Evaluating Businessideas!

[billiejoe2]

Hey mates,

I have a question, my father has a small carpenter firm in Germany with only 2-3 employes! I´m just studying in Australia an Entrepreneurship course and the main aim of this course is to write a businessplan! My idea is to modify my fathers businessplan! The Problem is now how to get good ideas!
My Fathers businessplan is short and simple: He is producing wooden front doors and selling them over whole germany!We are only producing on demand and all pruducts are individual! Our customers are mainly small carpenter firms and building centres! The Problem is that our brand is mostly hidden and our products were sold as "home made"! I would like to produce more design front doors and selling them straight to the costumer! My other idea is to implement more 3d visualisation on our Website! But I think that this Ideas are not "entrepreneurial" enough to get a good result! So I just found this forum and hope you guys can help me a little bit!

[soloads]

Ok. I am not 100% sure as to what exactly you are asking. One, if your dad's business plan is simple, then your challenge as a second generation business owner is to elaborate on his plan and take the business to another level. So, you have reached success as it is, what should you do next to get the business new customers and make it bigger. For starters, you must consider budget, as this is extremely important and it entails a lot of aspects, not just to pay employees but also for supplies and all the other business logistics. Then you must take into consideration budget for promotion and budget for expansion. As you can see, there ARE a lot of things you can discuss in order to elaborate your father's business plan.

Now, you mentioned something about it not being entrepreneur or something along those lines. An entrepreneur is nothing more than a business person who is venturing into a business with the purpose of making money. So, you are a young entrepreneur, after all your goal is to either start a business similar to your father's or take his to the next level. That is what an entrepreneur does.

[Sarah E. Ford]

what your saying is confusing to me as well,
if your a young entrepreneur no idea is "not enough" any idea is a great thing to have. What your thinking is that it doesn't have that certain spark right? well 1st off, if you want people to notice your father's business, your website has to be something that people will talk about in a good way. and if it's a hidden brand, let word get out from satisfied customers. last off, speak to your father about this. who knows? maybe he might have some ideas that just might fit into your business plan!
good luck!

[billiejoe2]

Hallo and thank you for your quick response!
@soloads
My questions is how do I get the business to a higher level!? For example we have spezialised on producing wooden front doors and there for we bought a cnc mortiser! This machine is not really used to capacity! Is it better to concentrate on only wooden front doors or should I try to think of another product?
@Sarah
At first I am thinking my idea is not good enough for a good mark in my entrepreneur course! But on the other side who cares about notes ! I had the same idea too with the internet! One of my hobbies is 3D modelling and I think it would be great if you can look at your wooden indoor in the internet very realistically! Is it the only possibility ot get ideas!?
Thank you very much

[Sarah E. Ford]

it's really easy to make your 3D door on your website! on the down side, it's pretty expensive. unless you know how to do it like a professional, you need to go to an advanced website company with professionals. And they won't do it for free. it's not exactly the only possibility on the internet. what you can do is get some pictures on the outside and the inside of homes who's front door came from your father's company. that way the customers can see how they look in people's homes.
i think it's a great idea for your course! good luck!

[questeds]

Ok, here are some thoughts for you. Your father has a very successful business in Germany. You are looking to grow it. You have customers who enjoy dealing with you, and you need to ensure you do not alienate them. First look at the hard facts of what you have. Without doing much at all, what can you do? Think about existing customers, how can you get them to buy more - think about discount bulk purchasing, wholesale pricing, business referrals etc. Second - You are in the centre of Europe - how many other countries can you wasily establish connections with to sell into? Entrepreneurship does not have to be about reinventing the wheel, but looking at the core strengths, and playing to those. Also, an entrepreneur never made a decision based on getting good marks