2. Getting started — Your idea needs a foundation

Once you’ve gotten to heart of why you want to be an entrepreneur and what drives you, it’s time to get started. Your instinct will be to start building immediately, but that’s the quickest way to fail. Whether your idea will be a small side-business or the next Facebook, the rule is the same:

VALIDATE your idea BEFORE you start BUILDING anything.

Validation starts with giving your idea a foundation

This will give you a much better understanding of what you’re going to build and how you’re going to build it.

Answer each question in 150 characters or less. Constraining yourself will force clarity. To give you example answers, I’ll answer as a fictitious pet-monitoring startup called HappyPet

• What’s the purpose of the idea?
  The mission of HappyPet is to give dogs and cats the same love, attention and exercise their owners would even when they’re away.
• What problem is it solving?
  65% of U.S households are pet owners AND dual-income . So while people are making a living, pets are left alone with no stimulation or exercise.
• What product are you building to solve this?
  An app that connects pet-owners with pet-lovers who will love and exercise their pet while their away.
• Why do this now?
  Pets in America today are considered family members. Keeping them happy and healthy will improve the quality of life for both the pet and their owner.
• Who are your potential customers?
  Los Angeles based dual-income pet owners who have already spent money to board their pet when they travel.
• Who are your competitors? Why will you win?
  Wag, Bark’N’Borrow and CatNap. These services are focused on exercising or lending out pet dogs, while we focus on play AND love.
• How will you make money?
  We take a 10% cut out of what the owner pays the pet-lover for the service.

LESSONS LEARNED

Anyone can have a big idea, but few take the time to think through the hard questions that give their idea a foundation. Putting time into the fundamentals of your idea will give you a better understanding of how you’re going to proceed, AND be taken more seriously when you discuss it with others.