Brainstorming Your Business Idea Potential

^{Lesson Materials} Brainstorming Your Business Idea Potential Worksheet
^{Completion time} About 25 minutes

It's an exciting time right now. You have a business idea that you hope changes your industry forever. But first things first! You need to make sure your idea isn't already out there, doesn't already have competition, and is an idea that is in-demand. That's why having brainstorming sessions and doing the proper research beforehand is essential. And that's what you'll learn here: how to evaluate your business idea potential.

In this session we'll address what questions you need to think about and answer before you create your business plan and pitch to investors.

Brainstorming Your Business Idea

Right now, your idea is a piece of a puzzle you haven't put together yet. It's an idea that you would like to grow but you're not entirely sure – yet – how it fits into the bigger picture. To help this idea grow, you need to answer the following questions:

What is your objective?
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Who will your customer be?

Let's start with your objective: are you selling a product, introducing something new, or expanding or improving on something that already exists? Choose one.

Next, why are you doing this? What’s the problem you're trying to solve? The answer to this question will help you decide if your idea can grow into something successful. A few possible answers to get the juices flowing:

"My business idea will improve people's day-to-day lives"
"My business idea will be more cost efficient than what's already out there"
"My business idea will support other, popular technologies"

The last question you need to answer before you can take your idea further is who is your customer? Who will benefit from your business idea? Are you targeting the consumer market, business market, government market, or international market? We go into more depth on the customer market in the next section.

Business Opportunities

Once you have the business basics thought out, the next step is to brainstorm what type of business this could be. Is it going to be an ecommerce or online business? Will it be better as a storefront business or can it simply be a home-based business run from your kitchen table?

One way to answer this question is to go back and think about your ideal customer and decide which market your product or service would benefit the most. A few options include:

Mass Market: large number of people with a common problem. Ie. Automobiles
Niche Market: a specific group with a problem. Ie. Diapers
Segmented: a large group with variations of a problem. Ie. Accounting Software
Diversified: a business or service that picks which customer segments it wants to serve. Ie. Sporting Goods
Multi-sided Platforms/Markets: serving both sides of the market. Ie. Credit cards, serving both cardholders and merchants.

Now that you have identified which market your product fits best, you can decide how your customer is going to find you. For instance, a sporting goods product would most likely be more successful if there was a storefront and online web presence; whereas accounting software could be sold almost exclusively online.

Research

We get more in-depth on researching your competition in future sessions. But for right now, it's important to brainstorm the competition. Start thinking about:

What competitors are offering
What competitors' prices are
What competitors strengths and weaknesses are

By answering these questions, you'll inadvertently be creating your business model. You'll start to understand how you want to frame your brand, how you want to develop your service or product, and how you want to make your business stand out in the market. Being able to show your business idea has value will be essential in your elevator pitch, especially when pitching to investors.

Brainstorming Best Practices

Now you know what to think about during your brainstorm, it's time to have one! Below are a few best practices to help get you into the zone:

Where to get inspiration

Books & Articles

Get your brain in the right mindset for brainstorming by reading business articles and books. We list over 120 suggestions here: Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read

Videos

In addition to the video lectures you'll come across in this course, watching inspirational videos like TED Talks is a great way to get your brain in the right mindset for brainstorming.

Who to brainstorm with

Whether you're starting a business on your own or with others, it helps to bounce ideas off colleagues or even peers. Here are a few ideas on who makes the best "brainstorming buddy":

Colleagues, small business experts, or mentors
Real potential customers
Potential suppliers or partners

Now it's your turn! Download the attached worksheet and jot down your answers to the questions above. Before you know it, you'll have outlined your business idea – the first step to pitching your business.