Business Opportunities...

Those of you that know me know that I've been looking out for good business opportunities to run part time for a while now.

A few things have come to light but on investigation they have usually turned out to not be worth it.

Interested to hear how others go about evaluating potential business opportunities - the sort of questions you ask and the analysis you do, or is it much more about gut feel?

Carl

Re : Business Opportunities

One of the first things to do is look at who is already doing it - there are few niches left so there is someone operating in almost every market!

By getting a feel for how many competitors there are and how they operate their business you can usually get a feel for what you'd be doing on a day to day basis.

I don't know if there is any website that lists something like "things to consider when offered a business opportunity" but I'm sure there will be information along those lines out there

Dan
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Web Design

Re : Business Opportunities

Thanks for that. Certainly looking at the competition is very important!

What other methods do people use?

Carl

Re : Business Opportunities

A lot of times, identifying a business opportunity comes from an own experience where you find there's a lack of something ... or look at your general areas of interest and see how you can combine and make a business from it.
I agree that the competition is important to further investigate but please, please do not forget to assess the needs for your target group because it's not because there are a lot of businesses in a specific are that they are all successful because it could be that time has moved on.
Another important area is therefore to understand the current size of the market. Therefore, why not ask accounts from Companies house or ask for annual reports from your competitors or check mintel reports.
I hope this helps.
Ingrid

Re : Business Opportunities

Yes - it's crucial to ask what the needs of those in your target market are, rather than what you think they might be - if possible do some market research before you start to check that what you think the needs are, actually are!

Sasha