Author Login | Popular Articles | RSS Feeds | Sitemap

Home | Business


Researching And Developing Your Business Idea

By: Edward Bryce

Chances are, if you think your idea is original, it isn't. You will need to do a lot of research to make sure that nobody else is currently doing what you are doing. Even then, you will have to consider that somebody, somewhere, is also thinking the same thing you are, and at that point it's a race to see who can get the patent andor copyright first.

1. Modify An Already Good Thing

Even if you don't have your own idea, you can modify someone else's pre-existing idea. For example, many people like popcorn but want butter on it. Origionally, the only way to get butter flavored popcorn was to literally heat butter and then dip or spread the butter over the popcorn, and this required putting butter into a pot or bowl and melting it over a stove or in the microwave. Eventually, popcorn makers had built-in repositories to place butter so that as the hot air passed over the popcorn kernels, popping it, it also heated the butter so you didn't have to dirty a separate dish. Then, someone came up with the idea of coating kernels of popcorn in a butter spread so that they butter themselves as they pop. Of course, the idea was very messy and unusable in hot-air popcorn poppers because the butter would drip down into the machinery, so instead, a foil bag was provided to contain the buttery explosions and, as it turned out, double as the bag you could eat the popcorn out of (assuming you didn't then pour the popcorn out of the bag and into a bowl for eating). Always think to yourself, what's the next logical step? What doesn't change the product itself, but might make it faster or easier to use?

2. Avoid Impractical Ideas

If you stumble upon something that has a lot of potential, be sure to evalute how realistic and practical it might be. For example, you might come up with the idea to manufacture something, but there ends up not being a market for it. You might think kids will love your particular product, but then parents don't end up buying it, or you have limited success but your product gets known as a fad at best.

3. Do Market Research

The best thing you can do is actually get out there and talk to potential customers. Never be afraid to ask them what they want. At the same time, you will get a general sense of how many people out there might be interested in such a service.

4. Find A Niche

Let's face it, youre not going to be big. You don't have a lot of capital, nor do you have a big advertising budget. You don't already have a million customers so you can't price your product less and still make a profit because youre still getting a little bit of money from each customer. What you can do, however, is find a niche market. You might know what industry you want to work in, and that's about it - now's the time for you to narrow your options and cater to a specific type of customer.

5. Get It On Paper

Once you have an idea, it's time to flesh it out into the most basic elements - products or services, suppliers, customers, and work. For example, if your idea is to provide web design for small businesses, then this is where you need to sit down and figure out what suppliers you might need (web hosting, for example), and what services youd be providing for customers. Think of it as inputs and outputs. The next step, of course, is to determine a price that is profitable.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
For more great business related articles and resources check out http://businessopportunityhub.info

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
| Print | Ezine Ready | |

Recent Business Articles

  • How Would You Like Business Leads? By: Kristi Ambrose - Having leads for your business is one of the most important parts of ANY business, it doesn't matter if your work online, own a restaurant or are a writer. But how does someone get these leads? Or better yet how does someone get quality leads?
  • Orabyte.com - 6 Steps to Oracle Application DBA 100% Job Placement By: Surender Sara - Technology masters  who have helped individuals grow their careers by more than 100% join forces to reveal how to: -            Make $100+/hr as a Application DBA consultant -            Make your skills marketable in a down economy as Application DBA -    
  • The Importance Preschool Takes in our Life By: Tanya Wiseman - Starting an In Home Day Care Business in Burbank Starting a child day care business may sound like a fulfilling career, but it can often lead to obstacles when not approached responsibly. Providing child care can be done in both a professional setting, such as a day care or within ones own home. Figuring out which setting is a better fit can be difficult.
  • Business Grants For Women - Do They Exist? By: Dante Lee - In the past, the financial and societal difficulties for women who desired to start their own business were insurmountable. If these women did not come into the business venture with their own nest egg to get things started or, in the very least, financial aid from friends and family, it became near impossible to accomplish such an amazing feat.
  • Tips for Buying Safes By: Stewart Baker - When you buy safes you should consider many things to be sure you get the best one possible. You want protection against fire damage and from a burglar. You also want to be sure the safe works properly for you and never have a malfunction. When you look at safes you want to be sure you find one with a proper lock.
  • How To Make Money With Videos and Maverick Money Makers By: nursemelanie - You can easily make funny video websites, and then profit from them nicely. This is a new trend in internet marketing and produces great profits with Maverick Money Makers. Key to the development of a video is a catchy domain name and video title. A catchy, unique and memorable name is key to not only getting traffic but maintaining traffic. 2. Getting the videos.
  • Make Money on the Internet By: Mike McCoy - The desire to make money on the internet is something that many people are interested in. After all, it is a wide open frontier. The low start-up costs make it possible to get started with only a small investment, and the possibilities of being successful are huge.
  • Internet Money Making Tips By: Mike McCoy - One of the fastest growing things on the web today is internet money making ventures, and for good reason. The opportunities for internet money making are almost endless. If you have a passion, the chances are very good that you can find a way to make money on the internet with it.
  • List-Building Tactics Every Marketer Should Use By: Mike McCoy - "The money is in the list." If you've studied or taken part in Internet marketing for any time at all, you've likely seen this phrase several times over. But just exactly how do you go about building a list? Write articles and submit them to article directories. Article marketing is a sure way to get targeted traffic to your site.
  • Various Ways That 24 hour Call Centers Can Profit Your Business By: Tanya Wiseman - Nothing gets attention like a ringing phone, especially a ringing cell phone! Most everyone carries a cell phone, making it possible to contact just about anyone, anytime, anywhere. This is one of the best reasons to use an outbound telemarketing service to promote and sell your products and services. But even if you want to call only professional offices, outbound telemarketing makes good sense.

Comments

Search Ebay

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!


Add to Google
ArticleSnatch Authors:
Member Login Sign Up Submit Articles FAQ Submission Guidelines Top Authors
For Publishers:
Most Popular Articles Ezine Notifications Article RSS Feeds Terms of Service
For Everyone:
Blog About Us Link to Us Contact Us New Stuff Link Directory Privacy Policy Sitemap Resources
Our Sites:
Free Magazines Book Your Hotel Stay Free MySpace Tools Massive Video Collection Broadband Speed Test
Click here to submit your free, permanent ads to TheFreeAdForum.com!

Submit Your link to the Open Link Directory Project

Copyright 2005-2008 MJE Sales, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Proud member of the ArticleCkr Search Network Search Network!
ArticleSnatch.com is free for both publishers and authors to use and is supported entirely from advertising revenue.
Use of our service is protected by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.