Business Idea - Success or Not? How to Tell!

Hint: it's not to spend thousands of dollars producing a new widget or rolling out a new service, then hoping and praying that you'll somehow find enough customers to turn a profit.

And while market analysis is definitely an important step in making any business decision, investing weeks or months in writing a lengthy detailed number-laden business plan with pages and pages of charts, graphs, and estimated profit and loss statements is often only an exercise in frustration.

After all, in many cases, the figures are simply wild guesses. So, what should you do?

The best way I know to find out if people are interested in a particular product or service and what they might be willing to pay for it, is to ask them. Sounds simple when you think about it, right? I'm amazed at the number of entrepreneurs I've seen in my practice of public accounting who never even considered this approach.

Here are a few ways you can connect with your current customers and prospective clients to get their input:

• On the phone
• By email
• Through snail mail
• In a form posted on your web site or blog
• On Internet forums
• At on-line social media sites
• When they visit your office or store
• At local networking events
• Via webinar or teleseminar

With the exception of regular postal mail, all of these methods can be tested for free. Gone are the days when you had to spend big bucks and take giant risks when starting or growing a business.

I don't have space here to go into great detail about how to use these various options to actually collect the data and opinions you'll need, but I'll give you some advice. Instead of asking direct questions about the widget or service you're thinking of, try a one-question survey instead.

Ask the people in your target market about the problems they currently face. If you listen carefully, you'll probably hear them define the solution that they're looking for. Then you'll know what to provide.

I'll practice what I preach by showing you how I use a free online survey tool. Click here to take a one minute survey about your small business. Your answer will help form the content for my next article. For more information: Sheryl@BusinessStartupSuccessClub.com.