how to launch your idea

You’ve come up with an incredible idea.  You’re super excited about where it can lead.  You’re ready to get going!

Hooray!

New ideas often come to me in the middle of the night (when I should, arguably, be sleeping).  Some of them don’t seem so great in the light of day.  Others definitely seem like they could have potential, but… do they really???

After years of running my own business and working with hundreds of business owners around the globe, I am now convinced that coming up with the idea is the easy part.  The real challenge lies in actually making it happen.

There is no magic formula to ensure that your idea is going to succeed.  But after all these years in the the business of supporting business owners, I know that these tips can increase your chances of success.

1. define your target market

I can’t tell you how many people I meet who are adament that their idea is for “everybody”.

It’s not.

When you refuse to specify your target market, not only do you make it quite difficult to create a must-have product or service, but you also make it pretty tough for your customers to find you because your marketing message tends to be too vague.

Be specific.  Choose one target market to start with.

2. conduct market research

OMG…I can’t tell you how important this step is!

Market research is the ONLY way to truly validate your idea.

During this research, you are not pushing your idea onto anybody.  Instead, you are in information-gathering mode.  You want to learn as much as possible about your target market, their current needs and challenges, how they’re currently tackling these challenging and what’s missing.

You can do this through online surveys and in-person conversations.  The more conversations you can have and the more information you can gather, the better!

Why does this matter?

Because you don’t want to waste time nor money creating something that nobody wants.  It’s, honestly, heart-wrenching to face this sort of rejection.

3. listen to your market

Market research will tell you a lot if you ask the right, open-ended questions.

Learn more about how to conduct market research here.

4. design your offering

You can never be 100% sure that what you’re creating is the perfect solution.  And this is why pilots and prototyping and iterations are a necessary part of launching your idea.

If you’re offering a service, consider running a pilot of a smaller group of participants and gather their feedback on how to make your service even better.

If you’re designing a product, start with a basic prototype, show it to potential customers and, again, gather their feedback.

Your service or product DOES NOT need to be perfect before you start showing it to people.  It’s much better to have feedback from potential customers about what works and what doesn’t early on, while it’s still fairly easy to make changes or pivot.

5. plan your launch

I’m going to be honest with you…any launch is a lot easier when you already have an audience of people who follow you around, both online and offline.

But that audience doesn’t have to be massive.

It’s much better to start with a small and really interested group of people rather than a bunch of strangers who don’t know anything about you.

You can then follow this specific email launch sequence from The Rule Breaker’s Club.

In addition to the emails, you can consider Facebook Live, IGTVs and other online media. It’s important for people to see your faces, hear your voices and to interact with you in an alternative method than words on a screen.

6. execute

Any idea is only as good as its execution.  If you just sit on it, nothing will ever move forward.

There are going to be times that you suffer from imposter syndrome and wonder “who the hell do I think I am to pull this off”.

There are times that you’ll be wrestling against other commitments and obligations.

There will be times when fear holds you back because you’re moving outside of your comfort zone.

These are all normal reactions.

Just try.  Believe in yourself.  And get going.

do you need more support?

Simplicity is a 10 week business accelerator program designed so you get focused, get confident and get customers.

Go from idea to launch faster than if you were doing it on your own.

Learn more about Simplicity and join the waitlist for our next cohort here.