You may roughly be aware what you want your business to be. But you need to try it out first before you go any further and start investing. Here's how you do it.
Building a Prototype.
If you plan to sell physical things, or you're going to do something like starting a website or making software, then you should build a prototype to see how your idea will work out. A version of your product that is built quickly by you alone is called a prototype and it serves to show that your idea is feasible in the real world. Building the new part that differentiates you from competitors is good enough if it would be too expensive to build the whole thing.
To see what other people think, try to show your prototype to some of them. Do you think they are excited? Are you sure they would use it?
Getting a Few Customers.
If you are providing a service or if your product is relatively low-value, then getting a few customers and doing a few dry runs shouldn't be too much trouble. To make sure that everything runs smoothly and that the customers are satisfied at the end of it, then give them a generous discount or you could even do it for free.
For instance, what if you are planning to be a landscape gardener from home? What you could is borrow tools and volunteer to do a garden for some kind of charity project and this is a good idea since you will be doing something nice for charity and it's not bad if small things go wrong since they are not paying for perfection. You should then go through all the motions as you would once your business is established, and see what comes out at the other end.
Here's another one. If you are planning to start a home business cooking pasta in your kitchen and delivering it to customers and you are an Italian living outside of Italy, then it would come as a surprise knowing how many home businesses there are in the catering industry. You could make a rough draft of a leaflet (with discounted prices) and deliver it to a small number of homes in the area, until you get a little response. What you can then determine is if it is really feasible to make and deliver these things and if there would be any profit in it.
Building a Prototype.
If you plan to sell physical things, or you're going to do something like starting a website or making software, then you should build a prototype to see how your idea will work out. A version of your product that is built quickly by you alone is called a prototype and it serves to show that your idea is feasible in the real world. Building the new part that differentiates you from competitors is good enough if it would be too expensive to build the whole thing.
To see what other people think, try to show your prototype to some of them. Do you think they are excited? Are you sure they would use it?
Getting a Few Customers.
If you are providing a service or if your product is relatively low-value, then getting a few customers and doing a few dry runs shouldn't be too much trouble. To make sure that everything runs smoothly and that the customers are satisfied at the end of it, then give them a generous discount or you could even do it for free.
For instance, what if you are planning to be a landscape gardener from home? What you could is borrow tools and volunteer to do a garden for some kind of charity project and this is a good idea since you will be doing something nice for charity and it's not bad if small things go wrong since they are not paying for perfection. You should then go through all the motions as you would once your business is established, and see what comes out at the other end.
Here's another one. If you are planning to start a home business cooking pasta in your kitchen and delivering it to customers and you are an Italian living outside of Italy, then it would come as a surprise knowing how many home businesses there are in the catering industry. You could make a rough draft of a leaflet (with discounted prices) and deliver it to a small number of homes in the area, until you get a little response. What you can then determine is if it is really feasible to make and deliver these things and if there would be any profit in it.
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