Ask Jen!

Welcome to our first installment of Ask Jen, a weekly Q&A with the “career doctor” herself Jennifer Kushell! Every Wednesday, Jen will answer one of your burning career questions so start sending them in!

If you would like to submit a question, please e-mail askjen@ysn.com and she’ll do her best to get to them all. Oh, and don’t forget to register on YSN.com – Your Success Network and fill out your profile so we can link back to it!

YSN member tglah writes: “I was wondering if you knew anywhere to start or anyone to speak with about creating a website aimed for acquisition. I am just looking for information for a project I am involved in through my university. I go to European University-Barcelona. If you haven’t heard of it you should check it out. Euruini.edu It is a private school (english speaking) with students who all have an entrepreneurial spirit and who are taught with one. You should check it out, I think they would be interested in you and a lot of the students as well. Best regards, Thomas Glah Jr.”

Jennifer responds: Hi Thomas! Thanks for writing and letting us know about the program you’re involved with in Barcelona. It really looks exciting. You totally had me with “entrepreneurial spirit” too! Those are always the best learning environments, in my opinion.

As far as your question goes, if you’re trying to create a site specifically for the purpose of building it to sell it off, (as opposed to building it as a business you can really love and nurture), I’d say you should focus on what you know first and foremost so you create something that has some real value. Or, align yourself with people with real expertise and experience who can add real insight and credibility…assuming those are of value to the venture. Second, look at what industry you’re best positioned to target. If you’re going to try to sell your site, it will be a lot easier if you’re familiar with the types of companies that would be most likely to want to do business with you. Lastly, look at the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) trends. What are companies in your given industry looking for? What kinds of companies or site are they paying for? What do the trends look like? How can you create something that not only fulfills a real need, but also has been proven or is likely to be a ripe acquisition target?

Those are some of the initial questions I’d pose to you, not knowing what the business or idea is of course. If you’d like some more specific recommendations or contacts, let us know more about what you’re looking to do and we’ll try to hook you up with some great people on YSN who have relevant experience.

Hope that helps! Jen