discuss Domain Opportunities Created by Covid19

[ThatNameGuy]

Most everyone knows Covid19 has created all sorts of virtual and online opportunities, but did anyone ever think that domain/names for the restaurant industry may be a future opportunity starting six months to a year from now? With as many as 25% or 250,000 closing permanently, there will come a day these eateries will make a comeback and need domains. Everyone also knows how volatile the restaurant industry is normally, but Covid19 has only added to the volatility.

Prior to Covid19 i had targeted two industries to focus on, the real estate market and the restaurant industry. Currently I'm pretty focused on the real estate industry, but beginning early in 2021 I'm looking to develop a domain I purchased today; Restaurant(.)Domains. I already own about 25 restaurant domains, but I plan on launching "Restaurant Domains" after I've accumulated at least 100 names.

Anyone else see other domain markets emerging due to Covid19? What do you think of the restaurant and food services industry? Do you have any restaurant or eatery domains? Thanks and Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Six for six hand regs if you consider that the VB restaurant uses hottunavb dot com not Jorma Kaukonen's hottuna dot com.

You're so right....i forgot to include VB after HotTuna, but to show it wasn't done intentionally I did it correctly for BayLocalVB.com. Regardless, ALL domains are originally hand registered unless someone has programmed a robot to do handregs.

Many restaurant names lend themselves to GEO domains. Note that of the six i listed just two were GEO, while the other four were more generic and could work most anywhere.

 

[Joe N]

You're so right....i forgot to include VB after HotTuna, but to show it wasn't done intentionally I did it correctly for BayLocalVB.com. Regardless, ALL domains are originally hand registered unless someone has programmed a robot to do handregs.

Many restaurant names lend themselves to GEO domains. Note that of the six i listed just two were GEO, while the other four were more generic and could work most anywhere.

We know that all domains started out as hand registrations. I'm not sure why people like to say that, or what point is being made by saying it.

The reason restaurant names often "lend themselves" to geo names is because adding a geo tab like "vb" is an easy way to keep the domain name relevant while allowing the business owner to pay only $10 for the hand registration. The primary factor there isn't the greatness of the domain, it's paying the least amount of money possible without sacrificing relevancy. And they can do it, because the domain quality is a minute factor when it comes to the success of a business with an exclusively local focus.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

CurbsidePharmacy is a great name! When did you register that? I feel like it would have had to be early on in the pandemic.

I bought GuerrillaHealth(com) as a closeout early this year, thinking it would be a cool name for a business offering alternative healthcare options. I was pleasantly surprised when it sold a couple months ago! No idea who the buyer was, or what they plan to do with it, but I like to think the pandemic was an influence.

The idea of educating end users about the domain aftermarket is a two-edged sword in my mind. I think it's great for them to be aware of its existence, and to dispel any concerns about buying names this way... However, the flipside is that it will mean that much more competition for investment-worthy names as more and more end users discover auctions and closeout domains.

@Bob Hawkes recently wrote a great article about this, and the data does seem to suggest that more and more end users are competing in auctions. If the trend continues, it could eventually spell the end of the domaining industry as we know it.

I registered "Curbside" and "Drivethru" last winter. When PharmacistOnDemand.com sold for 10K at Sedo a month ago, i knew then I had a good thing.

As for Guerilla Health, that doesn't seem to be pandemic driven, but i like the sounds of it. It will be interesting to see what the buyer does with it.

Finally, @Bob Hawkes is my personal domain hero. I gave him a tee shirt from Dockside Restaurant here in Virginia Beach when I met him at NamesCon in Vegas January 2019....BobsTheBombcom - btw, "Bob's the Bomb" is available to register. Whoever owned it from 11/2014 just dropped it in 10/2020. Bob's probably not vane enough to own it for himself, but someone should own it with hundreds of thousands of Bob's in this world

 

[MapleDonut]

While I was only pointing out there will be a need for new restaurant domains once the pandemic dust settles, i'm aware COVID has created opportunities for domains in education and healthcare.

I see "business owners not knowing about the domain aftermarket" as a huge opportunity for my "outbound marketing strategy" whether it be for the food/restaurant industry, education or healthcare.

Take for example; CurbsidesidePharmacy(.)com for healthcare and DrivethruKitchen(.)com for Restaurant/food. Domains like these only work because of COVID.

I own a couple restaurants and knowing the industry, there's not a lot of people willing to buy pre-owned domain names (and business names in general).

Mostly, this has to do with ghost reviewers ruining our industry on online reviewing platforms. Once our businesses gets tacked on with bad stars online, regardless of whether they're legitimate or not, it's a headache to deal with the companies that own the review sites to have them removed/moderated.

Some review sites charge literally hundreds of dollars to review and moderate real and fake comments about a business. It's a hassle and takes forever to get done since it's a whole issue onto itself related to potentially stifling free speech.

Of course, if the business names have no terrible reviews, there'd probably be a bunch of investors willing to pay up once their businesses recover. But, even then, it's hard to sell generic names in the restaurant industry because realistically nobody would go to a place called "Cheap Steaks 24/7". It's pretty much just a brandable domain market imo.

 

[Joe N]

I own a couple restaurants and knowing the industry, there's not a lot of people willing to buy pre-owned domain names (and business names in general).

Mostly, this has to do with ghost reviewers ruining our industry on online reviewing platforms. Once our businesses gets tacked on with bad stars online, regardless of whether they're legitimate or not, it's a headache to deal with the companies that own the review sites to have them removed/moderated.

Some review sites charge literally hundreds of dollars to review and moderate real and fake comments about a business. It's a hassle and takes forever to get done since it's a whole issue onto itself related to potentially stifling free speech.

Of course, if the business names have no terrible reviews, there'd probably be a bunch of investors willing to pay up once their businesses recover. But, even then, it's hard to sell generic names in the restaurant industry because realistically nobody would go to a place called "Cheap Steaks 24/7". It's pretty much just a brandable domain market imo.

Great to hear that kind of feedback from someone who is actually involved in the restaurant industry.

Considering what you shared, it makes even more sense why a restaurant owner would have very little interest in shelling out extra money for an aftermarket domain name.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I own a couple restaurants and knowing the industry, there's not a lot of people willing to buy pre-owned domain names (and business names in general).

Mostly, this has to do with ghost reviewers ruining our industry on online reviewing platforms. Once our businesses gets tacked on with bad stars online, regardless of whether they're legitimate or not, it's a headache to deal with the companies that own the review sites to have them removed/moderated.

Some review sites charge literally hundreds of dollars to review and moderate real and fake comments about a business. It's a hassle and takes forever to get done since it's a whole issue onto itself related to potentially stifling free speech.

Of course, if the business names have no terrible reviews, there'd probably be a bunch of investors willing to pay up once their businesses recover. But, even then, it's hard to sell generic names in the restaurant industry because realistically nobody would go to a place called "Cheap Steaks 24/7". It's pretty much just a brandable domain market imo.

Thanks for sharing MapleDonut....i've started, named and operated dozens of businesses, and I've always told friends and peers that if I ever say that I'm going into the restaurant business....just pull out a gun and shoot me. Even though you're a new member here, reading between the lines you seem to have some experience in the domain industry. Am I right?

That said however, very few people either in the restaurant industry or getting into the business know about the domain industry. Assuming that's a fair statement, therein lies the opportunity imo. I happen to have paid a whopping $80 for Restaurant.Domains, and I'm sure you're capable of creating names like your Avitar MapleDonut.com that would be attractive to someone especially in Canada looking to get into the Donut business. I thought for sure the name "Maple Donut" would actually be in use, but surprisingly it wasn't. Guess who owns it now? According to Hoster stats it was registered continuously from 2012 to 10/2019 so someone obviously liked it, or maybe even used it before. Who knows, Tim Hortons® out of Ontario might want to buy it. Regardless it's a good name worth way more than $8.00.

Thanks for sharing

 

[MapleDonut]

Thanks for sharing MapleDonut....i've started, named and operated dozens of businesses, and I've always told friends and peers that if I ever say that I'm going into the restaurant business....just pull out a gun and shoot me. Even though you're a new member here, reading between the lines you seem to have some experience in the domain industry. Am I right?

That said however, very few people either in the restaurant industry or getting into the business know about the domain industry. Assuming that's a fair statement, therein lies the opportunity imo. I happen to have paid a whopping $80 for Restaurant.Domains, and I'm sure you're capable of creating names like your Avitar MapleDonut.com that would be attractive to someone especially in Canada looking to get into the Donut business. I thought for sure the name "Maple Donut" would actually be in use, but surprisingly it wasn't. Guess who owns it now? According to Hoster stats it was registered continuously from 2012 to 10/2019 so someone obviously liked it, or maybe even used it before. Who knows, Tim Hortons® out of Ontario might want to buy it. Regardless it's a good name worth way more than $8.00.

Thanks for sharing

In the domain industry, I'm a newbie. But I've been investing in and starting businesses for years.

It's true that very few people in the food industry know about the domaining world but it's of little consequence to our industry. Do a little keyword research on searches related to food and you'll easily see why that is. To give ya a hint: people look to food blogs and food delivery apps for almost everything related to food online. They may browse our website to look at hours and some offers but ultimately, they're no longer as important as they once were.

It is an opportunity but honestly, I've been in the industry for years and practically every investor I know starts their business from scratch and come up with fancy/trendy restaurant names on their own. Of course, that's only in regards to the people you seem to be targeting (newbies investors).

As mentioned before, people in our circle try to stay as far away as we can from names that have already been used. There may be outliers for sure but, ultimately, valuable opportunities as is the topic if discussion in this threas don't rely on outlying factors for credibility.

Of course, you're free to do as you wish but just my word if advice: don't get your hopes up with trying to rope in food investors, we don't give a rats bottom about just buying a domain if it doesn't have an already preexisting business bundled together with it. Of course, that's unless you have the exact match for our business name(s).

 

[Future Sensors]

Some quick ideas - as in Brainstorming - No predictions

• The number of employees in factories will reduce even faster - More Robotics
  
• Less people working in offices - REIT & RE Sales / Work from Home / Relocation / Online Meetings
  
• Bankruptcy of Restaurants - Restaurants for Sale / Food Delivery / Cooking / Recipes
• Bankruptcy of Shops - Shops and Stores for Sale / Lease Back Constructions
  
• Even more bankruptcies - Bankruptcy Services & Management / Legal Services / Auctions
• People losing their jobs - Job boards / Job Coaching / Vacancies / (Remote) Education
  
• People getting bankrupt - Loans / Mortgage / Refi / Financial Services / Cheap Products / 2nd hand related
• People starting new businesses - All kinds of businesses, more focus on digital services
  
• More debt on all levels - Debt / Bonds / Gold related products and services / Debt Collection Services
• More Expired Domains / Huge change in the retention rate for domains [for some TLDs] / Focus on other domain categories.

Indeed... lots of Doom and Gloom, but there will be new opportunities, too. Unfortunately not for all people.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Some quick ideas - as in Brainstorming - No predictions

• The number of employees in factories will reduce even faster - More Robotics
  
• Less people working in offices - REIT & RE Sales / Work from Home / Relocation / Online Meetings
  
• Bankruptcy of Restaurants - Restaurants for Sale / Food Delivery / Cooking / Recipes
• Bankruptcy of Shops - Shops and Stores for Sale / Lease Back Constructions
  
• Even more bankruptcies - Bankruptcy Services & Management / Legal Services / Auctions
• People losing their jobs - Job boards / Job Coaching / Vacancies / (Remote) Education
  
• People getting bankrupt - Loans / Mortgage / Refi / Financial Services / Cheap Products / 2nd hand related
• People starting new businesses - All kinds of businesses, more focus on digital services
  
• More debt on all levels - Debt / Bonds / Gold related products and services / Debt Collection Services
• More Expired Domains / Huge change in the retention rate for domains [for some TLDs] / Focus on other domain categories.

Indeed... lots of Doom and Gloom, but there will be new opportunities, too. Unfortunately not for all people.

Great stuff Domain.Coach. Great to see your site up and running. Many of the businesses I've been personally involved with involve Bk, Debt Recovery, Refi, Mortgages, Investigations etc. Even for an old guy like me zooming has become SOP.

With all the change occurring, re-branding will be a big deal soon. Prior to the pandemic re-branding occurred in 10% of the global economy annually, and I see it more like 20% for the immediate future.

Thanks for sharing

ps. was last in Amsterdam in 1963 and loved it. Happy New Year!