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Marketing & Sales. A lot of entrepreneurs are "doers of the thing" but at some point, you're forced to take the shift and become a "marketer of the thing". Think of it this way: You can have the best product on the market, but it doesn't matter if noone knows about it. Ofcourse, there are so many other important bits I'd love to tell you about - but, start with these and you will see traction, the rest will follow.

I am an entrepreneur without a single degree or certification to my name. I'm certainly not anti-education (in fact, I've taught some university classes), but higher education wasn't the path I chose. My question for you is: what type of learner are you? I learn best when I'm self-directed, studying things that fascinate me, and able to either apply or teach what I'm learning (in fact, I think teaching is one of the best ways to learn). So, I've taken ownership of my "education", and I am constantly learning. I read books and articles, listen to podcasts and other audio programs, attend conferences and events, and seek mentors and peer-learning environments. It has worked well for me, but not everyone is built that way. Some people learn better when the education is structured for them, or when they have schedules, deadlines, and feedback (i.e. grades) on their learning. Even for structured learning, college / university is not the only option. There are incubator / accelerator programs, entrepreneur boot camps, mentoring groups such as SCORE - some of it depends on where you are located, or whether you're willing to travel. The bottom line is that education is not optional (especially for an entrepreneur), but there are several ways to get an education. You need to figure out what kind of learner you are to determine what path (or combination of paths) you should take.

I've done this in the past. I find the best way is to do it in person. I made a habit of walking on my downtown street between lunch and asking the local business owners about their challenges of their business. I don't know if there's a number...I think idea extraction should become a part of your daily routine. Here are some questions you can ask: So your business does X? What is your role in the business? What does a typical day look like for you? Can you walk me through the first couple hours of your day? What are the first few things you do each morning? How many customers are you working with a month right now? What’s been your best month? What’s been your worst? What are a couple activities you have in your day that you just don’t enjoy? Getting Deeper Thinking about the last couple days at work, what has been the most challenging part? What do you use excel for in your business?** What is the most expensive problem in your business? What’s a problem that you’ve tried to solve in the past but didn’t work for you? What would you like to do with you mobile phone, but can’t?

Hi First of all, the fact that you are talking about market validation is great. I've seen so many startups invest time and money, only to find that no ones wants/needs their product, or that they only want a certain aspect of it, or they aren't willing to pay the requested price. So you're already one step ahead. Answer: the sooner you validate your product, the better! That said, the version you are validating needs to be representative of the end product, or else the validation isn't reliable. So in your case, I would: 1. create a business model canvas (which is what all startups should start with before creating a business plan), 2. Setup a Wix or Wordpress website (this can be done for free / very low costs). On the website, include the price of the product, and enable people to order it (even if it doesn't exist!). I am happy to explain how this can be done even though you don't yet have the final product and by still being fair to the people who click the "buy/order" button. 3. Spend a small amount (say $100 - but depends on your budget) validating the idea. This way, after only spending a very small amount, you will be able to know (if done right): a. Do people like your product. b. Do people want/need your product (not the same as 'a'). c. Are people willing to pay for your product? d. How much are they willing to pay? (you can check this by having 2 landing pages for payment - each with a different price). I'm happy to help you with this matter further, as this is a critical stage. Best of luck!

Everything you do (in life and as an entrepreneur) should start with an underlying passion. If you aren't pursuing the things you're most passionate about, you're doing it wrong (or just for the wrong reasons). IMHO. So in that regard, I'd highly recommend reading Simon Sinek's "Start With Why". If you're not up to reading a book, just Google his TED talk as a start.