2. GOALS & VALUES
What do you want to achieve?
Entrepreneurs often start talking with us by saying "I've had this idea and it's so good I can't believe nobody has done something with it before."
While the excitement is running through your veins you need to work out what you hope to achieve because the reason it looks like nobody has done it before could be that many have tried and failed.
In step 1, you have established:
- you are clear about where the idea came from
- you are confident it is solving a problem for more than a handful of people
- there's a solid market for your idea (or, your idea is a toy, luxury item or something quirky but you are ok with that)
Now, you need to consider the effort required for the next phase and establish if you've got what it takes to see it through.
Your most important values and goals
Answer these questions honestly:
- What do you want to get out of this?
- What is your 'why'?
- What is your mission or your hope – for this idea? (here's a great TEDx talk on "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek)
- Do you want to set up a business around it and run it yourself?
- Do you want to be the key driver in the development?
- Do you want to find another person to partner with you?
- If you would prefer another to run with it, who might that be?
- Do you want to move on from your current job or situation?
- If so, what is the timescale in mind?
- Are you willing to commit evenings and weekends towards its development?
- Who do you know that might help you with that?
- What are your thoughts on licensing it to somebody else, to get it off the ground?
- This is the start of your business model. If you want to lead this potential business or social enterprise, then being clear about your values and intentions from the outset is vital.
Refine your value proposition
Now that you are clearer on your goals and values it's time to really refine that value proposition. There are many excellent tools available for this, so we've picked a couple for you to start with that we know well:
STRATEGYZER
There are excellent paid for resources online, one of which is Strategyzer's business model canvas and library of videos and tools. You can get a free taster of their resources here.
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER NETWORK (KTN)
The team at KTN has developed a great online resource that links to a host of other sources of business development tools. Start here and click on the elements in the "one page canvas", that will take you to different online free resources here
Review and Move On
Feeling happy with your Value Proposition and Goals?
Click on the button below to move on to Step 3 - RESOURCES