Test Drive Your Big Idea: Your Toolkit to Accelerate Your Business Launch

The Test Drive Your Big Idea Toolkit gives you four puzzles to solve by answering critical questions to prove your concept to yourself and potential investors.

The first puzzle, Idea Garage, will allow you to construct Your Initial Business Idea which will be the continuous focus of your work throughout the entire Test Drive. You will modify it based on your research, work, and customer input and feedback.

The Idea Validation Lab is a series of two puzzle pieces built with a customer-centric approach to help you strengthen and validate the Initial Version of Your Business Idea. Solving both puzzle pieces will give you a look at the current business landscape and how your target customers will react to Your Business Idea.

Understanding the Current Business Landscape, the first puzzle piece, will reveal what the customer is thinking, saying, and feeling related to the existing solutions (i.e. your competition). As a result, you will be able to improve and differentiate Your Business Idea to better meet the Target Customer's needs.

Testing Your Business Solution, the second puzzle piece, focuses on prototyping and simulation that will give you further assurance that your customer values Your Business Idea enough to purchase it and for what price.

Completing the Idea Validation Puzzle will validate Your Business Idea and enable you to create a Final Business Proposition for a specific Target Customer. You can then take this summary to the Calculation Station Puzzle to determine its financial feasibility.

The Calculation Station is a series of two puzzle pieces that help you generate the estimates regarding how you will produce revenue and the costs associated with producing your solution. Solving both puzzle pieces will provide data around the financial viability of your business idea.

Finance District, the first puzzle piece, guides you through the steps of determining how much will you charge your customers for your solution, how much it cost to make your Solution and how much money you will need to establish your business.

Market Place, the second puzzle piece, helps you calculate the market size that puts you on a path to profitability.

Completing the Calculation Station Puzzle will help you figure your Cost Analysis and ultimately conduct a Financial Feasibility Analysis.

The Readiness Gateway Puzzle is focused on exploration and discovery that encourages you to develop life insights. There are unlimited outcomes for the self-discovery work you will do in solving this puzzle, including any final decision regarding:

- Starting a new job
- Building a business or enterprise
- Focusing on a hobby or volunteer opportunity
- Creating an artistic project

To determine which outcome is best for you, we have prepared four puzzle pieces that form the Readiness Gateway Puzzle. Each puzzle piece is designed to provide information critical to determining what will make you happiest and most successful, regardless which path you choose.

Your Truth Mirror asks you and those close to you to assess your skills and unique personality traits.

Your Life's Vision asks you to revisit your life story and define the activities and events that made you feel fulfilled, engaged, and energized.

Your Future offers the chance to explore key priorities in your life and evaluate if and where you can improve.

Your Financial Status provides unique data points for your finances and address any gaps that could prevent you from pursuing your Lifeswork Idea.

Completing the Readiness Gateway Puzzle will help you create a plan (Personal Compass) that will guide the ultimate launch of your Business Idea.

The Test Drive has one clear destination: Your Personal/Business Portfolio, which contains the outcome documents for each puzzle. This feature allows you to quickly view, download, save, print or share these documents with advisers, counselors, potential investors or partners who want to know more about your idea.

Author: Robert Means, Candace Swaisgood
Publisher: Bookbaby
Published: 05/17/2021
Pages: 164
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 11.00h x 8.50w x 0.40d
ISBN13: 9781098371388
ISBN10: 1098371380
BISAC Categories:
- Business & Economics | Entrepreneurship

About the Author
Bob Means, PhD. conducted his graduate studies at the University of Illinois and University of Michigan Medical School. He has been happily married for 49 years the proud father of a son and daughter and five wonderful grandkids.
He has served as an educator in the medical field for over 30 years in the Department of Veterans Affairs and except for a retirement of one day has been working with entrepreneurs and business startups from high school, college to adulthood to help them launch businesses. Candace Swaisgood received a BA in Business Management with a focus in Entrepreneurship from John Carroll University. Candace is currently working for Work Innovations Network and is starting her own business, Adulting: A Crash Course, which specializes in coaching young adults on practical life skills.
Her professional interests focus on training and coaching, which are both critical components of her current projects. In addition, she participates in local young adult professional organizations including Engage! Cleveland and CollegeNow of Greater Cleveland.
She is a proud mother of two young boys and enjoys running, DIY projects and quality time with friends and family in her free time.