Your enthusiasm is not evidence. Before you build a website, product, or service, validate that real customers will actually pay.

This quick assessment helps you avoid the "build it and hope they come" trap that kills most new businesses.

1. Do You Know Exactly Who Your Customer Is?

Saying "everyone" or "small businesses" or "busy moms" is too vague to validate anything.

Get specific. Your ideal customer should be narrow enough that you can find them, talk to them, and reach them directly.

If you can't fill these in with specifics, stop here. You need clarity before you can validate anything.

2. Have You Talked to Real Potential Customers?

Not your friends. Not your family. Strangers who actually have the problem you're solving.

What you need to learn from them:

• Do they really have this problem?
• How painful is it? (Is it urgent or just annoying?)
• What have they already tried?
• Would they pay to solve it?

Your goal: Interview at least 10 potential customers. If you can't find 10 people to talk to, you likely can't find 100 people to buy from you.

3. Will People Actually Pay for Your Solution?

This is where most founders get it wrong. People lie in surveys. They're polite in conversations. The only truth is money.

Good validation looks like:

• "Can I get on your waitlist?"
• "When will this be ready?"
• "Can I pre-order?"
• "Here's my credit card."

Bad validation looks like:

• "That's a cool idea!"
• "I might be interested."
• "Let me know when it's ready."

If no one has offered to pay or asked how to buy, you don't have validation yet—you have polite interest.

4. Can You Get Pre-Payments Before You Build?

The ultimate validation test: Can you get people to pay you before the product or service exists?

Pre-selling proves demand better than anything else. If people won't pre-pay or put down a deposit, they probably won't buy later either.

Ways to pre-sell:

• Take deposits for a launch-day discount
• Sell "founding member" spots at a special price
• Offer early access in exchange for payment
• Create a simple landing page and run a small ad test

5. What's Your Minimum Viable Test?

You don't need to build the full product to validate. You need the smallest version that proves people will pay.

Examples of MVPs (Minimum Viable Products):

• A service business? Deliver it manually to 5 customers first.
• A physical product? Sell it before manufacturing and fulfill orders one by one.
• A software tool? Offer a simple version or even do it manually behind the scenes.

Your MVP should take days or weeks to create—not months. If it's taking longer, you're building too much before validating.

Validation Checkpoint: Ready to Build?

Strong Validation (Go ahead!)

• You've talked to 10+ potential customers
• Multiple people asked how to buy or pay
• You've collected pre-payments or deposits
• Your MVP is simple and testable in 2-4 weeks

Weak Validation (Keep testing)

• You've only talked to friends and family
• Feedback is "cool idea" but no one offered money
• You haven't tried to pre-sell yet
• Your MVP will take months to build

No Validation (Pause or pivot)

• You can't find 10 people to interview
• No one has shown real interest or urgency
• People say "maybe" but won't commit
• You're building based on your own assumptions

Your Next Action

Pick one validation action to complete this week:

• Interview 3 potential customers
• Create a simple landing page describing your offer
• Attempt to pre-sell to 5 people directly
• Build a basic MVP you can test in 2 weeks
• Post your offer in a community where your customers gather

Remember: Building without validation is gambling. Testing with real customers is smart business.

Don't spend months building something nobody wants. Spend weeks validating what people will actually pay for.

---

TIM DONAHUE - Entrepreneur / Mentor
StartABusiness.Center