Facing Competition in online Business

Hi, I would like to share my ideas with you. We have rejuvenated dieing online business with add on softwares.

Now a days it is easy to start an online business. so easy that anybody can start a good one for a few hundred $. And this leads to too many players on a small web. They make it 'free' to pull paying members from other web sites, while theirown paying members keep leaving them.

There is something extra you need besides a lower cost . Technically called Adding value.We found that cheapest doesn't work,customers look for BEST VALUE/COST ratio.

Case study : Online Dating Website

Take the example of online dating web sites. It is a good business now a days. But there are just more than 10000s good dating web sites and less than a million humans who will go online for online dating. one may think why go into a business which is full of competitors. The fact is , if the business is not profitable, there will not be many competitors.

Thumb rule is , if you see too many players out there , then it is a sign of profitability. We are in product development since 6 years. We have developed many products and most of them didn't see light of day for long. Going on vacation peoples make a plan,but for starting a business, many do not even spend an hour on planning. we have seen others failing and learnt from their experience . Those all who failed didn't have that something extra .Those who succeed didn't bother to defend from competitors .Eventually they shut down.

Site a b c dating.com ( I will not write real name here ) was facing a similar situation. They had got a few thousand paying members. Until , more and more new web sites starting popup. They were everywhere, on google on yahoo on banners. a b c started loosing members because for what they were charging $15 , someone else was offering for free. And they (members) were referring to other members on a b c saying, hi , let's chat on web site x y z. It is free and lot better. Meanwhile a b c was just watching helplessly. It was time to upgrade . a bc added a nice chat room. We call this value addition. But , no effect. The access logs was showing less and less hits. The picture was gloomy. Then we started something new. Find out 'what woman wants' and 'what man wants', after all it is all about man and woman . we started talking to them . someone (man ) reported 'a teenager pretending himself to be woman deceived him. Internet is well known for anonymity. someone said she wanted something more than chat. she wanted to play tic tac toe .She wanted to hear him . someone said,when I come online she is offline .she can't keep waiting for me . someone said , I don't like him communicating with someone else.

We had a long list of 'what woman and man want' and what they really don't want to happen . The survey went on for a few days.

I will not disclose everything here publicly. And we came up with idea of a new software. you would say , it is not innovation. well , it is on web since years but no one thought to use it for those man and woman .Now harry can get a desktop alert when sally comes online . sally can send an instant voice mail to harry , harry (if online ) see a blinking icon in system tray and with one click he can hear her [see example at http://www.itwax.com/date-on-desktop.php.

James see recorded video profile of interested members before making friends. No one can steal the video profile of someone else (see example at http://www.myvideointro.com ) , unlike the photos which can be saved from web and uploaded anywhere.

a bc is now happy,they raised the monthly subscription fee and members do not leave them now. Instead they refer members of other free web sites , because they have a good software what 'man and woman' exactly wanted and it is not easy to clone .The free web site cannot afford to buy the add on software , because they haven't earned enough yet .

We pat on our back and feel proud .

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We believe that if you are not winner and unable to defend. you need that something extra.your customers will not ask for it . Surprisingly , they will not even realize that 'it could be better' Ask them , how about a little more sugar in coffee.

They will think for a moment , and say 'yes' .

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