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Don't Sit On Your Ideas…

10 Software Enabled Businesses You Can Start in A Day (And How)

Pratham MittalPratham Mittal

Does the product you are trying to build resemble that of a popular company like Uber, eBay or Facebook? If your answer is yes, there is a good chance you’ll be able to find an ‘off the shelf’ script or template to build the initial version. This means that you will not need to hire a full time developer, just a freelancer for a few hours to manage the installations and integrations.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it is true to an extent. While these scripts will help you launch your MVP quickly, they may get clunky to work with when you start thinking about growth and customization. Still, it can help you validate ideas quickly and also look smart in front of a potential investor or hire.

Here we list 10 software enabled businesses that can leverage such templates and be started in a day!

Uber for X:

With the growth of companies like Uber, the Uber for X movement has become quite hot. Few developers at Mowares have created an Uber for X bundle that allows you to build an Uber-like app in no time. You buy their app template, customize the icons according to your service (cabs, laundry, postal, mechanics etc.), integrate payments and presto – you have your app ready for App store submission!

Not only this, they also have plenty of add ons like bitcoin payments, surge pricing, chats etc. At around $400, its a pretty neat deal.

Product Hunt for X:

An open source meteor project called Telescope allows anyone to build their own version of the cool new startup of the year – Product Hunt. All you need to do is customize colors, add a logo, check the preferences you want and install it on a server. You can build engaged communities by writing virtually no code at all.

Oh, and if you’re a wordpress person, here is a wordpress script that can do the same.

Airbnb for X:

Another startup, Airbnb, has put a lot of fuel into the sharing economy buzz. With this theme from Agriya, you can take your first step towards developing your own sharing economy website. It could be boat rentals, bike rentals, equipment rentals or of course, room rentals.

 

Amazon for X:

You probably already know this one. If you are thinking of building an online store to sell anything, there are tens of tools that can help you go live in minutes. From Shopify (basic stores) to OpenCart (high end stores), you have a variety of options depending on how complicated your store is.

We recommend OpenCart as it has hundreds of design themes to choose from, plugins for all possible ancillary needs and a thriving community to answer all your questions.

Craigslist for X:

If you want to create a classified or listings type website, you’ll find plenty of wordpress themes that can do the basic job of posting and replying to an advertisement. This can come quite handy if you are trying to create – say a book exchange for your college or property rentals listing in your city. This theme from EngineThemes has some great reviews!

 

VenturePact for X:

If you’re building a B2B marketplace for services, which involves people bidding on project requests, there is a theme for that too. HireBee is a basic WordPress theme that allows you to build a VenturePact – like B2B marketplace easily. It comes handy if you’re building a marketplace where home improvement professionals can submit bids or where clients can connect with architects.

 

Etsy for X:

If you’re trying to build a two sided marketplace where multiple sellers can list their products and sell them to buyers, accept payments and showcase their profiles etc., then look no further. Marketify theme from Astoundify lets you create your very own product marketplace.

NYTime.com for X:

You know that you can create a blog on Blogspot or Tumblr. However, if you want to build  something more complicated like NYtimes.com or Huffington Post, you can use one of the many WordPress themes that let you build these quite quickly. Here is one to get you started.

 

Yelp for X:

Yelp is focused on restaurant and local business reviews, mostly in the US. But we are seeing a growth in niche spaces like Yelp for doctors where you can see user generated reviews for doctors. Many other such category and geographical niches are possible and this WordPress template can do the job.

Kickstarter for X:

One of the most disruptive startups of the last few years, Kickstarter has given rise to the culture of crowdfunding. While Kickstarter is geared towards interesting projects, one can create a crowdfunding platform for literally anything – from getting medications crowdfunded for low income patients to raising money for a school trip! The possibilities are endless and this template lets you push out your own crowdfunding website quickly.

I haven’t worked on all of these themes myself, so neither I nor VenturePact endorse or vouch for the quality of these themes. Also, while great to experiment with, they may not be the perfect fit for everyone. Make sure you test out the themes well and scrutinize each functionality before buying.

If you have any questions about these themes, feel free to email me at [email protected]. And if you decide to work on customizing any of these templates, do read our Outsourcing 101 eBook!

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Pratham Mittal is a Co-Founder at VenturePact and an angel Investor to B2B tech start-ups. He is passionate about globalization, outsourcing, and technology.