how i can i reseach a venture without ...(telling anybody)

[smirch]

hi all,

ok - let me explain my subject .... and advice im looking for.

I have a business idea ... (tadda!) and I want to bring it to the market ... I have mentioned it to a few people and they think

"whohoo ..great idea! ..WHY is no one else doing IT?"

so thats my problem! .... why is no else doing it? ... there could be hundereds of reasons... the reason i like best is "cos nobody has thought of it!"

a bit about my 'idea'
.. is a service that will need to offered on a national scale, although I will have to start it from a single location to test the market, the customers are home owners, tho the consumers are anybody aged 5+, my service will be sold in high footfall areas e.g shopping centers.

so - as with any new business market research is paramount, and i need to find out - if there is a requirement for my service?

the problem is ... that to set up this business there are low barriers to entry ( according to my business studies GCSE book - [smirch does a sarcastic smily face] )

I dont want to give away my idea to someone else to rip off, but i need to tell people so that i can do my research - so im stuck between a rock and a hard place!

so .. what are my options?

and thanks for reading my gibberish too!

[kyber]

Hi smirch,

Interesting problem.

There are many very successful businesses in existance today because someone believed in them and had the determination to drive them forward and make them succeed. (Of course, there are even more businesses that failed despite the same qualities because they were fundamentally wrong in some way.)

Get cracking, take risks is probably the way forward. And move fast. Ensure you have a mixture of people to support you that have experience of launching or running a business that has similar characteristics to what you have in mind.

If entry barriers are low, I guess a key consideration has to be what prevents others coming in after you, learning from your mistakes and taking your market. Only you know whether you can lock them out or if the market could stand the competition. Bottom line, how do you exploit first mover advantage. Or do you need to build slowly anyway.

Do you need a lot of capital? You said entry barriers were low so I guess not. Without confirmation of market, then it would be difficult to get financial backing (private and angel investors are more likely than bankers if you can convince them of the viability of your proposition). You may need to convince suppliers and other though. Tricky.

Are you sure the idea needs protection? It is how you deliver (execute) that you separate the business people from the rest. Are you sure there is no way to test the concepts without giving away the idea? You should probably talk to one of the market research companies. There are often ways of exploring the potential for products/services in very indirect ways that cumulatively give you the answers you need without revealing too much. These can involve different questionaires or focus sessions to different groups of people. We have marketing people on the forum but no idea if they have operated in this area. Certainly I have been involved in using such techniques in the past for larger concerns and I am sure the approaches could be scaled down and be affordable.

How brave do you feel?

Good luck.

Stuart

[smirch]

How brave do you feel?

That’s one of the qualities i feel i am seriously lacking! I tend to shy away from risks or just take them too late!

And thats what i foresee happening here - if i dont do it, i am sure someone else will in time - and that in itself should be enough motivation for anyone to get off their backside and just doit - I have thought about just throwing a few grand into the wind to see if i can make it work :shock:

As yet tho, I have not approached any suppliers and pitched my idea to them - so this is the first thing I am working myself up for. Though I do believe my lack of experience within the business area will see me laughed out of the door :!:

i would be really happy to hear from marketing people who have been involved into this kind of research, however considering the startup capital I will be using is my own, I only have limited resources to invest in market research until the venture funds itself. Do companies offer these services on a profit-share basis?

[mobyme]

I may be able to help you. A confidentiality agreement prior to you giving any information seems to be the way to go. PM me.

[Ozzy]

Hi Smirch,
One route you may want to look down is a feasability study, and the goverment pays up to 50% of the costs to have one of these done. Have a chat with UKBF member simonread who woud be able to help with that.

[Jose]

Smirch,

We maybe able to help you with your idea. We have helped many others with outstanding ideas to articulate their ideas and provided them with a structure, which assisted in obtaining finance.

Apart from articulation what you need to think about is risk, what are your potential biggest ones, what causes them and what are the potential consequences. Once you have these then you can formulate plans to reduce the likelihood or impact if these risks occur.

Have a quick look at our website.

http://www.cheekymedia.co.uk

Good luck

Jose

[simonread]

Hi Smirch

If you want to explore the route of accessing DTI money to explore the viability of your business idea you can download the giudance notes from our website at http://www.innovationcentres.co.uk/index.php?page=doyouhaveaninnovativeidea

I'm happy to have a chat with you if you want some free advice.

Good luck.

Regards,
Simon

[smirch]

thanks all for your links, replies and comments - much appreciated.

My business plan is 80% complete - I am going to attempt to pitch my idea at a supplier in the coming weeks to see if the concept is do-able, as if nobody is willing to supply me - im not going to get v.far! ...and will move on from there ..... watch this space ;-)