BUSINESS idea development is a critical aspect in the creation of any successful business concept.
The viability of a business idea to a large extent determines how competitively sustainable the entire business will be.
In the previous two articles, we looked at venture capital as a source of raising investment funds.
Our discussion was based on the premise that “An investor buys a stake in an entrepreneur’s idea, nurtures it for a  period of time, and eventually exits the business”.
It is still on the above concept of ‘an entrepreneurs’ idea’ that we shall build on.
We are essentially saying “ What is an entrepreneurs’ idea and what makes an entrepreneurs’ idea viable?”
I received overwhelming feedback from our readers.
Almost all the readers who contacted me intimated that they have developed business ideas, but haven’t just launched out yet for one reason or another.
I therefore decided to write this follow-up article in order to reach out to a number of entrepreneurs who may need to fine tune on their business ideas.
I should be frank from the onset, that creating a viable business idea is not as fun as one may think.
No investor would be interested in investing in an idea that is not viable.
This could partly explain why 90 percent of all start-ups world-wide fail to stretch beyond  a four year mark of operations from inception.
This article will outline a few characteristics of a viable business idea, the process of conceptualizing and testing a viable business concept.
Hopefully by the end of this article, it should be clearer on why our business ideas need to be viable and subsequently be pursued with fierce tenacity.
The key to starting a successful business is and has always been about creating an idea that consequently results in fulfilling a need in the market place.
Essentially, every entrepreneur should envisage the challenges he or she needs to assess before getting started.
This should all be extensively thought out for a better understanding of where there is room for your idea to carter for the unmet needs of the target market.
As we have already alluded to, an entrepreneurial idea needs to address a specific need, want or problem on the market place.
It must have a commercial merit and should assess the market opportunity to ascertain that it is large enough to support the business venture.
For the business to succeed, it is essential to have a clear research evidence that  adequate or sufficient numbers of people who experience the need or problem exist.
Therefore, most new and developing entrepreneurs should start with identifying an opportunity, clearly defining the opportunity and then get to generate a specific idea to respond to this opportunity.
Additionally, a business idea should have originality.
Successful entrepreneurs and inventors usually create new ideas that a country or the world has never seen before.
As entrepreneurs, it may be necessary in some cases to strive to change people’s perceptions.
This will entail exploring possibilities, launching successful businesses based on a unique idea that challenges the status quo, challenges existing options and offers possible alternatives.
You do not certainly have to re-invent the wheel!
But how do you create new ideas without re-inventing the wheel?
Let’s re-visit the case study of Instabug.
As we saw last week, Instabug, an Egyptian entrepreneur recently created the idea of a user friendly crash reporting system, which has embedded in-app conversations and data analytic capabilities.
This entrepreneur subsequently managed to attract US$1.7 million from international investors.
The Instabug business idea didn’t have to be explicitly unique.
The entrepreneur simply modified and improved the existing smart device technology.
This goes to illustrate that originality can simply be incremental by including only a few differentiating operational functions that sets your idea apart and makes you stand out the competition.
Following on, financiers are always looking out for strong ideas within a growth market which exhibits low to medium risk.
An entrepreneur should always fully understand risks and vulnerabilities when entering a fast growth sector.
Experience shows that an individual entrepreneur may find it difficult to figure out the larger overall picture of an idea in a given industry and macroeconomic conditions.
It would be helpful for the entrepreneur to find a network of industry experts and mentors as a resource tool for testing business ideas.
Such a network could recommend the type of research that would be most appropriate to enable one assess the viability of the proposed products in a target market.
This network should not be people who are your fellow entrepreneurs or friends who would simply have to unnecessarily pat you on the back!
Another important tool of assessing an idea’s viability is conducting a detailed investigation, such as a feasibility study.
This will enable the entrepreneur assess whether or not the opportunity has been discovered before.
Additionally, the investigation will provide an insight into the keys industry players, their suppliers, customers and direct competitors and should also figure out the technologies they use.
It is also imperative on the entrepreneur to assess the idea’s strengths and weaknesses and also undertake to overcome the weaknesses.
The importance of a viable business idea cannot be over-emphasized.
While this process does not insulate the start-up from failure, it provides a robust foundation and reasonable assurance that the business has been well formulated to withstand competition and other inevitable challenges.
For comments e-mail: ntumbograndy@yahoo.com Mobile +260977403113 +260955403113
The author is the Managing Consultant at GN Grant Business Consultant, a fellow of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) holder and a candidate for the Herriot Watt University (Scotland) Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)