Posted on October 23, 2008 - by Jason Geater

Prospective Entrepreneur Series: Have You TESTED It?

Being my own boss, a lot of people ask me for advice on starting their own gig.

It’s always the same ‘ole story – “I work too much for what I get paid. I’d rather be working for myself. I’ve got a couple of business ideas I’ve been thinking abut.” (If you’re self-employed you’ll know what I’m talkin about)

99% of the time (God Bless ‘em) these people have an idea based around a hobby or passion that they have, or an idea “they just know” will be the next Google.

The Conversation

As an entrepreneur who has fallen on his face countless (maybe hundreds of) times, I always try to be polite and say something along the lines of:

“Cool, sounds like a marketable idea. Have you tested it out yet?”

Then I get the deer-in-the-headlights look and the conversation progresses as follows:

“Uh… No…. What do mean?” they’ll say.

“Do you have any customers or made any sales yet?”

“No man, it’s just an idea right now.”

“Ok, well, when you’ve got at least one customer or sale, get back to me. Would love to help.”

Usually they will walk away pissed, confused, or defeated. But they get over it.

The Harsh Reality

What most non-entrepreneurial people don’t “get” is that the entrepreneurship process is all about TESTING. You keep “testing” ideas until you hit on something that works.

People who’ve built successful businesses didn’t have one “magical” idea that just happened to work out. Usually they’ve gotten their nose bloody trying idea after idea, until they stumble upon the homerun, or in Google’s case, the grand slam.

Just like anything in life – investing, getting laid, getting a job - it’s a numbers game. Would you ever invest in only one stock? Would you only try to pick up one girl? Apply to one job?

You Can’t Fail If You Don’t Give Up

After you encounter and learn from your failures enough times, you WILL eventually stumble on a success It’s unrealistic to set goals like becoming the next Bill Gates, Larry Page, or <Insert-Your-Young-And-Super-Successful-And-Slightly-Lucky-Entrepreneur-Here>.

You can never fail if you don’t give up. That is the key to keep shooting until you hit your target and find the idea that works.

This is why former professional athletes, military personnel, and other highly-disciplined people go on to become wildly successful in the business world. They’ve been taught to persevere and never give up.

People say Tiger Woods was born with genetic advantages. That may be true but it’s just an excuse. He also works his ass off 10x HARDER than other golfer on tour. Look at what he did at the Open. Unbelievable.

Moral of The Story

Before you get too obsessed or caught up in an idea you have, test it out first. You can test most ideas without quitting your day job.

Oh yeah, if it’s an idea that you’d have to quit your day job to test out, or get venture funding just to setup the infrastructure, then scrap it for now and work on ideas that feasible to your current position in life. We all had to start “small” to learn how to manage “big”.

You’ve got plenty of time to chase the big fish.

-j

PS – In my next installment, I’ll talk about why you are more fortunate than you think and the mental game you have to master.