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0:43

open table isn't good.

0:53

How can

0:55

we do better? That is today's

0:58

topic. Welcome to Side Hustle School.

1:00

Today's caller wants to make an alternative to the

1:02

traditional restaurant reservation process.

1:05

You may have used open table. I've used them

1:07

myself. It's often just a simple way to

1:09

go and make a restaurant reservation. But

1:11

no doubt it has problems. Like there's

1:13

always pros and cons to things. Maybe

1:15

some people don't like open table that much.

1:18

So our caller today, Theodore, is

1:20

frustrated with the status quo of restaurant reservation

1:23

platforms.

1:23

He is exploring the idea of creating an

1:25

alternative that can outdo open table

1:27

in the reservation game. Again,

1:30

that's the question. Open table isn't great. How can

1:32

we do better? And while he's got the drive

1:34

and determination, also some qualifications,

1:37

Theodore is also aware of the David and

1:39

Goliath situation here because if you

1:41

go up against a big company, you really need some kind of competitive

1:44

advantage. So he's looking for guidance. Let's

1:46

talk about it. And by the way, happy 4th of July,

1:49

happy Independence Day to those who are in

1:51

the United States and really happy independence

1:53

to everybody everywhere.

1:55

Independence is one of the most important values of

1:57

Cytosol School. I hope you are working toward more

1:59

independence

1:59

your life. And I hope this podcast can help you get

2:02

there. That's why we do these short daily episodes

2:04

less than 10 minutes a day. And with that in mind,

2:06

I want to say thank you to our sponsor. And then we'll jump

2:08

into this question about OpenTable.

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3:01

Hey, I'm Theodore from New Jersey. Having

3:03

worked in the restaurant industry for over a decade,

3:06

I've become increasingly frustrated with the limitations

3:09

of existing reservation systems like OpenTable.

3:12

I feel there's room for an alternative platform

3:14

that could better cater to the dynamic needs

3:17

of both restaurants and diners.

3:19

With my industry knowledge, I'm excited to explore

3:21

the potential of creating our own restaurant

3:24

reservation platform. However, this

3:26

is uncharted territory for me, and I could

3:28

use some advice. How can we design

3:30

a platform that truly stands out in this

3:32

space? What key features

3:35

or strategies could make our system a more

3:37

attractive choice for restaurants and their

3:39

patrons?

3:44

All right, Theodore, I admire your ambition to

3:46

take on an industry giant. I

3:48

also respect the hustle, the enthusiasm to

3:50

improve the system, make it more user-friendly.

3:53

It is a commendable approach. That

3:55

being said, though I like to inspire, I

3:57

also like to be realistic and help people take...

3:59

practical steps toward, you know,

4:02

just making their dream a reality, right? Rather

4:04

than just dreaming, but actually making it reality. So

4:06

it is important to kind of approach this idea with a

4:08

healthy dose of realism. So breaking

4:11

into an established market dominated by a major

4:13

player is not a walk in the park. Meaning

4:16

that it's not simple or easy. You know, OpenTable

4:19

is able to do what they do because they

4:21

have this robust network of restaurants. I

4:23

think it's actually worldwide now, not just in the United

4:25

States, but we're talking thousands, maybe

4:28

tens of thousands of restaurants that use that

4:30

platform. There are some others like

4:32

Rezzy from American Express, Yelp, Nauta's

4:35

Reservations. I'm sure there are others and in different parts

4:37

of the world there might be a, you know, a

4:39

different market leader. But the

4:41

point is OpenTable and those other

4:43

really big brands, they have the advantage

4:45

of established recognition, trust,

4:48

and let's not forget financial resources.

4:51

So

4:52

you know, I always say you can start lots of businesses without

4:54

spending a lot of money, but some businesses

4:56

are going to be much easier than others. So

4:58

you always want to think like, who's my customer? How

5:00

am I going to get paid? What is the revenue

5:02

model here? And at first glance

5:05

there's not an obvious revenue model here, at

5:07

least from the information that we have. So

5:09

you know, that's not to discourage you, Theodore,

5:12

but rather to emphasize the scale of the challenge.

5:15

So if you are still keen, I would suggest

5:17

starting on a really small scale, perhaps locally

5:19

or within a niche segment of the restaurant

5:22

industry. But I also might encourage you

5:24

to think about some other ideas. So

5:26

if it's not your gung-ho number one must-do

5:28

idea, I would say what else do you got? Because

5:31

you might be more successful sooner. If

5:33

it is your number one idea, the thing you want to do more than anything

5:35

else in life, then of course I would never try to dissuade

5:38

you. And I wish you well either

5:40

way. It's just always good to make wise

5:42

choices, you know, with the limited time that we have

5:44

for our side hustle and for our life in general.

5:47

Listeners, let me know what you think. And if you have a question,

5:49

sidehustleschool.com slash questions.

5:52

We'll continue to feature them each week. Love to hear what people

5:54

are working on, what they're up to, what's going well

5:56

and what's not. Of course, we got a new episode

5:59

every single day.

5:59

I'll be back again tomorrow. This is Chris Gilavoe

6:02

for Side Hustle School.

6:22

From the Onward Project.