Step Two: Evaluate
the Idea
Date Added: June 3rd,
2002
By Chris Stallman
| E-mail
Let's
face it, not every idea is a good idea. There are so many ideas
out there that have sounded good to the businessman at first but
we later realize that it wasn't such a great idea. Here are
a number of questions to ask yourself in order to save yourself
time and money...and avoid embarrassment.
Would you buy it with your own money?
Honestly,
if you had the money, would you buy whatever you're trying to
sell? Be sure to be honest about this because if you wouldn't
buy it, you shouldn't sell it. It's important to have confidence
in what you are trying to sell to others. Besides, if you aren't
willing to buy your own product, chances are that nobody else will.
How much competition is out
there?
Are you trying
to enter a market that already has a lot of competing businesses?
If you are, you should consider doing one of the two following things.
1.) Start over and
think up a new idea
2.) Find an "edge" you can have over your competition
If you choose the second one, you'll need to be
creative. After all, you'll be vying for the same customers
as the other companies so you'll need to find a way to make
your product/service stand out. You can do this by comparing all
of the similar products and asking yourself "what do these
lack and how can I improve on it?"
Can I make money from this?
Lots of entrepreneurs think up a great idea but fail
to think whether or not they will be able to earn a profit from
it. You'll need to decide how much your product/service will
cost to produce and then decide what you think the public would
be willing to pay for it. If the price you sell it for is more than
what you plan to pay to produce it, continue on with the rest of
this section. If not, start all over again.
Ask for someone else's
opinion
Find someone you can trust to give his or her honest
opinion and ask them what they think of the idea. You can ask your
friends and parents but they will likely just say what you want
to hear because they want to encourage you. What you need to do
is find someone who will be completely honest. Try asking a stranger
(if they are willing and don't think it's too weird). This
will help you get an idea of what the general public will think
of it. If they don't like the idea, ask them what you might
be able to do to improve it.
These are just a few of the questions you can ask yourself.
Be sure to actually do this step and don't just skip it over.
You may come back to regret it later on when you realized you overlooked
something simple.
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