Why do you need to test your idea before you build? If you are anything like us, you have a mind brimming with new ideas for a product, a business, or a service. If you are a business owner already, when are you not thinking of new ideas to make your business better? 

In this episode, Tanya will take you through a simple, but effective way to identify which ideas to develop and which ideas to put on the back burner.

How to find out what’s a good idea

A question that comes up a lot is how to actually separate a good idea from a not-so-good idea. Which idea should you actually pursue and take to the next level? Which idea will really resonate and speak to the hearts and minds of your intended users? And which idea will your customers be willing to not just use, but actually pay for?

At this point, you really have two options. You can start with option one, and put in the time, effort and money to flesh your idea out and build it with all the features you’ve imagined. Looking super slick and on brand, on the perfect platform. At the end of this process, you will have a truly finished product that you can put out to the world. Something you can be really proud of.

There’s a second option though. Before you spend your time, energy, and money in building a fully finished product, you can go out to your intended users and test your idea first. 

Can you see the difference between option one and option two? It might seem totally captain-obvious to go for number two, right? The crazy thing is that most, and usually big and established organizations still go the old-school route and build the whole damn thing first, hoping that people will simply come. But guess what? So many times they don’t. It’s literally crickets. Teams could spend months and months working on a product that no one wants.

Test an idea can be simple and fun

Today, we want to talk about testing and why testing your idea before the building is not simply an option, but we would argue is the only smart way to hedge your bets that your idea will be a success.

I probably convinced you by now that you need to test your ideas before building them. And luckily, this testing phase can be simple and fun. Here are a few ways to start testing your idea. 

Firstly, you can test it out with members of your team. Or if you’re a solopreneur, maybe you can test it with other trusted advisors, mentors, and peers. Ideally, these are people who might have produced a similar idea or serve a similar audience to you. This can help refine the idea with other experts, and gain some of their perspectives and inputs to improve the idea. This is exactly what we do in GrowGetters Club, where our members tap into the brains and expertise of a bunch of entrepreneurial women in the club to help their ideas thrive. 

Secondly, and most importantly, testing your idea is paramount for you to trial your concept with the people that matter the most, your desired customers or audiences. By testing your idea with your intended users, you can get direct input into the idea and improve it tenfold by understanding how to dial up or dial down certain features to suit their needs and lifestyles.

You can also go another step further by making your intended customers part of the development process and actually co-create the idea together with you. This is perfect if you plan to build a working prototype, but more on that later. 

Your idea might suck, and that’s okay

Testing allows you to fail fast if necessary. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your idea might actually suck in the eyes of your intended users. It might be an awesome idea for you,  or a brilliant concept for another type of user, but for your ideal and intended users, maybe it’s just a big old flop.

So this is your chance to fail fast without having built a single thing! It will save you so much heartache, so many headaches, time, and money. Not to mention your pride. There is just one additional caveat here to add, though.

The ultimate test

Please always consider that even if your intended users like your product idea, they say they’d use it, and they even might help you build it, the big question is if they will pay for it, and how much will they pay for it.

Whether or not people will pay for your product or service is something that is vital for your idea to be considered viable and a feasible option for you to go ahead and build. An idea without viability and a paying market isn’t really a product or business. Honestly, it’s just a hobby. 

There are a bunch of ways to test if someone will actually pay for your idea, and we will cover that in future episodes. So please stay tuned!

GrowGetters Club is a perfect blend of everything you need to launch your side hustle or scale your business in no time. Get exclusive access to expert lead masterclasses and events, covering the hottest future skills topics so you stay on top of your game. And the best part of all, you’ll be part of a growing movement of women who are taking active steps to future-proof themselves and encourage each other to thrive. Come and join the waitlist for Growgetters Club, Click here to sign up!