How do you know if your new business idea is viable and has value to you and your prospective customers?
Entrepreneurs come to me with their business ideas which they think are brilliant and it seems that they want confirmation or assurance that their idea will fly in the marketplace. Unfortunately, this is what I can’t do. I am not able to evaluate the merits of a new business idea off the cuff.
A new business idea has to jump through a number of hoops before one can safely say that it is viable and that it will be profitable. Even in instances where the idea looks promising, there is no guarantee that it will be. No one can predict whether a business idea will succeed because the marketplace is just too dynamic and ever-changing.
To really evaluate a new business idea you would need someone who has worked in new product development. The person would also need experience in taking an idea and transforming it into a prototype, developing the idea and manufacturing, marketing and selling the final product or service.
However, most people go for the path of least resistance and read some article or obtain advice from somebody who has never launched an idea product or service of their own. You just need to Google the word “new business idea evaluation” and you’ll come across all sorts of advice on how to evaluate your business idea.
Anyone is quite welcome to believe that advice. The only caution I would add is that much of this advice is provided by people who merely write about what others have done and have never experienced the process of new product development or run a start-up themselves.
Over the past two weeks I have promoted a must-have, practical idea evaluation tool called “The New Business Idea Accelerator Evaluation Tool”. The response to the promotion of this free tool – available for a limited period only – has been most pleasing. For some entrepreneurs and business owners it has come at just the right time.
One business person, for example, was struggling with the option of selling a regular product or helping to develop the business of a new product — this would mean investing energy full-time on the product. The free evaluation tool came at just the right time and I received thanks for making the tool available. It was needed to help this business person decide whether to enter this new market or not.
Many marketers are now needing better levels of response from their marketing efforts on the Internet. Some make free products available but only for a limited period. When the deadline expires, they take the product off the market and it is no longer readily available. It may become available sometime in the future with an updated version or it may never be available again.
Some marketers who have valuable products to offer the marketplace, provide an offer at a reduced special price. Then they have a countdown for a week or so and increase the price every day. They can afford to do this because their products and services provide much-needed value to customers.
But once the promotion is over, it is over.
I indicated clearly that the evaluation tool would no longer be available after a limited period. I have now taken it off the market and it is no longer available.
For those who have taken advantage of the special free offer and have obtained the tool, I wish you the very best in deciding whether your new business idea is viable or not. The tool will give you a rough indication of whether to proceed or not and then it is up to you to get the advice of experts such as consultants, lawyers and accountants.
