A genius business idea needs a genius strategy to ace the market space. If truth be told, to hit the jackpot aspiring entrepreneurs need to bridge the gap between scribbling the idea on the paper and turning it into a sustainable business. It is the most fulfilling reward of a lifetime.
True! Right?
In fact, talking about the figures by BLS, around 20% of the new business drop down during the first two years, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years; and only 25% make it to more than 15 years. All these demographics are certainly based on various reasons but in most cases, it is the result of poor planning.
“In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being visible”. Sky21 believes in this and nurtures your idea to launch it into a successful business.
As a startup studio, sky21 helps you plan, launch, manage, and grow your business by focusing on building MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and doing PoC (Proof of Concept). Moreover, it thrives on hard work and absolute determination.
But, one point that is imperative for every entrepreneur is “How To Turn An Idea Into A Business?”
In this blog, we will help you draft an organized plan of action to launch your business with a great idea in mind. So let’s get started.
Steps To Turn Your Idea Into A Business
Launching your business is a once-in-a-lifetime event that needs to follow a systematic process. At Sky21, we follow a well-organized and structured approach to turn your smart idea into a business. Here in this blog, we have mentioned the 5 I’s rule to help you walk on the path of business success.
1. Investigate
The first big question that you need to ask yourself is “Is your idea as dynamic as you think?”. It would probably help you choose the most contemporary idea to start a business.
The foremost step is to research and verify if there is any market for your idea. Talk to the experts from the industry and find out the scope of the potential market for the product/service you want to introduce. Here are different stages to figure out the potency of your idea.
Focus on eliminating the customary problems
The primary objective of the business idea should revolve around solving the needs of the customers. As an entrepreneur, you should ask these questions to yourself.
- What problem do you want to eliminate from the market?
- Is there any market demand for your idea?
- Is your idea potential enough to make people’s lives better?
- Will it satisfy the customers?
Once you an answer to these questions, you know that now you have an idea that can be launched into the market with a perfect action plan. Initially, you are required to talk to a lot many people to get feedback for your idea that would eventually guide your planning and research procedure. The next stage would be to inquire about your target audience.
Find your target market
You need to take a picture of the audience you are targeting to serve.
Of course, your idea cannot resolve all the prevailing problems in one go. So you need to figure out the group of people who need the services you are providing.
Simply, you have a solution but the motive is to keep it in front of the right people to be seen.
Perform SWOT analysis
One of the most nerve-racking mistakes that startups make is the failure to get the audience to understand the products or services and purchase them. To skip this situation, they must perform a SWOT analysis.
S- Strengths
W- Weakness
O- Opportunities
T- Threats
That means that they should define all these four factors before introducing the product/services to the audience. It will help you evaluate your concept and refine it into the best possible form.
2. Ideate
Once you have researched the potency of your idea, the next important step is to draft an executable plan. The output of the research stage would help you gain insights into your idea which will further help you in your planning. These 4 stages would help you plan the execution of your idea in a streamlined way.
Create product roadmap
Think about it in a way that “How do we want to see our business in the upcoming years” and then proceed ahead by building a roadmap to get there. This product roadmap will be the tangible way to look at various aspects of your business simultaneously. The key is to keep a balance between different stages of the business and avoid any glitches that come across.
Construct a financial model
Finance is the building block for any business and so constructing a financial model alongside the roadmap is a must for entrepreneurs to experience a smooth product launch. While it is just a blueprint of real-world economics, it would surely help you project the investment required to sustain the growth plan of the business.
Your financial model should be able to answer certain questions such as
- What is the cost of the business?
- What are the sources of revenue?
- What are the sources of raising funds?
- What amount of initial investment is required to kick-start the business?
- What is the optimal amount of investment required in the upcoming years?
Answers to these questions will help you forecast the figures of the cash flow, profit margins, loss, overheads, etc.
Plan out the first phase of business
The next big step after the financial model is to plan out the initial phase of your business. This simply means getting things rolling and setting your idea in motion. Here you are required to strategize the business by mapping out the key objectives, targeted audience, and the mission of the business.
Bottom line- Make sure that the entire team is working at the same pace to maintain the coordination.
Build your MVP
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the best way to gather feedback before launching your idea into the market. This real customer feedback would help you evolve the product in the long run. It‘s how the pioneers are introduced to the product to provide genuine feedback that can help you improvise it.
3. Implement
After completing the process of planning, the next step is to execute it in the planned way. At this stage, you have deep knowledge about your brand, target audience, and business plan. All you need is to dedicate your time to launch it into the market. Here’s how you must proceed.
Display your product
The foremost step is to introduce your business to the targeted customers by displaying your product/services in the most exquisite way. You need to be able to define precisely what you are selling to your customers. It should be crisp enough to grab the attention of your potential customers.
The best way to start with the amenities of your business and how it would affect the lives of your customers. Instead of technical language, use words that would infuse with the sentiments of your customers.
Develop your brand’s personality
There are certain features that make your business instantly recognizable. After all, all your hard work is to differentiate your business from the others. Brand name, logo, colour, image, etc. are the various factors that give your brand a unique identity.
Remember that these factors should reflect the values of your brand and have the power to catch the customer’s attention instantly. You can even personify your brand to make it attractive.
Build support teams
For successfully executing the plan, it is vitally important for you to embrace yourself with an enthusiastic and determined support team. It should mainly comprise of the mentors or advisors who have already been a part of the niche you are working in. It is because they already have a solution to the problem you might face during the implementation.
Moreover, building strong support teams would help you overcome the hardships with foolproof solutions and focus on solving complications unique to your business. They can even help you with the guidelines that can help you build your brand consistently.
Raise capital for your business
Another big factor that supports the execution of your plan is the “Investment”. Money is of utmost importance to get your business in operation. Some of the most feasible sources to raise capital are friends, family, self-funding, bank loans, or credits.
Depending upon the capital you need to kick off your business, you can even get help from various sources such as startup studios, angel investors, venture capitalists, etc. They provide financial help in return for a piece of profit or equity in your business.
Note- Whatever sources you choose to raise capital, just remember that each one has its own risks and rewards.
4. Improvise
The best way to improvise is to consistently adapt to the needs of the market. Roughly speaking, around 80% of the business fails at this stage. Of course, we all have a product roadmap at the start of our business, but is it certain that it is 100% bulletproof? I guess, NO!
Entrepreneurs need to evolve their business plans constantly as the business takes leaps. They need to overcome their comfort zone to get the best output from their business.
If the customers are reluctant to spend their money or time on your business, this clearly shows some issues either with the problem you are intended to solve or the quality of the product you are dealing with. Here are some of the ways which can help you improvise your business.
Pivot your business model
As discussed above, the pioneers aka early adopters provide you with genuine feedback that can help you understand what works best for your business. The feedback sometimes can be different from what is expected.
This can spark your emotions which can lead you to “pivot” your business model. Sometimes changing the direction after you have started can streamline your journey. It can help you prevent the breakdown that you might encounter. It is just another yet better way to get there.
Iterate and adapt
“Iterate and adapt” are the most significant indicators of success during the journey. The primary focus of the business is survival followed by solving the customary problems one at a time.
This stage is the most crucial part of the business where you are expected to adapt to the needs of the market. With each solution you provide to the customers, you increase the scope of survival of your business.
5. Increase in scope
The last but the most important step to grow your business is to stay positive. Self-doubt will obstruct you from taking risks, which will surely pull you back. It will help you experience the sustainable growth of your business.
As you move towards growth, you will encounter various challenges and emergencies. You must solve them all with positive zeal to make the most out of your business.
You need to look forward to what’s coming and plan accordingly. Also, you need to ask yourself some questions such as
- How are your competitors doing?
- What are your targeted customers saying?
- How are your employees performing?
- What does future finance for your company look like?
- What more changes should be adopted for the business to grow?
Here are some of the ways to help you grow your business in a sustainable way.
- Maintain employees performance track record
- Consider customer feedback
- Take steps to mitigate future challenges
During the growth stage, one must be prepared to accept the good news and the bad news as well. Entrepreneurs need to be geared up for the long and short-term challenges that might come their way. Therefore, at this stage, major efforts should be spent on planning for the future ahead.
Wrapping It Up
Turning an idea into a foolproof business is a simple yet strategic recipe that involves a lot of mistakes. It is a procedure without any guarantee of success. All you can do is to improvise your services and adapt to the needs of the surroundings.
Take customer feedback as constructive criticism to build your business on a professional front. Keep in mind that not all big companies started with big customer support. So, learn from your mistakes and use your experiences to yield growth.
At Sky21, we believe in your idea and invest our time, knowledge, and money in it. Let’s come together to build a better future and be a part of the modern economy.