The assessment phase is where the first brainstorming happens. You need to sit down with your team and analyze two factors: internal and external environments. These two factors are constantly pulling each other up or down because of their inherent negative and positive influences.

The gravity of these two influences could potentially birth to product ideas depending on how you capitalize the positives and solve the negatives.

1 - Internal Assessments: Strengths and Weaknesses

The first thing that you need to assess is your internal environment and forget any other factors that you cannot control. You should ask yourself: what are my competencies? What are the things that make me vulnerable?

Strengths (Positive Influence)

Be self-centric and brag a little, but do not magnify yourself. It has to be as truthful as possible.

A - Your Own Interest and Passion: Let's not go far, what is it that you are passionate about? What makes you want to get up early in the morning? Every day, what is the thing that never fails to come to your mind? Follow your heart, they say. And, sometimes, it does lead you to create the best products to sell online.

B - Your Experience and Expertise: You need to look back and recall what are the things that you have been doing for the rest of your life that you know no one else can do better. It makes you stand tall and proud because people remember this of you. This part focuses on the things that you are not just good at but you're definitely the cream of the crop.

The founders of Primadonna Woman Fashion had an extensive experience in the fashion industry before deciding to venture into online business to meet the needs of modern women.

C - Your Sustainable Competitive Advantages: Competitive advantage, in a nutshell, is what makes you unique amongst the rest of your competitors. What is it that you do that cannot be found anywhere else? However, competitive advantages do not end with what makes you unique for now. Because, in order to make it more powerful and lasting, you need to add a secret ingredient, and that is 'sustainability'. Nowadays, replication is rampant. So, you need to make a product that cannot be duplicated in the long run.

Weaknesses (Negative Influence)

Your task here is not to let yourself down. This is a perfect opportunity for you to gain more knowledge and skills that could potentially be used in creating a product or as service.

A - Your Areas of Improvements: What are the things that you don't have that you wish to acquire? What could you improve on? And if you think that you could address these weaknesses, could they potentially be a breakthrough? Some skills can be taught. And, some of the best products have originated from rigorous training before coming to fruition.

The famous chef, Julia Child did not learn to cook until she met her would-be husband, Paul, because he grew up in a family very interested in food. She enrolled in a French cooking class and became a very popular chef with various acclaimed cooking books.

B - Your Hates or Dislikes: Sometimes, what you hate doing is what you need to start building. What you dislike could be a potential product or service that you can sell online. For example, you don't want to do your own laundry so you begin your own laundry service. Instead of doing the things you hate, your business will do otherwise. In that manner, you are earning by trying to augment what you are apathetic about.

Read full post at Beeketing Blog: How to choose the best product to sell online