BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

Virtual Assistants for Influencers 📹

A reel-y good idea

Available Domain: Overseestalent

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

Life isn’t fair. And nothing captures that more than the creator economy.

But many influencers are real entrepreneurs who run businesses, and to run their businesses they need to hire amazing talent, which gets pricey pretty quickly. As we’ve mentioned before companies get around this by hiring top overseas talent which can cost 60% - 80% less than an equivalent US employee, with companies like Somewhere (formerly Support Shepherd) putting these services on the map. But no-one’s doing this for influencers and creators. So let’s do it.

Market Size: The global virtual assistant market size was estimated at $2.5 billion in 2022

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A platform for influencers and creators to hire overseas talent to help them save time and money

How it Works:

• The platform sources high quality candidates in countries like Mexico, South Africa, the Phillippines etc. who have great english and are highly proficient operators, video editors, social media managers or other roles that an influencer may need

• Influencers can join the platform and browse different candidates based on their requirements

• They can do an interview or a test run working together to ensure compatibility and if it works they work together with the influencer paying them a monthly salary

Go-to-market: Start by using existing platforms to source talent for creators like an agency to prove out the demand for the product

Business Model: The platform takes a one-off finders fee

Startup Costs: If you go the agency route you could start this for next to nothing, then build out a platform once you’ve derisked it

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: You could exit to an overseas talent business like Somewhere or a large freelancing platform like Fiverr

Exit Multiple: You could sell this for 4x - 8x revenue depending on your growth rate, how sticky your customer base is and so on

DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Chili Fruit Juice

Despite having “sun” in the name capri suns aren’t particularly hot are they?

Which is why this is so much better.

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Micro SaaS

Micro SaaS refers to small, niche-focused SaaS businesses that cater to specific sectors or solve problems. Unlike traditional SaaS companies that offer broad solutions, micro SaaS tool are targeted ay a specific customer base. These smaller-scale SaaS businesses often have lower overhead costs, faster development cycles, and greater flexibility, which is why so many people are starting them these days.

Business Ideas

• Micro SaaS Valuation Tool: A tool which helps users to value their micro saas products

• Micro SaaS Marketplace: A platform where users can buy and sell micro saas products exclusively

THE MONEYSHOT

The Father-Son Duo Who Created a $200m/yr Product

Fishing. Playing catch. Watching a football game. There are some activities that are reserved as bonding moments for fathers and sons to do together.

But this father and son duo came together to launch a business which today is bringing in $200m in revenue per year.

This is their story.

Daniel Kane has always been interested in money (and how we carry money too).

He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), earning a degree in economics. But while in college there was one thing that always bothered Daniel…his big, bulky wallet. So during his college years Daniel started to use a rubber band to carry around around his cards and IDs, realizing that he didn’t really need to carry anything else.

It wasn’t a great look though, and his Dad kept giving him a hard time about it. So the pair looked around to see what other solutions were on the market for slim, functional wallets. But they couldn’t find anything they liked.

So they took matters into their own hands and decided to create their own wallet. They wanted their wallet to be slim, minimalist, RFID-blocking, and made with premium materials, a big departure from the bulky wallets of the day.

They realised they’d need some cash to develop some prototypes, so they turned to crowdfunding to get some backing for the project. So in April 2013 they put their idea on Kickstarter hoping to hit their $12,000 funding goal. But they didn’t. Instead they obliterated their goal, successfully raising $266,622. They had accidentally raised enough money to turn this idea into a business.

They had just founded the Ridge Wallet.

The wallet was a hit when it went on the market, buoyed by the product’s success on Kickstarter. The initial product was designed to hold up to 12 cards while weighing only two ounces and looked pretty badass.

But despite its initial success, the company faced challenges as it grew. By 2016, Ridge had reached approximately $6-7 million in sales but was still operating as a small team without structured processes.

This all changed in 2017 and 2018 when new team members joined to focus on scaling the business, like Sean Frank, the current CEO of the business. Under this new leadership, Ridge implemented more sophisticated marketing strategies and operational efficiencies that led to significant growth , with revenue jumping from $15 million in 2017 to $30m in 2019 and $50 million in 2020.

And incredibly the company has managed to achieve all of this growth without raising any outside investment, a truly incredible achievement.

Since 2013 the Ridge team has sold over 3 million wallets and is making $200m per year in revenue today having expanded into other products too.

All of which goes to show that sometimes incredible business ideas don’t require incredible insights or expertise in a particular field. Sometimes it can be as simple as a fresh take on a product we all use (us men anyway).

So keep thinking, your killer business idea could be hiding in plainsight too.

INFLUENCER IDEAS

#HalfBakedBizIdea

Tim Peckover looking to cash in on the influencer space

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