Once, Twice…Never?

The more frequently your customer faces the problem, the worse they feel - and the more likely they will use your solution.

Problem Frequency will also impact how you structure your business model - do your customers need a subscription service for a monthly problem, or a one-off purchase for an annual one?

Feelings Matter

When you understand the level to which your target customers feel annoyed or worried about the Problem, you can:

compare customer feedback on the Problem against your Solution

develop a solution that aligns with customers’ actual needs

Ask the right questions

It sounds obvious: but if you don’t ASK your customers about the Problem, you won’t get the data you need to validate your idea.

Find out whether this really is a problem, and how much education you would need to do to convince a customer that your solution is the right one for that problem.

Market size and scope of the problem

If the problem is not very serious, follow the following

This is because the foundation of startups is growth and expansion. The problem you are trying to solve, its coverage, and its geographical scope. We assess the size of the market in relation to it

Going global?

You may want to start by targeting a specific area, like your city or country. Or, you can start with a specific group, just as Facebook did with college students.

Either way, you’ll start small, and build up once you’re sure that your Solution really solves the customers’ Problem - and then, the sky is the limit!

Healthy Competition

Companies survive by offering a unique solution: think about whether your solution stands out or excels when compared to the competition.

If you don’t have any competition - are you sure you’ve identified a real Problem?

Who You Are

Startups usually have limited resources. So the founding team is the main value that investors will be looking at.

Investors are more likely to want to invest in teams with two or more founders, one of whom is full time.

Teams Work

There’s a strong link between the commitment of the founding team, and the success of the solution.

Commitment is measured by the time the team spends on developing the solution.

Startup team members should all be equally familiar with the Problem, to ensure the solution is developed in line with customer needs.