Original subtitles

In this lesson, I'm going to take you through how to validate your idea.

This is important so that you don't waste unnecessary time and money

on a product that your audience fundamentally doesn't want.

Basically, you need to know if an idea has legs before you do anything else.

It's important that you don't get obsessed with the way

that you want your idea to be.

You need to be willing to listen to your market and iterate accordingly.

If you want an easy win, just make something that people

want and give it to them.

It can be that simple.

The best validation for your product is always going to be your first sale.

Somebody pulling out their credit card and saying, yes, give me that.

But at this stage, you just have an idea on paper.

So now I want you to talk to around 20 people that would fit your target

audience as per your customer personas, and see if they think your product's

a good idea to find these 20 people.

You need to just go for it.

Try and find people in your network through friends, family, and colleagues.

Even posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram goes a long way.

Failing that you may need to literally get out on the street

or a cafe and just talk to people.

Basically ask them if they'd purchase your product and if they would, if

they'd recommend it to a friend.

And if not, why not?

If the majority say yes, then you're definitely onto something.

I've attached a simple questionnaire that you can use when conducting these

validation interviews, so it starts off as a little bit of a script.

Hey there, Zach.

I'm an entrepreneur developing a new product idea, and I was

wondering if I could quickly ask you these five questions.

The product is a reusable straw and it's helping to reduce the impact of the

waste from everyday disposable items.

So here's a photo of the product.

So first up I'm gonna ask, would you purchase this product?

If so, would you recommend it to a friend?

If not, why wouldn't you purchase it?

If you could change just one thing about the product, what would it be?

And any other feedback that you have that could improve this product idea.

Thanks so much for your time.

I really appreciate your insights.

So if nobody you speak to is interested in your product, maybe

you could tweak it a little.

For example, with one of my first blends of detox tea, I took them

to my office and there were lots of women that fit my target audience.

They all loved it and wanted me to start making it for them as soon as possible.

And they're even messaging me about it on Facebook all the time.

So I knew that I was onto a winner.

It's also a good idea to validate your idea through researching

existing products on the market.

If there's already a really high demand for your product in

this area, that's a good thing.

It means there are people who are willing to buy a quick Google search

and skim through social media.

Hashtags should show you if there's much demand for your idea or something similar.

Again, you don't need to be intimidated by your competition.

There are things to learn from them, and as long as you have a

strong U V P, you'll stand out.

You simply wanna know that there's buyers out there and if so, where they are.

So, as an action item for this lesson, it's time to get out

there and start talking to people.

Don't miss this step just because it's uncomfortable, because it's crucial.

You might feel just like breezing past this, but trust me, you are only

gonna waste time and money this way.

This is what I've done to create multiple, extremely

successful e-commerce businesses.

So basically the action item is going to be speaking to these 20 people I

mentioned before about your favorite idea doing some basic market research.

And if the majority of these 20 people you speak to would like to see a product in

the market, then it's definitely something you should continue thinking about.

You can capture their responses on the worksheet that we've provided.

You can do it at parties, the office cafes, bars, wherever

your target market hangs out.

It can even be over Skype.

Whatever you have to do, make it happen and don't waste time on this step.

Find out a SAP if there's demand for what your market wants.

If people don't show interest and you can't validate your idea, you need to

keep working the idea or the UVP until people start to respond positively.

Now, it's always best to do this in person and ideally even ask if you can film it,

but if you can't for some reason or the thought just petrifies you, the next best

thing is to reach out to people online.

You can even reach out via email or on social media sites like

LinkedIn, but there's definitely nowhere near as good as in person.

It might be just a facial expression that they make, or their tone of voice that

shows you how they're really feeling.

So an easy alternative to validating your product idea in person is

by using the start and scale community group on Facebook.

So I've pulled up a couple of posts on validation from some students, so we can

look at a post from Louisana, for example.

So she's written, Hey guys, I'm still validating my idea.

Would you be so kind as to answer this survey?

I promise it's short, and anyone who sleeps in a bed can answer it.

So keep it super simple and to the point.

And these posts have tended to work better if you include some kind of

product photography to get people interested in commenting on the post.

And this particular post has received over 41 comments.

So it's clear that she's found over 20 people to communicate

with on validating her idea.

So an example from another student in the start and scale group is a student

who is trying to validate an idea.

That has been created for entrepreneurs.

So this is a perfect chance to use the group because the group is full of

entrepreneurs and you'll be able to really access people from your customer persona.

So this is doing a really great job.

So he's trying to validate the idea of a foldable laptop stand

box, as well as a nootropic teeth.

So he's asked the group and he's said that he'd love to hear your thoughts about

those ideas and thank you in advance.

And he has received over 49 comments on that post.

And again, he made this post extremely visual by using photos

and mockups of his products.

So it's really easy to get our audience's attention.

So those are a couple of ways that you can lean on the founder,

start and scale community to help you validate your product.

So I want you to note something really important here.

You should not spend money on building your physical

product until you validated it.

It's very important to complete this module in full before moving forward.

So right now, I want you to go and speak to those 20 people, capture

their responses in the worksheet, and I'll see you in the next lesson.