Evaluating ideas: Working in the then or now…

Before any brilliant or seemingly brilliant idea goes anywhere some planning must first happen. For it to become a brilliant idea a few factors must also be considered. By doing this the idea is evaluated properly and screened and either pursued or abandoned.  Apparently there's no such thing as a bad idea but rather a bad solution…

So you have an idea but before anything you need to work out if there is a market or demand, determine if you can in fact deliver it or whether you can physically do it. There are other marketing principles that come into play. 

Firstly, looking at planning ahead; start with a specific result or having the end-in-mind and working up a plan to implement. This principle looks at everything that you will need to do to reach your goals. This principle is a more thought out and structured process.

Where as the bird-in-the-hand principle looks at what you have available now. This approach allows you to take your idea, create a plan based on what you have and basically start now… today. This type of evaluation is something that is more common with entrepreneurs. 

Looking at both principles more closely they can be broken down simply like this. You can work through what you need to get started, build a plan to implement and achieve your vision; or look at what you already have available and see what you can do to make it happen now.

So the factors that must be taken into consideration when working out whether an idea should be pursued, no matter which principle is used, include looking at strategy and market positioning. But also is it realistic, can the idea be pursued because you have the resources including money, the know how, physical assets and people. 

Again it comes down to what consumers want and need. If there is no demand or no potential then it's harder to market and may not be something that would be successful. After all generally three out of four start ups don't make it!

With that being the case, if i were to pursue a business idea i would be more inclined to work with the bird-in-hand principle. It could possibly be cheaper rather than working through from scratch and leaning on what resources were available at the time. But it really depends on the idea and the circumstances. 

RM

New horizons and the identification of market potentials

What lies ahead in untapped markets? The potential to identify new markets is vast but knowing where there are holes and how you can fill them is key.

I watched a video about the potential of untapped markets which demonstrated how two brothers saw an opportunity in a new market. One of the brothers, Bertrand explained how they moved from Mexico to the USA. In doing so they also moved from a paper based money society to one that predominately worked with electronic cash. From personal experience he saw the need and demand first hand of needing a way to pay for things but not having the means to do so. 

A lot of immigrants did not have bank accounts or have the ability to use alternate financial services. Their idea was simple. It allowed users to pay their bills using reload able prepaid debit cards. This idea gave flight to a concept and company called Netspend. It allowed consumers with the prepaid cards to make purchases online, over-the-counter, and a way to manage their money.

When looking at the hole in the market Bertrand also looked at what the consumers needed and begun to ask whether it should be done and why hasn't it been done before? Something that so many people would benefit from, there had to be a catch as to why there wasn't something like that available already. He answered each of these questions, saw that there was a demand and made a case to push forward with the idea.

Because Bertrand was out of his comfort zone he was forced to look at alternatives for him personally. He saw this as an opportunity to help others in a similar situation. He saw value in serving the under served which led him to thinking outside of the box and putting his thoughts into action. Moving from a one culture to another is hard and this initiative is more than helpful to help ease the transition.

No matter the idea you should always question and find solutions. Is there something that would make life easier, that would make your life easier? Is it such a simple idea that no one has even considered and that could be put into action. Look at all the options and how to best fill the market gap. Determine the need and cater to the consumers. You can learn from your own experiences. Having that first hand knowledge and understanding of what is required can help uncover a market that hasn't been identified before. Knowledge is power.

RM.