7 Reasons to Validate Your Startup Idea Before You Build It

Startups are fun. And exciting.

There’s nothing like the thrill of having an idea for a big opportunity that you know will succeed once you execute. But before you begin implementing your startup idea, it is wise to validate it with your target market.

Perhaps your idea of being “the Uber of vacuum cleaner repairs” or “the Google of bowling ball rentals” will change the world and make a fortune.

But how do you actually know the value of your idea?

Before you build your startup, find out what your target market thinks of your idea. Does your target market even care about the problem your startup is attempting to solve? Would it pay for your solution?

This is startup idea validation.

Here are seven reasons why idea validation is such a good idea:

  1. Saves you time.

Building a new product can take months or even years. Before you invest that time, it is a good idea to make sure the market wants what you are building.

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2. 2. Saves you money.

3. Building a new product can be expensive. Don’t spend tens of thousands of dollars (or more) developing something your target market doesn’t want.

4. 3. Easier than ever.

5. Validating your startup idea is not difficult to do. There are many ways to do it. [Read our next article How to Validate Your Startup]
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7. 4. Inexpensive to do.

8. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to validate your idea. You can easily validate it for under $1,000 and oftentimes less than that. Compare that cost with the cost of time and money to build something your target market doesn’t want.

9. 5. You Can Do It Yourself.

It is not necessary to rely on out "experts" to validate your startup idea. You are the expert for your idea and you should be on the front lines of these early learnings. Startup idea validation is something you can do on your own before partnering with a development team to actually start building.

1. 6. Get Real Market Feedback.

2. When you validate your startup idea early by interacting with your target market, you get real and useful feedback. You will no longer be guessing or hoping that your target market wants your solution. You will know.

3. 7. Get New and Better Ideas.

4. When you interact with your target market, you might find that it isn’t interested in your startup idea. But you might get other ideas about what it does need, ideas that could help you succeed much more.

Want some practical advice for how you can validate your startup idea? Click here for our article, “How to Validate Your Startup Idea.”