My idea is to build a tourist app that has a directory of local establishments, a map feature, and a rewards feature (coupons and discounts and stuff). I’m (non coder) building this with a friend (coder). I vibe coded a proto type already and my friend will finalize it.
The problem now is the local government decided to do the same. I just saw an article online that they’ve announced of their plans to do an app similar to mine (probably 80% of the features). My app still has an advantage which is that 20%. I thought of the idea of maybe collaborating with them but I’m worried they might either just take the idea from me or they might say “oh we’re almost done actually”
The question now is, do I try to compete with the government or do I just move on to the next? I’ve invested around 2 months of my time on this already.
I found out my loca government is planning on making an app similar to mine. What do I do?
byu/Most_Transition_9753 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Most_Transition_9753
32 Comments
Either make it better to compete or maybe try to sell it to them
Plan a pitch meeting stating you are a local developer and maybe you could work out a licensing deal or subscription for them…then you can scale to other localities if they don’t enforce a non-compete.
You’re going to have to put work them and it won’t be easy.
Are you just going to source coupons and discounts from places that already have them and post them on your app or are you going to go to those places and create specific discounts linked to your app?
Just do it better. They typically move very slowly due to all the bureaucracy.
Your local govt probably won’t create the app themselves. They probably have a vendor (a business) contracted to do that. Should figure out where they are in the process.
If there’s no possibility of partnership (city declines, non-responsive, or whatever), if you’re up to it, do your own thing and compete. Govt will fizzle out if they can’t sustain the app. If they don’t maintain/update the app/businesses/coupons themselves (existing role), they’ll hire/contract someone to do it.
Your advantage, speed. Govts tend to be slow.
government app will most likely be free for people to sign up for advertising. Don’t see you competing with that.
Competing will be hard given their inherent reach; even if you have a better product, if theirs is “good enough” it’ll cost you a lot in marketing just to stay in the game. If you can’t collaborate (and being government, it’s unlikely they’d have announced this without having their contract signed already) it might be time to cut your losses and pivot.
Local gov’t usually moves slower, but if you’re in a wealthy tourist spot it is not uncommon for them to have sizeable funding for marketing. Money makes things move faster and buys marketing expertise.
You need a working version of your app immediately, and then you need to hit the streets/phone/email and talk to all the local businesses you can. Get their feedback and buy-in and get commitments for advertising or partnerships. The more support, the better positioned you will be.
Your only choice is to be first to market. If you’re able to forge the partnerships before the gov’t alternative talk to anyone, you have an upper hand. You’ll be able to feel out what the next step is- launch, sell, give up- based on getting in front of the advertisers.
Maybe you end up partnering with their deb team. Maybe it’s a dead end. But go talk to people. Now.
> I thought of the idea of maybe collaborating with them but I’m worried they might either just take the idea from me or they might say “oh we’re almost done actually”
This doesn’t make any sense. They are already planning on building the app. Why are you worried about them stealing the idea? They already have the idea and it’s not a new one anyway. And if they are almost done then not asking them about it isn’t going to change that, it just means you have less information.
Odds are if it was just announced, it is either they have approved a budget for it and will bid it out, or they just signed a contract with a company to build it.
If I were you, I would contact your local Councilor (or whoever represents you) and ask about it and let them know you actually have something you’ve been working on that maybe they could use. If a.contract has been signed, maybe too late. If not, who knows.
If you can save your local council money by offering or even selling this product to them as an alternative to building it, you might make more initial profit than you anticipated.
Time to abandon ship. Impossible to compete with them if they will offer it entirely free. Not to mention government owned sites are more trustworthy to people and have more funding. Try to sell them your website or pray their plan gets cancelled.
Go for it! You will lose either way
Offer yours at a subscription
Government sucks at making things, don’t let it detract you. Make a better one, maybe goveremnt will buy it from you
I’d say release your app, usually government apps in general are not as good.
I’d attack it on a few fronts. What’s your monetization plan?
First – find a contact…get in the door with someone who can make calls. Local counsel, school board, etc..
Second – ad blitz in the local newspaper. Frame it in the same terms that they did. Offer a free code for readers of that paper for whoever you’d plan on paying. Your goal here is growth and market share
Third – contact a local journalist and issue a press conference…maybe announcing a new feature that aligns with the town. Your goal here is visibility and also to get people to say “wait, this exists, why would the town spend money on their own”
Fourth – pitch it to other nearby towns
They aren’t going to beat you on speed, but they may have a brother in law’s cousin building it which is going to make it difficult to beat. So you need a combination of it being an easy decision for them to say yes, as well as political pressure for them to say no
How is your app an advantage 20%? They are actually doing it and have more connections. You and a friend having an idea is not at all competition. Sorry
Govt makes shitty stuff and pays way too much for it. Make good stuff and find your market. Then when nobody wants to use their shitty app maybe you can license yours to them
Local government ain’t nothing special. I would figure out who’s making this for them first, and see if there’s any opportunity for collaboration.
Go look at their RFPs and see if it’s been tendered yet. If not, you could bid on the contract.
Would probably try to license it to them.
I dont know how you could ever recover from 2 months of your time wasted. Maybe give up forever
Make it fast and sell it to them. Have the heavy work be done already and offer to be the person paid to continue to work on it
These usually fail after a year out two. Local government is usually pretty bad about maintaining momentum, funding, and focus on projects like this. I’d say still go for it.
What will make your app different? Is it the part with the greatest value that will drive revenue?
I actually know this market a little bit.
You should also look into Bandwango, which does a decent number of these things. They offer passes/coupons/etc. I do not exactly know how their app distribution system works, but I know they are semi popular with the DMOs (destination marketing organizations – the semi-government bodies that promote tourism to a destination) that would be your customers.
I work with DMOs for my day job. If you want to chat a bit about this, I’d be interested/up for it.
Welcome to competing
You’re « niche » strategy should focus on the « secrets » of your local market.
Many tourists are looking for « experiences » that the « local government tourist office» doesn’t want to mention.
The « real » local experiences. Not the « tourist traps.
Be happy! You can now contrast the « unique » with the government and « tourist trap » high-priced boring venues.
What is/was the revenue model?
government based application gets funding. when the funding runs out…