Business ideas are the most crucial part of a business. They say you need plans, investment, manpower and consistency to establish a business.
I agree these are all required for business but you need an idea first. It has to be an idea that you think you can pull off.
However, an idea needs to be solid if it has to be successful. That’s why you need to evaluate the idea before putting it into action. Your all money and effort is going to invest on it.
So, idea evaluation is as essential as generating ideas. Though giving people tips on producing ideas is tough, giving tips on evaluating ideas is not.
There are some certain grammars that an idea has to have if it’s a successful one. If your idea doesn’t defy these rules or conditions, you can call it a good business idea.
Before starting a business and building a website, give a special focus on these questions to evaluate your idea:
- What is your target market?
- Who are our competitors?
- Are you doing your research?
- Does your idea have enough positive feedback?
What is your target market?
A business idea may sound great on paper but from the practical point of view, it may not be all that great. No matter how convincing the idea looks, without a target market, it’s just nothing.
Your business needs to have a market demand. If there is demand, then try to have clear understanding about your audience, their size, and their spending habits, among many other variables.
You should know how big your market is. Is it local or international in nature? If it’s international, can you compete with giant companies like Amazon or eBay?
Your business will have a greater chance of anticipating and serving their needs if you can accurately define and anticipate your ideal customer.
Who are our competitors?
Knowing your competitors is knowing half the business. They are the ones that set the tone of a business. So, when you evaluate your business ideas, it’s crucial to know who you are up against.
Try to know how many competitors are in the market, how big they are, what marketing policies they are adopting and what your chances are to beat them.
There are mainly two types of competitors- direct competitors and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are the ones who sell the same product in your business area.
For example, if you are opening a burger shop, your direct competitors will be other burger shops in your area. You need to do hard research about their business strategies.
Indirect competitors sell different products but those products may be a replacement for your products. For example, if you have a burger shop, then pizza shops in your area are your indirect competitors.
You shouldn’t forget about them. Researching about them can be equally important. Some of their marketing methods could be proved very valuable.
Are you doing your research?
You shouldn’t call an idea a business idea unless you do enough research on it. Business idea research is a vast subject. It includes investment, marketing strategies, local competitors, targeted customers, production process, labour cost, local business rules and regulations, maintenance, delivery system and a whole lot of other things.
As you can see, this is not working for a singular person. You should have a team to research and discuss these issues. Most importantly, you have to give a clear focus on costs and expenses.
A new business’s costs include the funds necessary to launch and operate it. These costs include costs such as leasing, inventory, equipment, insurance, and salaries.
Does your idea have enough positive feedback?
This is the most important part of evaluating your business idea. If you make it open for the discussions, then you can get to know all the angles, pros and cons that you were not thinking about before.
The best way to get feedback on business ideas is to create a free website. Put your business ideas on your website and share them with family, friends, colleagues and if possible, closed social media groups.
If your idea is a winner, then you are good to go. And if it’s not, there is no loss. You just have to plan another business idea.
