How Assessing A Friend's Business Plan Made Me Realise How Far I've Come

[Roli]

A couple of weeks ago, a friend put a video based business idea to me over the phone, that I instantly knew was not a good basis for a successful venture.

This was partly because I had tried a similar idea before, but mainly it was because of my time spent on this forum, and of course, reading TMF . However, this guy is a good friend of mine, he was excited about the idea; and he felt like he was doing me a favour by bringing me in, seeing as he is a successful TV producer and doesn't need the spare cash.

I decided to assess his plan with an open mind, I told myself that, even though I had tried something similar before, his camera skills were greater than mine, and so that could make it work. We agreed to a meeting, and so off I went.

At first I was worried about how to let him down gently, as I mentioned, I realised that the idea would require a huge time input from me which would increase as the business. Essentially I would be selling my time by the hour, leaving no room for leverage. I didn't want to come across as arrogant, and I know how it feels to have an idea you think is great, shot down in flames.

I needn't have worried, because when I got there, I found myself snapping into fastlane mode, and espousing some of the great advice I have had on this forum. By the time I finished with the assessment, not only had I convinced my friend that the idea was a nonstarter, I had also realised that had I done the same thing for my own similar idea, I would have saved myself a lot of time and hassle.

Anyway I realised the fastest way to get through the meeting, was to demonstrate that there was no market for the proposed idea.

The assessment went as so:

1. Work out what the keywords were for the idea, then use the Google keyword tool to see how many local searches are attached to the term.

2. After finding the search term was low; clicking on the top Google results and assessing the type of business coming up under that search term.

3. Realise that the original keyword guess was wrong, and refine the terms.

4. After finding more accurate terms, clicking on the top results and assessing the businesses. This gave us a clear view, that the niche was way too small, and that anybody offering the service, was doing so only as an addendum to their main business.

5. Using more and more refined search terms to make sure the idea did not fall under another niche; however this further showed that the market is tiny and there is no business.

6. He agreed that he would speak to an associate who knows of someone doing something similar for a data mining exercise. However my friend now realises that the idea was not as crash hot as he first thought.

7. I advise that the business could be started as a Facebook page, seeing as it is a very family orientated product. However I give him a quick lesson in scalability and time budgets, his enthusiasm dropped off, and agrees that it probably will never happen.

8. Phew!


I know that there are a lot of new members out there, who feel that they are miles away from where they want to be. They read the advice given here, and it seems overwhelming, so much to learn and not enough time. Because that is how I felt, and this simple exercise reminded me of how much I've learnt without even noticing.

I myself am at the next stage in my development, and hope to start a progress thread soon, however this little exercise with my friend, made me realise I have come a long way since joining, and I am that bit closer to my business goals.

Keep going, keep learning, and always strive towards action.

 

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