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How to know if your business idea sucks

There's one way to find out whether or not your new business idea might suck that usually no one ever talks about. It's might be a very brutal way (for us founders) but a very effective way. Here it is:

If you can't find amazing co-founders it might be a first indicator that your business idea sucks. Let's face it.

If you can't convince some of the best people out there (that's what you need for your business to succeed) to work on your idea, your idea might not be as good as you initially thought.

As a matter of fact using this approach will allow you to figure out something else, as well. Something really important.

It will actually tell you whether or not you currently have what it takes to be an entrepreneur (don't worry being an entrepreneur can be learned). And here's why:

If you believe you have a bad ass idea but you're not able to pitch it in a way that you're able to convince your first potential customers (your co-founders) you might not be ready to convince anybody else.

If you can't get amazing people on board, you will most probably not be able to convince real customers, partners or investors. Convincing them will be a lot tougher (especially good investors)

I know this is a very tough thing to do because we usually want to work together with people we already know. And these are usually our friends. Unfortunately our friends are (most of the time) not the best people for the job at hand.

Simply having studied engineering and getting along well with each other doesn't necessarily mean that they'd also make great co-founders.

What friends usually really stand for is the easiest solution available. Now don't get me wrong here. This might work sometimes (maybe).

But as a matter of fact, one of the best ways to initially test your idea's potential is to go out and try to find co-founders on the market. It's a competitive place and it will brilliantly prepare you for what's ahead of you.

So if you don't have really amazing friends yet, try to find amazing, potential outside co-founders instead. And then become friends with them (before anything else).

Seriously, don't miss out on this opportunity to test your idea on the market. It's one of the best ways to validate your business idea without ultimately wasting a lot of time and money.

I know it might be a heartbreaking experience. You might even have to give up your initial idea. 

But it's definitely an experience you should be willing to expose yourself on your journey as an entrepreneur.

So what do I suggest? Here are a few things I would suggest:

  1. Start working on your network first, before you start working on any business idea. For more information read "How to be a Super Networker".

  2. Build relationships with all sorts of people (entrepreneurs, investors, potential customers, etc.).

  3. Once you built a relationship ask these people for advice about your business ideas.

  4. Listen to their feedback carefully and try to implement it (if it makes sense).

  5. Then ask them if they want to take over a more active part in the project.

  6. If they say yes, congratulations! If they say no, ask them what would make them join the project.

  7. That's the ultimate make it or break it question. If they say they don't know it might be an indicator that it's not worth it.

  8. Go on and get some more feedback.

  9. Repeat until an amazing person wants to build the future with you. If no one wants to built the future with you drop the project and go on to something else.

  10. Be open to change the idea. In the end it's about having awesome people on board. And once you found and convinced them try to figure out what to build.

I know this sounds like a very long and exhausting process. It might even sound like a complete waste of time to you. But here's the thing:

If you're not willing to put a lot of effort into this upfront, there's a high probability that you already fell in love with your idea or that you just want to build a company because it's currently hip to be an entrepreneur.

And as a matter of fact, it has been empirically proven by Jim Collins in his book "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't", that great companies first try to find great people and then they try to figure out what exactly they should be doing.

I strongly believe that this also applies to new businesses.

In case you're like some other people out there wondering why I'm not working on any new “proper businesses" at the moment that's the answer (what's a "proper business" anyways?)

I simply haven't found any amazing people willing to work with me on some of my ideas. But even more importantly most of my ideas simply suck.

Hence, I'm taking my time, work on building the foundation and try to follow my own advice (even though I constantly fail at it)... 

Feel free to also connect with me on LinkedIn here or on Twitter: @girard_yann

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