​Affordable Ways of Testing Your Business Idea

Everyone may have a business idea or two. They are excited about the opportunity to earn money aside from their day jobs or start focusing on it as primary income source.

Coming up with a business idea is easy, but whether or not it will sell is another story. Countless people tried their business ideas and failed with the lack of appropriate market. Use the following tips to test your business idea first before launching it to the market.

Look for Similar Ideas Online

People tend to have similar business ideas, but with difference that makes them stand out. When you want to pursue a business idea, look for businesses that utilize the same ideas as you. Consider this as an early market research before launching your business.

If there’s a business with similar ideas, look for aspects that make your idea different. Do you have specific ideas that target a different market? What product features do you plan to offer that current businesses don’t have? Compare other businesses to your idea and see if you can compete with them.

Conduct a Business Dry Run

Conducting a business dry run is putting your ideas out there and see if potential customers will buy them. A good way to start is by creating a website for your business. Set a simple landing page for starters filled with information customers would want to know in your business. Be sure to place complete links to your email or pre-ordering procedures. This lets you know how many people are willing to buy your product or services then gauge if your business captured customers’ attention.

Use Google Keyword Tool and Adwords for Testing

Google keyword tool is a tool that lets you use AdWords for business dry run. Use this tool to find keywords related to your business or competitor business. You can use a competitor’s website to search for keywords used for the business. Once you found the right keywords, use them for AdWords.

AdWords is Google’s paid advertisement. This lets you bid on keywords and pay for the number of clicks done on your website. Start bidding using a small amount then gradually increase your bid until you get a click. Use conversion tracking and see if the business caused people to sign-up. High conversion rates mean more chances of making your page popular among customers.

This idea is recommended for establishing online businesses or non-product based business.

Test the Idea on eBay

EBay is a popular webshop and a good place for testing product-based businesses. Aspiring entrepreneurs can post their products and see if people are willing to buy it through pre-orders. Products posted are according to niches clients want to target. When the product is posted, wait for the volume of people who would want to pre-order the product. If you see that the volume is significantly higher than expected, you can say that the business is a hit.

There’s a catch in posting unavailable products on eBay. You would need to produce the product quickly once orders pile up. Be sure to make the product with utmost quality to avoid tarnishing your startup business’ name and get more buyers for the product.

Set Up an Online Poll or Survey

An online poll or survey will give you idea about what people like to see in the market. Your focus is to ask for specific products they wish to get, features that will benefit their lives, and reasons why they want to buy their suggested products. An online survey will let you know what the market wants and the reason behind the demand for additional market study.

The advantage of setting up an online poll is it’s easy to make. Online survey platforms allow survey customization, letting you place your own questions and answer fields. Even if you personalized your survey, the platform will still calculate results automatically for your convenience. Moreover, many survey platforms are available for free or with minimal charges suited to your budget.

Set Terapeak as Testing Tool

Terapeak is a business idea testing platform that gives you an idea about market behaviors and price comparisons when you began offering the product. This tool is best used for product sales as utilizes business intel from Amazon and eBay buyers.

Terapeak was available for free before, but it now charges a price for use. However, you will still find some free trial links to test this tool and see if it’s worth investing, especially if you’re someone who’s into multi-business ventures.

Mailing List for Testing

A mailing list lets you collect leads or potential buyers for your business. Through a mailing list, you’ll know the size of your market. Also, your mailing list lets you communicate with customers and build business relationship, a crucial element in keeping your business running.

The mailing list will also be a marketing platform in case you’re about to launch another product. There’s the probability of your current customers needing the product you’re about to offer and gain profit from them.

Bring Your Ideas to Social Media

One of the free ways to test your business idea is through social media. Post your business idea on your Facebook status or tweet it to your follows. You can get feedback from friends or followers about your business and see the market.

The advantage of social media is you can set up an account for free. If you have an existing and active account, you can use it for introducing your business idea.

Ask Help from Friends or Family Members

Lastly, asking some input or idea from your friends and family members is also helpful. You don’t have to consult other people and simply get ideas from people around you. Ask them for honest feedback and use it for business.

Testing your business idea is crucial. Use these budget-saving tips for testing to boost the chances of growing your business. This saves you from spending money as capital for a business or product that won’t sell and lose money in the end.

References:

http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/five-ways-to-test-your-business-idea-for-free

http://www.readysetstartup.com/6-free-or-low-cost-ways-to-test-your-business-idea/

http://www.startupdonut.co.uk/startup/start-up-business-ideas/testing-business-ideas

http://www.ideabank.com.au/how-to-test-a-new-business-idea-for-free-and-fast.htm

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237455