The most common thing people say about starting a business is that it is risky. I am not convinced paid employment is a safer way to earn a living than starting a business. You can get sacked! Just follow the business section of any news report to know how easily this can happen. You might also be forced to take a salary cut with all the attendant frustrations. There is a lot that can go wrong there. Being employed has its own risks and they are just as daunting as the risks associated with starting your own business.
The nice thing about starting a business is that we now know nearly all the reasons why they fail and what to do to avoid that failure. Here are eight ideas for testing you new business idea, before you start. “Be bold but, look before you leap.”
1. Conduct a random survey. Stop people at a convenient and safe place and ask them what they think about your idea. Be very polite and gentle about this please.
2. Ask consumers of the product or service you want to offer what they think. Ask them what improvements they would like to see. Ask them why they buy and pay so much. It will help if you show them mock-ups or prototypes.
3. Convene a small group discussion. Gather a few people together preferably people that do not know each other but all have a good head on their shoulders. Tell them about your idea and then ask them to give you feedback. You might have to pay for lunch or dinner.
4. Ask friends and other people around you that you can trust to tell you what they think, honestly. Make sure the people you ask can be blunt and can explain why they take a certain position. People who just endorse or criticize your idea without any explanation are not really helpful. The explanations will help you decide what improvements to make, how to manage risks, etc.
5. Find out who has tried what you are about to start and go talk to them. You can almost bet that someone somewhere has gone ahead of you. Please go learn from their mistakes if they will let you.
6. Talk to advertising, marketing and branding experts. These professionals spend their lives think out ways to sell new products and services. The good ones will tell you what might sell and what might not sell, almost on the spot.
7. Blog you idea. Invite feedback on the internet. Do not be too afraid someone will steal your idea and start it. This fear is usually unfounded but very incapacitating.
8. Publish your idea in a trade journal or other publication that consumers read and invite comments from readers. If your idea newsworthy, editors might publish it without charge.
END.
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