Have you ever had a brilliant tech startup idea? Maybe it was for an app, a Saas (Software-as-a-Service), a website, or software product. And maybe you’re wondering how to start a tech business or how to turn your idea into a successful business.
At Precursa, we get lots of questions from entrepreneurs about what they can expect if they take the leap to build a startup. And thus, this series was born!
Over the next 10 weeks, we’ll discuss the phases that a typical startup will go through in roughly the order they typically happen. HOWEVER… Your startup could be different! There could be factors in your target industry that will change the course of things, or you might be independently wealthy and thus never have a money problem. (We’ve known one of these, and the speed with which his business took off was impressive!)
That said, this series is designed to help you anticipate certain things along the way, prompt you to think about things you may not have considered before, and generally guide you to hopefully make fewer mistakes along the way.
Stage #1: The Idea
You’ve had a brilliant idea… A flash of lightning… Something that now seems so obvious, yet didn’t exist 5 minutes ago. It’s a really GREAT place to start, but it’s just that: a start.
Before you dive in and start spending money building tech, you need to do research to give you more insight into what you’re attempting to accomplish.
Question everything
The key to launching a tech startup successfully is understanding the problem you solve and who you’re solving it for incredibly well. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is the problem I’m solving?
- Who has this problem?
- How painful is this problem to those who have it?
- What other options already exist for solving this problem?
Be able to articulate for yourself these answers in as much detail, and as short a statement, as possible. Then you’re ready to start testing your insights and hypotheses with potential end users.
Get to know your user REALLY well
This stage is the perfect time to get in front of as many people who have the problem you’re solving as you can and ask them about it. Find out how they perceive the problem, if they have any tools they are already using to solve it, and how satisfied they are with those tools. Are they paying to solve their problem now? Is the solution cheap but cumbersome? Or maybe it’s just really expensive.
Ask a TON of questions to understand the PROBLEM as well as you can.
Be cautiously optimistic
Our ideas are answers to problems we see in the world around us. But beware the thinking that because YOU perceive the problem as painful, then it must be that way for everyone. Go beyond your immediate circle of friends and family when conducting this type of research. Make 100 new friends who all have the problem you’re trying to solve.
You don’t have to disclose very much about your possible solution right now. The purpose of these conversations is to explore the PROBLEM. We want as much input from other people as possible to answer the following questions:
- How painful is this problem?
- How many people have it?
- Are the majority of people willing to spend money and change their habits to solve it?
Stage #1 is sparked by your wonderful idea, but is characterized by your willingness to dig into that idea to find the problem and explore it. Ultimately, all of your market research and your potential ROI (return on investment) will be determined based on the problem, and how you solve it.
Let Precursa help make it easy
You don’t have to go it alone when you start an industry-changing tech business. The Precursa platform helps you navigate the challenges and shows you the entrepreneurial roadmap to success as you move from idea to MVP launch. With our unique AI and ML-driven Precursa score, you can track your progress, compare your ideas to other startups, and have confidence that your idea has been tested and is ready for MVP launch when the time comes.
