How do you know if you're working on the right thing?
Just curious peeps - in the early days (pre-sales) how do you tell if you're working on the right thing? How to you decide what is a good project to work on, and what's not?
I think you never really know. That's the thing, when you decide to work on something, you take some risks. Ofc, if it's for you, something you need or are interested in, it's no big deal. Now, when you make a product, that's where you're taking risks. If think you can use some indicators to tell if it's worth it, like how much time/money you need to make it, if the target audience is big, if the market is bloated or not, etc.. There's a big part of gut IMO.
Hi Victor, thanks for the reply! I totally agree, I think when you're assessing the likelihood of whether something will 'work' or not, you're only ever dealing with probabilities.
I think when making a product for a market (rather than for yourself), it is important to continually assess its validity as after all, you have a limited number of hours in a day, and they could be spent working on one of the many other ideas you have instead.
I think the obvious things like surveys and gathering beta user feedback are great and essential to collecting the information needed to carry on, but that - yes- you can't say for sure whether it'll work or not! That is the risk you have to take 😬 …it's just part of the fun/horror/fun/horror/fun….. 🤣😱🤪
I guess another part of it when you're just getting started on an idea is keeping the MVP as 'minimum' as possible to test the initial idea out as quickly as possible and with the least amount of time invested.
Very great question, Dani. Here are some thoughts i think would be helpful:
- when you have a business model as well the marketing plan.
- build it in a short period of time "MVP", focus on executing it everyday.
- getting pre-sales about your product in the beginning for your customers/users is key for growth
- when you have clear purpose & passion about what you are solving and making
- you want to keep doing it more, you're addicted to keep on making it.
- you setup a community, sharing your stories about why you want to build it for your fans/customers
- you want others to be part of your journey, as well hiring someone or partner with a potential b2b opportunities.
I also read your article about this discussion related:
- https://beankind.com/2019/10/17/how-do-you-know-if-youre-working-on-the-right-thing/
and also i check out your upcoming project:
- https://www.dodoodem.com/
Thanks Fajar! Lovely list of essentials to check off there. It's definitely a mix of heart and head/ emotion and logic isn't it. After all you can be passionate about something as much as you want but if you can't find a business model…. and vice versa, if you have a business model but don't care much about it… Everything in balance. Choices need to be made simultaneously, in winning combinations.
@danielle When there is difficulty in deciding something, you can always write down on the piece of paper. On the left side write the things you want to solve, or the right side the things you passionate about. Then narrow it down using "SMART" method.
SMART
- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely
DIAGRAMS
- you can make your own diagram as well. (use visual method to understand)
[]()
@fajarsiddiq that is a spectacular venn diagram, thank you!! Very clear framework for making a decision!
Have a read through this by Derrick Reimer, founder of Drip:
https://www.derrickreimer.com/essays/2019/05/28/finding-my-next-bootstrapped-business-idea.html
The struggle is real, I'm certainly still learning and going through it myself.
Thank you for that! This a great read. I love the point on = 'Since I want to bootstrap my next venture, the market must already exist. There should be competitors attempting to serve the market (but perhaps not doing a great job of it).'
And me too, my friend! The struggle is real. You're not alone.
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