The Three Keys To Starting Your Own Successful Business - Page 3

The Right Product Or Idea

You don't have to have "the better mousetrap" or "the next great thing" for your product or service. There's an old saying that "ideas are a dime a dozen" and it is very true.

There's no real secret to finding the right product or service to sell.

All you have to do is provide what a business or individual wants and needs.

You can see this all around you in the variety of clothes people wear. Sure, there's different colors and styles, but the idea of clothes itself is a simplistic one.

By right product I mean something that is needed or wanted by people or other businesses. If your potential customer base is male and you come out with a pink dress then you've failed in doing your research. Granted there are some men out there who may like to wear pink dresses, but the market isn't large enough for your business to succeed.

If you are providing a service you should definitely do your research on the "competitive landscape". If you come out with a mediocre product compared to your competitors, you have just cut your company off at the knees from the get go. Take Microsoft Windows for example. When Windows came out the majority of desktops used command line software. Windows basically slapped a more easy to use interface on top of the command line and provided a better user experience than the previous product. Improving upon an existing product, service or system that already works can make your company fly. Another good thing about improving upon an existing concept is that it has already been proven to work.

For more on researching your product and the competitive landscape see the article "The 5 easy steps to researching your market".

The hardest part of settling on a product or service is determining what a client wants or needs. Don't expect your new company to become the next big name brand. As a matter of fact with a lot of new businesses they project heavy volume as if they are going to become the next Nike within the first year. Don't do this. Keep your growth numbers conservative. You don't have to be a huge company to make a lot of money. Settling on a smaller niche market can make you a fortune.

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