Coming up with great ideas is easy.
It’s putting those ideas into action that’s difficult. In order to turn your
dreams about the next best service or product into a tangible, valuable
reality, you need to take the right first steps.
Based on expert advice and experience,
the following steps will definitely set you rolling ball rolling in the initial
stages of a certain business idea. Here they are;
1. Assess Impact
When deciding whether or not to move
forward, we look at the potential impact of an idea. Does it help achieve the
company goal, and if so, by how much? This approach leaves a lot of ideas on
the cutting room floor, but it ensures that the ones with the biggest impact
don’t get passed over.
2. Invest $200
Set aside no more than $200 to test
the basic idea. Get a domain and set up a landing page (easier than you
think…), then simplify and test your idea with Google Adwords, Bing or Yahoo
advertising. The goal is to see how many people you can get to click your link
and at what rate they’re clicking. You can easily and inexpensively determine
if there is even a base level need for your new idea.
3. Map out Each Stage
We constantly tossing around new
ideas, so to determine what we want to test versus what may not be feasible,
first map out each stage of the process and what is really going to be required
at each stage.
4. Fire Bullets
Invest in small tests of the idea
that will help calibrate the direction and profitability/value. Once you have
narrowed in on the target and determined enough value is on the horizon, you
make bigger investments in that direction
5. Make a Little Bet
Take some sort of small action
toward an idea to test its viability. But the key is that the action won’t take
too much time, too much money or too much effort. The only goal is to get a bit
of feedback for the next iteration.
6. Call 10 Customers
We frequently consider introducing
new products, website changes and other ideas. The first thing you do is vet
the idea with at least 10 customers. You want to know what your core fans think
about changes, especially those that might disrupt their expectations.
7. Critique It
Too often, when we have a good idea,
we look for people to validate it. “Yeah, you’re spot on!” is the exact opposite
of what we need to hear. We need people to tell us we are wrong and give us
detailed feedback. If it is a bad idea, it will likely surface. If you can get
through a gauntlet and still believe, then it is something to pursue.
8. Do Market Research
Do market research to see if it
actually is a “new” idea or if someone else out there is already doing it. If
that’s the case, tweak it to make it entirely unique.
9. Gather Data
Before asking customers even before
you bounce the idea off ground, First gather some basic data to vet the idea
internally with yourself. This is can be as simple as few Google searches:
market sizing, checking out competitors, etc. But without gathering some basic
data, it can be too easy to get excited and become emotionally invested in an
idea that has no real place in the market.
10. Find Customers
Search for customer validation.
Before building a product or even writing a single line of code, Always try to
find someone besides yourself who will find value in what you are building and
promise to use it when it’s done.
Dream big!
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