Weekly Digests

Starting a new business can be incredibly exciting, but it’s important to thoroughly evaluate your business idea before taking the plunge to ensure you’re creating a sustainable and successful venture. To get started, here are 9 questions to consider as part of an overall evaluation process.

Save yourself money, time, and heartache down the line by investing a little time now.

What customer problem does your business solve?

Your business should aim to solve a customer problem in a unique and innovative way. An idea can be cool or interesting, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it can meet an existing need in the market.

If you can identify a problem that many people face and create a business that offers an effective solution, you have a much higher likelihood of success.

How well does this business fit the current market conditions?

External factors, such as changes in the economy or advances in technology, can have a huge impact on whether a business will thrive or fail. The rise of sharing and gig economy apps is a great example of this. These apps not only gave consumers more affordable options for daily tasks and errands, but also provided individuals with a new way to earn money on their own schedules.

Think about any new opportunities that may be available in the current economy and technological landscape.

What limitations will you encounter?

Costs may be high, requiring careful planning. It’s possible that you’ll need to educate your customers and convince them to adapt to your business before they’re ready to use it. And let’s not forget about the competition that already exists in the market.

Are there other businesses already doing what you want to do?

Find out what’s the closest thing to your business idea already in the marketplace and ask yourself, “Why is my business idea better?” It’s a tough question, but if you have a convincing response, you might just have a good idea.

Competitor research is key when evaluating your business idea. Knowing who your competitors are, how they operate, and what their strengths and weaknesses are will help you create a successful strategy.

What is your understanding of the current market and trends?

Study your market – How big is it? What are the demographics of your market? Who will be your target audience? How much of the market is already cornered by your competition? This will help you to really hone in on your target market.

What resources do you need to start your business?

Starting a business requires resources, including financial capital, intellectual property, and staff. Make sure you have the necessary resources lined up, or can access them easily before getting started.

Knowing what barriers to entry exist is important. These barriers could include high startup costs, tough competitors, or regulatory hurdles that may need to be overcome.

How will the business make money, and how long will it take?

Think about how your business will generate income, and how long it will take to get it to a point where it is self-sustaining. Will you be able to keep it afloat until it reaches that point?

What are the potential risks you face?

Not every business idea is a guaranteed success. There are always inherent risks involved in starting a new venture. Evaluating these risks and creating contingency plans to address them is an important part of the evaluation process.

Starting a new business will take long hours, hard work and sacrifices. You’ll have to pour money and time into getting the business off the ground, possibly at the expense of time with your family and friends and financial security. Make sure this is something you really want to do.

Who is on your team?

Assembling a great team is vital to starting a successful business. Think about the skill sets necessary for your business idea and start building a team that can bring it to life.

Not everyone is an expert at everything. So when evaluating a new business idea, you have to ask yourself whether you have the right skills to pull off launching and running the business, or who you can gather around you to support you.

You can’t do it alone!

Good luck

While it might seem that we asked you all these questions to deter you, what we really want is to help you think about what you’ll need to do to turn your idea into a successful business.

Considering these questions will leave you with a better understanding of the viability of your business idea and the steps needed to make it a success.

Set your business on the path to success – reach out to us today!