Starting my own business - fish out of water!

[MANTIS01]

E-bay started in 1995 so a market comparison with the pitfalls of starting an on-line business in 2012 wont be greatly accurate.

Of course there isn't anything stopping another on-line auction site springing up and there are plenty of them. However, e-bay only became the market leader because it got multi-million dollar venture capitalist investment early doors, not because it had a unique idea. And of course it retains it's place in the market by spending hundreds of millions on advertising, hence legal protection isn't necessary. That was the point I was making, if your idea isn't legally protected another company can throw lots of capital at the idea and instantly obliterate the competition. As far as I know e-bay were not the first auction site, the idea was out there in the 1980's, it's just e-bay were the first to throw millions into it. Thus if you start an online business in 2012 and your idea isn't legally protected and you don't have a business plan which includes potential huge commercial investment within years 1-2 then the chances of a good idea retaining it's integrity is remote.

Also the reason Blonde don't invest the time, effort, and money into Blondepedia is because it isn't worth it. If THM made significant monies from having a database on their site I guarantee Blonde do likewise.

[kinboshi]

There isn't millions to be made from Alex's idea, so the idea that someone would throw millions at it to obliterate Alex's position in the market isn't relevant. Alex has a niche offering, which is why the comparison to THM's player database is relevant.

Also, THM gets significantly more unique daily visitors than blondepoker, and like I said I'm sure this is due largely to the player database.

[Junior Senior]

Whats the idea?

[kinboshi]

Whats the idea?

Alex will be keeping that quiet until the site's launched I'd imagine.

[MANTIS01]

There isn't millions to be made from Alex's idea, so the idea that someone would throw millions at it to obliterate Alex's position in the market isn't relevant. Alex has a niche offering, which is why the comparison to THM's player database is relevant.

Also, THM gets significantly more unique daily visitors than blondepoker, and like I said I'm sure this is due largely to the player database.

Oh ok bud, well you obv know what the idea is so are in a much better spot to offer advice. Not sure why you introduced the e-bay example if it isn't relevant but sure thing, if the offering is niche and not going to make big bucks obv no need to protect it as nobody will be interested in copying it. 

[smashedagain]

   I know someone who accounts for a high percentage of the hits on the hendonmob. I had to do 1650 searches for the ukipt alone