It seems like an obvious thing to do, but it’s often overlooked by entrepreneurs.
They will come up with an idea, talk to someone about it who will encourage them and then they get stuck into making the business idea come to life.
The critical step they miss is the initial prospecting stage.
Any new business idea should go through an initial prospecting stage before too much more is done or thought about on the idea.
The prospecting stage is about getting out into the world and seeing whether the idea is going to work or not.
This stage should always be one of the first things you do. If things look promising you then move to the validation stage where you see if people will pay you for the product or service you are going to be offering.
If it’s a shopfront type business, get out and sit in the areas where you are looking to put your shop and get a feel for the type of people in the area and how busy it is.
If it’s an online type business, read through social media, forums, chat groups and whatever else you can find to see what people’s pain points are and how your idea can help them.
The prospecting stage is all about the hustle.
It’s doing the research, it’s talking to people, it’s analysing competitors, it’s visualising how your business could work.
It’s doing whatever you have to so you have all the data and information to make decisions on whether to proceed with the idea or not.
If you struggle with the prospecting stage, you’re going to struggle with your business. That’s why so many startups never make it.
