Business & Entrepreneurship

PRODUCT

• What problem are you solving?
• What's your edge?
• What will it cost to produce it? What could you charge for it?
• Can you make a reasonable return given the startup costs and risks?

MARKET

• Who is your market?
• How big is your market?
• Are there customers for your product? Do they have a need for the product?
• How mature is your market?
• What is the potential growth rate of your target market?
• Is this a good time to enter this target market?
• Sources to try: MarketResearch.com ; ReferenceUSA US Consumers; American Community Survey;  ReferenceUSA US Businesses; Business Source Premier; ESRI Business Analyst

 INDUSTRY

• How attractive is the industry?
• What is the financial health of the industry?
• What is the age and growth rate of the industry?
• How concentrated is the industry?
• What is the stage of industry life cycle?
• What are the trends in the industry?
• How high are the barriers to entry? Can anyone easily enter this market, or not?
• What impact does regulation have?
• Sources to try: NAICS codes; IBISWorld; BizMiner;  Business Source Premier; Google; ThomasNet

COMPETITION

• Who is in this market with you?
• What foothold do they have?
• Will your product be competitive in the marketplace?
• What is the nature of the competition in your market?
• What is the average income for companies in the market?
• Sources to try: ReferenceUSA US Businesses; Google;  Business Source Premier; ABI/Inform Complete ; ThomasNet