How do you ensure that your business opportunity has enough Magic?

As outlined in my 2015 article entitled “No Magic = No Business Opportunity,[1]” I define Magic as:
"that extraordinary, remarkable, sensational, fantastic and brilliant phenomenon. Every good business or business opportunity is built on its own special bit of magic. Magic is the differentiator that customers value and competitors can’t match."
 
I go on to identify a number of possible means to uncover your Magic: Examining the job-to-be-done, Identifying customer fear or greed, or Providing superior value. I then outline ways to defend your Magic: Obtaining Intellectual property rights, Securing a unique or limited resource, Establishing a strong customer connection, or Building structural advantages. Uncovering and defending your Magic is critical to establishing a viable business.
 
But, how do you ensure your business opportunity has sufficient Magic? This third criteria is something that experienced entrepreneurs, mentors and investors often have a good sense of, having seen what it takes to bring an opportunity to a successful conclusion. However, it is often difficult for a budding entrepreneur to assess, especially when examining their own opportunity.
 
There are four ways activities that all entrepreneurs should undertake to satisfy this third criteria:

1. Prepare as detailed a business plan or Business Model Canvas[2] as you can. This will ensure you’ve explored the various aspects and assumptions underlying your opportunity.
2. Seek out mentors and leverage their experience to provide you with ongoing advice and feedback as you develop your opportunity.
3. Become your harshest critic at scheduled intervals. Every few weeks, stop the planning and execution for a moment and assume a devil’s advocate role.[3] Alternately assume the role of the customers, competitors and regulators/government. What are the weaknesses of this opportunity? Why might customers not buy? How could the competition threaten your success[4]? How could new regulations or changes in the industry derail your goals[5]? One creative way to facilitate this is to brainstorm (i.e. suspending evaluation) a list of as many issues that could affect the business opportunity as possible (aim for 100!). Once completed, review and prioritize the top 3-5 issues and work on means to resolve them and incorporate the solutions into your business planning exercises.
4. Enter pitch contests or pitch your opportunity to investors. These events and especially the associated audience questions and comments are sure to challenge the Magic of the opportunity[6]. These activities are, of course, not recommended until your plans are well refined.  

An additional means to get a better understanding of Magic is through observing and analysing the pitches and plans of other entrepreneurs. Attending pitch competitions, getting involved with an business incubator or accelerator,[7] and speaking with other entrepreneurs will increase your exposure.
 
As I wrote in 2015, “In order for a business to remain viable or a new business opportunity to succeed, it must serve a customer segment well and defend against competitors who wish to do likewise. This requires the business to be operating under some magical influences: a unique value proposition. When looking to innovate you need to ask yourself two questions: “What magic is my business built on?” and “Is there enough magic to succeed?” because your potential stakeholders including investors or senior management (for internal projects) will be considering them as well.”

[1] http://hexagoninnovating.weebly.com/1/post/2015/04/no-magic-no-business-opportunity.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Model_Canvas
[3] "One who argues against a cause or position, not as a committed opponent but simply for the sake of argument or to determine the validity of the cause or position." 
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=devil%27s%20advocate
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEST_analysis
[6] UofT’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery simulates these activities through monthly pitch events in front of a panel of experienced individuals.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_incubator

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