Doesn't halfbakery.com do something along these lines?
The main problem I see with your idea is that consumers/users have no benefit or incentive to continually use your site.
They are providing their time and input on something that doesn't exist. People take time to provide input at Yelp because, in return, they can find a good restaurant. People vot on Digg because, in return, they find funny/interesting stories or videos.
You want lay-people to provide you with input but you're giving them nothing in return ... except the possibility that a business they would use could exist in the future.
Thanks for the link. I just conceptualized the idea an hour ago so I do share your concern for the users. I just remembered that launchly.com was a pretty close match. The concept is actually very useful, but its clear launchly has just launched and the userbase is not very big. Also the pricing seems outrageous. But its a better implementation in that the sites have to already exist. This answers your question somewhat because you can offer users who provide feedback an upgrade to whatever the site it is they are reviewing. For example free access for a year or whatever. Thanks for the reply.
I don't think that people provide input so that the sites they like survive. I don't think people vote on Digg because they realize that if no one votes, Digg dies. I think people just like to share their opinions and express themselves. If a restaurant pisses you off, then of course you want to tell other people to avoid that restaurant, not just to help them, but also to spite that restaurant.
The main problem I see with your idea is that consumers/users have no benefit or incentive to continually use your site.
They are providing their time and input on something that doesn't exist. People take time to provide input at Yelp because, in return, they can find a good restaurant. People vot on Digg because, in return, they find funny/interesting stories or videos.
You want lay-people to provide you with input but you're giving them nothing in return ... except the possibility that a business they would use could exist in the future.