Chapter 10

How to evaluate your idea

How do you know if your strategic idea is a good idea? You may not have the time or resources to do a full strategic analysis. But you need to respond to all the challenges you are likely to receive from bosses, peers, investors and other interested parties. Be ready to answer the questions before they are asked. Challenge yourself before you are challenged.

The challenges you should expect, and set yourself, come in four main flavours which overlap:

  • Financial
  • Customer
  • Competition
  • Product/operations

Financial

You will probably have created a financial spreadsheet which shows an attractive number in the bottom right-hand corner. It will be widely disbelieved because most such spreadsheets are built ...

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