Running a price comparison site

Allan Bradbury on the getting the business off the ground...

"I’d been working in the real-estate sector, but then I decided to pursue a career in the broadband market. I got a position with a company which allowed me to sell their hosting environment services. 

"During that time, I learnt all about online shopping and the internet. I eventually started an online shop in my spare time and once that took off I eventually decided to pursue that full time."

On staying ahead of the competition...

"There are currently three major South African comparison engines. To get an edge over them it really is making sure you know what to do in terms of getting in the customers, driving the traffic there.

"You need the right resources at your fingertips. You need people that can help you basically bring in the traffic and without that, you will always struggle. 

"My best advice would be: focus on your SEO and make sure you can get up there on your Google search results."

On the importance of time management...

"In the end, you are doing it yourself, and one of the things to take into account is your time management. Not managing your time correctly can be quite detrimental to your health.

"I would also say an office environment has a lot of benefits, although you have to manage the infrastructure yourself.

I'd expect an absolute minimum of page rank two but the ideal minimum would be a page-rank three and up

"And thirdly, most of the time it’s one person managing their own business in an online environment, so you tend to be the accountant, the banker, the sales person... you’re pretty much doing everything and that can put a lot of pressure on you. You do as much as you can until you really need help."

On encountering and overcoming problems...

"We had to upgrade our server numerous times. One of the causes was not enough power. The processors were too demanding, we had a lot of bandwidth problems - Africa is more restricted in terms of bandwidth.

"We also had problems with the credit card system so that merchants could pay up. You’re dealing with a problem you can’t resolve yourself and that’s when you’ve got to go outsource it. You inevitably have situations where you can’t do it all yourself.

"For the average man on the street to do this type of business specifically would be quite a challenge and requires a lot of outside investment.

"But it’s not impossible, if you look at someone like myself, who’s a self-made starter. It really just depends on how determined you are."

Advice when appraising a website for sale...

"Look at the aims of the business - this should account for around 50% of your decision, because a lot of people are making start-up websites without any potential and the unsuspecting buyer could make a mistake. 

"I would definitely look at the amount of traffic a website has seen. I'd expect an absolute minimum of page rank two but the ideal minimum would be a page-rank three and up."

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