Startups fail. It is a mere fact of business. What is the biggest cause of failure? They create something no one wants to purchase. It seems so self-evident, yet it occurs so often. A founder is an excited one who gets a great idea. Months, perhaps a year, they take to construct it in a basement. They make a great splash about it, and then no more. Nobody buys it. They wasted all that time.

You can avoid this fate. The secret is simple. You should justify your business idea, and then develop the product. You have to demonstrate that there is a genuine problem and that people will actually accept what you offer as a solution. This is where the greatest number of would-be entrepreneurs overlook an important move. They think that their idea is good, simply because it sounds good to them.

A costly problem is one that costs individuals money, time or emotional energy. It hurts you so much, that your target market would gladly pay money to have it removed. It is no small inconvenience. It is a repeat, exasperating problem which requires a solution. I have personally experienced it in my profession.

I recall one of my discussions with Shahin Shateri, a reputable operations executive and entrepreneur. He has started businesses at the bottom and understands how vital this is. We were discussing one of his projects that he did at the beginning of his career. One of my ideas is an incredible new platform, he said to me. And we imagined it to be a game-changer. This is one that we put a lot of effort into the design and the tech. The product was beautiful. The characteristics were innovative. However, on launching it failed miserably.

It was a mere error we did, and that’s all, Shahin Shateri said. We erected what we conceived the necessity of, not what they had commanded the necessity of. There was no customer we spoke to before we began building. It was a costly, agonizing experience.

The one most important principle of validation is pointed out by his experience. You need to discuss with your customers. You must be talking directly to the people you plan to serve before you write a single line of code or create one prototype. You are not selling a product. You are selling a problem solution.

How do you do this? It’s easier than you think. Identify individuals that meet your ideal customer. They are on social media. They are in online forums. They are at industry events. Send a brief and personal message. Be direct. I am working out a solution to [problem]. I’m not selling anything. I was simply interested to know what your experience is with this problem. Do you have 15 minutes to talk?”

Listening is your job when you have that conversation. Don’t pitch your product. Ask open-ended questions. Here are a few examples:

• What was the last time you had [problem]?
• “What have you tried to fix it?”
• How many hours or dollars does this issue cost you every week?

Pay attention to the words they will be telling about their pain. Record what they have already attempted and why this has not worked. This feedback is gold. It will answer you whether the problem is big enough to solve. It will show whether you even have a solution in the right ball park.

Shahin Shateri also agreed with him on this, he said the ultimate test is in the wallet of a customer. When they are ready to spend on a plain iteration of your solution before it is even complete, you have a winner. He’s right. And you do not have to have a full line product to test the idea. The easiest possible definition is what you need, which is usually known as a Minimum Viable Product, or MVP.

The MVP is only good enough to do the job. It is a waitlist landing page. It is a manual and basic spreadsheet. It is a prototype you present to individuals. You can even sell it prior to its construction as long as the demand exists. When you have people pre-ordering, then you know you have a valid business idea. You are aware that you are working on an actual problem.

There are those individuals who are excited about new technology. They desire to create something using AI, or blockchain, or whatever the new buzzword is. But the tech is just a tool. It does not require the most sophisticated tools to authenticate a problem. You must demonstrate that there is a problem, and that your fundamental solution is effective. Shahin Shateri warns about being lost in the technology. Many founders, he explained to me, fall in love with the technology, rather than the problem they are solving. The solution should be reached via its technology, rather than vice versa. To resolve the problem using a spread sheet, then begin there.

This would save you time and money. It helps you not to create something that no one is interested in. It makes you think about the customer, but not about the cool things you want to create. You will know more after 10 conversations with prospective customers than you will know after 100 hours of coding.

You will be more than safe to build when you are ready to build. You will be aware of precisely what features are important. Who your customer is going to be. It will give you a clear path towards a successful business all because you took time to first talk to people.