5 Ways to Know If Your Business Idea Is Any Good

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/2008/10/10/5-ways-to-know-if-your-business-idea-is-any-good/

by SarahToton • 18 years ago

16 8 18 years ago

AlexeyMK3• 18 years ago

4/5 (all except for the paying customer) isn't too bad, right? Plus, I'm using my own money, and I use look.fo on a daily basis, so perhaps I'm the paying customer?

ovi256• 18 years ago

Sneaky. Almost did not notice the plug. What about revenue ? Without a revenue mechanism, it's not a bussiness, it's a hobby.

AlexeyMK3• 18 years ago

Almost, right? :)

Theoretically, AdSense for Search revenues. But it really is more of a hobby; you're right. Do you use IM? If you do, take a look - no registration required.

edw519• 18 years ago

I think you have it backwards.

I'd say 1/5. Having a customer is the only thing that makes it a successful business.

Otherwise, it's just a fancy hobby.

AlexeyMK3• 18 years ago

By that logic, wouldn't you have to claim startups aren't businesses unless they have funding? I mean, I guess that's arguable...

mjnaus• 18 years ago

1) Loving what you do will definitely make it a whole lot easier to stick with your project and reach your milestones. However, it says absolutely nothing about how great a business your idea will make. I am sure a bunch of kids loved making a tool to throw sheep at their friends at Facebook... does that make it a good business idea?

2) Same thing, it will help execution but it says bupkis about how well your idea is suited to become a successful business. I am sure we could find at least one person willing to pay for throwing sheep at their friends, does that say anything about greatness of the idea? Try starting with 20+ customers.

3) It's getting boring, I know, but the same thing applies here. Your execution will go one heck of a lot easier if it's dirt cheap, but it says nothing about the quality of your idea.

4) Hardly any great business is build by a single person or started with a great team in place. As ideas mature and evolve, so do the people executing the idea.

"You can’t have a hope at success unless you either know how to run your business or have people who can do it for you."

What happened to "learning as you go". As your business grows, so do you and so do the people around you. Granted, do you need to do your research before getting into a certain industry, but having it all figured out from the get-go is unrealistic and will put a serious brake on execution.

What happened to being cash-flow positive, having good growth, having an active and growing user-base?

wheels• 18 years ago

Agreed. All the things from the post should be filed under "Rule 0: Common Sense."

I'd modify learning as you go to being reactive. You always have to learn as you go, but the part that seems most critical in there is being able to recognize which pieces of information that flow across your view are critical in shaping your direction and being able to factor those in.

tocomment• 18 years ago

I have a lot of ideas for enterprise software. Any ideas how to get customers? Do I have to hire a sales guy? Where do I find one?

5 Ways to Know If Your Business Idea Is Any Good

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