Amongst a few of the major reason that cause a business to fail are lack of money and the inability to develop the idea. However, what many entrepreneurs do not know that the main cause of failure is not validating the business idea.
Because of their extremely positive attitude, entrepreneurs end up ignoring the validation this. Usually they consider that your solution meets all existing requirements and that the target audience will join this guaranteed. This coupled by the rush to launch the idea in the market derived from their optimism, can cause problems. Or on the other hand, an entrepreneur might think that its solution has no potential, nor the target audience. This would lead him to not develop the idea and consequently validate it.
Now, there being a innovative idea It is fundamental to your validation. This is as important as the product itself. This because it allows the entrepreneur to give a realistic perception is worth starting or not your business.
There are several ways and steps validation. But when it comes to a new business idea with more risk associated (as in the case of startups), validation is highly recommended.
What is validation of the business idea?
A validation of the business idea It is a process of confirming the success of this potential. Ie allows the entrepreneur to gather all the information needed to determine whether it is worth investing large amounts of time and resources in developing this idea.
This is a continuous process which starts with an idea and usually ends up with customers. The goal of Validation idea It is to ensure that it has a real demand. Otherwise, there is a high risk of creating and launching a product for which no one is interested.
A validation reduces risk, minimizes costs, accelerate the release of the market value of the product, it determines whether the time is right and confirms the solution is efficient enough. Given this, you can see that this process is crucial and should be started as soon as possible.
How to validate an idea?
It is through tests on the market that gets the best way to Validation ideas. That is, to determine if they are valuable and enjoyable for the corresponding audience.
In a first approach, the developer must present the idea close individuals and whom you trust. Within this group are family, friends, mentors or teachers to get honest feedback. This feedback will be useful for the entrepreneur to be committed and enthusiastic about his idea, looking for new strategies so that in a next approach he can better capture the interest of these individuals.
If after the feedback received, you are still confident that your idea really has the potential to become successful, the entrepreneur should study what are the main commercial issues of that market in question. In addition, you should prepare a questionnaire for future customers in order to identify what are the main problems they are facing and determine whether the idea would solve these.
Test the market
Likewise it is recommended to perform a market study. However, this method does not always work, because the relevant data may not be available or may not have means to commission a study to statistical professionals, for example. An alternative would be to talk with other entrepreneurs who already have an established business in the same sector or market segment to better understand the current environment of this.
After finalizing the product, it should be explored existing competition in order to identify whether there is something similar in the market. This also serves to validate the business idea because it determines the customer demand (thereby determining the potential of the business). By suggestions that they give customers, we can improve the business idea, thus providing an added value compared to the competition.
Another form of validation essential for a business idea is to launch a basic version of the product. This is called MVP and serves to identify acceptable levels, gaps and necessary improvements through the feedback received by the target audience.
despite the validation it is not a guarantee of success, this is a process that will surely help the entrepreneur to develop and implement his idea. It is important to remember that this is an ongoing process and that it must be followed beyond the launch of the product on the market.