fun fact, the life design project was almost called “no shift key” because i didn’t like using capitals
whether you’re thinking of selling a product or service, or have an idea for a business, i have a trick for testing if it’s profitable that i’ve been using in my business.
the idea can be anything at first to open your mind to this, it could be selling baked goods, doing technical support, telling people how to rack up frequent flyer miles, it’s not important to start.
the biggest hurdle when in this space is usually a mental one…
you’re head messes with you when you have ideas…
- might be scared and so you think “i could never make money from this”
- might be practical and worry about graphics, and the website, and marketing, and how you’re going to charge people equaling overload
- could be adding features by the minute to your great idea, increasing development time, and people involved
- get lost on where to start
- complain you’re already too busy but have big dreams
most businesses don’t fail for lack of trying, they fail because the idea wasn’t very good to start with and no one bothered to figure that out.
so how can you figure all this out quickly and get the real question answered…is this idea going to work?
your first move is to ask that question, which not everyone does before they throw all their money into a pizza place or quit their job
…then boil everything down to basics and set one really specific goal…that will get you started, everything after that I’m still learning.
start small, test, and tweak
IT Arsenal didn’t grow until I got really specific about what was offered and measurable goals like, 10 sales this month.
i tricked myself into action by telling myself i would offer one of my product ideas for a couple months and then change to another one of my ideas instead of trying to get my head around how to offer everything and get everything done.
this “cycle idea” tricked me into getting really really specific instead of trying to pitch “how awesome everything I do is” (pour on the sarcasm)….or think of all the problems or reasons i can’t do it. i was able to just start, really start.
after you make the mental shift, it’s much easier to make progress. it’s something bite sized you can take on.
i ended up not actually moving to another idea in a few months, sometimes it was longer, sometimes shorter, but it forced me to get obsessed about a specific product idea in cycles and find what worked, in other words, iterate more and quicker. i’m still doing this now.
examples of getting really specific for my ideas looked like this…Monthly WordPress Backup and Customized Advice, Website Setup for Online Entrepreneurs, Website Setup Training with Video’s for the Non-Technical.
instead of worrying about delivery, i asked people if they wanted this, got feedback and if yes, just sent them a PayPal link and the more feedback I got validated putting more effort into setting up a system for people to buy it, or a better graphic, or a graphic at all.
bad execution is also why business ideas fail, but without a profitable idea, execution doesn’t matter.
you could post your idea on craigslist first to boil things down to their basics. look to only make 3 sales or some very specific measure.
i was surprised…just getting a little specific in the offer and the goals made all the difference and had immediate results (IE questions, interest, and sales). i now have several products selling, with several landing pages, while i slowly keep testing.
the fact that I’m too busy with users to make changes means I’m making money, which was the point. my original ideas have changed, but what’s important is i know what is wanted, what people will pay for, and can act on it.
when you have something to grow, instead of looking quizically at an empty pot you can test just how profitable your idea can be or change it and keep testing.
how to start
- boil your idea down to a specific small offering
- ask people if they would buy it, ask them to do so. use friends or craigslist to find people. use launch rock to gather e-mails (http://launchrock.com/)
- do it for them, gather feedback
- test and tweak
…after you do this, you have something, which was the point. this is encouragement to take a step on a project you’ve been thinking about.