Business Education

Get Your Body Butter and Toothbrush Rentals Here! What could Possibly Go Wrong?

Strangely, no one is lining up outside the body butter and toothbrush rental stand. How odd? Who would have guessed such an idea wouldn’t take off? After all, you have a huge selection. So, there are plenty of choices. Yet, no one is interested. Something’s amiss here and you can’t quite put your finger on it.

Even Good Business Ideas are Not Guaranteed Winning Strategies

Okay, so the headline says it all. It’s a totally ridiculous business model. There’s not a person near or far interested in renting body butter or a toothbrush. Yet, people do come up with some strange concepts to sell and are surprised when they don’t pan out.

You’ve created something unheard of. You’re passionate about it. You believe in it. You’ve also spent an insane amount of time figuring the whole business out down to the tiniest detail. By now, you can talk about it for hours — and to top it off, it actually is a great idea. But for some reason, you can’t sell it. So, what’s the problem?
—Forbes.com

On the flip side, there’s no guarantee a really good idea will widely succeed. Even the best concepts run into problems. In other words, solid products and services aren’t immune from the realities of the marketplace. Put another way, there is no straight path from unknown to sensation.

How to Test a Business Idea

So, how do you know if a business idea is worth pursuing in the first place? How can you determine if it’s something which has a real chance of making it in the free market? Try these suggestions to establish a baseline:

Look for successful competition. Everyone wants to believe their idea is “new.” But, that’s usually not the case. In-part or whole, it’s likely been done before. So, look for examples and see how they fared.
Test different versions several times. There’s no such thing as perfect. Meaning, your business idea isn’t without some sort of flaw. Even if you’re really confident in what you’ll offer, it could perform better or worse, depending on a few tweaks. Offer a variety and see which works.
Explore the industry to gain an understanding. It’s certainly true good ideas are boxed out of the marketplace because they aren’t allowed. Perhaps it’s too heavily regulated or there are just too many obstacles to make it feasible.
Think about how it can scale and adapt over time. If the business can’t scale up to meet demand, that’s a big, red flag. And, if it’s not able to evolve with the changing times, that too, is a big obstacle.

Think about creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Ok, what the heck is an MVP. A minimum viable product (MVP) is a concept from Lean Startup that stresses the impact of learning in new product development. Eric Ries, defined an MVP as that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. This validated learning comes in the form of whether your customers will actually purchase your product.
A key premise behind the idea of MVP is that you produce an actual product (which may be no more than a landing page, or a service with an appearance of automation, but which is fully manual behind the scenes) that you can offer to customers and observe their actual behavior with the product or service. Seeing what people actually do with respect to a product is much more reliable than asking people what they would do.
If the business can’t scale up to meet demand, that’s a big, red flag. And, if it’s not able to evolve with the changing times, that too, is a big obstacle.

How do you test a business idea to ensure it’s a viable one? Please share your thoughts and experiences by commenting!

Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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My Employees are Making Excuses about Coming Back to the Office — What Can I Do?

March 31, 2021 No Comments

Although many parts of the country are reopening, some people might not be ready (or comfortable) with returning to the workplace. Of course, if this is happening to your business, it can not only be frustrating, but quite harmful to your company’s overall health. And, it’s certainly more preferable to bring back known quantities, rather than to try and replace trusted staff. But, you’ll have to convince those reluctant individuals first. Common Coronavirus-Related Excuses Employees might say they get the same amount from unemployment as they earned prior. Some will say their child’s school is closed or they take care of an elderly parent. Others might cite ongoing health conditions and any exposure to COVID is a severe risk. Unfortunately, these reasons are difficult to argue against. While a one-time incident may be overlooked, small-business owners cannot afford to accept excuses for ongoing performance problems. In a small organization, other employees quickly notice when excuses are allowed. By tolerating excuses, you create a culture of avoidance rather than responsibility. —Houston Chronicle Small Business However, employees who believe the workplace is unsafe is another matter. It’s much easier to convince them about proactive and other protective measures. But, that certainly doesn’t mean it’s a cinch to change their minds, either. How to Deal with Employees Who are Stalling Coming Back to Work Obviously, if someone is obstinate enough, it might not be worth the time and energy. But, if there are a few minimal concerns, it’s entirely possible to convince them to return to the workplace. Here are some helpful suggestions: Emphasize safety. If they are concerned about being around a large group of people again, you can always reduce the number of people in the office, and/or space them apart. Having the office sanitized from top to bottom by a professional cleaning service will also go a long way in reducing worry and anxiety. Give them more flexibility. Consider changing your sick policy in order to accommodate people who might be out for an extended period of time. You can also look into different health insurance plans to see if there’s something better available. Offer incentives. If someone is truly fearful about returning to the workplace, this probably won’t work. However, people that would rather continue to work from home will most definitely want to take advantage. The type and amount of incentives are up to you, but they could go a long way in changing minds. Use your influence. While you might prefer not to result to ultimatums, sometimes these are the only way to really get through to the most stubborn people. Obviously, you can’t do anything illegal, but you can change your businesses policies in regard to working remotely versus remotely working on-site. What other suggestions do you have to deal with employee excuses about returning to the workplace? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and experiences. Perhaps others can benefit from your unique perspective. Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

Employees Have These Skills You’re Probably Overlooking in Your Business

November 14, 2024 No Comments

Employees Have These In current conversations about emerging technologies like AI, workplace experts consistently highlight the critical role of human skills.

I can’t Afford to give My Employees Christmas Bonuses this Year, What can I Do Instead?

December 10, 2021 No Comments

This year, a good number of businesses will continue to face the very unenviable position of not being able to afford employees’ holiday bonuses. For a sizable percentage of companies, it became an inescapable reality last year, obviously, due to the large-scale shutdowns across the country and overseas. While many businesses have recovered and regained a sense of normalcy, a significant portion still struggle. This means having to make hard choices when it comes to expenses that are not part of the business’s day-to-day operations. Fortunately, there are some alternatives to giving employees cash. Turn a Negative Situation into a Positive One When the economy or an industry takes a downturn, most entrepreneurs will take a good hard look at their books to determine exactly where they stand. Some make the mistake of cutting back too deeply, becoming too lean to fully operate, and only prolonging a bad set of circumstances. However, others embrace it as an opportunity to eliminate redundancies, reduce extra expenses, and put their resources where they most matter. A holiday bonus is a traditional gift given to employees by employers each year as a big ‘thank you.’ Many managers and business owners want to give their hard-working employees a bonus at the end of the year. The unfortunate truth is that many cannot afford it in today’s economy. As a result, many companies have had to get creative by offering their employees something enticing that is not a cash bonus. —Optimum Employer Solutions The latter strategy is obviously more effective because it makes the company more efficient. This type of audit should be done regularly since it’s so very easy to become blissfully ignorant of what’s actually happening with the business’ finances. Company owners who enjoy a nice regular profit line are typically the ones blindsided most when things change and go in the wrong direction. Regardless, if you really can’t afford holiday bonuses this year, be honest and upfront with your team members. This way, they will understand the gravity of the situation and be grateful for whatever you decide on as a substitute. Employee Bonus Alternatives Before you panic, be sure to know the exact numbers. The situation might not be as dire as you think. Although, if it isn’t truly feasible to give your employees holiday bonuses this year, here are some great alternatives: Extra paid time off. What’s wonderful about this alternative is that employees will appreciate this just as much as bonuses. People like extra time off when they don’t have to forfeit anything and this will not cost the business anything directly out of pocket. Incremental pay raises. Another option is to schedule incremental pay raises for every quarter over the next year. If possible, start this in the immediate future and your employees will feel appreciated and valued. Better benefit packages. Yet another alternative to giving out bonuses is to give your employees better benefits which they can always use. Look into better health insurance, dental insurance, and other benefits What other employee bonus alternatives would you suggest? Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your input! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.