5 Things To Do Before You Build Anything
You have identified an opportunity for your business idea to make sense; enough meat to generate a profit, help you make your mark and it solves a market problem you care about to make it worthwhile. Whatever the reason, we would probably agree that you are anxious to get something out there.
Now, you may not have told tooo many people about what you want to build just yet, but the few people you have told are your trusted advisors; people who’s opinion you value (and they are rooting for you). Your mentor/coach is also trying to make sure you don’t give up and they know the best advice they can give you is that you should form progressive habits. So after watching a few ET hustle harder clips, some Diddy motivational videos and taking in the wisdom of guru’s like Tony Robbins you’re ready to go.
“Just build it”
“Just get started”
“You won’t know unless you start”
While all of this advice is true, the problem is it usually gets people flinging themselves straight into the build-trap. So the next few weeks go by and you are spending more time than you need to trying to make sure you have V1 of your website ready when really you should be immersed in the problem space and understanding your users needs so you can serve them better than anyone else in the market.
By just doing the following 5 things you are actually way ahead of the curve than people who run a 100 miles an hour in the wrong direction.
- Customer Interviews and Surveys (Learn and observe to discover where the problems are with what’s out there already)
- Research and size a market with homogenous needs (understand costs, pricing, competitors, reviews)
- Build a community (add value, be part of the conversation, be a helpful community member)
- Gather insights from customers, suppliers, distribution channels, people who have domain expertise in that industry
- Run experiments with low fidelity prototypes and create MVP to test with users
For many people, your “day job” is helping you to fund your side hustle, and this is honestly a good place to be whist you are searching for a business model that works. I believe, staying as lean as possible, starting small and bootstrapping your way to growth is a truly a viable option for many who weren’t born with a silver spoon.
Do you know what…during this time you will be positioning yourself for growth. Developing self-awareness and understanding the nuances of what you are proposing.
Don’t carelessly rush to build something that no-one wants, it’s a serious waste of people’s time and money. Search for a model that works so that you can serve your potential customers better than anyone else in the market.
