I’m going to be blunt.
I have a strong feeling towards business guru advisers who claim that you can make money from new business ideas.
They lure you into their “business opportunities” but leave out parts they don’t want you to know.
They’ll even give you a list of business opportunities that they claim are “hot” or their “Top 10”, whatever that means.
What should you do when presented with such half-truths and downright dangerous advice?
Become a detective. Like a sleuth, dig until you find out the truth.
These detection secrets will help increase your street smarts:
1 How much money is involved? Getting a business idea off the ground takes financial resources. New projects often cost 2 to 3 times more than you planned for.
2 How long will it take to turn your idea into a product or service? Count on things taking at least three times longer than your best estimate. Make sure that you have the necessary funds to carry your idea through even if you are doing it on a sideline or part-time basis.
3 How will it make money? Don’t fall in love with your ideas. If they can’t be turned into products or services customers want, you don’t have a business model or a business.
4 Does it make sense? If you can’t understand how your idea will make a profit, walk away. People get dazzled by the excitement of creating something new but forget about bringing home the bacon. It must make sense; it must make money.
5 Do you have proof of customer demand? Let’s face it, if you don’t have a customer, you’d don’t have a business. You’ve only got something that doesn’t sell. Test your prototype or sample product through actual purchases. If you make a certain target level of sales, then you can move to the next stage.
If you’re serious about investing your time, effort and money into a new business idea and want more ways to evaluate your promising new idea, I suggest you get yourself a copy of my book “Breakthrough Ideas”. It will provide you with a set of hard questions to ask yourself when thinking about setting up on your own even if your plan is only to create a sideline income-producing asset.
