4 tips to validate your business idea before launching a startup
Imagine, you stake all your money, work hard day in day out to build a startup of your dreams, and at the end of a year or two, it doesn’t build any traction and fails. Well, it sounds like a nightmare, but that’s the reality behind most of the startups that fail. While there are many reasons behind this sorry condition, not having the need for a product is the biggest reason startups fail. Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of building a product based on their small perception of the problem. They often either do not talk to enough potential customers, senior industry men, and experienced founders or ask the right questions to their target group & get an in-depth view of the pain point. And, unfortunately, this leads to a painful death for startups. Thus, it becomes very important to validate your business idea before you move on to the harsh world of business.
So, here are four tips that can help you in validating your business idea.
1. Don’t hesitate to share your idea
I’ve mentored 10+ idea-stage startups till now, and the most common mistake I see first-time founders do is not seek advice from experienced entrepreneurs or share their ideas with friends or potential customers. Interestingly, some are even afraid to share their idea fearing they would get copied ( laughing out loud ). But, it’s very important to share your business idea, as sometimes your perception can’t see the flaws that exist in your model, and this might become a serious problem in the advanced stages of building a startup.
2. Leverage social media to validate the feasibility of the business idea
I think social media platforms like Facebook and Linkedin are immensely helpful for validating your startup idea. If you are dealing with B2C, then Facebook/Instagram would be a good place to interact and get feedback from your potential customers. You could utilize Facebook groups to get an opinion from the target audience. If your focus is B2B, then Linkedin is the best option for you to interact with decision-makers.
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3. Subscribe to startup blogs and read reports from top consulting firms
You can gain a lot more knowledge of the market reality and know about business models that work if you keep in touch with current market trends. Thus, I recommend you subscribe to leading blogs on startups markets. For detailed insight about any market, one can look up reports by consulting firms like Mckinsey, E&Y etc. Also, one popular approach to identifying opportunities is by observing trends in developed countries like the US. Reading books related to startups is recommended.
4. Seek advice from serial entrepreneurs and industry leaders
An Industry senior, serial entrepreneur can be a great person to look up to for advice. They can help you in not only refining your idea but also reveal challenges in the sector and bottlenecks, which would be otherwise unknown to first-time entrepreneurs. You can find Industry-specific mentors on Linkedin or even Quora.
In the end, write your idea ( business model canvas or draft business plan ) down. Research about your competition, and find out what sets you apart from them. Then share this written idea with the industry expert. Connect with mentors with an open mind and do analyze, if red flags raised by mentors have a legit backing. Then work on the feedback.
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So how will you start validating your idea? Express your thoughts below.
He is the founder and CEO of Melvano, a social media platform for students who want to crack JEE mains and advance.
