How to turn an idea into a profitable business ?
You have a great business idea in mind. But a great idea alone does not equal to a great business. Then what else do you need along with the idea ?
If you are eager to know the answer then this article is for you. Here we are going to share the top 5 secrets to turn an idea into a profitable business.
Many of you even might have multiple business ideas but all those ideas won’t turn into a million dollar business, in fact only few ideas have that potential. Now you might be in a confusion to pick the best idea out of it, so to help you in choosing the best idea and to make it a reality we have 5 unique secrets for you.
The top 5 secrets to turn an idea into a profitable business:
1. Validate your Idea
2. Identify the right audience.
3. A solid Business plan
4. Choosing the right team
5. Identify the legal requirements.
We will walk through you in detail about all these 5 steps to maximize the understanding and to increase the rate of being successful. If you are able to implement these 5 steps then you can be the best in business. So without any further extent let’s jump in.
Validate the Idea
Validating an idea is the first and foremost step before you start a business. An idea is unpredictable. Things may go wrong and result in huge losses. Validation will decrease the probability of risk and increase the rate of success.
To get started with validating your idea, you should first self assess yourself with the following questions : Does your idea have a market ? Does your idea have a long term vision ? Has your idea been already implemented ? If yes, then how to compete with them ?
If you are not sure of the answers, there are few tools which are extremely helpful to validate your idea. Let us see them one by one.
Google trends
Google trends is one the most powerful and insightful tool to validate your idea. If an Idea has no market then there is no business. One should analyze the market before getting started with the business. Now let’s see how you can analyze the market using Google trends.
Let's take an example of drone cameras. If you are aiming to start a business but not sure of its Market size then open google trends from here, select the country then enter search term related to your idea. Google trends will automatically display the popularity of your Idea. From the above picture you can observe the trend related to the search term Drone camera. Similarly you can also be able to validate the popularity and can estimate the market size using this tool. This tool is entirely free, it has more features to narrow down your search results such a regions, time range, category. It also gives you more Information related to search queries and demographics as well.
Google keyword planner
Google keyword planner is the next best tool to validate your idea. It gives you insights which help you to understand the market size.
You can check Google keyword planner from here.
Once you open the console, you can enter the keyword of your idea in the search bar and it will show you the results such as average monthly search volume, competition, SEO keywords and other useful insights as well.
In the above picture you can observe the insights displayed for the keyword drone cameras.
Similarly you can also be able to get insights of your market by using Google keyword planner.
This tool helps in estimating the market size even by location. It can also be used to research keywords of SEO to rank high on search Engines. As being in the initial stage of the business we recommend you to use this free tool to validate the size of the market. You can also use the tools like Quora spaces, Ubersuggest and some other community forums such as reddit to get some more insights about the market size and followers of a particular niche.
2. Identify the right customers.
Customers are the king in every business, if you are able to satisfy their needs then the money is in your pockets. But, how to know your Target customers? How to Identify their exact needs ?
The answers to these Questions are where the money lies in. It's only you who can Identify it, so to help you in identifying the Right customers, we are introducing you to the concept of three “U”.
● Understand the Business.
● Understand the audience
● Understand the activities.
Understand the business
The first move in identifying the right customers is to first understand the nature of your business. There are various types of business segments such as B2B, B2C, FMCG etc. Analyze under which type of business segment you come in. Understand your product or service better than anyone else. Identify who is your right customer by analyzing what you offer like does your product or service offer a solution to the common people or to the business owners. Understand your unique selling point (USP) and then frame your most valued product(MVP).
Understand the audience
Now after you identify the target segment that is your customers are common people or business owners then next you need to understand the Market segmentation of your audience like their Demographics, Geographics, psychographics and their emotional behaviors. The product or service which you offer might be suitable for a specific age group, specific gender, specific location or only up to specific duration. Understand these metrics in brief as these will guide you to understand who your right target audience is.
For example let's assume you want to start a drone business. Drones may be used by Men and women who are in the age group of 15 to 50, so these kinds of audience are only the right customers for you, the rest of the population such as kids and old are not your main target audience. Moreover you are still able to specifically target people based on their economical conditions such as by launching premium drones or budget drones. You can also segment the audience based on the usage such as for photography or for entertainment or to spy.
Understand the activities
Now you are able to understand your target audience but to get started you should also know the activities such as duration (usage life cycle of product or service), needs and requirements. There might already be some big players who captured a huge market but to compete or to surpass them you should rely on feedback to mould your service or product to suit your audience interests.
You should identify the Gaps in the market and try to fill it with your product or service. Should always keep an eye on those mediums where your target audience makes purchases such as in offline markets, online marketplaces, social media platforms, etc. Understanding these activities will reduce your marketing costs to a greater extent.
3. A solid Business plan
A solid business plan yields solid results. To start anything there should be an Idea, plan and implementation. Many Entrepreneurs will get confused between a business plan and a business model but you should not as we will take you down in detail about the business plan.
If you are starting a business or expanding business or looking for investors, everywhere the business plan will play a major role. A business plan should include the major 4 aspects such as
● Target Market size
● Competition
● Strategies
● Goals and revenue streams
Target market size
You should analyze the size of the target group, should understand the gaps in the market and also should have a clear vision of its future opportunities within the business
Competition
You should be aware of your competitors business size, share of market capture, strategies so that based on these moves you can have a vision in planning your achievable targets and goals.
Strategies
Different businesses need different strategies, there should be an A & B strategic approach to achieve these goals. Always keep backup strategies so that you can reduce the loss if a strategy fails miserably.
During the initial days of business make your strategic moves according to behavior of the customer rather than according to your competitors.
Goals and revenue streams
Goals should always be achievable, do not include goals which are too high, keep it simple and straight while being in the initial days of business. Analyze various streams of income modes, analyze the rate of investment. Specify the targets and always keep on motivating your team to reach it.
4. Choosing the right team.
Choosing the right team is always a crucial aspect while building a business. Many start-ups fail due to lack of the right team. To choose your team first list down the types of work that involve in building this business. Then share it with peers.
An ideal team should be included with a hard worker, a smart thinker, a decision maker, a legal advisor, an efficient manager and trustworthy employees. The team should always work collectively and should contribute to each other's success. A business is a team work if one fails then it may impact on the whole business as well.
Being the business owner one should always consult his team mates to get their feedback before launching a product or a service, as this not only reduce the risk but also can lead to new inventions. A right team with a right vision will lead a business to the right path. So choose your team wisely and try to never choose your team based on emotions.
5. Identify the Legal requirements
So far you have been successful in achieving the first 4 steps, tap yourself and hold on. Everything seems fine till now but here comes the legal bit. That’s where we step in.
Book a free call to discuss the requirements applicable to your business model.