2.0

Business Models, Idea Generation, Demand & Competition

How hard can it be? I mean, really. You come up with an idea and make billions in no time. That’s how all of those internet tycoons made all their money, after all.

Well, I’m here to say that there is a lot more to those businesses than one thinks.  This class has been a real eye-opener for me.  In some ways, it is empowering to think that I could make a website and possibly make some money with it.  In other ways, I am dumbfounded by the information that is out there and fact that probably millions of other people are hoping to do the same thing.  I’ll try to stay positive, though.  At least for the next 12 weeks.

Business Model

I think the most fascinating thing for me was the idea that you can possibly start a business without even having a product. I know. That probably dates me a little bit. But, when we started this lesson, I would have NEVER thought this would be possible.  I read the case study and firmly believed that this group of people needed a product that they could rally behind and that would be the best starting point for them. However, when you really start to look at how many online BUSINESS MODELS there are, you start to question whether a product is the best way to start or whether you need to make your business model your starting point.  In the end, I think it would be helpful to have both.

Idea Generation

As soon as I found out that I would need to launch an actual online business for this class, I started to get those butterflies in my stomach. *um, excuse me? did i read that right?*  I felt the pressure IMMEDIATELY to come up with some earth shattering product that the world had never seen and everyone was dying to have. Once I read the detailed instructions, I realized that it was a little more low key and that the actual money made wouldn’t be the most important part. *phew* I can only imagine the stress people endure when actually starting their own businesses.

The two websites we were given to help with business ideas were great. I especially loved the Brainstorming article that discusses business models and ideas. Russell Brunson had me so excited that I felt like I was going to come up with the next MLM business within seconds!

Demand and Competition

When I first saw that we would be discussing demand, I thought we would come back to some boring Economics lecture about supply and demand. *snore*  However, I was happily surprised when I was able to actually work with Google AdWords to see demands and competition via Googles searches. You can literally pull up any subject, product, etc. and see how many people search for it and how many businesses are available. It’s absolutely incredible that Google provides this kind of information free to the public. We were also given great advice via Entrepreneur about business ideas and things to think about before you even start generating ideas.

Overall, I feel like I have A LOT to learn in the business world and can’t imagine a better way to learn it than via the tactics of this class: