You might have been playing around with a business idea in your head for a while now and realized that you could make a profit from it. Turning ideas into a business venture might have been something you didn’t think you could do before, but here you are now, taking baby steps towards your goal. But before you go ahead and start renting a storefront or creating a website, there are some things that you should do first.
Actualizing your ideas might be harder than you thought, especially with the market being saturated with all the other products existing at the moment. So you must do your homework and learn about your competition. Here are some tips that you could follow to make sure that your product stands out from the rest:
Test the Waters
As other entrepreneurs might tell you, remember to never fall in love with your first idea because the chances are that it’s something that already exists. When you decide on the idea you want to actualize, try to see if it’s already available in the market. If it is, try to think of the differences that your product can offer that the existing item on the market can’t.
There are numerous ways you can dip your toe in the water, but the most efficient way is to follow the ripples. For instance, if your chosen business idea is to sell baked goods, then start searching for possible competition in your neighborhood. Then move forward to your local farmer’s market.
After you’ve seen what your hometown has to offer, search the internet to scope out the competition in your area. Go bigger each time until you’ve hit the limit on the areas you want to cover and sell to. Once you settle on the specifications and limitations of your product, it’s time to move on to the next part of this idea creation: to compare and to contrast.
Compare & Contrast
Having data that is already available to you will be your upper hand against your soon-to-be competitors. If you’re feeling sneaky, you can even test out their products to see if they can compare to yours. But if you don’t have the resources to try out the products first-hand, then utilize what’s available on the internet.
If you bought a certain product online, there is a huge chance that there will be reviews or feedback about that product. All the more if they have their website or web page. After staking out the competition, you now have to compare and contrast all the existing products with each other, and then with your product. That’s one of the best ways to test out your idea before it hits the market.
And speaking of the market, that is probably the most important aspect of creating a business venture. So without further ado, here is the last trick you can have up your sleeve.
Sampling & Surveying
After you’ve done all the work, it’s now time to release your creations to the world. The best way to market your product and feel out how the public will react to it is advertising. If your business idea is to sell food products, one way to see how the market will receive it is to offer free samples to passersby at your local supermarket. Once they’ve tasted your product, ask them to answer online surveys to help you adapt to the demands of the market.
The same principle can be applied to other products or services, provided that you adapt the sampling to your chosen business idea. For example, if you want to offer language lessons, make the first lesson free, or charge at a discount so that your customers will be more inclined to take you up on that deal.
Another would be if you’re selling perfume, the best way to attract customers is to target their sense of smell. Set up a stand at the mall or the park, and offer perfume samples to everyone who passes by you. There are lots of other ways for you to test out your products in the market. The only limit you have is the one you set for yourself.
These are only some ways you can opt to take when starting your own business. Just remember that the most important thing to gather is feedback. Your customers’ feedback is the key to opening up your future doors, so never forget to ask for them and then adapt to the demands of your market.
