Business Idea Evaluation - Essay Example

The article also brings to light the strategic benefit of aligning the innovation strategy with the ecosystem and what a successful innovation evaluation model should seek to measure. Innovation is the key to business success. In order that it reigns supreme and contributes to increasing profitability it must be managed carefully. Organizations must create and sustain a creativity supporting culture through routines, rituals as well, control systems, symbols and systems. Organizations endeavour to instil some form of entrepreneurial spirit amongst their employees [15].

Ever since the discipline of management came into being, various models and criteria have been established to evaluate business ideas and propositions. In theory, these criteria should be able to assess the idea on many different dimensions. These include; "market opportunity, competition, the marketing system, financial factors and production factors." [1] Innovation is not just the domain of R& D. It exists everywhere, at all levels and all areas of the organization. However, not many companies know how to learn from this innovation and use it to improve the overall effectiveness of the organization.

Also, "Starting a business is easy. Deciding on what business to engage in is the difficult part. There are literally hundreds of ideas you might think of that could bring in extra income. How do you know which of these business ideas will bring you success"A business idea is the 1st step in setting up a business. It's the beginning of the business development process. Since the concept behind a business is to make money, a business idea should be something people will be willing to buy, hence it should satisfy the value proposition.

This is the unique value that a product has that a product brings to its customers. Business ideas usually start on a broad scope. These are then narrowed down keeping market conditions, customer requirements and business resources in mind.[21]Business models have been set out to assess the viability of a new idea. These are usually focused on a certain aspect of the innovation. In practice, a host of models are put to use for a comprehensive evaluation. While certain approaches are centred around the financial feasibility of the new venture such as Return on Investment and Net Present Value, others are more qualitative in nature.

However, all of them have certain drawbacks and specific advantages. There is no best approach for any idea and many ideas must be evaluated keeping in mind variables such as type of industry, type of product, type of market etc. The Buyer Utility MapThe Buyer Utility Map is a comprehensive tool used to evaluate the utility of a business idea for the target consumer. It focuses on the six stages of buyer experiences; purchase, delivery, use, supplements, maintenance and disposal. These are matched with the six utility levers which include