PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with TAFE Queensland to help you get your biz off the ground. Why wait to make great? Make yo’ dreams come true by enrolling with TAFE Queensland HERE.
As you might have noticed, we live in a time where the entrepreneurial mindset reigns supreme. Be it a side-hustle or a fully fledged enterprise, we’re more inclined than ever to take our financial future into our own hands (which probs has something to do with the near-crippling economic climate we’ve been born into).
So far spread is the acceptance of this doing-it-for-yourself ideology, you’re more likely to be judged for NOT having something mulling over on the side than you are for thinking you can shakeup the game in any capacity.
So yeah, we’ll go right ahead and assume you’ve got a brilliant business idea that you’d like to get off the ground. The million dollar question is, however, whether it’ll make you… millions.
Rather than scrolling through several articles
that are formatted like this
so that you have no choice
but to focus your attention
on whatever it is you’re reading
because you’re constantly having to scroll
we thought we’d give you the 411 in a more straightforward, easy to consume manner. Here’s a few ways to validate your business ideas, good people of the internet. Now go make that coin.
FIGURE OUT HOW MANY CUSTOMERS YOU MIGHT HAVE
Y’know Google? The big ol’ search engine that creates an offensive amount of money and has essentially revolutionised the world in which we all reside? Well, the kind folks over there have an insanely powerful marketing tool for y’all to use. Contrary to what you’d expect, the cost for utilising it is $0. Ah, the best things in life are free, aren’t they?
Google Trends is a numeric / historic representation of searches made on the platform. It enables you to not only look at how often folks are searching for particular keywords or phrases, but where those searches have occurred too (and that’s just scratching the surface). Why is this a good tool to validate the profitability of your biz? Given that most of us turn to Google to find something, that data gives an incredibly solid, base-level overview of just how large your customer base could be.
Photo: Google Trends.
Photo: Google Trends.
Additionally, you can use it to find out the product features your audience thinks are great, what the demand is for those features, find out what folks want to know about your competitors, catching on to trends and turning those insights into real time ads (blowing the socks off potential customers / clients in the process), and a hell of a lot more.
ASK ONE HELLA BASIC QUESTION
A tried and tested entrepreneurial rule of thumb is to ask a pretty straightforward question of your business idea.
YOU: “Yo, business idea, do you solve a problem?”
BIZ IDEA: “Why yes, talented and attractive human. Yes I do.”
This is pretty universally applicable given that most of us will fork over money (usually depending on how much we have) to have an everyday problem solved for us. An example might be folks who can’t be effed dealing with anyone first thing in the morning when they’re ordering their coffee. Apps have been created that enable you to pre-order / pay for your coffee, allowing you to just grab ‘n go – thus solving the problem some face of dealing with others on their way to work.
Your idea, however, might take the problem-solving qualities of a pre-existing business and add something that takes it nek-level. Taxis, for instance, solved the issue of getting from point a to point b. Uber then came about and made the whole system work better (and for far less money).
Oh, and that’s another important thing to remember as proven by Uber – your business really doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. Don’t get caught up if someone’s already created an organisation that’s doing what you plan to, because (as the next section explains) that’s kinda a good thing.
HUNT AROUND FOR YOUR COMPETITION
Oh no! I’ve recognised a saturated market a day before the party / launching my business!
Chill, young padawan. Competition is GREAT. In extremely basic terms, the presence of folks vying for the same dollars as you proves that, well, there’s dollars to be made. They’ve done all the hard work for you in terms of validating whether a customer pool legit exists (unless, of course, they’re just pissing away advertising dollars into the proverbial wind that is the internet).
Think about it: The Iconic didn’t teeter away from opening shop just because ASOS existed. Apple still got in the mobile game even though Nokia dominated the market. It’s about grabbing a slice of the market and converting them into purchasers of your product or users of your service. Perhaps your idea will become a market dominator someday, but for the time being, just be stoked to get in on the action – the cash your making should help in that regard.
If you’re legit about getting your own thing up and running, and want it to be successful, then make sure you’re as educated as you can be. There’s so many ways to validate a business idea – not to mention the millions of books, blogs and resources available. Avoid getting bogged down in what is / isn’t important with a qualification that’ll help you bring your idea to life.
Why wait to make great? Fast track your dreams by enrolling with TAFE Queensland HERE.
Photo: Denise Truscello / Getty.
