Two weeks ago, Plimus exhibited at Affiliate Summit East in New York City. We saw lots of inquiries from vendors looking to sell innovative products and services. Throughout the show, we spoke with affiliates from a variety of online verticals, many interested in attractive, new arenas of e-Commerce. Following the show and these discussions, I began to wonder …  how does a person choose the best product or service is best to sell?

 

My first stop in answering this question was Entrepreneur.com. I found an interesting article that discussed five ways entrepreneurs can select their business fit. The article includes tips for evaluating a prospective business opportunity to ensure it’s the the right option for them.

 

As addressed in the Entrepreneur.com article, here are the five factors for evaluating a new business:

1) Is there a financial fit? Conduct a virtual review of your financial scenarios (best case, average case and worse case). Determine whether or not you can adequately support yourself and the other responsibilities in your life.

2) Does the job match your personality? Evaluate what the job entails – as the business owner, will you be excited to come to work each day, is the work satisfying, will you be good at it? Looking at previous performance evaluations might help in weighing your skill set with the job criteria for your prospective position.

3) Will you fit in with the culture and environment? Get to know the people. Meet the employees, customers, vendors, etc. Are these people interesting? Would you be able to work with them each day?

4) Is there a compelling value proposition? Make sure you believe in the product or service you are selling. Will it be desirable to your customers? Will you be receiving a profit on each sale? Does it provide a larger value than it costs? What’s the ROI? While these questions may be challenging to address, you need to ensure your offering will be valuable to your buyers.

5)      Is this calling you to a higher purpose? Finally, before starting this venture, think about your business now and in the future. Don’t just think about the present – what do you want people to remember you for? Think about your legacy.

 

What do you think? Is there anything else new business owners should evaluate before jumping in? Here are Plimus, we work daily with online vendors and understand how starting a business can be daunting and risky. People often are motivated by the allure of more money, time with their family, opportunities to travel and other “glamorous” aspects of being your own boss.  Starting a new business venture, however, is challenging and it’s important to enter in a market that you not only enjoy, but one where you will succeed.

 

To learn more, check out the Entrepreneur.com article, “Five Ways to Find Your Business Fit,” by Joe Mathews. Use these tips to determine which product and/or service you should be selling, then come to us and together we’ll build the perfect platform for your needs.