How to Validate a Startup Idea in Just Six Steps!

So you have an idea, but you just don’t know how to put it into action. Every great startup begins with such an idea, but not every idea can turn into a great startup. There are six key steps to validating your startup idea, and in this post, we’ll walk you through each one, so you can confidently move forward with your idea.

Step 1: Defining the Problem

Before you begin putting your idea into action, make sure that it actually solves a problem that your target market faces. For example, the founders of Tree Planet, a startup that uses a mobile game to fund real-life tree planting projects, identified the problem of deforestation in their community. By gamifying the notion of planting trees, they work to combat this problem.

Make sure that your idea isn’t just “cool” or “interesting”; it should solve a real problem. Ask yourself the following questions to make sure of this:

“Who has this problem?”

“How do these people deal with this problem now?”

“How frequently does this problem occur?”

“How can I make this problem go away?”

However, don’t be alarmed. Your problem doesn’t exactly have to solve something as big as climate change or world hunger. An idea that just solves a minor inconvenience could be a great one as well.

Step 2: Identify the Target Market

So now you have your great idea. The next step is to ask yourself the following: “who would be interested in this product/service?” The answer to this question is your target market. Identifying your target market is a key step in validating your startup, as it helps you tailor your product/service to their specific needs.

A great way to identify your target market is by creating a customer profile, a detailed description of an ideal customer, created by combining data to understand their behaviors, needs, and characteristics.

Take a look at this example customer profile for Starbucks:

Name: Anna Smith

Age: 21

Job: full-time student at university, paid intern at Amazon

Income: (supported by family) $80,000 per year

Lifestyle: introverted, studies during the weekends, prefers quiet places, works and attends school during the week

Creating simple customer personas will allow you to better understand the type of customers you’ll be selling to.

Step 3: Conduct Market Research

Before you even start with the research, first try to channelize what you hope to learn from the research. This could be understanding customer needs, identifying market opportunities, evaluating a new product, or analyzing competitors. 

Next, try sending out surveys to collect quantitative data about market interest. These can be in the form of questionnaires via Google Forms, SurveyMonkey etc. To collect qualitative data, try interviewing potential customers to receive more insight and to get a better understanding of customers’ opinions. Additionally, consider organizing focus groups to discuss opinions and preferences.

You can also gather more information by conducting secondary research through other existing sources. The internet is a great tool for this!

Once you’ve reached this step, congratulations! You’re halfway through to getting your startup up and running! However, take a moment to pause and reflect on all the information you’ve collected. This is a good time to make any modifications to your original idea in order to better suit it to your target audience’s needs. And if you realize that maybe your idea isn’t as feasible as you originally thought, don’t feel discouraged. There are plenty of other great ideas out there waiting to be turned into startups!

Step 4: Build a Minimum Viable Product

Once all of your initial research has been conducted, it’s time to start building your minimum viable product (MVP). This is the simplest version of your product/service, highlighting only the key features of it. Emphasize functionality over any itty-bitty details.

To help you better understand the concept of a minimum viable product, consider the following analogy:

Your final end-goal is to open a bakery. However, you’ve never baked before. You probably wouldn’t start practicing by making a whole wedding cake—that would probably end in a huge disaster. Start with a small cupcake, an easier, cheaper, less complex version of a huge cake. Only once you’ve perfected the cupcake would you be able to move on to the bigger cake.

The MVP is your cupcake. It’s the smallest version of your idea that still allows you to get a full taste of your vision.

Step 5: Test with Real Customers

Now it’s time to go public. Test your product/service with real customers to collect feedback and measure interest. Look for patterns: what did they love? What did they ignore? How did they react to the pricing? Would they recommend it to their friends? Observing these things will help you further improve your product/service and better tailor it to your customers’ needs and wants.

Step 6: Refine or Pivot your Idea

It is never too late for improvement! Don’t hesitate to improve your idea based on your observations and the feedback that you’ve received from your customers. This will help increase your success in the future. 

If you find that customer validation is below-par, this may be a sign that your idea needs some fixing. Take a moment to reflect on the weaknesses of your product/service, and work to combat that. Another alternative is to pivot your idea completely; starting something great from scratch is better than hanging on to something frail.

Startup validation can be tough, but more importantly, it can take a lot of time. The most important thing is to not lose hope. And remember, the best founders don’t fall in love with ideas, but with solving real problems.