Comparing with Competitors
Since 2003, hundreds of entrepreneurs had attempted to monetize a charter bus directory without success. I reviewed their design, but never found a competitor that had invested as much effort in enhancing the customer's experience searching the directory as I had. Here are some comparisons:
Competitor: Yellowpages.com
When you run a search on Yellowpages.com, you are presented with an array of text and logos. Filter options by geography and general category (bus charters; tour operators; and sightseeing tours). Yes, two of these categories are the same thing.
My Startup: BusRates.com
The screen to the right is the version I left BusRates with in early 2010 as plans for a redesign were unfolding. The new owners have since changed the site (see below posting) It is not much different in function. BusRates enabled your search to begin by narrowing down the specific bus type, of 10 types; has pictures of an actual company bus; sizes, rates, ages, amenities, reviews, associations, safety record, summary, and quote tool. At the top, the directory enabled sorting by 5 categories, Rates, company size, review rating, alphabetical, and default. I advised the new owners to allow me to help with the redesign, but they declined. They wanted to diversify the site's specialty which I strongly warned against. BusRates was receiving 100k - 130k visitors/mo in 2010. The site's traffic had plummeted to less than 15k per month by mid 2018. Luckily, I had sold my remaining stake in late 2012.
Competitor: IMGCoach.com
The IMG, a respected group of bus companies, lists bus companies in a directory, but only a few companies and with far less information and features.
Competitor:
CharterBusConnect.com
The biggest competitor threat came from ABA, the directly competing association to my buyers, UMA. Their directory does not list any of the fleet information. I was able to create a customer culture with BusRates that encourages bus owners to log in and update their fleet information and rates the moment it becomes out of date. ABA also fails to provide the customer with critical mass. They only list their members whereas UMA wisely followed my advice to allow BusRates to continue listing all bus companies, members or not.
My Startup: MoversReviewed.com
MoversReviewed.com represents some of the evolved new features that BusRates would have had if I handled the redesign. Where the yellowpages lists movers in one category, I had broken them down into 12 specialties, sortable and filterable by 11 additional criteria: association membership, van line agents, intrastate, interstate, international licenses, proximity, milestone meter score, review rating, website ownership, full posting or not, specialists first, company size and alphabetical.
Note that other than the listings themselves, there is only one matching ad tower on this page in the bottom right. The top right box is an experiment to see if it encourages visitors to contact me with errors more frequently. Postings have a "Last Updated" mark on them. Notice how robust the information is even on the courtesy listings.
One of the greatest advancements on this directory was the Milestone Meter in the top right. This was a measurement of 10 criteria that helped instantly paint a picture of how established a mover is for the consumer that clicked to read what it was. One point was awarded for things like warehousing, having an interstate license, association membership, international license, website ownership, clean DOT record etc. Movers with a score of 0 - 4 were your small, local guys you could find leading in low price. Scores of 6 -10 were your large established movers you could count on for quality, professional service. There are always exceptions, but it is a helpful clue to see how established a mover is.
MoversReviewed.com was receiving about 12,000 visitors per month at the time of acquisition by Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) and Tribune Co.'s HomeFinder.com in December of 2012, less than 12 months after launch.
So what's next? New ideas come to me all the time, and while I have not decided on the industry, I know how the next directory would look when I begin. It should make MoversReviewed.com look obsolete, and BusRates, like a relic!
