The biggest risk with a new product isn't that it can't be built. It's that people don't want it enough to use it or pay for it. You can find out a lot before spending anything on development. Here's how.
Talk about the problem, not your idea
If you describe your idea and ask "would you use this?", most people will say yes to be polite. That tells you almost nothing.
Instead, ask about the last time the problem happened:
- "Tell me about the last time you had to do this. What happened?"
- "How long did it take? What went wrong?"
- "What do you do about it now?"
- "Have you tried anything to fix it? What did it cost?"
Real stories with real details, especially ones where they've already spent time or money trying to fix it, are the strongest signal there is.
Speak to ten people
Aim for ten conversations with people who have the problem, and not just friends. Colleagues at other firms, people from industry groups, past clients. Fifteen minutes each is plenty.
Write down what they say, in their words. After ten, you'll usually see a pattern: either the same pain comes up again and again, or it doesn't.
Look for what they already do
People who really have a problem are already doing something about it. Watch for:
- Spreadsheets they've built and keep tweaking.
- Software they pay for and complain about.
- Staff time or freelancers spent on it.
- Workarounds like WhatsApp groups, paper forms or sticky notes.
If nobody is doing anything about it, the problem may not hurt enough.
Ask for something small
"I'd pay for that" is easy to say. A small commitment is much harder, which is why it means more. You could ask people to:
- Join a waiting list with their work email.
- Try an early version and give feedback for a month.
- Sign a short letter saying they intend to buy at a stated price.
- Pay a small deposit or pre-order at a launch discount.
Each step up that list is a stronger yes.
Do it by hand first
Before building software, try delivering the result manually for a few customers. If your product would turn site notes into reports, offer to do it yourself for three firms for a month. You'll learn exactly what they need, what they ignore and what they'd pay, and you'll have your first customers before a line of code is written.
Put up a one-page website
A single page that describes the problem, the solution and a button to join the waiting list is a cheap test. Share it in the places your customers already gather: industry groups, newsletters, LinkedIn. How many people sign up, and who they are, tells you a lot.
An example
A made-up example to show how the steps fit together.
Example · A scaffolding inspection app
A scaffolding firm manager thinks other firms struggle with weekly inspection records, just like their own team does. Before building anything, they:
- Called twelve managers at other firms. Nine described the same paper-and-photos mess, and four had been caught out by a missing record.
- Found that three were paying for generic inspection software they found clumsy.
- Put up a one-page site. Forty people joined the waiting list in a month, mostly from firms he'd never met.
- Asked six firms to try a first version for free in return for weekly feedback. Five agreed.
That's a strong case to build. Had only two of the twelve recognised the problem, they'd have saved themselves the cost of finding out the hard way.
What counts as a yes
- Most people you speak to recognise the problem straight away, without prompting.
- They're already spending time or money on it.
- Some agree to a real commitment, not just a compliment.
- People you don't know show interest, not just your contacts.
Next step
Strong evidence of demand also matters if you're hoping for an equity partnership, because it's one of the first things we look at. When you're ready, tell us what you found.