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The Big Eat http://www.thebigeat.com http://www.thebigeat.com Menu and takeaway listings (mainly in the UK). Makes around $6,000 per year of Adsense. It's be

The Big Eat http://www.thebigeat.com http://www.thebigeat.com Menu and takeaway listings (mainly in the UK). Makes around $6,000 per year of Adsense. It's been fairly untouched since I started it in 2006. Has good pagerank for a lot of takeaway names. Costs are a Digital Ocean Droplet @ $5 a month = $60 per year.

Trufa 12y ago
Just out curiosity, how much are you expecting to get for a site like that? I really have not clue how to calculate something like this. Hope it's not rude to ask :)
- sharemywin 12y ago
  sites like that are going for around 5-6k on flippa.com. might bget more because of the history. but usually around 10-12mo revenue.
- AlexMuir 12y ago
  Here is the problem with valuing a business like this... It's my business so I know that revenue has actually risen year-on-year since I set it up (and on just looking is actually $9,000 a year) So for me, I know that I couldn't take less than $40k for it. Since I'd never earn anything like that return on that amount of money elsewhere, even assuming revenue sits static for 5 years. On the other hand, who in their right mind would pay that with nothing but some Adsense numbers and Google Analytics to go on. So to answer your question "What do I expect to get for it?" Nothing - I don't actually expect anyone to pay what I'd sell it for. And so I'll probably keep it forever. The only situations that I can see panning out are a) someone buying it for a brand (unlikely) b) an established player buying it for the traffic and SEO reasons (a good move IMO) c) someone with plans to monetize and/or grow it in different ways or d) a fund is established which buys up all these scrappy little sites, monetizes and maintains them, and earns a steady 20% return for its investors. I'd actually be very interested in working on d) if anyone wants to get in touch.
  - wcfields 12y ago
    Option D is exactly what InternetBrands is[1]. In short they own VBulletin, a bunch of niche forums (eg Fitfreaks, a Honda Fit forum), paid listing sites (Teen Summer Camp) and buy out "medium" sites that have a predictable revenue stream that requires almost no code updates. I interviewed there and it's pretty much an internet sweatshop, (read any Glassdoor review) and the sites run everything from LAMP to VB/Frontpage MS Access DB. They burn through employees at a quick clip and outsource everything to Romania and Mexico. [1] http://www.internetbrands.com http://www.internetbrands.com
    - tempestn 12y ago
      Would you say CarsDirect is an exception to their standard practices? It seems like a reasonably high maintenance venture, but likely a profitable one, since they've captured a good chunk of the market.
- kendo78 12y ago
  Typically sites on Flippa.com sell for a multiple of 18 months profit. Sites that are selling for 5 figure sums or higher can be 2-3 years profit multiple. As with most things though, it's only really worth what someone else is prepared to pay. The domain might be more valuable to someone than the site for instance.
wingerlang 12y ago
Just wondering. You say it is basically untouched, and it generates a fair amount of revenue by itself. Why would you sell it? Why not just let is be and get the income?
- michaelt 12y ago
  Presumably because the buyer was offering a high enough multiple of the annual revenue to be tempting. I'm sure the seller would decline $6,000 and accept $600,000. The buyer would be looking to find a point in between that both buyer and seller were happy with.
pja 12y ago
I think HN just knocked you offline!
Dwolb 12y ago
I worked on this concept for a school project [1] for the US market and I like the simplicity a lot. Are businesses pretty responsive in claiming their takeaways? [1] http://imgur.com/GhLBvb4 http://imgur.com/GhLBvb4
- AlexMuir 12y ago
  They are completely unresponsive, at least in my experience.
  - Dwolb 12y ago
    Interesting. Is the community then driving content?
tempestn 12y ago
Cool idea, and congrats on living the "passive income" dream! ;) One quick suggestion if you're interested: I found the white text on light background on pages like this one a bit tough to read: http://www.thebigeat.com/uk http://www.thebigeat.com/uk. (Also reduces the professional feel.) That one change would probably take just a few minutes. That said, with $6k in annual income, if I were you I would seriously consider getting some quotes to have a professional web designer give the whole site a facelift. I'm not saying it looks bad by any means, but I wouldn't be surprised if a really polished, professional look had a noticeable impact on your bottom line, possibly paying for itself within a few years. (If I didn't already have too many projects to work on, I would seriously consider making you an offer, but alas...)
rahimnathwani 12y ago
I'm curious: how did you get over the chicken-and-egg problem when you launched this? How did you seed it with restaurant menus in order to attract your first users? Was there (and when?) a tipping point when you had enough eyeballs that restaurants started to add their own menus?
- AlexMuir 12y ago
  I initially wanted to charge takeaways £20 a year to list their menus. No-one was interested. Over the entire life of the site I've probably had five people list a menu. I walked the streets of London and Manchester collecting menus, scanning them in and typing in all the details. It was shit. I then sent a personalised letter to each takeaway with a thumbnail of their menu asking them to register on the site and get a free promoted listing. Not one person did. At some point I'll write a blog post about this. I still have virtually zero engagement with takeaway owners.
  - husky 12y ago
    That's a fascinating insight Alex. Some businesses are just not ready to be helped...
    - ejb99 12y ago
      I agree, very useful insight.

Trufa 12y ago

Just out curiosity, how much are you expecting to get for a site like that? I really have not clue how to calculate something like this. Hope it's not rude to ask :)

sharemywin 12y ago
sites like that are going for around 5-6k on flippa.com. might bget more because of the history. but usually around 10-12mo revenue.
AlexMuir 12y ago
Here is the problem with valuing a business like this... It's my business so I know that revenue has actually risen year-on-year since I set it up (and on just looking is actually $9,000 a year) So for me, I know that I couldn't take less than $40k for it. Since I'd never earn anything like that return on that amount of money elsewhere, even assuming revenue sits static for 5 years. On the other hand, who in their right mind would pay that with nothing but some Adsense numbers and Google Analytics to go on. So to answer your question "What do I expect to get for it?" Nothing - I don't actually expect anyone to pay what I'd sell it for. And so I'll probably keep it forever. The only situations that I can see panning out are a) someone buying it for a brand (unlikely) b) an established player buying it for the traffic and SEO reasons (a good move IMO) c) someone with plans to monetize and/or grow it in different ways or d) a fund is established which buys up all these scrappy little sites, monetizes and maintains them, and earns a steady 20% return for its investors. I'd actually be very interested in working on d) if anyone wants to get in touch.
- wcfields 12y ago
  Option D is exactly what InternetBrands is[1]. In short they own VBulletin, a bunch of niche forums (eg Fitfreaks, a Honda Fit forum), paid listing sites (Teen Summer Camp) and buy out "medium" sites that have a predictable revenue stream that requires almost no code updates. I interviewed there and it's pretty much an internet sweatshop, (read any Glassdoor review) and the sites run everything from LAMP to VB/Frontpage MS Access DB. They burn through employees at a quick clip and outsource everything to Romania and Mexico. [1] http://www.internetbrands.com http://www.internetbrands.com
  - tempestn 12y ago
    Would you say CarsDirect is an exception to their standard practices? It seems like a reasonably high maintenance venture, but likely a profitable one, since they've captured a good chunk of the market.
kendo78 12y ago
Typically sites on Flippa.com sell for a multiple of 18 months profit. Sites that are selling for 5 figure sums or higher can be 2-3 years profit multiple. As with most things though, it's only really worth what someone else is prepared to pay. The domain might be more valuable to someone than the site for instance.

wingerlang 12y ago

Just wondering. You say it is basically untouched, and it generates a fair amount of revenue by itself. Why would you sell it? Why not just let is be and get the income?

michaelt 12y ago
Presumably because the buyer was offering a high enough multiple of the annual revenue to be tempting. I'm sure the seller would decline $6,000 and accept $600,000. The buyer would be looking to find a point in between that both buyer and seller were happy with.

pja 12y ago

I think HN just knocked you offline!

Dwolb 12y ago

I worked on this concept for a school project [1] for the US market and I like the simplicity a lot. Are businesses pretty responsive in claiming their takeaways? [1] http://imgur.com/GhLBvb4 http://imgur.com/GhLBvb4

AlexMuir 12y ago
They are completely unresponsive, at least in my experience.
- Dwolb 12y ago
  Interesting. Is the community then driving content?

tempestn 12y ago

Cool idea, and congrats on living the "passive income" dream! ;) One quick suggestion if you're interested: I found the white text on light background on pages like this one a bit tough to read: http://www.thebigeat.com/uk http://www.thebigeat.com/uk. (Also reduces the professional feel.) That one change would probably take just a few minutes. That said, with $6k in annual income, if I were you I would seriously consider getting some quotes to have a professional web designer give the whole site a facelift. I'm not saying it looks bad by any means, but I wouldn't be surprised if a really polished, professional look had a noticeable impact on your bottom line, possibly paying for itself within a few years. (If I didn't already have too many projects to work on, I would seriously consider making you an offer, but alas...)

rahimnathwani 12y ago

I'm curious: how did you get over the chicken-and-egg problem when you launched this? How did you seed it with restaurant menus in order to attract your first users? Was there (and when?) a tipping point when you had enough eyeballs that restaurants started to add their own menus?

AlexMuir 12y ago
I initially wanted to charge takeaways £20 a year to list their menus. No-one was interested. Over the entire life of the site I've probably had five people list a menu. I walked the streets of London and Manchester collecting menus, scanning them in and typing in all the details. It was shit. I then sent a personalised letter to each takeaway with a thumbnail of their menu asking them to register on the site and get a free promoted listing. Not one person did. At some point I'll write a blog post about this. I still have virtually zero engagement with takeaway owners.
- husky 12y ago
  That's a fascinating insight Alex. Some businesses are just not ready to be helped...
  - ejb99 12y ago
    I agree, very useful insight.