8220347 said:
Hey guys,
I just joined the forum today! I love spicy food and I also happen to be a web developer.
I am looking to start a new project just for fun and am looking for creative inspiration.
So, is there a website that the hot sauce/pepper community is in need of? I've thought about a site where hot sauces are rated and reviewed, then the products are ranked based on user preference, but I don't know if people would use it.
What do y'all think? I would love to hear your ideas
Welcome to THP 8220347!
I kind of feel like you're thinking of Beer Advocate or Cigar Aficionado - only for hot sauces - if that is at all close. And it would be a good database - I just don't know how you keep it going (only so many hot sauces each year) or how you monetize it so it pays for itself.
There are plenty of grow sites. Plenty of cooking and hot food related sites. What there are not a lot of is community sites. This site has grown over the years primarily due to its members who have formed bonds over growing/eating/sharing/sending seeds, etc throughout the years (and pookie helps a shit ton too). I couldn't begin to advise you on how to copy/paste a site like this specifically because of the community - it's something you cannot replicate but dearly need.
Other ideas for sites that are needed:
1 stop clearing house for learning. I cannot think of another model that is more ripe for disruption than college education. In my mind the site brings prospective students together with prospective teachers. Each teacher is accredited in whatever (exp English) so they are qualified to teach - let's say 10 classes. Teachers are free to list their accomplishments and bio along with their rates per student per class. Students sign up at ridiculously affordable rates *thinking for this example let's say $250 per class* and then all instruction takes place online. Teachers can record lectures ONE TIME and then they're only commitment is to the students in their classes for follow up questions/grading tests, etc. This frees up time for both the teachers and the students.
The REAL key to this is the lack of administration infrastructure. You give most (let's say 80%) of the tuition fees to the TEACHER - not the institution. IF said English teacher from the example above takes on 10 classes of 5 students each at $250 per class for one semester they are going to make $10k that semester. The admin side takes 2.5k (or less) to cover bandwidth and ongoing upkeep/maintenance and the teacher keeps 80% of the take. In this example that teacher isn't making all that much, but 20k a year for a potentially 5-10 hour a week job (remember all class lectures are per-recorded) isn't bad at all. Especially when you consider that said teacher could take 20 students in each class and make $40k or more working 30-40 hours a week.
Another:
A non profit credit & financial educational site similar to credit karma that isn't owned by banks. Again sticking with educational themes, only this time it's about how to invest, how to bank, how to budget, etc - and all brought to you by people in the industry trying to pay it back (or pay it forward). I'd approach rich 'already made it big' type people to share their thoughts and approaches to managing money (two reasons - a) they can afford to give away info/knowledge/strategy for free, b) doing so is a charitable AND ego feeding thing for them to put on the legacy/bucket list). Users sign up and then explore various lectures/ted talks/seminars of things they're interested in (investing/budgeting/etc) and then if they like they could contact site approved brokers (for a referral fee that keeps the site going).
Overall just look for ways to break the information barrier so that anyone who wants to learn how to be better educated and/or compensated can do so easily and cheaply. Right now knowledge is far too expensive to obtain. Break that down and then those who truly want to better themselves can do so without having to jump through too many hoops and pay too much to get there.
