Building a new website to host inventory for dealers

[danoneil]

A friend of mine has what he thinks is a great domain name that he wants to build a site around.

I realize getting in to the web hosting business could be tough. But my friend is highly successful and wants to try something else.

He is proficient with .net, sql & html, javascript, css, web services.

Any thoughts on how to get started ?

 

[danoneil]

One other thing. He has parked the site on-line and is getting clicks and impressions.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Sorry to crush hopes and dreams, but my first thought is "oh no - not another leach"

 

[danoneil]

Sorry to crush hopes and dreams, but my first thought is "oh no - not another leach"

I'd rather concentrate on what my friend need to start his potential plan. He's a multi-millionaire.
The site may never be built but I hope to get some feedback.

 

[danoneil]

Plus, with all the bitching and moaning that tends to go on with AT , Cars.com and other sites, maybe there is room for improvement.

 

[Ryan Thompson]

This may be one of the most competitive e-commerce ventures in the game. Providing multi portal syndication to dealers in Canada... I constantly have dealers saying "can you send my cards to the new autoABC" and a month later they are gonzo. You basically have to invest a tonne of time and money AND get huge pool of dealers that you let advertise for free to build up the inventory. Most of the time I see these "lead generators" losing 80% of the dealers once they flick the "pay me" switch on.

I know that sounded super negative but just my $.02

 

[danoneil]

Hi Ryan,

Your input is valuable and to the point. I do not take your post as a negative. I know it's a huge industry to crack.

 

[CAORYAN]

It can work! I have a model that is well thought out and would push the others to make moves but it would compete with the big boys. It would be A LOT of work and require A LOT of money.

You would need....
web designer
web developer
SEO guru
SEM guru
Writers
someone who knows the car biz on both dealer side and vendor side
and dealers willing to participate

I am 100% sure my plan would work. If your guy can put together a good team and he is committed it will work. You won't compete with the big boys for years so return on investment will be small to none for years. Actually you will lose for years but it will work.

 

[CAORYAN]

Ryan has a point....it is tough and probably one of the toughest. That is why I am holding my idea for a different market all together. One day I will launch it but not in the automotive field. It will work but it would take much more work and money in the auto world.

 

[ehoopman]

Another option is to partner w/ a company that already has the technology in place and can deploy a solution quickly. Your friend could then spend their time customizing the solution and plowing through the mountains of on/off-site SEO/Content Development/Social Marketing etc. that needs to be done as well as signing up dealers, auditing inventory, etc. etc.

It took us 5+ of years of focused effort to get to where we are today. Now granted we didn't start with millions of dollars but rather a VISA card, youthful engergy and great attitudes.

There is so much to consider that it's too long of a list. We are constantly retweaking our systems to connect w/ new technologies and improve upon performace of existing ones.

I'd be happy to talk through things to consider if your friend is set on forging forward. If they'd like to discuss a great domain or an original twist feel free to reach out as well. A few sites at varying states that we've cloned and redeployed are:

http://www.moofuel.com/ - Working on Performance Caching (Slow)
http://www.predriven.com/ - Cloned from MOOFuel
http://www.goautoplus.com/ - Regional Trade Magazine
http://www.carfinderzplus.com/ - Similar Idea in Different Market