How to be confident in the existence of a market for your business idea
Do you have a great business idea to create a completely new product or service? Moreover, you have no doubt that this is exactly what people need today? And what if you are still mistaken?
Having accurate and reliable information about what your potential customers actually want to purchase will not only save you from unnecessary large cash costs, but also help to maintain peace of mind and give you more working enthusiasm.
The following are four recommendations that will help you more critically evaluate your business idea before you begin to impose on people goods or services that they absolutely do not need.
1. Remember: the market for goods and services is a strict but fair judge.
Being in business, it is impossible not to acknowledge the fact that ultimately it is the market that dictates the conditions for success. This means, first of all, it is necessary to collect all the data that underlie a successful business start. In particular, calculate the potential profit for your category of goods or services in the local, regional and national markets; collect information about your competitors; determine whether the market for the product or service you are offering is new and dynamic, or mature and static. All this information is needed to determine whether the game is worth the candle, that is, whether your business will be able to occupy its niche in the market and whether it will be profitable.
2. Find your special niche in the market.
In order to occupy your own niche in the market, you should start by choosing the product that you will sell or the services you intend to provide. It is more expedient to make this choice in favor of the fact that it will be in demand always and practically under any circumstances. Such commodities provide unlimited opportunities for the manifestation of creativity and innovation in the promotion of business, and also leave a chance for the conclusion of repeat transactions. It is also important to remember that both market trends and consumer tastes change quite quickly. And if you succeed, given the above, to occupy your narrow niche in the market for goods and services, you will be able to set prices yourself and not be afraid of strong competition.
3. Build a regular customer base
Finding new customers or buying market share is the most expensive way to build a business. Meanwhile, the desire to conclude repeat transactions and the desire to earn the loyalty of customers will force you instead of searching for the answer to the question “How to attract a new customer?” To look for an answer to the question “How much can I sell to each of my regular customers and how long can I keep their interest?” And it will become a kind of insurance for your business, since it is much more profitable to deal with regular customers than to seek new ones. In addition, if you accumulate a customer base, you can significantly reduce advertising costs, as the so-called word of mouth advertising will already work.
4. Test all your ideas
There are many ways to test your business ideas at no significant cost – from creating a regular web page to transferring your retail products to sales in existing stores on a consignment basis. So you can find out what consumers want to see in the market. Such information will be needed in order to determine whether to raise the offer or whether it will not be wiser to engage in a more profitable business.
And most importantly, always have in mind that investing power and money is only in the development of those ideas that will play into the hands of you and your business.
