Need Honest Opinion on Business Idea?
Question:
Answer:
To determine whether this is a workable idea for you specifically you really need to develop it more.
1. Where do you live and where will the business be located? Are there enough 13-18 year olds in your area who are interested in programming/game development to have a consistent business?
2. How much will it cost to reach those kids and/or their parents? What advertising mediums are available in your area? Can you get enough students to fill your classes without blowing your budget? Consider the cost of flyers, ads, internet marketing, a website with demos of your own games and games from others you've taught, etc...
3. Where will you teach the classes? If you have 30 students and each of them needs their own PC you need to either find a place to teach the class that you can rent (hopefully on a class by class basis) or you need to create that facility yourself somewhere. Either way, that will cost money. Before you spend anything getting students to the class you need to know how much your rental per class will cost you.
4. What are your skills as a presenter? It's one thing to know how to program. It's another to be able to teach a group of 13-18 year olds to make it fun, interesting and worthwhile enough that they will tell their friends and families. 13-18 is a pretty wide age range...what may be easy for some of the older kids may not be as easy for the younger ones. You have to have a program in place that accounts for that when you are teaching... 30 kids is a lot to try to give individual attention to in 2-3 hours.
5. Do you really want to run a business? If your passion is programming and teaching, you may find that the necessary day to day operation of a business isn't that much fun for you. Things like keeping your accouting records, marketing, customer service, etc... may or may not interest you. If they do, great- starting and owning a business can be extremely rewarding. But if those things don't excite you or if you don't have time to do them, consider that before you start. With software like Quicken keeping your books is pretty easy- but it still takes time.
I'm not trying to discourage you, you just want to think about all those things from the start...
If your cost structure makes sense (ie; you can rent or build the room and fill it with students via your marketing for less than your average income per class) and you are confident you can be a good teacher and a good business person, then it sounds like you have a solid concept.
You might want to start by doing some research on the net to find out what other people are charging for the same services. I know there are game progamming summer day camps that are week long programs. That may give you some idea what to charge and how others are marketing a similar service.
Good luck- I hope this helps!
I think this is a wonderful idea. With more and more youth being exposed to computers at a young age and computer and video games. I think this would not only generate their interest in school courses such as math, but also could expose them to a new possible career avenue at a younger age. And I don't think it would be difficult for them to get their parents to pay 35-50 for the classes either.
I think your idea has some real merit. Every generation seems to grasp computer concepts quicker and better than the last, and I think for many, blending their love of games with programming mastery is a logical marriage.
I think the best part of your business idea is that it's so simple and low-cost. I'm sure there are some holes someplace, but I'm not seeing them. Best of luck, and I expect points for this--and I don't mean AnswersRoom.coms points, either! :-)
More Questions & Answers...