John Vyge 
The Dragons‘ Den Guide to Assessing Your Business Concept 

How to assess your business concept’s potential to win
customers

The Dragons‘ Den Guide to Assessing Your Business Concept
is designed to help entrepreneurs assess whether they actually have
a market for their business concept. Before anyone invests valuable
time and resources to a slow-growth or no-growth business idea,
this step-by-step approach will allow entrepreneurs to test an idea
in an unflinching, reality-based way. Case studies sourced from
Canada and the US and stories from entrepreneurs who appeared on
the Dragons‘ Den TV show, where entrepreneurs pitch their
ideas to millionaires willing to invest their cash, will illustrate
the key ideas and themes.

* Helps entrepreneurs face reality before they let their dreams
lead them into a losing battle for market share

* Encourages readers to focus heavily on assessing their market
first, before they invest valuable time and resources in a
slow-growth or no-growth business idea

Prepare yourself to do battle in a difficult marketplace. Assess
your potential customers and measure your concept against reality.
The Dragon’s Den Guide shows you the way.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword ix

Part I: Th e DNA of Your Business Concept 1

Chapter 1: Why Would the World Care About Your Idea? 3
The Warm-Up: Singular Pain Point Defined 5

Chapter 2: Build an Evolutionary Prototype 14
The Warm-Up: Evolutionary Prototype Defined 16

Chapter 3: Defi ne the Value Proposition 23
The Warm-Up: Value Proposition Defined 25

Chapter 4: How Are You Going to Make Money? 33
The Warm-Up: Revenue Model Defined 35

Chapter 5: Who Is the Ideal Customer for Your Product or Service? 44
The Warm-Up: Market Segment Defined 46

Chapter 6: Build a Lean Feature Set 53
The Warm-Up: Lean Feature Set Defined 55

Chapter 7: Who Can Help You Reach Your Goals Faster? 62
The Warm-Up: Collaboration Defined 64

Chapter 8: How Can You Trigger a Sudden Increase in Sales? 72
The Warm-Up: Catalyst Defined 74

Chapter 9: Is Your Business Idea Scalable? 81
The Warm-Up: Scalability Defined 83

Chapter 10: Do You Have a Sustainable Money-Making System? 90
The Warm-Up: Business Model Defined 91

Part II: Th e Feasibility Study 101

Chapter 11: What Do You Bring to the Table? 103
The Warm-Up: Self-Assessment Defined 105

Chapter 12: Why Will Your Business Succeed? 118
The Warm-Up: Business Case Defined 120
Business Case: Why Do You Feel that You Have a Winning Business Idea? 120

Chapter 13: Is Your Idea Technically and Financially Feasible? 126
The Warm-Up: Feasibility Study Defined 128
The Feasibility Study 128

Part III: The Product Roadmap 135

Chapter 14: Managing Your Product Roadmap 137
The Warm-Up: Product Roadmap Defined 139

Chapter 15: What Is the Story Behind Your Concept? 146
The Warm-Up: Storytelling Defined 148

Chapter 16: What Do You Want Your Business to Be Known for? 154
The Warm-Up: Branding Defined 156

Chapter 17: What Product Will Customers Be Willing to Pay You for? 164
The Warm-Up: Product Defi nition Defined 166

Chapter 18: Should I Buy or Build My Product? 174
Warm-Up: Product Development Defined 176

Part IV: Defining Your Market 185

Chapter 19: Th e Business Cycle 187
A Top-Down Approach to Researching Your Market 189
The Warm-Up: Th e Business Cycle Defined 190

Chapter 20: Industry Analysis 196
The Warm-Up: Industry Analysis Defined 198

Chapter 21: Th e Competitive Landscape 207
The Warm-Up: Th e Competitive Landscape Defined 209

Chapter 22: Target Market Analysis 216
The Warm-Up: Target Market Analysis Defined 218

Part V: Go-to-Market Strategy 227

Chapter 23: How Do You Plan to Launch Your Business? 229
The Warm-Up: Go-to-Market Defined 232

Chapter 24: Where Will You Sell Your Products and Services? 239
The Warm-Up: Distribution Channels Defined 241

Chapter 25: What Partners Can Help You Go-to-Market Faster? 251
The Warm-Up: Strategic Relationships Defined 253

Chapter 26: How Will You Get the Word Out? 261
The Warm-Up: Marketing Program Defined 263

Chapter 27: How Will You Generate Sales? 273
The Warm-Up: Sales Process Defined 276

Chapter 28: What Proof Do You Have That Your Business Model Works? 283
The Warm-Up: Proof-of-Concept Defined 285

Conclusion 292

Glossary 296

Endnotes 305

Acknowledgements 311

About the Author 312

Index 313

Looking for More? 325

Über den Autor

John Vyge is a Certified Financial Planner professional and
business plan analyst who advises entrepreneurs and investors on
how to create investor-ready business plans around winning business
concepts.