Answering these few questions will be the first step to determining if your great idea translates into a viable opportunity.
What's your great idea?
(Translation: What is the product or service being offered?)
Who's going to buy or use it?
(Translation: Who's your customer? Refrain from answering "everyone!" You might also think about: Are there customers and a market of sufficient size to support it? What are the demographics of your target market?)
What makes your business better/different than everyone else's?
(Translation: What are the benefits? Is there a window of opportunity? Think about starting a coffee shop ten years ago versus today. Who are your competitors--and, yes, you definitely have some! Also, think about barriers to entry. If it's easy to do, won't everyone else do it too?)
How do you plan to get your stuff into the customer's hands?
(Translation: How do you get the product or service to the customers? Also, consider how many people it is going to take to run this business--and, yes, they need to get paid. Gone are the days of working solely for stock options... too many promises, too many stock certificates, and too little cash.)
How is this great idea going to make money?
(Translation: What is your return on investment? Revenue - Expenses = Profits? You also might want to consider how you're going to get you start-up capital. Great rule of thumb. If you can double the expenses, cut the revenues in half, float twice as long as anticipated, and still make money, you've got something! Oh yeah, mom and pop want to get paid back too!)
