University of La Verne SBDC Small Biz Blog

  Many business owners may have an idea for a small business or multiple competing ideas and are not sure if they want to pursue it. Do you wish you knew what business idea to pursue before you put a lot of time and money into something that may not work? In this guide, I will take you through a simple 3 step process to evaluate your business idea so you can move forward with confidence. Check out the checklist from score and follow along. Let’s get started. Business Concept Our first step is to develop our concept. You want to make sure that your business idea is a skill you have as a service or is valuable as a product, otherwise, people don't want it if you can't deliver on the promise or provide a lousy product. The other thing you need to think about is imitation. Is this a trending product or service? Is everyone doing it? You want to offer a product or service that is valuable but not easily replicated because that just spells more competition for you and your business

Branding is one of the most esoteric and confusing terms, even for those who have actually studied marketing. The American Marketing Association defines a brand as the “name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” While that seems simple enough, a brand is about connecting your business to consumers not only on a physical level (by identifying a product) but on an emotional level as well. In this article, I’ll take you through a simple 4 step process to creating a brand as a small business. Step 1. Brand Positioning  Brand positioning is a process of understanding the target market and defining the space that your brand occupies in the minds of customers. It is also about understanding who you are as a company and what you want to be known for. The first step in developing a strong brand position is research. This includes customer research and competitive research, where companies learn about t