Occasionally, as a small business author and business coach, people approach me with ideas that they have. They just want to bounce the ideas off me. For instance, in 1999, someone told me about this great idea they had for online movies and TV, taking it all and putting it online so that we could watch it. Someone else came to me and approached me with the idea for a teddy beer. The idea is that it's a teddy bear that holds beer. Well, what do these ideas have in common? It's that they may have been great ideas, but they weren't necessarily opportunities.
Just because you have an idea for a business, doesn't necessarily mean that you can follow through with that idea and make money on it. So let's talk about six things that you can analyze yourself to determine whether or not your business idea is also an opportunity. Number one is we want to take a look at Demand. How many people want this thing that you're creating? Are there enough people out there to create a viable market? We may not know the answer to that, so the idea is to go to individuals who fit that market and ask them, would you like this thing if we offered it to you? How much would you be willing to pay for it? Just a little bit of researching to demand will open your eyes toward the direction of whether or not you have an opportunity.
Second is Expertise. Remember that example that I gave you of the online web video company. Well, the problem was the individual who shared it with me had no experience, no expertise whatsoever in online streaming or websites. You need to have experience and expertise in the area in which you're thinking about creating a business. Either that, or you need to recruit people who do have that experience and can help you make it become a reality.
Number three is consider the Resources that you have available. Do you have the money that you need to get something like this off the ground? Do you have materials and parts and access to people who can help you make this a reality? If you don't, that's a significant hinderance toward creating an opportunity. Number four is, is there Profit to be made? Sometimes, you may have a great idea for a product that people want but they're not willing to pay for it at a level that is going to be profitable.
You may have to find ways to reduce manufacturing costs. Either by outsourcing or putting things overseas or finding other scales of economy that allow you to lower the cost of production. Otherwise, there really isn't much of an opportunity here. Number five is Distribution. If we have this great idea, like a teddy beer, how are we going to get it out into the hands of potential customers? That all depends on distribution channels.
How are we going to get this into the store? Do you know how to do that? And if you don't know how to do that, you'll need to do some research and start making connections to make that a reality. And then, number six is, do you have a Proprietary Advantage? What that means is, is there some knowledge that you have that makes you have a head start in any potential competitors. Do you have a patent? Do you have a trademark? Is there something that gives you control over this idea? Keep in mind that if you do have a great idea and you start to create it, there's no reason why another company, a bigger company with more resources than you won't start doing it.
Unless you have some proprietary advantage. Now, one last comment. Sometimes this isn't so much about whether or not it's an idea, versus an opportunity, as it is whether it is an opportunity versus a best opportunity. There are lots of different things that you can do as an entrepreneur. The idea is, which one of those many opportunities is the best one for you, and the more you can focus on your best opportunity, the more likely you will have great success.
Author
Updated
3/31/2015Released
4/15/2014Skill Level Intermediate
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with Todd Dewett7h 50m Intermediate
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Introduction
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Welcome48s
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1. Finding Your Most Valuable Customers
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2. Setting Fees and Prices
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3. Solving Problems
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4. Working with Family and Friends
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Managing family and friends2m 59s
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5. Creating a Business Plan
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6. Starting a Hobby Business
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7. Discovering Your Most Valuable Service or Product
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8. Bootstrapping Your Business
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9. Creating Culture
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Building company values2m 34s
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10. Getting Organized
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Managing your time4m 45s
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11. Marketing with Social Media
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Deciding on your channels3m 11s
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12. Business Entities and Compensation
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13. Small Business Accounting
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14. Finding Your Marketing Message
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Refining your message4m 56s
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15. Documenting Business Systems
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16. Balancing Work and Life
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17. Increasing Sales in Your Business
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Developing your sales system3m 15s
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18. Testing Whether You Have an Idea or a Business
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19. Hiring Service Providers
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Selecting and hiring vendors2m 51s
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20. Hiring Employees
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Crafting a job and pay range3m 58s
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Interviewing candidates7m 25s
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21. Motivating Employees
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Developing people and paths4m 24s
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22. Seeking Capital
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Crafting your pitch5m 40s
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23. Working With Difficult Customers
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Working through complaints6m 11s
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24. Letting Employees Go
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Making a smooth transition5m 58s
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25. Generating New Sales Leads
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26. Maintaining Focus as a Business Owner
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Avoiding opportunity traps5m 26s
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27. Thinking Like An Entrepreneur
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Getting rich your own way4m 16s
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28. Dealing with Competition in Business
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29. Avoiding Blind Spots
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30. Creating a Customer Experience
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31. Networking for Small Business
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32. Building Accountability into your Small Business Culture
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33. Dealing with Business Failures
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34. Improving Sales Systems
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35. Giving Back
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36. Setting Goals for Small Business
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Measuring your success3m 31s
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37. Channeling Your Motivation
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Why you deserve success3m 8s
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38. Building a Small Business Exit Strategy
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Exit strategy options5m 7s
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39. Building Customer Loyalty
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The role of customer loyalty3m 47s
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40. Building Employee Loyalty
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41. Structuring a Small Business
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42. Branding Your Small Business
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Crafting your company story3m 39s
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43. Dispelling Big-Business Illusions
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44. Understanding if Entrepreneurship Is Right for You
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45. Managing Remote Employees
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Leading from a distance3m 11s
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46. Crowdfunding Your Business
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Understanding crowdfunding3m 29s
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47. Cultivating Entrepreneurial Curiosity
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48. Growing into a Mature Business
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Putting it all together5m 50s
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Video: Separating ideas from viable business opportunities