Everyone has a business idea or a dream they’d love to turn into reality. Some business ideas may be a dime a dozen or they could be as precious and as rare as diamonds. Some ideas like Uber reinvented transportation. Some ideas like Pet Rock began as a joke. Some ideas like Disneyland were considered bad ideas.
So, how do you know if your idea will become a hit or a miss? What questions could you ask yourself when a great business venture pops into your head? How do you determine if what you’ve been pouring your money on will result in a great return of investment or if it will bankrupt you? What’s the best method to validate an idea?
These are some of the important questions we answer in this episode.
What To Listen For:
- Frank Lloyd Wright: “An idea is salvation by imagination” 13:22
- Many people remain stuck at the starting line because they focus on the wrong things 14:14
- Many people spend thousands of dollars on a business that they later discover has no customer 15:11
- A word of caution about Kickstarter 16:40
- Some businesses create new markets while others reinvent the market 18:25
- Time is money 19:40
- Questions to ask yourself 22:08
- Interview industry experts for information and validation 22:56
- Market testing doesn’t need to be sophisticated 27:18
- Tips for people who struggle with coming up with an idea 29:04
- Validate services by selling it first 30:09
- What is an acceptable financial threshold to validate an idea? 32:40
- Richard Branson’s proof of concept for Virgin Atlantic 33:50
- Niched and scalable ideas that solve a problem 34:35
- A magical idea and timing is a great combination 42:42
- Many people thought Disneyland was a bad idea 44:27
- Get your idea out there 45:06
- What if someone steals my idea? 45:46
What’s Grinding Our Gears?
Jennifer: If you take unflattering pictures, don’t share it without the permission of person(s) in the picture
One Cool Thing
Joe: IBM will no longer offer or develop facial recognition software
Sources mentioned:
Masterminds [need to confirm site link]
What’s Up with the Geeks?
Posted by Business Geeks Podcast on Monday, 15 June 2020
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