How to Start a "Groupon" Clone

My very short answer is, do not start a Groupon clone…  We don’t need another Groupon clone.

Let me explain.

Groupon has experienced plenty of troubles.  A stock that has been completely tanking, and plenty of bad press and publicity.  In my opinion, Groupon does not have brand loyalty.

We have been saying for years that the future of the deal industry is not just a couple major players but a myriad of niche and geo-specific deal sites.  The major deal sites do not have much brand loyalty.  Instead, customers are primarily loyal to getting solid deals.

To successfully run or add a profitable deal component to a business – you need these 3 primary things.

1. Merchant Relationships

2. An Audience

3. Technology (DDB)

Daily Deal Builder is the easiest to use technology to quickly and effectively launch a daily deal website, and we have some high level training to help out for #1 & #2 above.  As Groupon continues to lose investors and market share, it also helps our clients / publishers have an easier job getting merchants on board to feature a product or service.

People are becoming a bit more scared to run a “Groupon”, and are becoming more open to dabble in the deal industry with a smaller deal site. The barrier to entry is basically non-existent and because of this Groupon, Living Social, etc., will continue to have to fight to remain on top as new competitors are working to steal their market share on a daily basis.

Sure, learn from Groupon,  and follow their successes :: but primarily learn from their mistakes.  To follow in their footsteps would mean that eventually you are answering to a group of investors.

Be unique and capitalize on the fact that your user base is not hundreds of millions large…

Should you start a “Groupon Clone?”

No.

Start your own daily deal site and stand apart from the crowd.

Marc D. Horne

Daily Deal Builder