Recession is probably the haven for entrepreneurs. In bad times like these when everything else stops, and when one spends daily office hours apprehensive about every next email being the pink slip, it's time when people start thinking about other avenues. Of course, it's even more difficult to set off on your own during hurricanes, but martaa kyaa na kartaa. :)
In the flurry of startups I happened to look at in the last couple of months, a few were really novel ideas. There were hordes of 'me too' businesses which I came across, albeit, each trying to improve past attempts in the domain. It's an interesting observation, that entrepreneurship is mostly, in layman understanding, restricted to 'new ideas'. I always wondered why - same idea presented differently can't be as good as a new one - why not 'me too'!
I happened to come across a similar 'me too' attempt - eveningflavors.com from Bangalore. There were popular customised-to-Bangalore sites like hungrybangalore and burrp which had similar features for foodies like me, and eveningflavors is just another addition to the list. However, there are some good things about the latter which made it different.
In the first visit, it might look kind of repulsive - all monocolour, default font homepage without those modern day spiced up 'flashy' pages we are so used to. There are a couple of spelling mistakes here and there too, giving away the amateurity. However, when you look closely, you might find a justification for the simplicity. Man, you are looking for a good place to eat, not a great website to browse with amazing flashes! If the website's homepage gives you everything at one place, what else do you want? Eveningflavors throws everything at once - basic search boxes for a quick look, links for area-wise searches, special offer prices at various eateries, and of course, the Special Attractions chosen by users. The site is yet to pick up, and hence might not show too many user reviews currently, but who cares, I can at least get a comprehensive list for my evening.
Talking about food and Bangalore makes me real nostalgic. Ah, those days of exploring everything from Chandni Chowk and Grameen and Aranya and Udupi to Roomali and TGIF and Gufa and Queens! There are times when you miss city life, but most of the times, you actually miss your friends!