Before living and breathing a business it's worth making sure it's the right business and you are giving yourself the best chance of success (something I didn't do with UniHive). You also want to make sure it fits with your goals. These are the steps I followed when launching We Are Media (note: this framework may not be relevant if you want a lifestyle business.)
Before I jump into this blog - I want to thank the team at Oversubscribed for helping me pull these blogs together and support with my social content creation. If you are interested in raising your profile online, head over to Oversubscribed.
Rate each of the following areas out of 10, using the questions beneath to help you consider each one.
Strength of purpose / mission 1 - 10
- Do you have a strong purpose / mission?
- Will other people be passionate about your mission?
Scalability 1 - 10
- Does the business model / product make it scalable?
- Is the size of the market you're addressing big enough?
- Are you addressing a huge problem?
Funding 1 - 10
- Can the business be started and tested without funding?
- What type of funding structure might be needed in the first two years?
Business model proven 1 - 10
- Is the business model clear and proven (by others)?
- Is there a clear line to making money?
- Do the numbers make sense?
- Does the business model scale?
Difficulty of operational execution 1 - 10
- Does it play to the founder's strengths?
- How complex will the founding team's skill set need to be?
- Do you need anything to get started?
Timing 1 - 10
- Can you fund yourself while you set it up?
- Can it be launched around a full time job / education?
- What does the road map for the first 3 / 6 / 12 months look like?
Risk 1 - 10
- Chance of succeeding
- Chance of a buy out
- Chance of getting profitable
- Chance of scaling
- Chance of raising money
Future proof 1 - 10
- Will your business be needed in 5 - 10 years' time?
- Are you going with the market trends?
It doesn't have to hit 10/10 on all of these, but it's useful to think around all these areas.
If I can help just one person not make the mistakes I have made then this website will be worth it. See what I am up to now and follow me on Instagram and Linkedin.
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