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MenuIs this idea validation or harmful, good practice or a off on the wrong foot?
Wanted to validate my photography niche idea so I called a bunch of photographers off google and asked them if the offer this kind of service...most said they had never done it before but could easily incorporate it into their workflow and talked prices and procedures.....perfect! I now validated the idea (still need to validate customer side) Was that sketchy... should I tell them that it was an idea and perhaps they would like to partner or will they be displeased to hear their potential customer is another photographer...I thought it seemed fair because they just gained knowledge of a potential new rev stream for themselves.
Answers
Could it be called Sketchy? Yes. Does everyone do it in every industry to get insider info on competitor pricing and presentation.... Pretty much.
With that said if any do present as people you would like to work with, then for sure let them know what you were doing, that they made the cut, and that you would be honored to work with them.
What exactly is your question? No you are not a terrible person.
I would love to share a quote that this reminded me of, "If Someone Offers You An Opportunity And You Are Not Sure You Can Do It, Say Yes - Then Learn How To Do It Late" - Richard Branson and my latest tweet :) https://twitter.com/AverageJoeVC.
You are doing everything right! You are not sketchy at all and the truth of the matter is, they likely receive a lot of these types of inquiries. What you are potentially doing for them is presenting them with additional business for their endeavors, almost like providing them with additional deal flow. If you can firm up exactly what your offering is, how it would be fulfilled, the costs associated with fulfilling it, and ultimately come up with a price for that offering, you can then go work on the customer side of the equation to match the customer with the provider who would fulfill the solution and essentially broker the deal. Looks like you may be building a Marketplace of some sort and I encourage you to keep on moving :). Good luck.
Related Questions
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How do I approach potential clients to give me feedback on my product?
Hi, I've worked for years in business to business sales and consulting. You need to find out who works or makes decisions in a company in the area that your potential product could be useful, ie customer service. LinkedIn could be useful for this. Call them on the telephone. Don't e-mail. Open the conversation by asking for help, 'Hi, I'm wondering if you could help me find the person who would be responsible for customer service? I'm looking to get feedback on an innovative new idea I'm considering developing that may be useful to your company.' The most important thing you could ask them during the call is whether they've ever identified the problem that you're proposing to solve as an issue themselves. If they've never noticed, or don't care, then your new product will have a more challenging sales cycle since you'll have to do a lot of education. If they already know they have a problem, you'll need to act quickly because they may be already looking for a solution. Best of luck. David BarnettDavid C BarnettDC
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How do I expand my network with people who are MORE influential than I am? I'm looking for tips and tricks to do this online (with LinkedIn, etc)
I've done a lot of work in this space (created the new art of conference network: Hashtags to handshakes). Here are a few thoughts for you: -get clear on you goal(s) and the type of people who can help you. -take inventory of what you have to offer(use this acronym Work history, Hobbies, Education, Network) -once you see the people you want to connect with, do the online research to see if you already have something or someone in common(LinkedIn). -read and comment on their content or something in their profile. -Invite them to 15min virtual coffee as an introduction call. (Be in a "how can I be of assistant mindset) -ask them two question during your virtual coffee (1. What are you working on that you're most passionate about? 2. What the biggest challenge?). Once you know someone's challenge you can find ways to be helpful. -Be patient. -let me know if you need more support ;)Mike Ambassador BrunyMA
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How do you get access to the right people to validate an idea?
The art of the "cold pitch" is definitely something that needs to be worked on, and doesn't come naturally to everyone. A couple of quick tips: 1. 4 is not a big enough target group, you've got to cast a bigger net. Try pitching 20, and aim to get 3-5 responses. 2. When sending a cold email, really think about what you are offering them. Whilst you'll get the odd good egg that simply wants to help - you can't expect entrepreneurs and small biz owners to take time out of their day to answer your questions. To counter, why not tell them you're conducting research in the space, and would be happy to send the finds/reports back to them in a nice format, which could in turn help their business. 3. Don't give up, keep hustling. Try changing around the emails slightly, track which emails convert into responses, and fine tune from there. Good luck and feel free to book a call if you want to chat more. Best James.James PemberJP
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What are the best ways to define and validate a new business concept?
Face to Face will always be better. The reason is because to get to the root of an issue or to what really drives a person, you need to ask WHY 5 times. Only then you can offer a solution that will be irresistible to your prospects. Let's try with an email survey. 1. What is your biggest struggle when you want to expand abroad? __________ 2. Why? __________ 3. Why? __________ 4. Why? __________ 5. Why? __________ You look like a freak, right? Now in a normal conversation, it would go something like: Oh, your biggest challenge is costs? Tell me more about it. Yes, i just don't have enough cash flow to open an office abroad. Where is your cash flow going instead? (that's a hidden why) It's going into our local activities. Why do you prefer spending money locally? Because we get more return on investment. etc etc.. I'm happy to jump on the phone to test this technique (it feels a bit awkward at the beginning but with some training it becomes natural). SerenaSerena De Maio, Your Tell You Like It Is Marketing ExpertSD
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At what point does an idea become valuable enough to warrant being monetized?
If it's SaaS, you should be monetizing from day one. An MVP in SaaS is the minimal product that people will pay for, that's the starting point. You evolved the product from there. If it's a consumer app, that's a little more complicated. Often times, monetizing preemptively can stunt growth and kill the trajectory, due to lack of focus, user experience, etc. It's really a question of access to capital in this scenario.Andrew DumontAD
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