were based on this idea of a platform designed to be friendly for non programmers. The systems were so convoluted that only senior developers could create a mental model of what was going on.

    Also, google „Inner Platform Effect”.
  • 0
    @matste that problem could be solved by a random forest regression (a.k.a. ML/AI ^^)

    Given some input and expected output, let the software figure out the business rules behind them. If there should be something else, just change the input/output
  • 0
    Power Apps?
  • 0
    Thanks
  • 0
    Your ideas look rather interesting, but I think you will need much money to realize them. When I was starting my new business, I spent almost half of the budget only for the name of my brand and the website.
  • 1
    @Beerman I understand why you spent so much money on the first stage, as choosing the right name for your brand is very important for the future success. I spent too much time for choosing the name even for my social club before I found this club name generator https://mycorpname.com/social-club-... I found a very useful information, how to do it right, and what mistakes I should avoid when choosing the name for my club.
  • 1
    Your ideas appear to be intriguing, but I believe they will necessitate a large sum of money in order to be realized.
Add Comment