Yes or No

It Sounds Like a Good Idea, But Is It Worth Doing?

So, you’ve got this idea for a new product, an app, a technology, a service, something you think is pretty cool. You have dreams of working for yourself, setting your own hours, making the big bucks, or being the next Entrepreneur of the Year. But is this the idea that will get you there? Time to take a good look at it.

Any idea can be evaluated in seven aspects: 1) painkiller or vitamin, 2) monetization, 3) simplicity, 4) relevance, 5) resources, 6) market size, and 7) “secret sauce.” For each aspect, grade your idea on a scale from 1 to 5, with a score of 5 ranking highest. Let’s go through the seven steps to evaluating your product idea and put it to the test.

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Turning Jeans Into Jobs – Work Wear Annual Report

Goodwill is best known for its retail stores where you can get great deals on gently used, and sometimes new, clothing, accessories and household goods. People clean out their closets and donate their old stuff, thinking it’s “for a good cause,” but few people have a good understanding of what that “good cause” actually is. Hint: it’s not just generically “helping” poor people.

Our challenge was to figure out how to connect the dots for Goodwill shoppers and donors about how the retail stores and other operations fund Goodwill’s real purpose – workforce development. In other words: How does donating a pair of jeans help someone prepare for, find and keep a job?

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Foodies and Fashionistas Celebrate the Taste of Vintage

Taste of Vintage Program Cover 111909For a few years, I worked in the nonprofit sector at Goodwill Industries of Akron, and I loved it. Awesome organization with a powerful mission.

Our largest annual fund-raiser was the Taste of Vintage, an evening gala event that features yummy samples from local restaurants and a headliner vintage fashion show starring leading women from our community wearing Goodwill finds. Side note: you wouldn’t believe the incredible stuff you can find at a Goodwill store.

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