My Business Idea

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What is my business idea?

1. In summary, your business idea is the thing that keeps you up at night. It is the niggling desire to create a specific new service or product and get it out there for people to utilise and make you some money. Alternatively, it could be that logical voice in your head that tells you it’s now time to expand your current business or take up that opportunity to partner with someone else.

But how do we put that into words in a formal business document?

1. It doesn’t have to be complicated, we’ll start off by stating the business idea simply and clearly.

Here are some examples using our Case Studies we introduced you to earlier:

1. 1. • From Geoff “My new business will be providing specialised restoration services for classic cars in Northern Alberta”.
      • From Jennifer “I wish to purchase an existing health food store which supplies customers in Edmonton, Alberta”.
      • From Mike “I want to offer a new commercial cleaning service in Devon, Alberta.
      • From Cindi and Wayne “Our current concreting business services Edmonton, AB and we want to expand to reach towns and cities further East”.

Note 

1. that in each of these examples it is stated whether the business is new or existing, and also where it will operate. This is good because crucial information about your business idea is being communicated immediately and succinctly. Once you are done with a basic sentence, you can then expand slightly by adding a few more details about the product or service.

For example, if we asked Jennifer to expand on her example above, it may end up looking like this:

I wish to purchase an existing health food store which supplies nutritional supplements and fresh organic produce to customers in Edmonton, Alberta. As part of this purchase, I will also be providing a mobile service to residents and restaurants in the West End of the city, delivering locally grown, in season vegetables, organically raised meats and dairy products.

1.   This version is still brief, but adds a little more detail which will really help with your reader’s understanding.

Exercise

1. Now it’s your turn. Take a moment to answer the question: 

What is my business idea? 

Start by creating a bare-bones sentence which highlights what the business will do including whether it is new or existing, and where it will operate. Then add a few further details about the service and/or the type and/or location of customers you’ll be serving.