The Most Common Mistake Made by Internet Business Entrepreneurs
Most entrepreneurs fail when they start an internet home business because they make one simple — but avoidable — mistake.
They decide on a product to sell without finding out if there’s a market of potential customers who want to buy it! That’s the “bass-ackwards” way to go about it.
Successful entrepreneurs start home businesses by finding under-served niche markets — BEFORE they decide what product or service to sell.
Once a product or service is found that can service a particular niche market, the internet entrepreneur must do market research to ensure their idea is a profitable one.
So if you want to avoid the deadly mistake that causes the majority of Internet startups to fail, follow these three essential steps.
Step #1: Jot down all of your interests and passions
Entrepreneurs who start home Internet businesses based on their own knowledge, experience, and expertise are far more likely to be successful.
After all, if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, you simply won’t find it as enjoyable — and you’ll be less motivated to stick with your business and do the work necessary to grow and improve it. So before you even begin to find an untapped niche of hungry customers, you should brainstorm your interests and passions… and let them guide you!
You can find unique skills a variety of ways. Knowing how to pass the exam required to be a paramedic is a skill on which an internet business could be started. Think of your own unique experiences. Maybe you collect stamps or sew quilts – these are all examples of unique niche markets.
The best way to get started is to create a list of all the jobs you’ve ever had… all the hobbies you’ve ever pursued… all the volunteer work you’ve ever done… all the times you’ve helped someone and felt really good about it… and all the challenging situations you’ve had to overcome in your life.
Once you have your list narrowed down to a few areas that are of most interest to you, you are ready start your market research.
Step #2: Finding your niche
When it comes to finding a niche market, you’ve got to think small if you want to find big profit potential.
A small, untapped and specialized niche market can be the source of big revenie online.
On the Internet, a niche market is a group of people who are searching to solve a common problem but not finding many (or any) relevant results.
People do not usually go online to buy (at least right away), but to find answers to a problem.
And that’s where you come in. Once you’ve found a group of people who are all looking for a solution to the same problem — without much success — you’ll have discovered the “hidden treasure” that will form the basis of your successful internet home business!
If you think small you will avoid finding a market saturated with competition like you would in a large, general market.
So be patient and explore all the possible avenues. You’ve got to drill down, down, and down again — until you finally strike gold!
How do you find these markets?
You can find out exactly what people are searching for online by using a simple tool, such as BeBiz. Are people searching for your potential product and not finding it? You may have just found your niche!
Starting your internet home business in this manner will ensure you know there is a market of potential customers out there who want your product…all before you spend any time or money. When you think you have your niche you still need to validate the market before running out and creating the next hot product.
Step #3: Validating a market
You need to confirm your market has profit potential in it at this stage. Can you actually make revenue from it?
To validate your market, ask these 4 questions:
1. Is the market easily defined and reachable? Most potential markets will already have places where they congregate. Online groups, forums, discussion boards, clubs, and special websites will give you the opportunity to analyze who exactly your potential customers are.
Find out who your potential customer is and you will have a better idea of whether or not they will buy from you.
2. Is the market big enough to be profitable, but small enough that there aren’t many competitors?
The market needs to have enough people in it to make it worth your while, but small enough so that not a lot of competitors have already moved in. If you find a lot of competition who are well supplied, well established and well funded – this is not a good market! Keep drilling down looking for a smaller, more defined niche.
3. Are your customers willing to spend their money with you?
You need to know if these people actually buy stuff… so it’s a good sign if there’s some competition already selling products to the market. You’ll have a much harder job selling to people if there are too many free products or free sites available.
4. Is your market passionate enough about their shared problem to solve it by spending money on your product?
A motivated niche market will eat, sleep and breather their interest . You want a potential market who are so passionate that they will do anything to get all the information they can related to the subject.
Think about quilters or stamp collectors…their obsessive interest is a large reason those markets are so profitable.
Take away
It’s essential you follow these three steps when you start an internet home business. If you can find a niche market based on your interests, you’ll be able to create a business you’re passionate about. And if you validate your market before you create a product, you can be confident your business will be profitable.
It’s a simple, but effective, formula and it will set you on the road to internet business success.
Filed under: Advertising