Evaluate Your Ideas
Not every idea is a good business opportunity. The best ideas are both internal and external.
INTERNAL
Something you’re passionate about.
EXTERNAL
Something that’s needed in the market.
CASE STUDY
This company is an example of the passions of the owner meeting the needs of the market. Find out how well their products are selling by looking at their Facebook page from the last holiday season. How well did they do with their sales challenge?
See if you can figure out other information about this company:
- Who is their target market?
- Are their products a necessity (people need them to survive) or a want (people really enjoy them for fun or beauty)?
PERSONAL COMMITTMENT:
Have you ever heard the saying “Put your money where your mouth is?” Before you analyze your business ideas, analyze yourself. How serious are you about the idea of starting your own business? Answer the following questions and find out.
MONEY
Some days, your business will earn lots of money. Other days, it won’t earn enough to cover your expenses. You must have the discipline to save the extra money you earn on the days you make more so that you’ll have enough money to pay for your expenses on the days you don’t make enough.
Are you willing to change the way you currently think about earning and spending money? If you don’t, your business will fail.
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!
Demonstrate your committment to changing your mindset about earning and spending money:
Purchase stock in your new business!
Talk to your “stock brokers” (ie: your Angel Investors) about the current price of your business stock and decide how many shares you’d like to purchase. Then hand over the money. They’ll put it in a big jar so you can see your investment in yourself growing!
TIME
A lot of people dream about doing great things, but very few people take the time to actually do something about it. Learning to run a business takes a lot of time and hard work. If you don’t put in that time, your business will fail.
Now PUT YOUR TIME WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS! Hire yourself to learn the ropes about running a business by filling out the form below.
TIME INVESTMENT PROMISE
TEACHABLE
Starting a business can be very risky, especially when you invest a lot of time and money. There are many adults that start a business and fail because they don’t know how to run a business successfully. Their business goes bankrupt, and they lose the money they put into it, not to mention all the time they spent on it.
When you listen to the advice of people like your Angel Investors and others who run successful businesses; when you read books about running a business and have a humble attitude and a growth mindset about learning, you’ll come to understand how to make your business succeed.
Put Your Mindset Where Your Mouth Is!
Demonstrate how teachable you are.
Your Angel Investors have asked you to read a chapter or 2 from your choice of several books, but it hasn’t happened yet. Show that you want to learn by doing it now!
You can still get $10 for reading 2 chapters of any of the following:
- I Want More Pizza
- Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School?
- Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens
- The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a Business (1 chapter of this book counts)
- Clever Girl Finance
ANALYZE YOUR IDEAS:
It’s time to narrow down the ideas you came up with last time so that you can find the best ones. Follow these steps:
Choose the ideas you’re most PASSIONATE about.
02.
For each of the businesses left, fill out a MARKET NEEDS questionnaire below.
03.
For each of the businesses left, decide if the business fills a WANT (like entertainment) or a NEED (like food). Then watch the video below about OPPORTUNITY COST. Decide what your opportunity cost is for each of the remaining business ideas.
MARKET NEEDS QUESTIONNAIRE
04.
For each of the businesses left, add up the expected benefits. That includes both the money you’ll earn AND the experience you’ll gain. Then subtract the costs. This includes money (supplies, etc.) but also experiences you might miss out on by pursuing this business.
05.
Watch the video below about doing a SWOT analysis. For any business idea you have left, create a SWOT analysis in a format of your choice. When you show these to your Angel Investors, you’ll receive $10 for each analysis!