5 steps to pressure test whether an idea can be a viable business


There’s no shortage of good ideas, but an idea without market demand is not going to become a profitable business.

Here are 5 key milestones you need to check off to ensure you’re on the way to product-market fit:

1. You can articulate what problem you are solving for a specific target audience

How?

Conduct customer interviews using the Jobs to Be Done Framework

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2. Confirm the target audience want your help solving their problem

How?

Use methods like fake door experiments, surveys and cold calling - check out more on Pretotyping

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3. Confirm the target audience are willing to pay you to solve their problem

How?

Use experiments like pre-order, landing page sign ups, LOI’s and Van Westendorp pricing sensitivity analysis 

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4. Confirm that your solution actually solves your target audience’s problem

How?

Building a prototype (can be technical / non technical) to conduct utility testing with users. Check out some great no/low code tools

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5. There are enough people habitually paying for your product who are happy with the experience

How? A range of traction experiments to test channels, propositions, features, pricing etc. You can also use the Sean Ellis survey which looks at whether 40%+ of customers say they would be very disappointed if your product didn’t exist

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