I came up with a business idea last night, and I haven’t been able to think about anything else. I’m not ready to explain it to the world just yet, but an important part involves elderly care at nursing homes.
I’d like to talk to someone in the assisted care business and see if they think my idea is feasible. But I don’t know anybody and I’ve never been an entrepreneur before. Should I just call the closest nursing home and ask around? Should I hire a consultant and ask his/her opinion? Is there a central association that can help? How do entrepreneurs usually get feedback for their crazy plans?
First I would search the Internet extensively to make sure nobody else has come up with the same idea. Assuming nobody has, I would check to see if there is a market for your product or service. If you can find real people who would pay real money for it I would then talk to professionals in that industry to see if it is feasible or not. If it’s feasible then you need to start putting together a business plan to determine how much money you will need to get started…
A good bit of the time, they get feedback by starting the business and seeing how it does. That’s what sets entrepreneurs apart from everyone else. Asking people “Would you pay for this product or service?” is all well and good, but you don’t really know whether a business will work until you start it up and attempt to make it work. If you’re not willing to try that, your idea is worthless to you.
With that in mind, you don’t want to ask people if your idea is feasible. You want to try to sell it (the service, not the idea) to them. Act like you’re running a business and, the minute you make the first sale, you will be.