Biz Opps - Make Money
Ideas for a Business Are a Dime a Dozen
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that sorry phrase. I’ve probably uttered it myself many times.
You’ve heard of serial entrepreneurs, haven’t you?
Maybe there should be a name for serial business idea generators. These are people that can come up with business ideas, one after another, but they never seem to do anything beyond thinking! They don’t, can’t, or won’t take the next step to implement their idea.
It’s almost a paralysis of sorts – a “disease” of the mind that can only move from idea to idea – but never completing the business task of maturing and developing the idea into a profitable business. As a result, people with this “curse” (if you will) never profit from their ideas.
Coming up with a workable Internet business idea is only the beginning of the beginning. If whatever that idea is never develops beyond a thought, the dream of a real business will never be realized.
In fact, let me be so blunt as to suggest that your chances for success in any business creation attempt will be directly proportional to your ability to translate ideas, and feelings, and thoughts into executed action steps.
Internet business ideas with the corresponding action will only remain as unfulfilled dreams.
Every new product and service that you see in the world today is the result of someone’s acting upon an idea and following through by executing a series of steps that eventually resulted in the product’s launch and subsequent sales.
There may have been many, many people that had a similar, or even the exact same idea. Too bad for them … isn’t it?
Some didn’t know what to do with the idea. Some are still working on developing the product. Some are researching the market to death. Others are testing their product. Most likely others worked on the same idea for a while then decided they couldn’t make a profitable product out of it. There are thousands of reasons why good ideas don’t come to fruition.
Who knows how many entrepreneurs had the very same idea but shoved it into the recesses of the mind only to be pulled up later – most likely when they see what others have done with the same (or nearly the same) idea – but by then, it’s too late to commercialize or be successful. First movers usually have a distinct advantage over the followers.
Here are the 10 steps I see in moving most any idea forward. (We will go into more detail later as we concentrate on each of these critical actions.)
1. Research the idea online. Look for duplicate or even similar products that are already on the market. Check the forums, chat rooms, and product review sites for valuable customer feedback and preferences related to the product or service you’re contemplating.
2. Test the idea on your perfect customers. Define who is your “perfect” customer and figure out how to contact some in this group – possibly by survey. Collect opinions, preferences, favorite “brands,” features everyone’s talking about, etc.
3. Develop the draft or prototype. Don’t worry that it’s not perfect at this initial stage – you’re just trying to test the waters to see if there is enough interest to make continuing worthwhile. Remember that technology moves very quickly and products become out-of-date very soon.
4. Refine it, if you can, by first letting a few key players try it and then modify the product to include their suggestions (if valid.) (Now may also be a great time to get testimonials from these experts for your marketing that will begin soon.)
5. Develop simple marketing strategies/materials so you can launch.
6. Launch the initial test with controls; get feedback.
7. Evaluate, modify, re-launch to a wider audience once you have made any changes to the product. Yes, it always helps to refine and modify what you plan to bring to market before you scale up your ad and promo budgets.
8. Continue to follow through with additional launches after applying the “evaluate – refine – modify – test” cycle to your product.
9. Always be willing to adapt to the desires and needs/wants of your target market. If feedback suggests some critical changes, make them! If customers ask for more details, give it to them! The point is … you are profiting by satisfying a marketplace demand. Make it happen!
10. Understand that consumers are fickle and marketplaces online change over time … sometimes very rapidly. The old saying “strike while the iron is hot” or “make hay while the sun shines” still hold true. The Internet markets are filled with products collecting “digital dust” because they no longer (or never did) appeal to consumers.
One of the great things about solo Internet business strategy is that the product cycle online is very short and modifications and new roll-outs can happen in a matter of a few days time in many products and services.
In fact, many will suggest that in simple products (digital reports and books, for example) it’s best to get them into the marketplace as soon as possible with the idea that you will modify and make them better (editions 2, 3, 4, etc) as a result of the feedback that will come when the product is in the hands of customers.
One true test of an entrepreneur is whether he can take an idea and turn it into a profitable income generator. Ideas are only beginnings!
To your online business success,
Steve Browne
www.SteveBrowneDirect.com