The Idea Guide walks you through the 10 steps to plan any business idea effectively. Here are some additional, simple tactics to consider to keep shaping your idea.
1. Record your further thoughts on your business
The first thing to do is be positive and keeping jotting notes down to yourself. Jotting down these notes will spawn more ideas to help fill in some gaps that may remain. Think of signs, logos, or names that can create an image for your business. It’s fun to do and keeps you motivated. Entrepreneurial exhibits and seminars are great places to meet others like yourself who can provide you with contacts, advice, or feedback.
2. Observe other businesses
Remember to keep your eyes open to observe other businesses and how they go about their marketing, operations, and staffing for dos and don’ts that can be incorporated or avoided in your idea. You make purchasing decisions every day. What influences you to choose one purchase over another? Can you take these lessons learned from your own purchasing decisions to influence a potential customer to choose you over a competing business.
3. Show the idea to your friends and colleagues
Show the idea to friends and family who may provide you with some common-sense solutions to some of the issues that are still not clear in your mind. If they react positively, ask them why. It might give a clue to another possible selling feature or potential market that you overlooked. If someone expresses doubt, try to see if you can convince them otherwise by using the wealth of information you have recorded in this guide. If you cannot, make sure that you ask them to spell out exactly what makes them doubt it. By making others spell out their concerns, you have something to take back with you and consider rather than vague feedback. This constructive criticism will only help you make your idea stronger by helping you address issues that perhaps you overlooked.
4. Read up on other businesses
After reading this guide you know all of the necessary business terminology you will ever have to face so read up on other businesses in entrepreneurial magazines and business magazines. It will spark ideas in you and also possibly provide a key ingredient for your business. Also, get out into the marketplace and evaluate how your business (as you have planned it) would compare to others. This will refresh your memory and reinforce why you came up with the idea in the first place. Research your needs and start coming up with options and alternatives (for suppliers, locations, marketing promotions, and so forth).