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從咖啡遊牧地圖(Cafe Nomad)看商機

Written byKalanKalanAug 5, 2020
Home/Random Talk
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Japanese原文

Table of Contents

  1. Business Model and Opportunities

This post is translated by ChatGPT and originally written in Mandarin, so there may be some inaccuracies or mistakes.

This article was originally written around 2016 and was completed in 2020.

Around 2016 (I don’t recall the exact time), a website called cafe nomad caught my attention.

img Cafe Nomad website

The website is quite simple; it compiles coffee shops across Taiwan and lists various criteria such as location, quietness, time limits, power outlets, WiFi stability, and more for rating. Subsequent iterations also introduced features for user comments and photo sharing.

Why are there so many coffee shops? Beyond being a small wish for many, there has always been a demand for quality coffee establishments.

Typical blog articles or Google Maps don’t specifically use these criteria for ratings, and finding a couple of relevant comments often requires sifting through the comments section.

For remote workers and freelancers, the criteria mentioned above are often among their considerations, especially for engineers, where WiFi and power outlets are particularly vital.

Through the web archive, we can see that the UI at the time was quite basic, utilizing Bootstrap for the interface, and functionally, I believe it wouldn’t be difficult to implement for experienced developers.

https://web.archive.org/web/20161117083952/http://cafenomad.tw/

From its launch, this website sparked discussions across various communities. I think the main reason was that it addressed the issues faced by those looking for coffee shops.

By using a coffee map approach, users could quickly find their preferred coffee shops, and even leave comments, reviews, and ratings. You’ll gradually realize that information disclosure often serves as a great entry point. WiFi, power access, minimum spending, atmosphere, service quality, etc., are typically reliant on word of mouth or finding blog posts online. However, this website offered a collaborative way for everyone to freely add images and photos, as well as rate each listing. A few months later, what started as a resource for the Taipei area gradually expanded to cover all of Taiwan.

At that time, there were also some Google ads (I’m not sure if this is accurate; if any readers have a better recollection, feel free to correct me). I suspect that the traffic had already alerted the developers to a business opportunity, prompting them to run ads to help cover server costs.

Now, the website has a stable user base, and the information available has become increasingly rich! While it's not a fairy tale of overnight riches, I think it's impressive that it has come this far.

Business Model and Opportunities

From the Coffee Nomad website, I discovered a few key insights:

  • A UI just needs to be simple and clear enough; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
  • Information disclosure is often a great entry point. This website digests information and presents it in an understandable way to help others save time. Could the same model be applied to other fields? For instance, information about law firms or comparative analyses of real estate companies, where users have more specific needs that can be better understood.
  • Collaborate with businesses for promotion.
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Table of Contents

  1. Business Model and Opportunities