Things to Consider in your Startup Business

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Startup Things to Consider

Everybody has a great business ideas. Unfortunately, the ideas often are never pursued. Perhaps your intuition says your startup idea would make you some good coin, but you don’t want to start your business on just a hunch and don’t know how to test the waters before sinking a lot of money into it. There are ways to evaluate your startup idea to determine if it may be worth pursuing.

 

First – is it Practical, Durable and Sustainable?

The first step is to evaluate your idea for practicality, durability and sustainability. Pet rocks made a fortune in the 70’s, but were based on a ridiculous concept that, through dumb luck, went viral rather than through tried application. That’s not the type of concept you want to develop a serious business on.

Durability is how your business or service is involved in people’s daily lives – what does it do for the customer. Whether you intend to provide a product or service, does it solve a problem for potential clients? How saturated market? Consider the advancements in technology over recent years and the general direction of the market to determine if the product will still sell in the future.

Sustainability means will you be able to provide the service in the foreseeable future. This involves having more than one source for the materials and sub-contractors your business relies on. If your supplier goes out of business or simply can’t keep up with your volume as the business takes off, you’ll be between a rock and a hard place if you can’t keep up with the demands of your clients. If you are having this problem then you are on your way to being successful. Keep it up

 

Can it Pass A Market Test on Craigslist and Social Media

Once you’ve determined your idea is practical, the next step would be to inexpensively see what kind of audience it will draw without having to perform formal marketing studies. Presenting the idea on social media is an inexpensive way to judge initial interest. That being said, be wary of friends and relatives. They are likely to support your idea even if it isn’t a great one. On the other hand, they may point out ways to tweak the idea to be more useful.

Craigslist and similar sites are free to use and can be a great way to judge general interest in your idea. By placing ads in different geographic places, both urban and rural, you can begin to form an understanding of which demographics are most attracted to your service. You may also begin to develop a feel for what advertising language appeals to different groups, and which aspects of your service draws the most interest.

 

Dig Deeper Into the Market

After testing on Social Media, there are more in-depth steps to take that will help grasp what the market place looks like. Evaluate the competition along with how much potential business exists and identify what niche you can carve out for yourself in the market. In addition to determining the success of existing companies in your field, you may want to study their customers’ feedback to see if there are absolute must-haves or common complaints to avoid.

 

The Moral Dilemma to Consider

Everybody has political, moral, philosophical and religious personal values, and there’s nothing wrong with incorporating them into your business. It is worth mentioning that if you’re personal beliefs enter the business realm your client base may be narrowed. This is not a catchall, for example, the Christian base Chick Fila’ restaurant has exploded with new business after taking certain positions that are not be popular with everybody. It helps to have an amazing chicken sandwich. Remember the goal of the business is to make money. It may take a bit of personal introspection, but try to consider how your business goals may interact with your morals as the business grows and how you’ll be able to balance the two.

 

Final Thoughts

Startup ideas are the driving force of the American economy and have contributed throughout history to America’s economic success and technological advancements. They solve problems and add to the quality of life that keeps America at the top across the world. Your idea could be a major success, just remember to be methodical, test everything, and don’t give up.

 

Source

www.ideasarecurrency.com, http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-04-25/how-to-test-your-startup-idea-for-fluffiness, http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/how-to-validate-your-start-up-idea.html, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217563, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225856

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