Early this year I acted as a mentor at Start Up Weekend. One of the takeaways for me was how much reinforcement was needed in defining a business and the processes that make a business a business.
As I have been working on a few new ideas and projects, I’m inclined to share the processes so that maybe you can more easily decide if your idea is a business or a hobby.
1. Value Creation: Does your idea create value for other people? Eventually you are going to have to have something that other people see value in. Start early figuring out what that is.
2. Delivering value: How are you going to give your customers value? This isn’t restricted to one thing.
3. Financing: Every business thrives or dies based on cash flow. Where will you get the money that lets you grow? How will you get paid for the value you are creating and delivering?
The first 3 are the tough ones, these last 2 are the fun ones.
4. Marketing: How are you going to let people know you are there?
5. Sales: Whats the sales process look like for your idea? Are you going to sell direct? Affiliates?
Hopefully this guide helps. Let me know if you use this to clear up your ideas.