I always get excited about brainstorming new business ideas. It could be an idea for an entirely new business, product, or service.
In the past, I often erred on the side of executing quickly. But after many years of wasting time and money, I’ve learned to exercise a bit of caution and perform a sanity check first.
After all, success is as much about saying “No” to the wrong things as it is about saying “Yes” to the right opportunities. As solopreneurs, we don’t have infinite time and money, so we must place our bets more carefully.
In my Solopreneur workshop earlier this year, I shared a simple scoring system for narrowing down a choice between multiple business ideas (see image below).
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as what I could fit in one table on one slide in the presentation. So, I want to provide a more complete list of factors to explore when evaluating a new idea for your business.
Factors to consider (discussed in more detail in the podcast audio):
Your unique twist on this business concept (e.g., why is the product or service unique or better than the competition?)
The market timing and demand (e.g., are you solving a real, current need or pain?)
Why you? (i.e., why can you do this better than others?)
Your capabilities (e.g., talent, knowledge, skills, experience, reputation)
Your resources (e.g., network, space, hardware, software)
Speed of execution (e.g., how quickly could you spin this up?)
The startup costs and ongoing expenses (e.g., rent, equipment, services, materials, ads, staff)
Finances (e.g., financial cushion, investors, loans)
The market (e.g., size of addressable market, local, global, online)
The potential customers (e.g., do you want to interact with and help these people?)
Your ability to reach these customers
Excitement about the offer (e.g., does creating and offering this excite you?)
Motivation to drive your business in this direction (e.g., is this the future you want?)
Compatibility with your desired life experience (e.g., do you want to keep doing what it takes to sell this service or product?)
What you could charge for the goods and/or services (e.g., fixed price, hourly, project-based, retainer, etc.)
The potential sales volume (e.g., realistic demand, fulfillment bottlenecks, your 1-on-1 time)
Scalability (e.g., can sales grow and be automated?)
The demands on your time (e.g., can you support this volume?)
Profitability (e.g., projected revenue - expected expenses)
Potential risks (e.g., burnout, legal, reputation)
Would you like a confidential chat with me about your business ideas? Schedule a free coaching call!
I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
🌟 Sanity Check Potential Opportunities (Issue #83)