Is my idea strong enough to start a business?

We’ve all had that Eureka moment when we think wow, that would make a great business. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? But would your great idea make a viable business?

Use our Business Idea Venn Diagram Test to find out:

1. Does it solve a problem? Does your business idea solve an existing problem that enough people or entities have to run a viable business? Take Uber for example. Many around the world found the traditional taxi system frustrating. Taxis are expensive and not consistently reliable. Uber used technology to change this. An Uber can be tracked and followed with an app so that you know exactly what time your ride will show up. Drivers are rated based on their performance giving you accurate transparency, reliability and driver accountability. By dis-intermediating the Taxi service, Uber can offer rides at an affordable price.
2. Is it worth more than it costs to produce? Everyone wants a beautiful hand-knitted scarf sourced locally from sustainable natural organic material. $150 for materials and the 30 hours the scarf took to knit however, does not make for a viable business. Nobody wants to pay $1000 for a scarf.
3. Can it be scaled up? So your business idea meets our first two criteria. You are solving a problem enough people currently have and the service/product is worth more than it costs to produce.  But can the idea be easily scaled? Airbnb had a great idea. Facilitate homeowners to rent out space to the public. It took a lot of work to gain traction, but once Airbnb had a working model, scaling up was easy. They didn’t need to build new hotels and hire extra staff like traditional accommodation businesses. They could focus their time and money on advertising and technology development. Their customers are responsible for the physical ownership, management, and upkeep of plant and equipment (houses and rooms).