Social Flowers is an innovative idea!  If you are part of a social network (and let’s face it…who isn’t nowadays) then using ‘Social Flowers’, you can send flowers, gift baskets, balloons to another member of your social network even though you don’t necessarily have their contact information, name, address etc.

Business Model:
Like most online flower stores, customers are charged for the actual items along with a service charge.  Items range from around $35 and can go up to $200 or thereabouts.  If you wanted to be even more extravagant than that, I’m sure Social Flowers will probably create something just for you and your social networking pal!  Thankfully there is no distracting google ads etc so this is a nice clean site.

Some Core Functionality:
Here is how the process works.

• In a social network, the sender selects the Social Flowers application. The sender then selects the recipient of the flowers from their list of friends.
• When the recipient has been selected, the senders clicks on a link which takes the sender from the social network to the SocialFlowers.com website.
• At SocialFlowers.com, the sender chooses the flower selection, goes through checkout and enters credit card information.
• The sender is returned to the social network. The Social Flowers application inside the social network sends an email on the sender’s behalf to the recipient letting them know that they have been sent real flowers.
• In the social network, the recipient receives an email letting them know they have been sent flowers from the sender. The recipient clicks on the link in the email and goes to SocialFlowers.com where they are asked to provide an address for the delivery of flowers. The recipient is returned to the social network after a delivery address has been provided.
• Social Flowers fulfills the delivery of fresh flowers to the recipient from the sender using our network of over 30,000 local florists across the United States and Canada.

Likes:
This is a nice and simple business model and it’s interesting that a ‘traditional’ business like a flower delivery service is working to cross the web 2.0 digital divide and with luck capitalize on the relationships people are establishing online.

• A key ‘like’ is that I just plain haven’t seen this kind of business before so you have to tip your hat to the maverick that thought of the idea. For that reason alone, I wish them loads of luck!

Dislikes:
I have a few concerns:

• Will people really pay $40 to pay to send flowers to a person they have never met, don’t even know their real names or where they live?  Isn’t part of the joy of giving seeing the persons face after receiving your thoughtful gift?  My wife and Mother are lucky if I send them flowers using an online service – would I or most other people really be thoughtful enough to send flowers to someone they don’t ‘really’ know?
• The site is bland.  The design could be much more innovative, especially as it’s supposed to appeal to the web 2.0 crowd. At this stage it looks like a template that they have been given by an interflora type company. Social Flowers is part of Florist One who state they are first and foremost a florist. That’s good to know but come on guys – turn the visual experience up a notch!
• I’ve received phishing emails telling me someone has sent me virtual flowers and the like.  This may cause challenges for this business model given someone is receiving flower notifications from people they don’t know. Does Social Flowers still charge even if the flowers can’t be delivered or aren’t received?

Suggestions:

• As they are focused on web 2.0 market, try using some of the common tools of this space.  Customer reviews, send to friend, bookmarking, community etc – If community members send each other flowers, add a card with a special reference number to your website so the recipient can write a ‘thank you’ and start a more personal dialogue with the sender via your site.  This would create a lot more traction.

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would virtually invest $150K as I don’t trust that virtual friends will really do anything more than send virtual flowers to each other.  But perhaps the world really is crazy and I could be VERY wrong about this!

http://www.SocialFlowers.com

Andrew – Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

Tweet This Post

PlanHQ.com is an online Business Planning and startup development tool.  Doesn’t sound very sexy does it but you’d be wrong. Having been crazy enough to start three different businesses, I can painfully testify that writing and even more challenging…sticking to the thinking within a good Business Plan is extremely tough.  Plan HQ is an innovative web application that helps entrepreneurs and startups not only create a business plan, but allocate tasks and track progress across the key players. If Plan HQ gets the kind of traction it should then Plan HQ will be a great little business with any number of service and product extensions for the entrepreneur.  Move over 37Signals!

Business Model:
Plan HQ has a nice and simple business model…all elements of the application are hosted by Plan HQ. No downloads, no maintenance, no hosting, no contracts – If Plan HQ does work out for you or you stop needing their service, just leave.  Think ‘Salesforce.com’ for business planning.  Plan HQ offers a 30 day free trial (http://www.planhq.com/signup/) and then the fees are based on number of users on a monthly basis.  So membership types and prices:

Mini   = $9 month / 3 users / 5 active goals
Small = $24 month / 5 users / 10 active goals
Professional = $49 month / Unlimited Users / 10 active goals

Some Core Functionality:
The Plan HQ Product is sub-divided into some management categories that are usually ‘key’ for most startups and early stage companies and of course there’s a ‘Dashboard’ so you can manage and track the imperative tasks. Management ‘uber’ categories include:

• The Dashboard - Covering main tasks, actions, upcoming goals, financials
• The Market  – Your Markets, the Competition, Customers and basic market and customer analytics
• Goals - Actual Goals, Add new goals, confidence of achievement and more
• Financials - Performance, Indicators, graphs 
• The Business Plan Document itself
• Team – Who have you got, who do you need

Likes:
I really like the Plan HQ business model and the product itself, it’s especially relevant for those businesses that are focused on moving towards significant growth and the Venture Capital route.

• The Product seems to cover the key elements of what a young company needs to focus on and allows enough configuration that the users are not ‘locked in’ to Plan HQ’s already good business management methodology
• I hate to put it like this but for those ‘new’ to building businesses from just a plan, the product can really help ensuring the key team members focus on what’s important to any business but especially the ‘young’ business…Customers, revenues, the team and fund raising.
• As its a web ap, this product is especially helpful for a distributed or virtual teams and also for bringing angels, other investors and advisors easily into the key decision making process.  It could actually help get Advisors pulling their weight by locking them into real trackable actions. Wow! Could this product really do this?

Dislikes:
Not so much dislikes as potential questions and ‘like to sees’:

• Paypal as a form of payment.  As a small business owner I don’t like adding my credit card to ongoing online services.
• The positioning is ‘Create, update, track and collaborate around your business plan’. Business Plans eventually fall by the wayside as the business scales and grows beyond a certain stage or size.  As a ‘virtual’ investor, I’d like to see how all the data captured through initial usage and the service ‘scales’ with the business. i.e. beyond the business plan and becoming an ongoing discipline and tool for managing the business ongoing.
• I’d like to see a referral program and a ‘Reseller’ model.  For example, a startup I’m involved with ‘Advisor Garage’ (http://www.AdvisorGarage.com)  has 1000+ entrepreneurs, angels and VCs onboard.  This is a service many of our members would probably like to use – can our company ‘subscribe’ and offer the Plan HQ service to our members for a fee?  I hope so! Let me know if any Plan HQ folks read this…

What’s unclear:

• how the data exports or integrates with other systems – i.e. quickbooks etc
• Are the ‘Permissions’ configurable? Will all signees be able to access all data? Would a CEO want that?

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would ask PlanHQ to include me in their ‘Virtual Investment’ plans to the tune of $750K. Once they establish this market, their are so many obvious product extensions that driving great revenues will be easy and hey…they have the tool to manage those new businesses.  Great job Plan HQ!

http://www.planhq.com/

Andrew – Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

Tweet This Post

The creative guys behind the recently reviewed ‘HireThings’ were kind enough to answer some of the questions that came up and give us a sneeky peek into how they will be moving their already exciting business foreward…Thanks HireThings!

“Nahum Wild | hirethings.com | IP: 131.203.101.14

Hi Andrew, great article.

You’ve obviously done your research and flicked around our website. To answer some of your dislikes/questions:

We are in the process of pushing out the charging functionality in the next week or so which includes a couple of changes to our documentation on the site. The main change being that success fees for bookings will only be created two days after the booking has been completed. This gives the supplier time to update the booking with what actually happened – if it differs from the original agreement. For longer bookings we’ll actually charge a success fee two weeks into the booking and with longer terms we are investigating either a fixed rate or staggered success fees over the booking’s duration. We’ll be watching for people that always cancel their bookings too )

The administrative side is going to be a challenge, but I believe that we’re up to that and have the right people for the job. Controlling what is and isn’t on the site will set the mood for the whole concept, it’s a delicate balance of professionalism / business and community. Do we allow hugs or not? We’re still pondering that one.

Yes, obviously repeat customers bypassing the system once they and a supplier have made the initial contact could be a problem for us. Same type of issues that auction sites undoubtedly have. We plan to learn from them and offer a service with awesome value and features that keeps people coming back to and using the site.

Recently a fantastic User Interaction expert joined the team which we are very excited about as this allows the experience to jump up a notch, including tidying up some of the obvious clutter etc…

We’ve got heaps of cool additions planned, so watch this space!

Regards,

Nahum Wild
Development Manager
www.hirethings.co.nz“

++

If you would like to have your say or ask any questions, come along to the “Have Your Say” forum above.

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Tweet This Post

Continuing on with online P2P hire theme, here’s a new one from New Zealand.  HireThings is a P2P rental marketplace across multiple categories spanning products, places and services that offers hourly, 4-hour, daily, week, and month rates.  HireThings has a nice ’look and feel’, and easy to use and intuitive interface.  Nice design & UI guys!  

Business Model:
HireThings has a nice and simple business model…if the item you put up for rent is rented by someone, you pay HireThings either a percentage or a percentage plus cash combination depending on the value of the hire.

Value of booking*     Proposed success fee (incl. GST)
Up to $100               5% of hire/rental fee charged. Min charge $0.50.
$100 – $250              $5 + 4% of hire fee over $100
$250 – $500              $11 + 3% of hire fee over $250
$500 – $1500            $18.50 + 2% of hire fee over $500
$1500 +                   $38.5 + 1% of hire fee over $1500.

Max fee per booking = $100.

In my opinion, simple and transparent business models are always the best and this one is nice and clean given that people only pay when they have secured a hire and make money themselves.  No speculation investment required. This should help adoption…oh yeah, and they do not seem to be getting involved in the visually distracting adsense model. Thanks Guys!

Some Core Functionality:

• Members can created a ‘trusted network’ and can choose to only offer items within that network or the broader full site network
• Listing, photo upload, multiple categories including services and place hire…
• Customers can view listing’s details and submit a quote or booking request
• The Hire Things website calculate an estimated cost for the booking
• Renters are notified by email of the new customer request, and can confirm or respond with a firmer quote.

Likes:
A nice and simple concept, business model and execution -

• I like HireThings UI and the clean, fun graphics – it was a simple site to figure out and use
• The ‘Trusted Network’ is a nice angle that could help adoption and friend referral
• If a person rents an item, the renter has the fee deducted from their topped up account – simple

Dislikes:
Not so much dislikes as potential ‘watchouts’ or concerns:

• If the fee is deducted from the topped up account when the transaction is confirmed, what happens if there are challenges with the rental? i.e. item not received, received but not functioning, item not returned, item returned broken – you get the idea. 
• Are any of the above challenges on HireThings to resolve? If so, hope they have a big admin staff…
• The ‘Trusted Network’ is a nice idea but assuming you add your ‘friends’ and ‘contacts’ to this network – why wouldn’t they just contact each other outside of the system and offer to lend them the articles without incurring the commission?
• Keeping the quality of the listings is going to be a challenge as this grows…for example, there is already a listing for “Soft or Hard Hugs” in the services section – now I like hugs as much of the next guy but to hire a 3rd party? Hummm….see that blue flashing light yet? Shame there’s no photo…

One little suggestion for the HireThings guys…the front page of items is hard on the brain given the range and categories of products meshed together…you may want to create a categorization or perhaps quick read icons for the different categories.

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would ask them to ‘Let’ me virtually invest $350K. 

http://www.hirethings.co.nz/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Tweet This Post

ILetYou hasn’t even launched yet but this site is going to be HUGE! HUGE I tell you!!!! Cackle…Cackle!

What’s the basic idea?  People with DVDs and games at home set up their own ‘online rental stores’ and rent their own DVDs and games to others. The more people who sign up the more variety and eclectic the catalog becomes – I wouldn’t be surprised if you will ultimately be able to find DVDs and games here that you can’t find anywhere else but Ebay…plus the rental prices are less than Netflix etc…does anyone see an industry shift over the horizon?

Business Model:
ILetYou will let users set up their own online rental store and list DVDs and games for FREE.  Their business model is to charge a small slice of the transaction fee for each rental so in the 40 cents range.  Not huge but multiply that by 100,000+ rentals and this business becomes a cash cow overnight.  Not too hard to imagine if they have the referral/viral elements right.

What do they provide?  The platform, the credit card processing engine and the marketing – WOW! What a business! Wish I had thought of it!  Damn!

Some Core Functionality:

• Members can create their own online rental ‘store fronts’
• ILetYou handles credit card transactions
• Orders are passed through to the store ‘owners’
• …will need to see the site live to comment on the viral elements… 

Likes:
Like, Like, Like…what’s not to like?

• DVDs & games at cheaper prices than the ‘high street’ rental stores & mail to rental companies
• The ability to rent my own DVDs and games without selling them once at an Ebay or similar – ongoing revenue stream…wow!
• All the hassle of finding renters dealt with by someone else…double wow!
• Will likely result in a range of DVDs and games that I probably cannot find elsewhere
• And I can choose what I rent rather than making a list of my top 10 and being suprised according to what the other online rental companies have in stock…triple wow!

Dislikes:
The only itsy bitsy potential dislike is when I rent via ILetYou I’m dealing with an unknown vendor – I’m not to concerned about the quality of the DVDs being sent (although some may be), but I am concerned about the scenario where you get a DVD, watch it, send it back and start getting angry emails or whatever from a ‘scammer’ who complains the DVD is broken, its my fault and I need to pay for it.  May not happen but when you are dealing with individuals – you just never know.  Does ILetYou have an answer for that kind of scenario? Perhaps a guarantee or something? Don’t know but if they did, it may make the reticent dive in!

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would mail the whole amount to ILetYou tomorrow if they would take it! And they wouldn’t need to return it after a week either…what a business! BTW, this is my first $1M virtual investment! Congrats ILetYou! As if you care…you soon to be VERY wealthy guys!

http://www.iletyou.com/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Tweet This Post

ILikeTotallyLoveIt is a new website where people post objects that they ‘Totally Love’ and include links to where the items can be purchased.  As the objects get voted on by members using a ‘Digg’ similar approach, the more popular items get moved to the front page. So its a popularity site for products people adore… 

Business Model:
The business model seems nice and simple for this new site – Google Ads and vertical banners served up on the right margin which seem relatively targeted to the twenty somethings that are posting the items that they ‘Totally Love’.  There is currently no fee for posting an item and believe or not, there are a few hundred items already posted.

Example:

Totally Loved

http://www.zappos.com

Converse All Star Deluxe Mary Jane Ox
posted by bdavies 16 hours ago view profile

A cute, cute Converse! These are a blend of the classic Chuck Taylor shoe and a traditional Mary Jane silhouette. These have leather uppers and an arch support.

Some Core Functionality:

• Product Voting – popular products move to main page 
• Multiple categories and price ranges
• Tell a Friend
• Comments on items
• Tags
• Trackbacks
• RSS feeds 

Likes:
This site is cute in that it brings ’design’ into the product mix and combines it with product recommendations and voting.   

Dislikes:
A few little dislikes:

1. TotallyLoveIt is a little messy from a design perspective but it is new so hey they’ll get there or perhaps that’s part of the charm. You decide.
2. The construction and set up of the site seems a bit too much like all the other ‘voting’ websites out there and it probably leverages Pligg software so there’s little real innovation.  It’s literally just found a nice little niche of young users who want to recommend, vote and sell items to others.
3. My key concern for this site is one of long term sustainability – is it adding enough value to stay around for years 2, 3 and onwards?  I think that depends on the founders and where they decide to take this site – right now, its cute but I don’t see alot of long term incremental value and the members will likely get bored after a few months. 

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would invest $100K as I only just ‘TotallyLoveIt”.

http://www.iliketotallyloveit.com/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Tweet This Post