Guide
Launch your business
Take an idea through to a first practical test.
Your objective
By the end of this guide, you will have an initial offer, a clearly defined audience and an action to test your idea.
Step 1 / 5
Describe the problem to solve
Start with the customer’s situation, rather than your solution. What takes up their time, costs them money or holds them back? A specific problem helps you explain how you can be useful.
Complete this sentence: “I help [type of customer] facing [specific problem] achieve [intended result].”
Example: helping tradespeople who do not have a website showcase their work and receive enquiries.
Step 2 / 5
Choose an initial audience
Define a group you can actually reach. “All businesses” is difficult to work with when preparing your first sales approach. Choose a trade, a situation or a shared need.
Identify five people or businesses that fit this audience and note why your idea could be useful to them.
Start with one audience and one need. You can broaden your focus after the first feedback.
Step 3 / 5
Build a simple offer
Specify what you will do, what the customer will receive and what will remain outside the scope. Separate the desired outcome from the deliverables you can actually produce.
Write your offer in five lines: who it is for, what it addresses, what is included, its limits and the next step.
A clear service is more useful than a long list of skills. Avoid promising an outcome you cannot control.
Step 4 / 5
Test before building everything
Present your proposal to a few people in your chosen audience. Ask how they currently deal with the problem, what holds them back and what would make your offer useful. Look for specific examples.
Prepare three questions and arrange your first conversations. Record facts, objections and your assumptions separately.
“That is a good idea” is encouragement, rather than evidence of demand. A request for a proposal or an agreed test will give you more to work with.
Step 5 / 5
Choose your next action
Use the feedback to decide what to keep, what to change and what still needs checking. You do not need a perfect plan to define a next step.
Set an action, a date and an observable result: for example, present an adjusted offer to three contacts.
Before selling, also identify the administrative steps, authorisations and obligations specific to your activity. This guide helps you prepare your project; it does not replace those checks.
Your checklist
Tick the points you have prepared.
Ticked items remain during your visit.
Your next action
Write your offer in five lines and choose the first person to present it to.
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