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I see a lot of companies such has ekmpowershop, volusion, eshops, prostores and so on that give customers power to build and customise their website (in detail). On the other hand I see companies such as RedTechnology (http://www.redtechnology.com/) that build eCommerce applications for customers. I had a look at How to decide between using an existing eCommerce solution and building your own? as well. Also you have big companies such as Amazon, NextPlc, that will never use the above service.

I would like to be self-employed in perhaps developing eCommerce applications, but I am a little reluctant as I see some comments "As with most Stack Exchange sites shopping recommendations are considered to be off topic as they become out of date so quickly". Also I am unsure of the amount of competition out there.

So would I be wasting my time building eCommerce application for customers? As I believe this will cost more from the customer's point of view and time constraint. In turn customers will be more favourable to the companies such as ekmpowershop, volusion, eshops and prostores?

Finally going back to ekmpowershop, volusion, eshops and prostores. How would one build those kind of applications? I am from .NET side.

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DiscoDude
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    How does shopping recommendations being off-topic on SE affect your decision to build an ecommerce site? – Adam Lear May 02 '11 at 17:07
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    He's worried that the advice becoming deprecated quickly being a reason for off-topic points out the risk of his project deprecating soon after it's been done as well. –  May 02 '11 at 17:14
  • What's your compelling selling point? Why would a customer choose your web site over an established site? What will you offer that they can't get somewhere else? – Walter May 02 '11 at 17:16
  • Bottom line is that there are no jobs out there. Becoming self-employed could possibly provide better customer service or cheaper. If they aren't getting from there provider. As you all know software is becoming very cheap. – DiscoDude May 02 '11 at 17:28
  • @DiscoDude - doing this because there "are no jobs out there" seems like a terrible reason to start this. Doing this will be hard because, at least IMO, it certainly won't be an easy sell as to why a company (or person) should trust your product handling their livlihood versus an established product. – Jetti May 02 '11 at 18:48
  • In many European countries people have been forced to become self-employed because there haven't been any jobs for them for years and not just in IT. So unusual it is not, but the specific course of action after one has become self-employed must be thought over very carefully. –  May 02 '11 at 19:03
  • @Jetti - yea I know. Sometimes it is known as becoming unstuck and moving forward. – DiscoDude May 02 '11 at 19:07
  • @DiscoDude - Are you actively looking for a new job or would you want to do this? Could you see yourself devoting yourself to this eComm platform? I'm not saying you shouldn't work on something, I just don't know if this is the best idea for something to work on between jobs. Would you be looking for a job while working on this or would you devote all of your attention to this project? – Jetti May 02 '11 at 19:13
  • I have been actively looking for job since 2008. Managed to find 4 weeks temp job during xmas period of 2009. So been unemployed since 2008. As Developer Art has said. Companies are not pulling out there resources in UK. If I apply for a crappy job, companies won't hire me because of my experience and qualification, even if modify my CV. If I find a full-time job and do something like this on the side, I would like to try but then it becomes time constraint. The way economy is and will be, it looks it is going to take till 2015, for people like me to find a job. – DiscoDude May 02 '11 at 19:54
  • @DiscoDude: Not sure where you're living... but moving might be in order. I recently just moved 3500km because I couldn't find dev work in my area. – Steven Evers May 02 '11 at 20:43
  • @SnOrfus - Yes you are right, I am looking further a field like Canada and in the US. But I do not have commerical experience in .NET only some experience in SQL Server. Having said that how would you describe the economy over there, particularly in the IT industry? I am from the UK – DiscoDude May 03 '11 at 13:47
  • @DiscoDude: I'm from Canada, and it's obviously a big place so it depends. Where I'm at now (Ottawa, ON region) it's doing pretty good from what I can tell. I did move here from out west (Saskatoon, SK)... where the IT industry was pitiful. In my case, I looked for _companies_ as opposed to places, and just applied with an attitude of "I want to work for/with you and I'll move to do it - wherever." – Steven Evers May 03 '11 at 13:54
  • @SnOrfus - Can you recommend best jobboards for Canada, without the recruitment agencies. I have two Monsters and Dice.com, thanks – DiscoDude May 05 '11 at 20:37
  • @DiscoDude... uhm... not really. I don't ever use job boards. I just look for companies I want to work for and apply. – Steven Evers May 06 '11 at 00:59

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If your proposed solution solves a real problem that your potential consumers have, then you certainly could try.

Personally though, you're likely a talented individual with the capability of building anything you want. The waters are rough in that market, with some big sharks already in it... do you really want to build yet another e-commerce "solution"?

In my completely biased opinion: Unless you plan to solve a real problem like I mentioned, then yes, you would be wasting your time.

Steven Evers
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    +1: If you solve a real problem, you may be able to get paying customers. If you just build stuff and hope, then, don't expect much. – S.Lott May 02 '11 at 17:55
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For the same reason small retailers rent buildings for retail space. You should focus on the business part, not the technology part.

Christopher Mahan
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  • Do you build web based application other than eCommerce, is that what you mean? – DiscoDude May 02 '11 at 17:24
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    I mean that if you want to sell stuff online, use an existing solution, one that integrates shipping calculators, tax tables, payment gateway integration and the like, and focus your energy on getting the product, packing, shipping correctly, answering the phones/emails, dealing with returns, etc. – Christopher Mahan May 02 '11 at 17:28
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    Nevermind, I just read your question again. You don't want to run your own business, you want to sell ecommerce solutions. I see. They all suck bad, too, but it's gonna be a lot of work to compete. (Multi man-years) – Christopher Mahan May 02 '11 at 17:30
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Yes, I think it would be a waste of time.

You are a one person shop. You wants to build a solution and hope someone comes, but there are several prebuilt solutions out there. I think you would be better off choosing one of the prebuilt systems and becoming a guru for getting that system up and running for others. For example: "I specialize in zen-cart installation, configuration and implementation."

Adam Lear
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Michael Riley - AKA Gunny
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  • @Anna Lear - HedgeMage said that in one of my previous questions. Can you recommend how I can begin in this field. Where to look for, websites, books and journals etc. I will google as well, but you know just in case I miss something? Thanks – DiscoDude May 04 '11 at 16:42
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    @DiscoDude - Check out this windows hosting page from GoDaddy. http://www.godaddy.com/hosting/web-hosting.aspx?ci=8971 Scroll down to the bottom and have a look at the Free Add On Applications. They offer Zen-Cart and many other tools. You could make a serious business out of managing the tools offered by GoDaddy. I'm serious. I built an ecommerce application from scratch and it took me 4 months at 40 hrs a week and then we had sell it. If I was young, full of energy and was starting out today... I'd become the expert at setting up some of these pre-built tools. rileymj.at.zilchworks.com – Michael Riley - AKA Gunny May 04 '11 at 21:24
  • @ Cape Cod Gunny - I cannot find Free Add On Applications – DiscoDude May 05 '11 at 10:14
  • @DiscoDude - Sorry about that. Look for "Choose your Operating System:" and check the radio button for Windows. Then click on the "Plan Details" link. – Michael Riley - AKA Gunny May 05 '11 at 10:48
  • Yes now I can see. There are three options Economy, Deluxe & Ultimate, right? Correct me if I am wrong...So what you are saying is offer those packages to customers, customise to meet their requirements? Isn't this straight forward to setup? – DiscoDude May 05 '11 at 18:42