5 Ways to Know If Your Business Idea Is Brilliant or a Bust
Fifteen years in the home-improvement business taught Matt Fineberg that no one pulls the trigger on a big-ticket project—such as a new roof or windows—without first getting a handful of estimates.
When he began building his Philadelphia-based estimate marketplace, Bestimators, in 2013, Fineberg thought he knew what his potential customers needed, and how to deliver it. “I heard ‘I need to get a few more estimates’ daily for the better part of a decade, so I hired a contractor to build out a product to help homeowners do just that,” he says.
A former design-build “aquascaper” (a landscaper with a focus on water features) who charged a consultation fee for his services, he assumed his new business would work on the same model. But feedback from homeowners showed him otherwise.
“A few people said they’d pay for that service, but most said, ‘Why would I pay for something
