Do you have a Business Idea that can work?
The base of every successful business is a good business idea. Each of us has certainly experienced the moment when such a business idea has crossed our mind. The desire to be self-employed, to run an own business, as well as financial promises, drive us to think about it.
We will show you a way to pursue these ideas. This requires some steps of planning and different ideas to weigh up whether our idea is also promising.
This article will show you how to pursue your business idea and how to assess whether it can work.
1. Write down the basics
When a new business idea comes to your mind, you naturally want to pursue and formulate it. You may even think of creating a complete business plan with all the details, but this is too far-fetched: For the beginning, it is enough to work out a rough plan, which could include the following questions.....
Why are you doing what you are doing?
How did you come up with this idea? What exactly motivates you to be active in this field? Do you have a personal connection to your business idea, is it related to your job or is your goal simply to make people's lives easier? Every company pursues certain goals and represents certain values, so it would be advisable to create a suitable list for you and your planned business for the beginning.
Are you solving a problem?
Does your idea solve an existing problem? If you have a solution to problems that positively impacts the lives of your family, friends and possibly your work colleagues, chances are high that it will positively impact the lives of other people as well.
Who are you solving it for?
Who could you target? What kind of consumer might be interested in buying your product or service to make his or her life a little easier or better?
This includes simple characteristics such as the age, gender or marital status of your potential customers. But private interests and preferences are important as well. If you gather all this information early enough, it will be much easier for you to create a persona later on, on which you can base your marketing activities, product design, etc. So think about your target group.
How will your solution make your potential customer’s life easier?
How can you help your potential customers? PayPal, for example, saw early the needs for a simple and fast way to make small transactions in eCommerce.
When you ask yourself this question, you should also think about the current situation in the market. Are there any providers already offering a similar solution? What would you do better than these and what exactly would be the added value when a buyer decides in favour of your product or service?
By the way, the success story of the Square payment service shows that you don't always have to be "first": Despite PayPal's position, Square managed to establish itself as an online payment company.
Can it be profitable?
Don't panic, you don't have to draw up a detailed financial plan here, you don't even have the necessary key figures. Here it's just a matter of roughly estimating whether your business idea could be financially worthwhile. For example, a short online search for production costs or prices in the industry could help!
Is it difficult to copy?
A new business idea is good, but is it also hard to copy? You must try to stand out from the competition as much as possible. For this reason, you must try to make your business idea as copy-proof as possible. It's no use if you have a brilliant idea, when it can easily be copied or even optimized by your competitors.
If you are convinced up to this point, you could also inform yourself about a patent.
2. The right research
To find out if your business idea has potential, you should consider doing thorough research. Many ideas have failed due to lack of demand, so don't be hasty. Analyze the market, find out about possible demand for your business idea and about possible competition. It is also important to ask whether customers are willing to spend money on your offer.
If there is no demand so far, do you have the possibility to generate one? This could give you the chance to enter the market as the only provider of your business idea and thus gain a certain position of power.
3. The suitable customer research
A detailed customer research is one of the most important steps. Without customers, even the best business idea cannot work. So gather information about your target group and communicate with them. Ask your friends and relatives explicitly what they think of your business idea. After all, no one can judge your idea better than potential customers for whom it is intended.
Ask them what they think is good and bad. Where do they see room for improvement? How much money would they be willing to pay? You can use all this information to optimize your business idea and your market strategy.
4. Be honest with yourself!
This heading hits the nail on the head. It is completely normal to be flooded with euphoria when you' ve just had a brilliant idea. However, doubts quickly follow and are often simply swept under the rug because they don't fit into the desired image. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make!
There is nothing wrong with believing in your own idea. However, you should also take a rational approach to it. Be honest with yourself and evaluate the doubts you have.
5. Listen also (or even mainly) to negative feedback
Especially if you present your business idea only to your friends and relatives at the beginning, it is likely that you will receive mostly positive feedback. They may not want to hurt your feelings, even if they are rather skeptical, or they may not know the subject matter well enough themselves. That's why it's even more important to listen to negative feedback from friends or even, at a later stage, from customers, and to note it down carefully. This way you can find out if it is just a perceived weakness or an actual weakness of your business idea.
These were our tips..
...on the topic 'Do you have a business idea that can work'? We can't guarantee you success with this guide, but if you follow all these steps, you'll definitely have a solid foundation for further steps towards self-employment!
By the way, if you are still looking for a platform to sell your product or service online and to put your business idea into practice, then take a look at our website and create your own online store for free and without obligation!