Developing your business idea
How to start developing your business idea – from a thought to a plan.
Firstly, it’s a good idea to work through this on paper, or in your notes. I personally am a big fan of Trello, which is a free to use workspace that lets you organise your thoughts and tasks really well. Here is a useful public Trello board which you can use as a guide for starting your business. I recommend you create your own and work through the steps outlined below.
Originality
Is your idea original enough? A quick google search or two should answer this question, but don’t be afraid to expand upon your ideas and be ready to make more notes. If your idea isn’t truly original, how can you offer something different? This will be your introduction to business research, take it seriously.
Target Market
Who would your customers be? Are you offering a service or a product? Or both? You need to identify your niche, and consider the needs of your industry and its consumers. At this stage, it’s always better to keep things concise. If you try to satisfy too many customer needs, you can end up oversaturated with a product that no one likes.
The best way to identify your target market and refine your business idea is to find a problem to solve. Watch TED videos and listen to the experts in the industry. What are the issues that companies or consumers face? And how does your product or service offer a solution. By now, your business idea might have changed a little, and you should be able to identify your ideal customers.
Customer Profiling
Once you know your target market, spend some time putting yourself in their shoes. Identify their mindset, and the things that could draw them to you. It might seem like extra effort when you have an idea in your head, but its really good practice to fill out some templates. You may identify customer traits that you hadn’t considered before, and you will begin considering customer behaviour that could help you decide on marketing platforms or techniques.
This stage should take you from a target market to developing some ideas on marketing and branding. If you are having trouble getting into a customer mindset, or fancy doing some extra work, consider performing a market survey. Sites such as Survey Monkey are a great way to get real world answers to your questions.
Is it something people will pay for?
It might be heartbreaking to have come this far with your business idea to realise that people won’t pay for it. However, it’s far better to realise now than after you’ve invested money in your business. What makes your product/service stand out? After conducting a market survey, you should have an idea of what prices people might be willing to pay, and what expendable income your target customer has. Now is a really good time to start discussing your ideas with trusted friends and family, outside opinions are an invaluable resource.
If you come to the realisation that your product/service is something that people might not pay for, you could consider if you are able to make money through other avenues. Although only do this if you have absolute faith in your idea and that people do have an interest in it. Some of these other avenues could be advertising, or government funding for example.
Here you need to come up with what’s known as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Potentially crunch some numbers and think of what the minimum features and prices your product or service could work under. This will be your beginning product plan until you can gain enough customer feedback to take you further.
Competitive Analysis
You might have a great business idea that overcomes a problem in the industry, but if that solution can be implemented by anyone, why would they pay you for it? This is where you need to begin considering competition, and what you offer that is different from others. Will your product be superior or your price lower? It is a good idea to also keep an eye out for networking opportunities here. While looking for competitors, you may come across a business that could be useful as a partnership. Consider whether a business would value your service as an add-on, or a company whose values and potential customers you would want to align yourself with.
Distribution, Promotion & Resources
By now you should have a good understanding of whether your business idea is viable. If so, Great! You will now need to consider some other things as you draft a Business Plan. The first potential obstacle is understanding the distribution of your product/service. What will your product journey be? This should give you an idea as to where your business could be based.
Secondly, you need to consider how you will promote your business to potential customers, and which avenues you would like to pursue the most. This could involve advertising, targeted branding, social medias or other online platforms. Lastly, you also need to think about the resources you would need for your business, this could be for a production process, a company location, or funds to get you started. If you need to bring in funds or resources from elsewhere, or even if you are putting them forward yourself, take a moment to weigh up the risks and rewards.
Most importantly of all, Good Luck!!
What are your thoughts?
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