Tag: market demand

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Evaluating business ideas for college or university leaving graduates

Long Beach, Kommetjie. Photo Copyright by Chesney Bradshaw
Long Beach, Kommetjie. Photo Copyright by Chesney Bradshaw

You get people shouting stuff about small business ideas all over the Internet. One guy was screaming to get attention with the statement that an idea is 1% of success while execution is the 99%.

There is also that statement about 20% or even a lower 10% of ideas succeeding in their first year. This has merit when you consider that the study found that venture capitalists only express interest in fewer than 5% of new start-up idea proposals they review (Source: “Are “better” ideas more likely to succeed? An empirical analysis of start-up evaluation”). Continue reading “Evaluating business ideas for college or university leaving graduates”

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Don’t underestimate the back-breaking work it takes to make a start-up idea viable

English: Black and white cake, made at the Cli...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This guy was shouting all over the Internet about how no one will steal your start-up idea because an idea is 1% value and execution is 99%. Do you agree? Would you disagree?

Whether this guy is right about the 1% or not, there is no getting away from the importance of execution. What does execution mean? Well, on one level it means taking your promising idea and turning it into a viable product or service. Continue reading “Don’t underestimate the back-breaking work it takes to make a start-up idea viable”

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How do you estimate customer demand for your start-up business?

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

An independent flame-grilled chicken restaurant started up at a corner site in a suburb where a large chain closed down its outlet selling similar product. The owner of the business ran it well, gave good service and served a delicious product but closed within six months.

The problem was that the small business owner did not accurately estimate market demand in the suburb. Perhaps he should have been more cautious knowing that the large flame-grilled chicken group was exiting the retail space where he wanted to open an outlet. It seems that the small business owner pinned his hopes on attracting enough customers to his business to make it viable. Hope is not a strategy. The larger chain group new something about customer demand in the area that the ever-hopeful small business owner did not know. Continue reading “How do you estimate customer demand for your start-up business?”

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Put your idea to the test before you invest

IMG-20150105-00181 IMG-20141230-00151In these times when two incomes don’t always cover your monthly living expenses, more people with an entrepreneurial flair are starting new products and services and other income-generating activities.

But here’s the thing: you need to know whether there is demand for your product or service before you start investing money in it. It also not advisable to give up your day job, your main source of income, because it’s much harder to get a new product or service off the ground than most people think.

So what you do? Have you tried out something like this before? What have you found to be the best way?

Any sort of start-up needs to prove its business model. In fact, a successful entrepreneur and entrepreneurial coach said that a start-up is really a business in search of a viable, sustainable business model. It may take you one year to establish the success of your start-up or even longer. During this time you would need to perhaps change direction from your original approach as you try to seek demand for your product service in the marketplace. Continue reading “Put your idea to the test before you invest”

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How marketable are your new business ideas?

A pair of modern silver pepper grinders with Peugeot mechanism. Hallmarked Asprey & Co Ltd,. Birmingham 1935.
A pair of modern silver pepper grinders with Peugeot mechanism. Hallmarked Asprey & Co Ltd,. Birmingham 1935.

For start-ups and entrepreneurs who want to come up with viable business ideas the first thing is to consider the marketability of your new ideas.

How do you know if your business idea will be attractive enough to get potential customers to buy? What makes one idea more marketable than another? What could you do to increase the chances that your new business idea will sell?

One of the first things to ask yourself is if your business idea solves a real problem for potential customers. So many products and services run aground because they don’t solve people’s problems easily, quickly and cost effectively. The other day I saw an app that lets you customise your own newspaper. Does this really solve a “problem” for online readers who may enjoy a range of publications. Continue reading “How marketable are your new business ideas?”

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How much do you know about the market for your product or service?

The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

I love peanut butter. But I have to be very careful eating the stuff because it is so fattening. I really can only eat it about once every two weeks or so. If I eat more, I’m going to balloon.

The peanut butter market has not grown to its estimated potential size if you look back at the forecasts and expectations twenty years ago. Walk into any supermarket and you’ll see that the shelf space occupied by peanut butter has shrunk. Continue reading “How much do you know about the market for your product or service?”

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How to manage execution risk in your new business

Risk
Risk (Photo credit: The Fayj)

Starting a new business venture based on your new idea for a product or service is risky. How do you remove as much of the risk as you possibly can?

Entrepreneurs may have such confidence in the potential of their new ideas that they take out loans on their property, borrow from friends and family and even approach small business lenders.

With so much at stake, so much invested in their new product or service, a new business venture had better be viable.

Losing your life savings by placing a big bet on an untried or unproven concept could result in a disastrous personal and financial setback.

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When all those false starts can be good

Not spring just yet in Johannesburg. (Photo: Chesney Bradshaw)
Not spring just yet in Johannesburg. (Photo: Chesney Bradshaw)

It’s that time of the year. One day it feels like spring has already arrived but the next day its back to winter.

In Johannesburg the mornings are much lighter but the air still has that cold-old crispness about it. The nights are cold, so cold that the iciness clings to your jersey and you can feel the cold against your body.

With the light in the mornings coming early now the birds are up and about, chirping outside in the trees. For months you only heard them in the daytime. Now you can hear the Hadedas, Louries, Sparrows and Finches bright and early. Continue reading “When all those false starts can be good”

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Discover the four things you must know before you create a new product or service

"enthusiasm"
“Enthusiasm” (Photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³)

Small business owners wanting to expand their product or service range may come up with a new business idea, rush into it without much thought because they are swept on a wave of enthusiasm and then discover that there is little or no demand.

I’ve made this mistake and I’ve seen first-hand as others have done the same. It’s almost as if we think that our enthusiasm will make up for everything. Our reasoning and gut feeling are shoved aside in the white-hot act of creation and product development. We may be blinded by the “darn it, just do it” mantras spouted by celebrity entrepreneurs. Continue reading “Discover the four things you must know before you create a new product or service”