So you are seriously thinking of going into business, and make a ton of money and have a lot of spare time to spend with your family. Well that is another story for another day but first, let us figure out if the idea has merit. Here are five keys to evaluating your business idea:
1. Who is it targeted at?
Which specific segment of customers are you targeting and do you understand how they think and communicate? This latter point is important since it will help you craft your marketing message.
2. What is unique about your product/service?
Which specific customer needs does your product or service satisfy and what value does it add to the customer’s life. Does it provide something special that differentiates it from everyone else. This could be quality, customer satisfaction or a patentable feature or function that provides ease of use.
3. Can it grow
Does the idea have the potential to succeed on a large scale. Is the target market large enough to allow for growth. Can you add features or services to increase its value to the target market?
4. Is it sustainable
Is the growth sustainable and can you keep growing as time goes by or is it something that will only be of interest for a short period of time?
5. Can it be profitable
In addition to the benefits it provides the customer, can it also generate a profit? As you grow the customer base, will it continue to generate profits?