When it comes to startups everyone is extremely determined to make things happen. No matter what sort of idea you come up with, no matter how good it is. It will be never be great if you are not able to get the right investment in your startup. Trusting your own idea is one thing and making other people believe in that idea is totally separate.
If you want to lure investors into providing you the capital that you require you need to make sure that there is something that shows them the worth of the startup. No investor will be willing to go through your plan if you are not able to show them the value that they will be getting out of it.
Idea Validation
Testing of your product or idea is essential before you lure professional investors. The validation is the key to defining your business model. Because before you implement the business model, it is just an idea. When you put your idea into practice you get to know a lot of things, you find out about the necessary changes that you may need to make to your business plan before you present it the investors.
Need and Value Identification
Serving a need is something that a lot of products can do. The question here is what differentiates you from your competition. You need to deeply analyze and understand the value that your product will be providing to your customers. Create a pilot for your product and see if the need that you are willing to fulfill is really adding some value for your customers. Build a prototype of your product and then do a test run; when customers use the product they are in a better position to judge it.
Business model definition
If you are creating a unique product or service, creation of a business model is the hardest thing. You need to make sure that the business model that you are creating answers the following questions:
- How will you attract customers or how will the customers find you?
- Will you advertising or rely on word-of-mouth
- How will you differentiate your product/service from your competition?
- What will you charge for your product/service that will give you profit and provide value for your customers?
- How will persuade people to buy the product from you?
- How will the product be delivered to your customers?
- How will you provide support to your customers?
Validating the results
The validation of your pilot study is essential if you are looking to have a business plan that will bring investment. Once you have done a test run, you will be in a better position to validate business plan. Investors want proof before they pay you.
Modification
Making the perfect business plan will require a lot of trial and error if you want to get thing right. All good entrepreneurs go back to the drawing board once they have tested their product and service. You need to know that coming up with the best business plan, requires a lot of time and effort. The first draft of your business plan is never perfect; there may be some sort of gaps that you will only find out once you have implemented your idea as a test run. This will help you develop realistic expectations as to how much investment your business will need.
