ilab Business Validation Program

Some business models are never going to make it. Some need a few tweaks, or a different perspective, in order to be a success. That’s where our business validation program comes in.

ilab's business validation program helps new companies to determine whether they have what it takes to become a successful, scalable business. The process takes between one and three months and gives us all a clear picture of your business’s prospects. 

The Business Validation Program helps you to understand:

• What it takes to build a globally competitive business and the commitment needed to sustain success.
• Whether your product or service has the potential to be a world-beater.
• Who you are competing with and how you can successfully differentiate your offering.
• What your competitive advantage is and whether it is sustainable. Do you have some proprietary intellectual property, or are you reliant on first mover advantage?
• How much funding your business needs. [Take the number you’ve come up with and double it – now you’re probably closer to the mark].
• What sources of funding you can realistically tap into, and in what timeframe.
• Who your target customers are, and why will they might buy from you.
• Your potential market size and share - are you are displacing competitors or creating a new market?

The process can be enlightening for entrepreneurs who are often so close to their idea that they struggle to see the wood for the trees. It gives you a clear idea of:

• The commercial prospects of your business model.
• Your target market, customers and competitive positioning.
• The capital needs of your business and where the likely sources of capital may be.
• Whether your business is likely to be viable.

At the end of the process you can make an informed decision about next steps, including whether to apply to join the incubator as a member.

Knowing when not to proceed with a venture is just as valuable as knowing when to take the leap

"I came to ilab with a business intelligence tool that I’d used with my own clients for years.   My plan was to turn this tool into a software product that would be sold through sales partners around Australia and further.  ilab encouraged and assisted me to conduct market research with my planned market and they also helped me tease out how my product would compare against competitors.  Over six months of ilab help I learned a lot of truths about the marketplace and sensibly decided not to proceed with the venture.  Facing realities can be painful, but I know ilab saved me from years of wasted time, money and effort.  Knowing when not to proceed with a venture is just as valuable as knowing to when take the leap.”
 - Tony Beresford-Smith (Intellidata), past ilab member

“Walter and I comprise the Opticode team, and we are both very experienced software developers.  When we joined ilab all we wanted to do was cut code for our proposed web-based product.  But ilab told us the consequences of developers just rushing to code.  They took us out to test our product and service concept with likely users to see if there really was a market.  What we found was a shock.  What we thought was a no-brainer turned out to be a really tough sell and most users would want our product for virtually nothing.  We quickly learned we didn’t have a good business idea and moved on to other projects.”
 - Alistair Doulin and Walter Haas (Opticode), past ilab members.