How to Investigate your Business Idea

Date: 3rd March 2026

Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm

This course is aimed at individuals with a business idea wishing to start their own business or exploring the possibility of becoming self-employed for the first time.

Participants will be provided with necessary tools to research and analyse their idea and evaluate their suitability to becoming self-employed using the Lean Startup Canvas.

The Lean Startup Canvas and will help you test and shape your business idea

• Understanding your “Why” – the purpose behind your business, not just what you sell
• Creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test your idea with customers as early as possible
• Learning the Lean approach: focusing only on features customers value and using the build–measure–learn cycle
• Overview of the nine sections of the Lean Startup Canvas and how they assess your idea’s viability

Understanding your customers

• Identifying your target customers and creating an ideal customer profile
• Recognising customer problems, needs, and pain points
• Defining how your product or service solves these problems
• Developing a clear Unique Value Proposition and understanding what makes your business different
• Exploring competition and considering how to protect your idea

Reaching the market

• Choosing the right marketing channels to reach your customers
• Understanding where your customers spend their time and how to connect with them
• Communicating with customers and gathering feedback to improve your idea

By the end of the course, participants will be able to research and evaluate the viability of business idea by early engagement with target customer. By carrying out a gap analysis, they will know the elements they need to work progress their business proposal, create action lists and be able to determine their readiness to advance to the next stage of business start-up.

This course is for Westmeath Businesses/clients. Businesses/clients who book on who are not based in Westmeath may be removed if the place is required by a Westmeath-based business

Please note: In the event you book a place and subsequently do not cancel your booking at least ten working days prior to the commencement of the course and do not take up the place no refund or fee transfer will be offered