Business idea testing

[em1]

Hi there i was hoping that I could get some advice on here in regards to how people have gone about testing their business ideas.

 

[fisicx]

Hi @em1 and welcome to UKBF.

Market research, MVP, prototypes, investment. All depends on the business idea.

 

[Mark T Jones]

What's the scale and size of the idea?

If it's inexpensive, just get out and do it.

Otherwise it's as above, a mix of market research, prototypes, MVp etc

 

[FreddyG]

Hi there i was hoping that I could get some advice on here in regards to how people have gone about testing their business ideas.

UDUBS

(1)Upside; (2)Downside; (3)USP; (4)Plan B; (5)Says who?

1. What could we earn and is this turkey scaleable?
2. What could we lose if the turkey don't fly?
3. What is your unique selling point?
4. Do you have a Plan B to turn this turkey around if it finds flying difficult?
5. What proof of concept (e.g. existing sales) do you have?

When you have ticked all them boxes, you might just have a viable business plan!

 

[M_9]

By just trying it, and it can’t be for a day or even a week, you’ve got to put your all into the idea. Just try it, because you won’t really know unless you do. And try looking for others who’ve done something similar to your idea if they’re succeeding, there’s a pretty good chance you're onto something. But you won’t know unless you actually try.

Hope that helps.

 

[em1]

Thanks for the feed back that's what I'm hoping to do. I guess I just need to get on and do something that moves it on. Business owners and senior executives are my target market so hopefully I can reach a few on here.

 

[fisicx]

That’s a pretty wide target.

Does it include Craig who cleans our wheelie bins? Or Keith next door who makes wooden toys? Both are business owners.

Not sure Senior Executives are a useful target. Most will have gatekeepers to keep you away.

What is it you are offering?

 

[Ozzy]

Business owners and senior executives are my target market so hopefully I can reach a few on here.

My suggestion is to be even more narrow than that.
What industry sector of business owner, how experienced of business owner, what size of business does the business owner own, how affluent are they?

I was chatting with someone who sells accounting software and they told me their target market was SME business owners, but after a chat they were targeting businesses between £5M and £20M turnover. My advice was that their target market were not the business owners, because the business owners do not care what-so-ever what account software is used in the business, the guy needed to target financial controllers and finance managers.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Reflecting the above, the best idea initially is to define your target as closely as possible - not just by status. Consider

Age
Geography
Interests
Income

And many others.

Otherwise you'll find you marketing budget disappears alarmingly fast

 

[M_9]

I agree it’s too broad.

The most important thing is that your idea solve a real problem, for if it doesn’t no one will buy it no matter how good it is.

use chatgpt and start asking it, what problem it solve what niche needs it the most etc…

When you start making moves, you should know who you are targeting, why them, why should they care, and most importantly what problem are you solving?

Hope that helps.

 

[em1]

That’s a pretty wide target.

Does it include Craig who cleans our wheelie bins? Or Keith next door who makes wooden toys? Both are business owners.

Not sure Senior Executives are a useful target. Most will have gatekeepers to keep you away.

What is it you are offering?

Sorry still getting used to this platform but here is a rough idea of what we wish to offer.

We specialize in conflict resolution and tailored problem-solving for businesses. We collaborate with leadership and engage directly with employees and customers/clients to surface hidden challenges, improve communication, and support better decision-making. Our goal is to help businesses align from the inside out—by turning employee insight into actionable strategies—so leadership can make informed choices that drive lasting results.
From research and discussions we have had so far it appears that senior leadership teams would value this information.

 

[Ozzy]

ok @em1 reading you post above and the language you have used, it sounds like you are targeting large corporate organisations who use that sort of language. It isn't the sort of terminology an SME would use from my understanding, as an SME owner myself it alienated me.

This reaffirms the comments above that you need to hone in on who your target market is.

 

[em1]

ok @em1 reading you post above and the language you have used, it sounds like you are targeting large corporate organisations who use that sort of language. It isn't the sort of terminology an SME would use from my understanding, as an SME owner myself it alienated me.

This reaffirms the comments above that you need to hone in on who your target market is.

Thanks i appreciate your feedback as you have just provided clarity on a few points. Our services are more tailored towards businesses that may have several employees and locations that the owner/leadership may not be present around all the time. Although that being said small business with a few number of employees may also benefit from impartial observations.

 

[FreddyG]

My advice was that their target market were not the business owners, because the business owners do not care what-so-ever what account software is used in the business, the guy needed to target financial controllers and finance managers.

£5m to £20m suggests 20-200 employees. In any company, nobody actually wants to do the books - I certainly don't! Very often, the choice is down to the competent Mrs. Goat-Posture who insists on package X because that's all she knows.

When you get to 1,000+ employees and integrating websites and multiple locations and even countries and various currencies, then strategic decisions have to be made and the folks from SAP and Oracle get called in.

What I do not understand is why is it so difficult/expensive to produce a working bookkeeping and/or ERP package that spans several locations, inputs, product lines, currencies, etc., when Adobe can do the same for creative content for TV/newspapers/websites/radio across a huge company for much less per workplace? Something tells me that these companies are onto a cushy number!

 

[fisicx]

We specialize in conflict resolution and tailored problem-solving for businesses.

There was a member here a while back offering something similar. Their problem was making companies aware of the service.

A company may not even be aware of conflicts and problems and if they do there are any number of HR companies and business consultants that can help. There is whole industry dedicated to business analysis and consultation with the aim of improving efficiency, profit and engagement.

In other words, what it is you offer that is any different to everyone else?

 

[Mark T Jones]

I think thus requires rather more lateral thought.

Once you've defined the type of business you will be dealing with, think about what goes on before they come to the official dispute stage - and who they will be talking to

I'm guessing that this will he more referal-led than direct approach

 

[VilandreFo]

A few months ago, I stumbled onto an idea while browsing Reddit and Facebook groups—people were constantly asking for lists of Airbnb hosts, boutique agencies, Shopify brands, and more. It clicked: there’s serious demand for curated, high-quality databases, but most available ones are either overpriced or useless. I decided to test the concept. I spun up a simple Carrd landing page offering niche lead lists—like “400 UK-based marketing agencies” or “Shopify stores doing $500k+”—and dropped the link in a few communities. To my surprise, I got a few sign-ups and even had some conversations with early prospects. They weren’t just curious—they had real use cases and were willing to pay.


One guy running a lead-gen agency asked for a custom list of U.S. eCommerce brands, and I manually built it from scratch using a mix of BuiltWith, LinkedIn, and plain Google Sheets. He paid $39 without hesitation. That small win gave me the confidence to keep going—I validated the idea without a product or fancy tools. Over the next couple of weeks, I refined the offer, got a few more sales, and started thinking about how to scale. I’m still testing whether this turns into a bigger business or a niche service, but one thing’s clear: if you solve a real data problem and deliver something people can actually use, they’ll pay for it.