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Ask HN: Is that true startups on small business space are too crowded?
Why ask: saw lots of big name in this space, groupon, living social, google, square, even apple ... and some "smart" products.
However: the fact is most of the SMBs are still struggling a lot on their business.
Why this happens, does it mean it need more innovation to jump in?
Or they just can't leverage the power of technology?
- pedalpete 14y agoI don't think the space is too crowded. For many opportunities, the sales force necessary and the dollar opportunities make it a significant challenge. Groupon and LivingSocial have to maintain a huge sales force to keep new daily deals in the pipeline. SMB's aren't serving themselves. Square is a one-time purchase with recurring revenue for the business, and a massive benefit to the business. Square also has a significant amount of money to spend on marketing. Google is the go to solution for e-mail, so again, a no brainer. Innovation (technical) isn't the solution to everything. I believe to break into this space you need sales innovation as well. Remember, many people in this space are non-technical, so selling them a technical solution that they don't NEED can be a challenge.
- fenghao120 14y agoI am a big fan of one point u just mention "SMB aren't serving themselves" for the groupon livingsocial like products. I think "serving themselves" is the first step to really help them to boost their business, which must be very non-tech friendly, so that they can understand what happen there and trust the product. The sales innovation I think might be the most challenging part, since there is almost no virality between SMB. Maybe an accurate sales targeting on the tech early adopters among them could be a potential solution, just like the accurate ad for consumers.
- dylanhassinger 14y agothere are infinite opportunities in this space, always will be easiest way to make money is help other people make money