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Idea Overview:
My name is Andraya Catlyn I am a director of an inventory clerk agency for the past 7 years. I am developing a residential property inventory management system that assists in property inspection and report production.
Who might use it/where it might be used?:
My staff and I Letting Agents, Property Managers, Inventory Clerks and landlords.
The Market (B2B, B2C or Both):
Business to Business (B2B)
Sector the idea belongs to:
Environment
Is there a similar idea to be found?:
Yes There are a few companies, I currently use a company called the inventory manager. They have an app and a associated website
Why you think there is a demand for your idea?:
I have seen the sector change from using dictaphones cameras and typist into this fast paced cloud based environment there is an increase need for;
Custom Templates
Personalised Dictionary
Basic Report Customisation
Detailed Audit Trails
Built-in Transcription
Client Logins
Client-specific Settings
Who would be the ideal customers?:
Independent inventory clerks
Inventory clerk companies
Estate agents
Property managers
Landlords
What ideas do you have to reach these customers?:
I have created a inventory clerk network on LinkedIn
Advertise to members of inventory associations for example AIIC
How far have you developed this idea?:
I have a business partner who I met as we are both members of the enterprise hub at ARUL he is a website developer.
What – if any – feedback have you had for this idea so far?:
I have had most people tell me it is a great idea and move for me, as my company already pay to use a similar service and have had many issues along the way for example not being able to edit reports as required. I have been told this idea would make me more money than my original business with less effort.
What supporting material – if any - would you like to add to your proposal?:
Business model canvas
Lean canvas
Test card
Customer persona
Value proposition canvas
14 comments to “Inventory Management Website”
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Trudi Hamer - July 14, 2022 at 10:23 am
Andraya – it is wonderful that this idea comes out of a collaboration via ARU London’s Enterprise Hub. In order to get this ready for launch at the Startup Hackathon can you please complete and upload the business model canvas and customer persona templates.
Andraya Catlyn - August 8, 2022 at 6:25 pm
Thanks for all your help Trudi, I will upload them shortly
Simon Krystman - July 14, 2022 at 4:44 pm
Hi Andraya, a couple of things. As well as uploading a Canvas and Persona, its will get more attention if you upload an image that represents your idea rather than the standard IdeasNest image. Is your website builder able to create a pre-order page that you can sell the Inventory Management System to inventory clerks and property managers?
Andraya Catlyn - August 8, 2022 at 6:32 pm
Thanks for your suggestions Simon, I have added a cover. Our landing page can capture interested people’s email addresses so that I can follow up if they do not register, but I would like to learn more about pre-selling.
Mark Cardwell - July 23, 2022 at 9:44 pm
Do you have a feel for what the software development and maintenance costs will be?
Andraya Catlyn - August 8, 2022 at 6:34 pm
Hi Mark thanks for your question. It has cost £500 my business partner will maintain the site for now.
Mark Cardwell - August 9, 2022 at 3:46 pm
I’d suggest you look closely at software development costs – you’re not just looking for a website, you need a cloud-based application. You might want to draw up a list of features offered by your competitors, decide which you need to offer, and then investigate the development costs.
Andraya Catlyn - August 11, 2022 at 3:15 pm
Hi Mark, thank you for your contribution. At the moment my party web developer assured me we have enough space to store reports so that clients can access them (excuse my ignorance if I miss understood). I have a role model company that I have been watching, making a list of what features we need right away as a priority, like the ability to voice record for those who use typist.
I guess as you say the next logical step is to research the cost of these features.
Mark Cardwell - August 12, 2022 at 5:01 pm
If you have a role-model competitor, you might be able to research how many staff they have working on the product – that would give you a clue about costs.
Peter Illes - July 25, 2022 at 2:48 pm
The SaaS software market is ruthless. As a rule of thumb, you should account for marketing costs that are the same of even 1,5x-2x of the development costs. I don’t say that to discourage you, rather to prepare you.
Don’t rely solely on your industry experience. Go out there, and talk to potential customers face to face. Also, follow-up on Simon’s tip and create a landing page and start selling the software. Yes, even before you developed it. It’s a great way to gauge interest and start building a waitlist. Check out smoke test here https://gofurther.digital/en/blog/posts/11-ways-to-build-an-mvp-pt1
Andraya Catlyn - August 8, 2022 at 6:38 pm
Great food for thought Peter. Regarding talking to customers I have done exactly that and started LinkedIn’s first ever inventory clerk network I have been having some really valuable conversations, and even better I have a few people who have agreed to beta test the system.
Mark Cardwell - August 9, 2022 at 3:51 pm
And it’s worth noting the article says “most importantly, it displays the price of our product and a buy now button” – if you’re going to do that, you want a rough but realistic idea of your costs.
Mario L Castellanos - August 9, 2022 at 7:10 pm
I see a huge potential market for this here in the US with Property Management Companies and Investment Trusts. They have lots of turnover as a part of their business model. So knowing their inventory is important.
Mark Cardwell - September 3, 2022 at 12:31 pm
I’d suggest that the missing piece in the canvases is a realistic cost for developing, maintaining and supporting the software. Until you have that, it’s hard to work out whether your offering can be cheaper than the competitors. So it’s hard to know whether to test the market by asking “would you like a product that’s cheaper and better than the others?”, or “would you be prepared to pay a premium for a better product?”
Many software products started life as a custom project for a single customer (who funded the development), and were later updated for a wider market. Once there are a number of general-purpose products on the market, it’s difficult to persuade a user to buy a new custom development, so you need to think about other ways to fund the initial development.