Written by Ordering | Jan 7, 2022 10:02:22 PM
You are probably reading this article because you have a stellar marketplace idea in your mind. However, you have not entirely executed the idea and are just in the process of checking out the way to go about getting your idea into an actual reality. Well done you!
The world of online business and marketplaces has grown significantly over the past few years, and the only way it appears to be going is UP.
You are about to set yourself apart from your average Joe by actually deciding that you will not be an employee but a business owner, and you have real ambition!
However, the stuff that dreams are made of is not always possible for dreams to come true.
Therefore, you need to read on and ensure that you have taken the five steps listed in this article to validate your marketplace idea before putting it into theory.
Make Sure That You Do Your Market Research
You need to know your target audience, their age, and how much you plan to get them to purchase each time they place an order.
You need to know the current market conditions as well. The market conditions will play a significant deciding factor in how well your marketplace idea will work.
Bad conditions mean no chance to take off on the correct foot. Check around when you research and see if there is already an idea like this on a marketplace.
If there is another marketplace offering this already, you need to understand how your concept will enter and be bigger and better.
If it cannot provide something that is not already offered, you may as well freeze and look into something else. The competition is who you will be competing with, so don’t take this lightly.
Learn the products they have, their pricing, the packaging, and ensure that you make a plan of action that will enable you to create something that is not the same and stands out in a whole different way to how it has already played.
Know The Canvas of The Marketplace
And we don’t mean canvas as in painting. Know that each marketplace offering has to solve a common problem, be it a customer who craves a cup of tea on the move or a glass of fresh juice- a Thai dish.
Understand that you have to enter the market with a problem solved; as the saying goes, “A problem halved is a problem solved.”
Be fully aware of the value proposition for customers and providers alike. Know how efficient the channel for the distribution and the providers and customers is.
If the track for all of these factors is not sound, you will not make maximum profits. So pay careful attention to detail and how the costs work for providers and customers.
Chat To People -Both Customers And Providers
It is all about getting an idea from people that could potentially turn out to be your customers or providers. Talk to them and find out how the landscape of the marketplaces that they use already looks.
Learn about their favorite brands and services. Ask people about the eCommerce places they prefer to use and why they like them.
What value do they add to their whole online shopping experience? Also, more importantly, last but not least, is to ask people what makes the service stand out to them? What issue does it solve for them? Learn how businesses find customers.
Delve closely into understanding how multiple orders are handled and managed. Learn all about lead generation issues and also, of course, how customers are invoiced.
Be Sure That You Built A Minimum Viable Product
It is all about having an MVP you have to test. Visualize the MVP without even developing the final result. All this has to be visualized way before it gets created.
Ensure that you have chosen the correct business model to be based around by summarizing all of the above factors. Know and understand the vendor expectations and what they are used to receiving.
Understand why they will be attracted to use your marketplace idea.
Know inside and outside the strengths and weaknesses of your business module. Understand the areas that it will thrive in and where it will face challenges. That factor alone will help you a lot along the way.
Run A Thorough Analysis
When you are almost complete and ready to introduce the idea, the last task is to take all of the pointers listed in this article, run an in-depth analysis, and ensure that every factor is considered.
If you still feel that at this point, your marketplace idea is a winner, then go ahead!
You will even modify some ideas that wouldn’t have been as strong earlier on in the planning stage.
It is better now because you have a solid plan and call for action to identify the strengths and the weaknesses even before they occur.
Good luck; opening a business is never easy. Once you have started with a new concept, you will quickly learn and gain the necessary experience.
Consider ordering.co for your online marketplace like other renowned food franchises have already done.