How do you prove your Hypothesis ?

[SandraVazquez]

Hi friends. AS many of you I have several ideas for products and applications, but I would like to know some numbers and percentages to see if future clients would be interested in my ideas. However, I don’t have enough money to elaborate a detailed market research. Has this happened to you too? Where is a good source to get statistics (% people that use smartphones, % women that go to the supermarket) what do you do in these cases?

[Jasper2]

Sandra, you are not alone with this question. As a business coach I have encountered many start-up entrepreneurs who have the same question. First, get in the habit of saying assumptions instead of hypothesis. In the entrepreneurial world ( and it is a different world) the word assumptions is used to describe precepts you are using to finalize your numbers.

Remember anyone reading your pro formas in your business plan understands you are basing this on assumptions. There is no easy answer I can give you except research can be done to formulate your assumptions. As long as you are able to offer a "reasonable" explanation for the numbers that should suffice. When presenting your pro formas in your business plan you may want to consider doing a sensativity analysis for the numbers. This means present low numbers, average numbers and high numbers. The more popular method is called blending your numbers to come up with one number but that number is a combination of low,med and high.

By the way, your assumptions should be listed on a separate page. This topic is so encompassing and we could spend weeks on this but I hope I have given you a basis for starting. The U.S. Census Bureau is a good place to start as is the Small Business Administration and Industry organizations.

[BarbaraKParker]

Is there a free tool online which we can use?

[hboss]

Your hypothesis isn’t an excuse to put on your dreamer hat and sit in the corner while the MBAs play at profit. Your hypothesis is what gets you into the trenches and compels you to do business.