How does an Idea become a Business?

We have all been sat with friends at the pub or at a family event and thought we could make a business but how many people have then followed through with this. The process of taking an idea and making it into a business is a long process which requires determination, long hours and a lot of perseverance.

You first want to make sure you focus your idea. Have a brainstorming session around your first initial idea and ask yourself the following questions:

Is this being done?
How can I do this better?
Do people need this?
Will this make peoples lives easier?

Once you have expanded on your initial idea you can then see how this will stand up in the current market. Although you have focused your idea remember to always be flexible, allow yourself to tweak your idea along the way to fit what your possible customers say about your idea or product.

Now can you prove your idea is needed? It is very rare you will find an idea no one has ever done or tried before. This is why market research is so important to prove your idea is better than what is already out there. Prove to your customers that your concept is what has been missing from that section in the market. For example, here at Executype PA we wanted to make sure we concentrated on delivering exceptional customer service. There are other call answering services, but we wanted to deliver more than that to our clients. Find your unique selling point, think about the following questions:

What are the features of my idea?
What are the benefits of my idea?
What is different about my idea?
Am I going to use new technology? Or use current technology in a new way?

Having thought of your idea and your USP it is now time to consider who is going to use your service or buy your product? Where are you going to find your customer base and what does that customer base look like. Start creating a persona for the kind of people you want to sell to. Ask yourself:

How old is this person?
Will they be online or shopping in person?
Are they male or female?
What kind of profession might they be in?
Does this person have spare income to spend on your product?

In doing this you are allowing yourself to think like your customer. You can start to understand when they may see your product in their daily life and how much you can charge for your product. It is here you need to invest even more time on market research, looking online at searches to see where your competition advertises and how could you do it better.

At this time, you now have your idea, you know your USP and you know your customer, stop now and ask yourself is this a need for my customer or is this going to be a want?

If this is a ‘need’ for your customer how will you make them aware of this need. On the other hand if this is a ‘want’ for your customer how will you make them feel like this want comes before other things they may purchase in the month. What advertising will allow you to reach your potential customers. Try and use social media platforms to get the word out: