7 Questions to Determine Whether a New Venture Will Survive Successfully
Paul and I have often been asked: “What are the questions that need to be answered to help me determine the viability of my new venture, product, or service?”
Will the innovation or product solve a major pain point for your users (improve their performance)?
Has this concept/idea been run past objective third parties (potential clients, dealers or subject matter experts)
What are the relevant points of product/service differentiation from those of competing products, services, or processes?
Has evidence been collected to prove that substantial enough numbers of clients/users are willing to pay a price that will make a profit?
Has the sales and marketing team developed cost-effective tactical plans to reach your target market?
In one clear sentence can you tell others why your potential clients will buy the product or service at a profitable price from us?
Have we determined if we have the resources (physical plant, technological and financial) to get this initiative past the breakeven point?
If you cannot tick “YES” to each of these questions, then you should not proceed even if your gut tells you it is a great idea.
No matter the answer yes or no to these questions the next step is to develop a plan to support the yes answers and in the case of “NO” do more research.
Doing these things takes the initiative from a high-risk status to safer calculated risk status.