Turning a Rough Business Idea into a Testable Concept

A lot of founders’ initial ideas are semi-formed and energizing but not particularly concrete. That’s what makes the notion of doing all of this prep work intimidating. Your focus at this stage isn’t to nail every detail, but rather to get something on paper to begin working from. I like to approach this in plain English, from a perspective of explaining the solution to someone not close to the industry. If you find yourself becoming clouded in your prose or getting stuck on something, it is probably a spot where you don’t have your thoughts fully formed yet. With some thought, you should be able to capture your idea into a paragraph of prose, covering who has a problem, what hurts, and how things would be better if [x] happened.

The next step is to create a promise of value. This shouldn’t be a tagline or a marketing message; it should be a factual description of how things will be better. A lot of people skip this step and immediately start listing features and technologies, which can obscure the underlying value. The key is to picture what things will be like after the solution has taken effect. Will something be faster? Cheaper? Safer? Less stressful? If that sounds too vague, make it more specific until you can describe a tangible improvement. The more specific it is, the easier it is to find a solution that makes that improvement real.

It’s better to find out the idea isn’t right before you commit to months of development on it. A good practice here is to draw a simple sketch of the product and show the path a customer takes to find it, use it, and ultimately determine it solves their problem. I’m not talking about designing something. I’m talking about the experience. When you don’t know something, like what to charge or how to deliver it, leave the box blank. Then, go fill in the box with the answer.

In small daily doses, this will continue to develop the idea. Use fifteen minutes to modify the problem statement, amend the value proposition, or reduce the complexity of the journey map. Subtract before adding. If you get stuck, revisit the problem statement to test whether it solves a genuine pain point or is just a curious idea. Usually this helps you get unstuck.

Through this rigorous process, an insubstantial notion is gradually moulded into a concrete hypothesis which can be debated, refined and strengthened. It might seem like a snail’s pace when compared to the thrill of rushing to market, but it lays the groundwork for long-term success. It means that, by defining the problem, refining the promise and undermining assumptions multiple times, you’ll end up with something robust enough to bear up to scrutiny rather than crumbling at the merest whisper of a question.