How to Brainstorm and Select Business Concept

Business Concept Definition

• Once you have got to know your teams your first and very important challenge is to define your business concept

• Getting this done quickly is essential! That way you can start your research, your business plan, and your final presentation

• It is suggested that you manage your team through this phase quickly

• Ideas don’t have to be new, an old idea might be a great opportunity in a new market or with a modified approach

Cost of Change

Changing your elements of your business concept costs more with time

Your Ability to Make Changes

Cost of Making Changes toyour Business Concept

Time

Business Concept Development

Brain Storming

Idea Generation

Idea Filtering / Generation

Final Selection

Hints for Generating Many Business Concepts

Suspend judgment Generate a lot of ideas Recycle existing ideas Infeasible ideas are welcome Use graphical and physical media Make analogies Wish and wonder Use related stimuli Use unrelated stimuli Set quantitative goals Trade ideas in a group

Concept Generation Guidelines

Brainstorm individually – get a few ideas and present to your group then collectively brainstorm

You can use any method you like - few suggestions: http://www.creativeadvantage.com/ideation_techniques_overview.html; http://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html; http://www.jpb.com/creative/brainstorming.php

Think out of the box – speak your mind – there are no bad ideas

Do no worry about technical feasibility – just yet Build on each others concepts – imagine new uses for

old idea

Idea Filtering Process

Prepare a Matrix Define Criteria Weightings

Rate Concepts Scale (+ – 0) or (1–5) Compare to Reference Concept

Rank Concepts Sum Weighted Scores

Combine and Improve Remove Bad Features Combine Good Qualities

Select Best Concept

Remember…

The goal of idea filtering is not to select the best business concept - The goal is to develop the best concept.

So remember to combine and refine the business concepts to develop better ones as you go!

Selection Criteria of Ideas

Does it satisfy or create a market need? Get an objective picture of your prospective

market. Do market research

Will the product maintain market appeal? Fads and fleeting trends of your market Geographical area of your market (local,

national, global) How unique is your product?

Can you differentiate your product from your competitor?

Selection of One Idea Cont’d

How useful is your product? How your product or service will be used? Determine the frequency of product use. Need of promotional advertising and promotions?

How much competition exists? Determine the kind of competition you will have - locally,

regionally, and nationally Competition = profitability

Have you priced your product competitively? Match the competition; Be attractive to your potential customers; Earn a profit for you

What is the level of difficulty in the creation or implementation of the product? (Economies of Scale to Produce it) Consider the economic factors in the execution of the

product, such as time, capital investment required, and marketing costs, personnel needed, among others.

Determine if you have the engineering, production, sales, and distribution facilities adequate for the product's implementation.

What are the growth possibilities? Can it be expected to grow with a change in the economy? Can your product survive a major technological surge or

obsolescence?

Can I get backend sales? Determine if your product or service will warrant repeat sales. There is

real business value in building a pool of repeat customers. Is the product safe? The safety of a product use is an important consideration for

many consumers, particularly for manufactured products. Education of your consumers

Can my product be promoted with strong advertising copy? Emotion sells(greed, fear or want). Stress what people can gain from ordering your product or service

(financial reward, becoming the envy of others, knowledge to get ahead in life) or

Tell them what they lose if they do not order (loss of time and convenience, discounts for ordering before a deadline).

Will you be left with an inventory? Avoid inventory risk; Buy Insurance

Brainstorm Tips

Clearly Define Your Guidelines No Idea is Too Crazy Be Positive and Avoid Criticism Play Off Each Idea to Investigate Further Weed Through Them to Simplify Sort Into an Order