Hi there,
Now that I read the Millionaire Fastlane , and starting Unscripted , I think I can share with you with more details about an idea that is in my head for months (years?), it is about helping the french book publishers.
That's an idea that comes and goes in my mind for several months (years?) now.
I have a small website I coded 10 years ago that is about writing reviews of books I (and some other people now) read. Publishers give us their latest books for review within a month. I was happy with that, no more money to spend on books, yeah.
Discussing with some of them, I've learn that each publisher handles their book releases induvidually, there is no global database of all books, no global categorization, they still use some old ways of communicating with the press, the distributors, the blogs and so on. Nothing is up to date... you'll find a release date here, another there, without any consistency.
I've thought this through and I would like to change that. There is a B2B thing to do first, working with the publishers, then a potential B2C with the readers.
The final goal is to get the data stored in one place, mine, where I could use it for all the purposes I want.
I've started to contact soome publishers, to see if they are interested. My first doubt is I don't know if I should start coding of proof of concept first or build the requirements with a sample of publishers.
I also know that this sector is in crisis and does not have a lot of money. My platform should help them reduce their costs. I need to figure out their pain points, solve them and sell the platform. What I am worried is that their paint points might be far from the book releases and my goal is to build that giant database of all books...
Let's fill the Fastlane Framework.
Need
I discussed with several interns in publishing houses who told me that there is a lot to do, that this sector is 20 years late, but I will often talk to people not interested, as they are quite "old" and the new generation of publishers is not yet here, and might not arrive before 5 or 10 years.
Entry
The entry cost (not financial) is high. I don't think there are many entrepreneurs involved in that area. Maybe because there is not much money to make... who knows.
In any case, the process to get in is long: Find the pain points, build an app to solve them and create the biggest books database ever, sell it to publishers + distributors, make an app for readers, sell some subscription fees, etc.
Control
I guess I would control everything.
Scalable
Is it scalable? There are a limited number of publishers in France, so I'll reach the limit soon or later. I haven't checked the system abroad, maybe if the platform I want to build is good enough and used by all french publishers, then it could be used by all publishers over the world.
Now my final goal is to reach the readers, and in France they are consequent. Like it's said, 5€ monthly subscription * 5M readers = 25M€... \o/
Time
I need to find the correct way of being paid, but it would be a web platform so yes.
I've asked several people about that idea...
My wife is clearly against that idea, thinking that the current publishers are ok with the way they work now and won't seek for something new/better (bunch of old fellows).
The others think it's a good idea and I should focus on it.
Why did not I pursue this idea farther is because I am afraid of failure. Not the failure itself but the fact that this is my first "consistent" idea in 10 years...
Any feedback is welcome
Now that I read the Millionaire Fastlane , and starting Unscripted , I think I can share with you with more details about an idea that is in my head for months (years?), it is about helping the french book publishers.
That's an idea that comes and goes in my mind for several months (years?) now.
I have a small website I coded 10 years ago that is about writing reviews of books I (and some other people now) read. Publishers give us their latest books for review within a month. I was happy with that, no more money to spend on books, yeah.
Discussing with some of them, I've learn that each publisher handles their book releases induvidually, there is no global database of all books, no global categorization, they still use some old ways of communicating with the press, the distributors, the blogs and so on. Nothing is up to date... you'll find a release date here, another there, without any consistency.
I've thought this through and I would like to change that. There is a B2B thing to do first, working with the publishers, then a potential B2C with the readers.
The final goal is to get the data stored in one place, mine, where I could use it for all the purposes I want.
I've started to contact soome publishers, to see if they are interested. My first doubt is I don't know if I should start coding of proof of concept first or build the requirements with a sample of publishers.
I also know that this sector is in crisis and does not have a lot of money. My platform should help them reduce their costs. I need to figure out their pain points, solve them and sell the platform. What I am worried is that their paint points might be far from the book releases and my goal is to build that giant database of all books...
Let's fill the Fastlane Framework.
Need
I discussed with several interns in publishing houses who told me that there is a lot to do, that this sector is 20 years late, but I will often talk to people not interested, as they are quite "old" and the new generation of publishers is not yet here, and might not arrive before 5 or 10 years.
Entry
The entry cost (not financial) is high. I don't think there are many entrepreneurs involved in that area. Maybe because there is not much money to make... who knows.
In any case, the process to get in is long: Find the pain points, build an app to solve them and create the biggest books database ever, sell it to publishers + distributors, make an app for readers, sell some subscription fees, etc.
Control
I guess I would control everything.
Scalable
Is it scalable? There are a limited number of publishers in France, so I'll reach the limit soon or later. I haven't checked the system abroad, maybe if the platform I want to build is good enough and used by all french publishers, then it could be used by all publishers over the world.
Now my final goal is to reach the readers, and in France they are consequent. Like it's said, 5€ monthly subscription * 5M readers = 25M€... \o/
Time
I need to find the correct way of being paid, but it would be a web platform so yes.
I've asked several people about that idea...
My wife is clearly against that idea, thinking that the current publishers are ok with the way they work now and won't seek for something new/better (bunch of old fellows).
The others think it's a good idea and I should focus on it.
Why did not I pursue this idea farther is because I am afraid of failure. Not the failure itself but the fact that this is my first "consistent" idea in 10 years...
Any feedback is welcome
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