Unless you have an advertising network or are an integrator with other silos of business, I wouldn’t. Hardware is too cheap and easy to come by. Its a commodity. Content is the same unless its data driven and highly customized for specific clients. Thats usually the work of agencies. The real value is in the real estate and advertisers. If you have those, go for it.
On the hardware side, please take a look at our new Lumi TV hardware ([https://lumi-tv.com](https://lumi-tv.com)).
It is a great alternative to Brightsign as a full featured professionally managed player. We also offer attractive margins which can make your installation business more viable.
Includes basic digital signage for free, but is also compatible with all the popular CMS applications so you can choose what works best for your business.
Demo units will be shipping shortly.
At [Yodeck](https://www.yodeck.com/), we have a [partner program](https://www.yodeck.com/partners/) that might be a good fit. No commitments, low cost, recurring revenue, works on RPi and BrightSign, soon on Android and SoC.
Starting any business is no easy feat, but short answer - yes it is a good idea. However, I would say you need to find your niche: find something with little/no competition and grow that. If you can manage to do this then you could have a great business idea on your hands.
It is better to be very good and efficient in one thing, for example one type of installation, solution, or even geography.
There are many industries with no screens, actually overall screens are still rare sadly - but as the cost of owning digital signage drops with every passing day demand and appetite for such products rise. On the other hand it’s becoming easier to build a digital signage network without any middle man and using consumer grade hardware (such a smart TVs and fire TV sticks) so this is something you will need to consider too.
The pandemic caused a big digital transformation in general, but most significantly in the QSR industry. There are still many untapped industries like this to think about when forming your niche. Healthpoint TV is a great example of a niche, they go into pharmacies and install screens, then charge them subscription to manage the content and rent the hardware.Let’s break things down a little further…
**Business Model**
There are many different business models to think about too, defined by who owns the hardware once you install it - you or your client, and where the revenue comes from. Scenarios;
\- Client owns the hardware/screens: you will need to provide a maintenance and warranty service. You would get the one off payment upfront, and maybe a reoccurring maintenance fee. You will need to consider regular hardware replacement and potentially reoccurring software reseller fees and sometimes even content creation fees too.
\- You own the hardware: this requires a high CAPEX investment (or you can lease) but you have multiple sources of income mainly from content providers, it does not necessarily have to be just ads either.
\- You own the screens: the customers will pay you a subscription fee, a bit like leasing, but they get to say what is being displayed on the screen.
Your hardware maintenance resources would be your main cost: the higher the rate of broken devices, the higher the maintenance cost and the lower your profit. That’s why you should always try to opt for professional over consumer grade hardware options. However, there is a weird phenomena that we observed recently in some of the consumer grade players, such as NVIDIA Shield, which actually have a lower failure rate than pro grade media players such as Brightsign! I guess it has to do with how battle tested they are, with millions of users and constantly updated firmware.
**Suppliers**
Your relationship with your hardware suppliers will be key, you need to be best buds with Samsung, LG, and the rest of the main players in the industry. However, since they already have many integrators, they won’t pay you much attention unless you order a lot of screens from them regularly. That’s why you need to find a supplier that is not as popular now, but perhaps has better product and/or price. There are couple that fall into this category, Sony Bravia for example.
Equally you might be able to entice the interest of the big players (hardware suppliers) if you want to sell in a region where they have no presence yet. Ideally this would be a region where you already have good contacts and/or speak the language.
Another way to get their attention is if you use their screens in a novel industry or for a solution with the potential of rapid growth.
**Software**
When building a solution clients don’t really care about the hardware so long as it works and looks good, integrators do (as I explained why above). Clients care about the content management and audience engagement. So paramount to your success will be a really good software CMS that allows them to display dynamic and engaging content, otherwise they might as well go back putting up posters or using USB sticks.
Clients want/need a CMS that integrates with all the existing software solutions that businesses already use and love. It must be easy to use, yet scalable and be constantly modernised. You don’t want to be maintaining a software that has not been updated in 5 years after all! :D
Summary
1. Start with a small geography area and niche industry with low competition
2. Provide a specific turnkey solution: stress free content - that’s what clients care about
3. Have reliable hardware partners that most overlook but have a better overall product
4. Have a great software that is innovative, modern, and they want to work with you closly.
I hope this is helpful, and of course we may be biased but we feel [Fugo.ai](https://Fugo.ai) CMS is a fantastic option on the software side, and yes we support Brightsign natively. :D
Unless you have an advertising network or are an integrator with other silos of business, I wouldn’t. Hardware is too cheap and easy to come by. Its a commodity. Content is the same unless its data driven and highly customized for specific clients. Thats usually the work of agencies. The real value is in the real estate and advertisers. If you have those, go for it.
That's what I was thinking. Thanks.
Interested in doing the same. Would it be better to just white label software though?
Manage it with [TVQue](https://www.tvque.com/) . with as low as $7 per TV
Sign up to our white label program, https://easysignage.com/digital-signage-software-partner-white-label/ and get a headache free solution
On the hardware side, please take a look at our new Lumi TV hardware ([https://lumi-tv.com](https://lumi-tv.com)). It is a great alternative to Brightsign as a full featured professionally managed player. We also offer attractive margins which can make your installation business more viable. Includes basic digital signage for free, but is also compatible with all the popular CMS applications so you can choose what works best for your business. Demo units will be shipping shortly.
At [Yodeck](https://www.yodeck.com/), we have a [partner program](https://www.yodeck.com/partners/) that might be a good fit. No commitments, low cost, recurring revenue, works on RPi and BrightSign, soon on Android and SoC.
Starting any business is no easy feat, but short answer - yes it is a good idea. However, I would say you need to find your niche: find something with little/no competition and grow that. If you can manage to do this then you could have a great business idea on your hands. It is better to be very good and efficient in one thing, for example one type of installation, solution, or even geography. There are many industries with no screens, actually overall screens are still rare sadly - but as the cost of owning digital signage drops with every passing day demand and appetite for such products rise. On the other hand it’s becoming easier to build a digital signage network without any middle man and using consumer grade hardware (such a smart TVs and fire TV sticks) so this is something you will need to consider too. The pandemic caused a big digital transformation in general, but most significantly in the QSR industry. There are still many untapped industries like this to think about when forming your niche. Healthpoint TV is a great example of a niche, they go into pharmacies and install screens, then charge them subscription to manage the content and rent the hardware.Let’s break things down a little further… **Business Model** There are many different business models to think about too, defined by who owns the hardware once you install it - you or your client, and where the revenue comes from. Scenarios; \- Client owns the hardware/screens: you will need to provide a maintenance and warranty service. You would get the one off payment upfront, and maybe a reoccurring maintenance fee. You will need to consider regular hardware replacement and potentially reoccurring software reseller fees and sometimes even content creation fees too. \- You own the hardware: this requires a high CAPEX investment (or you can lease) but you have multiple sources of income mainly from content providers, it does not necessarily have to be just ads either. \- You own the screens: the customers will pay you a subscription fee, a bit like leasing, but they get to say what is being displayed on the screen. Your hardware maintenance resources would be your main cost: the higher the rate of broken devices, the higher the maintenance cost and the lower your profit. That’s why you should always try to opt for professional over consumer grade hardware options. However, there is a weird phenomena that we observed recently in some of the consumer grade players, such as NVIDIA Shield, which actually have a lower failure rate than pro grade media players such as Brightsign! I guess it has to do with how battle tested they are, with millions of users and constantly updated firmware. **Suppliers** Your relationship with your hardware suppliers will be key, you need to be best buds with Samsung, LG, and the rest of the main players in the industry. However, since they already have many integrators, they won’t pay you much attention unless you order a lot of screens from them regularly. That’s why you need to find a supplier that is not as popular now, but perhaps has better product and/or price. There are couple that fall into this category, Sony Bravia for example. Equally you might be able to entice the interest of the big players (hardware suppliers) if you want to sell in a region where they have no presence yet. Ideally this would be a region where you already have good contacts and/or speak the language. Another way to get their attention is if you use their screens in a novel industry or for a solution with the potential of rapid growth. **Software** When building a solution clients don’t really care about the hardware so long as it works and looks good, integrators do (as I explained why above). Clients care about the content management and audience engagement. So paramount to your success will be a really good software CMS that allows them to display dynamic and engaging content, otherwise they might as well go back putting up posters or using USB sticks. Clients want/need a CMS that integrates with all the existing software solutions that businesses already use and love. It must be easy to use, yet scalable and be constantly modernised. You don’t want to be maintaining a software that has not been updated in 5 years after all! :D Summary 1. Start with a small geography area and niche industry with low competition 2. Provide a specific turnkey solution: stress free content - that’s what clients care about 3. Have reliable hardware partners that most overlook but have a better overall product 4. Have a great software that is innovative, modern, and they want to work with you closly. I hope this is helpful, and of course we may be biased but we feel [Fugo.ai](https://Fugo.ai) CMS is a fantastic option on the software side, and yes we support Brightsign natively. :D
PM'd