Menu
Log in

bring your ideas to life

Log in

Five Questions To Answer About Your New Business Idea

We encourage Fab Lab ICC members, students, and visitors to think about using the Fab Lab to “make things and make money.” Another way is to say, “People will pay money for the things you can make here.” People in business and in their personal lives have wants and needs, i.e., problems to solve, and they are willing to spend money to fix those problems. That’s the whole premise behind this new way of thinking about entrepreneurship, finding better ways to solve problems.

For entrepreneurs and inventors with new product ideas, Fab Lab ICC is a great place to develop prototypes in a quick and inexpensive way. At any given time, there are from one to three people working in various stages to bring new products to the marketplace.

But wait. There’s more to introducing a new product than just making a working prototype. We must have a pretty good idea that there are people that want the new product and that they are willing to pay for it. 

Five Questions to Answer

Here are five questions that need to be answered before talking (i.e., spending money, time and/or effort) to bankers, lawyers, patent attorneys or accountants about that new business idea you have. The answers can be informally written out and shared with a business coach, another service we provide through Fab Lab ICC.

  1. Describe the product or business idea, i.e., your solution.

  2. Describe the want, need or problem that your solution will solve.

  3. What are the current solutions?

  4. How is your solution different, i.e., better?

  5. How many people have the problem?

The best way to answer these questions is to “go out into the world” and find those people that have the problem you are trying to solve and see if they think your solution would be preferable to whatever method they are currently using to deal with the problem. We believe this self-derived, informal method of determining whether potential customers are interested in your solution is far superior to formal market research.

How Does Your Idea Solve a Problem

Framing your business idea in the context of how it will solve a problem is an essential first step in understanding whether anyone will actually buy your solution when it becomes available. It is also important to examine current solutions. Most problems are not new so one way or another people are dealing with them in some way. It is important to know as much as possible about current solutions so you can ask people if they think your solution will be better. How many people have the problem is not really a quantitative question for which you need a definite number. Another way to phrase the question might be “How wide-spread is the problem?” In a random gathering of 100 people from all walks of life, how many might have the problem you are trying to solve?

Answering these five questions, especially after discussions with potential customers in the “real world” will most always point out that the solution you envision, in its current form, is not quite what people want. Use these five questions in an iterative process, answering them again and again after each tweak to the business or product idea. This is the best way to bring a new solution to the market without exhausting all your financial resources on a solution that most people will not buy.

Next Step-Business Plan Questionnaire

Once you have answered these five questions and are ready to take the next step in exploration, there are a few more questions to answer. We have a document that I call the “Business Plan Questionnaire” that expands on the five questions with others. One example of an additional question is “Make a list of all the one-time startup costs you will have.” This list doesn’t have to be perfect, but giving it some thought should give you an idea of the magnitude of start up costs. When people ask for help in thinking about a new business idea, this questionnaire is the first thing I give them. It gives me an idea of what they have in mind, and it asks some of the questions they need to answer before moving forward.

If you have a new business idea, I’d be happy to send you this Business Plan Questionnaire if you email your request to me.

Jim Correll can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Fab Lab ICC or Independence Community College. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.


Call Us!
(620) 332-5499

Visit Us!
2564 Brookside Drive | Independence, KS 67301

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software