How to test an idea before launching a startup?
The Answers / / January 07, 2021
Determine what problem your idea solves and see if people are willing to pay for your solution.
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Margarita Guseva
Vladimir Mirolyubov
CEO in the educational platform "Unicorn».
This question (as well as the answer to it) is more complicated than it seems at first glance. But you're thinking the damn right direction if you asked it. I will answer you with leading questions that should give you the right thoughts.
First, figure out what the idea is. Is it a solution to an urgent, massive, human problem, or is it something narrow and specialized? Having understood this, it will be easier to find a target audience that will help to understand the demand for such a solution.
Secondly, everything in the world revolves around money. Is this problem so big that people will be willing to constantly pay to solve it?
If not, why would you do it? Trust me, the passion for "just making a good free tool for people" will pass one year after a successful launch. And if he is unsuccessful and there is no money, then even faster.
The fact is that most startups fall into the trap of the perceived importance and importance of the problem being solved. But the only proof of the potential success of your idea is the willingness of people to pay money for it. Or people themselves will act as money for you, like in social networks, but this is a different story.
How do I test my idea before launch? Classic is a good one-page landing page made on the same Tilda website builder, telling about a user problem and its solution through a future product (your idea). Plus, you need a form to collect email for the launch announcement.
Next, you pour on them traffic from social networks, targeted by the topic, and look at the conversions. Good CTR CTR is the number of clicks on your ad divided by the number of impressions. for advertising a product in demand - at the level of 1-3%. If it is like that, we can say that the problem being solved actually takes place in the lives of users.
Further, there is a classic sales funnel: if out of 100 attracted visitors at least 20 people left their mail, we can say that the project is potentially interesting to the audience.
Some pros even make an early access sale with a 50 percent discount from the planned tariffs and, without a product, immediately test the solvency and financial model.
To summarize: make a website describing your idea and future product, not the product itself. Start communicating through comments or by mail left with those who are interested in your idea: they will tell you everything, because they know their problem better than you.
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