Hustle with Heels Podcast

Ep11. Is Your Business Idea Worth Pursuing? Here’s How to Know

• Cindy Excell

Share episode

Have you ever poured your heart into creating something, only to be met with crickets? I’ve been there.

In this episode, I’m sharing the lessons I learned from launching my first freebie without validating if my audience even wanted it.

Spoiler: they didn’t.

We’ll dive into why skipping the validation step is one of the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs make—and how it can lead to frustration, wasted energy, and missed opportunities.

I’ll walk you through how to test your ideas, connect with your ideal clients, and gather real insights so you can create offers that truly resonate.

If you are unsure whether your business idea is worth pursuing, this episode is for you.


Links

Download Free eBook: 5 Steps to Find Your Profitable Ideas for Side Hustle Online Business

Connect with me on LinkedIn here

Check out my Instagram here

Welcome to the Hustle with Heels podcast. I'm your host, Cindy Excell, a corporate girl, start hustler, wife, and a mom of two. In 2020, I started my first start hustle as an online fitness coach while working in my corporate job as a private wealth manager. Over the years, I have been living proof that a corporate career And a side hustle can absolutely co exist in harmony.

Today, I'm helping corporate women and early stage entrepreneurs create wealth beyond their nine to five jobs and build an online business on their terms. On this podcast, I'll share my knowledge, strategies, and the stories that will help you start and grow your side hustle. Whether you are ready to diversify your income streams or are looking to build a start business that aligns with your goals, I'm here to support you every step of the way.

Now let's get started.  Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Hustle with Heels podcast. I was talking to a client over the weekend, um, about solidifying her business idea. And I realized that it is so common that people start their business without actually validating their business ideas first and only ended up wasting their time and energy and no one wants to buy from them.

I want to dedicate this episode to talk about why validating your business idea is an essential step that any new entrepreneurs should not skip. I still remember a few years ago when I created my very first free opt in, which is an ebook. I was so excited about it. It was called the Professional Woman's Guide to Portion Control, and I spent hours and hours working on it, perfecting it, etc.

I thought my audience is going to be so excited to grab this. I put it out there expecting people on LinkedIn and Facebook to rush to download it. And then, nothing. Cricket. Weeks passed, no opt ins, not even one. So I didn't understand why nobody wanted it. I mean, it is so valuable and it's going to help so many busy professional women to get their nutrition under control without having to worry about overeating or anything like that.

But no one seemed to be interested at that time. Here's the thing. I'd never actually asked my audience back then that if Nutritional portion control was their biggest challenge. I assume it was because I thought it was important. In fact, it was important and many of my clients actually used that method to get the results.

But what I didn't realize was that that's not what my audience think they need. And in that world, what they were struggling with was something entirely different. That experience taught me a lesson I'll never forget. No matter how good your idea seems, no matter how valuable or helpful your offers are or your programs are, if you don't validate it, you're going to find it difficult to market what you have to offer.

Because you may be giving your audience what they need, but not what they want. There is a big difference here. That's what validating your business ideas. It is so, so critical because validation is going to save you so much time, energy, money, and the frustration. When you validate your idea, you essentially asking your audience directly, do you actually want this?

Instead of just guessing, you are actually less likely to waste the time building someone no one wants. When I created my very first portion control ebook, I assumed that it was what my audience wanted because I thought it was really valuable. But if I had taken the time to ask them about their biggest struggles, what kept them awake at night, what they actually think is going to help them, and what they actually want.

I might have discovered they were actually more worried about finding time to cook healthy meal for the family or meal planning for the family despite their busy schedule. That one step could have saved me weeks of work and a lot of disappointment as well. When you validate your idea, you actually gain clarity and confidence in what you have to offer.

And there's nothing quite like hearing someone say in their own words, yes, that's exactly what I want. It gives you that motivation to move forward because you know that you are on the right track and to put you on the right direction as well. Now, let's talk about why so many of us actually escape validation process in the first place.

For me, I escaped it because I thought I knew better. Best by them. And I was passionate about that specific topic. The thing is, it really doesn't matter how passionate I was about the topic. If no one thinks they want or need your solution, it doesn't matter how much you love it. If we go another layer deeper, sometimes we don't validate our ideas because we feared that what if others don't want it.

This sounds counterintuitive because validation actually takes time and energy and it can feel scary or even uncomfortable because you need to talk to people and they may tell you what you are passionate about has no value to them. It hurts and it feels easier to just avoid it altogether and just go for it and hope people will just buy it, right?

So, skipping validation might feel like easy now, but it actually can set you up for frustration and waste more time down the road. And the cost of not validating your ideas can be actually a lot bigger than you expect as well. First, you actually waste time and energy. So imagine pouring your weeks or even months into creating something and no one end up wanting or buying.

That's exactly what happened with my first ebook. I spent all the time writing, designing, and promoting it, only to realize that it wasn't solving the problem that my audience cared about. And then there is this emotional toll as well. It is very frustrating. It makes you even question whether you are cut out for this.

You might as start to think, maybe this whole business thing isn't for me. But here's the truth. It's not you. It is just your strategy that needs a little bit of tweak. One of the top reasons business fail is because there is no market demand for their product or service. In fact, it's not even that people don't need your service.

It is actually they think they don't need it. That is why you have to give them what they want first. Sometimes it can be an educational process as well. It might be true that you know exactly what your clients need in order to achieve their goals, but what they actually need and what they say they want might be totally different.

So when you marked your service or your programs, your offers, if you don't meet your clients where they are, meaning if you don't use the language that they use, you will not hit the mark. So how do you validate your business ideas? You do that via Marked research. I know, I know it sounds so boring, right?

But that is the foundational work that shouldn't be missed, especially if you are an early stage entrepreneur, and especially if you want a sustainable online business. And there are a few ways to do it. Way number one is that you can talk to your ideal clients directly. So when you talk to your audience, you are not just checking if they're interested, you are also gathering insights.

You might discover they need your idea presented in a different way, or that they are struggling with a slightly different problem than you initially thought. That feedback is gold because it allows you to create something that is truly tailored to their needs and wants and meet them where they are on their journey.

So let me give you an example. When I first started thinking about helping corporate women launch their side hustles earlier this year, I assumed that they just needed help finding time to work on their side of business. But after talking to corporate women in my network, I realized that time wasn't the only issue.

They were also dealing with self doubt, confidence in starting a business of their own, and not knowing where to start. This is in fact quite different from what I initially thought. When you've already talked to your audience, test your ideas, and say the real interest, launching your author, whether it's a free opt in or a program, it feels a lot less scary.

Because you're no longer throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. You've actually got a clear direction and evidence that the idea has a potential. So if you're sitting on an idea right now, wondering whether it's worth pursuing, don't skip this step. Get out there, talk to people, talk to your ideal clients.

And ask them if your idea is going to help them and if this is what they want. Ask questions like what's your biggest struggle when it comes to the area you can help? Or what have you tried in this area and why it didn't work for you? You can do this by simply talking to people who may be your potential ideal clients and you'll be amazed at how much insight you will gain from this. 

The second way for your market research is to go to the places where your ideal clients are. Places like online forums, YouTube, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups. Listen to what the questions people ask, what they say they struggle with. You can even go to some of the big influencers or the industry leaders.

Go to their social media accounts and who may share the similar audience as you. Check out what their audience ask there. Check their comments, check their questions, etc. And the third way is to do a competitor research. So see what they offer and how people comment about it. And to explore if there is any gap that you can fill in.

If you find some very successful competitors out there already doing what you want to do, it is actually a good sign. That means that what you want to do already has a marked for it. Then the next question for you to think on this is that what will make you unique to teach in this area and what makes you stand out?

Once you've gathered all this information and the feedback, then you can test your idea. This doesn't have to be even complicated. You can do this by offering a free opt in and to see if people download it, or to simply ask some poll or survey on your social media account. You can even host a small workshop and see how it's received.

And maybe you can create a beta version of your offer on a smaller scale as well. You are definitely not aiming for perfection here. You are actually looking for real world idea validation to put you on the right direction. And sometimes if your idea isn't hitting the mark, that is okay too, because that is also information and the feedback.

Use that information to trick it until it does. Now, if this feels like a lot to take in, don't worry, I've got you covered. I created a free resource, it's called Five Steps to Find Your Profitable Startup Business Ideas. It is an ebook, it walks you through exact steps you need to uncover ideas that align with your skills, your strengths, even your passion.

solve real problems and resonate with your audience. By the end of that, you will have clarity on which ideas are worth pursuing and the confidence that you are heading in the right direction. And you can grab your free copy in the show note below. If you have been overwhelmed with so many ideas, or maybe you haven't got any business ideas at all, this ebook is going to help you get that clarity so that you can take the first step toward building an online business that works for you.

So go take the messy action, start talking to your audience, grab that ebook and keep refining as you go. Thanks for tuning in. Next week, I will share an episode talking about some reflections for 2024, what has worked for me and my business and what has not, and also how I actually juggle between my corporate job, my family and my side of business that I love.

Until then, keep hustling with intention and chasing your dreams. I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for listening to the Hustle with Heels podcast. I hope this episode has inspired you to take action towards your sad hustle dream. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a second to rate and review it.

Each review helps me help more corporate women and early stage entrepreneurs just like you. Don't forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories or on LinkedIn and the tag me at Cindy Excell. I will see you next week.