Posted on Monday, 29th March 2010 by Laura Hernandez
Just watch an episode of two of Dragon’s Den and you’ll realise that some people are oblivious to the fact that their are pushing a bad business idea. Given the huge number of businesses that fail within their first year of trading the entrepreneurs on Dragon’s Den clearly aren’t alone.
That said, far to many would be entrepreneurs put off starting a business for fear of pursuing a bad idea. They shouldn’t. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it’s far better to start any business, no matter how bad the idea might be, than to never have started one at all.
Bad business ideas are only a problem if you don’t follow the mantra of fail fast, fail cheap (see How To Start A New Business for more on that). In fact I’d go so far as to say that most bad business ideas are to do with the execution of a business idea rather than the business idea itself. For example, starting a business (or launching a new product) without all of the following:
- a proven demand for the product;
- a tested strategy for delivering the product profitably;
- a proven route to market;
- a realistic financial plan and sufficient finance to execute the plan;
- a plan and the right skills (either alone or as a team) to execute the plan.
Is clearly a bad idea. Then there’s the ultimate bad business idea: competing on price. There will always be someone cheaper and the race to the bottom will ensure there is little if any profit to be made. If price is your USP, then it’s time to call your idea a failure and start looking for a new business idea.
Similar Posts:
- Writing a Business Plan
- Top Examples of Failed Business Ideas
- Service Business Ideas
- Testing Your Own Business Idea
- Risk And The Entrepreneur
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