You Have An Idea For A Startup – This Is What You Should Do First

An idea for a startup is only a beginning. A lot of would-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is the initial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute-Paul Graham. Most people have startup ideas they are very excited about. They believe it’s going to be the next Google, Facebook or Groupon.

You probably have daydreamed about TechCrunch’s post on your launch day. But the BIG question is -How do you know your idea is good enough before you actually build it., or leave your job and spend several months in your garage coding it or even hire a coder at Elance. The answer is -You don’t! And no one else does. But there are basic questions and steps you can take to validate that idea. A few of them are:

1. Do your research and find out your market size
2. Do some research with potential customers.
3. Develop a business plan to check the viability of your idea.
4. Ask some experienced business advisers and entrepreneurs for their opinion.
5. Take an experienced entrepreneur out to lunch and share the idea and listen to feedback
6. You can do a survey to find out if it actually a problem that needs to be solved
7. Ask your target demographic what is their biggest pain
8. Find out who your competitors are and do a further research to know how they are performing
9. Ask an angel investor if he or she would fund your idea- the goal is not to get funding; the goal is to get feedback.
10. Brainstorm solutions and think about how you will solve the problem differently
11. Prototype it, and test it to see how some people will respond to it
12. Minimizing the time between an idea and a prototype,test  your prototype cheaply and iterate quickly
13. Everyone out ther will  try to give you advice BUT its all up to you in end. Listen to yourself
14. JUST DO IT!