Who am I?
After ending my last collaboration with a company, I’ve realized that getting a job when you’re past 30 is… very hard! Even harder if you have a “4” instead of a “3” in or age. So, I’ve decided to “go for myself”! I'm unemployed, and betting "my life" in this project.
I may be “old”, but surely “not dead”. I want to show to the world that I’m still “alive” and many “companies” were wrong! I’m sure that if you also have a few years more in this world, you will understand me.
I'm a Portuguese professional already in the 40’s. I have a Business Degree in Management, an MBA and I'm Post-graduate in Management & Business Consulting. My career has a lot of “management, business development and sales” experiences.
Even though I’m not a "pure" IT developer, some years ago I’ve started learning some IT programming (when I was working in the IT sector) and I’ve started to work in my first business application…
So I’ve developed an “old” idea… something I’ve been working on, for some time now… I’ve named it BeGuiGo (after my children’s Bernardo, Guilherme and Gonçalo names).
To support the project, I’ve also recently created a small UK company, that I own 100% (but still not selling).
The expressions: objectives, results, dynamic, motivation and passion are part of my day-to-day basis and my life motto is “Don’t let your fears stand in the way of your dreams…”
So, what is BeGuiGo?
functional version 0: beguigo.com/uk/ or www.beguigo.com/pt/
From the user’s point of view, BeGuiGo is:
- a different shopping experience
- an online platform, in the sector of "auctions", but with very specific and unique characteristics
- a global brand, but with international and national implementation and adjustments
- a highly functional application with few "whisles", that is, with few visual effects.
- a concept with "no luck" present. This means that “luck” is 100% absent from the way it works. From legal and practical point of view, the application "lives" on strategy, information and decision making, thus not being a "game of chance" nor even a " penny-auction", differing completely from all other platforms.
- in terms of “mindset” it may be considered as a “kind of chess game”, since it involves strategy, competition and winning (and hopefully lots of fun).
- also a traditional online selling platform (in addition to the "auctions" component) where users can buy “normally” as in any other online store.
What can Users win?
- BIG MONEY: Auction winners can receive cash (usually a percentage of the price between 50% to 80%). This is a great feature. “Pro” users can really make a living out of BeGuiGo.
- Purchase the product with a HUGE DISCOUNT: by paying only the value of its winning bid.
- Be “refunded” for the credits consumed.
How does BeGuiGo work?
- Auctions Model: Lowest Unique Bid – the smallest of the unique bids (that is, a bid with no other one of equal value). The winning bid is the lowest bid. If there are no Unique Bids, the winner is the first one registered within the "bundle" of bids that has less occurrence.
- Credits are the “coin” that users can get, earn and consume in BeGuiGo, to perform some activities in the auctions.
- Besides free credits obtain, users get buy Credits Packs, with different quantities and prices.
- The participation in the auction implies a certain “price” (in the form of consumption of credits), for each Bid made - with the exception of free auctions (in this type of auction, there is no credit consumption, for a user to participate).
- Users have an option to abandon the auction, transforming and recovering the credits consumed in the Bids through a discount to the price of the product.
- Users have an option to acquire information about the auction, including the listing of current bids, indication of the currently winning bid, potential winning bid suggestions, among other information.
- Users have an option to immediately terminate the auction under certain conditions, thus ensuring the non-availability of additional bids by other users.
- Users have an option to define under certain conditions, a system of limited automatic bids, whenever their bids stops being the winning bid.
- Users may get VIP Status (through membership), which allows them getting access to specific auctions and a set of more advantageous conditions in every auction.
- Users have an option to contact other users (with authorization), allowing them to establish group strategies.
Some more BeGuiGo’s features:
- Users can buy "normally", that is, as in another normal online store, not through auctions. They don’t need credits to use this feature.
- Existence of "free" auctions that is, without consumption of credits in bids.
- Existence of specific "VIP" auctions for VIP users. “VIP” users will also get a set of advantages in every auction.
- Existence of specific "PREMIUM" auctions for users with a minimum credits balance.
- Existence of “MULTI-WINNER” auctions in which, in addition to the winner, other non-winning users also obtain advantages (those with the highest consumption of credits in the auction), namely “refund” of credits or a discount in the price (up to a maximum of 12 users).
- Users can earn Free credits, by using BeGuiGo’s referral system. A “Pro” user can get “tons” of credits by earning a percentage of his friends (depending on usage).
- Other features are already in the design and development phase for the next version.
So, in the end of the day, what does BeGuiGo "invoices for"?:
- Products/Services, such as in any other “normal” online store;
- Products/Services – with a discount, to auction winners
- Credit Packs – these are the “coins” that will be used in the auctions.
- VIP Status – these are “paid” with credits
What’s the project roadmap?
- Phase 1: functional version 0: completed. beguigo.com/uk/ or www.beguigo.com/pt/
- Phase 2: version 0 technical testing (bugs detecting and corrections) – in progress
- Phase 3: version 0 real market: in UK and Portugal – starting in February 2017:
- Publicity and advertising
- Facebook Ads + google Adwords
- Email Marketing
- Design update + performance review
- Phase 4: version 1: “official” opening worldwide – starting in May 2017 (including new features and corrections)
- New “hosting”
- Publicity and advertising
- Facebook Ads + google Adwords
- Email Marketing
- New partners
- New countries
What is the Funding for?:
Initial marketing (advertising) budget for BeGuiGo.
Objective: getting first 200 active customers.
This is the first "real market testing".