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Research your business idea

Written by: Tash Hughes

Article Overview: Before starting a business, it is a good idea to do some research but where do you start? If you are new to business, you may not know how to test your idea before taking the risk of opening it. Tash Hughes explores some research options for new business owners.

Research your business idea

Before launching your great idea as a business, it is wise to check out if it is a viable proposition.

You may have a great idea, but if people don’t need or want to use it you won’t make any money. Think about the business of selling umbrellas – would it do better in Hobart or Alice Springs? Would an infant massage class do well in a retirement village? How about a Porsche dealer in northern WA?

So before planning too far, it is a good idea to research your business concept to see if it is workable. You need to research whether the idea is saleable, the appropriate location for it, who your customers are and what they like, what price level will be acceptable and whether a lot of other businesses already offer your idea.

There are many ways to research your business idea, and it’s probably best to use more than one method to get balanced results. Informal research can give you some great ideas and insight into your customers, but formal research is likely to produce better figures and statistics.

Some suggestions are

* Talk to everyone you meet and see if they would use your business
* Use the yellow pages and internet to see how many others are doing the same thing
* Observe people’s responses and questions in chat rooms, letters to the editor and talk back radio programs. If they are asking for your service/product, go for it!
* Speak to some business experts and listen to their advice
* Check if any upcoming technology would make your idea obsolete
* Pay a market research company to test reactions
* Find relevant statistics from the ABS or other reputable sources
* Do a survey or poll. Make sure you offer it to the people you intend selling to – there’s no point polling teenage girls about a clinic for balding men. Polls can be run through websites, newsletters or in person. Be careful to run your poll so that people can only respond once or your results may be useless.
* Look at other local business and determine what sort of customers they attract
* Look for competitors and industry bodies to gain an idea of going prices and what is currently on offer
* Join some business networks and listen to other business owners, in general and specifically those with a similar customer base as your idea.
* Do a trial run to see if the idea does work. For instance, sell products at a market stall, offer your services to a community group or do a fundraiser with a local school. Watch the responses and listen to any feedback you get.
* Read business magazines and articles to learn about new trends and growing industries


As each business is different and appeals to a different customer base, you need to choose the research methods that suit. Be a bit creative, but most importantly, listen to what people are saying. One throw away comment during the research phase may be the lead you need for successful marketing of your business.



Tash Hughes is the owner of Word Constructions and is available to solve all your business writing problems! From letters to policies, newsletters to web content, Word Constructions writes all business documents to your style and satisfaction.

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NEW PRODUCTS LIKE = Projector phone in the market - Hi ideasuniversity, I'm back. This just shows that there is no end to new stuff coming out. Someone has to work on it. Research and Development never stops. Has anyone a new idea? Let us know what it is. Maybe it can be shown here first in the future.
A fellow Business Man........ - Hello to all. My name is Bill Greiger and I am new to the community. I look forward to making new business contacts, associates, and hopefully friends. Good luck to everyone on their many business ventures! Bill Grieger- Online Research and Development
More Info - Julie, a little more info on what you are dioing presently will pobably put into context your query. JV's or partnerships can be of various kinds depending upon what your forte is and which is your deficiency area. Ideally this is the basis for any JV/partnership idea. Ofcourse I have put it too simply but the crux would remain the same. You could have a JV in the follwing areas : * Finance * Marketing * Production * Product Research etc. Given a little detail one could give specific ideas. Best of Luck
Mediocre Idea Can Become Profitable Through Marketing - OK, here is an interesting question for everyone. What would then determine an idea to go bad? Was it a bad idea to begin with? Or Was it due to the lack of research before formulating of an idea? Or Was it perhaps... our lack of ability to turn the idea into a profitable venture (meaning, it's a good idea, but the business owner cannot turn profit)? There are bad ideas around the world that if someone else marketed it could have turned into a million dollar idea. Not necessarily a bad idea, but.... For example, Google is widely popular in North America, but in Japan, people dominantly use Yahoo. For whatever reason, providing exactly the same results, Yahoo is marketing something better than Google is doing in Japan. Not that an idea goes bad.... but it's more of who is doing what that ensures better success. So knowing clearly and concisely what we wanted to do before formulating an idea, and thinking about the hungry market first before a coming up with business idea will outperform majority of competitors because most business don't think about envisioning the end result and working backwards. Personally, I have seen way too many people in MLM world who blame every idea but themselves for their failure. But some succeed while others fail, dealing with the same prospect, same market, same product. I tell those people that an idea presented by companies is only the front end of the picture, but the knowledge, network, and skills each business owner brings to the table will really determine an idea to turn profitable or not. Regards, Takuya
Trade secrets - Hi BizLoanz4u, I think I've only had a non-disclosure agreement with my web designer and I've never even felt the need to have one with my business coach when we were discussing my ideas. In fact, I knew that if he talked about my business with other people, it'd probably be in my best interests. When people talk about your idea, it helps provide free exposure and possibily even attracts others to get involved with your business. I believe that a person could probably have the most original idea, then write up the best business plan and even post it on the web or leave it on a college campus library table and the following would hold true: 1.) The idea or trade secret probably isn't original or a secret. 2.) The majority of people who stumble upon the "confidential" business plan would NOT act on it. 3.) The few who dare to take the risk and implement the idea would fail. 4.) And there's probably a better chance of winning the lottery or getting attacked by a shark or hit by lightning than for a person to find your idea/trade secret and turn it into a successful business.


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