How-to Test Out Your Business Ideas Quickly So That You Don't Waste Your Time and Money
Should you even pursue this?
“I’m working on this idea.”
I often hear from aspiring entrepreneurs who are working on that one idea. They’re waiting for the launch of this perfect idea because they know that it will be an instant hit. The idea will make them lots of money and change their life forever. So they’re just waiting to launch.
Here’s a news flash for you: The longer you wait, the more likely you are to never do anything. It’s critical that you learn how to test out your ideas in advance so that you don’t waste time and money by stewing on something that has no potential to turn into a real business.
Procrastination is often disguised as planning. The longer you wait to do something, the less likely you are to do it. You can spend your entire life planning for the perfect moment that will never arrive.
I want you to be able to test a business idea out in a weekend instead of holding on to it for years. I want you to test often and to become an expert at following through.
The rules for testing a business idea…
There are three rules when testing a business idea:
You don’t need to keep it a secret. Nobody’s going to steal your brilliant idea. It’s okay to get feedback. It’s okay to ask around to see what others think. You don’t have to worry about someone stealing it because most people have enough going on in their lives.
Know that anything can work. We live in an era where anything and everything can take off. Look no further than what goes viral on apps like Tik Tok. I’ve learned that you never know what will happen with an idea until you launch it to the world. This means that your idea is never too absurd to test out.
You can’t get offended by the results. If your idea needs tweaking or is not a fit, that’s good. You got the feedback, and you have to act accordingly. Don’t get offended because there’s no market for your idea at the moment or because the market told you that you need to tweak something.
Testing is everything. I want you to test your ideas immediately so you don’t sit on them for years.
James Altucher covers this topic in his book “Skip The Line” when he discusses experimenting:
“Each experiment lets you skip part of the 10,000 hours. Because everyone else can’t do what you just did.
I know this because I’ve done it. You can fail on 10,000 experiments but then suddenly you’re Thomas Edison.
That’s why people who put in years of invisible work often seem like overnight successes.”
How do you test out a business idea?
Use Instagram. Test around with Instagram. You can create an account and get six posts up in a few days. Look up related hashtags. See if there’s a demand for this. See if you can find other content creators that are making money off this topic. Check out how much volume the hashtags are getting. Look for items in the shop to see if you can sell something similar or promote related products.
Check out the search volume. Is anyone talking about this idea on Google? Are there any numbers in this space? What’s the chatter about? Are people searching for this topic? You don’t want to enter a niche that doesn’t have the search volume, as creating a brand-new field is challenging.
Check out Answerthepublic to see what questions people have about this topic or idea.
Look for any related paid gigs. Can you find any work in this field? Is there any work in this field? Look up jobs on freelance boards like Fiverr or Upwork to see if anyone’s hiring in this field.
Post an ad on Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace. See if anyone out there wants to hire you for this or a service related to this business idea.
Create content. Make content for social media. Make any kind of content about this topic on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and whatever else you can think of. Does anyone care? Is there any traction?
If nobody is hiring and talking about this, you have to move on. You can’t spend months or years working on an idea that won’t lead to anything.
On the flip side, if you find people interested in this idea or your spin on this idea, then go in for the next 30 days to see what you can build.
Here are the worst ways to test out a business idea:
Asking your friends or family. They just won’t want to hurt your feelings.
Going by your gut instinct. There’s nothing personal about a business idea. You need some tangible proof.
Do this before going all in on any idea!
The goal is to find a way to bring in at least $100 from an idea. If you can’t do this, there’s just no money in the field.
If you can’t make $100, how do you expect to make $1000 or more?
You have to be able to pivot and adapt quickly. You can’t hold on to that business idea because you think it’s original. The market will tell you real quick if they care about it. If they don’t care, then that’s okay. You got your feedback, and you can adjust accordingly.
Have you ever seen an episode of Shark Tank? It’s always sad when they have someone come on to ask for money for some business idea that hasn’t generated any income. This person put their life savings into an idea they believed in despite never receiving any tangible proof that there’s even a market for it.
It’s admirable to believe in something and to invest in your product. It’s not honorable to stick to some idea that isn’t working. You have to be able to move on with your life.
What happens if an idea isn’t a hit?
You have to move on. You can’t force something. You can’t pretend that everything will work out when it won’t. You can’t waste your time on a business idea that won’t work.
If there’s no money in a niche, there’s no sense in waiting around and hoping for money to arrive magically. You’re only going to end up frustrated with yourself and with entrepreneurship.
The final word on testing out business ideas…
It’s okay if you want to have a hobby. Just please don’t confuse a hobby with a side hustle.
The most important question to constantly ask yourself about any business idea that you think of:
Can you make money from this somehow?
There has to be a way to get paid.
I know people who have been talking about following up on an idea since 2008. Eventually, you have to either give it a shot or give up. You can talk about something for a long time before you finally take action.
The goal is to test and to test often. You shouldn’t be married to the first idea that you think of. You want to become an idea machine, so you’re not just clinging to one theory.