MMMassage
by Murray Woodman on Dec.19, 1999, under Know Idea
Dot Com boom. Everyone making money for silly things. Growth of the services sector: a virtuous circle. Bankers, accountants, lawyers, consultants, developers all outsourcing and using each other’s services. Big bonuses. Keep staff happy and motivated. Realise that the web can be used as a front end for anything and that if it could organise the previously disjointed then money could be made. For example, uncopyrighted printed directories and inventories had been transformed into online databases which were proving to be very useful. Can we organise masseurs in an online world?
Problem
There was no problem. It was a perceived opportunity. People were not crying out for massage services.
Solution
An online massage booking service for those in the London area. Masseurs could come to your office. You could buy gifts, etc, etc. Backed up with a contractual agreement with a variety of masseurs.
Inspiration
This was the result of throwing around a few ideas with my wife Sam. I think we were sitting in a little beer garden in Amsterdam when the ideas began to come together for this one.
Implementation
A database. Online booking. Lots of legwork to sign up the masseurs.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This idea wasn’t that great. In fact it was pretty lousy. Firstly, masseurs are geographically dispersed, hard to locate and organise. They are not very good candidates for a system such as this. Secondly, you needed a pretty good business plan to survive the Dot Com fallout. I don’t think that the up front costs would have been recouped.
Business Model
Cost born by the consumer. Masseurs paid less than their usual rate because we could ensure continuous supply of clients.
Outcome
Not pursued at all. Not aware of any other successful massage sites.
