Know-How Exchange : Strategy

First of all, DO NOT start a business on a hunch unless you have lots of disposable income. You need to perform research to determine if ther really is a need. Those who think they are smarted than the consumers loose 95% of the time...hence the high failure rate for new businesses. People acquire what THEY think is a great idea, but unless your target market agrees, all you have is an opinion.

Check out www.bplans.com and www.mplans.com for some business plan guidance. Run google searches on venture capital and angel investors to see who may be in they area, call them up and see what they require.

I can tell you this, NOBoDY (expect maybe family and friends) is going to give you a dime without a proven need for your idea. Start with research - it will tell you if you should move forward.

Good Luck!

Use a biz plan outline or sample to help you understand the type of information that you need to gather for it... but do NOT waste time writing a plan for investors right now. You need to do some simple "street research" to find out if people will buy your product, if you can afford to produce it, and if you'll make any money in the end.

The trick for you will be doing all of this with zero budget.

Find a licensed kitchen you can work from (here in the U.S. it's often illegal to manufacture and sell cooked goods from your own home), and create some of the menu items you're considering for sale. Perhaps the kitchen owner will do this in exchange for your low-cal meals or for lots of dishwashing!

Invite 42 people to be your tasters at one or two hosted evening events. (Friends and family might be too polite to provide honest feedback.) Ask them what they'd pay to receive these meals, and let ZERO be an option. Ask other questions related to your potential business -- like delivery options, meal preferences, etc.

Get 12 of those people to be your "beta customers" for a month. For a month, let them user your service at an extreme discount in exchange for in depth feedback. At the end of the month, see how many of them are willing to continue getting your meals at full price.

You'll discover whether your business instincts (and chef skills) are on or off track. Maybe more importantly, you'll learn whether you've got the energy and backbone to keep going. If so, THEN you're ready to start writing that business plan. Take some market research, revenue forecasts, and your "street data" to take to the bank or an investor. It wouldn't hurt to bring them samples of your most popular dishes, too!

The best of luck to you...

Shelley