If you're thinking of going it alone to take advantage of YouEconomy's countless opportunities, the concept of risk is probably a close roommate. You wondered if this business idea would work, if it would work for YOU, and if you're a little crazy to leave what has become so comfortable.
The bad news is that it there is no guarantee. Yes, joining YouEconomy as a business owner comes with risks. Any new company does.
Related: The 5 Biggest YouEconomy Challenges and How to Deal With Them
The good news is that you can mitigate this risk a bit by doing your homework and validating your business idea before you go too deep. (Or after you get too deep…better late than never!)
Here are four ways to validate your business idea:
1. Google Trends:The search engine giant has a tool specifically designed for marketers called Google Trends. You'll find what people are currently searching for, what searches are similar to your topic, and where it's most popular. You can access a Year in Review report for 2018 (and several previous years), which compiles annual research data to show the added dimension of seasonal fluctuation or a multi-year period. Google Trends also has a subscriptions section where you can enter your topic and get regularly notified when notable events relate to your topic. You can also limit the location and frequency of the report.
Google Trends also has a subscriptions section where you can enter your topic and be regularly notified when notable events relate to your topic.
2. Amazon:If there's a book about your business, that's a good thing. Sure, having a unique business idea is great, but if there are already enough people interested in your topic to write and read a book about it, that's a good sign. Find books related to your business, research authors and their communities, and see what people are saying in reviews. You will get a good overview of the current state of your subject in the business world, and you will be able to see who your competition is right now. A little healthy competition is a sign of a thriving market. If you can't find anything on Amazon related to your topic, be sure to skip to step #3 before getting into business.
3. Survey:ask people who would be your ideal customers what they want, what they need and think about your business topic. This could mean monitoring them with an app like Typeform or Survey Monkey. Or it can be as simple as posting on social media with a question or two. Your understanding of people's pain points, your experience with ineffective solutions, and your hope of finding a solution that will work will go a long way in shaping a business and services that sell. Nothing can replace direct feedback.
4. Start small:It's tempting to make a splash with your business launch, but in reality, starting small with a test service or product is a much less stressful way to validate your idea before spending a lot of time or money . Developing a minimum viable product (a term coined by Frank Robinson of SyncDev in 2001) means creating something that has just enough of what people need and gives them just enough results to prove success or failure. It allows you to measure performance, make adjustments, and visualize potential without much upfront investment…or risk.
Explore these options to validate your business idea and remember that even if you there is no way to guarantee your success, the only way to guarantee failure is to never try.
A final note on validating your idea:you will get lots of feedback from family and friends. You might hear lots of reasons why your idea won't work, lots of news stories about the state of the economy, and lots of personal experiences that cast your business in a negative light.
But here's the first question to ask when you hear these kinds of comments:is the person giving me their opinion an expert in this field or my ideal potential client?
If the answer is no, then you must learn to take this kind of negative forecast with a grain of salt. Yes, your loved ones have your best interests at heart. But not everyone is an expert. And not everyone is your ideal customer. These are the two people you really need to weigh.
If owning a business is your dream, then do your homework, validate your idea, and let me know when you launch! I'll cheer you on from the trenches!
Solopreneurs Soar
Solopreneurs Make Money!
According to the US Census Bureau, the number of one-person businesses (non-employer businesses) earning $1 million to $2.49 million in revenue jumped 33% from 2011 to 2015. That's a huge increase, and this is not limited to the set of millionaires. The number of businesses making six figures is also on the rise, which means we'll likely soon see them hitting their first million.
As solopreneurs gain more experience and expertise, they can shape and scale their activities to increase their income. Between contractors and online infrastructure, the potential to operate lean and cost-effective has never been higher
