Excellence, Perfection and Change
Many people who wish to start a business and improve their lifestyle are advised to ensure that they perform exhaustive research on their business idea before they launch. However, too much research can be counter productive; you can never reach a state of perfect knowledge about your business, so you have to know when you have done enough research to leverage your business idea, and make a start.
Essentially there are four key stages to the research that will make a success of your business idea, and build a lifestyle and legacy that will endure. These four points are knowing your purpose, knowing the needs of your target market, knowing what products will serve those needs, knowing that meeting those needs with your product will be profitable. Lets take each one in turn.
Knowing your purpose: What do you want to get out of your business? Most people start their own business to improve the quality of their lifestyle, and build a business legacy. When you are researching your business, you must always keep in mind who you wish to serve and what you are hoping to achieve in the longer term.
Knowing the desires of your target market: When researching a potential product for your business, you must have a firm grasp on the needs and wants of the targeted consumer in order that you can leverage a specific market. But you must always remember that there is a limit to the amount research that might be considered appropriate. The market is evolves, as the market desires and other external factors fluctuate.
Knowing what products will serve the desires of your market: When you are satisfied that there is a need for the product you are researching, you should identify other products on the market that may address the same needs and wants as you are targeting. As before, there is only limit to the amount of research that can be performed in a practical sense because new and better products will come and go as the market adjusts. You want to avoid ‘paralysis by analysis’ and get moving ahead with your promotional efforts.
Knowing that your product will be profitable: When you have satisfied yourself that there is a market to leverage with your product, you must ensure that it will be profitable. Ensure that you have researched your costs fully, and projected as much as you can about cash flow, profits and other financial considerations. However, continue to be mindful that the research must stop at some point, and you must take action. Prices and costs will always fluctuate. Excellent results within your acceptable, predefined range of possibilities should be your focus.
To build a business legacy and build the lifestyle that you desire for yourself, then you must always leverage the power of good research. This can best be done through the four broad streams detailed above. However, research will always be a work in progress and thus you can never reach a point of perfect knowledge about your product or business. With that in mind, once you have diligently researched your product, you must take action and provide leadership for the market you chose to serve.
