One of the biggest reasons for business failure is the lack of a market need for a product. And I’ve seen this so many times: business owners spending months and months working with agencies to create their branding, a full-blown perfect website, pages and pages of strategy based around a hypothetical customer…

And it all sounds great in theory… until they actually launch their business and make no sales OR the only people who buy from them are a handful of family or friends… and then the sales dry up.

There are a few mistakes that are commonly made. 

The first is the business owner’s bias. We think we have a great idea, and that this idea will surely work. But it’s not based on data or testing. In fact, when I hear the words “I have a great idea, I think people will love it”… this always makes me nervous. 

The second mistake is focusing on words over actions. People telling you when you’re sharing your idea with them that they will buy or they know people who would. But when the time comes to offer your new product or service… their words don’t translate into action and sales. 

And the third mistake is trying to create the perfect business, products and services BEFORE launching. I’ve seen my students before joining The Modern Marketing Collective spend months in the planning phase, only to launch their business to huge disappointment when no one buys.

So let’s look at the 5 steps to actually validate your offer and sell it faster.

1. Research the market & demand

When you see competition and think to yourself, “someone is already doing it, there’s no point in me doing this too”, I want you to realise that competition is GOOD! This proves the concept plus you don’t need to educate your audience about what it is you sell first. They understand. You just need to explain why your offer is better suited to their needs.

2. Speak with your ideal customers

You must understand their challenges, needs, desires and willingness to pay for a solution.

Rather than guessing and hoping what your audience might want…Get on the phone with ideal customers and/or send surveys and ASK them! Ask around your circles to find your ideal customers, reach out in free Facebook Groups, go to networking events.

3. Create your minimal viable product (MVP)

What is the smallest version of your product that you can sell to validate it? This is NOT about getting fancy and perfect.

4. Validate your offer by selling it

I’m all about selling BEFORE you create. Before you perfect your website, order all stock, invest in branding, and print all your business cards – SELL your offer first. Sales mean you have a valid business – nothing else.

So pre-sell items, then place your order for them. Sell your first few services, then you have permission to create your full website and so on, and sell your online program, then create the content for it.

5. Create it & deliver it, generate feedback, iterate, improve and scale-up.

Go back to the ideal customers you reached out to. Do they buy? If not, find out why. And if they do, ask for feedback. Does it meet what they expected? Do they have suggestions for improvements?

So what will you take imperfect action on to test, sell and then create? Send me a message on Instagram @emilyosmond – I’d love to find out!