Once you’ve discussed a business idea with friends and family, and they think it’s reasonable, what’s the next step?… Is it building a wireframe, getting an employee/cofounder, building a pitch deck based on just vision?

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Rather than getting friendly feedback on the idea, move to getting real data from strangers. No matter how objective they try to be, f&f will be unduly polite. Also it doesn’t matter what ppl say they think or say they would do. It matters what they actually do. So I’d encourage not to see positions feedback as validation. It’s an awesome start, but true validation comes from watching what ppl actually do. Do they actually show intent to use/purchase to the extent that the eventual business would need?

So to answer, I would say that next step is to build some rudimentary version of your imagined product or service that is basically a vehicle to deliver the value prop you’re thinking of. Then put it in front of real people (strangers) and assess actual behaviour

Good luck!!

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A little of this is taken from another recent post, but there are a ton of business school competitions and stuff like that. Even if you’re not eligible, download their requirements for applying and go through the application, building out a business plan, filling out a business model canvas, doing some diligence on financials, building a pitch deck, etc. Their materials and past contestants will give you ideas on where to start fleshing out your idea and proving value through customer research before you start spending money. It’s important to not just talk to friends and family, but to actual customers before you move forward. A cofounder could be the right call, but I would spend some more time studying first.

Read: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, The Founder’s Dilemma by Noam Wasserman and The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick

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Is it b2b or B2C product? If you can wet the idea with few customers that you know, that would be the next step.

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@Attorney 1 I don’t think it’s necessary to form an entity at all before talking to POTENTIAL customers without actually signing any contracts or selling anything. I agree you need an entity once you need contracts or money to exchange hands, but more likely than not, you should vet your idea with potential future customers without an entity formed in order to get some real, true, right from the source feedback. Lots of ideas die at this phase, so having formed an entity for nothing this early is too early.

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Get an early adopter customer or at least get their input on your idea.

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Market research and test your business idea. Check out Sara Blakely’s Masterclass

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Form the entity that's going to support the goals of your business and identify your supporting advisors (legal, accounting, bankers, etc).

I'd suggest you read the "mom test". Don't present your idea to your friends and family... They will always tell you it's a great one.
Present a problem, confirm it's really a problem for them and explore how to solve it with them.

Hey hey
I can help. I mentor startups in ideation stage.
1. Thing de-risk your startup idea by testing your assumptions and collect email of potential customers that are interested.

Market research validate the problem with the target audience and thought leaders. Do that with interviews with open ended questions. Ask them how they currently deal with the problem, what they hate about the current solution what they like about it. Do it with at least 30 people, if possible interview people that you don't know for a none biased sample.
Once validated let me know I can advice for further steps to quantitatively validate problem assumptions and check satisfaction levels.

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