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Zachary Aldwin Milkshake  in the Boardroom
Have you ever dreamt of a killer idea that gets you all worked up to the extent that you just want to get on with it? In such cases you should not rush but feel free to ride your surge of excited energy to flesh out the idea in depth.

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to validate your idea: meaning that you ensure that your plan is a good one and can actually work.

Here are some ways you can validate your ideas.

First, ask if the person you are trying to change, or get to use your idea, would want to change if they knew what you knew?

This gets the ethics out of the way. Seriously would you buy a substandard product?

Would you actually eat the food you are planning on producing in your bakery?

If you run into a problem with this question then you should leave it because no one likes a liar and a thief.

This ties in closely with the next question. Does your idea solve a problem that you have? If not, then why are you interested?

Maybe your girlfriend has the problem or someone close to you. If your close friends don’t have this problem and you don’t have this problem, then look for another idea.

The founder of DropBox came up with the idea because he left his USB drive when he was going to a presentation.

“If only I could take my files with me everywhere.” Jeff Bezos wanted to be able to buy stuff online. So he started Amazon.

The founders of AirBnB rented out their spare room to pay for their startup costs. Then the real idea hit them, why don’t we help other people do this?

Ideas that solve a real problem for you are ideas that you should be passionate about.

Does your pitch resonate consistently with people?

When you share your idea with someone and they get it and start adding on to it, then you’re onto something.

When a stranger (who’s in your target market) takes your idea and begins to own it by giving you valuable feedback, that’s a good sign. If they look at you and could not care less, you need to rethink what you’re up to.

Get a demo and show me rather than tell me. If you tell someone about your idea, often they will tell you it’s a great idea.

Either they don’t understand what you are talking about and default to this subconscious defence mechanism to avoid offending you.

Or they are your friends and do not want to upset you. It’s a million times better to show them what you’re talking about with a prototype, rough wire frame, or napkin sketch than it is to tell them the most beautiful plan. Move beyond an idea into dealing with real people in the real world, not just lab rats.

Ask complete strangers (who don’t care about you or your feelings) to sign up and pay before its ready.

The key here is strangers. Don’t ask your mom or grandmother if they’ll pay. Of course, they will.

They think you are the smartest man on earth. Who wants this right now? And who wants this so much that they will use it even when it is a first generation model made by a two-person startup they have never heard of? If you can’t answer that, the idea is probably bad.

Run the numbers. How much cash flow do you need to break even up front? Is it 10 recurring customers per month?

Do you need to sign on two new accounts a week? How much seed capital do you need? If you don’t nail down your financial needs, then you can’t ask for it and it’s rare that you come close to progressing past that milestone because you never defined it.

Remember the real people part; ask real people if they would be willing to pay “X” for your product (where “X” is a number that makes you a profit).

The point of validating your idea is to know if it will work or not. If not, don’t worry, that’s actually a great thing that you were able to validate that up front and early on.

It’s no big deal if you need to abandon an idea – don’t let that process hinder you or drag you through the mud for too long.

On the bright side, you did not waste a lot of time and money on something that will not work.

Making a “Hey this isn’t going to work” decision is an admirable thing and you should be proud of yourself. Be up front, be honest, and move on. There is always another idea.

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