Last week I had an idea for a new startup to help businesses with their recruitment process. So far my research into the idea has gone a little like this:
- Thought about idea, did not know whether similar services already existed.
- Discovered that there are many websites offering such a service (some seemingly doing pretty well in terms of the number of employees, etc) but often they seemed overly complicated/expensive and had poorly designed websites.
At this point I was very positive as:
- It seemed that demand for the idea was validated by the existence of companies already offering it.
- I felt that my offering would be different as it would be simpler (perhaps better suited to smaller businesses and generally have a wider appeal), cheaper and better designed (in terms of being more of a "Web 2.0" site).
However my research then continued and I discovered that there are already some websites very similar to the type of solution I had in mind. One in particular is, on the face of it, pretty much exactly the kind of site I would like to build.
What I'm now trying to decide is whether at this point I should move onto the next idea or instead progress this one, with the following in mind.
I could undercut the existing solutions and also have an idea for a slightly different pricing model which I think (would need to confirm with research) might appeal to potential customers.
Whilst the site I mentioned above does seem very good, perhaps with further research I can reveal things about it that customers don't like, then ensure I do these things better in my site.
All existing solutions seem very much targeted at the US. Whilst I would look to serve this market also, I'm based in the UK and am wondering whether I can tap into this market more so than my competitors.
Even if the site I mentioned above did not exist, there is no reason why it (and others like it), could not spring up after my site went live anyway.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated :)
