With most things in life it can be said that
"there is good news and there is bad news"...and this is
typically very true with new product/ventures. The
good news is that a given entrepreneur is passionate about
his or her idea... The bad news is that a given
entrepreneur is passionate about his or her idea... No
new venture can succeed without a passionate "driver" making
things happen. Unfortunately, this passion typically
results in a reduction in the objectivity that is just as
necessary for success.
The successful validation or "vetting" of
a new venture/product idea involves a thorough review of all
aspects of bringing the product to market, including but not
limited to the following:
Market
Analysis - taking a clear objective view of
the customer for the product or service and identifying
the size of the opportunity.
Competitive
Analysis - identifying both direct and
indirect competition and defining a company's "strategic
competitive advantage, that is, that thing that a given
company does that is "different and better" than anybody
else in the market.
Operational
Feasibility - in its most simple terms, can
the company produce and deliver the product or service
they propose?
Financial
Feasibility - does the company not only have
the financial resources to develop, deliver and support
the product or service, does it also have what it will
take to develop awareness and a competitive position in
the marketplace?
Without publishing an online book, it is
very difficult to give you a complete picture of the depth
or importance of this process in bringing a new product or
service to market. Far too often entrepreneurs and
even intrapreneurs become so invested in their "invention"
that they charge ahead and ignore so many signs that might
otherwise stop or re-direct them. And in the end they
lose access to an opportunity that could easily have been
theirs but for a bit more due-diligence. I cannot be
stressed enough the need to ask and answer in depth and
detail two questions:
SHOULD
we pursue this opportunity?
AND
CAN
we pursue this opportunity?
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