Ever wondered why many startups fail? It’s mainly because people don’t actually need the product that businesses are offering. According to reports, “42% of start-ups fail due to this reason.” (source) This is why it’s important to check whether your idea has real demand before spending time or money on it.
What can you do to not waste efforts and not miss better opportunities? Read this blog and follow the steps mentioned to give businesses better chances to succeed.
How Important is Market Validation in Business?
Market validation means checking whether people really want your product. It’s important to understand whether customers will buy your products or the business has any chance to make money. It’s something that needs to be done in the early stage itself in order to save you from wasting time and money on ideas that don’t work.
Why it’s necessary to validate your idea?
- To learn what the customer problems are
- To know whether your products will act as a solution to customers’ problems.
Learning these will help you create something better that customers will be willing to pay for.
A Perfect Example of Successful Business Idea Validation
Dropbox: Showing the Power of a Simple Video
Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox, first made a short video explaining how the service would work. He shared this video before even creating the real product on tech forums and communities. The interesting part is that people really loved it, and thousands of users even signed up to try it.
Step-by-Step Methods to Test Demand and Reduce Risk
-
Make Sure the Problem You Want to Solve Actually Exists
Many entrepreneurs get excited about their idea and try to build a solution without checking whether a problem even exists. Experts such as Carter Caldwell and Sean Mulligan state that founders go straight into creating features without understanding what people really need.
What happens here? They waste money and effort on something nobody really wants.
Don’t ever invest in anything before researching the real problem to be resolved. Understand what people care about and are willing to fix by researching online:
- Check Reddit or Quora questions related to your problem and see what people are complaining about.
- Browse community forums where your target customers discuss their recurring frustrations.
- Research reliable market studies and look at reports and surveys that show demand and trends in your industry.
For example, when you are thinking of making a meal planning app, check discussions on Reddit where people talk about meal planning. You will notice they often complain that it’s too complicated and doesn’t fit their needs. These complaints show you the exact problems your app needs to try to fix.
Be an entrepreneur who looks at what real people are struggling with to know what your product needs to solve.
From Idea to Income: How to Validate Your Business Concept Before Spending a Rupee
-
Study the Competition and Identify Gaps
Understand what the competitors are offering. Yes, this is an important step to take before entering a crowded market. Check their products and customer reviews to identify gaps. This means to collect data about things customers have complaints about or wish were better? Understanding gaps helps you come up with a better and more useful idea.
Many experts believe that when many customers have the same problem, and your product can solve it, it shows there is great demand for your idea. For this, you can use affordable tools such as social listening or content analytics to track what people are saying online.
It’s even possible to hire a consultant to conduct a deeper study about the competitors and do a SWOT analysis to see where your idea works in the market.
For example, you want to create a meal planning app. First, look at similar apps such as MealLime or Yummly. Also, check what people are saying about them.
- People often say it takes too long to plan meals.
- They also say the recipes don’t match their preferences.
Using tools such as BrandMentions or Buzzsumo helps you see how often people mention these problems online.
These complaints show what your app needs to do better. For example, make meal planning faster and create recipes that match what users like. In this way, your app solves real problems that the other apps aren’t completely solving.
Success Unlocked: The Top 9 Business Mentors to Follow in 2025
-
Interact With Your Target Audience to Understand Their Needs
Talking directly to the people who might use your product helps you understand what they really need. You can learn things through conversations that you will never find in data or reports.
One way is to have customer interviews. Ask them simple questions like how they currently solve the problem or what would make them try a new solution. Their answers can show you what’s missing in the market.
You can use surveys through tools such as Google Forms and keep the questions short so more people respond.
After collecting feedback, look for common patterns such as:
- What problems do they face?
- What features do they want?
- How much are they willing to pay?
- How much would they use your product?
These will help understand whether your idea is actually useful to them or not.
For example, you want to make a fitness tracking app. To understand what users really need, talk directly to them:
- Interview 20 people who work out daily
- Ask how they currently track workouts and what frustrates them.
- Ask what features would make them switch to a new app.
- Send a short survey to 100 people.
- Ask how often they exercise.
- Ask what features they want in a fitness app.
- Ask how much they would pay for a better experience.
- Look for common patterns in their problems.
- Many current apps are too complicated.
- People want personalised workout plans.
- Most would pay for an app that saves time and tracks progress easily.
Listening to users helps learn exactly what your app needs to focus on to solve real problems people really care about.
-
Test Your Product or Service
Once you know there is a need for your product, make sure it actually works well and is easy for people to use. You can do this by testing your product in 2 stages:
Alpha testing and Beta testing
Alpha testing happens first. Your own team or internal members try the product in a controlled setting. This helps you find and fix basic problems, bugs or confusing parts before showing it to the public.
Beta testing comes next. A small group of real users tries your product and shares honest feedback. For software or apps, this can even be open to the public, with a note explaining that it’s still an early version.
Testing your product with real users is extremely valuable. Even when the market needs your product, people won’t use it when it’s too complicated or doesn’t work well. The feedback from beta testers helps improve your product. As a result, it meets customer expectations and stands out against competitors.
For example, you are making a language learning app. To make sure it works well and is easy for people to use, test it in 2 steps:
- Alpha testing (Internal test)
- Your own team tries the app first.
- They notice problems such as audio not playing or confusing instructions.
- You fix these issues before letting others use it.
- Beta testing (Real users)
- You invite 50 people to try the app for 2 weeks. They gave feedback such as:
- It’s hard to track daily progress.
- Some lessons are long or unclear.
Use their feedback to make the app easier to use and more helpful.
-
Build a Landing Page to Track Audience Interest
Another easy way to check whether people are interested in your idea is by creating a landing page. This is a simple one-page website that explains the product or service and includes a button or form where people can sign up, join a waitlist or pre-order.
You then send people to this page through social media, ads or email and see how many of them take action. When many visitors sign up or show interest, it’s a strong sign that the idea has potential. There’s no need of technical skills to make this. Tools such as WordPress, Wix and Unbounce let you build a landing page quickly without coding.
For example, when you are planning a fitness app, your landing page might say:
“Get early access to the app that makes working out fun and special. Sign up now.”
When a lot of people sign up, it shows real demand.
Also, collect a list of potential customers who might buy your product when it officially launches.
What Exactly Makes People Follow and Engage on Your Content on Social Media
Conclusion
Validating your business idea early helps you avoid wasting time and money. You don’t need big plans or a lot of resources to do it. There’s only a need for real feedback from real people. When ideas are improved based on what the audience wants, you increase your chances of launching a business that actually works.
Want to build something people truly love and need? Check your idea with real people, see what works, make improvements and start building!
EntrepreneursLeague is an initiative to support startups and leading entrepreneurs with more visibility, resources, and community for growth and networking.
