I Built a Deal Platform That Makes Zero on Every Deal

You can tell which restaurants are struggling just by walking past them.

Walking through malls in Dubai, I often noticed the contrast. Some restaurants were packed, while others had a host at the door, a menu on the stand, and empty tables behind. I found myself wondering which places were struggling, which ones were doing well, and which ones might just need a little visibility to take off.

Eventually, it got me thinking: what could actually be done to help them?

My first thought was a deal platform where restaurants could promote themselves and attract more customers. But I quickly started questioning whether that was really the best option, knowing how most deal platforms work. Customers pay the platform upfront, the platform keeps a significant cut for bringing in the customer, and the restaurant receives what is left, sometimes weeks later.

At the same time, I can see why restaurants and other retailers would use these platforms. They provide visibility, bring in new customers and, when a platform becomes popular enough, can reduce some of the marketing effort businesses have to put in themselves. There is value in the model. The question was whether I could find a sweet spot where it would work for everyone.

That's how Vouchnexusstarted, during those walks past restaurants and cafés, and my reflections on what could be done differently. It's now live, but between that first idea and the platform I launched, the concept changed shape three times.

From Restaurants to Everything Else

Before writing any code, I wanted to see the idea. So I opened Figma and started sketching what the platform could look like. Things got out of hand pretty quickly, in a good way. One afternoon and three versions later, I had a marketplace for almost everything: spa days, gym memberships, desert safaris, fashion vouchers, family days out.

It looked busy and impressive. Figma had even filled the screens with placeholder statistics showing thousands of users and hundreds of merchants, which made me laugh because, at that point, I had neither.

But seeing the idea on a screen helped more than any brainstorm. It showed me what the platform could potentially become. I realized there was no reason to limit it to restaurants when other businesses faced similar challenges. Vouchnexus could be a platform where any business could promote its offers through coupons.

Sometimes, a prototype helps you see the bigger picture. This one certainly did, and I was happy with the result.

The Plan Was to Charge 10%

A few weeks later, I started exploring how the platform should work. The idea at the time was a 10% booking fee. Customers would pay a small amount upfront and the rest directly at the business. This gives businesses some assurance while limiting what customers could lose if they didn't show up. It seemed reasonable, but I wanted to keep the fee low while covering the platform's costs. So I reduced it to 5%, with a small flat minimum.

Small Fees Carry Heavy Machinery

Even that small fee came with a lot attached. Collecting it meant handling payments, processing charges, transaction reconciliation, refunds and potentially merchant payouts. All of that for relatively little revenue. Given the costs and complexity involved, I decided to remove the fee entirely. That raised another problem: as long as customers paid through the platform, we would still incur processing charges, even if we earned nothing from the transaction.

So if we were going to take nothing, why touch the money at all?

Rethinking How a Deal Platform Works

It made more sense to let businesses handle payments directly and that's the approach I took. Customers browse offers and reserve their coupons for free. When they visit the business, they show their coupon, staff scan it and apply the discount, and the customer pays the business directly. Vouchnexus takes no commission and handles no payments.

Businesses decide what offers to publish, set their discounts and keep 100% of what customers pay after the discount, with no commission going to Vouchnexus. Customers also benefit from the flexibility. If their plans change or they don't use the offer, they lose nothing because they haven't paid anything upfront.

Of course, that doesn't mean the platform costs nothing to run. I still need to find a way to make it sustainable, and I'm exploring a few ideas. For now, though, Vouchnexus is free for everyone.

One Idea I Never Let Go Of

Not everything from my early ideas changed, though. One idea I kept was merchandise. I believe every good business has regulars. People who genuinely like the place, keep coming back, and might happily own something that reminds them of a place or experience they love.

So why not give businesses another way to earn from that relationship? That's why Vouchnexus also allows businesses to list their own locally made merchandise alongside their offers: caps, T-shirts, tote bags and more, made on demand. It's another way for customers to support the businesses they love, especially when times are tough for many small businesses.

Looking back, it's interesting how it all came together. Figma helped me visualise an idea that started during walks through Dubai malls. From there, I built the platform, worked through different versions and tested the pricing logic until I found a model that made sense. I'll share exactly how I built Vouchnexus, the tools I used, the challenges and what I learned along the way, in another article. Hopefully, it will help you bring one of your own ideas to life too.

Vouchnexus isn't perfect, and I still have a few more rabbits in my hat. I'll pull them out one at a time, when they're ready. For now, Vouchnexus is live and ready to use.

If you run a business and want to attract more customers through special offers, come post your first offer.

https://vouchnexus.com