BUSINESS IDEA | CASH FLOW BUSINESS

Online Community Management Agency 👥 

Tribe vibes

Available Domain: Tribeadmin

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: Football season is back. But despite all the amazing action that’s been on the field the NFL have had to contend with some unwanted action off-the-field.

That’s right, the NFL decided to launch a Discord server this week, but it’s been a disaster. They made some rookie errors when launching on the platform, like allowing anyone in, and since then have been in damage control mode. But for many big companies discord servers are a great way for companies to engage with fans. And this week YouTube launched a similar feature for creators for them to interact with their communities on the platform. But these organisations and creators need someone to run these communities. So let’s help them out.

Market Size: The global online community engagement platforms and software market size was $281m in 2023

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: An agency which helps large brands to launch and manage online communities

How it Works:

• A brand engages with the agency when they want to launch a Discord server or another online community for their business

• The agency works with them to create a launch strategy ensuring it goes smoothly

• They also work with the company on an ongoing basis to help with any changes to the server, ensuring it’s properly moderated and that the brand is getting maximum value from the server

• Case in point - if anyone wants to run our Half Baked Discord server for us, drop us an email. We could end up being your first customer!

Go-to-market: Find a market where many brands have launched their own successful Discord servers and go to their competitors who have yet to do this. Play them against each other to get your first customers

Business Model: Recurring monthly fee for services

Startup Costs: As an agency startup costs here are minimal

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Hold: This is an agency play but you could explore ways to productize this in the future

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Payback Bot

There’s nothing worse than the awkward conversation you have to have when a friend owes you money.

But with the MoneyBack Bot you can get an AI chatbot to do it for you. Just be careful with the aggression setting…

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Corporate HQ Relocations

In recent years there’s been a wave of big companies moving their headquarters to a new State, like moving from California to Texas or from Delaware to Nevada. In fact 30% of Fortune 500 firms made a change in their corporate headquarters over the past six years. The primary motivation for corporate headquarters relocations is cost savings, including lower taxes, wages, and overall operating expenses. And where there’s change, there are businesses to be built.

Business Ideas

• Asset Disposal Services: Help companies liquidate or repurpose furniture and equipment they don't want to move.

• Relocation Tax Services: Offer specialized tax advice and preparation for companies and relocated employees.

THE MONEYSHOT

How 2 Brothers Started a $2bn Golf Business

Golf has surged in popularity in recent years around the world.

But more than 25 years ago in the UK a pair of identical twin brothers (who have no online presence whatsoever) started a revolution in the golf space which turned into a $2bn business.

This is their story.

Back in 1985 Steve Jolliffe had just finished his MBA at Cranfield and was looking for business opportunities. Which is when inspiration struck.

A poor experience in a restaurant led him and his twin brother Dave to set up the first “Mystery Shopping” service in the UK. It expanded rapidly and, within a few years, was acquired by NOP, Britain’s biggest market research organisation, in 1997.

Having exited the business the pair were looking for their next move, which brought them back to their first love…golf.

One day, while at their local driving range, they were thinking about ways they could make the driving experience better. Way better.

So the pair decided to stick some computer chips inside some golf balls and hit them to track their distances. This tiny insight turned out to be huge.

So in the year 2000 they founded World Golf Systems and they opened their first driving range in Watford, England.

This was the first Topgolf location.

When they launched however the golfing community was not enthusiastic about this innovation. However despite this the first few years of trading for the business were pretty steady. The brothers opened two more locations in the UK, but things didn’t take off until Topgolf went to the States.

In 2005 a group of US businessmen - Richard Grogan, David Main, Eric Wilkinson, Tom Mendell - saw the potential in Topgolf. But they thought that Topgolf needed to be bigger, bolder and more fun, as is the American way.

So they licensed Topgolf’s technology and founded Topgolf International to bring the format to the US. They opened ranges in Arlington, Virginia, and then Chicago, IL, but they didn’t perform well. But they believed in the concept and after aggressive marketing and facilities changes they opened their third location in Dallas, Texas. Turns out the third time was the charm and the location exploded in popularity.

The brand kept growing and in 2009 they acquired Topgolf UK. Less than a year after changing ownership, the Topgolf in Dallas, Texas generated more than $1 million in revenue in just four weeks, showing how well it was performing.

Ten more Topgolf locations sprang up in 2013 and by 2014 Topgolf had sales of $163.5m and nearly 30 locations.

Topgolf was killing it and had a full circle moment in 2020 when, despite being shunned by the golfing community in its early days, one of the biggest golf brands in the world came knocking. Callaway.

Callaway came to the table with an offer Topgolf couldn’t refuse and in late 2020, Callaway acquired Topgolf for $2 billion.

All of which is great, but begs the question…what are Steve and Dave Jolliffe up to these days?

Well they’re building an “upscale, tech-infused” version of mini golf called Puttshack, having raised $150m for the venture in 2022. Sound familiar?

Will Puttshack become the “Topgolf for mini golf“?

Let’s see.

INFLUENCER IDEAS

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