I don't think anyone doubts people would submit feedback, we just doubt restaurants are going to have any interest in trying to cater for severe peanut allergy and severe seafood allergy and severe dairy allergy and coeliac and autism and and and and and.
Making one set of changes to cater for one relatively large group (people who want gluten free); absolutely that might be cost effective and worth going after.
Making a thousand sets of changes to cater for a thousand individuals with various issues; never going to be cost-effective in a million years.
To look at one of the examples on your site, nobody is going to want to say they can definitely cater for the peanut anaphylaxis kid. It's *so* easy for something to get contaminated and suddenly you're the restaurant who promised they were safe for peanut allergies and then killed someone.
Then you say that's not what you're trying to do and I don't understand any more.
From what you've said in here it seems like people can send a message to a restaurant anonymously and privately so the restaurant sees it (and nobody else) and then the restaurant can respond to that person?
What difference is there between that and emailing the restaurant? What draws in users if they can't see other people's feedback for restaurants?
At this point it sounds like he's describing Resolver.co.uk.
The no. of feedbacks dictates whether it's worth investment or not. The app captures when, how many covers, and why. It then pulls in to a report dashboard to visually display how much money the restaurant has lost because they didn't cater for XYZ. It's up to them to decide whether it's worth an investment or not. If they do make a change, they notify all app users with the relevant keywords tagged (a pre-requisite for signing up) within 50 miles, and those who have left feedback.
If all it took was moving your cakes to a different shelf to prevent cross-contamination, meant that you'd get £500 worth of extra business each month, you'd surely make the change?
However at the moment it's all conjecture. I believe strongly, hence why I'm building this, that there's a huge incentive for both excluded diners and hospitality to link up and help each other. And I bet the reasons people won't eat somewhere will be wild.
No, they can't respond directly. They can only 'announce' changes they've made and they have no idea who that will be going to, only the number of users it will reach.
What draws them in is the more they leave feedback the more likely positive change will be made. For example, I'd tell my local kebab shop at least twice a month that I wanted to eat there but didn't because they don't do GF. That's £60 they lose every month.
You can tell the same place multiple times why you didn't go, like if your fav restaurant is no longer accessible because of a recent Coeliac diagnoses and you still wanted to go every Friday but couldn't. Tell them. Each time.
The gluten/lactose/peanut intolerance crew already tend to do the legwork without a site. Usually by ringing the place up in advance.
Surely they know they're losing revenue already by not catering for X?
They just don't care because they don't think the margins are there for them to cater for said group.
Is this essentially 'use the survey code on your receipt for a free big mac' with extra steps and no big mac?
My cousin self-diagnosed herself as coeliac, and then un-diagnosed herself when my mother started calling her 'Gluten Glynis'. More of that society.
Magic, if you can spare the time and the cash requirements are low then you've probably little to lose by going for it. That said, I don't really understand what it is, so...
What does/will your website do?
Why would I use it as an individual?
Why would I use it as a business?
How do you make money from it?
Read the landing page (people won't though, so I wouldn't be relying on that to promote it). I think you have the germ of an interesting idea (very well timed given the neuroses we're voluntary swimming in as a society these days), I just can't tell from that how it actually works, specifically speaking and therefore whether I think it'll work or not, for what that's worth.
There are people out there who could do it very well as well. Get rid of the website until you're ready and I would say delete this thread too, but as the least read part of the internet you'll probably be alright with that.
If I've understood what you're doing with it, or what I'd do with the base idea then I think you could have something, if something like this doesn't already exist.
Do not follow any advice from Yev.
TTH Dragons Den would work. SvN as the grumbly fuck, Yev as literally Peter Jones, and we'll have to find a role for Taz I suppose.
I don't really know what this means. But you've offered some terrible advice in this thread, basically telling him to "hide" his idea until it's ready to launch because someone might steal it. Given the investment Magic will need to make this anywhere near a reality, it's probably the worst thing he could do.
Magic - my advice is if you want this to be taken seriously, invest a small amount in proper branding and design. You can use something like Squarespace to knock together a reasonable looking page without any technical skills, so you don't need to be spending thousands with a designer.
You also need to work on your value proposition and make it so clear that people will understand what you're trying to achieve by scanning your home page for 10 seconds.
I realised that couldn't be done as it's not 'online movies' or 'pizza delivery' so I went with the mission strapline instead, followed by the story.
Did you have a quick scan?
My comment was in direct response to Magic saying he was worried people would steal the idea, if you're worried don't give them the information in the first place. Except he hasn't really done that anyway as it's hard to tell from the landing page exactly what the idea is, which won't generate the interest and sign ups to prove the concept and get investment, but there is enough there for someone to take the germ of the idea and come up with their own way to do it. Basically the worst of both Worlds.
Ok thanks for the roasting. Any pointers now would be really appreciated, but like specific ones not generic 'shit' ones.
I think you'll struggle to get anything more than generic pointer without going into more detail. If you can answer those four questions I put upthread, in detail, then I'll be able to offer more but as it is, all we've got is landing page which isn't snappy enough to grab people's attention (and it's a webpage - are people even using those anymore? I do, but I'm old and not remotely in the target market).
Or to put it another way, what areas do you want specific pointers on?
Last edited by Yevrah; 24-10-2023 at 10:24 AM.
Niche it down. The biggest thing I have found since starting a business is to niche initially. Once you are doing well you can branch out starting with say celiac’s and if it works branch out. That way you can concentrate on one thing initially as then you can focus the spending you have.
There, I've totally changed it to suit the consumer. Maybe it'll make more sense now.
I think the B2B side will be completely different.
Of course it can be done. There are businesses out there much more complex than this that manage it. You just need to formulate the benefit to users in a very simple way. But you're not a copywriter, so you'll probably struggle.
I did have a quick scan, and without this thread for context, I would've struggled to understand what you're trying to achieve.
You don't have to neglect the B2B side of things - they go hand in hand. Look at Trustpilot as an example:
It's a 9 words and a call to action that summarises what they do. Their messaging is entirely focused towards the end user - how they can find trustworthy businesses, how they can share their own experiences. But their entire business model is getting businesses to pay to use the platform.
Your VP is obviously more complicated than that. But at the moment you've got 30 words and it tells me what I can do (submit anonymous feedback), but not why, other than promising a vague concept of a "tastier future". You need to drill down to the core of why I should care as a user.
Narrowing the niche will also significantly help you in framing it, as you'll be able to appeal directly to a specific base who will be much more likely know what you're talking about.
'Our simple app helps coeliacs find restaurants you can trust'. Far less easy to do if there are 500 variations on coeliacs.
Last edited by Jimmy Floyd; 24-10-2023 at 11:39 AM.
Are all restaurants going to be on there or just ones that sign up?
I would also think about targeting which businesses you are after, because Raj's Delights curry house isn't going to give a shit (at least not until you are flying and everyone does it), whereas hipster places in city centres will be much more likely to build you a starting base.
EDIT: fair enough, I'm not across google ID.
But you run the risk of overdoing it by trying to do too many things at once. When I started doing investments and pensions I didn’t care who I got through the door but then I realised if I niche it down I can get more business initially as my ad spend etcetera goes much further. So you niche it down to pensions for dentists, solicitors and vets. The big boys don’t go after them they spend their ad money on the main searches so it gives you more opportunities in the short term. Then once it’s worked in one area and you have word of mouth within that industry/sector you move onto the next layer and build from there.
Yeah I understand. It's a toughie but I gave it another bash:
Leave feedback. Get change.
Our app links those with special requirements and hospitality venues together. United voices for a safer, more enjoyable experience.
Think that's me done for now as my head has turned to mince, but I do get your point.