How many app or website ideas do you think you’ve had? One really good one, ten small ones?

Now, how much time have you spent bringing the idea in your head to life?

This is quantified by time picking the brains of your potential users about their problems and what they want the solution to be.

The bottom line is: Any solution which garners an ‘because X% of this target market told me so’ is 1000 times more convincing to anyone than ‘Isn’t my idea great?’.

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The initial instinct: Protecting your idea

First things first, you have to protect that great idea. Protect it from what exactly? Criticism or being stolen — or maybe both.

Some quick googling and you come to find that you can’t patent, copyright or *insert any other IP term* an idea.

Bugger, best be safe and not tell anyone about it.

Incorrect — You should be talking about it, a lot

It is likely that your idea was born out of a desire to solve a personal problem, or a problem that you know well. If you’re lucky enough to be fuelled by a passion to solve your own problem, this is an excellent start.

You and ten thousand other people like you in Sydney got adorable puppies in lockdown, and now that you’re back at work, it’d be great if someone walked them so they get some fresh air and some puppy love in the day. Trusted dog walkers vetted through your app, you get a commission, genius.

You speak to some family and friends and they are skeptical, who wants other people to walk their dogs anyway? Everyone, your mind shouts to itself, and hey, they don’t even have a dog — what would they know?

You’re right. Instead of talking to people who don’t have dogs to walk, you need to speak to people who do.

Talking about it will only help you

Not speaking about your idea and the problem space will work faster to prevent your idea from coming to life than any other reason. The likelihood that someone else has the time, resources, passion and skills to bring it to life faster than you is remote.

People have families, work, social commitments, interests and will rarely give up their dreams to take yours for a short time if at all, so stop worrying and get working.

Clarify the problem

So you’ve got this great solution in mind — and now you need to find out who exactly is going to use it, or more importantly, pay for it.

I know everyone will use it, but I want to know exactly.

You need to paint a picture of your target user so clear that you could be tested on it. This is because, if you’re successful, you will be — by investors, co workers, family, friends, anyone you meet who you start talking about your idea with.

It’s your job now to find out everything you can about your target market, starting with their dog walking needs but moving way beyond it.

E.g. About them:

• Information: How old are they? How fit are they? What kind of phones do they have? What kind of apps do they use most? Do they work from home or from the office?
• Needs & Problems: Do they walk their dog or does someone else do it? Do they trust strangers to walk their dogs? Have they tried other dog walking apps? What did they like or dislike about them? How much do they think is fair to be paying someone else to walk their dog?

E.g. About their dog:

• Information: What breed of dog is it? How old is it?
• Needs & Problems: Does it like to be around other dogs? Does it have any allergies? How often does it need to be walked? Does it like a treat on walks?

Your action items:

1. Survey.

Create a google form survey or typeform survey & send it out to as many dog walking facebook or community groups as you can find.

2. Interview.

Talk to 20–50 people, ask for their consent to record the interview (I recommend using Otter.ai for AI transcriptions) and try to connect the dots.

3. Synthesise.

Collate the results and use post-its to piece together the findings about the problem statement (see below).

Rope some friends or your partner in to help you as many hands make light work, and this will enable you to share this passion with others and not feel so alone in doing so.

Why these action items are critical

I guarantee you that if you listen carefully, they will provide insights into what motivates their behaviour that you had no idea about, identify competitors you didn’t even know you had, and point you in the direction of what the solution should be.

You should end up with a Problem Statement which can be passed around like Chinese Whispers and still be correct, e.g.:

‘Young couples and singles living in Metropolitan areas struggle to find the time or energy to walk their dogs regularly, because of their work or personal commitments. This makes them feel they are bad owners, and they want to spend quality time with their pets”.

Be curious about the solution

Your job now is to bring together people who experience the problem, people who are affected by them (e.g. their neighbours who end up taking the dog for a walk) and people who will design and develop the solution.

Remember: You don’t need to convince others how great your idea is if it solves their problem in a simple, convenient and effective way.

How do you know what the solution needs to be? What they told you it should be.

How should it work? How they told you it should work.

The Bottom Line

Data driven or not, understanding who your target user is and why they need your product is essential to your business.

The best solution is for your product to change and grow in a way that best solves the users problem, especially with their insight and comment.

Don’t waste your energy trying to convince the world of how great your idea is. Instead, zone in on the problem, listen carefully to those that experience it frequently, and just give them the most basic version of what they are asking for.

Remember, the bottom line is that any solution which garners an ‘because X% of this target market told me so’ is 1000 times more convincing to anyone than ‘Isn’t my idea great?’.

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