It is emphasized that the most important question when thinking about launching a startup is not “How do I start?” but rather “Should I even start in the first place?”
Often, enthusiasm drives entrepreneurs to design products, develop business models, and even seek external funding without first verifying the existence of a real market that needs these products and services and is willing to pay for them.
Research data indicates that 42% of startups fail simply because no one needs their products, or at least no one is willing to pay money to buy them. This makes early market research a preventive step that protects the entrepreneur from costly failure and from the emotional and financial drain of an unviable idea.
This is not an exaggeration. The natural tendency of founders is “idea bias,” which leads to ignoring negative indicators or viewing reality through overly optimistic eyes.
Therefore, experts recommend validating the idea in the field before allocating resources. In this context, we review 3 fundamental indicators that are the cornerstone for evaluating any startup before making the decision to launch.
1. Knowing the Real Customer… For Whom Is This Idea Built?
Identifying the customer is the first real test of an idea’s viability: Who is actually suffering from the problem? Who sees it as worth paying money to solve? Not everyone who expresses admiration for an idea is a customer. The real customer is the one who says, “I need this solution now,” and proves it by paying.
It is stated that a market is defined by motivation, desire, and ability to pay, not just by age, profession, or geographic location. Demographics aid in marketing.
An example regarding a Russian truck factory in the 1990s confirms the idea: the existence of a fuel inefficiency problem does not mean there is a willingness to pay if fuel is cheap and there is no concern about gas emissions. The result: a market cannot be built on this basis.
Thus, the success of any project starts from honestly answering a fundamental question: Are there enough people or companies who feel the problem so acutely that they will pay to solve it?
2. Understanding Exactly What the Customer Wants to Pay For
It is emphasized that many startups fail because they build great features and products that no one wants. To avoid this dilemma, one must study how customers deal with the problem today. If they are not trying to solve it at all, or are solving it with a low-cost alternative, the problem may not be painful enough.
A report on startup genomes indicates that companies fail when they focus on what the founder sees as important, rather than what the customer sees as necessary. Therefore, the entrepreneur should ask: Why would the customer abandon their current method? What do they want to improve? What value will they get? Is it saving money, time, effort, convenience, or social status?
By analyzing these motivations, one can distinguish the feature that changes the purchase decision from one that adds nothing but extra development cost. This step ensures that the future product does not become “feature-heavy and value-light,” a very common mistake according to business reviews.
3. Asking “Why?” to Uncover the True Purchase Motivation
The “Lean Startup” methodology is considered a global reference because it is founded on one principle: “The right answers come from the market, not from the meeting room.”
Here, the question “Why?” becomes the key. Why did this person pay? Why didn’t that one pay? Why is this element important? Why is this solution convincing? Why change now?
