Princeton Checklist for Evaluating Ideas

Princeton Creative Research has developed this excellent criteria checklist, which is particularly well-suited to the entrepreneur. Ask yourself the following questions when evaluating an idea for a business or a product.

• Have you considered all the advantages or benefits of the idea? Is there a real need for it?
• Have you pinpointed the exact problems or difficulties your idea is expected to solve?
• Is your idea original, a new concept, or a new adaptation?
• What immediate or short-range gains or results can be anticipated? Are the projected returns adequate? Are the risk factors acceptable?
• What long-range benefits can be anticipated? Will they support the company's objective?
• Have you checked the operational soundness of the idea? Can it be produced by the company? Are the company's engineering, production, sales, and distributions facilities adequate for implementation?
• Have you checked the idea for faults or limitations?
• Are there any problems the idea might create? What are the changes involved?
• Have you considered the economic factors of its implementation? What development time, capital investment, marketing costs, etc, does it entail? What personnel will be involved? Who else is needed to perform the job? What other divisions or departments of the company will be affected?
• How simple or complex will execution or implementation be?
• How well does it fit into the current operation of the organization?
• Could you work out several variations of the idea? Could you offer alternative ideas?
• Does it have natural sales appeal? Is the market ready for it? Can customers afford it? Will they buy it? Is there a timing factor?
• What, if anything, is your competition doing in this area? Can your company be competitive?
• Have you considered the possibility of user resistance or difficulties?
• Does your idea fill a real need, or does the need have to be created through promotional and advertising efforts? Is it compatible with other procedures or products of the company and its overall objective?
• Is it a good idea or a good product area for the organization to pursue?
• Are there any specific circumstances in your organization that might make the acceptance of the idea difficult?
• How soon could it be put into operation?

As you can see by the preceding examples, there are many methods available for evaluating your idea. Pick and choose the criteria that best suits your needs, depending on the type of company and/or the type of product you seek to evaluate.