The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

The most important Idea validation questions

Idea threads
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
0% - New User
Jul 3, 2017
2
0
30
Ireland
Hey guys, how's it going?

I'm not sure if it was already asked or not, but I would like to ask you what are the most important questions you ask yourself to validate a business idea?

I would need to create myself a list so that when I get an idea to go through it and stop my mind wasting time on useless crazy ideas.

Looking forward to your answers :)
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Mattie

Platinum Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
129%
May 28, 2014
3,485
4,490
53
U.S.
I write down my ideas just because my brain is shooting off stuff all the time. I'd forget if I didn't write it down. I suppose you have to decipher what you believe is valuable and what is not valuable. I have to basically shut it off, because I'd be switching all the time. Trial and error is necessary. Usually when I don't overthink something, or do the opposite of what I'm doing it works. I think I can be too much of a perfectionist, and simply do it is the answer in my case.

You usually find out by the response of your consumer.

Wasting time with your mind is thinking too long and not applying or taking action.
Wasting time is over studying what you already know.

I usually try to put myself in my audiences shoes. What would I participate in? Would I listen to myself? What I buy the product? Would I believe your sales pitch? Would I stay on your website? Would I stand and around and listen to what you have to say, or be in a hurry to take off and do something else. Is it boring? Is it grabbing my attention? Will I fall asleep? Are you authentic? Are you trustworthy? Do you stand behind the product you sell or just selling it?
 

OlivierMo

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
186%
Feb 12, 2018
123
229
Idaho
Hey guys, how's it going?

I'm not sure if it was already asked or not, but I would like to ask you what are the most important questions you ask yourself to validate a business idea?

I would need to create myself a list so that when I get an idea to go through it and stop my mind wasting time on useless crazy ideas.

Looking forward to your answers :)
Sometimes I poll friends around me or on Facebook. For the one I'm working on I've talked to a former client to see if that'd help him and he said he'd be happy to use a prototype. That was my only person but I am building a MVP that is not too risky (it will be done in maybe 1-2 months of work).
 
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
0% - New User
Jul 3, 2017
2
0
30
Ireland
Thanks guys for the quick replies.

I was wondering - how do you decide if the idea is fastlane or not?

I mean, what questions you need to answer to see if the idea will be worth pursuing if I want to have a fastlane business?!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

OlivierMo

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
186%
Feb 12, 2018
123
229
Idaho
Thanks guys for the quick replies.

I was wondering - how do you decide if the idea is fastlane or not?

I mean, what questions you need to answer to see if the idea will be worth pursuing if I want to have a fastlane business?!
I think the book speaks about that. MJ mentions any that relates to "renting" something, software or intellectual property (patents, books). Basically anything where your effort can have a multiplier effect.
 

masterneme

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
256%
Apr 13, 2015
320
819
41
Thanks guys for the quick replies.

I was wondering - how do you decide if the idea is fastlane or not?

I mean, what questions you need to answer to see if the idea will be worth pursuing if I want to have a fastlane business?!
Does the idea honor the CENTS commandments? If yes, is fastlane.

Idea validation is tricky, there are no questions that will give you better answers than sales.

Imagine that you have this great idea and you start telling everyone you know about it. You share surveys and do some market research. Almost everyone tells you that you're awesome and that the idea is brilliant. You spend months developing it and later you put it on the market...

...and then no one buys it, including those who told you that the product was good.

And there is also the opposite, people tell you that your idea is stupid and you will fail but then you sell millions.

So for me the question to validate an idea would be: what do I have to do and not do to get sales/customers (or real buying intent) in the most efficient, effective and fastest way?

In other words, you really want to have real hard proof that your idea can materialize sales to prove that it really covers a need.

There're more details about this process in MJ's Unscripted , check it out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

OlivierMo

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
186%
Feb 12, 2018
123
229
Idaho
Does the idea honor the CENTS commandments? If yes, is fastlane.

Idea validation is tricky, there are no questions that will give you better answers than sales.

Imagine that you have this great idea and you start telling everyone you know about it. You share surveys and do some market research. Almost everyone tells you that you're awesome and that the idea is brilliant. You spend months developing it and later you put it on the market...

...and then no one buys it, including those who told you that the product was good.

And there is also the opposite, people tell you that your idea is stupid and you will fail but then you sell millions.

So for me the question to validate an idea would be: what do I have to do and not do to get sales/customers (or real buying intent) in the most efficient, effective and fastest way?

In other words, you really want to have real hard proof that your idea can materialize sales to prove that it really covers a need.

There're more details about this process in MJ's Unscripted , check it out.
That brings another good point.... I worked on a startup that had a good product and nice technology for financial analysis. The product was used. But when we turned the subscription on, nobody signed up. It's also very important to understand your customers' personas and psychology. In our case I actually wasn't surprised. While the CEO was optimistic I was concerned the stingy individual investors using our tools would not want to pay. Maybe we should have switched audience or found a different way but we failed in that regard and shut it down.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited by a moderator:

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,495
68,507
Ireland

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top