It might seem ridiculous to put you off taking your idea and turning it into a product or service and starting a new business.
But I’ve seen too many would-be entrepreneurs’ dreams lying shattered because they didn’t plan beforehand, acquire the necessary know-how, skills and experience before they took the leap.
New product development and starting a business is risky. Unless you personally manage the risk every step of the way, you could lose a lot more than your shirt.
No incubator or six-week seed workshop will remove that risk nor will it give you the know-how to start and run a money-making business. You only develop know-how by doing.
Here are 10 reasons why you shouldn’t start a new product, service or business (unless you have a solid plan to rectify these weaknesses):
- You have not saved any seed money. It’s not possible to start a business from thin air. Even if you have to loan money (remember to very careful about sureties) you will still need to put in money of your own. Draw a line between money you can risk and savings that you won’t touch no matter how desperate you become.
- You have no hands-on practical experience in the business you’ve chosen to start. Even knowledge of how to run a restaurant or a computer shop won’t save you. You’ve got to acquire know-how which means doing something the right way. Get experience even if it means working for free or on weekends.
- You haven’t clearly defined the need of your potential customers or have an intimate understanding of the real problems your prospective customers face.
- You don’t know your target market. If you find researching your market boring or unnecessary, you will pay the price later when you try to sell your product or service.
- You don’t plan to market test your product or service to see if you have real buyers before you spend money on unnecessary business expenses.
- You haven’t made up your mind finally and definitely to turn your idea into a product or service no matter how many times you will have to refine and develop your prototype and business model.
- You’ve never tested your entrepreneurial ability, not even on some simple hand-selling at a morning market.
- You’re clueless about finances and know very little about cash flow .. how it impacts your income statement and balance sheet.
- You’re not prepared to put in the hours in the start-up stages. The long hours when your eyes will be red and your body will ache.
- You don’t possess a burning desire to help other people (even when you are tired, frustrated and know helping them will take your time away from what you enjoy doing).
It is possible to correct these shortcomings. But ignore them and they’ll bite you. One way to put yourself on a smooth path is to get the best mentor you can find to guide you in the new product creation and development process. Take a look here to see if we have a match.
