Validating your business plan is a fundamental aspect of the Product Development process.
Yet, entrepreneurs often overlook that only a handful of startup ideas survive their first year.
That normally happens because they didn’t take the time to ensure they built the right product for the right people.
Why should you care about implementing a thorough Market Validation Strategy?
The short answer is that launching a product without doing so can result in costly mistakes.
Regardless of your digital product idea, you should validate it without writing a single line of code.
To succesfully do so, you'll need a Market Validation Strategy!
With it, you'll align your business needs with the type of product you want to build.
Let’s dive deeper into Market Validation Strategies!
What is a Market Validation Strategy?
You have a business idea you believe is awesome and want to bring it to life.
However, to make sure id add value to real users you'll need Market Validation.
As you may have guessed, a Market Validation plan must focus on the value of your product.
A common mistake entrepreneurs often make is focusing too much on the features and functionalities.
Here, Market Validation show how likely the idea is to be successful, and the strategy is how you plan to do that.
Regardless of your industry, designing a strategy that validates your business according to actual demand isn’t rocket science.
Let’s walk you through how to conduct your Market Validation Strategy.
How To Conduct Market Validation Strategy?
"Don’t find users for your products: <b>find products for your users." — Seth Goding.
Your Market Validation Strategy revolves around two key aspects: Product Research and Product Testing.
You start with an idea based on certain assumptions, but you must research to fact-check these assumptions.
What should you focus on? First, anything that tells you whether your product is a “nice-to-have” or a “must-have” for your audience.
With this info, you'll be more able to understand your real users’ pain points, desires and needs.
That data will lay the foundation for the first goal of your Market Validation Strategy.
But, after, that , you'll have to define and narrow your target audience.
There are popular market validation methods to gather data from prospective users.
Think forums, like Reddit or Quora, LinkedIn groups or Google Trends.
The goal here is to understand what users think about the current landscape.
Do you have an idea for a productivity app? Check what your potential users think about the existing ones!
After gathering data, you should build prototype to gain insights on your idea.
A Design Sprint is an effective method to make and test a prototype as quickly as possible.
It’s also important to consider the financial feasibility of the product you want to build.
Keep in mind that validating your idea is an iterative process!
Market Validation Strategy Steps
First, remember that these steps can vary depending on your industry, business strategy and target market.
Businesses don’t have a unique written-in-stone way to validate their idea.
However, most procedures start with thorough research and finish with a testable solution.
Startups commonly validate products with a prototype, a landing page or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
But what are the most common steps for a Market Validation Strategy?
- Goal. Write down the assumptions you want to validate and how you plan to do it.
- Research. Assessing the landscape will be your first level of validation to translate doubts into actions.
- Prototype. Build a basic prototype of your idea and use a CRM to keep track of feedback.
- Testing. Show real users a usable version of your product before investing resources.
- MVP. If applicable, an MVP can foster Usability Testing and guarantee seamless User Experiences.
Why is Market Validation Strategy Important?
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." – Mark Twain
People rarely like to think about things not going their way, and that can lead to problems.
Finding a market fit without validation is often like spotting a snowflake in a blizzard.
An effective Market Validation is essential to help you save money and time!
With it, you can make data-driven decisions on the right solution and boost your chances of success.
Validating your idea will also help you clarify your message and write a killer Value Proposition.
Conclusion
The iterative process that goes back and forth between research and testing can take a while.
Almost no one gets a green light to launch the first time. Refine and tweak until you get a solid product.
If you're looking for strong Market Validation strategies, get in touch with Capicua!
