Everybody gets ideas all the time. You’ve probably had your fair share of brilliant ideas, gotten excited about the idea, and forgotten about the idea, only to see someone else doing the exact thing that you thought of. Sound familiar?  If you’re like most people, you probably had the idea, never wrote it down, told a few people and let it fade without taking any meaningful action. Maybe you got worried about people stealing your idea and decided to keep it to yourself, hoping to pursue it someday in the future. For most people, someday never comes.

The truth is an idea is the foundation of a successful product or service. You need to put in the work and build it.

According to sales expert, Brian Tracy, “The average person has four ideas a year, which if anyone is acted on, would make them a millionaire. Ideas come and go, but what if you actually took steps to pursue your ideas and see if they were good?

This article will give you a step-by-step guide to validate your business idea and turn it into a revenue-generating business.

1. Make a firm decision to go for it- You can probably come up with a thousand reasons why you shouldn’t actively pursue your idea. Grab a pen and paper and list 10 reasons. Your list might have some of these: ‘I don’t know where to start’, ‘I don’t have the time, skills or money’, I can’t compete with older businesses’, ‘it’s not the right time, ‘I’m too old to do this’. You have just created a list of your greatest fears and self-limiting beliefs, and you need to tackle them head-on.  Affirm yourself with positive statements and tackle all the self-limiting statements you’ve written. For example, ‘My age is an asset to me because it means I have had enough experiences to learn from and built the relationships I need. Decide you’re willing to go for it, eliminate your self-limiting beliefs and charge on! 
2. Develop your idea- You need to flesh out your idea and make a plan. You need to be disciplined about this and determined to see your idea through. Business coaches suggest doing five things every day that pushes you towards your goal. Starting a business is not easy. It’s important that you stay focused, track your progress every day, and keep moving forward every day. Don’t expect to see results instantly, but remember that tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean. Learn everything you can about your product, industry, competition, and technology that you can leverage to help grow your idea. People often get started on their idea and end up giving up too soon. Commit yourself to turning your idea into reality and don’t give up until you see it happen.

3. Validate the market- It’s not enough to have a brilliant business idea, you need to be sure that there are people who are willing to pay for your product or service. Market validation is talking to potential clients about their problems and pain points and getting ideas for how your idea for a product or service will solve them. How do you know what customers want when you do n’t have your product or service fully set up, and don’t want to waste money and time building what they don’t want? Build a minimum viable product or a prototype. The idea is to put out something that offers the main value of your startup or that solves the core problem of your customers. The prototype could be a landing page, a survey form or a powerpoint slide.This is something you can build in a day or week. A prototype can be an actual functioning product with the core features offered. Identify a group (target market) you think might be the buyers for your product or service. Then find ways to connect with them.

Here is a step-by-step list and guide to market validation:

• Find potential users for your product or service.
• Reach out to your target market via cold calls, emails, focus groups, surveys, and personal interviews.
• Analyze the results and decide whether you have identified the proper target market and if you are solving a pain point your target market is willing to pay for.

4. Figure out your value proposition – Once you’ve done your market validation, it’s time to analyze what problem you want to uniquely solve for your customers. Be certain of the problem you’re solving for the target market you intend to serve. If you didn’t find a pain point that your target market wants to pay for, you should repeat market validation until you find one.
5. Create your ideal product or service– You need to figure out your pricing, packaging and finalise on your product or service. Ask yourself questions and flesh out your idea properly.
6. Choose a name and buy a domain– Most people do this first. However, it’s important to do all the work in the previous steps so your name accurately reflects your business. Pick a name, check if the domain is available and snag it up as fast as you can.
7. Create a website and logo– Branding is important for your business. You need to pass the right message across to prospective customers. Creating a professional website and logo is one of the fundamentals of branding. Atlas Creative Consultancy provides website building services, and create awesome logos. We’ve helped many businesses achieve success with their branding, please send us an email if you need our services.
8. Create your marketing strategy- Get the word out there about your business! Create social media accounts and post relevant content that will help you gain customers. A killer marketing strategy is essential to your business success.
9. Make it legal- You need to register your business, create a business bank account, and do any other things necessary to make your business legal.
10. Get started!- You don’t need everything to be perfect before you start. You can improve as you go on. For now, just start.