Question
This is not a naive, general question, at least I hope it's not.
I've been passionate about entrepreneurship, especially products and services, since almost 5 years. I have been thinking about different ideas that ranged from web apps to mobile applications and SaaS ideas.
I guess all of these ideas sounded great to me and some of my friends, but I have never actually worked on them. I'd rather do something else, like learning general business skills or working on side projects for the purpose of gaining experience and promoting my personal brand.
Last week, I've been offered a job. It will be a daunting one but it will pay off well. I will relocate from my hometown and work in a friendly environments. I said yes, and decided to relocate and organize my time between my regular job and the side online projects I'm working on.
Until today.
I was randomly daydreaming and checking the ceiling, when it suddenly hit me: a million-dollar idea. No, actually a billion-dollar idea. This doesn't mean I'm 100% sure of its success, but I was so excited about it to the extent that:
1) It gave me goosebumps.
2) It made me visualize the startup's mission and impact on people.
3) Possibility of my potential product's failure scared me, but it made me very determined to pursue it and see for myself.
4) It made me smile.
So, in order to begin working on it, I have to learn web development and develop a prototype, as well as gaining advanced business knowledge and experience. Unfortunately, I won't be able to work on my idea and stick to a 9 to 5 job. I'm afraid I'll lose the vision I have when time passes by without working on it.
I'm confused. Can you awesome people help me find the right person to consult and gain solid advice from? I trust Clarity!
Answer
Hello,
I'm serving as startups' mentor for some years now, and an entrepreneur myself.
The key word is validation.
What you need to do now, in order to support your decision, is to test your assumptions with potential customers.
First have a short time dedicated to defining your idea in the following way:
1. Define the customer, the "job" this customer wants to get done, the hassle the customer is suffering from today, and the gap in the market - how do current solutions fail short. Make it clear for yourself - why this gap in the market really important for your customer.
Note that all of the above is just a collection of assumptions , until you validate them with customers.
2. Think where can you find customers (specifically early adopters, the ones that suffer the most today, with the maturity to get on board since they are really looking for a change).
3. Prepare your pitch for the problem, the root cause and the "so what".
Then get in touch with potential customers, go out of the building and try to validate your assumptions, in a way the customer really "pays" as an indicator for a stong, positive validation. Payment can be with a pre-order but can be other things - e.g., additional time allocated to you - setting up another meeting.
If you validated the problem and customer assumptions, even just with few customers, you may be up to something.
This process can be very fast, if you do it right.
Do it before you take any decision. Good luck.
Call me for follow up questions.
Rami
