Ebiz Development

I was going through my domain list for renewals and happened to think of a concept for a few of them. I used to do a lot of rehabbing, and was thinking of a service to aid homeowners with odd jobs, contracting, and certified handymen. There are a few good ones already, but I see many homeowners not knowing about them or just not being web savvy enough to utilize them.

After doing some quick research, I would be competing with companies such as www.servicemagic.com and the like. My execution plan is different, but still, they're in the same industry.

So, everyone always preaches, including myself, "you have to do it better." I think my lack of web biz knowledge leaves me feeling like I have blinders on in this area.

When evaluating an ebiz comparison (in this instance, Service Magic and others) to my related concept, is there some method that will define a better execution? What criteria defines better? At what point do you throw in the towel and move on to the next idea instead of exhausting resources?

One service could make more revenue than the other, that doesn't make it better....from being previously established, better advertised, etc....

Quality of service could differ immensely, which is why I thought of this example originally. I constantly hear about terrible experiences with contractors.

What I'm getting at is, even if you provide a superior service, how do keep your head above the water when other companies are throwing massive ads everywhere? Even though the end users service may suck, they reach enough people to continue.

Are you planning to provide the service or to connect customers with other service-providers? Even though it is a very common business model, I think being a "retailer" of a service is a terrible way to go. I work at a hotel, and retailers like Expedia are beginning to lose "market-share" to (guess who) the hotels! People would rather book direct.

I worked with Service Magic on a property inspection, and I was very pleased with the results. The problem (for ServiceMagic) is that I will call the individual inspector next time I need that service. Their business model does not automatically create repeat customers.

Sorry this is less about what you SHOULD do, but sometimes it's just as useful to think about what you SHOULDN'T do. Good luck!