Start up businesses should indentify gap in market first

Posted by Enterquest on 10 February 2012 | 0 Comments

Tags: start up, business advice, business support, business builder, chamber of commerce

Conventional thinking (and often advice) given to prospective new start ups is to find or create a business idea (or product) first and then work out who you are going to sell it to.

The problem with this approach is that more often than not it will result in novice business owners wasting their time, effort and money in creating a product, service or business idea that nobody wants.

But unfortunately, this is how too many people approach starting a business for the first time, and even worse they are encouraged to do so by the abundance of self-styled business 'gurus' who try to get you to sign up to their latest seminar or buy their latest book or start up toolkit.

However, those individuals who do manage to start up successfully - sometimes following one or two false starts along the way - are the ones who have managed to spot a local market gap or a niche that nobody else is filling first, and then go on to offer a product or service that will satisfy the needs of that market niche.

This doesn't necessarily have to be anything large scale - just a little edge, gap or opportunity that no-one else seems to have spotted - and which will successfully lead to another, albeit part-time, micro-enterprise getting itself off the ground.

In its most basic form this represents true entrepreneurship.

To read the full article and self help questions about starting up a business go to http://www.cobwebinfo.com/site/article_detail/item15745/small-business-gaps-edges-and-little-steps/?link_466=15745#comments