How to test a startup idea without spending a lot of money?

Question

Startups

Following the path: wow, others are doing projects, I will make a project that I like and become rich and popular, but in the end, half a year was spent, part of the funds and not a single client was attracted, so what are the means to check the viability of the project?

Answer 1

Lean method
The principles of the lean methodology, which explains how you can create a product with a minimum amount of resources, can be found in Eric Rice's classic work The Lean Startup. In it, among other things, he talks about how to check the viability of ideas. Rice is obsessed with mini-checks and iteration. The very first test of an idea should prove not only that your product is interesting to customers, but also that they will be willing to pay for it. Even before creating the minimum version of the product (MVP), he advises to place a simple landing page on the Internet, which is linked in advertisements. The page should have a brief description of the product and a Buy Now button. You can make many variants of landing pages, varying the price and the essence of the offer. Having collected statistics, it is already possible to start developing a prototype. Rice calls this principle “Ask first, then do.” Leaners also often use The Validation Board to test ideas, a free product that is a lined board, each part of which is an important element of a successful startup idea.
Walt Disney used in his work a method of testing ideas, which he called Imagineering - a cross between imagination and engineering (English: imagination and development. - Approx. H&F). By this he meant the process of "grounding" fantasies, turning them into something realistic and possible. Working on an idea required considering it from three different positions: a dreamer, a realist, and a critic.
The dreamer is full of various ideas, desires, images and does not meet any obstacles on his way. At this stage, there is no censorship, nothing is considered too absurd or stupid, everything is possible here. To take the position of a dreamer, you can ask yourself: “If I had a magic wand, what would I do?” The realist transforms the ideas of the dreamer into something practical and plausible. He asks questions about how you can make it work, what parts the task consists of, what is its meaning, what it looks like from an already existing one. The critic examines ideas in terms of their flaws. He asks questions: “What do I really think about this? Is this really the best option out there? What can I do to improve this?"
At Disney, teams worked on ideas, moving from room to room in stages. Each room had its own function: in the first - you could fantasize, in the second - to create sketches, in the third - you were allowed to criticize everything fiercely. Often the project was returned for revision to the first or second room. The idea was considered accepted when no one said a word in the Critics' Room.
Innosight founder Scott Anthony writes in his book The First Mile about how his company usually tests ideas for strength. First of all, they conduct a careful analysis of what has already been created in this area, study the experience of competing companies, and check patent applications. Then they set up a thought experiment, answering the questions: “What will the world look like if the idea succeeds? What will change in it? Which companies will compete with us? What problems can we face? What, for example, will we do if our main developer leaves us?” The third stage is to build a monetization model "by eye": you need to determine the size of the potential audience of the future product, how much it will cost, how often it will be bought, how long it will take to reach the breakeven point.
The fourth stage is related to calls. Anthony says that often the success of an idea is due to the existence in our head of certain assumptions, ideas about how the world works. You can check them with just one call. For example, if your idea is to supply healthy meals to universities with one phone call, you will be able to find out that such issues are usually resolved through a tender that takes place every three years. The next step is to get some proof that your product is needed by consumers. It could be a "coffee test" where you ask people you know to tell you honestly what they think of your idea in exchange for you paying for their coffee. This could be a cold lead database survey or a survey done with SurveyMonkey.
Janet Kraus now teaches at Harvard Business School and has founded several successful companies before that, including Circles and Spire. She tells her students about the 10-second test that she uses every time she comes up with a startup idea. She asks herself: is this idea an Oxygen, an Aspirin, or a Potential Jewel?
Oxygen is related to products that are essential to life, like food, clothing, funeral services. Needs can be both individuals and organizations. In general, this is something without which they will not be able to function normally. Aspirin is what relieves pain and makes life more bearable, although not directly related to survival. For example, coffee - life without it is possible, but not so pleasant. The concept of "jewel" refers to products and services that can be considered a luxury, a surplus. For example, desserts, movies, video games, and other pleasures associated with relaxation. Kraus says that a really good startup idea must meet all three requirements. Moreover, the main thing in this test is to be honest with yourself and quickly admit that the
Thomas Edison left behind 1093 patents, among which were such inventions as the light bulb, typewriter, phonograph, battery and movie camera. He also left behind 3,500 notebooks in which he obsessively wrote down every thought that came to his mind. Researchers trying to understand the secret of Edison's creative productivity have identified several features of his method of working with ideas. Edison's first rule is quantity. He set so-called invention quotas for himself and his company's employees. His own quota was: one small invention every ten days and one big one every six months. To test this principle for yourself, imagine that you are given the task of coming up with all the alternative uses for bricks. The average person offers six to eight options. Now imagine that you were given the task of coming up with 40 ways to use a brick. Thanks to the given quota, your head will start to work differently.
The second principle is that for Edison there was no such thing as an unsuccessful experiment; in his view, all these “trials and errors” were ways to gain useful experience. To invent the battery, Edison conducted about 50,000 experiments. For a light bulb, 9,000. After each unsuccessful experiment, he wrote down what he learned about the subject. He perceived the creative process as hard, monotonous, honest work. In his opinion, the first ideas are always weaker than the subsequent ones, because at first you start from things familiar to you and they hold back your imagination.
The third principle is to never rest on our laurels, constantly improve ideas and experiment with their application in various fields. The Edison Museum has preserved a huge number of variants of phonographs: round, square, wooden, flat and tall. All this is the result of rejected ideas. When Edison was once asked what the secret of his creativity was, he replied: "Never stop working on a subject until it works on its own."

Answer 2

I am currently working on a project.
We even have an alpha version only in six months.
I went to the site where our project is being promoted.
There ALREADY it is offered to subscribe to it.
Well, a little marketing nonsense, how everything will be cool with us.
I saw the same in the construction of shopping centers.
As soon as the walls were erected, there is no roof yet - and they are already offering to rent it.

Answer 3

To get started, post your idea on several American startup resources, then if you get likes, and it’s very cool for your idea, if you get them, you can safely take

Answer 4

Good question. I think if everyone tested ideas before launch, a lot of time and effort could be saved.
Business on the Internet is acquiring more and more traditional formats, therefore, traditional things are also starting to work here. For example, you can segment your idea into markets and view research for each market. If it grows well, if it grows badly, it falls.
You can use sites for a quick launch at the beta stage, for example:
betalist.com
You can also test the idea through the service: test4startup.com