Dodge These Common Startup Mistakes

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Business Planning

Dodge These Common Startup Mistakes

If you want to find your perfect niche and grow your business from nothing to millions in sales, then you need the right plan. If you make common mistakes, you’ll miss out on the right market and lose profits.

Avoid failure and enjoy a successful venture with steps outlined by IdeaPros, a Super Venture Partner™ that guides entrepreneurs with great ideas through the complexities and pitfalls of the startup world.

1. Customer Research

You can’t have a great niche without clearly identifying your customers. That’s why you need to spend your time researching the industry first. Determine what kind of buyers usually like the product you’re considering. After all, you don’t want to end up committed to a business serving the wrong customers.

2. Keyword Research

Conduct keyword research and see how many people are searching for your potential niche. If you want to sell a unique product or app, for example, you want to see if any significant search volume exists for that key term on Google’s Keyword Planner tool. If you see anything less than 1,000 searches per month, consider looking elsewhere for your niche because small numbers might not support a whole operation.

3. Surveys

Once you think you’ve found a niche that gets a decent amount of search results and quality customers, try to test the waters. Conduct an email poll, twitter poll, or in-person poll of anybody you know who is in that market. If they seem passionate about it, it’s a good sign you could make a profit. If they do not seem passionate, find out why and what they would change.

4. Development Costs

Whether you are creating a digital product or a physical one, you need to figure out your development costs. Often, this involves speaking with engineers, developers, coders, and agents to get estimates. Get several estimates to compare against each other. Avoid making significant investments into inventory or software features at the beginning, as the goal is to sell the product or app with pre-orders before you make it.

5. Competition

Uncover details on your competitors by calling their number and asking them questions. Try to get as much information as possible on their features, resources, and services. It will give you a competitive advantage.

6. Profit Analysis

Once you have all your research compiled, analyze your data. You want a wide enough profit margin to support your marketing costs. If your margins are too thin, it might be time to reevaluate your product or niche.

When it comes to success online, the right niche is crucial. You can find the perfect niche for you if you use the steps above. Most entrepreneurs pivot their niche several times before finding the perfect product/market fit. Remember, it’s always better to take your time investigating a new niche to get it right before risking your time and money.

IdeaPros partners with entrepreneurs to create world-changing companies by creating products that customers really want. Their team of veteran business executives uses an evidence-based approach to allow ideas to adapt to what customers really want, and ultimately to grow into a marketable product.

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