
Ask HN: Pivot Advice - Apane
Hey, we launched and I was able to successfully on-board the supply side, however the demand side doesn&#x27;t seem to be biting yet.<p>I have a bunch of meetings with event planners tomorrow to learn more, but we may be headed towards a pivot.<p>Here&#x27;s the startup: www.venuevortex.com (connecting event planners to venues).<p>With this same technology what can we pivot into? We&#x27;re open to make changes to the code if needed but the technology is robust for the most part we&#x27;re looking for something we can transform it into if need be.<p>Open to all ideas from the community.
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jeffmould
Why pivot so soon? Didn't you just launch? It's not a sprint, it's a marathon,
so success is not going to happen overnight. I think you have a great idea.
Several things I would work on:

1\. Expand your market. If I remember correctly, you are only in Toronto.
Start on-boarding venues in other areas.

2\. Work on establishing partnerships with the venues that you can offer
discounts if the customer books through your site, even if you don't handle
the actual booking.

3\. Partner with every possible event planner, wedding planner, convention
planner, trade show host, etc... that you can possibly find.

4\. I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket though with #3. In a way you are
actually competing against these folks. They already have vast amounts of data
on every venue, and most likely have existing relationships established with
them. You really want to target the individual, self planner market. One angle
may be to go to churches and advertise in bulletins. Go to flower shops and
talk to the people there. Hit other vendors and work with them.

5\. I would work on building in additional planning features. So not only list
the venues, but list other services that are nearby or have worked with that
venue in the past. For example, if someone is looking at a hotel for a
wedding, include options for florists and caterers. Try to create packages for
the consumer, that way you are a one-stop shop and allows you to compete
against the event planner more effectively.

6\. Find an event writer at local papers and try to get them to run a story
about the site/service.

On another note, I am not clear on your revenue model. Are you charging the
venue to be listed, do you get a referral fee, do you charge the individual
for something, is there an ad model? The revenue model you envision for the
site may or may not impact some of the choices you make for marketing the
site.

Anyway, I like the idea and think your site looks great.

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JSeymourATL
Develop more venue niches to target appropriate locations: Weddings, Team
Building, Reunions, Anniversary Parties, Brain Storming, Kids Birthdays, Work
Shops, Professional Meet-ups, etc... Consider the problem a visitor to your
site is trying to solve; 'I need a cool, inexpensive site for X event'.

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Apane101
Thanks, we have already added the ability for users to filter by "Event Type",
check it out www.venuevortex.com/venues

