The biggest and most painful mistake you can make is having a great idea and immediately starting without testing your idea upfront.

If you don’t test and validate your idea, you take the risk of creating a service or a product nobody is going to use. To avoid this mistake, ask your customers and try to understand the obstacles they are currently experiencing. Ask your customers:

Dear customer,
- How are you currently…(Fill in the problem you are trying to solve)
- What’s the most annoying thing about the way you…(Fill in the problem you are trying to solve)
- Why didn’t you already change it?
- How would it work in an ideal world for you?
- Because I am thinking about creating… (Fill in your solution)
- Would that be valuable to you? Why? Why not?

It is important to first understand your customers needs and motivation before talking about your idea. Also, keep in mind to not try to lead the conversation to your solution. This will help you get the most out of customer interviews and will give you clear insights, if people would benefit from your idea.