During this module, you will start to test the assumptions that you made about your idea. Some questions that you could ask yourself could be: 

  • Is the problem I want to solve a big enough problem
  • Are people willing to pay for it?

You have already put together your one-page business plan by using the Lean Canvas. Now it’s time to put your business model to the test. How do you know that you are putting your efforts and resources towards an idea that will succeed? How do you know that you are solving the right problem? How can you be sure that your solution is the right one? How do you determine who your ideal customers are? When do you know you need to iterate? Or Pivot? 

Here is a video giving an overview of the important aspects to consider when validating your business idea. 

Tool: Hypothesis Framework

Validating your business idea is the single most important activity you can do especially as you are starting out. Think about it this way, without validation, you are not able to know who your customers are and whether they are willing to pay for your solution. And we all know that without paying customers, you have no business. So how do you ensure that you are putting your limited resources towards an idea that has a strong chance at succeeding? You have to validate your business ideas.

The Hypothesis Framework is a tool that you can utilize to formulate and test your business assumptions enabling you to understand how you can effectively validate your business. 

Please find the hypothesis framework here. Kindly download it to use to follow along with the webinar below.

Want to learn more? Here are some additional resources about validating your business

  1. The Javelin Board –  This tool helps you to validate your business ideas through experimentation. It is easy to understand gets you started quickly, is fun to use, engaging, and helps you focus, fail fast to succeed faster. Here is a link to the tool.
  2. Another way to validate your business idea is by carrying out market research. Here is an in-depth article from Hubspot that gives guidance on how to carry out market research plus offers a template that can be easily adapted.