How to Select Business Ideas? When undertaking, a fundamental element is to make a correct selection of a business idea, how to select a business idea, when there are multiple options?
A business idea is something that solves a problem, a need or a wish for someone who is willing to pay for it. The beginning of an enterprise has been always a business idea, in this sense the entrepreneur, once he has made the decision to undertake, must take on the task of identifying business ideas.
After exploring different sources of business ideas, it is possible to find more than one initiative available, therefore, it is necessary to take the task of selecting an idea, not necessarily so that the other business ideas are discarded, but yes, to that for a certain time the effort and the entrepreneurial process is focused on a certain prioritized initiative.
It is in this situation, in which the entrepreneur often wonders, how to select a business initiative?
How to choose a business idea?
To select a business idea before several alternatives, it is pertinent to consider and evaluate three fundamental aspects or elements in any entrepreneurial process, these are:
- Passion for initiative
- Technical capacity for development or implementation
- Market or customer disposition
1. Passion for initiative
The first fundamental criterion for the development of a business idea is passion, understood by it, taste, affinity, liking, charm or interest in the business idea.
Why is passion important when undertaking?
Undertaking is a process that may not be easy, that is, it may involve the development of multiple tasks, overcoming different challenges, including frustration and failure, as a significant investment of time and actions, the only way to Coping with these and other situations on the part of an entrepreneur is the love of his purpose, his goal, his trade or his art.
Through passion, it is possible to develop basic factors in an effective entrepreneurship process, such as effort, sacrifice, perseverance and resilience. When passion does not exist, the entrepreneur easily chooses other paths, such as resigning or desisting from a dream or purpose, therefore, for a business idea to have a greater probability of success, it is essential that the entrepreneur has a passion or strong appreciation for her.
How do you know if you have a passion for a business idea?
One of the recommended ways to identify if you have a passion for a business idea is to ask yourself if you would be able to carry out the product or service for a third party for free, or if you would be willing to invest a significant dose of your time and energy in said business idea without any remuneration.
Therefore, if you have several business ideas at hand under consideration, start betting on the one that awakens you the most passion.
2. Capacity for Realization or Technical Development
The second element to consider when choosing a business idea is the capacity for development or realization.
By capacity of development or realization is understood the capacity to carry out the product or services under consideration, in technically competitive or acceptable conditions for a market.
Why is the capacity for development or accomplishment important?
Without the capacity for development or realization, the cost of carrying out a business idea in terms of time, money and actions will be much higher, since in the entrepreneurial process the entrepreneur and his team must acquire and perfect their technical capabilities. That allows you to deliver a product or service under competitive conditions.
On the other hand, having the development or realization capabilities of the product or service will allow to accelerate the entrepreneurship process and quickly validate or test a business idea or improve it.
Types of skills or technical capabilities
The technical or development capacities can be their own or others’; being considered owner when said capacities are in the power of the entrepreneur and / or his team; and outsiders when the competences or capacities are in third parties, from which the entrepreneur and his team must learn, pay and / or link.
How do you know if you have the capacities for development or realization?
To know if the development or realization capabilities are fully or partially available, it is important that the entrepreneur questions and evaluates whether he is capable of generating the product or service under consideration with attributes and characteristics that are commercially competitive and attractive for a market.
What to do when you do not have the capacities for development or realization?
When you do not have the skills of development or technical realization of a product or service, the only viable option to give continuity to a business idea is to acquire them.
In order to acquire the capacities of development or realization, the available ways are to learn them through the development of the product or service, through some practical training that allows acquiring the required skills; hiring or paying someone who has these skills and is willing to make their services and knowledge available, or ultimately, partner or team up with the person or organization that has the development skills and is willing to be linked to the end to carry out a larger business idea or initiative.
3. Disposition of Customers or market
The third and last variable that you can consider to select or not a business idea is to analyze the availability of clients, that is, to determine if in reality some person, company or client would be willing to pay for said product or service in which base a business idea.
How to Select Business Ideas
For this, it is important to question whether the product or services actually solves a need, problem or interest of a client, since clients rarely purchase products or services that do not meet these conditions or do not generate value for them. Without a market or customers, a product or service is doomed to fail, therefore, if it is not identified, it is better not to bet on an initiative.
How to identify whether or not there is a market?
To identify whether or not there is a market, it is essential to recognize a subject or individual with a problem to satisfy and interest in paying for the solution of this, for this, there are many mechanisms or experiments that lead to determine the preference or not of acquisition of a product or service as a mechanism for solving a problem or need.
Some commonly used exercises to evaluate the existence or not of a market area:
- Interviews
- Development of commercial promotional and / or pre-sale campaigns
- Product or prototype tests and samples
- Surveys, among others.
Conclusion.
When developing an effective entrepreneurial process, it is essential to focus efforts on a business initiative, this fact demands an appropriate choice of the initiative on which to bet, when there are multiple options available. The choice of a business initiative, despite not being an easy process for an entrepreneur, is a relevant activity to make better use of resources.
To choose between several alternatives, it is appropriate to have rational criteria that help to make an appropriate decision. Although each entrepreneur is free to determine his own criteria, there are three fundamental criteria when selecting one or the other initiative, these are passion, technical development capacity and the availability of markets or clients.
