There are a lot of variables in that equation. It depends on a lot of factors. And there are no guarantees.

However! Whether you want a business to be viable, there are indicators you can look for and questions you can ask yourself.

Let’s talk about business viability.

Viability depends on how you want to define the term in the first place.

Business viability depends on the objectives you have for your business in the first place. It’s like choosing a house or a car.

Is this one the right one for you? It depends on what your needs are. And everyone’s needs are different.

If viable for you means “I need to make this work in 15 hours a week by myself”, then that’s a different story than if you have a 40 hours a week and you’re looking to hire an assistant or employee.

The more constraints you put on your business, the more you’ll have to do for it to be “viable.”  So the answer to viability for you is truly a custom job.

Viability depends if enough people actually want to buy the thing you’re selling.

This connects to the first point. If you’re selling a very niche thing, and there aren’t a lot of people who will be likely to buy it, that is not the same as “That business isn’t viable.”

It can be completely viable if the number of people who want it is enough to satisfy your objectives. All you really need is enough people.

As long as enough people are willing to buy from you, your business has the potential to be viable. The more you can lower the number, the more viable your business can become.

 Viability depends on your resources and creativity.

In general, if you have enough creativity you can find a way to make just about anything sell.

No matter how weird or niche your thing is, there are people out there selling far weirder things than you making money hand over fist. That money didn’t come easily, though. There was a lot of hustle involved and a lot of resources used.

People tend to have about ten times the resources and creativity they give themselves credit for. When they’re willing to challenge themselves to tap into it, we tend to see a lot of good things happen.

So, viability? A lot of it depends on what you bring to the table on those fronts.

Next, viability depends on how much YOU want to put into it.

You alone know what kind of lifestyle adjustments you’re willing to put in place to allow it to succeed.

You alone know what the threshold is that, once crossed, turns a good idea for you into a bad idea for you.

So is your business idea viable?

Your odds of viability go up when your demands on what it produces for you go down.

Your odds of viability go up when you get better at sales and marketing.

Your odds of viability go up when you’ve really looked at what it will take to meet your objectives, and you (and the people you care about) are okay with that.

Just about any business is viable. You just have to figure out what’s viable for YOU.