try to this market such as large, incumbent providers doing something similar? If you have bemoths such as large insurance, travel or retail companies that own the majority of the market – one of two things are going to happen. Either they will stop you entering the market or they will wait until you establish yourself and then take your ideas as their own. We all know of great products that made us say “why didn’t I think of that?” which are now regularly produced by the major companies. Alternatively iYou have had one of those Eureka moments and come up with a great business idea. You are sure that you have spotted an opportunity that no one else has. You’ve found that window of opportunity – or are you going to run up against a brick wall. Here’s how to check that there really is an opportunity before you spend your hard earned cash to find out!

To have a window of opportunity that will be viable and profitable you need to have a number of factors working in your favor:

* New Ground: Are you absolutely certain that no one else is doing what you want to do? Have a good search on your favorite search engine. Be careful if you want to ask around – you don’t want to let people know too much and lose your market advantage.

* Previous Failures: Have people tried to do this before and failed at it? Examine why and be sure that you can avoid these problems when you start your new business.

* Will It Work: I know of a company that thought that it would be a good idea to provide fresh flowers to local businesses instead of the potted plants that are commonly found. The business folded when it was discovered that the life of flowers in a business atmosphere was only a few days – which meant that the customer either had wilted flowers or very little return on their investment. It turned out that other florists had investigated this possibility and turned it down for the same reason.

* Stock: Can you obtain the raw goods you need on a regular basis. If it is skilled staff that you need – will you be able to attract them to work for you? There was a couple who were intent on providing real British sandwiches to beach goers in Cyprus as opposed to Greek based snack food. What they completely forgot to investigate is the availability of British type bread in Cyprus! For our American friends, British sandwiches are flat and triangular and need British sliced bread to survive!

* Existing Barriers: Are there barriers to entry to this market such as large, incumbent providers doing something similar? If you have bemoths such as large insurance, travel or retail companies that own the majority of the market – one of two things are going to happen. Either they will stop you entering the market or they will wait until you establish yourself and then take your ideas as their own. We all know of great products that made us say “why didn’t I think of that?” which are now regularly produced by the major companies. Alternatively it

round: Are you absolutely certain that no one else is doing what you want to do? Have a good search on your favorite search engine. Be careful if you want to ask around – you don’t want to let people know too much and lose your market advantage.

* Previous Failures: Have people tried to do this before and failed at it? Examine why and be sure that you can avoid these problems when you start your new business.

* Will It Work: I know of a company that thought that it would be a good idea to provide fresh flowers to local businesses instead of the potted plants that are commonly found. The business folded when it was discovered that the life of flowers in a business atmosphere was only a few days – which meant that the customer either had wilted flowers or very little return on their investment. It turned out that other florists had investigated this possibility and turned it down for the same reason.

* Stock: Can you obtain the raw goods you need on a regular basis. If it is skilled staff that you need – will you be able to attract them to work for you? There was a couple who were intent on providing real British sandwiches to beach goers in Cyprus as opposed to Greek based snack food. What they completely forgot to investigate is the availability of British type bread in Cyprus! For our American friends, British sandwiches are flat and triangular and need British sliced bread to survive!

* Existing Barriers: Are there barriers to entry to this market such as large, incumbent providers doing something similar? If you have bemoths such as large insurance, travel or retail companies that own the majority of the market – one of two things are going to happen. Either they will stop you entering the market or they will wait until you establish yourself and then take your ideas as their own. We all know of great products that made us say “why didn’t I think of that?” which are now regularly produced by the major companies. Alternatively i

would be a good idea to provide fresh flowers to local businesses instead of the potted plants that are commonly found. The business folded when it was discovered that the life of flowers in a business atmosphere was only a few days – which meant that the customer either had wilted flowers or very little return on their investment. It turned out that other florists had investigated this possibility and turned it down for the same reason.

* Stock: Can you obtain the raw goods you need on a regular basis. If it is skilled staff that you need – will you be able to attract them to work for you? There was a couple who were intent on providing real British sandwiches to beach goers in Cyprus as opposed to Greek based snack food. What they completely forgot to investigate is the availability of British type bread in Cyprus! For our American friends, British sandwiches are flat and triangular and need British sliced bread to survive!

* Existing Barriers: Are there barriers to entry to this market such as large, incumbent providers doing something similar? If you have bemoths such as large insurance, travel or retail companies that own the majority of the market – one of two things are going to happen. Either they will stop you entering the market or they will wait until you establish yourself and then take your ideas as their own. We all know of great products that made us say “why didn’t I think of that?” which are now regularly produced by the major companies. Alternatively i

regular basis. If it is skilled staff that you need – will you be able to attract them to work for you? There was a couple who were intent on providing real British sandwiches to beach goers in Cyprus as opposed to Greek based snack food. What they completely forgot to investigate is the availability of British type bread in Cyprus! For our American friends, British sandwiches are flat and triangular and need British sliced bread to survive!

* Existing Barriers: Are there barriers to entry to this market such as large, incumbent providers doing something similar? If you have bemoths such as large insurance, travel or retail companies that own the majority of the market – one of two things are going to happen. Either they will stop you entering the market or they will wait until you establish yourself and then take your ideas as their own. We all know of great products that made us say “why didn’t I think of that?” which are now regularly produced by the major companies. Alternatively i

try to this market such as large, incumbent providers doing something similar? If you have bemoths such as large insurance, travel or retail companies that own the majority of the market – one of two things are going to happen. Either they will stop you entering the market or they will wait until you establish yourself and then take your ideas as their own. We all know of great products that made us say “why didn’t I think of that?” which are now regularly produced by the major companies. Alternatively it can take an exorbitant amount of money to become established. EasyJet – which found a window of opportunity and established a profitable business from it, was started by the son of a Greek shipping billionaire!

* Interested Market: Is the reason that no one else has entered the market, that people are not really that interested? Make sure that it is not your enthusiasm alone that makes the opportunity so appealing. Do your research. Are people asking for something like this? Do people make do with other items and are unlikely to change? Those catalogues you get in your junk mail are full of “useful gadgets” that can not find a retailer.

* Large Enough Market: Do enough market research to ensure that you will be able to sell enough products or services to make a profit. Sometimes windows of opportunities are too small to get through!

* Enough Profits: Lastly, are all your efforts going to result in sufficient sustainable profits to make it all seem worthwhile?

Here are a few windows of opportunity that have made people millionaires:

* Yellow stickies – where would we be if we did not have a pile of these on our desk when we came back from lunch?
* Cat’s eyes – those glass lights that show the edge and middle of the roads at night and during inclement weather.
* Body Shop – who produced make up and bathing items that we don’t feel guilty about.
* Sock Shop – oh the joy of being able to replace socks, stockings and tights whilst at work.
* EasyJet – for no frills, low cost air travel around Europe.

And anything else that is the best thing since sliced bread (and there’s another one!)