New Business Opportunity Ideas

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Author Message Anonymous   Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 11:59 am:    I am considering expanding my business and would appreciate your input. Is there a service or product in the architecture/construction community that is missing that you would like to see? Thank you. David Cline, CSI Senior Member Username: dcline Post Number: 46 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 12:42 pm:    What does your current business offer for the architecture/construction community? Richard Baxter, AIA, CSI Senior Member Username: rbaxter Post Number: 51 Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 01:04 pm:    I have always wished there was a website, not unlike 4specs, that would provide links directly to specific products instead of to manufacturers. It would start out just like 4specs, organized by Masterformat divisions and then by Masterformat section numbers. But when you click on the section number, you arrive at a matrix that lists all the products of that type in the industry and compares their salient qualities. The matrix would list all the similar products down the left side and would list, along the top, all the characteristics most important to architects, owners, and specifiers (cost, warrantee duration, LEED compliance, quantity of available colors, average required lead time, availability, compliance with this or that standard, etc.) Some of the comparisons (such as cost) might be rated with respect to the other products being compared. (for example, $ for cheapest of the compared products, $$$$ for the most expensive of the compared products, etc.) Some of these matrixes might link to other matrixes as well. For example, there might be a matrix comparing all the types of below-grade waterproofing. Once you have selected one of those systems, such as cold fluid -applied membranes, you link to another matrix that compares all the cold fluid-applied membrane products in the industry. Each named product on the list would also link directly to the product data sheet on the appropriate manufacturer’s website. I know a website like that may be beyond anybody’s ability to adequately maintain and perhaps it wouldn’t be cost effective. But I have always longed for such a site. It would be so nice to have matrixes that would allow a person to simply select the qualities that they deem most important and, through the process of elimination, easily and quickly determine what should be specified. Masterspec has some charts like these in some of its evaluation sheets and they always simplify the selection process. The direct links to product data would also save me a ton of time trying to figure out where manufacturers are hiding the product information. Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 104 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 01:22 pm:    Maintaining nearly 14,000 links is enough of a problem for me on 4specs. We recommend (again and again) to the manufacturers to make it easy to find their data. 4specs has now 830 advertisers - and many of the rest have no idea of the value 4specs provides to the specifier, project architect and design team. Many of the non-advertisers have not even given us a free 15 word description when requested again and again. To do what you requested was partially attempted by Construction Zone and their data sheets only covered about 500 companies and the system was already completely unworkable. As you know many of the manufacturers do not even partially understand what the specifier needs to properly evaluate and select their products - much less the web designer not understanding why the glossy brochure website is not an award winner among specifiers and the design team. I think this knowledge in your memory is part of being a specifier and your learning. Sorry, I do not have any better ideas. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 887 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 01:26 pm:    Richard, It sounds like you want a "Consumer Reports" for products. I have seen other websites (like Angie's List) where people rate contractors. Maybe there should be input on products as well. That would truly be ideal! I would like to see a website, not unlike 4specs, that would list manufacturers, local reps and local distributors. Sometimes it seems impossible to find a rep in my area. I guess that's why I specify CSI members! ;-) Sharon Lund, CSI, CCCA, CCS, LEED AP Senior Member Username: sharon_l Post Number: 20 Registered: 11-2005 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 03:51 pm:    Aside from Angie's List (one I actually really like and trust), there are portal sites such as Epinions.com http://www.epinions.com/ and Consumer Review http://www.consumerreview.com/ Randy Cox Senior Member Username: randy_cox Post Number: 43 Registered: 04-2004 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 05:18 pm:    I do a lot of multifamily residential – from affordable and subsidized to the higher end of the rental and condo markets. In that specialty field, the hardest products to research in the typically limited time available seem to be kitchen cabinets and bath accessories. Beyond my current housing fascination, I have always wanted something like Consumer Reports for the commercial architectural products that we specify. Evaluations would include: cost, quality, durability, and availability; plus strength of the company and its willingness to stand behind its products. One other apparently impossible thing I want is accessibility information. For example, I want to know of all the stainless steel stoves in the price range between x and y, which ones are the most useful to people with various disabilities. Not just, which state and federal standards are met (or not met) by each of these products, but which have features that are especially useful and why they are useful. Then I want this magic site to go beyond the same to same comparisons to help me (and probably a few others) to understand the pros and cons between different alternatives. In the world of wood frame residential, the trim options are various varieties of wood, PVC, vinyl, cementitious, and maybe a few less common options. How they compare in price material and labor separately and they compare in durability and maintenance costs. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 619 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 05:30 pm:    actually Masterspec supporting documents does have objective tables for a lot of product types and some very comprehensive discussion about product performances - generally. (for example: TPO versus EPDM for roofing; not the individual manufactured products by Carlisle). Even if you never use the Masterspec sections, the supporting documents compile a lot of information and resources that it would be very difficult to find anywhere else. It should be remembered though that for many products, the "product" is almost the least important thing -- its the installation that will make a difference in the performance. in that way, any "rating" would be only applicable in the location of the rater and not across the board. (typically I would rather have a mid-level product installed well than a top level product installed badly.) keeping the information updated is a problem though; some aspects of the construction industry change every six months -- from formulation of products, to codes, and compatibility issues. there would be little financial incentive for anyone to do this research unless they were selling a very expensive product.