Today marks the first day of our first course StartUp With UpGrad. We’ve spent months preparing and perfecting the course for you and we hope you’re as excited as we are for your first week. The first section of the course is about Idea Validation and in this post, we’ll be talking about the questions you need to ask during the process of validating your business ideas.
While launching a startup, entrepreneurs set off on one of the most challenging journeys of their life. Although there are many visible & invisible factors that go into the process of entrepreneurship, there are some basic essentials that would help you make calculated judgments in the course of your journey.
What skills do venture capitalists look for in early-stage entrepreneurs?Here’s an insight into some of those essential question that entrepreneurs need to ask themselves while seeking validation for their business idea.
1. Does the market need my product? also known as Identifying Need-Gap
Faith and conviction with regard to your product idea are essential. In the real world, however, you need a little more than just that. You need to understand or at the very least, make a calculated assumption as to whether or not your target market needs your product. This may not be something that the market can tell you upfront, but well-conducted research could help you gauge the feasibility of your product.
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2. Where do I see my product going in the next 10 years?
Longevity is something you need to ascertain before you get your idea on the road. If you’re looking to create a product that will only satisfy a short-term need, you may find yourself hitting a wall very soon. A seasonal need, however, can be a whole different ball-game. You could either adapt your product to serve a long-term need or form the right judgment that will help you plan whether or not your product has what it takes to survive.
3. Can this model generate revenue?
The most important part of your journey & probably one of the biggest reasons why you’re there in the first place. Not every model, however, is a great revenue generator. This is something you need to calculate very carefully before you launch your product.
An idea may seem great when conceived but is it something others would pay to have?
13 Traits of Highly Effective Startup Entrepreneurs4. Who is my competition & where do I stand?
Making a thorough analysis of your direct or indirect competition could be one of the most powerful parts of framing your model. You may not always have a direct competitor, but there could be another, more prominent player market, with the resources to quickly absorb the good qualities of your product into his own. This could help frame the very foundation of your survival and growth strategy.
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5. How do I craft my idea into what the customer needs?
As an entrepreneur, if you aren’t prepared to lend a listening ear to what your customer is looking for, you could have a very hard time surviving in the market. This doesn’t mean listening to just anybody, just the direct consumers of your product. Customers too, may not always be prepared to give you direct feedback, deriving a mechanism where you are constantly interacting with your customer & understanding their needs is a system you must be prepared to install in your organization.
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