Thought about starting a business but not sure where to start? Read this.

Enjoy this blog post by my colleague and Hera Labs' Business partner, Dr. Silvia Mah:

What is a business idea? It’s practically any idea that you have that fills a need in the marketplace, in your community, in your life, in other people’s life.  To be able to formulate a business around a single idea, follow these 6 easy-to-understand, but hard-to-do steps:

What is a business idea? It’s practically any idea that you have that fills a need in the marketplace, in your community, in your life, in other people’s life.  To be able to formulate a business around a single idea, follow these 6 easy-to-understand, but hard-to-do steps:

1. Identifying your idea–What are you passionate about? Why did this idea come up in the first place? Does it follow your passion? Is it based on an event in your life worth fixing? Is it based on a need you see in your community?
2. Dressing up your idea– Where does your idea come in contact with the potential in the marketplace?
3. Getting personalities around your idea– Who will ultimately buy your product/service? What does she/he look like? Where do they shop? Why will they buy your product/service?
4. Financing your idea– How much will your idea cost? Don’t be shy, look to see what look-a-likes cost and dream away at how many widgets you would sell to who and for how much? When can you go from negative to positive (the break even point)? If you have any start-up costs, what are they, for what, and who would help you fund them.
5. Get some feedback– Now that you have a foundation of your idea, pitch it to others, anyone. Ask family and friends, other moms and dads, other enthusiasts of what you are passionate about, and your end users/customers.
6. Iterate– Your game plan is to get enough feedback for you to iterate to one version, and turn this cycle a couple of times. The cavuate is to not turn your wheels and get stuck, but turn your wheels towards launching that first product/prototype/service. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just perfect enough for meeting the needs of your customers.

If you have been sitting on an idea or business, come join Hera’s Idea Potential (I.P.) Lab. Our next available class has a few spots left and we would love to help you turn your idea into a plan of action.