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DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS70

fact-finding Fact-finding is a precursor to, and then an iterative

companion process to, seeking and shaping the opportunity. Fact-
finding is intended to increase your overall understanding of your
initial opportunity. It helps you collect relevant data that can suggest
different ways of restating your original definitions of the opportunity.

Some of the information will be the relatively straightforward ‘sit-
down-at-the-library’ research described by Joe Raia. This information
will cover market size, competitor data, information on customers and
suppliers, industry trends and so on. The sources for this type of
information are well rehearsed and include brochures and annual
reports, competitor and supplier websites, market research reports,
analyst reports, trade press and trade shows, seminars, industry
associations, quality newspaper special features on specific industries
or technologies, business magazines and journals, conference papers
and government statistics.

The internet is an increasingly powerful tool for undertaking extensive
and detailed desk research and is excellent for making creative jumps to
unexpected and unusual information sources. It also provides a rapid
and inexpensive window on foreign markets.

All these types of information need to feed into, as well as be informed
by, the insights which you are generating through the other techniques
described in this chapter.

the stimulus of searching The very act of searching for

information may provoke further insights and avenues to explore. This
is not so surprising when you consider that some of the data you may
be looking for may not exist, especially if the product or service is new
to the market without existing comparable data. This means that you
must engage divergent thinking to identify sources of data which might
stand as proxy to the market you are researching. As you look for this
data, going off the beaten track may offer new opportunities. When your
left-brain tries to stop you leaving the beaten track by telling you that
you are wasting time and breaking the rules, remind yourself of the
importance of ‘creative procrastination’.

None of the information which you gather will ever be wasted. Either it
will provoke new ideas, or it will be used in subsequent evaluation
stages, or it will provide the market evidence within the business plan,
or the information can be stored for later review when it may offer