How to validate my idea?

I need to make sure people want it 😩

INTRO

I know you have awesome ideas, I can feel it. If you are like most aspiring entrepreneurs, they tend to have an “Ah-ha” moment where they can see their ideas in the real world. Now, this is where reality hits, what’s in your mind may not be the same as in the real world. So, the real question is how to validate your ideas in the real world. Although everyone wants their ideas to be loved, only a fraction of those ideas is worth executing by your team. To learn if an idea has a chance to succeed, it needs to be validated.

Wait, what is idea validation?

Idea validation is the process of gathering evidence around ideas through experimentation and user interaction to see if your user/ audience likes your idea or not. You will have the opportunity to engage with your customers and really figure out what is the best way to make your idea revolve around them.

To Get Started

You need to first assess your idea. Ask yourself some questions before throwing out your idea all willy nilly. Then that will make you look silly. Plan it out!!!

1. What problem are you solving?
2. Who is your targeted audience?
3. How would my idea help solve the problem?
4. How is it different from your competitors?
5. Do you have any feedback so far?
6. What is your plan of action?

These 6 questions will be able to help you understand the value of your idea to your audience, not you because you already value it. Now let’s look at some steps to help you out.

1. You Must Interact With Your Community

One thing as an entrepreneur or business owner is your status within your network. You need to be engaging with the community to get quality feedback and response on your idea. As well as, you do the same thing with other entrepreneurs. There are so many people willing to help, but a majority of them wouldn’t come to you. You will have to create a connection to have valuable references and feedback.

2. Define Your Goals And Set User Benchmark

It’s like doing a science project in elementary school. Set a defined set of goals; for example, create a metric on how many testers you want. Where to get these testers, etc. Once you set your goals, try to draft out a possible user workflow on what you think they will do, and then see if they do each of your benchmarks.

3. Test It Out

You honestly wouldn’t know until you try. Hearing is one thing, but actually interacting with your customers and seeing how they “perform” with your product/idea/business is another. It will really give you things to think about. What to change, what to keep, what could be improved, etc. Now, you must also cater to the type of feedback you get. You would want to filter out the beneficial remarks.

4. Communicate, Respect, Communicate, Listen, Communicate, Adapt.

The more engaging you are, the more attraction you will get. Communication is key, because not only it shows that you are there for customers, it also shows they can trust you. And with trust comes quality in my perspective. You need to know what your target audience is thinking and how they feel about your idea. With that comes the reconstruction of your idea.; to fit more effectively for your target audience.

CONCLUSION

Succeeding in business doesn’t come overnight. It takes a lot of planning, preparation, creativity, grit, and patience to become a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship can be the adventure of a lifetime, but like any adventure, it can also be a challenge. Preparing yourself for the common mistakes many business owners make will make your path to success easier. Good luck to all upcoming entrepreneurs trying to make a change within themselves or the world.