If You Build It Will They Come?
Published by IdeaTagging.com February 27th, 2008 in General Posts, BlogI have written here before about evaluating business ideas. Now I don’t know about you but I find that I am continually adjusting and fine-tuning my methods and criteria for assessing mine and other people’s ideas. Recently I read about YouNoodle - a controversial startup that allegedly claims to be able to predict the success or failure of other startups. I say allegedly because following some bad press, the company has come out to clarify its claims. I don’t know about all that but whilst YouNoodle apparently focuses on the founders in making its predictions, I prefer to look at the product itself and the market it aims to serve. So here are some questions I ask myself.
| Questions |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| Does it solve a problem worth solving, better than anyone is currently doing? |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Is it free? (I hate this one but it is increasing important) |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Are its benefits obvious or easily explained? |
x |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
| Can you easily identify and inexpensively reach your target customer to inform them about your product/service? |
x |
x |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Will They Come? |
N |
N |
M |
M |
M |
M |
M |
Y |
M |
M |
Y |
Y |
| Should you build it? |
N |
N |
N |
M |
N |
M |
M |
Y |
M |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Notes:
Y = Yes; N = No; x = It doesn’t matter; M = Maybe
- Columns 1 to 4 are basically saying that if your idea does not solve a problem (i.e. relieve a pain) worth relieving or if it does not do so better than everyone else, then don’t bother building it. The only exception being when the benefits can be easily explained to consumers and you can easily find and market to your customers without spending tons of money - then it may be worth an experiment.
- Columns 5 to 8 say that even if your product will not be free, as long as you are relieving a real pain and doing so better than anyone else, it is probably worth experimenting with your idea out - but not if it is too difficult and expensive to do so. If on top of this the benefits of your product can be easily explained and you can easily find and cheaply reach your target customers then do definitely go for it.
- The point of columns 9 to 12 is that if you are addressing a real customer pain better than anyone else and doing so for free then there is a really good chance people will flock to you - definitely so if the benefits are easily explained. If you can reach those customers easily and cheaply then you should definitely do it. Of course there must be some other way of making money from your product if you are giving it away for free. Advertising is a popular choice these days but as regular readers may know, I am not too fond of having it as a sole source of revenue.
As always, all the best with your ideas.
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