How To Refine Your Business Idea: Size Up the Competition
Study your competition by visiting stores or locations where their products are offered. "Analyze the site, customers, traffic patterns, hours of operation, prices, quality of goods and services," suggests Sapp. What if you want to open a new restaurant? For starters, create a list of restaurants in the area. Look at the menus, pricing, and additional features (e.g., valet parking or late night bar). Then check out the diners those restaurants appeal to. Are they young college students, neighbourhood employees, or families?
Become a customer of the competition. Go into stealth mode by visiting their website and putting yourself on their e-mail list. Talk to their customers to ask them what they like or don't like about your competitor's product or service. Also, review their company literature and marketing materials, says Mosquita. Read articles written on them.
Your aim is to understand what your competition is doing so you can do it better. Maybe their service is poor. Maybe their product has some flaws. Find your selling point. "You want to unearth the opportunities in the market, a niche that is not being served at all or not being served adequately," says Friedmann.
Simpson's strategic trade mark is that her competitors move things but her company moves people. Smooth Mooove has a staff of 15, three trucks and a luxury passenger van, moving anywhere from 30 to 50 clients a month. The business, which had gross revenues were just under $500,000 in 2009, covers Alabama, Arkansas, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. Moreover, Simpson has received 1,500 inquiries from around the world about franchising her business idea.
Dig Deeper: How to Keep Tabs on the Competition
How To Refine Your Business Idea: Convene With Your Suppliers
This includes manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. "Talk to vendors who service your customers. They may be willing to share market research they have done on your industry," says Sapp. Talking to suppliers can tell you a great deal about how your industry works, which product lines are selling off the shelves, and why some companies are more successful at marketing their products than others.
Attend trade shows, conventions, and local business association meetings—anywhere people in your industry gather. "The most important aspects of what is going on in any particular industry is going to be found at a trade show," says Friedmann. "It can be through the educational sessions or from the exhibiting vendors, which will give you good sense of what's hot and what's not."
Dig Deeper: How to Boost Traffic at Your Trade Show Booth
How To Refine Your Business Idea: Do the Math
Don't overestimate your sales and under estimate your costs, says Mosquita. Research what your optimal sales should be. "Talk to other business owners and leaders in your industry, join a trade association, do whatever it takes to get an accurate estimate of your revenues that first year in business," suggests Mosquita. Suppliers also may be able to tell you what price potential customers would be willing to pay for the products or services you want to sell.
To test how your business idea will fare, you should prepare a "break-even analysis." This is where you project income and expenses for a year to determine whether your business will make enough sales revenue to pay for its expenses.
Dig Deeper: Business Forecasting in a Crazy, Mixed-up World
How To Refine Your Business Idea: Talk to the Pros
Seek out counselors and talk to industry veterans. Simpson went to SCORE, the SBA and the Women's Economic Development Agency. She also joined the National Association of Senior Move Managers. The Internet, your local library, the U.S. Census Bureau, business schools, industry associations, can be invaluable sources of information and contacts. For instance, you might approach business schools in your area to see if one of their marketing classes will take on your business as a test project. You could potentially get some valuable market research results at no cost.
Dig Deeper: How to Find a Business Mentor
