How do you know if your startup idea already exists?
How do you know if your startup idea already exists? And does that matter, because what if you can do it bigger and better? Thanks in advance for your input!
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Jan 18, 2017
It doesn’t matter how your business idea is gorgeous , if the market is not ready for it, or niche is full - you will not get any profit, at least not now. To check idea on the "strength" we must give it to the public.
The first way is to try out the idea “offline” . One of the most effective offline methods is pitching ideas.
The essence of pitching - to tell all the features of your idea during 2 - 5 minutes. The benefits of this method are: experts give you advices; the audience is involved in the discussion; you can find potential investors for your business; you will get community support and find like-minded people. For example, Pitch NYC (http://pitch-nyc.com/), Flash Pitch, (https://www.flashpitch.nyc/) The Biggest Startup Pitch event in the USA – 850 start up pitches for 150 Expert DOJO Member (https://expertdojo.com/events/... and good article from Forbes 7 Startup Competitions You Need To Know (http://www.forbes.com/sites/il...
The second way, of course, to try out the idea “online”. Probably the most effective method to identify opportunities online - to use crowdfunding platforms and B2B, B2C marketplaces for your business ideas.
1. Crowdfunding. The great thing about this process is that you are forced to go with your idea "to people" much earlier than usual. At the same time you are getting feedback and can correct your project much faster. It is very useful for early stage startups, because it can save entrepreneur’s time in the future and money that he could spend on the "Debug" project. The feedback in the process of crowdfunding can help to understand if the campaign will be successful, or unsuccessful. Examples: Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/), Crowdfunding for Small Businesses (https://www.fundable.com/), and recommendations from Forbes Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites For Fundraising (http://www.forbes.com/sites/ch...
2. B2B, B2C marketplaces.
-The presence of members in the form of "internet community" allows to share information among all market participants.
-Online reviews and ratings can be good feedback tools of risk management for companies.
-Easy selection of proposals, the speed of decision-making, the way of communication via electronic channels help simplify communication.
For example, one which can be usefull for small- and midsize companies - Opporty (https://opporty.com/). Its B2B and B2C approaches help gain a strong foothold on the local market, appealing to local customers in the specific niche. Or if you want to compete with large and stable companies you can try large platforms, such as Magento (https://magento.com/).
The combination of these methods will help you to create a complete picture of "readiness" the ideas for implement.
Dec 9, 2015
That would be great if you share your startup idea so that better insights are shared with you in this thread. Though, it is very simple to check if your startup idea exists or not.
Search its related information on search engines and check what type of information is appearing. You can share your startup idea on discussion threads and communities to check audience response.
Dec 3, 2015
It's not about the idea, it is about the marketing of the idea. Just about anything can be done better. Nobody has the funds or power to make mass markets, they already exist, the best anyone can do is craft and harness their product to an already existing market.
Jul 7, 2015
Competitor research. Start by Googling or Binging your most relevant keywords.
Apr 17, 2015
At the risk of trying to sound sarcastic, but the first two moves, would be to look in your local paper, and your telephone books.
The next move would be to look up the Business name on the Companies House Web-site (www.companies-house.gov.uk).
If you find a company/business in the same vein as you, see how they are doing. With Limited Companies that is easy: look up their name on Companies House, only beware of Holding Companies that may have several trading names.
Speak to your local Chamber of Commerce and similar Governement operations to see who is registered with them; even looking down the High Street, will give you an indication.
Wishing you all the best and success.
Chris R.
Apr 16, 2015
First of all one must always assume that in a parallel universe of human existance someone has come up with a similar idea to the "new big thing" you are working on. Otherwise you are not keeping it real. Their are 7 billion humans on planet earth. And at least half of them have access to some reasonable level of information, or capable of heuristic insight. That is the greatest value of Periodic Table element "Hu"...lol. And also when you first create your business plan to obatin funding, one chapter is "competition". Bottomline, do your research. Also remember, having the same idea, is not the same as carrying that same idea to successful market achievement.
Apr 16, 2015
In my experience, there is always something out there that models the idea you may have. Even though this may be true for you, it is very important that you take time to learn about the various aspects or components to your idea so that you can identify how your concept can become unique. Lastly, it may serve you well to have some kind of involvement with the business or person that you share similar ideas with to observe how they are developing their concept and learn the pros and cons of it as well. For more information, please feel free to contact me to further discuss.
Apr 16, 2015
You want to perform a thorough search in your major search engines. Also search your local city clerks for information, your states database to perform business name searches, and federal databases for trademark & copyrighting on the companies you find similar to your innovative ideas. Even though there are companies that have similar ideas, if they are not copyrighted or have trademarks, you may still have opportunity to develop yours with the right foundation, uniquely defined, and with enhanced features.
Keep in mind that if their product is similar and it is not selling you may want to understand what your target audience is really looking for to solve their pain point.
Apr 16, 2015
Hi Whitney! I think if you can dedicate your time doing market analysis and concentrating heavily on competitive analysis then this should not be difficult and if you find out that your idea does not exist then you should copyright it before someone else does and makes money out of it.
Apr 15, 2015
Steps to know:
1. Identify customer, and problem
2. Identify current solutions
3. Research market depend on 1,2
No matter if your startup idea already exist. But it makes you change the way you define your product, core values and strategy. After that, you should make the most important decision "do you want to continue?".
Apr 15, 2015
If you come up with something no one else has ever done, you're either going to be rich or broke. I agree with Susan that smaller can be more competitive. I worked in sales for a while with a national company before going independent. As an independent, I could say "yes" to a prospect's request without having to call a manager for approval.
Apr 14, 2015
The hardest thing to sell is something so new that your customer doesn't even know if they need it. This is called a "missionary sell".
The problem is that you have to sell the idea why they need an "X" before you get them to actually want to buy an "X" and after that you have to sell them the idea that they need to buy it from you. Whew! That's a lot of selling.
The first automobile was invented in 1886. Few people will know who invented it (Karl Benz). But everyone remembers Henry Ford, whose Model T didn't hit the market for another 22 years.
Being first isn't necessarily a good idea.
Apr 14, 2015
Good research come from Google search.
The same kind of business, same skills given, and same resources provided, but why some people do better than the other.
Depend how one perceive life and interpret issues, different decisions made and different outcome expected.
Although the kind of business and business idea do matter the growth potential of the business, however who is running the business will be very critical too.
Assume the type of business and business idea selected or proposed are generally accepted, than the person going to run the business who directly affect the success of the business.
Thus, when I evaluate a business, I usually study the entrepreneur or CEO in addition to the business potential. We depend on this person to turn a trouble business around, vice versa,
Apr 14, 2015
Whitney all of these answers are excellent...Trust your belly from here...Your head may say one thing, your heart another, but your belly never lies
Apr 14, 2015
Very disappointed with all of the "Google it" responses, and no tangible info. Let me provide you with some immediate resources, Whitney!
www.crunchbase.com - solely to search tech companies
www.moblized.com - compare solutions & companies
www.cloudlly.com - compare solutions & companies
www.getapp.com - compare solutions & companies
Feel free to find other useful tips/tools/etc here: http://www.refreshbox.co/newsletterInfo/923sHXDim1u?weekly=5
Apr 14, 2015
Hi there,
Here are my 2 cents. Unless you're working on something thats cutting edge it's highly unlikely that your idea doesn't already exist, or that someone hasn't already tried it. If you can't find someone in the market with your idea it's usually for a good reason. A few reasons would be:
1. It's too expensive (first in market face this hurdle)
2. It's not new, it (your idea) has failed already in the market
3. Good ideas don't validate a business
You should do some research and subscribe to newsletters from Angel List, Techcrunch, Startup Weekend, and Product Hunt. These will introduce you to the startup network and you'll learn a lot.
Cheers,
Rob
Apr 14, 2015
Take a look at the information held on patented matters by the Intellectual Property Office.
Apr 14, 2015
If the start up idea is already exist then it would be easy to go ahead with then it will be easy to follow up on things that needs attention. Once there is a start up you could make it better even if it is bigger and better.
Apr 14, 2015
Seems like it's safe to assume every startup idea already exists. Always assume that there are people at least thinking about the idea. The hard part is to execute against the idea.
I hear most people try to figure out how their offering will be different by providing more value to customers (compared to potential competitors).
More value could be "better", "faster", "lower price"...expressed by your customers (not by entrepreneurs / marketeers building the product / service).
Once you have a fairly good concept for how you'll be different, it's down to the execution part. This is where most people seem to give up on their ideas (too hard / too costly / someone will copy me / it will take too long / I don't think anyone will buy / too dangerous to give up my job...).
I'm guessing if you take 100 people with great ideas, only one person will continue to the execution part. The good thing is that your competition will mostly eliminate themselves.
Another hard thing to work past is that your idea might not be that great as a scalable business. If you can sell one product, will it be possible to fairly easily sell 100 or even 1,000? Prepare to be able to make changes down the road if you plan to become truly scalable.
As an employee, we can expect having 9 successes and 1 challenge at any given time. When executing against your idea and becoming an entrepreneur, expect to see 9 challenges and 1 success at any time. Your strong vision and resilience will come in handy.
Ability to execution and resilience seem to be more important than our original ideas!