4 Ways to Determine if There’s a Market for Your Business Idea

3. Sell it

Once your prototype or minimum viable product is complete, think of a way to tidy it up and get a couple of them out into the world for people to try and potentially purchase.

For example, if you want to start a cookie company, make up a batch, and ask your local neighborhood store if they will agree to carry a small quantity of them, sell them at a community event, or secure a small order through networking or online channels.

4. Heal pain points

One of the best ways to think about your business is to figure out how to solve pain points – yours or the pain points and challenges of others.

It doesn’t need to be an extravagant pain point — though the more extravagant, the better! Think about everyday frustrations, annoyances, hassles, and difficulties. Can you position your business, product, or service to heal those pain points?

Remember, good business is personal.

By now, you can see that focusing on the customer, your potential customer, is the best way to go when determining if your business idea has legs. In order for the idea to succeed, it needs to build a loyal following of advocates.

Figure out how to improve the lives of your customers and be prepared for your idea to take flight.

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Photo: Ann Taylor

Christa Avampato is a business strategist, freelance writer, and yoga and meditation teacher based in New York City. She blogs daily about the art of creative living at Christa In New York: Curating a Creative Life and is an advisor for LaunchHouse, a seed capital fund and business accelerator.