Dear friend,

This weekend, a friend came over (right in the middle of Top Gear may I add) proudly lugging her three lever-arch files stuffed to the brim with loads of research, samples and plans for her new product.

Once settled on my couch, cup of tea in hand, and small chat out the way... She proceeded to excitedly take me through each page she had meticulously drafted, checked, redrafted and filed.

At first, I listened with interest. After a while I rushed her on a bit, forcing her to skip sections - much to her frustration... Then eventually, I stopped her.

"You mean you've only sold two of them in three weeks?" I asked.

I mean, it must have taken her at least three solid months to prepare all that! All for a total revenue of R598. 

And so it almost hurt to point out her first mistake in starting her own business...

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Unless you're a taxidermist, don't spend ages on the fine detail...

Seriously, you just need to put in enough effort to get an idea off the ground and TEST it.

If it's good - it will work.

THEN, while you're making money from it, you can spend more time perfecting it.

If it doesn't work, ditch it and move on to the next one.

Poor Lydia almost choked on her tea when she realised she had spent a good part of a month labouring over an idea that hadn't taken off...

She was also a bit embarrassed she hadn't realised her idea had flopped... Before Sunday, she was cheerfully waiting in hope that her product would somehow take-off any day soon...

Which brings me to lesson number two...

Don't get too attached to your ideas... The market's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into...

We all think our ideas are great. And thank goodness for that because if every time we had an idea, our brains told us to "get real", there'd be no innovation in the world. We'd all work for same guy...

Instead, treat every idea that has passed the market research test, as just a potential  opportunity to get one step ahead.

As she thanked me for setting her straight on her path to business success, she happened to mention how the product had only cost her R200 all inclusive so she would have been "set for life" had it worked...

Well, I just couldn't stop myself from giving her the final lesson for the day when I heard that!

You see, she was selling her product for R299. Take VAT off that and she was getting R262.28 per unit  in revenue. Now, if the product cost her R200 to produce and fulfill, she was only making a total of R62.28 per unit in profit.

Unless you know for sure you'll get thousands of orders and be able to upsell your customers other related products to earn a decent income from the product, don't sell it for anything less than a four times mark up. It won't be worth your time and effort otherwise.

If four-times mark-up prices you out of the market, don't waste anymore time on the idea... Move on to the next...

For more business opportunity tips, subscribe to Insider Confidential today!

To your Success,

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