Talk to one customer every day before building anything
One hour of customer research saves ten to a hundred hours of wasted effort. That's not a guess — I've seen it play out repeatedly. Before you build, talk to prospective customers. Talk to a minimum of one per day, live — in person, on Skype, on the phone. Ask what motivates them. Ask about their biggest fears and frustrations. Ask what they've tried that didn't work. Ask what they think the solution is. Ask them to teach you what it's like to be them. After several weeks of this, patterns emerge — and you'll know with real confidence whether your idea meets the three niche criteria or not. Research isn't slow. Building the wrong thing is slow.
Relevant Clips6
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Ask Customers to Teach You How to Be Them
Ask them to teach you how to be them. Ask 'what's it like to be you?' and have them explain what you need to think, feel, and do to experience their situation. Also write their collective autobiography and ask intrusive questions - people will answer if they know you're trying to help them get what they want.
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Daily Customer Conversations Reveal Niche Qualification Patterns
Talk to a minimum of one prospective customer every single day live - in person, on Skype, or telephone. Ask about their biggest problems, frustrations, wants, and what they've tried that didn't work. After several weeks, you'll see patterns and know if they meet the three niche criteria.
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Customer Interview Questions to Get Inside Their Head
Ask what motivates them, their biggest fears and frustrations, their wants and aspirations, what they're doing to solve problems, what they've tried that didn't work, and what they think the solution is. Learn how they think and get inside their head.
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Three Power Questions for Understanding Customer Value
Use these three powerful questions: 1) What's your biggest fear or frustration when it comes to [topic]? 2) What do you worry about happening when you try to [solve problem]? 3) What would it look like if it was perfect?
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Pain Points in Your Network Reveal Massive Value Opportunities
Ask people around you about their biggest fears, frustrations, and worries. Find out what keeps them awake at night. These pain points reveal opportunities to create massive value by solving urgent problems.
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Customer Research Saves 10x More Time Than Product Creation
One hour of customer research saves 10 to 100 hours of wasted effort. You should talk to prospective customers, research what they're buying online, and identify unmet needs before creating any product.