Do you find yourself thinking and thinking and creating one plan after another without ever pulling the trigger and testing that idea? It’s easy to get stuck in the planning mode because you want it to be perfect. Of course, there is the opposite end of the spectrum where you have the person that has a glimmer of an idea and just decides to “throw it out there and see what happens.”

Whether you are creating a product or a service- based business the best answer lies somewhere in the middle. First things first though….Validate Your Idea!

Validate First

The first, and most important step, is to make sure that your idea has validity. It has little to do with what you think is needed in the marketplace and everything to do with what the marketplace recognizes that they need. You have probably heard that the best advice is to “Sell them what they want but give them what they need.”

Many times, reverse engineering is the answer. You nail down a problem that your target market has and then work backwards to creating the solution. For those that remember the many times your high school science teacher talked about a hypothesis, it’s not too far from that concept. The problem you are seeking to address is more than a guess. It has foundation in either your experiences or those of others.

Done is Better Than Perfect

The important thing is to not stay stuck in this phase. If you are a perfectionist, this will be a struggle for you. You want to produce the perfect product or the perfect service. For most that never happens. Rather it is a process that evolves through trial and error. The lessons learned through putting a well-thought-out idea out there to be tested in the court of public opinion can be invaluable. LinkedIn founder, Reid Hoffman said, “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.

Feedback from unbiased people will help you continue to work through to the best model and adaptation for your business. As the owner of the idea, it’s often more important for us to get out of our own way and listen to what real, objective people have to say about our idea. Accept the feedback as pure gold, even if it stings a little. Continue with new iterations until you land on the one that’s as close to perfect as you can get.

Steps to Validate Your Idea

1. Identify the most pressing problem that your target market has.

This can come from many forms of research and the broader the scope of research the better it will be. Don’t rely on just your personal experiences or those of your friends and family. Utilize the massive amount of information available through Google and social media to validate that the problem exists in the way you think it does.

2. Make sure that you have the expertise and the ability to create the solution to the problem.

While it is true that you only need to be a few steps ahead of the person you are trying to help, there is a point where you will find yourself “out of your league,” and that can end up being a stumbling block that can affect your success.

3. Create a prototype of your product or service.

Make careful notes on the process and the costs. If it’s a product, how much time does it actually take to make it? How much money does it actually cost? What problems did you come up against in the process?

If it’s a service, how clear is your offering to your end user? Could you beta test this with someone to make sure that you have an accurate estimate on the time it will take you to perform this service? Do you have a clear idea of what your overhead costs are and the value you must assign to your time?

Finally, what kind of feedback did you get back from this trial run?

4. Take what you know from your beta test and improve what you are offering.

            This will most likely be a process that evolves and improves over time. The process is the same: in the beginning carefully monitor the feedback and continually improve until you feel you have the best you can offer.

Final Thoughts

Starting a business or creating a new product or service needs to be more than just an idea or a “gut feeling” to be successful in this day and age. People have far too many choices and will not want to waste their time on something that has no value to them. Investing the time and resources to test your idea will pay off in the end.

If you would like some help in validating your business idea, contact us today. We’re here to help.