From idea to concept (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board).

Idea to concept: a step-by-step plan

Before you start building, it helps to explore the market. The steps below are meant to help you move quickly from a rough idea to a concrete, testable concept.

1) Explore the market

• Analyse the market
• Analyse competition
• Research your target group
• Talk to potential customers (qualitative first, then quantitative)

2) Useful tools

• Ecosia Deep Search (competition analysis)
• Empathy Map (make your target group concrete)
• Interviews (depth interviews first, then a short survey)
• Tally (surveys)
• Business Model Canvas (structure your hypotheses)

Going to market: bootstrap & MVP

Bootstrapping means building a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) as quickly as possible and testing it in the market with real users (aligned with design thinking).

Protecting your idea

An idea itself cannot be protected; sometimes the concrete implementation can (product/process/software/service), and your name/logo can be protected as a trademark.

Start points mentioned:

• BOIP (Benelux office for IP)
• i-DEPOT (proof of creation date)
• Ideescan

Source

• https://gentrepreneur.startium.be/public/boards/febb75a3-b64c-4881-a48d-5850a4cd457a