"Create a questionnaire" Shark Tank's Lori Greiner on pursuing a great business idea

Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner often shares business tips and tricks that have helped her come so far in the journey. This time, she has revealed a to-do list that offers a structured approach to validating a business idea.

Lori has been creative in all her entrepreneurial ventures and has over 120 patents under her name. Thus, known for her innovation, she writes that a great idea, on its own, is not enough. It needs to be backed up by market research to achieve success.

The first point that Shark Tank's Lori talks about is a questionnaire. This could be a feedback form that contains 8-10 open-ended questions to have some initial insights into what the the customers want and are willing to spend their money on.

These questions can be designed to get the needs and preferences of the customers that could ultimately help the entrepreneur refine their product based on that. Lori writes,

"Create a questionnaire for feedback. (8-10 open-ended questions.)"

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Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner reveals the steps to validate a business idea

The second point highlighted by the Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner is in-person research. She asks her followers to identify at least three locations at which this could be successful.

This will help the entrepreneurs gather feedback from different areas and market segments. It could help analyze how well a product does within various consumer groups and identify a target audience.

The third point Lori wrote is about online research platforms. She asks the entrepreneurs to find a digital space to research the market they are trying to enter.

This could mean getting information from surveys or social media polls that can be spread across a large number of people and beyond physical interactions.

The fourth point on the to-do list is getting the consumers to confirm that people like the product being sold. It is during this phase that the entrepreneurs should take note of the customer reactions and the results of the surveys to understand if their product will be profitable in the market.

This is a crucial step and acts as a safety line to help businesses from investing too much too early in an idea that does not have a sure customer appeal.

Lori then wrote about customer demand. This is one of the most important parts of the research process, which needs to be done before launching a product.

Lori Greiner, the Shark Tank investor, advises business owners to research the trends in the market at the moment and also keep a check on the competitor's performance. It should be determined if the market is saturated or if there is still room for the product to grow.

The next point is a continuation of this one, and Lori says that entrepreneurs should make sure that the people are willing to pay for their product. This step could be done by testing purchasing intent through pre-orders or crowdfunding.

Shark Tank's Lori then writes,

"Analyse market pricing and what consumers are willing to pay."

This point highlights how crucial it is to understand the production costs of the product and if the customers are willing to pay for it, then how much. This could help the product remain competitively priced while it's still profitable.

The last action on the to-do list is to set a retail price. This should be done only after the previous steps have been ticked off.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes are released every Friday on ABC at 8 PM Eastern Time. They are later available to watch on Hulu.