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One day you are working or sitting at home, and then inspiration strikes. You have an amazing idea for a product or business. Now what?
Well, there are several ways to determine whether your idea has potential or not.
Ask yourself if you’re solving a problem
Does your product or business idea solve a selected problem? Or have you found a solution to a problem that does not exist? If you aren’t sure. Find out from people you think have the problem.
Define Your Target Market
Who will buy your product? Whether it is a business, a person or even a government, in that case you should use a company like Clark Street Associates Skywater to help you get your product in front of officials right for a demonstration?
Most companies never get up because they do not know who their ideal customer is. They believe that if they focus on one type of buyer they will put others off. What they ended up doing was of no interest to anyone.
Invite Others To Share Your Vision
Going it alone in a startup can be intense. Many of the most successful startups in the world have two or more people involved from the start. Get your entrepreneurship career get off to an amazing start by surrounding yourself with great people.
Create Business Models And Financial Forecasts
Now that you know what you are selling and to whom you are selling it, it is time to determine how you are going to do it and the financial costs involved. If you manufacture a product, will you sell it directly online or through concessions and partnerships? Each is a viable sales strategy but requires very different resources.
Unless you have already got some experience in financial modeling, you may need a little help. Reach out to your network for recommendations for people who can help you.
Find Funding
Now that you understand how much you need to get started, it is time to look for investments. Whether you are doing this through savings, loans, startup grants or VC investments there are generally plenty of different hoops to jump through so you need to be sure you business plan air-tight.
Put your MVP to the test
Before you put your product out there for all to see, you need to ensure it works. Build a minimally viable product (MVP) can reduce costs but produce something the market can test. Therefore, if you have not done it right, you have not put your entire company strategy behind it.
The feedback you get from this process is invaluable because it will confirm your approach, provide you with insight into how the product can be improved, or cause you to change your business fully.
Takeaways
Bringing your idea to life can be a long and drawn-out affair. There are many hurdles to jump over before you can even test your product. But by doing things the right way, you make sure you build a solid platform and business model that will benefit you for years to come.
